Students Who Challenge Us:Eight Things Skilled Teachers Think, Say, and Do
Among the many challenges teachers face, often the most difficult is how to engage students who seem unreachable, who resist learning activities, or who disrupt them for others. This is also one of the challenges that skilled teachers have some control over. In my nine years of teaching high school, I've found that one of the best approaches to engaging challenging students is to develop their intrinsic motivation. The root of intrinsic is the Latin intrinsecus, a combination of two words meaning within and alongside. How can teachers do this? What Skilled Teachers Can Think What we think guides how we view the world, including how we view challenging students. 1. Being authoritarian means wielding power unilaterally to control someone, demanding obedience without giving any explanation for why one's orders are important. It's not too much of a stretch to apply this finding to teachers and students. 2. Which mind-set we hold makes a tremendous difference. Teachers aren't superhuman. 3.
22 Easy Formative Assessment Techniques for Measuring Student Learning
I came across Terry Heick’s blog – 10 Assessments You Can Perform In 90 Seconds – at TeachThought from earlier this year and really enjoyed the formative assessment strategies that he outlined. Using formative assessment techniques in class – or “simple assessments” as Terry calls them – are easy to administer and provide the instant feedback teachers need to identify which students need more help, and then adjust their instruction and lesson plans to help them. Visit Terry’s blog above to get more detail on the following ten formative assessment techniques: 1. New Clothes 2. Combining Terry’s ten with the ten we’ve blogged about can give teachers 20 great formative assessment strategies for measuring student learning. 11. Here are a couple more assessments you can use to elicit evidence of student learning. 21. 22. All of these 22 formative assessment techniques are simple to administer and free or inexpensive to use. Do you have a favorite?
15 Good Tools for Quickly Gathering Feedback from Students
Polls, chat tools, and interactive quizzes provide good ways to hear from all of the students in a classroom. These kind of tools allow shy students to ask questions and share comments. For your more outspoken students who want to comment on everything, a feedback mechanism provides a good outlet for them too. Here's a run-down of some of the best tools for gathering feedback from students in real-time. Newer tools:Tozzl is a chat platform that allows you to quickly create private, password-protected message boards as well as public boards. Tozzl, Tozzl, Tozzl!!! Dotstorming is a neat tool that combines a bit of Padlet with a polling tool. Twitter isn't new, but its native polling tool is new this year. Quizalize is a free quiz game platform. Old reliables:81 Dash is a nice backchannel platform that provides a place for teachers to create chat rooms to use with students to host conversations and share files. Kahoot is a service for delivering online quizzes and surveys to your students.
Examples of Formative Assessment
When incorporated into classroom practice, the formative assessment process provides information needed to adjust teaching and learning while they are still happening. The process serves as practice for the student and a check for understanding during the learning process. The formative assessment process guides teachers in making decisions about future instruction. Observations Questioning Discussion Exit/Admit Slips Learning/Response Logs Graphic Organizers Peer/Self Assessments Practice Presentations Visual Representations Kinesthetic Assessments Individual Whiteboards Laundry Day Four Corners Constructive Quizzes Think Pair Share Appointment Clock eHow: Types of Formative Assessment
Inquiry Learning Vs. Standardized Content: Can They Coexist?
By Thom Markham As Common Core State Standards are incorporated from school to school across the country, educators are discussing their value. It may seem that educators are arguing over whether the CCSS will roll out as a substitute No Child Left Behind curriculum or as an innovative guide to encourage inquiry rather than rote learning. In reality, as time will prove, we’re arguing over whether content standards are still appropriate. Everyday there is less standardization of information, making it nearly impossible to decide what a tenth-grader should know. There is only one resolution to the debate. If you’re a teacher in tune with the needs of your students, you sense the disconnect between the curriculum and reality. So how can you, as a teacher, help move the dialogue forward? But PBL is the near-term solution. REDEFINE RIGOR. TEACH INQUIRY SKILLS. MAKE COHORTS AND TEAMS THE PRACTICE, NOT THE EXCEPTION. team learning. SEE THE BALANCE BETWEEN INQUIRY AND CONTENT AS A DYNAMIC.
100 Helpful Blogs For School Librarians (And Teachers)
We love librarians. They’re the gatekeepers of knowledge and always looking to explore new ways to enhance the learning experience . I learned about the latest trends in libraries at this year’s CALICON in San Diego and love the move toward open source, cross-library sharing, and going digital. But what if you weren’t able to attend CALICON or simply want to get a regular update on all the fun stuff happening with libraries? Looking for great Twitter chats for librarians? NOTE: This is an update of Online College’s previous list , as technology has changed, new voices have emerged, and some previously great blogs have gone dormant, making it necessary to revise and re-curate selections. Librarian Blogs Here you’ll find some amazing blogs written by librarians at all kinds of institutions. Free Range Librarian : Librarian K.G. School Librarian Blogs These blogs are ideal reading for school librarians who want to connect with others in the profession. Teacher Librarians Industry News Ed Tech
Dipsticks: Efficient Ways to Check for Understanding
What strategy can double student learning gains? According to 250 empirical studies, the answer is formative assessment, defined by Bill Younglove as “the frequent, interactive checking of student progress and understanding in order to identify learning needs and adjust teaching appropriately.” Unlike summative assessment, which evaluates student learning according to a benchmark, formative assessment monitors student understanding so that kids are always aware of their academic strengths and learning gaps. It also helps teachers improve the effectiveness of their instruction. “When the cook tastes the soup,” writes Robert E. Alternative formative assessment (AFA) strategies can be as simple (and important) as checking the oil in your car—hence the name “dipsticks.” You can find another 53 ways to check for understanding toward the end of this post and as a downloadable document. Observation: A Key Practice in Alternative Formative Assessment New to Alternative Formative Assessment?
Fantastic Comprehensive List of Assessment Tools for Teachers
About ETR Community EdTechReview (ETR) is a community of and for everyone involved in education technology to connect and collaborate both online and offline to discover, learn, utilize and share about the best ways technology can improve learning, teaching, and leading in the 21st century. EdTechReview spreads awareness on education technology and its role in 21st century education through best research and practices of using technology in education, and by facilitating events, training, professional development, and consultation in its adoption and implementation.
