CALL_IS_VSL

"There is some good free content on BIE. The most notable of that free content being their rubrics for assessing critical thinking skills, collaboration, presentation, and creativity and innovation in project based learning assignments. The rubrics are available with or without Common Core alignment. You can download the rubrics as PDFs or Word documents."

"Spent is an online game designed to teach players about the challenges of living on minimum wage (or slightly higher) employment. Players begin by selecting a job which will provide the wages they have to survive on for a month. Then throughout the game players are confronted with challenges that they have to handle by making an "either or" choice. After each choice the player's account balance is adjusted. In addition to the change in the player's balance sheet, each choice is followed by an explanation of consequence of the choice made." T/h R Byrne

T/h R Byrne, who gives several examples of ways to use charts, graphs, and presentation tools in class.

"Every mathematics teacher I know needs graph paper. If you're a mathematics teacher and find yourself running short on graph paper or you need a graph paper that is different from what your school purchases, try one of these four places for printing graph paper." T/h R Byrne

"Computer programming can help kids develop vital problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. Not sure where to begin? This list offers ways to jump-start a coding adventure. It also encourages kids to become creators and not simply consumers of technology. Teaching everything from simple commands to complex programs, our favorite coding apps and websites come in a range of formats designed for different ages and abilities. For even more popular picks to spark your kid's interest in coding, be sure to check out our favorite tools that cover STEM topics and our Learning with Technology topic center." Lots of choices for very young learners.

"Successful classroom management relies on a handful of fundamental strategies and a larger number of quick interventions." T/h T Finley

"A little while back I saw a Netflix Template for Google Slides. It's essentially a template to replicate the screens you view when looking at episodes for a Netflix series. I immediately loved the idea of creating a Netflix series for a novel (displaying an understanding of plot, setting, characters, etc.). " T/h N LaFave

"Special Issue: New Developments in Virtual Exchange in Foreign Language Education" --- Articles on teaching presence in virtual exchanges, cultures-of-use, experiential learning, negotiated interactions, et al.

"Remind is the safe, simple, free way to text your students and their parents. Simple: Students and parents register themselves. Send messages via web browser, smart phone, or tablet app. Create multiple groups. Perfect for classes, clubs, teams, etc. Safe: 1 way communication - replies aren't an option. Student, parent, teacher phone numbers are never revealed. Message history cannot be deleted."

"A real-time student response system that allows for formative assessment with quick feedback. It's free, easy to use, and works on any internet-enabled device." Teachers can create assignments using four question types: MCQ; Short Answer (text responses); Show Your Work (images, text, or draw); or enter. longer questions by uploading Word,G-Docs, or PDF files. "The Live Results feature makes it easy to provide helpful feedback in real-time. Teachers can view all responses as they are being created. I find this type of assessment particularly helpful when using Show Your Work questions, as I can watch a student work their way through the problem. Teachers can also use the Live Results feature to quickly provide students with feedback through comments or by grading the assignment with a simple slider. Teachers can export results as a .csv file." Sounds incredibly usefull for helping students in real time. T/h N LaFave

"Overall, Behaviorism, although controversial in the modern educational settings, continues to remain a tool at every educator's disposal to construct foundations for lessons and help students to succeed. The incorporation of current and burgeoning technologies will further fuel the debate regarding the use of behaviorist instructional/behavior modification strategies, however, these same technologies can help even the most struggling student to succeed and thrive in their educational career. We must ask whether we, as adults, like the ways in which our behaviors are modified by these digital, social spaces. Only upon some honest reflection can we answer whether we want to do the same to our children." A thoughtful examination of how behaviorism applies in the uses of technology and generally in classroom practices.

"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.

"Featuring practical advice and tips to inspire practitioners, carers and parents, this is a valuable resource for encouraging young children to talk about everyday skills in a context they can relate to. "The series uses simple, positive language and gorgeous full-colour illustrations to teach children aged 0-5 important personal and social skills. From making friends and sharing, to eating and tidying up, this series will help explore positive behaviour with children in a fun and friendly way." Though written for native speakers, the content and language level with pictures should make this series useful for very young NNS learners.

"This article examines the use of both game-based learning (GBL) and gamification in tertiary education. This study focuses specifically on the use of games and/or simulations as well as familiarity with gamification strategies by communication faculty. Research questions concentrate on the rate, frequency, and usage of digital and non-digital games and/or simulations in communication courses, as well as instructor familiarity with gamification. A survey was constructed with questions emerging from the game-based learning and gamification literature. It was distributed to communication faculty at public institutions of higher education in a southern state. In this context, the author argues that while the term gamification is novel, the approach is not. Based on the results, current gamification strategies appear to be a repackaging of traditional instructional strategies."

Seems to be related to HotPotatoes activities. Still up-do-date (c) 2019.

"This study aims at investigating the efficiency of web quests in enhancing the 8th graders' descriptive writing. The 8th graders in the Lebanese public schools in general usually demonstrate poor writing skills. Consequently, they don't show motivation to write in English. The subjects of the study are one control group (n=22) and one experimental group (n=23) enrolled in grade eight in a public school in Beirut and whose ages range from thirteen to fifteen years old. The purpose of the study is to examine whether or not the web quest helps 8th graders achieve unity and coherence in writing descriptive paragraphs and to examine if the motivation towards writing is increased after using the web quest."

A walk through the dynamic of classroom and community, by Nigel Coutts

"To summarize, then, we might say that (1) the skill of guessing from context may not be as helpful in the real world as previously imagined, (2) it may not be as useful in acquiring vocabulary items as previously imagined. When a teacher is asked by a student for the meaning of a word in a text, the reflex response of 'try to work it out from the context' may also not be as helpful as previously imagined. Translations and / or dictionary advice may well, at times, be more appropriate." An interesting view of an activity that has been considered significant by many reading teachers. More research is needed!

"It is difficult to blame our students for their failure to reflect upon their learning. The very nature of the typical school day makes this challenging for even the most committed learner. All that bouncing from experience to experience ensures that by the time they finish their day and have time to reflect, they are relying on a jumbled mess of memories. Without time to reflect immediately after a learning experience, there is little hope that we will develop in our minds a coherent cognitive schema or that we connect new learning with old in a cohesive manner." Author Nigel Coutts offers 8 elements that lend themselves to reflective learning. Includes a nice infographic of the elements.

John Larmer sees a sliding scale: "There is a sliding scale of authenticity for projects, which goes from "not authentic" to "somewhat authentic" to "fully authentic.""