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This two-step exam process sounds like a great way to do online-exams: "The two-stage exam is a relatively simple way to introduce collaborative learning and formative assessment into an exam. Their use is rapidly growing in the physics department at the University of British Columbia, as both students and faculty find them rewarding. In a two-stage exam students first complete and turn in the exam individually, and then, working in small groups, answer the exam questions again. During the second stage, the room is filled with spirited and effective debate with nearly every student participating. This provides students with immediate targeted feedback supplied by discussions with their peers. Furthermore, we see indications that the use of this exam format not only ensures consistency across interactive course components, but it also positively impacts how students approach the other collaborative course components. This is accomplished without losing the summative assessment of individual performance that is the expectation of exams for most instructors. In this paper we describe how to implement two-stage exams and provide arguments why they should be part of physics courses that use interactive engagement and social/collaborative learning methods." The paper is from The Physics Teacher, AAPT.

"Students who take part in physical exercises like star jumps or running on the spot during school lessons do better in tests than peers who stick to sedentary learning, according to a UCL-led study." Another piece of evidence that makes TPR (Total Physical Response) an appropriate approach to learning languages.

This looks like a fascinating game system that includes physics (Newton), drawing (Masterpiece), increasingly difficult puzzles (Tangram), and words and numbers for game practice. It uses both physical and digital elements -- e.g., drawing on paper, and moving letters and numbers around. I haven't had a chance to try it out, but it's one of "TIME's [popular news magazine] best inventions of 2014." The only catch is the $99 to buy the app. You will then need to spend a little more for some of the apps. For 9+.

Links to various websites with tutorials on physics topics. Use as the basis for your content-based lessons.

"To make the paradigm shift with campus wireless possible-or even advance its evolution-wireless must be ubiquitous and seamless. Wireless devices need to work, not just on campus, but globally, and they must be able to go from campus to home to plane to Sri Lanka seamlessly. And we can't teach a course that makes effective use of wireless technology without an appropriate wireless device. With these infrastructure requirements, we could have classes that really use the mobility of mobile devices. One small step in that direction would be to have distributed classes where some students would physically be in a classroom while others would be distributed to various action sites. Learning about pollution? Have some students locate different polluted sites and participate in the class on site like the evening news. "This is Sue reporting Podunk the toxic chemicals are pouring into the Crimea River."

"Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) have proven, for the first time in history, that physical fitness in children may affect their brain structure, which in turn may have an influence on their academic performance." A good reference for the concept of "sound mind, sound body."

"CK-12.org is a non-profit organization dedicated to education. Their website offers a large collection of resources for students and teachers like Brain Genie which I previously shared. The bulk of their resources are math and science centered where students can learn about chemistry, physics, algebra, and geometry just to name four. They also offer resources for other content areas as well including history, English, and SAT prep. Their website is free to join and offers a wealth of learning resources and activities. Their site offers articles, quizzes, interactive lessons, videos and students can keep track of their learning as they complete lessons and activities and members can upload their own resources to the site as well. " This looks like a good attempt to crowd-source materials for K-12 in the U.S. Could have uses for ESL/EFL, particularly with content- and project-based learning.

7 tips for classroom management, including whispered corrections, hand motions, positive reinforcement strategies, creating routines, using physical proximity, etc. Good tips for the new teacher.

"Tynker is a new computing platform designed specifically to teach children computational learning and programming skills in a fun and imaginative way. Tynker is inspired by Scratch from MIT. It is a completely browser-based implementation written using Open Web standards such as Javascript, HTML5, CSS3 and does not use Flash. "Tynker's language extensions, built-in physics engine, character editors and other tools make it fun and easy for kids to unleash their creativity. Schools love Tynker because it offers them an easy to use cloud-hosted system for delivering a customized Computer Science course across multiple grades with a ready to use curriculum, classroom management and more. Tynker is the platform of choice at many leading schools - see what educators are saying." This looks like an interesting, creative way to unleash students' curiosity. I'm assuming it's for younger kids, but older students may enjoy it too.

The links include ManLabs Physics Simulations and the Academic Word List with crossword puzzles by Oxford Univ Press. You must log in to see the apps.

Some alternative ways to get students to focus on you, not the distractions out the window: ask them to make a prediction (take a poll); use a pause and chunk technique with breaks to process; give hints and teasers to pre-focus attention; get them to buy in to the content with a hook or personal investment; do a physical activity (Simon Says or moving around puzzle pieces) to strengthen connections. Burns also suggests high interest materials that compel attention and using fast writing/free writing to get focus, using art work, drama, etc. Good ideas for the teacher.

"The overall theme of this teacher-tested unit is using maps to understand borders and their impacts in Europe. The materials will help your middle school students to use maps to think about how borders intersect physical and human geographical features, and how those intersections can lead to cooperation and/or conflict. The educator resources provided in the unit include maps, multimedia, and case studies that will enable students to develop skills in map analysis and apply that analysis to specific situations. Other parts of the unit will invite you and your students to explore similar cases in Europe and your own community. "This unit was originally developed for the National Teacher Leadership Academy (NTLA) 2008 Summer Geography Institute." Very useful for Peace Studies, geography, and mapping skills for middle school (10-14 years), and could be adapted to older students.

"QR Code Games - Find and Scan Game Pieces, share it on your Social Network anjoin the Urban Adventure! "QR Wild® scavenger hunt games are perfect for trade shows, conferences and educators! Your audience scans trackable QR Codes placed at physical locations that you'd like them to visit. As the game pieces are scanned the player earns points and unlocks "badges" while spreading the word by sharing progress on their social networks. You can even display a scoreboard online or at an event!" This sounds like a great idea for students to create themselves, or for a teacher to create for them.

"Seesaw empowers students of any age to independently document what they are learning at school. "Students capture learning with photos and videos of physical work, or by adding digital creations. Everything is uploaded and kept organized for teachers. "Teachers can invite families to Seesaw so parents get an immediate, personalized window into their child's learning." A mobile app to help create student portfolios Part of the maker-spaces movement.

Mechanics and drama help students understand science and how life works. For young and very young learners, this lesson demonstrates how to engage learners physically in the subjects they are studying.

This is an interesting video, both pedagogically, for teaching EST, and for instructors using small groups--and it's based on research by a professor of physics at Harvard. Go watch.

Description from R. Byrne's blog: "Smart Kit offers a large collection of games, puzzles, and riddles for students of all ages. The content of the collection ranges from simple drilling-style games to challenging word puzzles. Smart Kit offers fifteen categories of games. The categories of most interest to educators are probably the math puzzles, physics games, and word puzzles categories."

"Research now shows that there may be physical structural differences in the brains of adolescents who are regularly victimised, and this could increase the chance that they suffer from mental illness. " It could be very important to meet the threat of bullying head on, with talks in class, and recognition of the influence of social media.

"Our research showed that lots of great tools being are used across the world in school libraries. Instead of reinventing the wheel, we decided to take some of those ideas and focus on the tools that we thought could have the biggest impact. Take a look at Facebook groups such as The School Librarian's Workshop, Future Ready Librarian and Int'l School Library Connection. All are closed groups, but can be joined on request and are full of school library staff willing to share advice and support. There is also a lot of information shared on Twitter, so if you have not headed there yet it is time to go and do some lurking. "We chose to focus on four online tools: Google Hangouts/Skype, Padlet, Flipgrid and BreakoutEdu. Although we are still using the physical Breakout boxes, we have the opportunity to move to the digital version if we need to."