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"Teaching a new language to non-native speakers may be one of the most challenging educational jobs out there, so ELL teachers can use all of the help they can get! Thankfully, many excellent resources for ELL and ESL exist online, from full-service websites to reference tools and communities, all designed to make the task of educating ELL students just a little bit easier and more effective."

"It is not enough to teach students how to understand information and communications technology. At some point you are going to have to assess their knowledge and understanding. "

EDIT COMMUNITY ALERT Marzano Vs. A Four Year Old I know this is more personal, but it's also educational, and I wanted to share. "Some mornings, our four year old will share the dreams she had the night before. This morning, she told me that she dreamed about "Rudolph." She loves the Rudolph Christmas special and we watch it all year long. She watched it last night before bedtime."

According to veteran PBL teacher Don Wettrick, "Nothing is better than a project that gets community buy-in." He says connecting students with an authentic audience is key to driving engagement and helping students relate what they are learning to the real world: "My top two goals are to help students find great opportunities [for real-world problem solving], and then cheerlead them to a great audience."

"As educators, we give feedback to students on their work all the time: in the moment, daily, weekly, and at the end of a unit or year. And research about formative assessment tells us that feedback is a foundational practice that makes a difference in student learning. But how can we make sure our guidance truly encourages our students' learning and growth at each interval? The literature includes some practical ideas to help us get there. It tells us that there is a continuum of feedback, which starts at one end with a focus on what's right or wrong. At the other end of the continuum, the type and amount of information provided turns the feedback into instruction. Let's take a look at three different feedback models derived from the literature and the insights we can take away from each one."

"Asking questions is very much a part of the learning process and there are ways in which we can use educational technology to support this. It is surprising therefore to see that the way questioning is handled in schools and colleges seems to have changed little in the last fifty years. Up and down the country, you will still see learners asking questions by first raising their hand and waiting for the teacher to acknowledge them. Is this the best way? "

"Phil Bird's excellent post on using Google Streetview a while back jogged my memory about a lesson I sometimes do with students when the sun is cracking the flags and the classroom gets too hot to want to stay indoors for the full session."

"Texting can be a teaching tool. That's what some believe. So, for subjects ranging from Spanish to science, from homework help to exam reminders, teachers around the country are beginning to allow students to text in class."

"Joining in the effort to keep students engaged in the classroom, Microsoft on April 30 announced a new addition to its PowerPoint software that allows students to participate in classroom presentations. The best news: It's available free of charge. The new tool, called Mouse Mischief, allows teachers to add multiple choice, yes/no, and drawing questions to their presentations. Students then use any computer mice (any device from the school will work) to answer these questions. The tool also allows for whole-class or individual student responses."