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'Guest post by Michelle Loucas No one enjoys boredom. It is an uncomfortable state, leaving one to cast about for relief. If you Google "boredom" and "school," you will find numerous entries about the boredom "epidemic" in our schools and oodles of "boredom-busting strategies" to eradicate this outbreak. The essence of these cures is to "surround them with wonder"-- make schooling more entertaining so that kids will stop fidgeting and absorb wha
'Brainstorming/mind mapping has been an educational technique that has been around since the beginning of cognitive thought. This is a tool that facilitates ideas and collaborative in nature. W/ the use of web 2.0 technology this concept has evolved into an ideal 21st Century Technology for education. "A mind map is a diagram used to represent words , ideas , tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea.
'The things we have to learn before we do them, we learn by doing them. Aristotle. Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results. John Dewey. My training as an educator occurred through experiential education rather than the traditional route. Experiential Education is based on the following principles as articulated by the Association for Experiential Education : Experiential learning occurs when car
I pulled a double the other day. I not only visited the first Mobile App class in Iowa, but got a chance to visit the first Coding and Video Game Development class we have in Iowa. Both are in the same school. Clint Gadbury is the teacher who is teaching two classes of our Coding and 3D Video Game Design Course. Clint is a veteran STEAM educator and has great connections to his learners.
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.
Update: Here’s the website set up by Margaret’s family: . [link]. As anyone who had the pleasure of working alongside Margaret knows, she was a tireless advocate for equity and access, and a persistent, diligent team member. Our team, along with countless others, will miss her knowledge and skill—but what we will miss most is her kindness and cheerful smile.
'Clay Shirky author and professor of media studies at New York University, recently penned a guest article for the Washington Post sharing why he decided to ban technology in his class. He explains how it was challenging to be more interesting than the devices. The following quote captures some of his thinking: “The practical effects of my decision to allow technology use in class grew worse over time.
'Clay Shirky author and professor of media studies at New York University, recently penned a guest article for the Washington Post sharing why he decided to ban technology in his class. He explains how it was challenging to be more interesting than the devices. The following quote captures some of his thinking: “The practical effects of my decision to allow technology use in class grew worse over time.
'It's hard to believe that one of the top tools for learning as recognized by the Center for Learning &Performance Technologies is blocked in many schools today. Fortunately, innovative educators are resilient souls. If they can't get the learning to their students, the old fashioned way, they'll find another. In this case, the tool we're talking about is YouTube.
'If you''re in a school where students have access to technology they have amazing learning tools at their fingertips. While equity and access is wonderful for students, teachers must know how to harness the power of these devices. If they don''t, these tools of engagement can turn into weapons of mass distraction. Check out the slides below for some ideas.
'If students want to run for office, run a business, or change how things are run where they live, work, or play, they need to be savvy users of social media. This starts with having a positive online reputation. I had the opportunity at Tech Forum New York to speak with four Innovative educators (see below for faces and end of article for names) from elementary, middle, and high school as well as a district administrator about how to best prepare students.
'This summer my department partnered with technology companies (such as PBS Learning, Google, and SMART Technologies) that provide resources used and loved by NYCDOE teachers to provide an innovative professional learning experience. The goal of the program was to create and connect teachers across the district who are power-users of the same resources so they could become area experts supporting others back in their school and districts.
Mathematics, a subject steeped in abstract concepts, often poses challenges to students, especially those in grades 5-10. But imagine a bridge that transformed this intricate maze into an interactive adventure.
'Innovative educators know that teaching and learning is shifting. Today students can watch lessons on their devices and progress at their own pace and teachers don’t have to waste time giving the same lecture multiple times a day. While watching lessons automates what is done in the traditional classroom, there is a new tool called Microsoft Office Mix which brings lectures and lessons to life by turning PowerPoints into interactive lessons called “Mixes” that are very simple to create.
'Innovative educators always want to know the latest and greatest tools and resources for teaching and learning. The problem is they are busy people and keeping up with what''s new takes a lot of time! If this sounds like you, you''ll be happy to learn about these free tools that summarize reading. Tools 4 Noobs Summarize Tool [link] SMMRY [link].
'School has been underway for more than a month. This is when back to school seems like a distant memory and it's time to celebrate learning as units of study come to a close. If you are ready to do just that, try musical shares. It is the brainchild of myself and a colleague from Common Sense Media, Tali. It is a marriage between musical chairs and speed dating.
'Here’s the roundup of what''s been popular on The Innovative Educator blog. Below you’ll see the top posts along with the number of page views. I hope there''s something that looks of interest to you. If it does, check it out. If you’re inspired use one of those icons below the post to share it with others and/or leave a comment. Entry Pageviews Fear is not an option when it comes to social medi.
'Here’s the roundup of what''s been popular on The Innovative Educator blog. Below you’ll see the top posts along with the number of page views. I hope there''s something that looks of interest to you. If it does, check it out. If you’re inspired use one of those icons below the post to share it with others and/or leave a comment. Entry Pageviews Using Cell Phones to Support Student Engagement & May 6, 2012, 6421 Fear is not an option when it comes to social medi.
'Here’s the roundup of what''s been popular on The Innovative Educator blog. Below you’ll see the top posts along with the number of page views. I hope there''s something that looks of interest to you. If it does, check it out. If you’re inspired use one of those icons below the post to share it with others and/or leave a comment. Entry Pageviews Fear is not an option when it comes to social medi.
