Wissahickon Staff Developers

Survey/Poll to use for Instructional Coaches for coaching effectiveness.teaching practices, district support, implementation,student achievement

"There was no shortage of prescriptions at the time for how to cure the poor performance that plagued so many American schools. Proponents of No Child Left Behind saw standardized testing as a solution. President Bush also championed a billion-dollar program to encourage schools to adopt reading curriculums with an emphasis on phonics. Others argued for smaller classes or more parental involvement or more state financing."

"Not only does SafeShare.TV remove distracting and offensive elements around YouTube videos, but it also allows you to crop videos before sharing them. "

If you're like us, you've used 'creative' tactics to keep track of all these links either through email, word documents or endless lists in your browser bookmarks folder. It is hard to put a bunch of links together in any meaningful format. And sharing a group of URLs is cumbersome for everyone - the sender and the receiver. Have you ever looked through your bookmarks list and forgotten what they are all for? We created LiveBinders so that you could do with digital information what you do with the papers on your desk - organize them into nice containers - like 3-ring binders on your shelf. At LiveBinders we welcome you to use not just one binder, but as many binders as you need to help organize the stuff you collect and share over the internet.

"Instructional expert Jim Knight visits John Cusick to observe a small groups project and discuss the classroom management techniques he is using. John and Jim discuss structured lessons, giving students respect, and finding the key to unlocking their love of learning"

"A new report has identified key challenges facing education technology in the coming years, ranging from changing economics to instructional practices that have failed to adapt to the evolving technology landscape. 2 But the No. 1 challenge in ed tech, according to the report, is with teachers themselves and the inadequacy of their preparation and ongoing training"

"About Our Motivation: Challenges and opportunities, created by our global society, invite teachers, administrators, and students to rethink the way they teach, lead, and learn. The rise of social networking, the ease with which information is shared, and the growth of our global economy are just a few factors that have made it obvious that the 21st century is a much different world than the 20th century. And yet, when we take a good, hard look at the culture within our schools, do we see that much has changed from yesterday to today? We may see more technology used in the classroom and maybe more discussions on the "content vs. skills" debate in the faculty rooms. But underneath it all, have things really changed? Have we successfully forged a culture where life-long learning, personal growth, and collaboration are valued and practiced among all members of the school community? In Richard DuFour's article "Why Look Elsewhere?: Improving Schools from Within," he states that "it is context-the beliefs, expectations, behaviors and norms that constitute the culture of a given school-that plays the largest role in deciding whether a professional development program will make a difference in that school." If a school's goal is to improve student achievement, and a school considers learning to be the crux of its community, then effective professional development-where teachers and administrators themselves become learners-is the bridge to achieving that goal."

"Designed specifically for education stakeholders with an interest in the education technology world, SmartBrief on Ed Tech is a FREE, daily e-mail newsletter. It provides you with the tools to navigate this constantly evolving area to make the best possible decisions for your schools."

an interactive resource that makes playing with algorithms really fun! beginning to advanced, good practice site for multiplication

"Becoming accustomed as a coach to not having your own classroom or your own students was probably challenging. I am sure, however, you quickly engaged in conversations with your colleagues about offering to demonstrate or co-teach some lessons to those teachers willing to share their students with you. Although alien at first, I'll bet it was very rewarding to work with students again and feel that great "high" that a teacher feels when the lesson worked well. "

Are there alternative presentation approaches beyond PowerPoint, and which are accessible to small colleges?

"Instructional expert Jim Knight visits Michael Covarrubias to observe a lesson on context clues, discuss the classroom management techniques he is using already, and share some ideas to increase student engagement. Michael and Jim discuss emphasizing effort, getting students attention before asking questions, using response cards, and planning back-up activities."

"The report found that the use of Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, podcasts, wikis, and comics-creating software can heighten students' engagement and enhance their writing and thinking skills in all grade levels and across all subjects."

The SPARK Community is an online destination where NWEA partners can connect and collaborate. This is a community where kid-centric education is an aspiration shared by all.

"The new school year is here for many teachers. For those who haven't started school yet, the new school year will be here soon. If you've set the goal of trying something new in your classroom this year (shouldn't that always be one of our goals), here are eleven techy things teachers should try this year."

"A Complete Guide to Using Google Earth in the Geoscience Classroom"

About Us Story Cove folktales come from a variety of cultures and places. They share timeless values and simple, universal lessons. The Story Cove format enables children, families and teachers to explore these stories in a variety of ways. As a result, each child is able to develop a more personal understanding of a story while learning about the world.

The Horizon Report series is the most visible outcome of the New Media Consortium's Horizon Project, an ongoing research effort established in 2002 that identifies and describes emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, research, or creative expression within education around the globe. This volume, the 2010 Horizon Report: K-12 Edition, examines emerging technologies for their potential impact on and use in teaching, learning, and creative expression within the environment of pre-college education.

"Welcome to the workspace for the Horizon.K12 Project. This space is a place for the members of the Horizon.K12 Advisory Board to manage the process of researching, discussing, and ultimately, selecting the topics for the 2010 Horizon Report: K-12 Edition. The annual K12-focused report, which summarizes the qualitative research that will be conducted on this wiki, and the K12 Project as a whole are a collaboration between The New Media Consortium and the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN). The generous support of the Office of Global Social Innovation at Hewlett Packard makes this research possible and is thankfully acknowledged."

"Webquests make learning more interesting for your students. Using the power of the internet you can tap the resources of almost every library, school, museum, and laboratory in the world! You can take your students on a journey, to anywhere. Webquests allow students to explore content in more depth, but within boundaries that you have selected. This makes them ideal for classes which combine students with different ability levels."