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(week 9: Jason Caputo and Ericka Posey) This article is accessible via jstor from the link above and can also be searched from the title via UMUC library. This article discusses research on online communities and the interaction between L2 (language learners) with L1 (native) speakers. It examines the benefits of participation in these communities as part of the learning experience. The research in the article supports the use of authentic experiences, even online, as a driver of language acquisition and student motivation to improve. Authentic experiences like those found online fill a gap in typical learning environments by giving cultural and linguistic context to communication. Though you may not teach a language or be able to include online communities directly into your course material, this article highlights the need to expand your instruction outside the four walls of your classroom. Provide opportunities for learning and assessment that reflect student interests and real world situations. The more student interests are taken into account, the greater their passion for learning. The more reflective of real world experiences, the deeper the learning experience. Thorne, S. L., Black, R. W., & Sykes, J. M. (2009). Second Language Use, Socialization, and Learning in Internet Interest Communities and Online Gaming. The Modern Language Journal, 93, 802-821. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4781.2009.00974.x

Kahoot is an excellent resource to incorporate technology, content, and fun in any classroom. I love using it. You can create your own, use one that is already made, or edit one of your liking. I mostly have used this as a review, but there is so much more that can be done with Kahoot and the kids love it!

This website offers fun videos and games on a variety of musical topics.

Week 7: The site provides a colorful, engaging environment for mastering math skills. You can sign up for an account or 30 day trail. Educators can sign up for full account benefits with (e.g. student progress tracking and reports; and an awards system for learners for completing certain goals). *Very good site for remedial students learning math and language arts. This site also includes a page in Language arts for 2nd to 10th graders.Practice math online with IXL. The site offers thousands of online math practice skills covering pre-K to high school, with questions that adapt to a student's individual proficiency.

I used to use IXL with my students for reinforcement, the only problem I had when using it was it locks students out after a specific number of questions. There was only so much practice for allotted topics which sometimes was not enough extra practice.

Free users I believe get 10 questions a day, but what I like most about this is that when a student gets a question wrong, it provides a pretty in depth explanation. Great resource.

Great list of online sites with games to help students master mental math.

This website offers fun, interactive, online games for students to play over the summer to assist in closing their learning gap. This would be a great resource for teachers to give to their students at the end of the school year, or even over long breaks, for them to practice skills they are lacking.

The main takeaway from this resource for me was where the onus falls for the learning gap. Unlike the instruction gap, the learning gap seems more focused on the student needing to bring up their learning to ensure that they maintain over the summer, or reach new levels. The common denominator is that these all seem to take place outside of the classroom. However, I could see a teacher recommend these resources to different groups or having centers set up to ensure that students are working in areas that they need to improve to close their learning gaps during class time.

Resources and exposure to programs like this are imperative for underprivileged students who's family's do not have an understanding of how to maintain and increase their child's educational progress during the summer.

I have used superteachertools.com as a way to create seating charts, random calling of students and create groups. This website is free and easy to use. Teachers just need to input the names of their students in each class before they can use the tools.

This looks great! It will definitely make creating games MUCH easier! Bookmarking to my school laptop right now!!

This DOES look great, thanks for sharing. It is a pity that so much is flash so you can't use it on iPads. Am going to explore this as it looks like it will help and save time.

With all the areas that children are taught in school, the author feels that while trying work at the achievement gap we should look at the engagement gap. The eagerness that children have a young age needs to be maintained. Hands-on learning should be implemented into the lesson.

This is a great article focusing on engagement in the classroom! It discusses the necessity of hands on learning to maintain students interest. This is important for students of all academic levels. Hands on learning not only engages students because they are "doing", they also are developing critical thinking skills. As a special education teacher, I know that in order to assist my students in learning, I need to keep their attention and provide them with interesting, hands on learning.

I love this article! I have always been a strong believer in hands on learning and I love that they call it an engagement gap! Students get bored when a teacher gets up and lectures them all day. They need to be engaged! The activities need to be purposeful and have a specific meaning but a teacher can make just about any topic engaging just by getting the kids moving and interacting. I 100% agree that students retain information longer when they are engaged and enjoying what they are learning.

In this study, researchers are looking at the impact of Math Snacks on student achievement in Mathematics. Nine teachers in 2 districts took part in this research. The results showed that when teachers used Math Snacks and the materials in the program, there was a positive impact on student achievement. However, because of the small sample size, the results cannot be generalized.

This tool provides teachers with the data needed to track students' progress on solving word problems. IXL gives students different word problems to solve. These problems could be solved in a small-group rotation. This would help students identify the steps and method they are using. Also, students would be able to take their time to solve these problems in their elementary school classroom.

This tool provides pre-k to 12 additional support/practice with math concepts. Teachers are able to assign a skill to practice in class or at home. Teachers are able to access reports by concept and time spent. Down side is the cost of IXL.

I use this website for fluency practice and lesson extensions with my small group math instruction. My first graders enjoy the games.

As stated by the MobyMax software program, it "combines curriculum resources like placement tests, adaptive lessons, progress monitoring, IEP reporting with teacher tools, and motivational features (badges, games, and contests)." Users are able to upload student rosters for this program that accommodates grade levels k-8. Drill-and-practice lessons/assessments are Common Core State Standard aligned for both mathematics and reading content. My students and I enjoyed this software as a supplement to classroom instruction. With kid-friendly visuals and quick feedback on assessment scores, this classroom supplement will make learning more engaging.

A new site, sponsored by Bill Gates and Common Sense Media, allows students and instructors to rate various software programs, mobile apps, and Websites

Week 8: It's been called the fourth "R" of education: reading, writing, arithmetic and now, aerobics. But the gym class of generation Wii isn't the same one you probably remember from school. "You hear sometimes the old stories ... where you roll the ball out and students just played the game," says Hanna Vaandering, president of the Oregon Education Association.

This website provides teachers with free printable center activities for students in grades K-5. All of the activities are well organized under different categories relating to the five core components of reading: Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension. All of the resources also provide teachers with detailed instructions on how to play each of the games.

This website allows physical educators to browse Free Physical Education Resources, Lesson Plans, Activities, Games, Articles, Videos, Blogs. It is an easy way for teachers to find lessons that they may be struggling with. I like to find lessons and change them to make them work for me. The blog is also helpful because it helps teachers relate to one another, that may be struggling with the same things my team does.

This is a blog written by P.E. teachers. It includes pictures, lessons, videos, game ideas, activities, ideas of what works what doesn't. A little bit of everything.

Quizlet is a tool that allows teachers to create flashcards, (mock-up) tests and study games. When designing activities, teachers can add pictures and voice over. Teachers can monitor their students' progress and the time they spend on the activities. The activities can be assigned by the teachers but students can go back to Quizlet on their own to review or prepare for an assessment.

This website is a great resource for the early childhood classroom. The "picture pairs game" helps with letter recognition.

Within the website "Starfall" for beginning level readers there is an entire letter practice session; it is in the form of an interactive game. All of the letters of the alphabet are presented and students are able to click on one. It then takes the student through an interactive presentation (visuals and sounds) of that letter: it shows the upper and lowercase form of the letter, makes the letter sound, shows and says words that begin with that letter and dictates a sentence to students using many words beginning with the chosen letter. This would be good for students who are struggling to identify the letters of the alphabet and their sounds; good for repetitive, independent practice as students could use this by themselves on a computer.