'Here’s the roundup of what''s been popular on The Innovative Educator blog. Below you’ll see the top posts along with the number of page views. I hope there''s something that looks of interest to you. If it does, check it out. If you’re inspired use one of those icons below the post to share it with others and/or leave a comment. Entry Pageviews 6 Ways To Access @YouTube Videos Even If They''re B.
'Teache Your Monster to Read is a wonderful new site/app for Game Based Learning that I just found out about from Ozge Karagolu''s amazing blog. Basically, a student creates a monster that they can then use to play educational games involving letters/words working on their phonics and reading skills. This is a highly engaging game and best of all has an educational portal where educators can create/manage student accounts.
'FluencyFinder the educational mobile (iOS/Android) app for assessing Reading & Comprehension has just released their biggest and most robust update yet. Before educators need to choose between 1 of 6 passages (1st thru 8th grade) to assess a student''s Reading level. This was a bit limit for those that needed to use required reading material or those districts that uses Accelerated Reader, AIMS, etc.
'Homeroom is a nice free iOS app that lets educators share classroom activities w/ parents in a safe environment. I like to think of it as Instagram for the classroom where teachers can share classroom photos w/ parents in safe portal where only they can see them. Just like Instagram, parents can then favorite and leave comments. This is a nice little easy way to even create digital portfolios too.
'Booktrack Classroom is a new site/app that is great for the Reading or Writing Classroom. This is an interesting tool that allows students or teachers to add a soundtrack to their writing. Here''s a list of ways Booktrack Classroom is being used in education. Narrative Writing – Students add music and audio to their original stories. Informative and Explanatory Writing – Students compose essays and articles selecting suitable audio to accompany their text.
'Prodigy is a wonderful MMO educational online game for helping students Grades 1st-6th learn Math. This epic game immerses students in a fantasy world where they solve Math problems (addition, subtraction, area, etc.). Best of all is the educational portal that allows educators or parents to control student settings and view user generated reports in real-time.
'Science Bits is a nice Science curriculum for MS/HS aged students. This site has a wide variety of multimedia actives, simulations, videos, and more as students learn about areas/concepts of Science. It has a wide variety of lessons for educators to choose from as well as lots of interactive resources. I highly recommend checking out Science Bits by clicking here !!!
'GoldieBlox and the Movie Machine is a new free iOS app for making your own movies w/ drawing and stamps/stickers. Educators can use this to introduce digital storytelling and it''s a fun way to integrate technology into the classroom. Also, there are a bunch of nice animated tutorials that help teach animation. For example, a student can upload/take their own picture and then animate it.
'Story Bug is a wonderful free iOS app that students can use to collaboratively read along a children''s story at the same time w/ another person on a different device combining reading & video chat. These stories cover a wide range of educational topics and are for ages up to 6 yrs old. Best of all, synchronized sharing allows for users to point to words, turn pages, and more, together at the same time to help develop Reading and Comprehension skills.
'Math File Folder Games is an excellent company for finding inexpensive or free educational iOS apps for Math. These games are fun to play and high replay value being multi-player via bluetooth which allows players to play the same game on separate devices. Also, MFFG games have interactive "whiteboards" to work out problems, scoring that can be emailed to parents/teachers, and more.
'EDpuzzle has just updated their fantastic site/app to integrate a "due date'' by assigning it via drop down calendar to a video. This helps students and educators organize their videos/lessons and see not only how far along an assignment is completed but when it is due as well. An unfinished assignment can even be archived by the user. I like how teachers can create their assignments before hand and assign it a "due date'' to get a nice visual of what they class will be working on in the weeks
'Citelighter, is an online writing platform for K-12 that helps students organize research for homework and papers and allows teachers to assign, monitor and grade. Citelighter is already used in over 3,000 K-12 classrooms, and the new platform will help: Students When students aren''t confident in their writing, they have trouble communicating their thoughts.
'MarcoPolo Weather is an excellent new iOS app that I just found out about from a promotional email. This app allows children to control and interact w/ 9 different types of weather (i.e. sun, rain, snow, etc). The way this works is by having the user control different atmospheric conditions such as temperature, wind speeds, and much much more. Here is some more info.
'Chronicle is an unbelievable iPad app that educators are using for a wide variety of purposes to help w/ their best teaching strategies. This is done by "chronicling" each student through Chronicle by a combination of audio/video notes, assessments, grade books, and much much more. Also, Chronicle makes it easy to grade/assess students by color coded tracking, and innovative easy to use grade book, and provides a platform to effectively communicate w/ parents and other educators.
'Shadow Puppet Edu is one of my favorite and most robust iOS apps for digital storytelling. This simple to use drag-n-drop app lets students upload images, videos, and even narrate their own stories by recording audio. Also, Shadow Puppet Edu lets user search for Common Core aligned lessons w/in the app itself. Educators around the world are using it for Project Based Learning, digital storytelling, and even flipping a classroom/lesson.
'Bluster is a nice free iPad app for Game Based Learning that focuses on Vocabulary skills for El Ed aged kids. This is a fun multiplayer game that can be played in teams or against an appointment as students try to build vocabulary skills while focusing on such aspects as: rhyming, prefixes, synonyms, and more. There are over 800 vocabulary words to start w/ as students try to match words.
'Full Steam Ahead is a very fun mobile (Android/iOS) app designed to turn a student into an architect and build a ship. The goal is to be able to design a ship that can tread the farthest, carry the most load, while traversing rough seas for as long as possible. As a person does better then will gain the interest of investors to donate money to help you build even more extravagant vessels.
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