PBL & STEM/STEAM

"Effective Instructional Strategies for a Model Classroom ... The Curriculum Project provides K - 12 educators with training, materials, and software designed to bring about increased levels of student success. Our instructional strategies and emphasis on the implementation of state standards help teachers to refine their practices to provide differentiated experiences for learners of all types."

"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? "

"It has always been my contention that if you love your subject and teach it well, your students should do well in the final exam. Yesterday, a member of the audience (whose name I unfortunately failed to catch) stated that it has been found that the students of teachers who teach in an inspirational way achieve better results than students of those who teach to the test. This chimed with Bruce Dickson's observation, based on 50 years in education, that inspirational teaching turns pupils on."

"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."

"The Khan Academy is a not-for-profit organization with the mission of providing a high quality education to anyone, anywhere. We have 1400+ videos on YouTube covering everything from basic arithmetic and algebra to differential equations, physics, chemistry, biology and finance which have been recorded by Salman Khan."

Over a 1000 books on-line in various languages

Resources, Web sites, Rubrics

This Wiki has been developed by Mike Fisher and is chock full of ideas to aid you in preparing your students for test taking environments and being able to study independently and interdependently.

A Wiki created by Mike Fisher that specializes in graphic organizers that engages the learner through multiple learning modes

"A Whole New Way to Appreciate Great Literature!"

"This site was created by Dr. Alice Christie to share an exciting new approach to teaching and learning. Enabled by Web 2.0 tools, GoogleTreks™ allows teachers and students to synthesize information in one easy-to-use map that places text, pictures, audio files, video files, and much more in one central location."

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."

"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. "

"Alfie Kohn writes and speaks widely on human behavior, education, and parenting. The author of eleven books and scores of articles, he lectures at education conferences and universities as well as to parent groups and corporations. Kohn's criticisms of competition and rewards have been widely discussed and debated, and he has been described in Time magazine as "perhaps the country's most outspoken critic of education's fixation on grades [and] test scores.""

"But instead, they were having what Katie Slivensky, an educator from the museum, calls a "backwards field trip" in a portable, inflatable planetarium set up for the morning in the old gym at Sutton High School - a 50-minute lesson on the stars, moon and planets, tied to state learning standards for physical science, earth and space."

"These games were created in PowerPoint. Download the templates and modify the games to fit your curriculum needs."

"After six years of study, a national panel of prominent scholars has concluded that there's not enough evidence to suggest that teachers who take alternative pathways into the classroom are any worse­-or any better­-than those who finish traditional college-based preparation programs."

"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."

"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."

"Electronic textbooks are closer to becoming a reality in Texas classrooms. Already, many are picturing classrooms where textbooks exist on the Internet or on Kindle-like devices."