Group items tagged

"ter-loving capybara. Understanding their differences is the first step, but even if we create individual education plans that differentiate instruction for each student, teachers are forced to make choices that affect student learning when it comes to instructing them all at once. "

"Why wait for a formal workshop environment to start improving your teaching craft, when there are so many opportunities to build your network and learn new skills on your own? We've compiled a list of the best resources for do-it-yourself PD to get you started."

"TenMarks is a service that offers an online mathematics program designed to supplement your in-classroom mathematics instruction. I tried the service when it launched a couple of years ago. Today, I revisited it when I learned that they now align all of their practice activities to Common Core Standards. "

"The Maker Movement is a technological and creative revolution underway around the world. Fortunately for educators, the Maker Movement overlaps with the natural inclinations of children and the power of learning by doing. Embracing the lessons of the Maker Movement holds the keys to reanimating the best, but oft-forgotten learner-centered teaching practices."

"During this first week of school, I wanted to inspire my students to be creative and have fun with their learning. In years past I have always struggled to make my writing lessons fun and engaging, yet productive. This is year I decided to introduce writing with the help of my favorite tech tool: Augmented Reality! "

"Infographics are everywhere. Some love them. Some hate them. But however you feel, it's fun to learn a little bit in a short period of time. Most are made so you can quickly grasp the key concepts behind them. That's a key thing to keep in mind if you want to make your own infographics. Lucky for you, there are a pantload of free and freemium tools out there to help you out. Some are more robust than others but many are easy enough to try out. That's what Edudemic is all about after all - sharing useful resources that you try out and use to enhance your life."

"How do we raise emotionally aware and well-adjusted kids? With lots of talking and sharing, of course. For some kids, digital media can also help by packaging powerful messages inside enticing apps. In one, kids explore how we are the same and how we are different from one another. In another, they interact with silly characters to learn their emotional responses. And in a third, virtual friends share stories to get 'tweens thinking about how to best handle emotionally charged situations. Here's a closer look at these three masterful apps. Wee You-Things"

"25 Things Successful Educators Do Differently - If you ask a student what makes him or her successful in school, you probably won't hear about some fantastic new book or video lecture series. Most likely you will hear something like, "It was all Mr. Jones. He just never gave up on me." What students take away from a successful education usually centers on a personal connection with a teacher who instilled passion and inspiration for their subject. It's difficult to measure success, and in the world of academia, educators are continually re-evaluating how to quantify learning. But the first and most important question to ask is:"

"Back to school. Three words teachers either despise or are very excited for. If you're using an iPad for teaching for the first time, going back to school can feel nervewracking and overwhelming. While the learning curve for teaching with iPads is not necessarily a steep one, it is important to be(come) confident in what you are doing with your device in front of your class."

"It never ceases to impress me how great teachers consistently find new and innovative educational tools to put in their class toolkit. They do it in a multitude of ways - through sound preparation and in-depth knowledge of the subjects they teach; fresh activities and exercises; engaging resources; and creativity - all to inspire a love of learning and encourage students to think and dream big."

"Over the summer, I have been blogging about Redefining Learning in the Mathematics Classroom through the use of individual student blogs. After hearing about the great things going on in Kristen Wideen's classroom and her use of QuadBlogging for creating a Primary Blogging Community, I have been inspired to attempt modifying a similar approach for blogging in mathematics."

"Hypothetical situation: you're a student and your teacher has tasked you with identifying a topic that is important to you, understanding it, interpreting it, and then delivering a report to your classmates. Aside from the nerve-wracking part of talking at the front of the classroom (eep!) there are a lot of things to consider. For example, how do I find my particular topic? How do I find relevant resources, interpret what I read, and then distill it all into a presentation that shows I learned … you know … something."

"In my last post, I began a celebration of brains and made the argument as to why teachers need to brush up on their knowledge of brains in order to reach that all-too-allusive 'tween noggin. During this, my second of three posts in this series, I'll bring up a few key terms you should know in your own neurologic education. Then, we'll follow a history-related fact as it enters the brain of an average middle schooler, weaving its way towards the blessed long-term memory. "

"Being connected is not easy. I've spent three years on Twitter building relationships and co-moderating and participating in education chats. I am constantly reading (and writing!) blogs; all this in the pursuit of being a better teacher. Although the time it takes to develop a network is substantial, the benefits of connection far outweigh the efforts. Here are seven ways that my students benefit from the online Professional Learning Network I have built over the years:"

"Never been part of an online professional community or network? Already part of a community or network, but want to be more connected? The CEM Starter Kit can help you on both fronts. Written by The Connected Educator author Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and Powerful Learning Practice in collaboration with the Connected Educators initiative, and loaded with helpful links and embedded videos, the kit takes a 31 days approach for this special month, giving you one simple way to get more connected every day. Please feel free to pass it along to any friend or colleague you think could benefit from getting more connected!"

"Many teachers are using Twitter as a classroom tool. But a lot of schools still view the communication tool as a "toy" students use in their free time, not a serious platform for learning. As sites like Twitter and Facebook become ever more fundamental to how the world communicates, schools will need to shift their policies to move with the times. An article written by KQED's Education department in collaboration with the Trust and Safety Team at Twitter helps educators understand how to keep themselves and their students safe on Twitter. It also pulls together great resources on digital citizenship, basic Twitter info and ideas on how to use Twitter in the classroom."