Group items tagged

"Here is a wonderful step by step guide on how teachers can use Google Drive iPad app to create, distribute, submit, grade and return assignments. The guide starts with setting up a Gmail for students and moves on to how students can create and share a folder with their teacher.It also provides examples on how teachers can create a class folder with a variety of subfolders. the next part covers how teachers can create and submit assignments using apps like iWork which allows students to open Google Drive and upload their assignments. Next is a section on how teachers can collect, grade and return students assignments."

""Imagine a classroom where everyone started off an academic year with an "A" grade, and in order to keep the grade, a pupil had to show continuous improvement throughout the year. In this classroom, the teacher would have to dock points from a pupil's assessment when his or her performance or achievement was inadequate, and pupils would work to maintain their high mark rather than to work up to it. How would this affect effort, expectations, performance, and assessment relative to current practice?" This is one of the questions we pose in our report Everyone Starts with an A, which explores the application of behavioural insight to educational policy and practice. Using research from behavioural science and our evolving understanding of human nature, we explore how effort, motivation, learning enjoyment, resilience, and overall performance at school can be influenced in ways not often traditionally recognised."

"Last year at this time, I was trying not to think about kindergarteners. I was still teaching ninth grade English and had just accepted a job teaching technology to K-5. I was excited about the challenge, and I knew that I'd bitten off more than I could chew. Developing the tech curriculum challenged me to teach programming or at least computational thinking at each elementary grade level. Our school is mid-pivot in technology -- we're in our second year of a middle school 1:2 iPad program, our first year of having a cart of iPads available for elementary, and our last year of two PC labs for the students to use (next year we'll have only one lab). Knowing this, I wanted to design a program that mostly used tablet-based tools."

"ne of the most common questions math teachers hear from their students is, "why does this matter?" They are constantly trying to convince students that math is useful and could help them in their everyday lives. But it can be a tough sell. Word problems alone often feel contrived and students see right through them. Thomas Petra has taught math at every level for more than 20 years and encountered dubious students at every grade level. That's why he developed Real World Math, a free website with lessons based on Google Earth aimed at grades 5 - 10. "I was trying to show them actual applications of the math ideas that they see in the textbook," Petra said."

"I teach fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade Resource Room in a small public school. We are well endowed and all students grades 6 - 8 have their own iPads. I wanted to share some of the apps we use regularly in school. Please keep in mind, this is not a complete list, just what seems to be used over and over again. Also, make note that I am a special education teacher and some of these apps may be intended for younger students. Remember that not all kids are on page 39, let alone the same book - "

"Before becoming a librarian two Septembers ago I was a fourth grade teacher for seventeen years.  My favorite part of the day, the non-negotiable, the very best way to build classroom culture, was read aloud time.  My kids knew that no matter what our day looked like we would carve out 20 minutes every day for this sacred time of day.  Read aloud time gave everyone a level playing field to access text.  It gave us inside jokes. It gave us a shared experience we could refer to and I could use to model reading and writing strategies."

"Student A loves school. Student A thrives on the challenge of a test. Student A studies three nights ahead of every exam. Student A is driven by marks and grades. Student A is good at "playing school". School comes quite naturally to student A. Student A wants to be told what to do to get the grade. Student A participates in every class discussion and is proud of accomplishments. Student A answers every homework question as soon as student A gets home from school."

"Teachers have wonderful tech tools to choose from these days. I am positively jealous that many of the tools below did not exist even three years ago when I left the classroom. As the E Learning Coordinator of my division, I get to review and train others on the latest tech tools, which I have to admit, is pretty fun! All of the tech tools featured in this post are free, user friendly, and (likely) will be available on your school's network. These tools are best for students in grades 6-12 but the teacher creation tools can be used for any grade/subject level."

"8th Grade Class 3D Prints an Amazing Prosthetic 'Spider-Man' Hand for 5-Year-Old Dante"

Adams County School District 50 in Colorado throws out grade levels and groups students by mastery levels.

"It's a tough job, taking a handful of rowdy kids and making them sit still and try to learn. If you think teachers have it easy, you organize 25 six year olds to do anything. Now try it for eight hours a day, five days a week, nine months out of the year. At the very least, there ought to be apps to make some of this -- at least the grading and attendance -- easier. "