CALL_IS_VSL

"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."

"We have assembled a wide array of PBL-related resources created by BIE and collected from fellow PBL travelers. The resources are organized into three broad categories: things to read, to watch, or to interact with. "If you would like to take a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) approach to learning about PBL, then check out the recommend resources for teachers, coaches, principals, and district leaders. The featured resources have a note on "How Can You Use It?" We also suggest starting your DIY experience by purchasing one of BIE's books."

"Forgetting is almost immediately the nemesis of memory, as psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered in the 1880s. Ebbinghaus pioneered landmark research in the field of retention and learning, observing what he called the forgetting curve, a measure of how much we forget over time. In his experiments, he discovered that without any reinforcement or connections to prior knowledge, information is quickly forgotten-roughly 56 percent in one hour, 66 percent after a day, and 75 percent after six days." Five teaching strategies are suggested: peer-to-peer explanations, multiple opportunities to go over a concept, frequent practice test or games, mixing up problem (rather than grouping similar ones), and combining text with images/visual aids.And keep in mind sensory memory works to prevent memory loss -- context is important.

"Global collaboration projects, which allow students to work with peers across state and national boundaries, aren't just fun. They can also address several of the ISTE Standards for Students, including Digital Citizen, Global Collaborator and Empowered Learner. "

Besides stimulating creativity, creative writing enhances learning and the intellect. I've found using creative writing in "regular" essay writing classes helps students feel free to use more colorful, metaphoric language to describe processes or emphasize the points they were making. ESL students have told me they didn't think English could be an expressive language until I helped them use to write poetry.

"Dyslexia is a learning difficulty which affects the ability to adopt the automatic reflexes needed to read and write. Several studies have sought to identify the source of the problems encountered by individuals with dyslexia when they read. Little attention, however, has been paid to the mechanisms involved in writing. Sonia Kandel, Professor at the GIPSA-Lab of the Université Grenoble Alpes (CNRS/Université Grenoble Alpes/Grenoble INP) and her team [1] decided to look at the purely motor aspects of writing in children diagnosed with dyslexia. Their results show that orthographic processing in children with dyslexia is so laborious that it can modify or impair writing skills, despite the absence of dysgraphia in these children. The findings of this study are published in the November 2017 edition of Cognitive Neuropsychology." A serious problem that can influence aspects of language learning.

"The Digital 5 A Day provides a simple framework that reflects the concerns of parents/ carers as well as children's behaviours and needs. It can also act as a base for family agreements about internet and digital device use throughout both the holidays and term time." Includes a fun video by a jr-high student about ways he fulfilled the Digital 5 A Day plan personally. Cute kid.

Download, print, and assemble large-scale maps for your classroom. Americas, Europe, world, etc.

Programs and resources to "ignite critical thinking skills and creativity, to generate self-pride and insprie life-long learning for diverse audiences." Programs for early childhood Ed through Teachers, and school group tours.

Add some creativity to your biology lesson. Students use rap to memorize biology.

"If you've ever sat through a teaching seminar, you've probably heard a lecture about "learning styles." Perhaps you were told that some students are visual learners, some are auditory learners, and others are kinesthetic learners. Or maybe you were given one of the dozens of other learning-style taxonomies that scholars and consultants have developed. "Almost certainly, you were told that your instruction should match your students' styles. For example, kinesthetic learners-students who learn best through hands-on activities-are said to do better in classes that feature plenty of experiments, while verbal learners are said to do worse. "Now four psychologists argue that you were told wrong. There is no strong scientific evidence to support the "matching" idea, they contend in a paper published this week in Psychological Science in the Public Interest. And there is absolutely no reason for professors to adopt it in the classroom." Be wary of any teaching/learning fad, and look for experimental design in research. However, it does make sense to use a variety of stimuli, "styles," and approaches to spark curiosity and give variety. Kids do get bored if it's all "by the book."

Tops sins include too much text with no markers, audio-only sessions (where students can't read and re-check), no to-do list (so students can't tell what's happening), no weekly markers to indicate how they are doing in the course, and over-dependence on Powerpoint presentations (where info is visual, but fleeting).

Uses free articles on CNN to create new lessons every day. pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar are included.

Research on how using daily "free" reading can impact academic achievement for middle-schoolers.

" My Notes Help prepare students to learn by using their past experiences. Helps develop grammatical and lexical choices, as well as structure and organization. Developed in Partnership with Stanford University.

"Looking for a professional solution for teaching remote students online? BigBlueButton provides real-time sharing of audio, video, slides, chat, and screen. Students are engaged through sharing of emoji icons, polling, and breakout rooms." This online collabrative tool also allows shared web links and documents.

"Traditional ways of dealing with behaviors involve the educator controlling the child. Restorative justice practices recognize the value of the student's perspective and his or her personal power and ability to make better decisions in the process of being part of a learning community." Suggestions include making time for students to share their work each morning, using an acceptance circle to share negative comments or to have other students explain why an activity is stupid (or not), making the classroom a safe place to learn (including taking a break to reflect and re-focus). These sound like over-simplifications, but beginning with the attitude that all students feel better about themselves and the class when they are able to learn could head off disruptive behaviors.

"Roughly 4.6 million English language learners attended U.S. public schools in 2014-15 and, while many of these students have the English skills needed for everyday life, some lack the language proficiency to get into college. Or they may have misconceptions about college so aren't even thinking about going. But many of these students have the drive and ability to do well in higher education - they just need the right information, support, and tools to get there. ESL/ELL students can find those resources in this guide. Read on to learn more."

"Focused Research is a feature that allows you to re-use your saving preferences with minimal effort. Once you are in the research mode, the same set of tags, outliner and group are automatically applied to every item you save or annotate. This can be a big time saver when you are doing research on a particular topic." The short article shows how to access the "Remember saving preferences" button. Nice.

"Relevant real-world content Each lesson is based in authentic content-the world-class news and information on CNN-and organized in sections that match the needs and interests of learners. This makes the learning experience personalized and relevant. No nonsensical sentences or made-up stories. New lessons every day Today's news becomes today's lessons on en.news, with new lessons published on a daily basis. That's like giving the world a new English textbook every day. For free. Unlimited learning for free Learning a language is a lifelong journey and on en.news, learners can return as often as they want to take as many lessons as they want. There's no "end of a book" or "end of a course" which means the learning never ends. Part of a daily routine en.news combines the habit of consuming news, checking sports scores and staying on top of the world of entertainment with the utility of learning English."