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This seems like an interesting way to present (and solve?) problems with your students. I could imagine it being used to solved behavior problems, but I'm not sure how practical this would be in real life. How it works 1. You enter a problem. 2. You enter ideas that could solve the problem. 3. Some ideas lead to new (hopefully smaller) problems. 4. When a problem is solved, the tree gets green. A problem is considered solved, when you found an idea that does not lead to a new problem. The URL is the key * The URL is cryptic (no two URLS are alike). Nobody can access your Solvr without its URL. * However, you can skype, mail, twitter or even blog the URL to give others access. Everybody who knows the URL can do everything.

"Thinking Blocks is a nice site for elementary and middle school mathematics teachers. Thinking Blocks provides interactive templates in which students use brightly colored blocks to model and solve problems. As students work through the problems they are provided with feedback as to whether or not they are using the correct sequence to solve each problem. There are templates and problems for addition, multiplication, fractions, and ratios. You can also develop your own problems using the modeling tool." T/H to R. Byrne

Great resources for planned and executing project-based learning in your school: "According to Edutopia, studies have shown that students who use project-based learning remember the material much longer and have healthier attitudes toward education. "Project-based learning is based on the idea that students learn best by tackling and solving real world problems. Students are much more engaged with the subject matter and look to the teacher as more of a coach who guides them through their own reflections and ideas. Project-based learning often involves students working in pairs or groups, thus facilitating a deeper understanding of cooperation and communication in solving problems."

"The old-school model of passively learning facts and reciting them out of context is no longer sufficient to prepare students to survive in today's world. Solving highly complex problems requires that students have both fundamental skills (reading, writing, and math) and digital-age skills (teamwork, problem solving, research gathering, time management, information synthesizing, utilizing high tech tools). With this combination of skills, students become directors and managers of their learning process, guided and mentored by a skilled teacher."

Teacher reviews importance of mental math before beginning math lesson. For Grade 3 (8 yr-old students). Demonstrates students talking about how they solve problems.Students are also asked to solve problems in different ways. Lesson also shows techniques of classroom management as students participate in the class activities.

How teachers can flip their classroom, and have kids make the videos to teacher other kids, in this case, math. If you are thinking of trying "flipping," you must watch this creative set of examples (in several languages) of kids solving problems.

Linked from the WebQuest page--by N. Pickett & B. Dodge. It has a short article on the why and how of rubric assessment, and also provides links to rubric-makers, a rubric template, and other online resources. "The rubric is one authentic assessment tool which is designed to simulate real life activity where students are engaged in solving real-life problems. It is a formative type of assessment because it becomes an ongoing part of the whole teaching and learning process. Students themselves are involved in the assessment process through both peer and self-assessment. As students become familiar with rubrics, they can assist in the rubric design process. This involvement empowers the students and as a result, their learning becomes more focused and self-directed."

"Vygotsky controversially argued for educators to assess students' ability to solve problems, rather than knowledge acquisition. The idea of collaborative learning has a lot to do with Vygotsky's idea of the "zone of proximal development". It considers what a student can do if aided by peers and adults. By considering this model for learning, we might consider collaboration to increase students' awareness of other concepts." Excellent, well-documented advise on using collaborative learning and its value for learners.

"How are schools working to encourage the next generation of innovators? By developing unique, project-based learning opportunities that foster students' passion and creativity, teachers are promoting innovation and Deeper Learning. Deeper learning experiences help students master core academic content, think critically, solve complex problems, work collaboratively, communicate effectively, and engage in self-directed learning. " Good blog article showing the importance of PBL

Shows how verbalizing reasoning helps students see several different ways to solve math problems. Uses "hand talk" to show agreement with others as well as short peer discussions.

"We currently teach multiple courses for a total of 12 or 13 different lab classes. Each class has 50-60 students and can have up to two or three graded assignments in a given day. Paper grading takes too long and transferring thousands of grades to our computerized grade forms has huge potential for human error. Grading with a spreadsheet, even on a tablet, becomes too slow with so many rows and columns. So we made Green Gradebook to solve our problems. "Our plan was to create a gradebook app that allowed for large or small student and class numbers while minimizing the time it takes to enter a grade for one assignment. Ideally this would speed things up for us as we walked around the room grading!" Mobile access for grading has some real advantages.

"If you're using it to solve problems in your location, to access information you need here and now, it's mobile, whether pocketable or not. That's what mlearning is, and it's mostly about performance support, or contextualized learning augmentation, it's not about just info access in convenience. "Which actually segues nicely into my main point. So let's ask, when would you want a tablet instead of a pocketable when you're on the go? I think the answer is pretty clear: when you need more information or interactivity than a pocketable can handle, and you're not as concerned about space."

Very useful collection of links to pdf and Word files containing rubrics for various kinds of creative activities: case studies, critic thinking, oral communication and presentations, management and finance, peer evaluations, problem solving, writing, etc.

A really nice explanation of how students can combine individual thinking with collaborative group work. The teacher also explains her role as she circulates around the groups. You also "overhear" some snippets of children's conversation about their problem-solving. 4-5th grade, but adaptable to most levels. (You must register with TeachingChannel to use their videos.)

A 5th grade math class takes a new look at Common Core, formative assesment, creative/critical thinking, problem solving, classroom management techniques, group work. Some bil-lingual used. Individual students are addressed and encouraged in this exciting model classroom that is very hands-on.

"FormLimiter is a script that you can install in the Google Spreadsheet in which you are collecting responses from a Google Form. The script allows you to limit the number of responses to a form, limit the number of characters in a response, and set a time at which the form will automatically stop accepting responses. " This solves the problem of setting a cut-off time for quizzes. Includes a step-by-step illustrated tutorial.

A great explanation of how and why to use screencasting, with many examples and video tutorials. From Modern Lessons. "The fundamental advantage of screencasting is that it allows educators to provide an easily created video resource for their students that essentially acts like a private tutor. It gives students a way to explain themselves through drawing, typing, voice narration, and video, allowing you, as the educator, to demonstrate a process, concept or skill. Through published screencasts, students can access content in and out of class in order to learn at their own pace. However, we also want to think about having our students act as creators of their own screencasts to demonstrate their problem solving, tell a story, explain a sequence, diagram a concept, or illustrate a concept."

"Whether it is to solve a problem, plan a project, or develop new story ideas there are plenty of occasions in the course of a school year for students to brainstorm together. I still believe that nothing beats getting together in a room to swap ideas in person, but that's not always practical or possible. For those times when in-person brainstorming sessions are not possible, the following five tools offer a good way to host brainstorming sessions online." t/h R. Byrne

A slideshow (with audio) of a paper presented at the TESOL NYC CALL IS Academic Session, April 2008. Attempts to clarify what is known about SLA and how Plato's problem of "excessive knowledge" is solved by a computer model of reading prediction that uses Landauer and Dumais' theory of Latent Semantic Analsyis.

Children have a strong disposition to explore and discover. The Project Approach builds on natural curiosity, enabling children to interact, question, connect, problem-solve, communicate, reflect, and more. This kind of authentic learning extends beyond the classroom to each student's home, community, nation, and the world.