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New resource from National Strategies. This Excellence for All guidance assumes that good provision for G&T pupils is good provision for all pupils. It explores the characteristics of successful G&T learners and considers how those characteristics can be developed in under-achieving or potential G&T pupils, particularly those from a disadvantaged background. The leadership team has a fundamental role in establishing this priority in school. They need to make clear the expectation that all pupils will benefit from a high-challenge curriculum and high-challenge classroom teaching, with support as required. By raising expectations for all pupils, schools will be in a stronger position to: narrow any achievement gaps between pupils from different backgrounds narrow gaps in effectiveness between departments and classrooms. This guidance will develop teaching skills through a systematic approach to 'enquiry into practice'. It proposes that teacher enquiry groups can create a school-level evidence-base of what works well in a specific context. This evidence makes it much easier for teachers in the same school to make the link to their own classroom teaching and to their own pupils. It will help schools clarify and define what Quality First Teaching looks like in their own specific context; it will also enable schools to demonstrate improvement through the Institutional and Classroom Quality Standards (ICQS) for G&T. These materials are designed to be used in a flexible way that makes them easily adaptable to schools' individual priorities. This guidance includes a toolkit of CPD materials, useful resources and references.

The top five search tools for finding Flickr images are designed to help teachers and students locate just the right image for use in any subject area and project. Without these tools finding the right image on this image hosting site is often an impossible, or at least a tedious, task. The value of this site is its ability to provide digital pictures which are often impossible for a teacher to obtain any other way. Like everything else on the internet, trying to find something is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. This where the top five search tools become valuable resources for teachers and students trying to find images comes into play. These search engines are specifically designed to search the more than three billion pictures on the Flickr hosting site.

How many times have you prepared an updated or new dynamic math or science PowerPoint or Keynote presentation for class and it would not open in school? Also, how many times has it happened to your students when it's time to give a class presentation? Now you need to postpone their presentation to another day, disrupting even the best planning.

Often we search for meaningful ways to integrate digital technology in project based learning activities given to our students. We also would like our students to develop a thorough understanding of the concepts underlying the work - after all this is the purpose of the project. Giving students the opportunity to complete and present their project through a digital lens has one great advantage - student engagement. This in turn causes students to develop a more in depth understanding of concepts.

The primary purpose of blog is to facilitate interaction between a teacher and his or her students. This is possible because a blog is a dynamic tool which can be easily updated or transformed as necessary to meet the needs of a science or math class. The integration of blog technology in a class requires an investment of time. Because of this commitment, additional evidence is needed to support the integration this technology in a science or math class curriculum.

Earth Day is around the corner - April 22nd - and every year teachers and students try to come up with new and innovative activities. Recycling is a popular activity to keep the idea recycling going strong. Classrooms often come up with ideas to recycle paper, ink cartridges, plastic bottles, metal cans, and newspapers. However, there are other recycling activities that students can get involved in to support Earth Day.

ReadWriteThink offers a collection of online Student Materials to support literacy learning in theclassroom. These interactive tools can be used to supplement a variety of lessons and provide an opportunity for students to use technology while developing their literacy skills. Click on the name of each interactive for a brief description of the tool and a list of the ReadWriteThink lessons that use the tool. From there you'll also be able to directly access the tool and use it in your classroom

Learning algebra is difficult for most students. Ask any student what they are learning in algebra and you will probably receive an answer similar to this (after - Why do I need to know this?). "Using Xs and Ys a lot, a bunch of numbers and symbols, and memorizing a lot of rules." This often comes with learning algebra without connection to anything students can relate to. When students learn basic math, they can make a lot of connections.

An algebra project focusing on a theme which interests students is more likely to engage them in the project, so lets take a look at sports. Many students participate in sports at some level, whether as part of a school team or a community team. For the most part these same students do not understand the costs involved to host the sport. Also, they do not understand how much money is needed to ensure a profitable season so the sport can continue from year to year.

Although it is not obvious to the casual observer, rocks absorb water. You can ask your students to observe rocks all day long and they will not be able to tell if the rocks they are observing are absorbing water. However, there is an investigation which allows students to discover that rocks absorb water and how much water specific rocks absorb.

Students learn how to conduct science investigations in the same manner as scientists, as they learn to analyze sets of online real time data to solve problems.

The Flip camera is great for all types of projects in science and math - at any grade level. Flip cameras are small handheld video cameras that can record 30 or 60 minutes worth of video. They connect to a computer with a USB plug that "flips" out from the side of the camera. The benefits of these cameras include another means for assessing students understanding of concepts beyond worksheets and tests. Besides a teacher's record, the videos provide a digital record for parents and administrators to show a student's successes or areas which need improvement.

In contrast to the digital footprint you use for your personal learning network, this focus is on the online digital footprint students' use in your science or math classroom. The power of a well designed digital footprint brings the capacity to transform a classroom into an online learning community. Within this community your students use digital tools to create and develop a personal learning network.

Strategies and techniques are provided for integrating podcasts lessons to promote the benefits of greater student engagement and alternative assessment.

Scientific inquiry causes students to use higher order thinking skills and learn science from a minds-on approach. Inquiry's foundation originates with John Dewey. In Dewey's book Democracy in Education (1916), he indicates that education begins with the curiosity of learners. Student curiosity and involvement in scientific inquiry moves them beyond passive learning to higher order thinking.

Most of today's students either own or use iPods, iPod Touches, MP3 Players, and computers everyday. These digital tools provide a natural strategy to support student learning - Podcasts!

When students are engaged in learning science or math which is personal to them (real world problem solving), they become more engaged in the learning process. Project based learning situations in science and math increase opportunity for students to internalize and make connections.

The only way to truly understand the properties of matter and changes which occur in the properties of matter is to conduct and inquiry-based investigation.

Gifted students develop a deeper understanding of the science process as they learn to design their own experiments to test treatments and hypotheses like scientists.

A dozen activities are presented for using an online education technology tool to engage students in classroom activities to develop a better understanding of concepts.