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"Before we dig in, let's start with a quick multiple-choice quiz: Font : Text :: A. Hat : Head B. Coffee : Tea C. Voice : Speech The answer is C. The font you choose to display text is every bit as important as the voice you use to speak if you want a reader to not only understand what they are reading, but also remember it as well. The primary purpose of type is not really to be readable, but to convey information that is to be remembered. Surprisingly, readability might not always lead to the best information retention. "

"After posting about the "10 ways to get your students engaged" here is another good visual I learned about from Mindshift and which outlines different levels of engagement. As I have already argued elsewhere here in this blog, getting today's students deeply engaged (the first level of engagement below) in the learning experience taking place in class is not an easy task. Unless students see a direct relevance between what they are going to learn and how that information will help them them in their actual life , it becomes hard to hook and maintain their attention. Proponents of socio-cultural linguistics emphasize the importance of "context" in learning. Learning materials that are contextualized and tailored to speak to the immediate context of the learners are more likely to get students engaged and hence increase their rate of retention and comprehensibility."

"We recently completed a biography unit for which my students researched famous Americans and wrote five paragraph biographical essays. They attached a photo to their essays to serve as the trigger for their auras. The overlay was a video they recorded speaking in the first person about their famous American. Click the video below to see an aura of Barack Obama."

"Not long ago, a teacher had nothing more to rely on than knowledge, textbooks and a few markers. Technology has slowly changed that in the past few years, with the Internet, multimedia programs and computers increasing their presence in the classroom. But with the rise of tablet tech, the student-teacher experience is facing a subtle revolution: joining the trend makes students feel as if they're part of an environment that's desirable because people speak their native languages. As the iPad becomes a teaching tool, classrooms are transformed into contemporary settings."

"The kindergarten student, a shy, Mandarin-speaking five-year-old immigrant in the tiny community of Sangudo, Alta., had barely spoken a word during the first three months of class. So her teacher was surprised one day last year when the girl struck up a conversation. The subject of their animated discussion? An image on the screen of an iPad. "

"While there has been a bit of question as to the effectiveness of SAMR, a shift to move beyond SAMR, and a few proposed changes to the structure of the model floating around online, I have to say that hearing Dr. Ruben Puentedura (you may know him as the father of SAMR) speak at iPad Summit a few weeks ago still felt like a rare app-ortunity and a truly inspiring treat. As I am still collecting my thoughts and ideas from the event, I wanted to share some really great resources from the Dr. SAMR. ;)"

"We all know that from September 2014 the national curriculum is changing to include Computing as a programme of study and I am sure I speak for a lot of teachers when I say "but I know nothing about programming or coding?!" Before we panic too much about how we teach this new area its important to note that the subject of Computing is not solely about coding and importantly involves a whole range of areas that we may already be delivering in other subjects such as maths and science without realising it. The skills that encompass computer programming are those that will also transfer into the real world such as problem solving and thinking logically, which will obviously transfer into the world of work and are useful skills for learners to develop moving forward in their careers irrespective of the job area."

"This, I would think, should be self-evident: Generally speaking, big creatures eat smaller creatures that, in turn, eat even smaller creatures, like this ..."

"Stan Davis has devoted a long career to the well-being of youth, in particular their empowerment through voice and their safety and dignity through bullying prevention. With Charisse L. Nixon, Davis recently published a study of 13,177 students in fifth through twelfth grades from 31 schools and in 12 states, focusing on giving students a chance to speak about school connection, peer mistreatment, and student and adult actions. The Findings Writing in the report of their work, Youth Voice Project: Student Insights into Bullying and Peer Mistreatment, they state: "We are concerned that too much work in this field has focused on adults telling youth what bullying is and what to do to address bullying behavior. In reality, youth are the primary experts on what is happening at school and on what works best to prevent peer maltreatment....We see authentic youth involvement as key to success in bullying prevention." Lessons learned from surveying the students can be summarized in the following don'ts and dos:"

"I have found through countless speaking engagements and professional development workshops, what we may think is obvious or even "tired" … is sometimes exactly what someone has been looking for. On that same note, many times all it takes is a sample or a nibble of a great idea to spark creative juices."

