August, 2021

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The 6 Dimensions of Disruptive Thinkers

A Principal's Reflections

What is really needed for success in the world today? I think this might be the million-dollar question. Even though it is difficult, if not impossible, to predict the future, we can examine current trends and societal forces to determine the competencies that learners need to thrive. While some will remain the same, others will evolve or change completely depending on the disruption at the moment.

Outcomes 544
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15 Real-World Lessons You Can Teach Kids NOW

The CoolCatTeacher

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter. The time for financial literacy and real-world learning is now. And there is no better free resource for educators to use than Everfi. Through interesting, relatable scenarios and real-life simulations around topics like financial literacy and social-emotional learning, teachers can easily bring the real world into their classrooms.

Course 507
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Offering Electives to Elementary Students

User Generated Education

Electives, as we all know, are classes that students choose to take. Electives are typically chosen based on interests, passions, a need to learn something new, and/or because of future goals. It is not clear to me why elementary students are rarely offered elective courses. In addition to empowering practical skills, electives can help students find hidden talents or passions.

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Teach Students To Treat Their Learning Like They’re Making a Documentary

Catlin Tucker

Learning is a dynamic process that requires active engagement. Unfortunately, many students have gotten comfortable in their roles as passive observers or consumers in the classroom. Yes, that is a less cognitively and socially taxing role, but it is not nearly as interesting or engaging. This passive position also does not require that students think intentionally about their learning.

Schoology 545
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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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Why Digital Equity Still Matters for Students in Online Environments

EdTech Magazine

Educators, administrators and K–12 leaders realized technology’s full potential when the COVID-19 pandemic first swept the nation. Since the initial shift to remote learning, educational technology has advanced in leaps and bounds. With the expansion of virtual-only schools, many students won’t be returning to the classroom this year. Some are choosing to learn online because they’ve found their niche, while others are taking a virtual option for safety or scheduling reasons.

Classroom 545
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Fostering the development of SEL skills in your classroom

Neo LMS

As educators have seen, especially during this past school year, it has become increasingly important to focus on the mental health and wellness of our students. Finding balance and making time to focus on our own self-care is essential so that we can model this for our students. Being prepared means access to various resources, including methods and tools to help students build social emotional learning (SEL) skills.

Classroom 534

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Book Review–My Secret EdTech diary

Ask a Tech Teacher

My Secret EdTech Diary. by Al Kingsley. 4/5. Al Kingsley’s My Secret EdTech Diary (John Cott Educational 2021) is a big-goaled, meandering overview of edtech (educational technology) available and pertinent to teachers and students. It is almost stream of consciousness told in a friendly, affable voice, where the author starts with a specific topic and then addresses that and many tangential ideas, showing how they are related and interconnect.

EdTech 524
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How to Use Gamification for Attention-Getting and Fun Learning

The CoolCatTeacher

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter. Paolo Tolomeo gets kids excited about learning math and language arts by sailing the 7 seas. Learn how it does it, how he keeps on track with lessons, and how to avoid common mistakes when adding gamification to your classroom. Sponsor: Advancement Courses is sponsoring DonorsChoose projects from August 18 – September 24.

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Teacher Tips: Starting the Year with Station Rotation

Catlin Tucker

Guest post written by Amy Tobener-Talley. The station rotation model is a great way to introduce your class expectations to a new group of students while simultaneously building relationships and developing your class community. In this post, I’ll share some strategies and resources I found useful when preparing to use the station rotation model at the beginning of the school year.

UDL 521
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Network Monitoring: What We Don’t Know Can Hurt Us

EdTech Magazine

K–12 schools depend on a functioning and performing IT infrastructure. In addition to the classic uses of IT, other areas of educational technology are becoming increasingly important at a rapid pace. Course materials and books are online, classes meet through web portals, and non-IT systems like building control and laboratory technology are beginning to shift to the IT department.

