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For over a decade, professional learning communities (PLCs) have been touted as an effective way to build upon the knowledge and skills of experienced teachers, yet much of the evidence base is derived from self-reports by practitioners. Although several generations of school reform (the standards movement, No Child Left Behind, and now the Common Core State Standards) have cited improving teacher effectiveness as key to improving student achievement, little change has occurred in the nature of professional development. This article argues that professional development generally, and PLCs in particular, would benefit from the insights gleaned from the extensive literature on teacher expertise that focuses on how well teachers understand the content they teach and how well they understand how students learn that content.

"Reading is a foundational skill for 21st-century learners. Guiding learners to become engaged and effective users of ideas and information and to appreciate literature requires that they develop as strategic readers who can comprehend, analyze, and evaluate text in both print and digital formats. Learners must also have opportunities to read for enjoyment as well as for information. School library media specialists are in a critical and unique position to partner with other educators to elevate the reading development of our nation's youth."

A long-standing idea that human languages share universal features that are dictated by human brain structure has been cast into doubt. A study reported in Nature has borrowed methods from evolutionary biology to trace the development of grammar in several language families. The results suggest that features shared across language families evolved independently in each lineage. The authors say cultural evolution, not the brain, drives language development.

Good advice to those who plan professional development

These are my reasons about how and why I continue to blog almost four years on. Key points: Blogging keeps me current Blogging encourages me to read Blogging makes me think, justify and engage in debate Blogging makes me develop a discipline and a time to write Blogging encourages me to make practice explicit Blogging is for me a form of curation, of gathering sources that matter Increasingly I see blogging as a form of professional self-development.

"The importance of proofreading cannot be overlooked. Proofreading skills do not develop overnight, but rather improve with practice. You can develop these skills by reviewing your own work, as well as the work of others. Because proofreading can often be a tedious project, below are some tips that can make the process more manageable."

A collection of resources to encourage interaction and building a community of learning for educators that seek to develop their skills and create online discussions and interaction. Organized by topics targeted to faculty, instructors, K-12 educators and instructional designers.

Look at the report: http://www.m-learning.org/docs/The%20m-learning%20project%20-%20technology%20update%20and%20project%20summary.pdf "The m-learning project - funded by the European Commission, the project partners and (in England) the Learning and Skills Council - was considered highly innovative and unusual. It not only involved developing learning materials to run on handheld devices in a time of rapid technological development, but also targeted reluctant young adult learners with poor literacy or numeracy."

"High prior attainers. Gifted and talented. High Achievers. The students that are aiming for the very top grades at GCSE, that we're all determined to keep at A level for our subject. We put on trips. We run extracurricular clubs. We bring out the "Challenge Questions". We create peer mentoring. But one thing we often neglect is developing their sense of curiosity in our subject, developing that sense of wonder and awe for the best little bits, that need to actually just know how/ why/where/what is going on with this little bit of your subject."

"Evidence suggests that developing cooking and food preparation skills is important for health and nutrition, yet the practice of home cooking is declining and now rarely taught in school. A new study published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior found that developing cooking skills as a young adult may have long-term benefits for health and nutrition."

"Business and the media are constantly screaming that problem solving skills and creative thinking are the keys to innovation and success (and the beat the robots trying to take your job), yet many teachers feel that the skills and opportunities to develop them are often an add-on, an after thought, or taught in isolation during special activities, like a STEM week. Even these activities have a particular expected method which the pupils must 'discover', rather than completely new and unique solutions. How can we develop the skills to help our pupils think of the unexpected?"

Quantum Victoria will deliver an online professional development module that will equip teachers with the skills and tools necessary for teaching in 21st century learning environments. This embedded professional development opportunity will focus primarily on project-based learning (PBL) and the effective integration of ICT in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. ... [more]

Join #UKEdChat at 8pm(UK) on Thursday to discuss Sharing Professional Development & Up-Skilling Others

"There's no doubt about it - getting students involved in their own assessment and marking has a wide variety of benefits. Take this great summary by Rosario Hernandez at University College Dublin for example, which explains that peer-assessment benefits students in four key ways: Promotes high-quality learning Contributes to skills development Furthers personal development Increases students' confidence, reduces stress and improves student motivation"

At the heart of all that we do as teachers lies the act of learning. Our hope is that our actions inspire our students to engage in a process that results in their acquisition of new knowledge, mastery of new skills and the development of capacities and dispositions which will prepare them for life beyond our classrooms. Increasingly our focus is on developing the skills and dispositions our students require to become life-long learners. We recognise that in a rapidly changing world, the capacity to take charge of your personal learning journey, to become self-navigating learners is essential. 

BridgingApps is a program of Easter Seals Greater Houston that provides access to educational and therapeutic tools-anywhere, anytime-allowing parents, teachers, and therapists to effectively use mobile devices and apps to target and improve individual skill development to help children and adults with disabilities reach their highest levels of physical and cognitive development.

How did the "Asian Tigers" use the export promotion strategy to develop their economies?

The investigations and visualizations on this site were designed to accompany Earth Science, a high school textbook authored by Spaulding and Namowitz and published by McDougal Littell. The Web site was developed by TERC, a non-profit educational research and development firm in collaboration with McDougal Littell. Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation.