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Controversial discussion on the merits of a "0" grade.

Sept. 6, 2011 "Matt Richtel's panoramic essay, "In Classroom of the Future, Stagnant Scores." weighs in this morning on the topic of "Grading the Digital School." I found myself cheering and jeering alternately throughout this piece. Why? Because it so quickly confuses "standards" with "standardized test scores" and technology put into classrooms with "preparing kids for a digital future (actually, the digital present: it's here, it's now, like it or not). These confusions are so pervasive in our culture and so urgent that I want to take a moment to focus on them. "

via http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2009/04/fun-4-brain-great-educational-games.html

All games here were made by Exuberant Games. Each game goes through important information for a certain subject matter for grades Kindergarten through 6th grade. The math games are great if you need to review your math facts for addition, subtraction , or division. Be sure to check out our new games for other subjects. * English games to review parts of speech * Reading games to help learn sight words * Science tutorials and games are coming soon! via http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2009/04/fun-4-brain-great-educational-games.html

IB Americas has developed a set of backward curriculum maps in order to help high schools increase participation and success in the Diploma Programme by strengthening the articulation between the MYP and Diploma Programme. These maps define some of the skills necessary for success on Diploma assessments, trace these skills back through grade 9 (level four of the MYP), present assessment and scaffolding ideas, and offer examples of MYP units that can help prepare students for the Diploma.

Flubaroo is a free tool that helps you quickly grade multiple-choice or fill-in-blank assignments. I designed it for my own classroom, and want to share it with other teachers... for free! * Flubaroo works with Google docs. Click if you need an introduction to Google docs.

This very well written piece from Cathy Davidson has me cheering. It is written in response to the recent NY time article "Grading the Digital school." Cathy is the one who belongs in the New York Times in my opinion. Right on. Please read even if you don't agree, it will get you seeing how many educators think.

""Concerns regarding the allegedly disastrous consequences of social networking sites on school performance are unfounded," says Professor Markus Appel, a psychologist who holds the Chair of Media Communication at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) in Bavaria, Germany. Markus Appel, PhD student Caroline Marker (JMU) and Timo Gnambs from the University of Bamberg have taken a closer look at how the social media use of adolescents correlates with their school grades. "There are several contradictory single studies on this subject and this has made it difficult previously to properly assess all results," Marker says. Some studies report negative impacts of Snapchat & Co., others describe a positive influence and again others do not find any relationship at all."

Where did BlueHarvest come from? BlueHarvest is the experiment of a high school teacher in Iowa who was fed up with students valuing points and grades above learning. What does BlueHarvest do? BlueHarvest is a website that organizes the feedback that teachers give to students. BlueHarvest then keeps it organized by idea for future reference as the student progresses.

The Florida Center for Reading Research has created an incredibly useful set of downloadable activities aligned to common core standards for fourth and fifth grade students. If you're teaching reading, you'll want to refer to this and dowlnoad some of these PDF's.

add to 3rd grade animals research site

"This is an awesome example of what kids can do when they are properly motivated by a skilled teacher. This is an excellent interactive book! Great job and congratulations to all the seventh grade authors and their teacher!!!"

The Share my lesson (cosponsored with the american federation of teachers) has organized lessons and materials by grade level.

NYT article on coding movement, focusing on Mill Valley, CA. Coding should be taught in all schools.

Whistleblower lawsuit from an IT director.

Some push back in IT is happening such as this case with an IT director who said he was fired for "blowing the whistle" on innappropriate IT behavior such as problems with the grade reporting software and a computer with confidential student information that was breached without reporting it to the state. These sorts of things have both sides. The point that I would take here is to listen to IT directors when they have concerns: just because you don't understand the problem doesn't mean there is a problem, and that ethics must be applied when things are dealt with in IT.

Third World Challenge: Indian Education system, exams for all 10th grade Indian students.

Indian exams for 10th grade students

How to make a self grading google quiz using Google spreadsheets.

How to make a self grading quiz using Google forms. This is great for those who don't have access to online tools that will let you do this. As a benefit of being a Google Certified Teacher (GCT) - I have access to these forums that have great tutorials and information that other GCT's have shared. This is from GCT, Jesse Spevak.