Course 541
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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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6 Digital tools for giving feedback to students

Neo LMS

Learning is the attribute of students, but it cannot happen without feedback, which is the attribute of teaching. Our students need us to guide them through their learning process and offer them feedback every step of the way. In a face-to-face setting, giving feedback is easy and timely, enabling students to regulate their learning process faster and improve their level of knowledge and retention from an academic standpoint.

Tools 480
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Sparking Inquiry in the Classroom

A Principal's Reflections

As a kid, I loved nature. Growing up in a rural part of New Jersey and spending summers at the beach probably played a significant role in developing this interest. My parents would buy me and my brother all sorts of field guides to help support our curiosity and genuine interest in living creatures. We would venture out on routine quests to either observe or collect specimens for further study.

Classroom 544
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Technology is Here to Stay: Now What?

Ask a Tech Teacher

Ask a Tech Teacher contributor, Christian Miraglia, taught for 36 years before retiring. He has some interesting reflections on technology’s place in education: Remember the days of Oregon Trail on the old Apple IIe’s or students drawing pictures with Kid Pix. Much has changed since technology has made inroads into education, and much has not.

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365 Inclusive Learning Strategies to Help Every Child

The CoolCatTeacher

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter. Karen Janowski and her coauthors have written a book Inclusive Learning 365: Edtech Strategies for Every Day of the Year. Today she talks about a mindset of including students who learn differently and better reaching the children you have in the classroom. She also shares some practical examples and edtech tools in the process and how you can work to innovate every day of the year in a way that is not overwhelming.

Strategy 459
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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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Vision Boards: Start the Year with a Visual Goal Setting Exercise

Catlin Tucker

When I began my doctoral program, one of my first assignments was to create a vision board. I was instructed to imagine my life in the future and create a visual to represent what I wanted that reality to look like. What did I want to be doing personally or professionally in five years? What was I hoping to accomplish or achieve? What did I want my day-to-day life to look and feel like?

Exercises 403
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From Hybrid to Blended Learning: Using Tech to Improve Students' Experience

EdTech Magazine

Most teachers were aware of blended learning prior to the pandemic. Many were attempting to integrate the model into their classroom teaching on some level, using digital tools and web-based resources in their curriculum and pedagogy. However, the blended learning approach wasn’t yet seen as a necessity in the K–12 learning environment. Now, with recent advancements in educational technology and the near-perpetual use of these tools for the past year and a half, there’s no going back to the way

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6 Digital tools that help teachers create effective rubrics

Neo LMS

The grading process is time-consuming. It can be overwhelming and frustrating. Grading can even influence what assignments they choose to give to students, anticipating the workload of marking each submission. A solution comes from rubrics, which are benchmarks used in grading to help assess students’ learning. Rubrics include the criteria for evaluation and the level of performance with descriptions for each.

Tools 413
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Disruptive Thinking: Making it a Reality

A Principal's Reflections

It has been a wild and bumpy ride during the pandemic, but through it all, we have witnessed firsthand the resilience of educators across the world. While COVID-19 represented the most disruptive force ever to impact the field of education, educators did what they always do – go above and beyond for kids and each other. They have and continue to make lemonade out of a never-ending supply of lemons.

Strategy 541
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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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15 Back to School Resources

Ask a Tech Teacher

I’ve collected a series of back-to-school tips that are suited for in-person or remote learning. Pick those that work for you: 8 Tech Tools to Get to Know Your Students for Back to School. 3 Apps to Help Brainstorm Next Year’s Lessons. 11 Back-to-school Activities for the First Month of School. Great Back to School Classroom Activities. Plan a Memorable Back to School Night.

Resources 421
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Getting the Brain Ready to Learn Math

The CoolCatTeacher

Liesl McConchie talks about how the brain learns math From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter. When students come into your math class, are they ready to learn? Is their brain in a ready state? In today’s show, Liesl McConchie shares how to help students get their brains ready to learn from the moment they walk into the classroom.

Learning 434
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Helping Students Take the Next Step in their Career and Education Journey

Digital Promise

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” is a question adults often ask young people. Used to help gauge kids’ interests, the expected response is usually tied to a future profession or job. In the Cajon Valley Union School District, they’ve added a few follow-up questions: “What skills and experiences will you need? What do you do well? How can we help you to meet your goal?”.