"When I talk to people about mind mapping, I usually find myself facing one of two reactions: The person I'm speaking with either LOVES mind maps, or pretty much has no idea what they are or what they could be used for. We've discussed mind maps occasionally in the past, but I recently stumbled on this great graphic from Daniel Tay(who creates a bunch of different mind maps on different topics)."

Sshh

"n a rainy Saturday at Hackbright Academy classroom in San Francisco, a group of 35 adults sat at tables, desks, and on couches learning how to code. Marcy, a former artist and now programmer for Uber, taught the class. During a break, Marcy shared that she'd never taken a programming class prior to starting a job in art media. After completing courses at places like Hackbright and General Assembly, she realized how much she enjoyed coding and switched careers. Today she volunteers to teach coding on the weekends. Real world. Compare Marcy's story to Daria's, a high school junior. Daria applied to take her school's AP Computer Science class and was rejected. The reason? She lacked the math prerequisites. Even if she had the prerequisites, she lamented, the counselor told her that her grades probably wouldn't have been high enough to compete for one of the precious 30 seats in the single section that was offered. School world. Learning In The New Economy Of Information | MindShift Teaching in the New (Abundant) Economy of Information How We Can Connect School Life to Real Life Daria's and Marcy's stories speak to the differences between school world and real world. In Marcy's world learning is abundant and artists become coders. In Daria's world, learning is scarce and limited by classroom space and teacher availability."

"To all the mothers reading this post let me wish you a very happy Mother's Day and a life full of happiness and joy. I was thinking hard about what to share with you on this special occasion and I landed on this wonderful playlist compiled by the folks in TED. These TED talks speak to the complexities of parenthood, offering unusual insights and hard-won advice."

"We've talked about the definition of intrinsic motivation in the past. We've also talked about some basic ways to improve student motivation. This time, it's Mia MacMeekin's turn to speak to you about the same, but through gridded, blocked, and easy to read infographics. The graphic starts with a definition for both intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation, then offers 27 verbs that can help promote that magic stuff that is characterized by curiosity, effort, engagement, and academic success. Some were a little iffy-"praise" and "milestones" seemed a little closer to extrinsic motivation. But the vast majority are useful to consider as you design units, lessons, and activities this school year."

"When I speak about using iPads in a primary school classroom, I am often asked about how it would work if I only had one iPad as is the case in many classrooms. This post is the first of what I hope will be several with suggestions as to how to make that work effectively."

"I love these witty quips that ASCD intermittently share with the education community in the form of visually appealing infographics. The recent visual they shared in this regard relates to the topic of issue number two of Education Leadership magazine. Instruction That Sticks is a beautiful visual that features 6 quotations from leading thinkers and educationists. The quotes , different as they are in their scope, each speak to one of the essential areas in teaching methodology. Think of them as tips to help you better conceptualize your teaching strategy to meet the learning needs of your students."

"3 Reasons Why Faculty Meetings Are a Waste of Time By Peter DeWitt on April 10, 2015 6:50 AM Faculty Meeting.png Many school leaders walk into a faculty meeting with a single idea of how they want to move forward and walk out with the same idea. That's telling... John Hattie talks a great deal about the Politics of Distraction, which means we focus on adult issues, and not enough time...if ever...on learning. That is happening around the U.S. for sure. Recently the Assembly of NY State only furthered those distractions, which you can read about here, which means that school leaders and teachers have to work harder to maintain a focus on learning. Quite frankly, well before mandates and accountability, school leaders focused on the politics of distraction and not on learning. Compliance is not new in schools. Faculty meetings were seen as a venue to get through and something that teachers were contractually obligated to attend. During these days of endless measures of compliance, principals can do a great deal to make sure they don't model the same harmful messages to staff that politicians are sending to teachers. Jim Knight calls that "Freedom within form." In Talk Like Ted, Carmine Gallo quotes Marissa Mayer (CEO of Yahoo) when he writes, "Creativity is often misunderstood. People often think of it in terms of artistic work - unbridled, unguided effort that leads to beautiful effect. If you look deeper, however, you'll find that some of the most inspiring art forms - haikus, sonatas, religious paintings- are fraught with constraints. (p. 190)" Clearly, constraints have a wide definition. There is a clear difference between the constraints of compliance and the stupidity of the legislation just passed by the assembly in NY. As we move forward, principals still are charged...or at least should be...with the job of making sure they offer part...inspiration, part...teacher voice...and a great deal of focus on learning. There is never a more important tim