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I selected this article as it serves as a reminder that as educators we need to look at our instructional techniques and designs to figure out what we can do better in helping our students learn. Sometimes, we get so comfortable with a particular strategy, that we fail to see how it impacts student learning. This article is a reminder that we must vary instruction to promote student learning. Abstract: The problem of achievement gaps among different subgroups of students has been evident in education for many years. This manuscript revisits the work of renowned educator Benjamin S. Bloom, who saw reducing gaps in the achievement of various groups of students as a simple problem of reducing variation in student learning outcomes.

Front Row is a website and an iOS application designed for K-8 students. The application was originally designed to help close instructional gaps in mathematics. This adaptive learning software allows students to work at their own pace as they earn coins and move up levels in all 5 of the Common Core math domains. Later on Front Row added an ELA component that provides leveed texts and quizzes for students. All of the activities that students do through From Row generate data for parents and teachers. One of the features that Front Row also has is free and paid IBL's (Inquiry Based Lessons) for grades 1-8. I actually created a screencast on how I use IBL's in my own classroom.Check it out here -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qot1wzQTd5o

Front Row is a great software that helps teachers fill learning gaps! It is an application that students have their own accounts where they can individualize their learning. They learn at their own pace and are not pressured to stay up to speed as their peers. There is motivation involved in collecting gold coins, and there are videos for students that need extra support on a certain content if they are answering the questions incorrectly.I have used Front Row in my classrooms through blended learning and it has worked great!

Author Rebecca Alber shares six scaffolding strategies designed to provide successful learning experiences for our students. Teachers can use these to support our diverse learners.

(Week 7: Michele, Ericka and Spencer) This article is accessible through the link --> https://www.edutopia.org/blog/scaffolding-lessons-six-strategies-rebecca-alber. This article focuses on a learning technique called scaffolding. Used as a precursor to differentiated instruction (DI), scaffolding involves chunking the lesson into parts so a higher level of emphasis can be placed on information the teacher desires the students to learn. In the article, the author, Rebecca Alber, provides the reader with 6 strategies to use in their lessons that can incorporate the learning tool scaffolding. To determine the scaffolding strategy, the author emphasizes the use of the zone of proximal development (ZPD). "The ZPD is the distance between what children can do by themselves and the next learning that they can be helped to achieve with competent assistance." Some scaffolding strategies include pre-teaching vocabulary, fishbowl and use of visual aids. Teachers can use scaffolding in class to help encourage higher level thinking which allow students to better understand the information and skills learned in class. Additionally, teachers who do not have the resources to DI (space, time, additional teacher support) can use scaffolding strategies to aid in meeting the educational needs of all their students. Although one strategy does not work, the author emphasizes the importance of trying other. Reference: Alber, R. (2011). 6 scaffolding strategies to use with your students. Retrieved on October 23, 2018 from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/scaffolding-lessons-six-strategies-rebecca-alber EDTC615 Fall2018

Express yourself with the ultimate Glog(TM) - graphic blog. Mix Web, Images, Text, Music and Video. Create your Glogster account today and publish in a new way.

This site is so much fun to design for students and even parents. It has awesome color themes and backdrops and offers a really fun way to get across information. It's like a homepage you can create with links to other sites, videos, pictures and more. Our school has a page and the kids really enjoy using it for library resources and etc. I am going to be using this for my class page this fall. I think this site is targeted for fifth grade and up. Younger students may be able to use some of the basic features, but it would require some instruction from the teacher.

I have used Glogster to replace a paper poster in the classroom. The students really enjoyed the chance to have a different presentation of a product.

Nuffield Foundation " Practical Physics " > Electric circuits and fields " Simple electric circuits. Practical activities designed for use in the classroom with 11- to 19-year-olds. Have also developed resources and approaches that underpin effective educational practice. These are freely available via our teachers page.

Week 9: Melissa and Claire This journal article is accessible thought the link given above by accessing the UMUC library This article was about how a randomized experimental design was used to examine the effects of a digital formative assessment tool on mathematics achievement and motivation in the classroom. Experimental schools used a digital formative assessment tool while control schools used their regular teaching methods and materials. The data used included standardized achievements pre-posttest data, student motivation survey data, classroom data observation data, and student log files. The results of the tests revealed positive effects on student achievement and motivation. The digital formative assessment tool positively impacted achievement and motivation. It also helped teachers to differentiate instruction. The more the students used the digital tool the higher their achievement and motivation for mathematics improved. Reference: The effects of a digital formative assessment tool on mathematics achievement and student motivation: Results of a randomized experiment By: Janke M Faber, Hans Luyten, Adrie Visscher Doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2016.12.001