2017

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Document Student Growth with Portfolios

Teacher Reboot Camp

“How you climb a mountain is more important than reaching the top.” – Yvon Chouinard. Digital portfolios are one of the most powerful ways my students take ownership of their learning and reflect on their learning journeys. Digital portfolios help students set, track, and achieve their academic learning goals. Check out several of my students’ reflective portfolios here.

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Thinking Routines in the Classroom

The CoolCatTeacher

Karen Voglesang on episode 209 [A special encore episode] of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter. Today Karen Voglesang @NBCTchr teaches children to use thinking routines in her classroom. After participating in Harvard’s Project Zero , she is applying and using the methods in classrooms and with teachers.

Classroom 564
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Classroom Device Management Empowers Teachers to Integrate Tech

EdTech Magazine

By Joe McAllister Educators can keep students on task with tools from Google and GoGuardian.

Classroom 715
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?The Power of Choice: Why Online Classes Matter to Students

Edsurge

There is no lack of evidence to suggest that online classes have deeply transformed the teaching and learning landscape in higher education. In 2015, for example, nearly 30 percent of college students took at least one online class. But as more faculty are being encouraged to teach online, how often are they aware of why creating the option to take online classes supports their students’ ability to graduate?

Course 521
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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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10 MORE digital bell-ringer activities to kickstart class (Part 2)

Ditch That Textbook

We have a golden window of time at the beginning of any class. For these first five or ten minutes of class (OK, probably more the five than the ten), we have our students’ most attention. It’s the most focused they’ll likely be for us all day. If we squander that time, the rest of […].

EdTech 519
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This is What Powerful Learning Looks Like, Students Share Their Stories

Digital Promise

Last week, Digital Promise co-hosted the EdSurge Fusion conference. As part of the opening session, I wanted to show examples of what it looks like when students use technology in powerful ways. But before I could make a movie about this, I needed to make sure I knew what powerful learning looks like to me. I set out to find students who leverage their connected resources to improve the quality of life for themselves, others, and their communities.

Robotics 473

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18 things that leaders of innovative schools do differently

Dangerously Irrelevant

I had a wonderful time this past week at the TIES conference in Minneapolis. Having worked at the University of Minnesota for six years, it was super fun to connect with old educator friends and new (including a lot of goofiness with Shelly Terrell while at Flipgrid headquarters). I served as the lunch keynote for TIES on Sunday and then facilitated a lesson redesign workshop that afternoon using our trudacot discussion protocol (thanks, Julie Graber , for joining us!).

Groups 419
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My Story: Fire, Loss, and Rebuilding

Catlin Tucker

On Sunday, October 8th I went to bed early. I had been waking up between 4-5 AM all week to do work for my doctoral program. We had also hosted my husband’s family for the weekend, and I was exhausted. Normally, we go to be at 11 PM, but that evening I crawled under the covers at 9:30 PM. It was a warm and windy night. I could hear the wind whistling through the trees outside my window.

Education 419
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5 Easy Ways To Make Your Digital Content Accessible To Everyone

The Web20Classroom

Reaghan is my oldest daughter and about to start third grade. At 2 years of age I noticed she wasn’t talking much and when she did talk you couldn’t really understand what she was trying to say. After talking to her pediatrician it was decided to have her evaluated for her speech. She spent countless hours working with a speech-language pathologist for nearly 5 and half years.

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Tapping Toward a Better Understanding of Slope

MIND Research Institute

Thoughts of a traditional math classroom may bring to mind images of students sitting silently at desks while a teacher works through a math problem on the board. There could be more to this scene though. Perhaps one student is using her fingers to keep track of numbers while another quietly taps his pencil along to key points of the equation. These are both small examples of embodied cognition, the idea that features of thought are shaped by aspects of the body other than the brain.

Examples 307
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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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QR Codes for Class Night Sign Ups?

Tech Helpful

One of the things I'm quickly learning as an instructional technologist is that teaching parents how to use technology you are using in the classroom eases their mind a bit and gives them a sense of understanding. In our elementary school we use QR codes quite a bit to help students easily access information, websites, and videos as part of their learning and sharing.

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Minecraft in the Classroom

The CoolCatTeacher

Jeff Gearhart on episode 162 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter. Are you studying Mars? Why not let students go live there? Jeff Gearhart is working with teachers in traditional subjects to let students immerse in the subject in Minecraft. In today’s show, learn about Minecraft EDU and how it is being used to teach.

Classroom 373
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The 3 Biggest K–12 Tech Trends for 2017

EdTech Magazine

By Meghan Bogardus Cortez Classroom tech and data will continue to boost learning outcomes.

Trends 488
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21st-Century Project Learning: The Bootstrapping Checklist

EdNews Daily

Written by Rich Baxter. What Is The Bootstrapping Checklist for Public Schools * ? The Bootstrapping Checklist for Public Schools* teaches 21st-century skills, including communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity. The workflow introduces students to project management, innovation and entrepreneurship and engages students in experiential learning activities related to the STEAM curriculum.

Learning 267
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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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5 ways to teach students to be future-ready

Ditch That Textbook

Today’s students face a technology-infused, innovation-filled world in their future. We’re already looking at the possibility of widespread smart houses, autonomous cars and artificial intelligence that can talk to us and work on our behalf. Our parents’ and grandparents’ curriculum won’t be sufficient. How do teachers identify the trends, predict what students will need and prepare […].

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New Research Compendium Addresses Productivity & Transformation When Applying Technology in Learning Math

Digital Promise

Recently, the 60,000-member National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) released a new “Research Compendium,” a handbook with 38 chapters , each summarizing the best research on an important aspect of teaching and learning mathematics. For the past three years, I was honored to work on the team that developed the chapter on “Technology for Mathematics Learning.

