Group items tagged

This article offers strategies to early childhood educators as they are instructing English Language Learners in language and literacy development. Highlights in this article include instructional strategies, explicit vocabulary activities, exposing students to multiple opportunities to speak with both peers and adults, and encouraging language development inside and outside of the classroom. These strategies are helpful in thinking about guiding my ELL students to improve their oral language skills.

Remember the 65% solution? This article is from 2006, but the discussion about demonstrating student learning in the school library is still relevant. It describes a pilot program that sounds similar to Venables' data action model: "Using online tools, [librarians] continue a dialogue, exchange ideas, and provide critical support to one another as they strive to create evidence folders for their own school library media programs." Includes sample rubrics and graphs of outcomes.

This article reports the results of a study of grade 2 students 7 - 8 years old) using game technology versus paper/pencil games and the effects of increased use of game technology on assessments. The study found that the students using the game technology had increased performance and that increased use of technology also increased student performance. Shin, N. Sutherland, L. M., Norris, C. A., & Soloway, E. (2012). Effects of game technology on elementary student learning in mathematics. British Journal of Educational Technology, 43(4), 540-560. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2011.01197.x

This is a guide for teaching students about writing a claim and supporting it with evidence can work with any English 6-12 class. I haven't used this yet, but I would definitely try it!

The study compares students (grade 4) that received traditional instruction to those who received computer assisted instruction (CAI) with traditional instruction for basic math facts. The results show that daily CAI positively effects student math achievement. This study is interesting in that students received 10 minutes of CAI to achieve these results.

The study described in this article is very interesting because it relates to our group's Exploratory Question. We are trying to see if computer practice one or twice a week correlates to progress in students' mastering their addition and subtraction facts. As shown in the article, computer assisted instruction had a positive impact on the students' fluency of basic math facts.

This article highlights the struggle that teachers face when "teaching to the test". As educators, we want to show our best qualities. However, that is limited when we must teach to the test. The quote I want to pull is "We are measuring temperature with a tablespoon"

This article from ISTE discusses how blended learning can be used to bridge the achievement gap for students who don't have access to technology (or who have minimal access) outside of the school setting.

Numerous innovations in the education technology space are beginning to show potential in improving education and helping address skills gaps. Some of these advancements include Khan academy and Read 180 (self paced instruction for students). Professional development of digital resources is imperative to help close instructional gaps. EDTC 615 - instructional gap solutions

I love that this resource provides multiple examples of tools that we can use within our instruction. The categorization of each example also provides a clear explanation of how it can be incorporated. I think that one important point that was discussed within this page was how students can develop 21st Century Skills through implementing these tools. As 21st Century Skills are becoming a major focus in instruction, this shows how it can be addressed.

This was a great tool that shared tons of tools that teachers can use in our instruction. Some really great resources I have found to use were Khan Academy, Google Apps for Education, and One Note. This article has a lot of great visuals to help understand more about how we, as educators, can use technology to help close the skills gaps.

This study investigated the effects of input- and output-based instruction on the development of L2 knowledge of 129 third-semester college students learning English in Iran. I found this to be an interesting study because it addressed both kinds of instruction and acknowledged the ongoing debate about the importance of each method and its role in student learning of a second language. The study recognizes that input-based instruction needs to be more than exposure alone and include instructional intervention in order to be effective, and that output-based instruction involve meaningful output practice activities supported with feedback. Although the study does not claim that output in and of itself leads to L2 development due to the need for teacher feedback, it does suggest that output-based instruction is as effective as or can be even more effective than input-based instruction.

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 article gives a list of data ideas and how to use the data to inform instruction. The article is aimed to new teachers but offers several ideas and insights into using data.

From a series of publications by the National Association of Elementary School Principals: "This white paper outlines five recommendations to help principals put student achievement data to the best possible use: 1) Make data part of the ongoing cycle of instructional improvement; 2) Teach students to examine their own data and set learning goals; 3) Establish a clear vision for school-wide data use; 4) Provide supports that foster a data-driven culture within the school; and 5) Develop and maintain a district-wide data system." Suggestions for how to implement these recommendations, along with links to video interviews and supporting documents, are given.

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."

This blog post really focuses on ways interactive learning can reduce the achievement gap with technology. When learning is steered away from memorization from the "drill and kill" method, students are able to become more interactive in what they are learning, rather than just memorizing. That is what our county has been stressing with the new Curriculum 2.0 in learning really why behind each concept or equation, rather than memorizing.

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.

This site provides courses for parents to prepare their children for school. There are lessons on content areas as well as to prepare for independent activities with independence time.

This article offers suggested ways for educational systems to mitigate the achievement gap among minority students. Th author suggest that schools should encourage teachers to engage in instructional practices that specifically accommodate their minority students. The author offers a methodological framework for this approach called Hierarchical Linear Modeling.His study investigated the instructional practices that reduce the achievement gap among the minority population. Findings revealed that even when taking student background into account, various instructional practices can made a significant difference in closing the achievement gap.