Group items tagged

good ideas for high-interest, engaging lesson activities

These strategies are great suggestions. I especially like the idea of four corners. I feel like I could use it when I have students do current technology articles. I also like tea party, that would be a great way to introduce a careers research assignment, giving each student a basic definition of a career in the field and having the "tea party" before they choose their topic. I feel that this is geared towards teachers looking to improve their classroom and shift more toward a learner-centered room. As the blog states, it is also a great resource for teachers who have especially active students.

I was pleasantly surprised by this article! When I first clicked on it I expected it to be elementary based like so many engagement articles are. But then I realized it was for secondary so good for me! The main thing I pulled out of this article was the idea for crowd sourcing. It seems like a simple concept but I had never thought of it before. I think this is a great resource for teachers and I plan on using the crowd sourcing technique on Tuesday!

The information in this article supports one of the things that my school tech integrationist is trying to get teachers to do with social media. He is asking teachers to do Penpal Schools, which will connect students with other students from around the world. I am going to be having my class do Penpal schools. I also want to try out having my students blog about books we are reading in 7th grade language arts after reading about the benefits of blogging in this article.

Very cool! I really wish I had students at an older age level. Though I can do something like this for 2nd graders it is more difficult with their reading and writing skill levels. Still a pretty cool tool to use for students and teachers alike. Thank you for sharing!

Social Media is important. When I was in middle school and high school we didn't learn about social media or how to be safe on the internet. It was more of a foot note than a subject in class that we learned about. Blogging was foreign to me until now. I feel like I have missed a lot because of this.

I definitely think this could be useful for my classroom. It gives data showing students are engaged in gamification. Teachers could use this journal article as an argument for why gamification can and should in some cases be used in the classroom.

This is a great article and it goes right along with my topic. I really like that is is showing the promotion of student engagement through online discussions. Sometimes it might be easier for a student to engage in an online discussion because they may be less shy on a keyboard.

Engaging uses of instructional technology including resources and tools, 10 techniques including links to delve deeper into uses for technology

Seven essentials for project-based learning...great information on how to stay away from 'busywork' and how to engage learners in meaningful tasks.

20 different websites are given to give teachers access to lesson plans that engage students and provides outlines to support a classroom that supports technology, common core, and professional development.

Websites like this that have a list of other places to go make it easy to keep your resources organized and who doesn't love free online resources!

This website is a lot like the one Tabatha posted, I like that there are websites out there that can give a teacher multiple resources on just one page, it takes the search out of teaching, which is really appreciated from a busy teacher. This is mainly for teacher use, but students benefit.

Student involvement in decision making process

Engagement: Social Learning: Use time outside of class better, so you can use in-class time better It provides opportunities for writing and writing assessment: Encourage dialogue, reach more students Help students get ahead of the professional curve: Build connections

I agree that I could efficiently use this resource in my future classroom to an extent. Because the article only outlines reasons why social media should be used in a classroom, there are no specific ways mentioned on how to integrate social media... there are only a list of benefits to using it. I believe this article could be intended for teacher or student use because it allows both teachers and students to understand the benefits and purposes of using social media in the classroom. One similar resource that could also be considered is "How to use Social Media as a Learning Tool": http://www.edudemic.com/how-to-use-social-media-as-a-learning-tool-in-the-classroom/. This site seems more beneficial to me because it specifically offers ways for teachers to implement social media in the classroom (rather than just stating advantages), such as a class Facebook group, Twitter feed, blog post, YouTube videos, and Instagram. Are you aware of any similar resources that should be considered? If so, what are those resources?

You also have to keep in mind the overall purpose of social media being in the classroom.

This is one of the resources I am using to write my final paper. It discusses how Gamification can help student engagement and motivation.

Thanks for sharing Dave. I never seem to get tired of reading about gamification. It's so interesting. I definitely think that this can be used as a resource for teachers.

Gamification is very unique inside of a classroom now that I have a better idea on what it is. I feel that it fits perfectly inside of a classroom because it gives the room a whole new look. It can be beneficial for both teacher and student because the teacher can use the game to help get the students attention and help better their learning. Then the students can use it to help with their learning and become more engaged to what they are being taught and having it be put into a fun way of learning.

I just used Poll Everywhere in a presentation on campus with pre-service teachers! It was a hit!! I've never seen a class so quiet and so focused with that many cellphones out!

I feel like this would be a great tool if it's used in the right context. I don't necessarily think elementary would be the right place for it. For the students that actually have phones you don't know if the students have texting included in their plans. You might get them in trouble with their parents, hence you get in trouble for telling them to send a text. In older grades I could see this going over very well and I've seen it used in a college class before. It's a nice change of pace in that context.

I actually used Poll Everywhere in my Level 1 Teaching Experience and loved it! The students got to see some results of our lessons, I got a quick formative assessment, and the data was nicely organized for graphing or applying to spreadsheets!

Prezi is a way of working on a presentation online and then when you go to your class you can log on to your account and pull the presentation up that you have been working on, instead of using USB drives, etc.

I think Prezi is a great Web 2.0 Tool. Powerpoints are very beneficial and fun to create, however Prezi takes that to a whole new level. It is a great interactive tool that keeps learners engaged! Prezi is great for anyone to use, whether you are a student or an educator. I think all students should learn and hear about Prezi, so they can make interactive presentations!

