Group items tagged

"teacher-ready tips for stimulating curiosity in others. First, she suggests starting with the question, rather than the answer-which teachers will recognize as the foundation of inquiry-based or discovery learning (see: math teacher Dan Meyer's take on how to make math "irresistible" to students). She then suggests offering some initial knowledge on the subject. "We're not curious about something we know absolutely nothing about," she writes. Again, teachers may know this as "activating prior knowledge" or "setting the stage" before a lesson. Finally, she says it helps to require communication, or "open an information gap and then require learners to communicate with each other in order to fill it." The think-pair-share technique and vocabulary activities that require students to teach each other their words both exemplify this. What would you add to the list? How does stimulating curiosity gel with other motivation tactics-or should teachers think of curiosity and motivation as one and the same?"

"About three years ago, I began inviting my student-led, peer-evaluated, collaboratively structured classes to think about the shape of a course: what defined it, what its participants could do to describe and circumscribe its practices, how a group of strangers, all enrolled in the same institutional experience of a "course," could come together as a community of choice, mission, shared purpose, and mutually beneficial learning. "

"Learning in Hand #26 is about Padlet and Lino. Padlet and Lino are the two best online sticky note services around. They are web-based and work great on iPads, PCs, Macs, smartphones, and tablets. Walls can be set up so that students can use them without logins or passwords, making them easy to infuse into lessons. And the sticky notes aren't limited to text-they can have images, videos, and hyperlinks. Discover how teachers are using these virtual message boards everyday to collect student products, power communication, and fuel productive collaboration. View the 14:30 video on YouTube, on Vimeo, in iTunes as a podcast, through RSS, or download to explore the educational possibilities of Padlet and Lino."

edWeb.net is a highly-acclaimed professional social and learning network that has become a vibrant online community for exceptional educators, decision-makers, and influencers who are on the leading edge of innovation in education. edWeb members are teachers, faculty, administrators, and librarians at K12 and post-secondary institutions. edWeb is a place where educators who are looking for ways to improve teaching and learning can gather and share information and ideas with peers and thought leaders in the industry. Any educator can use edWeb for free to create a personal learning network or professional learning community to make it easier to collaborate, share ideas, and move forward faster with new ideas and initiatives, particularly those than leverage technology to accelerate improvement.

"26 Bay Bloggers is our second year of blogging. We began as Busybees at the Bay a 4/5 class blog in 2011. In 2012 we became 26 Bay Bloggers with 26 Year 3/4 students new to blogging. Our school is in Southern Tasmania, Australia. Our blog will share with our community some of the things we do at school. It is aimed to inform parents, share classroom displays and ICT learning and be used as a way to record our learning journey. At this stage we will not be sharing photos of ourselves that are identifiable but we will share our voices and lots of learning we have done. Blogging is also a way to open us up to other classrooms around the world. We are hoping to make contact with other classes from different places in Australia and different countries. If you have a class blog with students in the range 8-11 and are looking for contacts please email busybeesatthebay@gmail.com Even seeing visitors on our clustermap has been exciting! Any member of the class can contribute to the class blog and they are encouraged to do so. However as we gain expertise we will set up individual student blogs. "

" Added by Samantha Morra on 2013-05-29 digital storytellingStories bring us together, encourage us to understand and empathize, and help us to communicate. Long before paper and books were common and affordable, information passed from generation to generation through this oral tradition of storytelling. Consider Digital Storytelling as the 21st Century version of the age-old art of storytelling with a twist: digital tools now make it possible for anyone to create a story and share it with the world."

"Administrators across the United States are recognizing that the education system needs fundamental changes to keep pace with an increasingly complex global society. Yet, the deeper we get into the process of change, the more confused we can become. We need some sense of what to expect and what direction to take. Seeing the patterns of change can be difficult; stakeholders in a system tend to see change primarily from their own perspective. Often teachers may not understand what is seen by administrators and parents, nor do administrators or parents see change from a teacher's perspective, or from each other's. To give stakeholders an aerial view of the shifts occurring in educational systems, the matrix "A Continuum of Systemic Change" defines six developmental stages and six key elements of change (see fig. 1). A composite of experiences in systemic change from across the United States and at all levels of education, the matrix provides stakeholders with a common vantage point for communicating and making decisions about change."

"As I design a lesson or assessment, I ask myself if what I've designed, or what the students must master, correlates to the important skills of: Collaboration Communication Critical Thinking Creativity My lessons and tests must incorporate one or more of of the four Cs to, in my opinion, be worthy of spending precious instructional time in the classroom. On another note, the other short rubric I keep in my head is related to differentiating my lessons. Looking at teacher and education author Dr. Carol Tomlinson's list of ways to differentiate in the classroom, you'll notice that this aligns nicely with the four Cs above. Tomlinson explains that the four elements that lend themselves naturally to differentiation are: Process Environment Content Product"

"Thousands of teachers have discovered the value of classroom blogging, both as an avenue for their communications, but also as a tool for giving voice to what their students are learning and how they are learning. Class Blogmeister is one of several blogging engines that have been developed specifically for classroom use. You are welcome to explore the writings of teachers and students alike."

"We are a team of educators, entrepreneurs, and engineers passionate about improving education. We believe in super simple tech tools to enhance classroom engagement, assessment and personalization. Thank you for joining us as we share strategies, tips and ideas for using Socrative. Join in the conversation and help our community grow!"

"BLCFeatureTopicIn this episode of the November Learning Podcast Series, Alan November speaks to Ian VanderSchee, an upper level mathematics teacher at Coppell High School, in Texas. The two discuss Ian's implementation of Alan's "First 5 Days" ideas at the start of this school year and how these ideas have positively impacted his students ever since. To learn more about these and other possible "First 5 Days" implementations, we encourage you to read Alan's book, Who Owns the Learning, and we invite you to attend the Building Learning Communities conference being held this summer in Boston. You can learn about both of these on our Web site at http://www.novemberlearning.com. You might also share your thoughts and stories about the "First 5 Days" on Twitter, using the hashtag #1st5days."

discussion rubric

"Years ago, when farms dominated our landscape, children were responsible for performing meaningful jobs that were vital to each family's success. Depending on their age, children would care for animals, repair farm equipment, prepare food to sell at local markets and more. Children were essential to the very survival of the family. At the same time, these jobs taught children the value of hard work, leading them to become more productive citizens within their communities as adults."