Group items tagged

"When my students wanted to do a project using social media to bring awareness to human trafficking and the problems. They had a wordpress blog, a Twitter account (we set up twitter feed to send the posts there) and a Facebook page. We tracked engagement levels and things that created likes. What stimulated engagement. Now, this was part of my social media module for 3 weeks but it wasn't just your average "post on facebook." "

"AITSL is initiating a project focused on student engagement in learning. Learning Frontiers will support practitioners to develop professional practices which optimise the true engagement of learners. This we believe is a prerequisite to realise the goals of the Australian Curriculum in our new context of complex challenges and amazing opportunities."

Game designers understand how to make games memorable and "sticky" in the sense that, even when you aren't playing the game, you're still thinking about solving its problems and puzzles. As teachers, how might we make our projects and content as sticky as games? How can we engage kids in thoughtful learning even after they leave the classroom? Here are game designers' top five secrets and some tips on using these same game dynamics to make learning in your classroom as addictive as gaming.

"The following is an excerpt from the book Every Child, Every Day: A Digital Conversion Model for Student Achievement, published by Pearson. Edwards is the superintendent of Mooresville (NC) Graded School District (MGSD), whose districtwide 1-to-1 program earned it the 2012 Sylvia Charp Award. "

"Teachers at Mount Desert Elementary School in Northeast Harbor, Maine, use proven Responsive Classroom techniques -- such as relationship-building morning meetings and engaging student-led activities -- to get students focused and ready to learn. "

Project-based learning (PBL) is a method used to cultivate learning and teach students 21st century skills. The idea is "built upon authentic learning activities that engage student interest and motivation," and "generally reflect the types of learning and work people do in everyday world outside the classroom" (pbl-online.org).

Have you ever felt that your online students needed more direction on how to approach a discussion board? Have you thought that with just a bit more assistance students would really engage in the forum and take it to the next level, rather than just do the minimum required to get points?

"We are a team of educators, entrepreneurs, and engineers passionate about improving education. We believe in super simple tech tools to enhance classroom engagement, assessment and personalization. Thank you for joining us as we share strategies, tips and ideas for using Socrative. Join in the conversation and help our community grow!"

"The common core standards are encouraging teachers to engage students in close reading. Much of the focus of discussions of close reading have emphasized what teachers should not do (in terms of pre-reading, or types of questions). I am being asked with increasing frequency what close reading is. "

""Just as rigor does not reside in the barbell but in the act of lifting it, rigor in reading is not an attribute of a text but rather of a reader s behavior engaged, observant, responsive, questioning, analytical. The close reading strategies in Notice and Note will help you cultivate those critical reading habits that will make your students more attentive, thoughtful, independent readers." Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst In Notice and Note Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst introduce 6 signposts that alert readers to significant moments in a work of literature and encourage students to read closely. Learning first to spot these signposts and then to question them, enables readers to explore the text, any text, finding evidence to support their interpretations. In short, these close reading strategies will help your students to notice and note. In this timely and practical guide Kylene and Bob * examine the new emphasis on text-dependent questions, rigor, text complexity, and what it means to be literate in the 21st century * identify 6 signposts that help readers understand and respond to character development, conflict, point of view, and theme * provide 6 text-dependent anchor questions that help readers take note and read more closely * offer 6 Notice and Note model lessons, including text selections and teaching tools, that help you introduce each signpost to your students. Notice and Note will help create attentive readers who look closely at a text, interpret it responsibly, and reflect on what it means in their lives. It should help them become the responsive, rigorous, independent readers we not only want students to be but know our democracy demands."

"Coming up with the right question involves vigorously thinking through the problem, investigating it from various angles, turning closed questions into open-ended ones and prioritizing which are the most important questions to get at the heart of the matter. "We've been underestimating how well our kids can think." "We've been underestimating how well our kids can think." Rothstein said in a recent discussion on the talk show Forum. "We see consistently that there are three outcomes. One is that students are more engaged. Second, they take more ownership, which for teachers, this is a huge thing. And the third outcome is they learn more - we see better quality work.""

"Despite the attention that the videos get, the greatest benefit to any flipped classroom is not the videos. It's the in-class time that every teacher must evaluate and redesign. Because our direct instruction was moved outside of the classroom, our students were able to conduct higher-quality and more engaging activities. As we have seen teachers adopt the flipped model, they use the extra time in myriad ways depending on their subject matter, location, and style of teaching. We asked some of our colleagues to share how they have changed their class time. Following are some examples."

"The first place to find someone who has the credibility and the intent to influence others to change their behavior is in your own network. Going back to The YOU MATTER Manifesto, you already have the power and ability within your means to be an influencer. If you have credibility within a topic and ask those with whom you have strong ties to repeat information about something you like, they will do it because of their belief in you. If you did not like a product or service, and suddenly find something nice to say about it, your circle will sit up and take notice. I strongly believe that consistent engagement on social media is the best mechanism for building your influential base."

"we need to support teachers who willingly engage the messy landscape of student-centred learning"

So you have decided to flip your classroom this year and invert your instruction method hoping to get more student engagement and boost their productivity levels. Well good thing  you are going to give Flipped Classroom a try but before that you need to make it clear to your students what this new method is all about and why not even explain it to their parents as well.

"Making is about realizing that you can be a creator instead of just a consumer. At its best, making allows kids to follow their own interests and passions and create something that is uniquely theirs, while applying the knowledge that they are gathering in all aspects of their life. "

"Literature Circles inherently promote student ownership of learning. In this learning model, students take responsibility for choosing their own books, directing discussion groups, assigning roles for student inquiry, and constructing meaningful interpretations of text as thoughtful community learners. A process will engage students in countless opportunities for critical thinking and collaboration."

"Daniel H. Pink, author of "To Sell is Human" and "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us" talks about the microeconomic fallacy that more pay begets more work and argues that humans are truly motivated by Autonomy, Mastery & Purpose, and why most of us spend a large portion of our day engaging in "non-sales selling" as we persuade, convince, and influence others to give up something in exchange for what we have. http://www.danpink.com/ http://youtu.be/u6XAPnuFjJc"

"It's been around for a few years now and had plenty of interest from around the world already, but Mr G Online has only just discovered Maths Maps. From first impressions, I am absolutely blown away by the idea. The brainchild of leading UK educator Tom Barrett, (now based in Australia), Maths Maps uses Google Maps as the launching pad for Maths Investigations. Barrett's vision was for teachers around the world to collaborate on building Maths Maps, examples of some seen in the screenshots on the left. Here is a brief description of how it works from the Maths Maps website. Elevator Pitch Using Google Maps. Maths activities in different places around the world. One location, one maths topic, one map. Activities explained in placemarks in Google Maps. Placemarks geotagged to the maths it refers to. "How wide is this swimming pool?" Teachers to contribute and share ideas. Maps can be used as independent tasks or group activities in class. Maps can be embedded on websites, blogs or wikis. Tasks to be completed by students and recorded online or offline."

"Personalized learning requires teachers to become co-learners and release their iron grip on the learning process. It requires districts to trust principals, principals to trust teachers, and teachers to trust students. It requires a great deal of conversation about what real learning is and why it matters. engaged-students2This student-driven approach to learning allows kids to explore what matters to them, to build things that don't work and to figure out why. It requires them to form opinions and justify them based on solid evidence. And it requires adults who care and can speak carefully and honestly into the lives of kids. All learning should be formative. "