Group items tagged

"What Makes a Great Teacher? Image credit: Veronika Lukasova Also in our Special Report: National: "How America Can Rise Again" Is the nation in terminal decline? Not necessarily. But securing the future will require fixing a system that has become a joke. Video: "One Nation, On Edge" James Fallows talks to Atlantic editor James Bennet about a uniquely American tradition-cycles of despair followed by triumphant rebirths. Interactive Graphic: "The State of the Union Is ..." ... thrifty, overextended, admired, twitchy, filthy, and clean: the nation in numbers. By Rachael Brown Chart: "The Happiness Index" Times were tough in 2009. But according to a cool Facebook app, people were happier. By Justin Miller On August 25, 2008, two little boys walked into public elementary schools in Southeast Washington, D.C. Both boys were African American fifth-graders. The previous spring, both had tested below grade level in math. One walked into Kimball Elementary School and climbed the stairs to Mr. William Taylor's math classroom, a tidy, powder-blue space in which neither the clocks nor most of the electrical outlets worked. The other walked into a very similar classroom a mile away at Plummer Elementary School. In both schools, more than 80 percent of the children received free or reduced-price lunches. At night, all the children went home to the same urban ecosystem, a zip code in which almost a quarter of the families lived below the poverty line and a police district in which somebody was murdered every week or so. Video: Four teachers in Four different classrooms demonstrate methods that work (Courtesy of Teach for America's video archive, available in February at teachingasleadership.org) At the end of the school year, both little boys took the same standardized test given at all D.C. public schools-not a perfect test of their learning, to be sure, but a relatively objective one (and, it's worth noting, not a very hard one). After a year in Mr. Taylo

"There are many ways to build student engagement in the classroom. What we need to get away from is the adult in the classroom answering their own questions, and fostering an atmosphere where students can rely on each other and work in collaboration. As with anything, this requires balance because we want to make sure the student who doesn't want to answer questions actually takes the opportunity to do so. As Hattie says learning is hard work and it offers us challenges. We know that as adults but want to prevent our students from seeing the challenge because it doesn't always feel good. We need to change our expectations to make sure that students understand they do have to take ownership over their own learning, and not giving them the answers sometimes may be the place to start. "

"Formative assessment is vital to teachers in any classroom environment. Teachers have been formatively assessing students for years, because they need to know what students know in order to help them understand what they do not know. Many classrooms are moving to 21st century with technology initiatives. Suggested here are three tech tools will help teachers engage students while simultaneously gauging their understanding of concepts: Kahoot!, Formative and Padlet"

Technology tools are being brought into classroom to enhance learning experiences and engage students. All teachers need expand on the set of rules to their classroom to help students understand appropriate behaviors and use of these technologies. The rules suggested in this post give students the freedom to use these new tools without abusing the privilege.

teachers are being deskilled, unceremoniously removed from the process of school governance, largely reduced to technicians or subordinated to the authority of security guards. Underlying these transformations are a number of forces eager to privatize schools, substitute vocational training for education and reduce teaching and learning to reductive modes of testing and evaluation.

A dozen activities are presented for using an online education technology tool to engage students in classroom activities to develop a better understanding of concepts.

Several lists of digital tools you can use for these activities. Icebreakers are " discussion questions or activities used to help participants relax and ease into a group meeting or learning situation" (Dover, 2004). Icebreakers are very important in the learning-teaching process that takes place within the classroom. They can help in creating and maintaining a healthy and successful learning environment for students and are also the best warm-ups to get students engaged in a learning task." 

Screen Australia's Digital Resource Finder is a quick, convenient and easy-to-use search engine for teachers and educators. It features FREE FOR EDUCATION downloadable video clips from Screen Australia's remarkable archive-one of the nation's largest and most historically significant collections. Clips are matched with print-friendly two-page resource sheets that include background information and engaging student research and classroom activities written by leading teachers. Screen Australia's Digital Resource Finder makes it easy to search via curriculum, topic or keyword. Watch or download video clips featuring Australian life from the distant past to the present day. The video clips are carefully selected to cover topics including Australians at Work and War, Immigration, Indigenous Australia and Native Title, Asia-Pacific region, Australian politics, The Arts, Broadcast Media from radio to the Internet, Sustainability and Values and Citizenship. There are more than 600 resources to select from, with more added weekly.

Screen Australia's Digital Resource Finder is a quick, convenient and easy-to-use search engine for teachers and educators. It features FREE FOR EDUCATION downloadable video clips from Screen Australia's remarkable archive-one of the nation's largest and most historically significant collections. Clips are matched with print-friendly two-page resource sheets that include background information and engaging student research and classroom activities written by leading teachers. No registration or log in is required, however we would appreciate your feedback. Screen Australia's Digital Resource Finder makes it easy to search via curriculum, topic or keyword. Watch or download video clips featuring Australian life from the distant past to the present day. The video clips are carefully selected to cover topics including Australians at Work and War, Immigration, Indigenous Australia and Native Title, Asia-Pacific region, Australian politics, The Arts, Broadcast Media from radio to the Internet, Sustainability and Values and Citizenship. There are more than 600 resources to select from, with more added weekly.

"Post that makes the case for including social media into learning in schools. Taking advantage of social media as a learning platform is an idea that has been met with some great success. There are three ways described here about how teachers are using social media to engage their students."

Ray & Coulter (2010) supports this stating that currently, teachers as a collective, do not see the potential for technologies to aid in the development of new knowledge, active engagement and linkage of knowledge to a real-world setting.

Infographic summarising learning trends. Research is indicating that complementing or replacing teacher-centred with student-centred learning offers improved learning. Lessons that are technology-enabled and offer learning strategies and learning guidance rather that memorization and repetition improves learning, supports knowledge retention, and raises achievement. These methods seem to encourage engagement and are a way to connect with all students whatever level they are at.

"While attending this particular workshop I was, at first, contemplating how I could utilize this tool as an administrator. As those thoughts wandered, the instructor repeatedly said the words "expand the walls of the classroom". That caught my attention and then I had no problem envisioning how the teachers I worked with could utilize a wiki to do just that."