Maple Links

"Back to school is the perfect time of year to establish routines and remind students about making healthy choices. Children of all ages should have an understanding of the impact of their decisions related to the food they choose to eat. There are a variety of games and resources to promote discussions about healthy eating and to help students make smart choices. "

"Science is one of the areas where the impact of technology has been markedly observed. It triggered an unprecedented revolution and reshaped people's knowledge about the world. It has also enhanced the way science is being instructed inside schools and colleges. Experimentations are being facilitated by the use of technology and students are able to learn and get engaged in simulated experiments that mimic the real life problems. This revolution is being carried on to the mobile platforms. There are now several science apps that students and teachers can use to perform a wide variety of science tasks. Below, for instance, is a set of apps that enable students to explore the human body in 3D. Check them out and share with us if you have any additions. Enjoy"

"There are a lot of quick and useful guides about the Apple iPad. Designed to be simple and show you how to do a couple quick things, these guides are helpful. But it's rare for such a detailed guide to be made available for free and be actually up to date. This printable guide to the Apple iPad is both of those things."

"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"

"We've discovered a seemingly endless collection of smartphone apps that teachers can put to work in the classroom and beyond, creating a powerhouse of back-to-school mobile tools. Read on to discover 50 of the best smartphone apps for teachers, and share any personal favorites we've missed in the comments."

"We're rapidly heading into a world where those who can't understand code are left behind. Everyone should try learning at least one programming language, even if it's just so that they can communicate their needs to tech people. Knowing some code-fu does wonders for your problem-solving and logic, too. Whether you're aiming for eventual App Store success, dipping your toes into a new hobby, or just trying to learn a new skill, these eight iOS apps will help you distinguish loops from conditionals and provide all the groundwork you need to become a 1337 coder - no matter your age or technical know-how."

"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:"

"Google Apps for Education has to be the hottest topic in education around the world at the moment as literally hundreds of thousands of schools are adopting this free resource which is changing the way teachers and students collaborate on work and share information. "

"Yesterday I read Pernille Ripp's post, "Administrators, Please Inspire Us At Back to School." I started thinking about videos I've seen that have inspired me. I realized that the very best ones? They all have something in common. They are kids. What if this year, our schools, our teaching, and our learning became about kids once again? Kids we ALL have in our classrooms, hallways, and schools. Kids who have, right inside them, a chance to make a difference, to change the world. Kids who are already wanting to change the world and kids who are waiting for us to bring that out in them. Kids who need someone to believe in them, or kids who believe in us. I watch each one of these videos and see the things "school" and "learning" should be about. Passion. Believing. Dreaming. "

"The source for innovative or creative thinking is as much as mystery as that of curiosity or particular genius. In a traditional classroom, "having a good idea" is strangely not valued as much as the ability to demonstrate proficiency with a specific assessment form. In fact, "good ideas" can often be disruptive to a tightly-sequenced and outcomes-based learning process."

"When we pack our children off to school, we envision them embarking on a lifelong career of learning. Yet one thing they typically never study is the art of studying itself. Our intuitions, it turns out, do not always map to reality. In "Psychologists Identify the Best Ways to Study" by John Dunlosky et al. we comb through the vast scientific literature on learning techniques to identify the two methods that work best."

"What if the most underrated skill in school is thinking? I know, that sounds crazy. But how often do we tell kids what they are going to learn, tell them what to make, tell them what tool to use, tell them when to finish, tell them what questions to find the answers to. What if we stopped telling them things? What if we realized that knowing everything as the "teacher" and being the "expert" in the room is overrated. Because thinking? Asking questions? Growing? Developing ideas? Creating? Solving problems by digging in and pushing through the hard stuff that lies between a problem and a solution? That's learning."