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How Magnolia ISD ‘leveled the playing field’ for students in math

Ask a Tech Teacher

If you’re evaluating math programs at your school, a good option to consider is ORIGO Education’s Stepping Stones. Here’s one educator’s story about how Stepping Stones made a big difference with his students’ math skills: How Magnolia ISD has ‘leveled the playing field’ for students in math. by Dennis Pierce. Like many U.S. school systems, the Magnolia Independent School District in Texas serves a diverse student population.

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Aligning the 10 building blocks for future ready schools

Dangerously Irrelevant

A growing number of schools are recognizing that they must start transitioning their learning environments toward deeper learning, greater student agency, more authentic work, and robust technology infusion. Making those transitions is complex work, however, and many school administrators and teachers aren’t exactly sure how to proceed beyond some vague ideas about doing things differently.

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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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Panel Presentations: Connect Students with a Real Audience

Catlin Tucker

When I spoke at Californa’s Better Together Teachers Summit , I talked about the power of connecting students to an authentic audience online. I emphasized the role technology can play in helping teachers to get more eyes on student work and, as a result, motivate students to do their best work. In addition to connecting students to an online audience, I also invite community members, parents, and other students into our classroom regularly.

Secondary 419
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Doing More With The Classroom Makerspace

The Web20Classroom

When I was 6 or 7 years old I was at home on a boring rainy weekend. Being an inquisitive kid and generally looking for mischief I found some tools in a closet and decided something in my house needed taking a apart. I'd always wondered how a toaster actually made toast so it became the subject of my experiment. I spent a while taking it a part looking at all the pieces and, of course not knowing how any of it worked.

Classroom 361
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7 Ways to Build Trust with Your School Community #LT8keys

Tom Murray

If serving is below you, leadership is beyond you. – Unknown. In many schools, the community,—particularly parents—feels left in the dark. Within their own walls, schools often work diligently to communicate the latest initiatives, results, and grading practices, or they discuss things such as the Common Core State Standards. However, the community is often unaware of such important topics until they hit a friend’s Facebook wall, an online gossip forum, or become part of the conversation

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Do You Know the Edtech Adoption Rules in Your State? SETDA’s New Guide May Help.

Edsurge

What’s the difference between selling an education product to California versus Indiana—or any other state, for that matter? A new report from the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) aims to clear up the murky waters surrounding the adoption of digital learning materials, a process that varies wildly between states. The report defines several different procurement models, including so-called “adoption states,” where decisions are made at the state level, and “local contro

EdTech 262
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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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Integrating the Arts into Every Subject

The CoolCatTeacher

Catherine Davis-Hayes on episode 153 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter. The graphic, performing, and theater arts are powerful allies for math, writing, and every subject you teach. As 2007 State Teacher of the Year in Rhode Island, Catherine Davis-Hayes is passionate about helping every teacher use the arts in their classroom.

Robotics 365
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3 Ways to Get More Young Women Interested in STEM

EdTech Magazine

By Meghan Bogardus Cortez From computational thinking to role models, educators can use classroom tech to further engage young women in science, technology, engineering and math fields.

STEM 419
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Why writing doesn’t just prove learning, it improves all learning-including STEM

eSchool News

Writing is used to assess student learning more often than it is used to facilitate learning. We talk about writing as a product for assessment, a subject where paragraphs and commas are taught, or a skill that one either has developed or lacks. Rarely do we hear people, even teachers, discuss writing as a process for learning. Imagine if a teacher said, “Go write on it and see what you come up with,” after a student asked a question.

STEM 251
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Ditch That Marking: 5+ ways to improve grading

Ditch That Textbook

I had a pile of assessments to mark (grade). I knew was going to take the best part of four hours to get done. I seemed to be writing the same comments as feedback: “Use a quotation to support your argument.” “Include a religious view as an alternative.” (I am a religious studies teacher if […].

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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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Announcing the New Members of the League of Innovative Schools

Digital Promise

The League of Innovative Schools, Digital Promise’s flagship network of forward-thinking leaders of our nation’s school districts, is honored to welcome 13 districts into the 2017-2018 cohort, bringing the League’s membership to 93 districts in 33 states. The League seeks districts who are developing and sharing promising innovations that advance excellent, equitable learning opportunities for students.

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Visible Learning and John Hattie

Ask a Tech Teacher

Over the years, I’ve struggled to teach in ways my students would understand. Standing at the front of the classroom stopped working so I researched (and tried in some cases) Whole Brain Teaching (WBT), Socratic Method , Understanding by Design , Mindfulness , and a lot more options that colleagues mentioned as helpful with their differentiated student groups.

Learning 374
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From Practice to Paper: How #IntentiontheBook was Born

EdTechTeam

We, (Dan and Amy), met serendipitously (as with most good things) at SXSWEdu Conference a few years ago when mutual friends brought us respectively in tow to an Austin Mexican food restaurant. We were instantly mesmerized and energized by each other’s ideas and anecdotes about our pedagogy and projects. Dan has long been a devotee of the design thinking approach to learning and Amy’s focus at the time was remix, multimedia storytelling, and connected learning.

Handbook 186
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Teaching & Assessing Soft Skills

Catlin Tucker

The career landscape is changing dramatically. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that the average worker currently holds ten different jobs before the age of forty. This requires a high degree of flexibility and adaptability. Students who leave high school with strong soft skills will work more harmoniously with others and be more successful tackling unfamiliar tasks.

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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