Group items tagged

A research article on academic ability and how this can be developed in students of various backgrounds, race, and socioeconomic status.

A comprehensive mission of public schools is to produce students who are intellectually competent and prepared for postsecondary education and the increasingly competitive workforce. However, differences in educational outcomes of students indicate that the impact of our current public school system is limited.

This resource provides three ways to help close the achievement gap for SPED students. Even though it is only three solutions, I think they are attainable and be be useful in our teams exploratory question. I specifically like the last one as it brings attentions to IEP goals being measurable and aligned with standards. This is extremely important because it takes collaboration, team teaching, and differentiation. Lowering standards is not acceptable and as educators we have to strive to meet the needs of all students. It even talks about ELL students!

The first source I found appears to be useful for educators who may not be certified in ESOL, but have ELL students. It breaks down the different types of ELL learners and this could be important when planning and implementing activities. It also helps the teacher get to know the student better and show empathy and compassion. This article is related to "older" ELL students and our data is from a high school class, so therefore some of the solutions for success offered could help these students if implemented. I also like that it emphasizes teaching language through content. This is important because students might understand the general idea, but cannot make certain connections due to language barriers. Therefore, breaking through those barriers might be all the student need to make the connection desired. I also like that it provides questions with answers! This could be very helpful for our group!

Addresses the potential of active learning with increased teacher feedback and interaction as a way to help close the achievement gap and involve more students in advanced level STEM classes. Focused on University level students, but an interesting read for teachers of all levels to consider how instruction may have a cultural bias.

Week 8: Partner: Cecile Droz This article discusses a new way to give student's warm-up exercises. Instead of having them complete them at the beginning of class, the students will complete the warm ups up to 3 days before they are due. The warm-ups will prepare the students for the upcoming week of assignments. The best type of warm-up assignments give the students a scenario that they are familiar with. It is important for the educator to determine if there are any misconceptions by looking at the warm-ups to determine what concepts need to be addressed again.

Although not everything described in this article applies necessarily to all subjects, the idea that teachers need to be more aware of the prior knowledge students have before they present new materials is very interesting. In second language, for example teachers use students' oral and written productions to assess their command of grammar but before any cultural or historical unit, it would make sense to address prior knowledge and rectify what needs to be rectified before introducing new ideas/material.

The use of warm-ups as a combination of extension, priming, and pre-assessment is novel. This gives students time and mental space to make a prediction and then bring it to class, prepared and ready to learn. I will definitely be employing this in a class I am designing next year.

This article discusses how professional development for teachers will help close the achievement gap. This blog centers on how the improvement of teaching practices will best assist students and that there should be universal teaching strategies. EDTC 615. k-12

Details 4 critical ways in which we can improve the quality of instruction by focusing on improvement as instructors. Standardizing practices, strategies, assessments, etc. Interesting read and turns the system around to look at instructors what we are able to change.

This article is great at recognizing necessary checks and balances for teachers. Changing standards will not along close all of the achievement gaps. The improved curriculum must come with a way for teachers to know they are delivering appropriately and sufficiently.

This article talks about seeing all students as part of your classroom. I personally like how it lists things to think about when instructing students. Although some will think these are no brainers, its always good to reflect on yourself as an educator. Especially when it comes to students with IEPs and 504s. I also liked how it reminds educators to reflect on the whole student and think about forces outside the school that greatly affect the students performance in the classroom.

Providing educators and students access to the highest quality practices and resources in reading and language arts instruction.

I love this site! The lesson plans are detailed and thorough.

Article discusses different learning approaches and methods. Research confirms that talking and discussing is positively correlated with an interactive and deep approach to learning

This article focuses on one teachers experience trying to get an ELL student to meet the standard. She gives some good anecdotal evidence and advice in the article.

In this report, technology is one major factor in helping end the achievement gap. Students who use technology and the Internet see greater learning gains and outcomes. Students are more exposed to a variety of resources when using technology. Through the use of technology, learning gaps will decrease due to engagement, differentiation, and motivation.

I found this video interesting because I believe that the use of carousels can be integrated with Venebles notice and wonder strategies when looking at data.

This is a great resource for teachers! It is a program where you work with other teachers to learn how to "gather and respond to evidence of student learning through a personalized blended learning approach."

A set of high-level suggestions from Edutopia on how to combat the end-of-year slump students often go through.

Learning theories evolve as educational goals and cultural influences change. This article discusses classroom learning theories and their practice in schools.

Problem-based learning allows us to bring our students, course material, and the real world closer together. A few ideas for getting started with PBL. I enjoyed reading this article because it began with a quote and excellent question. "How do we get our students to understand what 'the field' is really like? How can we help them realize that they not only need to understand the information we are teaching, but that they need to be able to apply the information that we are teaching." This article touched more on the idea of students being able to able to apply the information that we are teaching them in the real world. Problem-based Learning Helps Bridge the Gap between the Classroom and the Real World, Jason R. Weber, (2014) Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/instructional-design/problem-based-learning-helps-bridge-gap-classroom-real-world/ Retrieved on 10/19/15

This brief article offers a quick introduction to the importance of preparing students for the real world through in-class activities, and provides 5 simple recommendations to help an instructor get the most out of PBL (problem-based learning, here) activities.

Automatically Populated when I entered URL...Former senior producer at Edutopia Beaverton School District secondary literacy specialist Credit: Grace Rubenstein Janet Fortier had her educational epiphany two years ago, when she started bumping into teachers with their arms full of easy reading assignments. "I'm running off articles because my kids can't read the textbook," they told her. Article is relevant to closing the instructional gap to help improve reading levels.

This tool takes Common Core State Standards and breaks them down into individual elements in order to create customized Common Core-aligned rubrics.