Group items tagged

Students were given the task of creating a human sculpture out of four students, and having a fifth student write the directions so that another group could recreate the sculpture without ever seeing the original.  This turned out to be quite hard, because much of our writing lacks detail and makes assumptions that the reader knows what we mean when they actually don't!

flipped instruction is by no means a new methodology

At its core, "flipped instruction" refers to moving aspects of teaching out of the classroom and into the homework space.

We must strive to be facilitators, mentors and guides for our students, as if what we are preparing them for, much like my surgeon, will one day change lives. Any teaching methodology that amplifies this role is a step in the right direction.

Today, children are going online at an increasingly young age; therefore this book aims at introducing concepts of modern technology in their daily vocabulary and activities. Whilst this activity book offers children from 4 to 8 years of age 30 pages of fun and games, it also leads them to sharpen their basic language and mathematical, social and cultural skills. It gives them a glimpse of the impact modern technology can have on their everyday life. Above all it offers an opportunity for parents and teachers to sit together with their children and discuss these important issues. Although the activity book was created in such a way that young children can enjoy and do the games alone, many of the exercises do have a deeper level. The booklet endeavours to encourage parents and teachers to talk about topics such as privacy and modern technology with their children and pupils starting from a very young age as these issues undoubtedly already play an important role in their lives. The table on page 4 offers parents and teachers an overview of the themes that are touched upon and the exercises that go with them. Additional information can be found at www.saferinternet.org. We encourage you to read these guidelines as they will provide more sample information about the pedagogical objectives behind each game and the messages the children will hopefully pick up

QUESTIONING HOMEWORK The growing movement against homework in the U.S. challenges the notion that the amount of homework a student is asked to do at home is an indication of rigor, and homework opponents argue that the increasing amount of “busy work” is unnecessarily taking up students’ out-of-school-time. They argue that downtime, free play, and family time are just as important to a child’s social and emotional development as what happens in school. Some research has shown that too much homework has “little to no impact” on student test scores. Other research on how brains work challenges the common method of asking students to practice one discreet skill at home. Overall, there’s a push to reevaluate the kinds of work students are being asked to do at home and to ask whether it adds value to their learning. If the work is repetitive or tangential, it may add no real value, and teachers across the country are starting to institute no-homework policies. Even principals are starting to revolt and schools are instituting “no homework” nights or substituting “goals” for homework.

Picture it like a magnet that attracts all messages categorized by that topical word or phrase.

Don’t hashtag spam

Many of the hashtags have “meeting times” where educators agree to “meet and tweet”–that is, send out messages on a topic at a certain time on a certain day. If you do participate at the agreed upon time, you’ll see the tweets stream in live and participate in said conversation (via twitter) in what is nearly real-time. But if you can’t make it, the great part about a hashtag is that it does the sorting for you. You can search for messages assigned to a given hashtag anytime–tomorrow, Sunday night, or during your planning period next week.