Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

"Many educators are aware of Carol Dweck's research on growth mindset. The Stanford psychologist has found that the way students think about and approach challenge makes a big impact on their learning. Students who believe that they were born with a certain amount of intelligence that cannot be changed - a condition Dweck calls a fixed mindset - are often afraid to seek out challenging tasks and are resigned to one's perceived set of abilities. Students who see intelligence as something that can grow and change with effort - known as a growth mindset - tend to persist at difficult tasks, trying new strategies and ultimately performing better in school. Many schools have begun to focus on building growth mindsets in students because of this research. Helping students develop growth mindsets is made even trickier because mindsets about learning can change depending on context. And unfortunately math class is a time when many students have preconceived notions about their abilities. Many adults, including teachers, grew up receiving negative messages about their math ability and can unintentionally pass on unhelpful messages to students through casual words or actions. That's why it's impressive that educators at Two Rivers Charter School in Washington, D.C. recognized a culture of math fear among the staff and worked hard to change teachers' relationships to math as part of their broader strategy to improve math achievement. The school's Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Jeff Heyck-Williams, described their efforts in an Education Week article:"

"This case study report provides concrete guidance and information resources to support other School District leaders faced with the challenge of determining how they can get their own innovations to 'stick' and achieve their goals. The CEA Selection Jury of Canadian innovation leaders was most impressed with how the OCSB leads with a focus on learning and teacher support first, followed by the technology. This School Board has been implementing their innovative strategy over a number of years, incorporated all partners - including teacher unions and support staff - and built a budget in support of this collective vision, with ongoing parent and student voice that continue to inform these changes. "

"Root looks like a smoke detector but is actually a sophisticated robot. A magnetic surface, wheels, and an impressive arsenal of sensors allow it to navigate a classroom white board. But Root isn't actually programmed to do anything. Its tasks and functionality hinge on a child's imagination. To operate - Root needs instructions, a line of code. Zivthan Dubrovsky of Harvard's Wyss Institute recalls testing out Root with kids for the first time. He asked them this: "Can you make a text based java script line follower? They go 'no that's hard, can't do that', but we can put level one in front of them and they can do it in minutes." Level one introduces kids to principles of programming using an interface of simple instruction and pictures. As they become more adept, they jump to levels 2 and 3, at which point writing computer code becomes second nature, according to Dubrovsky."

"iOS 10 won't be out until the fall, but Apple has released the first preview for developers. Regular users will be able to install a beta later this summer. I got to load up the preview version on one of my test devices and take it for a spin.  I have to say, I'm impressed with how much feels new in iOS 10. Visually, there are a ton of enhancements."

"Two years ago, my school obtained a grant from the Sphero Robotics company that brought 10 Sphero Robots to our school. At first, we used them in math and science. However, this year, we expanded our use of robotics and acquired Ozobots, SPRKS, bb8s, and BeeBots. My elementary faculty impressed me with their ability to use these 21st-century robots in a variety of subject areas including language arts and humanities. Here are four examples of how A. Harry Moore teachers used robots to teach lessons in English, Language Arts, and Humanities classes."

"Do-it-yourself maker community Instructables is teaming up with global 3D printing network 3D Hubs for a new contest that will see 15 lucky winners walking away with a top of the line desktop 3D printer. The 3D Printing Contest 2016 is looking like it is going to be one of the biggest 3D printing design competitions of the year, and they have an impressive prize pool to prove it. Winners will be able to win one of an assortment of some of the most popular 3D printers on the market, not to mention 3D printing vouchers being awarded for every contest entry."

"Yesterday after school my fourth-quarter filmmaking group made up of fourth and fifth grade students, met for the first time to start filming "The Ghost of Bethke." Although we have been writing the script and planning the movie for the past few weeks, this was the first time we met to start filming, but this time there is a twist. This time we are filming our movie exclusively on a new iPad (the iPad 3). I was impressed with the new camera on this iPad and I wanted to see if a movie could really be shot and edited on it."

"So it's time to look at the feedback from 177 of our students who responded on our brief end-of-the-year survey asking about some of their impressions after a year of 1:1 with iPads. For today, I would like to focus on the responses to the three questions below:"

"The concept of augmented reality has been in existence for a few years now despite the fact that many users of mobile devices are under the impression that it is a new phenomenon. New technologies such as Google's augmented reality glasses which are the first computing eyewear are still in the testing phase. This leads mobile device users to believe augmented reality is new on the horizon."

"Inspiration waits for nothing and no one. Once it strikes, you have to be ready to capture the ideas borne from it; otherwise, all you will be left with are vague impressions of the brilliant images and animation ideasthat, if transformed into the screen, would have been your best creations yet. Are you ready to grasp and hold in your hand each and every dazzling idea that comes when inspiration strikes? Then use the following iPhone and iPad apps designed for animators on the go"

"What do hammers have to do with iPads? iPads are exactly like hammers, they are simply a tool. While the screen may shine and the intuitive nature of the device impress even the most cynical user, they are little more than tools in the classroom. "

" found this one the other day and was impressed with the quality of the links. Kathy Casey has obviously spent a good deal of time collecting great resources for using the iPads in the classroom. This is the sort of curation and sharing that Pearltrees was designed for and Kathy has certainly used it well. "

"Footsteps2Brilliance (F2B) is an impressive educational game platform that supports students in prek - 3rd grade in learning to read and write."

"I am completely impressed with the "Little Story Maker" App by Grasshopper Apps. (Thank you to Karen Lirenman, a first Grade teacher from Surrey, BC, Canada)"

"The debate about homework is growing heated in education circles. With more and more demands being placed on teachers, students, and educational leaders, homework can provide valuable practice time for students. It can also be a time of torture where families lose their precious little time to conflict and stress, as the battle of "I don't want to do my homework" ensues. It's important to impress upon students the value of getting the work done, but sometimes homework demands are unrealistic, bringing up the question "Is homework productive?""

"It never ceases to impress me how great teachers consistently find new and innovative educational tools to put in their class toolkit. They do it in a multitude of ways - through sound preparation and in-depth knowledge of the subjects they teach; fresh activities and exercises; engaging resources; and creativity - all to inspire a love of learning and encourage students to think and dream big."

"It's a query that can give an ill-prepared job seeker pause: So, do you have any questions for me? Interviewers will judge you by your questions. Almost all employers wrap up job interviews by turning the tables and offering candidates an opportunity to showcase how well they understand the role, how interested they are in the opportunity and what plays to their passions points. When the time comes to flip roles and grill your interviewer about the potential job, it can be tempting to ask pressing questions about salaries, hours and workload. But asking questions about vacation time, salary reviews and benefits might be red flags - and worst-case scenario, they might cost you the job. When asking your interviewer questions regarding compensation or scheduling, there's an imminent risk of being perceived as self-serving. Questions that are more focused on achieving results, helping the company grow and showing how well you've researched the role are the most wow-inducing. The goal is to end with a bang and leave a solid impression. We asked managers what they actually want to hear candidates ask during an interview. Below are a few of their responses."

"The big day was upon us. Hundreds of man-hours of preparation. Thousands of dollars invested in equipment and supplies. An untested, unproven design incorporating materials not usually found in schools. How would students react? Would we achieve our objective: creating a student-centered, flexible learning space that inspires creativity, curiosity, and wonder?"

"With the explosion of 3D printing in schools around the world, the variety and impressiveness of things that students and teachers are printing with this powerful technology grows every day. Check out all these different objects that have been created with 3D printers. Some of these items are changing people's lives! Hopefully some of these ideas can inspire you to start exploring 3D printing, or to try something new if you're already using this wonderful technology."