Education 420
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Three Tech Tools for Teaching Literacy

EdTech Magazine

Despite kindergarten being a crucial time for literacy development, those classes saw an average 16 percent drop in enrollment nationwide in 2020, according to a report from NPR. Teachers have found it particularly difficult to teach early reading skills virtually. Add in the number of kindergarteners whose parents have opted to hold them out this fall, and it’s no wonder experts are concerned about young learners’ reading skills heading into the 2021-2022 school year.

Tools 516
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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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20 back to school templates to save you time

Ditch That Textbook

Back to school is an exciting time. It can also be overwhelming. Teachers have a LOT to plan: lessons, communication, organization, building community. and that just scratches the surface!That's where templates come in.Templates can save us time. They give us a starting point so we can adapt them to fit our needs. Below you […]. The post 20 back to school templates to save you time appeared first on Ditch That Textbook.

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RTI and Personalization: A Dynamic Duo

A Principal's Reflections

Recently I was working with the leadership team at Moanalua Middle School (MMS) in Hawaii. One of the coaching topics that came up was how to improve the Response to Intervention (RTI) process as a means to support learners. It represents a multi-tiered process to identify the behavior and learning needs of struggling students early on and then provide specific support in the form of interventions.

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Habits that Drive Great Teams

Education Elements

Early in my career, when I was a middle school science teacher in Charlotte, North Carolina, I didn’t think that the ritual of shaking my students’ hands, fist bumping, or hugging my students as they entered our classroom meant anything. But now, I realize it’s the opposite. The repetitive habit of checking in with your team means everything. It’s a signal that your team is paying attention to the whole being of others, focusing on the little things, caring about the unity of the team, and so mu

Classroom 355
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How to Use Google’s Free Applied Digital Skills Curriculum

The CoolCatTeacher

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter. Google's Applied Digital Skills Curriculum is a fantastic free resource of lesson plans, videos, and learning experiences for students everywhere. Today's guest Coach Victor Hicks talks about how he's used the curriculum for grades kindergarten and up. Sponsor: Today's podcast includes sponsored content from Google and their Applied Digital Skills Curriculum.

How To 431
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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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Computational Thinking Strategies to Support Young Children’s Learning

Digital Promise

Computational thinking (CT) is the thought process involved in determining how to solve problems in effective and efficient ways. CT is not thinking like a computer, but it is thinking like a computer scientist to solve problems. The systematic strategies that computer scientists apply in their work can be really helpful to us in our day-to-day lives and it has potential applications for early learners as well.

Strategy 334
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Exploring World Language Classes with Educational Technology

EdTech Magazine

Rachelle Dené Poth brings educational technology into all of her classes. A teacher at Riverview Junior-Senior High School in Pennsylvania, Poth focuses on digital citizenship, artificial intelligence, and augmented and virtual reality with her STEAM students, but she also incorporates the technology into her other classes. “I do a lot of those same things in my Spanish classes as well because I love all the possibilities that are out there,” says Poth, one of EdTech’s 2021 K–12 IT influencers.

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20 brilliant teacher hacks for the classroom

Ditch That Textbook

Teachers are nothing less than incredible, creative, brilliant people. They find ways to solve problems in ways that are not only ingenious but also usually pretty cheap!We call these "teacher hacks".We might define a teacher hack as a unique, sometimes creative, not "by the book" way to solve a problem and there are tons out […]. The post 20 brilliant teacher hacks for the classroom appeared first on Ditch That Textbook.

Classroom 363
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Superhero capes

Dangerously Irrelevant

During the pandemic we donned our superhero capes and finally put computers and Internet access in the hands of our students. Then most of us took our capes off and gave kids digital worksheets. Related Posts. Education in a digital world [VIDEO]. The problem with ‘any time, any place, any path, any pace’ Time, place, path, and pace. Avoid magical thinking: ‘Design for online’ this fall.

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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