This free professional learning series will help you to :
use digital tools for teaching and learning
find and make online resources for learning
include e-learning in your teaching practice
A guidebook to help look at social media as a powerful tool in the classroom, rather than as a threat. How to create social media guidelines for your school.
A guidebook to help look at social media as a powerful tool in the classroom, rather than as a threat. How to create social media guidelines for your school.
The 2015 Best Websites for Teaching & Learning foster the qualities of innovation, creativity, active participation, and collaboration. They are free, Web-based sites that are user friendly and encourage a community of learners to explore and discover.
The American Association of School Librarians lists the best websites for teaching & learning, full of free digital tools and other online educational resources.
Are they any specific websites you have looked at or used from this page? There looks to be a lot of neat ones. I saw Storyboard That was on here. I have used that with my students to create a children's story. I am eager to check out some of the others sites and to learn how I can incorporate them into my classroom.
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.
We need to have students that are able to ask questions and challenge what they see, but always in a respectful way.
it is not beneficial to give students problems that aren’t real.
Let’s start asking kids to really look into finding what the problems are and giving them some purpose in solving something real.
we spend too much time focusing on being able to tell others what our students can do and know, and not enough time helping students understand those things themselves.
With most people that having a computer also having a Skype account, there are many that are willing to share their expertise in different areas. This does not only have to be via technology, but we should also be bring in experts from our community to talk to students.
Treat others with kindness and consideration. Always.
have students not only learn, but teach each other.
This article discusses eight things we should be looking for in a learner-focused classroom: voice, choice, time for reflection, opportunities for innovation, critical thinkers, problem finders and solvers, self-assessment, and connections.
every teacher already has the tools to differentiate in powerful ways for all learners
The core of differentiation is a relationship between teachers and students. The teacher's responsibility is connecting content, process, and product. Students respond to learning based on readiness, interests, and learning profile.
Content is comprised of the knowledge, concepts, and skills that students need to learn based on the curriculum.
If we provide a variety of ways to explore the content outcomes, learners find different ways to connect.
Process is how students make sense of the content. They need time to reflect and digest the learning activities before moving on to the next segment of a lesson.
Processing helps students assess what they do and don't understand.
Reflection is a powerful skill that is developed during processing experiences
Product differentiation is probably the most common form of differentiation.
Teachers give choices where students pick from formats.
Students propose their own designs.
The key to product options is having clear academic criteria that students understand.
When considering your students' needs, reach even higher in your practice -- that extra stretch is inside us all -- and students will benefit.
This article describes the teacher's role for effective planning of differentiated instruction. I hope that I can use the three points in this article (differentiating content, process, and product) in order to create the best learning experiences for my students.
Over time you, your principal, and fellow teachers will be able to work together to create the school culture that you want. Your school culture will support your classroom culture and make your job much more manageable.
You will have to try a few things and see what works for you and your students.
Be positive.
Say out loud to the class (narrate) that you see them, and write their name up on the positive board.
Not only will this help reinforce positives with your kids, but it will also help keep you positive.
Use body language.
Often walking to a student veering off track and just putting your hand on their desk can help.
If you do have to say something negative to a student, make sure it’s private (whenever possible).
Use routines.
When kids know what to expect, they’re better at doing what you want them to do.
Seek advice and feedback, try ideas in your class, and try again, try again, try again! Keep trying new things until you figure out what works for you and your students.
This post gives some great advice to new teachers, particularly how to be consistent, be positive, use body language, and use routines. I hope I can look back to this post during my first year of teaching in order to prevent some of the mistakes I will inevitably make!
Anna,
I would agree that this resource will be used efficiently in my future classroom. Especially since I will become a new teacher, when I decide to enter the college of education program and have my own classroom soon. Love how it says these are all the right things that you are doing, which makes my confidence as a new future teacher for sure increases. I personally believe that this resource is used specifically for only teachers. It's also very interesting how they have bolded essential components to remember the entire time you are becoming a first teacher. Such as be consistent, be positive, use body language, and use routines. Which the last one I believe is the most important when I comes to not only becoming a great teacher, just as well as to deal with different classroom settings.
I am currently not aware of any similar resources to be considered but will not sure to keep my eye out for any that pop out. Overall, I like this resource how it ends with the saying, "Hang in there! And, let us know how you are doing."