This is the best presentation tool out there. Whenever I see a Power point I kind of laugh to myself. Prezi is just so much more pretty. With the types of transitions and effects you can make it just makes the experience so much better. As some of the others were saying it keeps the learners engaged. Power points came often become very repetitive and boring but with Prezi this is rarely the fact. Prezi is catered to many different levels of education, teachers, students, and even business. Anyone can use it, and they should. To my knowledge there aren't any different types of presentation tools out there.

Wikispaces Classroom is a social writing platform for education. It will make it incredibly easy to create a classroom workspace where me and my students can communicate and work on writing projects alone or in teams. Rich assessment tools will give me the power to measure student contribution and engagement in real-time.

This is a great learning website that is completely free. They have various educational topics for all different age groups.

I also just recently started using Khan academy with my students. Even though we follow a constructivist approach to teaching math, this resource has been helpful for my kids who need procedural examples. Plus sometimes it is more engaging to listen to someone else teach it!

I do like the free aspect of Khan Academy - due in part to funding by The Gates Foundation. I love the variety of topics available, and the ability to engage in "hip pocket learning" whenever I wish. Honestly, I am sad that Bank of America has become a sponsor of Khan Academy, however. It seems like they would have less of an interest in learning for learning's sake.

Online Tools for Student-Centered Learning - Web 2.0 tools to engage students in discussions, analyze information and solve problems. Collaborative learning tools for the classroom

Kim this is a great Web 2.0 tool. This would be a great resource for teachers and students in promoting self-directed learning. I think self-directed learning is crucial in education, and gets us away from the "spoon feeding" phenomenon that so many students have grown accustomed to.

This blog post is about creating home-to-school connections through the use of various social media platforms. I hope my school utilizes the different types of technology discussed in this article so that I have an efficient means through which I can reach my students' families.

This article talks about how develop good inquiries through good questioning and organization. I would use this article to remind me of good questioning for students.

Nicole, I really enjoyed watching this video as well. When I first started watching the video, there was an opening sentence that just drew my attention right away into the video. The teacher said, "I realized how much more they learn, then when I see that they take action and their applying the skills they learn in here, I feel like I have done my job as a teacher." When I start to begin my teacher's journey, I hope to feel that overwhelming joy of teaching my students, not just viable information, but also how it can be applied to the real world settings. I also was excited to hear that all the coordinator said that group based learning is all about curiosity. Which I believe is what we as future or current teachers try to accomplish everyday that we are in the classroom. I agree that the resource can be used efficiently in my own future classroom because I hope to one day teach my students how they want to be taught material, as well as how to share that material with others around them. I believe that the resource is a use for both teachers and students. The reason why is because teachers can learn from their students developing ways, as well as how the student can teach their teacher how they can best develop and comprehend the material. I am currently not aware of any other similar resources that could be considered at this time, but I am confident that as our class continues on, there will be more resources.

"Inquiry is a fancy term for curiosity". I could not agree more. This is such a motivational video to help us as educators encourage our students to dive further in exploring ideas. Curiosity leads to the ability to create strong, driving questions. I look forward to allowing my students to take charge of their learning by encouraging them to bring up real life questions that will allow them to dive into their inquiry and research. As teachers, we must learn to take a step back and allow the students to facilitate their own learning with strong question asking!

Case study concerning the gamification of a science class

This is an article from Kylene Beers, a well known teacher and writer in the English/Language Arts world, about the effectiveness of a whole class novel

I definitely enjoyed this article. I liked reading novels as a whole group, but it was difficult if only half the class did the reading and the other half just messed around. A good resource for teachers to take a look at and consider. I agree that the reflection from all students is necessary, but that could be done without having to read the novel as a whole. If students don't read the book, it's on their own shoulders...

This was very interesting to read. I agreed with many of the point made by the author and I think that this article can help me as I continue to work to engage students in reading. I read aloud a novel to my 6th classes for the to just enjoy listening to. We are also currently doing a whole class novel study of Holes. I agree with the author of the article that there is room for both whole class reading of a novel and choice time. I have my student independently read a book of their choice, and we have a set aside time a few times a week where everyone in the class reads. Currently my 7th grade Literature students are reading a novel of their choice and I am just requiring that they write reading response letters to me and it has been going very well. They are engaged in reading and able to read at their own pace. I gave them a deadline for when they need to have their books finished, but it is on them to decided how much to read each week. Choice and voice are very important. This is a great resource that I can share with teachers in my collaborative teacher team.

This article showcases 11 different education experts and their definitions of 21st-century learning.

This is a great article and gives me a great definition to wrap my head around. One item I feel is really applicable to learning in no matter the date is "...students master content while producing, synthesizing, and evaluating information from a wide variety of subjects and sources with an understanding of and respect for diverse cultures." Otherwise really good information! Thanks for sharing this.

I think this website is a great start when it comes to thinking about teaching 21st century skills. Before you can understand something, you must understand the definition of it. I think it is important to note that 21st century learning is not the same as teaching/learning with technology. This website would be especially useful for teachers, because they need to understand 21st century learning before they can teach it. Great article, thanks for sharing!