Group items tagged

Daily Wordle puzzles based on famous books, locations, and dates. Not the most complicated use of Wordle, but rather inventive. Would be better to have comments turned on, so people could guess and discuss the daily puzzle.

"I have always believed that reading has a significant impact on our understanding and appreciation of the world. As both a life-long passionate reader and an experienced English Language Arts teacher, I have witnessed first-hand the impact that reading has on the ability of learners in terms of comprehension, grammar, empathy, confidence, vocabulary and expression. This has however, only ever been phenomenological through informal observations in the classroom, and in an effort to incorporate sustained silent reading (SSR) as a regular, valid and essential practice, I have embarked upon this research in order to determine the impacts that daily reading has on middle-school learners, not only in terms of English Language Arts, but also across the curriculum."

A useful blog with a new daily writing idea to try out in your class. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/English

Daily summary of the stories, articles, and resources for teaching K-12 science and math.

The chance to "make a difference" in young people's lives is what makes teaching a calling. But working in a community of learners that prizes real intellectual development and creativity, and having a level of control over what you can do on a daily basis, is what sustains that calling.

"Only one in 30 children does the recommended amount of daily physical activity, new research suggests. Guidelines from the Chief Medical Officer say people aged five to 18 should do at least 60 minutes of "moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity" every day. Previous research has often used less than seven days of data on children's activity and created an average based on that."

This is a great YouTube channel with a range of recorded maths lessons aimed at 11-18 year olds. Watch as lessons expertly presented about areas of sectors, probability, simultaneous equations and much more. Check out @mathschallenge for daily maths questions to try out in your class. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Maths

This is a tough one and I've had two or three this year who will call out - in a disruptive way. Sometimes it is when I'm speaking. I have one great class that causes me to struggle because of several who have a bit of a problem with knowing the appropriate time to engage (not in the middle of a question or when someone else is talking.) I encourage kids to have a pencil and paper or a tablet in  hand to jot down notes of what they want to say - sometimes they are afraid they'll forget. Other times, when it is class discussion, I use poker chips. Each student gets two. When they want to interject, they spend their chip. Every student must participate twice before anyone can have a third input. It is a daily grade and so easy to assess b/c everyone must give up their chips.  This article takes it much further and is a good one if you're struggling with this. "Namely, how do you deal with a student who, despite receiving consequence after consequence, continues to call out in class? Before we get to the solution, it's important to note that there are times during a normal school day when you may want to allow your students to respond to you or their fellow classmates without raising their hand"

Here's the website where Merritt compiled all her book reviews on Kindle Nation Daily.

Another one of my students has been writing and sharing on the Kindle Kids Corner. Here's an interview she did about trends in Young Adult fiction and I agree with so much of what she's written. This is another example of how authentic projects can transform a student. This happened to come out of one of my favorite kindle book sites - Kindle Nation Daily and an email conversation I had with the author Steven Windwalker (penname.) 

VocabularySpellingCity has a new summer word study program that allows children to sharpen academic skills as they play. These simple assignments are a daily workout for the brain, building literacy skills such as vocabulary, spelling, and writing.

I am a 2nd grade teacher from OHIO who is WILD about technology! This fall will be my 17th year of teaching! I have enjoyed sharing my ideas and supporting teachers who have attended my technology sessions. We have traded many ideas and given support to each other over the years through email and Facebook. This blog is a new adventure to share ideas and to learn from a new community! I hope to inspire teachers to use technology in their classrooms. I hope to motivate parents/community members to use technology in their homes and in their daily lives!

Great article by Larry Cuban on the Washington Post that you should forward to principals. "Yet studies of principal behavior in schools makes clear that spending time in classrooms to observe, monitor, and evaluate classroom lessons do not necessarily lead to better teaching or higher student achievement on standardized tests. Where there is a correlation between principals' influence on teachers and student performance, it occurs when principals create and sustain an academic ethos in the school, organize instruction across the school, and align school lessons to district standards and standardized test items. There is hardly any positive association between principals walking in and out of classrooms a half-dozen times a day and conferring briefly with teaches about those five-minute visits.The reality of daily principal actions conflicts with the theory."

This is a daily quiz from National Geography where users answer 10 questions about geography and more. There are two levels of difficulty and each question is multiple choice. It's a fun way to improve your children's knowledge of the world. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/PSHE%2C+RE%2C+Citizenship%2C+Geography+%26+Environmental

Mastering the art of teaching appears to be easier for some colleagues than others. Some teachers just seem to have a presence, gaining respect and credibility from students, colleagues and parents alike. Did they undergo some mysterious, magical training that wasn't covered during your teacher training course?  Well, no. They just have mastered how to manage their working relationships, using their personalities to generate rapport, which is respected by students of all age. It's not rocket science - it's far more complicated than that. Personality and behaviour clashes in classrooms are inevitable, but looking at all the different elements of daily interactions can help you gain respect from students and colleagues alike...

The general population is an eclectic mix of individuals. No two people are the same, and the challenges of one person will ultimately be outweighed by the challenges of another person. For those who fall outside the 'norms' of society, the challenges of everyday life are even more profound, unable to access the daily privileges that most people take for granted...

"A new report, published today by King's College London, shows the findings of four projects that for the first time in the UK placed Nursery, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 children in their local museum for extended residencies. The groups undertook many of their daily lessons and activities at their local museums for a period of between two weeks and up to a full term."

If you want to teach about the Olympics, the TES forum out of the UK is where the great content is being uploaded daily. There are two activities of note, one is Olympic Games: Now and then and another is about Greek Ideas and what has been passed down. Many interesting lessons by grade level.

Alfred Thompson shares information on the 2013 Imagine Cup - Bigger than ever. He's the one blog at Microsoft that I read on a daily basis and worth following. He's also a dear friend and speaks very highly of the great things he's see happen in the Imagine Cup. There are some great things that are included in this year's contest including making an app that could change someone's life in the Wold Citizenship category. Make a game in the games category and in INnovation to "reinvent" something - social networks, shopping, music, etc. Those are the 3 competitions. If you're inventing and innovating in your classroom, consider joining in.