21Classes – Classroom and Education Blogs - Home Making Homework Meaningful One thing that teaches the lessons of accountability, responsibility, diligence and an appreciation for knowledge is homework. Every student has to do it, and for most kids, it is a necessity in order to do well in school. But its usefulness and whether it's taken seriously are always topics of conversation among students. A Survey of Homework Habits In elementary school, we are brought up to do homework, and some kids like myself are lucky enough to have their parents there to reiterate that message. Once I decided this post would be on the topic of homework, I set out to talk to students from multiple backgrounds, and with varying degrees of work ethic and success, about their thoughts and experiences around homework. Starting with students in the top 10% academically, I learned that they all do their homework, plus extra studying on a nightly/weekly basis. There are a few exceptions in this group, though. Time Management, Resources and Context 1) Use In-School Time 3) Use Social Media!
Barrow Media Center Today was National Digital Learning Day. I honestly didn’t plan anything specifically for the day, but rather looked at what we were already doing today and highlighted it. Using technology as a natural part of learning to both consume information and create it is a big part of our media center vision and mission. 11 students used e-readers to download samples of multiple books and read them to make decisions about what e-books they will commit to readingTwo enrichment clusters used iPads, desktops, and laptops to explore different ways of using these devices. How do you celebrate digital learning day every day? Like this: Like Loading...
25 Ways To Use Twitter In The Classroom, By Degree Of Difficulty How Can We Stop Cheating In Online Courses? 6.11K Views 0 Likes While clearly not every student is trying hard to take the slacker route, it's worth noting that picking out the students trying to take this route gets a little more complicated when you move from taking classes in person to taking classes online. 5 Ways To Have A High-Tech Classroom With What You Already Have 11.45K Views 1 Likes There are a host of ways to use the technology you already have at your fingertips to create a Classroom 2.0. How Common Core Standards Mesh With Education Technology
Three Steps for Improving Teacher Questions According to Robert Marzano's book, Classroom Instruction that Works, 80 percent of what is considered instruction involves asking questions. It makes sense then, that if we want to improve our effectiveness at teaching, of course we would start by improving our questions. I have thought a lot about this topic and I would like to share three specific actions that we can take to improve our questions. To begin with, we need to get students talking rather than the teacher talking. Second, prepare the questions when you plan the lesson. And third, scaffold the questions. Step One The first action for improvement in reality is not an action, but a shift in thinking about our own concept of teaching. Step Two The next move is to prepare the questions you want to ask as an integral part of the lesson. Certainly students cannot answer questions or discuss something of which they know nothing. Step Three
Cool Links: Highlights from the National Art Education Conference School librarian Melissa Techman attended NAEA in New York and gleaned some great art-infused ideas for the classroom and media center By Melissa Techman The annual conference of the National Art Education Association (NAEA) featured hands-on fun, resource sharing, and thoughtful discussion on harnessing the power of art to enrich all disciplines. ©2012 Seth & Laura Freeman www.sethfreemanphotography.com Just like librarians, art teachers view themselves as interdisciplinary instructional leaders who support critical thinking and help students acquire knowledge that’s often neglected in a “teach-to-the-test” world. So it’s not surprising that the conference, held March 1–4 in New York, offered real value to librarians and media specialists. John Maeda, President of the Rhode Island School of Design talked about cultivating innovation and the critical role of art in his keynote presentation. Museum educators met to share programs to entice and involve young users. iPads all around at NAEA.
TeachMeetMelbourne - home The Technology Integration Answer (Well Almost...) Earlier this year our group adopted the TPACK model of technology integration. What is TPACK you ask? Basically, it takes the approach that planning for technology integration shouldn't be an event. It should be something that adds to what we are already doing. Through the use of Activity Types, teachers can take the activities they are already doing and match them up with appropiate technologies that may or may not work, depending on the context of learning. You can view this presentation to learn more. According to the feedback we have gotten from the folks who have embraced it has been overwhelmingly positive. Recently I came across something that you can also use to make technology integration easier for you and your staff. There are actually 2 that you can take a look at. The first is the original from The Florida Center For Instructional Technology at the University of South Florida. The other is an adaption from Northern Arizona University.
A Life Our Students Will Never Know Posted by Mrs Kathleen Morris on Tuesday, April 10th 2012 Over the holidays, while attempting to be less “connected”, I’ve been thinking about how much technology seems to be increasingly infused into our day-to-day lives. With laptops, smart phones, iPads, iPods and other portable devices becoming so common place, gadgets are no longer something we go to, they come with us. This clearly brings about many pros and cons. Technology lets us connect and access information more easily, however, being hyperconnected can compromise our health and wellbeing. Like many things in life, striking a balance is key. Sometimes it’s fun to think back and remember how you did things pre internet/mobile/computer. Meeting someone for lunch/a movie/a walk/any event outside the house and not being able to let them know if you’re running late, lost or if your plans have changed.Researching a holiday destination by reading a book. While these tasks seem inefficient now, I don’t remember questioning them.
Discover It! One of the biggest teacher complaints about technology roll out and integration is lack of training. I'll be honest...there is a part of me that finds this to be an excuse to not use technology. It also disheartens me to hear someone say this because I wonder how we are to inspire a passion for learning if we don't model this ourselves; particularly with things we are unfamiliar with. Know that I am not completely heartless. I have done some thinking about why technology isn't being embraced by more teachers on a more regular basis. When I have a material and/or tool that I think my students will find beneficial in their learning, one that has multiple ways to use it, I use a Responsive Classroom® practice called Guided Discovery. How do I see Guided Discovery being utilized with teacher technology training? First, I would use a Responsive Classroom® practice called Interactive Modeling, to show the group how to turn the device on and unlock the screen.
Kevin’s Meandering Mind « If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn. ~ Charlie Parker Our Second Graders Are Piloting Evernote At Van Meter I love the words on the Evernote site... Remember everything. Capture anything. Access anywhere. Find things fast. I have always thought..." As stated on the Evernote for Schools site, "Keep a lifetime of learning at your fingertips. The possibilities are endless on how Evernote can be used within our schools by students, teachers and the school community. As I started working with the Evernote for Schools pilot program, I wanted to do a project that would include using multiple devices (iPads, iTouches, laptops and desktops) and the new eBooks in our library collection. After I set up the Van Meter Evernote Group, I invited Tracy, Mindy and the rest of the staff and secondary students to join. We also worked together to brainstorm what type of project we wanted to do using Evernote. In my initial conversations with Evernote, they told me about Skitch. The students would research animals and communities within the eBooks. I then gave them this simple instruction... And they were off!
Pandora | Drawing inspiration with words... VoiceThread Docents on the iPads Our second grade teacher, Ms.S., was ready to “upgrade” a traditionally taught unit on reptiles. We met to discuss how she could incorporate the 5 C’s of 21st century skills as well as support new emerging literacies. The basic idea was to upgrade a typical report, using books from the library to research and fill out a “research” template on a piece of paper. “Upgrading” meant to find ways to go beyond the traditional text based resources and local classroom community and AMPLIFY… the skills being introduced or supported…the reach students’ voices (in a myriad of media) have…teaching as a skill of learning…the audience they are writing, talking or presenting to… With that in mind, we came up with VoiceThread, as a tool to allow for this amplification to happen. A docent is defined as 1. 2. The classroom teacher set up a visit from our local Reptile Store, who came to school with live animals. Here are the logistics of how I set up the VoiceThread to be used with the iPads. Like this: