August, 2018

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Video Games Score Points with Teachers on Academic Benefits

EdTech Magazine

Video Games Score Points with Teachers on Academic Benefits. eli.zimmerman_9856. Tue, 08/14/2018 - 11:49. Playing video games used to be the antithesis of studious behavior. Now, the very same virtual worlds that once might have distracted kids from academics are used to supplement them. As schools continue to legitimize video games, K–12 teachers are realizing it is better to ride this wave rather than fight it , and reframe games as educational tools.

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1st Day Student Survey with Google Forms

Catlin Tucker

On the first day of school, my students complete a detailed student survey. It is designed to collect basic information and help me get to know my new students. The more I know about them, the easier it is for me to design and facilitate learning opportunities that will appeal to them. I also hope that taking the time to ask them questions, instead of simply inundating them with information, will communicate my genuine interest in them as individuals.

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The Case for Coaching Leaders

A Principal's Reflections

Growing up as a child I played numerous sports recreationally and in high school. Upon entering high school I was not the best athlete by any means, but football was one sport where I excelled more than others, and this led to some time playing in college. Even though I had some fantastic coaches throughout my days playing competitive sports, I never gave much thought to becoming one myself.

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Fostering Powerful Use of Technology Through Instructional Coaching

Digital Promise

Last summer, we began an exciting pilot project to understand whether instructional technology coaching ultimately leads to closing the digital use divide in the classroom. While in some cases, technology is used in powerful ways to support students in developing critical thinking and collaboration skills, and to develop a sense of agency, in other situations it is used in things like drill and practice exercises, test prep, and reading online content.

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Can Brain Science Actually Help Make Your Training & Teaching Stick?

Speaker: Andrew Cohen, Founder & CEO of Brainscape

The instructor’s PPT slides are brilliant. You’ve splurged on the expensive interactive courseware. Student engagement is stellar. So… why are half of your students still forgetting everything they learned in just a matter of weeks? It's likely a matter of cognitive science! With so much material to "teach" these days, we often forget to incorporate key proven principles into our curricula — namely active recall, metacognition, spaced repetition, and interleaving practice.

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Using Google Slides to create Instagram Stories in class

Ditch That Textbook

Instagram is social media behemoth, and it keeps growing. It has eclipsed 1 billion users, and it’s the second most popular social media platform with teenagers behind Snapchat, according to a report. (Although one statistic says it has more daily teenage users than Snapchat. It’s just one of a variety of social media and other […].

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In the Presence of a Hero…and How it Challenged Me as an Educator

Tom Murray

This post is dedicated to my new friend, Scott. Thank you, Scott, for challenging me to be a better educator, and more importantly, a better person. Recently, I had an experience that I can’t stop thinking about. The more I reflect on that afternoon, the more I realize it’s likely an experience that I’ll never forget. Like many other days, I was on the go… running, running, running.

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Middle School Writing Rubrics

Catlin Tucker

In my book Blended Learning in Grades 4-12 , I shared the following middle school writing rubrics with my readers. Unfortunately, the short links I provided in my book have timed out, so I wanted to share these on my blog so any middle school teachers interested in using them have access! Feel free to make a copy and adjust as needed. bit.ly/6-8ArgumentativeWritingRubric. bit.ly/6-8InformativeWritingRubric. bit.ly/6-8NarrativeWritingRubric.

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Are your equity efforts aimed at test scores or life readiness?

Dangerously Irrelevant

Jason Glass said: I have an assignment for you. Tonight, I want you to go on the internet and download some worksheets on quadratic equations – try for at least 20 of them … on each side of the page, spend some time memorizing the periodic table, and while you’re at it memorize the major dates, battles, and generals associated with the American Civil War.

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How Instructional Technology Coaching Can Help Teachers Create Powerful Learning Experiences

Digital Promise

“Technology use must, first and foremost, be designed to support learning goals, not the other way around.”. This insight, penned by Peggy A. Ertmer and Anne T. Ottenbreit-Leftwich in their 2013 study of authentic technology-enabled learning, highlights the main challenge coaches face when trying to support teachers using technology. It’s easy to let technology take center stage.

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12 curation ideas for students AND teachers with Wakelet

Ditch That Textbook

How do you get the most out of social media without letting things get lost in the shuffle? Being an educator on social media can be both inspiring and overwhelming. There are so many great ideas and resources out there to use that it can be hard to keep up with it all. It can […].

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Reimagining Chickering & Gamson's Principles Post-Pandemic: Technology's Central Role in Modern Edu

This white paper examines and proposes revisions to the "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" introduced by Arthur Chickering and Zelda Gamson in 1987 for today's technology-driven world.

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A Skilled Services Career Might Be The Best Economic Option For Many Students

EdNews Daily

Students not bound for college used to be put into vocational-technical classes as a way to build their skills for a vocational career. They had the opportunity to learn carpentry, food prep, hospitality, or automotive repair, among other trades. But that’s all changed. Back in 1984, the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act aimed to not only improve the quality of vo-tech education, but also shed its negative image.

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K–12 Schools Should Teach Soft Skills to Prepare Students for the Future Workforce

EdTech Magazine

K–12 Schools Should Teach Soft Skills to Prepare Students for the Future Workforce. eli.zimmerman_9856. Thu, 08/30/2018 - 17:18. While digital tools are woven into educational pedagogy nationwide, another component of learning may help educators give students advantages in a world not yet known to them. A 2017 Report by Dell Technologies estimates that 85 percent of the jobs that will exist in 2030 — fewer than 12 years from now — haven’t been invented yet.

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Vote Early and Often for Our SxSWedu Sessions

Battelle for Kids

Once again, the P21 network of Exemplar schools and member organizations is eager to represent at SxSWedu in Austin next March.

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Gaming's Not Just for Kids: What Educators Need to Know About Esports

Edsurge

League of Legends, DOTA 2, Heroes of the Storm and—of course—Fortnite. You may recognize these as titles of popular video games, even if you aren’t strictly a “gamer.” The reality is that video games and the communities, organizations and players surrounding them have become big business—some worth potentially millions of dollars. These aren’t just games anymore; they have emerged, along with other massive titles such as Overwatch, as a phenomenon it seems everyone is racing to catch up with.

Education 157
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Behind the Bell: The Underlying Impact of Tardiness in K-12 Schools

Managing a K-12 campus with constant pressure to meet performance metrics is challenging. And tardiness can significantly limit a school from reaching these goals. Learn more about why chronic lateness matters, and key strategies to address the following impacts: Data errors caused by manual processes Low attendance and graduation rates that affect a school’s reputation Classroom disruption, which leads to poor academic performance High staff attrition and “The Teacher Exodus” Unmet LCAP goals t

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How to Recognize, Avoid, and Stop Stereotype Threat in Your Class this School Year

Digital Promise

What can I do in my position to change outcomes for kids? As teachers, we don’t always have a say in decisions that are made in our buildings, the pacing for curriculum, or the content of a professional development day. But, we do have a lot of say about what happens within the walls of our classroom and whether or not ALL of our students feel welcome, safe, and successful.

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10 ways to make good Google Classroom assignments better

Ditch That Textbook

If you’ve used Google Classroom for long (or even if you’re just beginning to use it), you’re likely to see that there’s not a lot to it. Google Classroom was created to help teachers teach and learners learn so that tech stays out of their way to do it. Less tech, more teach. And Google […].

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Cut the Bull

Pair-a-dimes for Your Thoughts

Have a look at this study of a bull by Pablo Picasso: It starts off with intricate drawings and step by step Picasso moves from detail to just the essence of what a bull is, using just a handful of lines. Sometimes we have to ‘cut the bull’ … We have to look at the essence of what good teaching and learning looks like. Unit planning: What do you really want students to know, to understand, and be able to do ?

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How Edge Computing Could Benefit K–12 Classrooms

EdTech Magazine

How Edge Computing Could Benefit K–12 Classrooms. eli.zimmerman_9856. Wed, 08/22/2018 - 09:22. If cloud computing is about processing data out there, edge computing is the opposite. By leveraging the tremendous computational power of classroom devices, edge enables computing right here — and it may have profound classroom implications. “For time-sensitive applications, edge brings high-performance computing horsepower as close to the action as possible,” says Marcus Moffett, Cisco ’s senior syst

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The Battle of the Authoring Tools: A 10-Point Comparison for Picking the Right One

Speaker: Chris Paxton McMillin, President of D3 Training Solutions

There are plenty of great authoring tools for developing eLearning, but the one you select could directly impact your course's outcomes. Depending upon your learners’ needs and your organization’s performance goals, you could be overlooking considerations that impact the both effectiveness of your courses and how long it takes to finish them. From general capabilities to specific workflow structures, some aspects are critical when it comes to learning objectives and deadlines.

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Five Simple Strategies That Can Help Any Student Learn

TeachThought - Learn better.

Five Simple Strategies That Can Help Any Student Learn contributed by Drs. Donna Wilson and Marcus Conyers Empowered with some basic information about how the mind and brain work during learning, teachers can plan to use some new strategies for supporting high student achievement. Through the years we have facilitated the use of brain-based strategies […].

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Is Growth Mindset the Missing Piece in the Equity Discussion?

Edsurge

How does a school or district begin to tackle the seemingly insurmountable issue of equity? Decades of attempts at closing the persistent (and perhaps even widening) achievement gap, along with the knowledge that this is an immense and deeply historical issue to address, make it feel as if the task may be impossible. Yet we have ample data to suggest that the need is there and is essential to address, because nearly all aspects of a child’s education are impacted by underlying issues related to

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Timeless Learning: Progressive Education Based in How Humans Have Always Learned

Digital Promise

What does learning look like? What does it sound like? What does it feel like? How does a five-year-old learn? A 13-year-old? A 17-year-old? And… if a child had never seen or heard of a school, what would his or her learning experiences be as they move from age four to age 18? What would those 18-year-olds be like? What might they know? What skills might they have?

Learning 227
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10+ ways to use Flipgrid’s newest features in the classroom

Ditch That Textbook

For many students, video is just part of the way they speak. Snapchat. Instagram. YouTube. For many of them, they think in terms of sharing socially. Video has never been more accessible and available to use in classroom settings. Flipgrid is a platform where students can respond to prompts with short video responses. And Flipgrid […].

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The Roses and Thorns of an LMS Strategy: How to Flourish with the Right LMS

Speaker: Amanda Davis, Chief Experience Officer and Liam O'Malley, VP of Association Solutions

The "new normal" is now a little less new, a little more normal. Does that mean your current LMS strategy is in need of a refresh? Is your organization or association leaning into the always-evolving eLearning environment to ensure you have the tools and content to remain relevant through all this change? There are many complex decision-making processes within your learning & development strategy and LMS lifecycle management, including: Selection.

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Concept Mapping in Education: Teachers Guide

Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

Here is a handy visual we created for the post “9 Great Concept Mapping Tools for Teachers and Students”. We summarized the main points from that post, for more details you can always refer back to.

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Technology Helps Teachers Prevent and Mitigate Bad Behavior in the Classroom

EdTech Magazine

Technology Helps Teachers Prevent and Mitigate Bad Behavior in the Classroom. eli.zimmerman_9856. Mon, 08/13/2018 - 10:17. While most teachers want to believe the best about their students, the reality is that skipping class, plagiarism and a host of other issues are behavioral challenges teachers grapple with daily. It can be difficult for teachers to react in ways that will guide students back to proper classroom behavior without alienating them — which is a major concern according to a recent

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Stop Praising Student Work. Be Specific Instead.

TeachThought - Learn better.

Stop Praising Student Work. Be Specific Instead. contributed by Paul Moss We all know that time demands on teachers seem to be ever-growing. Sometimes I feel I must be working in dog years, so any way to reduce the burden is worth exploring. One approach is the use of verbal feedback. Verbal feedback is quick, […]. The post Stop Praising Student Work.

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5 Ways to Build Real Teacher-Student Connections for the Year Ahead

Edsurge

Summer is the time for many educators to reboot, relax, and re-energize for the upcoming school year. We do this in different ways. Some attend conferences, participate in webinars, or read up on educational trends to learn and grow before putting their newly-acquired knowledge into practice in September. Others don’t think much about school at all and spend their time either working another job to make ends meet or with family and friends doing the things they love (and don’t have time for) dur

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Building the Foundation for a Modern K-12 Classroom

K-12 looks different these days. But one thing remains the same: you need a reliable learning platform that serves as the foundation for teaching and learning––for all students, in a variety of learning experiences. Discover how the Instructure Learning Platform supports today's K-12 classroom through: A central, consistent, connected hub of the digital learning environment.

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Understanding Learner Variability: The Research and the Reality

Digital Promise

In our paper, Learner Variability Is the Rule, Not the Exception , we define learner variability, based on research on the science of the individual and what research says matters in learning. Learner variability includes: … the young person who lives in poverty, or is learning to speak English and may not yet have the background knowledge to enable comprehension of a reading passage.

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50+ back to school ideas, activities and icebreakers

Ditch That Textbook

The first day of school is met with excitement as students reconnect with old friends, share about their summer and look ahead to another year. As teachers, we work hard to make that first day a positive experience for our students. And we want to keep that excitement and engagement going as we head into […].

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10 Important Google Classroom Tips for Teachers

Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

Google Classroom is an educational platform that allows teachers and students to connect, communicate and facilitate classroom workflow. It provides a collection of productivity tools that.read more.

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What K–12 Administrators Should Think About When Integrating Classroom Tech

EdTech Magazine

What K–12 Administrators Should Think About When Integrating Classroom Tech. eli.zimmerman_9856. Mon, 08/27/2018 - 13:19. For K–12 school districts that want to adopt classroom technology to improve outcomes or better engage students , the first step is engaging teachers , says Shannon Tabaldo, founding director of the Innovation in Digital Education and Leadership institute.

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Transform Your Classroom with Apple

Speaker: Aaron Webb, Jamf

Apple empowers educators and students by design. Whether using Macs, iPads, or Apple TV, Apple devices encourage creativity and can simplify teaching with apps to make the classroom more flexible, collaborative and personalized for each student. To unleash the full potential of the technology and create the best learning environment, you need to understand the tools and resources available, and develop an education-focused, comprehensive plan, from equipment purchase to deployment, management an