STABLS teachers

I would love an article similar to this for K students

There are some most helpful tips in this article.

Thanks Karen, some great prompt ideas!

Pros and cons about student choice in the classroom.

Quick read- pretty honest view of the good and bad of choice. Simply stated, but thoughtful enough.

An opposing viewpoint on student choice.

I totally disagree with this guy. He seems fearful of something, I just can't pinpoint what it is. Sure, there are kids that like structure and boundaries, I think all kids do, but he seems to be advocating mindless, thought-less assignments that are "safe," but lack any kind of meaning or thought. My two cents.

I wonder how many of the responses he got from student surveys reflect his own biases. Is he projecting these attitudes on his students in the way he is structuring the evaluation process?

I like the way she has a choice activity and then explains that it really isn't giving much choice.

True! In order to truly embrace academic choice, teachers need to be flexible and open to the students' individual creativity and allow them to pursue their own ideas and to tackle their unique projects.

Talks about limiting choice options.

We gave our students limited academic choice in our Ancient Greece Project. Students were given the task of describing Athens or Sparta either in a brochure format or in using tools for students to create a venn diagram. It was amazingly successful and students were definitely invested in their projects and thus created great work!!

I think the article also points out the importance of giving students a focused challenge with their choices.

I like the list of suggestions in this article.

I agree, the list of suggestions here is great! We often provide students with activities just like these, but often my whole class completes the same project. The article reminds me that it is important to allow them to CHOOSE which activity is most appealing for them!

I like that this article is specific to Pre-K children. It's simple and straight-forward. It makes sense.

Yes, this article hit home for me. Technology is here to stay and moving rapidly and as teachers we need to find the most effective and appropriate ways to use it to meet the needs of our students. With Pre-Schoolers, nothing can replace "hands on" experiences yet technology obviously has a place in the classroom. We just need to keep in mind the appropriate kind of screen time, the amount of time, the purpose and the specific child. I have my iPad at every morning meeting just in case some type of question or clarification arises.

So true, Dolly. It's great for children to learn how they can research or "look things up" if they can't figure something out for themselves. If you think about it, Google helps us all to become more independent learners. So, all the more need for collaboration, deep thinking and application of knowledge in the classroom.

Here is a list of educational hashtags we might use. Please share if you find a particularly great hashtag.

Thanks, Michele. The other November Learning docs are helpful too. I especially like the one that helps us look at the impact of our technology use by considering whether it is adding value or making a difference.

This article presents a broader picture of coding that includes computational thinking (CT) especially at the elementary level. It is helping me as I am constructing my own understanding of coding , CT and their applicability.

This article made me research more on Computational Thinking. Here is a site that can give you examples of how this might look in your classroom. Check out CT Models in the K-12 curriculum. http://www.google.com/edu/computational-thinking/