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"In our school this year, we are focusing on raising the attainment of boys in relation to their female peers. This is by no means anything new; the gender gap is an entity that has plagued school results for as long as I can remember (and probably long before that). I should say that our boys perform better than national averages, but do not perform as well as the girls. You might be sat there in the same position. You've got an interesting situation in your school, where girls are outperforming boys, it features prominently on your School Improvement Plan (SIP), and you've read all the new books on the subject etc."

Student Motivation: Traditionally three styles of motivation are recognized: goal-oriented, relationship-oriented, and learning-oriented. Your teaching should attempt to reach students who have any of these motivations. It's easy to engage students who are learning-oriented because they learn for the sake of learning. They are self-motivated and will work hard to understand and apply most anything offered to them. They may become frustrated when asked to create a finished product because this may be viewed as a cessation of learning. Students who are relationship-oriented usually engage in learning as a way to interact with others. They enjoy the social aspect of education. They often enjoy working in pairs and in groups. They want to connect with others. Some of these students want to connect with their peers, but some are looking for a close connection with their instructor - either to obtain approval or to feel noticed and appreciated. Be careful, relationship-oriented students can be led astray by peer influences. Several vocal students who are negative about your course or its content can sway these students to feel the same way. Goal-oriented students ask themselves, "What's in it for me?"

"A 'Guess Who' game template to customise digitally, or print the blank template for pupils to design their own. Get students thinking about chemical elements, rivers of the world, types of words, or anything else!"

The latest edu news, articles, resources, Edu Twitter activity to help educators be ready for anything

The latest edu news, articles, resources, Edu Twitter activity to help educators be ready for anything

Despite your best efforts, your entire class seems to start experiencing a huge decline in motivation. What started out well, as you watched your students' curiosities be heightened, now feels like an attempt to lift something well beyond your capacity. You're experiencing "the dip," and it is a common occurrence. You may very well not have done anything wrong, to cause this to happen. However, there are plenty of strategies you can use to bring the motivation back in a course.

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race." ― Calvin Coolidge Growing up, I had a copy of this quote on my wall. It is one of those things that stuck with me over the years. For a long time I might not have truly appreciated its wisdom. Now as a teacher in times of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, its significance seems to have grown. When we can instantaneous consumers of the all of the worlds information, as we access anything and everything at the speed of light, how do we learn the value of persistence?

Great post by Shelly Wright. It's not about the videos.

When I recently re-read the post, I didn't disagree with anything I'd said. Yet my brief love affair with the flip has ended. It simply didn't produce the tranformative learning experience I knew I wanted for my students .

Direct instruction is direct instruction no matter how you spin or flip it. While it does have its place, as all things do, we're reminded that the paradigm shift is not simply a matter of shifting an order of events. This is a solid post on the power of personalized learning.

"Our school has been working with iPads for three years now and I can easily say that these have been the most exciting years of my educational career. While the decision to share these positive results is a direct result of the positive impact on student learning, it is also important to realize the impact this initiative is having with teachers"

A change in teaching style Direct impact Maximizing Student Learning Time The Journey Continues...

If you can't get enough tips, apps, websites, tech help and guides, Make Use Of should be a go-to for you. This website will keep you in-the-know when it comes to anything tech. Cost: Free.

"10 Things School Leaders Do to Kill a Teacher's Enthusiasm for Technology" from Tech & Learning

Editorial about a recommendation by the AFT Pres to develop a professional certification for teachers.  It's about time...

Mark & Michelle, thank you for your comments. When I posted this I knew the words "standardized test" would be a flashpoint. It is for me too. With nearly 40 years in the classroom, teaching a creative art (music) to all different levels (kindergarten through college and well beyond), I have often railed against reducing any education, any student, to a number. Very little in what I have taught can be measured with a pencil-and-paper test. What I see here is different than this. It is the union that she is saying should be the "gate-keeper" to our profession, rather than some generic government standard test. Yes, tests would be a part of the certification, but from what I read, so would much more, including actual classroom work. The certification would be similar to the AMA for physicians or the Bar for attorneys. These are certifications designed and administered by the profession - not the government - and validate a candidate's readiness to practice. Yes, I too am strongly against the government, or any organization outside of our profession, to certify, to validate, a teacher's ability to do the job. But we have to admit there is a problem with teacher certification and validation. There are people who simply should not be in the classroom (haven't we all seen them?). It is very difficult to remove folks who are dragging the respect for our profession down. Yes, there is remediation. Yes, it should be a difficult process to remove someone in order to protect against administrative abuses. But what is talked about here is the profession policing itself - something that the teacher's unions, in general, have steadfastly refused to do. What the AFT Pres is suggesting is that the best thing we can do to raise the status of teaching as a profession is to take action ourselves to make it happen. Really, if we in the profession do not do this, then it will be imposed from those outside who do not know what we do, how we do it and why we do it.

You are still talking about a standardized test. Let's face it--doctors have to have specific knowledge to do their job. Whether or not they are creative or engaging is not as important as their knowledge base. The same with lawyers--knowledge of the law is essential, and everything else is secondary. However, in teaching, although educational theory and knowledge of their subject area is important (and already tested, by the way) the most essential aspect of teaching is how you can creatively engage students, interact with parents and peers, and stay organized and motivated. These things CAN'T BE TESTED. Right now, teachers already go through extensive training, evaluation, and continuing education. Do you REALLY think that a standardized test will really improve teaching? I know a lot of university professors who can easily pass a test, but few of them can teach worth beans.

Multimedia embedding on a variety of sites and platforms

Some educators are using popular commercial games like World of Warcraft (WoW) to create curriculum around the game (via @Learnfreeli)

ideas and links to other resources for creatively using twitter in the classroom