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"Customizing your teaching to suit each child makes eminent sense. Kids are different, they learn differently, so we should teach them differently, right? But when you're staring out at 20 or 30 students as individual as snowflakes, you may find yourself asking that ever-daunting question: "How?" The short answer is: one step at a time. Teachers at Forest Lake Elementary School in Columbia, South Carolina, have made it their mission for the past decade to differentiate instruction for their diverse students. They started small, and they've grown and honed their strategies each year. Here are their tips -- combined with some advice from Edutopia bloggers and members of the Edutopia community -- on how you can get started. And please use the comments field below to ask questions and add your own suggestions! "

An overview of the Edutopia professional development guide for integrating technology tools in the classroom.

Project-learning teaching strategies can also improve your everyday classroom experience.

Guided by research, educators at Cochrane Collegiate have homed in on ten top teaching methods, and teachers receive weekly PD to help them implement the practices

When students let their minds drift off, they're losing valuable learning time. Here are ten smart ways to increase classroom participation.

"We hope this resource will help you plan green projects that take student learning deeper."

"How to work with well-meaning but demanding moms and dads."

Free Classroom Guides and Educational Downloads for 2011 Get our easy-to-print guides that include useful tips for teachers, parents, and school administrators.

So where do you start learning how to integrate technology into your classroom as well as how to use it for your ongoing professional development? And how do you stay current with the almost daily changes in the technology landscape? To find answers both general and specific, I talked to three strong advocates for incorporating technology into the learning process: Darren Draper, director of technology services for the Canyons School District, in Cottonwood Heights, Utah; Louise Maine, a science teacher at Punxsutawney Area High School, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania; and Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, a digital-learning consultant and a cofounder of Powerful Learning Practice, a professional-development company that aids educators in adopting 21st-century teaching and learning practices.

"Let's consider some activities that allow a student to show understanding of a book and that might be enjoyable. This selection of activities is also intended to meet the needs of different kinds of learners -- or to contribute to the development of skills beyond writing. I often allowed students choice in deciding how they wanted to respond to a book -- they could choose from a list like the one below."

My question for all of you is, acknowledging that of course an engaging lesson is the best classroom management tool, do you have any tips for classroom management when using laptops?

I have broken the research process up into mini-lessons, which will ultimately culminate in a larger project.

Have you ever wondered what it really means to transform your district, school, or classroom to a 1:1 environment? It is a term we hear a lot about, but not all can see it or experience it. With the takeoff of the iPad and its successor, the iPad 2, the education world is abuzz with the idea of moving towards a 1:1 environment. But is it practical? For some, it is a dream, a wish; for others, it is slowly becoming a reality. So what does a 1:1 environment look like? How will the students and teachers react? Is it the right direction to go?

30 great tech makeovers and ideas to help you get started in using technology in your teaching and learning.

An awesome list of examples for Formative Assessment!

Virtual schools might seem like a foreign land from your three-dimensional classroom. But you can visit that world and offer your students some of its benefits -- like fluency with online collaboration and communication -- from right where you are. All you need is a computer and an Internet connection. Here are some destinations where you and your students can start to dabble in online learning.

"These free instructional modules were developed by education faculty and professional developers for their colleagues. They can be employed as extension units in existing courses or can be used independently in workshops and meetings. Each module includes articles, video footage, PowerPoint presentations, and class activities. They draw from the wealth of the Foundation's archives of best practices and correlate with ISTE/NCATE NETS standards."

A nice listing of places and websites to go to for grants.

No Books, No Problem: Teaching Without a Text Thanks to a forward-thinking teacher, chemistry students quickly learn to love leaving the textbook behind.