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Lure of the Labyrinth is a digital game for middle-school pre-algebra students. It includes a wealth of intriguing math-based puzzles wrapped into an exciting narrative game in which students work to find their lost pet - and save the world from monsters! Linked to both national and state mathematics standards, the game gives students a chance to actually think like mathematicians.

Specializing in professional resources that provide the perfect mix of research and standards-based content with practical lessons and classroom activities.

This is a standard back cover for iPhone. It protects your valuable phone from dust, fingerprints, scratches and bumps. It is stylish and unique. Perfectly suitable for Apple iPhone.

This is a standard Back cover for iPhone. It protects your valuable phone from dust, fingerprints, scratches and bumps. It is stylish and unique. Perfectly suitable for Apple iPhone.

This site was designed by teachers to assist colleagues in planning and delivering effective 21st century instruction in West Virginia Classrooms. It enables educators to quickly access 21st Century Content Standards, Learning Skills and Technology Tools for WV Schools, as well as other resources that exemplify rigorous and relevant instructional design and delivery.

"June is a busy month for many educators. Conferences. End of the year professional learning. Curriculum alignment. Standards training. In my case, June is full of mobile devices training. Over the next six weeks or so, I get the chance to spend time with a variety of folks around the country, working with schools that have latched onto the idea of tablets, clouding computing, and educational apps. But in the rush to get the latest shiny tools, I think it's easy sometimes to forget that the end in mind is teaching and learning, not the gadgets. So today a few things to remember when using apps in the classroom:"

"App Ed Review is a new, searchable database of app reviews that teachers can use to plan, deliver and assess classroom instruction. The free site was founded by Todd Cherner, a former 10th grade English teacher at Leesburg High School; and Corey Lee, an instructional technology professor at Coastal Carolina University. According to its founders, App Ed Review uses TPACK as its theoretical framework and is informed by the Common Core State Standards. "

"As students work to master the complex reading and writing standards demanded by the Common Core, Mrs. Montecuollo and Mrs. Westbrook collaborated to create writing scaffolds that address the diverse academic needs of their 9th grade students. These teachers believe that differentiation is about access points. Therefore, they used four support activities (scaffolds) to address different areas of difficulty they see their students face."

"Entrepreneurship is often associated with people who assume the risk of starting a business venture for financial gain. However, entrepreneurs exist in many forms: They may be writers, carpenters, computer programmers, school principals or fundraisers, to name just a few examples. What they have in common is an "entrepreneurial mindset" that enables them to see opportunities for improvement, take initiative and collaborate with others to turn their ideas into action. Everyone is born with some propensity for entrepreneurship, which at its core is about solving problems creatively, according to Yong Zhao, a professor at the University of Oregon's College of Education. He is the author of several books, including, most recently, "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon? Why China has the Best (and Worst) Education System in the World." "We overemphasize the deficits of children, and that's not a good starting point. … If we let people flourish in their own ways, hopefully everyone will find something they want to do." Unfortunately, the current education system doesn't support the development of an entrepreneurial mindset, Zhao says, because of its reliance on standards, tests and a prescribed curriculum, which are all fundamentally incompatible with entrepreneurial thinking. Studies have shown an inverse relationship between countries' academic test scores and entrepreneurship levels, and between years of schooling and entrepreneurship levels."

"ReadWorks is a free service that I have been recommending for about a year now. It provides teachers with hundreds of lesson plans and more than two thousand reading non-fiction and fiction passages aligned to Common Core standards. Recently, ReadWorks expanded again. The latest expansion includes poems and question sets. The collection is organized by grade level. In the collection you will find poems by Frost, Dickinson, Stevenson, and other notable poets. "

"Pushing students to go beyond what they think they can do is at the core of good teaching. This Teaching Channel video follows students and educators at Springfield Renaissance School, part of the Expeditionary Learning network. Students at the school understand that struggling with a particular task is part of learning. Teachers have high expectations of students, expect a positive classroom culture and are willing to gently prod students to dig deeper and reveal more. Teachers embed Common Core standards like the ability to use textual evidence to back up arguments, into the culture of class. They also understand that the love of learning takes ownership and self-awareness."

"In May of last year, Ken Robinson-he of "Is School Killing Creativity"/TED Talk legend status-gave a brief talk on the idea of contrast, specifically the difference between who we are and how we teach. His general message was that we, as human beings, are wired for certain tendencies. Three of those most immediate to education, Robinson explains, are our diversity, curiosity, and creativity, calling children "natural learners." He contrasted these hallmarks of being human with the tone in which public education in the United States currently operates-a tone that promotes conformity, compliance, and standardization."

"Using video in the classroom has come a long way from a TV and VCR on a cart to watch a movie during class (The standard about ten gazillion years ago when I was a student). There are a ton of different ways you can employ video in your classroom, from video feedback to educational videos about specific topics, there is a lot of possibility out there. Even if you know that this way and that are options for including video in your classroom, you might still be wondering why you should be using video in the first place.  The handy infographic below takes a look at reasons why video is a great form of engagement. It focuses on some statistics around video use quite generally (not education specific), but many of the statistics here might convince you that video's widespread popularity might be a huge plus for you using it in the classroom."

"Today was a big day in my grade 4-5 STEM class: It was our first time to start the "Maker Studio" rotation. Maker Studio is a concept I developed this past summer attending Maker Faire Kansas City and the awesome "Create, Make and Learn" week-long #MakerEd #STEM summer institute in Vermont coordinated by Lucie deLaBruere (@techsavvygirl). Last year was my 17th as an educator but my first as an elementary STEM teacher. I enjoyed developing and sharing lessons about a wide variety of topics, but as a "STEM teacher" was uncomfortable with my predominant focus on direct instruction lessons. Some of my favorite units from last year focused on the science and technology of music and sound, kitchen chemistry, and collaborative projects in MinecraftEDU involving permiter/area building challenges, coordinate grid scavenger hunts, and more. Our projects and activities together in these units were engaging, fun, and standards-based, but still relied predominantly on direct instruction. The after-school "Makers Club" I facilitated provided many opportunities for student-directed learning, but didn't change my predominant teacher-directed instruction during STEM class. My summer PD experiences at #MakerFaireKC and #CML14 were transformative. Enter "Maker Studio.""

"The realities of standardized tests and increasingly structured, if not synchronized, curriculum continue to build classroom stress levels. Neuroimaging research reveals the disturbances in the brain's learning circuits and neurotransmitters that accompany stressful learning environments. The neuroscientific research about learning has revealed the negative impact of stress and anxiety and the qualitative improvement of the brain circuitry involved in memory and executive function that accompanies positive motivation and engagement."

"Sometimes we just need to forget the curriculum, the standards, the test prep and interject some fun, some inspiration, some motivation into our daily routines. Well, I can't think of a better way to do so than via the super popular Kid President videos."