7 Apps for Teaching Children Coding Skills It's hard to imagine a single career that doesn't have a need for someone who can code. Everything that "just works" has some type of code that makes it run. Coding (a.k.a. programming) is all around us. If you're concerned that that a) elementary school students don't have the ability to code, b) there's no room in the curriculum, and c) you don't possess coding chops to teach programming skills, throw out those worries. In no particular order, we have listed all the coding apps that are appropriate for young learners. GameStar Mechanic Platform: WebCost: $2 per student GameStar Mechanic teaches kids, ages 7-14, to design their own video games. Scratch Platform: WebCost: Free! Tynker Platform: WebCost: Free! Move the Turtle Platform: iOS (iPad and iPod)Cost: $2.99 We love Move the Turtle, a gamified way to learn programming procedures. Hopscotch Platform: iPadCost: Free! Daisy the Dinosaur Platform: iPadCost: Free! Cargo-Bot Platform: iPadCost: Free!
Actively Engage Students Using Hands-on & Minds-on Instruction Contrary to popular belief, “active engagement” involves more than “hands-on” instruction. Years ago, I discovered this when I realized that hands-on teaching didn’t always result in student learning. Yes, my students had fun, but follow-up activities showed little grasp of essential concepts. How could that be? My students appeared to be actively engaged, but apparently only their hands and their mouths were active! My “ah-ah” moment came when I realized that both minds and hands are necessary for active engagement. Luckily, there are dozens of active engagement “tools” you can use to spark excitement and add rigor to your lessons. These classroom games... Use these teaching strategies to ensure feedback is maximized in your classroom. Here are a few classroom activities that will help students develop habits that... Use these teaching strategies to stress the importance of comparing and... Active Engagement Tools Random Student Selection Learn more about The Hat here. Hands-on Instruction
5 Proven Ways to Engage Students In Your Classroom The eyes roll back, the mouth scowls, the fingers grip the not-so-secretly hidden cellphone, and the brain checks out. These are, as teachers everywhere can attest, the surefire signs of a disengaged student. And these symptoms are ravaging the educational system. Teachers know that student engagement is the key to learning retention and having a great overall classroom experience, but they often don’t have the time or energy to come up with some of the outrageous things that they see other teachers doing online to keep kids’ interest. Some of us just can’t plan a flash mob for every lesson. Disengaged students are unmotivated to complete their work, apathetic about learning outcomes, and resistant to participating in classwork. Everyone has suggestions for improving student engagement. Strategies and Tools for Student Engagement Use 1:1 devices: We know, this isn’t a cheap option, but it is a legitimate way to increase engagement and participation in the classroom. In Short
22 Simple Ideas for Harnessing Creativity in the Elementary Classroom Here's an experiment you can conduct in many schools, maybe even the school where you teach. Look through the door of one classroom and you might see the students hunched over, not engaged, even frowning. The teacher looks frazzled, tired and wishing he or she were somewhere else. What is the second teacher doing that the first one isn't? Creativity is innovation. Creativity is thinking outside the box. Creativity is improvisation. Creativity is professional growth. Creativity is being a risk taker or mold breaker. Creativity is passion. Suggested Activities: The Game of Learning For the first six activities, seat your students in a circle and introduce a ball or something else they can pass easily between them. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Suggested Activities: The Artsy Side of Creative 9. 10. 11. 12. Creative Science 13. 14. 15. Incorporate Your Students' Favorite Things 16. Creative time savers 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. Live Like a Turtle
25 Clever Classroom Tips For Elementary School Teachers