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The Teachers Engage section is the main hub for the community and where you will find general discussions and resources focusing on effective uses of technology in the K-12 classroom.

" For the past three years, Digital Wish has been studying the process of implementing one-computer-per-child programs in 28 schools. Digital Wish is an educational non-profit on a mission to bring technology to American classrooms in order to prepare students to thrive in the global economy. The team just completed a $1.125M Federal ARRA stimulus grant, delivering computers, weekly educator trainings, a complete IT curriculum, and support to the 28 schools.  Their trainers modeled the entire process of technology adoption and progressively reduced the initiative planning time from 18 months to just 6 weeks, saving schools tremendous amounts of time and money. Both teachers and students are reporting a wide range of gains including increased engagement in learning, technological proficiency, and dramatic improvements in the understanding of internet safety issues.  The 2011-2012 data report is attached. "

CyberSmart! fosters 21st century skills to increase student engagement and prepare students to achieve in today's digital society. CyberSmart! Online Workshops, facilitated professional development, give educators a hands-on experience in 21st century skills-the new basic skills-to meet the learning needs of today's students. Educators engage hands-on in the same kinds of learning they are expected to facilitate in the classroom. Two free resources support daily teaching. The free CyberSmart! Student Curriculum empowers students to use the Internet safely, responsibly, and effectively. The free CyberSmart! Educator Toolbar puts 21st century skills into practice every day, with just-in-time 24/7 access to annotated essential resources to support student learning.

Learn how to improve student engagement and build a positive climate for learning and discipline for grades K-12. We've all heard this about students: "If they are engaged, they are managed." And this is absolutely the truth. But we still need rules, routines, trust, and student ownership to make a classroom run smoothly and effectively. This guide will address those practical aspects of managing a classroom, with suggestions and resources appropriate for grades K-12.

"With approximately six hours of actual instructional time per school day, what percentage of that time are students actively engaged and cognitively invested in what is being taught or learned in your classroom? What evidence do we as teachers have that students are actually cognitively in tune with us? And what wonderful and deep critical thinking are we missing out on by not requiring evidence of processing and content-based interaction by our students? Listening Objects"

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

Nice videos on different instruction topics: Scaffolding, Formative Assessment, Engagement, Effective Instruction, Metacognition

Welcome to Access, Analyze, Act: A Blueprint for 21st Century Civic Engagement. This curriculum is designed to help you discover the power of social media for teaching media and information literacy, critical thinking, communication, collaboration and technology skills while developing students' understanding of the political, social and economic issues facing our country at election time.

Socrative is a smart student response system that empowers teachers to engage their classrooms through a series of educational exercises and games via smartphones, laptops, and tablets. This looks like a great way to do student response system without having to buy another system.  Works with any device - laptop, netbook, ipad, smartphone

There is no blinking the fact  that the type of students we teach today are completely different from last century's. We , definitely, need to look at some of the skills we, as teachers, need to equip ourselves with to better live up to the challenge. Among all the challenges we would have in education, there is not as daunting a challenge as catching students focus and getting them engaged in the learning process. For this particular reason, and in addition to the skills I initially mentioned in 21st Century Teaching Skills article, I would like to provide you  with another list of  some equally important digital skills that you, as a teacher, need to seriously consider if you want to pave the way for the 21st century teaching. I have added a list of web tools under each skill for teachers to better exploit it.

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?

A fast tool for finding and downloading all of Microsoft's free tools for teachers and students. Microsoft Partners in Learning helps educators connect, collaborate, create and share. TeachTec helps educators find relevant and effective ways to use technology to inspire teaching and engage students. Together we have consolidated the latest and most popular teacher and student resources that Microsoft provides to all schools, districts and education organizations around the world.

The 4th Annual Elementary Technology Conference is designed especially for K-6 classroom teachers. Come join your colleagues as they share ways to engage your students with technology-rich lessons and ideas. Choose from over 16 sessions on instructional best practices to new Web 2.0 tools and more!

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

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

With assessment and content standards at the forefront of learning, teachers use project approaches to engage students in authentic work and develop 21st- century skills of collaboration, problem solving and critical thinking. When well-designed, project-based curriculum can yield high quality results for students and a rewarding experience for teachers.

"an interactive learning experience designed to provide students and teachers with opportunities to focus on digital citizenship while engaging in constructive play. "

"Digital citizenship education empowers students to make thoughtful decisions and develop a sound digital foundation for the rest of their lives. Cable in the Classroom brings you a series of free, standards-based lessons that teach key digital citizenship concepts. These lessons, for students in grades 4-8, are designed to engage students through inquiry-based activities, and collaborative and creative opportunities. Digital Citizenship is a holistic and positive approach to helping students learn how to be safe and secure, as well as smart and effective participants in a digital world. That means helping them understand their rights and responsibilities, recognize the benefits and risks, and realize the personal and ethical implications of their actions. Helping a student become a good digital citizen cuts across all curricular disciplines."

"Digital Passport is fun and effective. Web-based games and videos engage 3rd - 5th graders in independent learning Modules zero in on critical skills related to digital safety, respect, and community Collaborative classroom activities reinforce online lessons Students earn badges toward a Digital Passport Teachers get robust reports to demonstrate student success Currently available on the web and coming soon for mobile devices Supports responsible use policies and E-rate FREE to your school thanks to generous support from our sponsors"