This is a great blog post! I have been working on a blog post that is very similar to this with my own blog. This gave me some great ideas. This blog not only could help a new teacher, it could also help a struggling teacher or a teacher with a particularly challenging group of students this year. Great find!
real impact that student privacy concerns have on the education sector
90 percent of respondents are either very or somewhat concerned with how private companies with non-educational interests are able to access and use students' personal information
a majority know not very much (32 percent) or nothing at all (30 percent) about how schools currently collect, use, store and destroy student data, including information such as social security numbers, grades and behavior and attendance records
the government -- at the state, federal and local levels -- is turning its eye to student privacy, and so laws and regulations in the area might be changing soon
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which has undergone regulatory changes in recent years that some claimed have weakened it
Consistently, clearly and regularly communicating with students, parents and the community about privacy rights and district policies and practices with regards to student data privacy
districts that have adopted strong privacy policies should also have procedures in place to allow teachers to suggest apps or other online educational service that they would like to use (or have students use). While the process may slow down the introduction of the app into the learning environment, it will hopefully provide peace of mind to teachers, who will know the app has been properly vetted with regards to student privacy.
This article gives a brief overview of the issues surrounding student privacy when it comes to information that has been posted somewhere online. Then, it gives a few tips for classroom teachers!
I recently asked thousands of educatorswhat “21st-century skills and tools” means to them, and how one might integrate such technologies and skills into today’s classrooms
A teacher possessing 21st-century skills fearlessly seeks out methods and tools—technology—that will enhance not only their students’ learning—but their own personal growth as well.
utilize technology to deliver curriculum content in a manner that is both rigorous and relevant
A fully integrated curriculum that includes technology tools that deliver, enhance and create passionate, accountable individuals who use problem-solving skills and resources to transition from a learning environment to a working environment, seamlessly
Twenty-first century learning is a remix of multiple literacies which fuse with the tools of technology—and the skills of critical thinking—to stimulate authentic, relevant learning opportunities for all learners, anywhere, anytime.
skills in communication, collaboration, and information analysis
21st-century skills require a high level of socio-emotional competence and sophistication
Don’t make the mistake of seeing technology as itself and get afraid of it—see it as a tool, as transparent
Technology is enabling us to connect to each other in remote areas of the world, share ideas, identify and solve problems—it’s a new, global classroom. Embracing and mastering new 21st-century skills and tools is an essential part of this revolution to ‘C’ the future: Connect. Communicate. Collaborate. Change.
skills students will need to be competitive in their future careers
This post is a set of responses from educators who attempt to define 21st-century skills and tools. It is useful to remember that this means many different things to different people, yet there are running trends through the comments as well!
Open educational resources (OER), a variety of freely available, online educational offerings, can support states in the collaborative development of a strong common curriculum.
OER Commons allows states to save, evaluate, and share resources they find on the site, as well as to create new and remix existing resources—toward the creation of custom collections of high quality Common Core-aligned resources.
How OER helps provide a variety of freely available online educational resources, that can support the collaborative development of a strong common curriculum.
Encouraging teachers to incorporate technology into the classroom has motivated and empowered them to seek it out.
Administrators now view their role as giving guidance on how to manage technological infrastructure, providing professional development, conducting internal research, and scaling teacher practices that make an impact for students.
“How to change classrooms has to come from teachers,”
However, I also agree that social media pervades all aspects of modern society, and it has become an imperative for us as educators -- and parents -- to model appropriate digital citizenship to even our youngest learners. Do I really believe that toddlers should have Twitter handles? Not really. But we do need to introduce children to the virtual, social world around them in appropriate and meaningful ways? Definitely.
Students already have enough screen time.
Students need to be able to communicate in person.
Students don't need to know about social media at this point -- it isn't age appropriate.
Whether you introduce social media to students through a class blog, individual student blogs, Twitter or paper, there is no "right way" to begin. Do I really feel that toddlers should Tweet? Probably not. However, what's important is that we introduce all children to social media in appropriate and meaningful ways, regardless of their age, such that they can connect to a global audience and develop as empowered, networked learners.
I really agree with this resource. I think there are a lot of concerns with starting young students on social media so early, but there are also so many important reasons as to why we should as well! I love the idea of creating physical blog walls for younger students. This introduces students to the concept of posting, tagging, and commenting without being exposed to the internet quite yet. Awesome ideas for teachers to introduce social media in the early elementary classroom!
This resource will be useful in future classrooms because it gives a very nice perspective of how things are going currently with STEM. I think this article would be most useful to teachers looking for ways to improve things but it might also be useful for students or parents who want to know more about the how's and why's of what is being taught. I have not found any articles of this type in my searching.