If I Die: Facebook App Lets You Leave Sweet Last Words Facebook profiles don't die the same way people do. If I Die is a Facebook app that makes sure, even if you die, your social self can still send out your last wishes and post messages to your friends years after you're gone. If I Die lets "you" post a final message to your wall and loved one when you're dead. After installing the app, you choose three "trustees" (Facebook friends) who are charged with verifying your death. It might be a little morbid to start recording farewell messages, but Wilook, the Israel-based company behind the app, built the app because nobody really knows when death will come: "We all have things to say and don't necessarily have the audience with the patience to hear us," says Eran Alfonta, the app's co-founder and CEO. Alfonta got the idea when two of his married friends traveled to Italy without their children and narrowly escaped a fatal car crash with a truck. People have been leaving posthumous messages for a long time. Would you record a message?
Strategies for Helping Students Motivate Themselves Editor's Note: This piece was adapted from Building a Community of Self-Motivated Learners: Strategies to Help Students Thrive in School and Beyond by Larry Ferlazzo, available March 21, 2015 from Routledge. My previous post reviewed research on extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, and described the four qualities that have been identified as critical to helping students motivate themselves: autonomy, competence, relatedness, and relevance. In this post, I'll discuss practical classroom strategies to reinforce each of these four qualities. Autonomy Providing students with freedom of choice is one strategy for promoting learner autonomy. Some researchers, however, believe that a third option, cognitive choice, is a more effective way to promote longer-lasting student autonomy. Competence Feedback, done well, is ranked by education researcher John Hattie as number 10 out of 150 influences on student achievement. But how do you handle providing critical feedback to students when it's necessary?
FUN Critical Thinking Activities For Students in Any Subject The experts on STAAR, such as the Texas Education Agency, the Lead4Ward team and Regional Service Centers tell us that there are some very specific things that we need to do, and other things we should let go of in order to prepare our students for the state assessment. In addition, these strategies can also deepen and broaden their knowledge. The following are ideas for activities that you can use in conjunction with our curriculum in order to help meet some of these criteria, as it is necessary to adjust our mindset from TAKS driven packets to STAAR rich conversations and activities. Talking Chips 1. Pair - Square - Share Informal Response ActivityTeacher poses a question to the classYes = StandNo = SitDepends = Sit and Raise Your Hand 3 Facts and a Fib This helps with distinguishing between multiple choice answers. 1. FACT or FIB Slam Down 1. Differentiation and Multiple Representations Pass and Play Menus Students work from a 2x2 or 3x3 grid in a tic-tac-toe format
Student Engagement Strategies: Get and Keep Students on Task Keeping students on task is the primary challenge for any teacher. If your high school or middle school students are doing what they should be doing, then you do not have any management problems. Getting Students on Task Classroom procedures and routines are essential for getting students on task. Once students enter the classroom, they should follow a routine up until they are dismissed from class. Routines are created by procedures. Keeping Students on Task Having lessons that students actually want to learn will be your main tool for keeping students on task. Differentiated Learning Every student is different. Differentiation is not only having multiple learning modalities in one lesson, it is using many lessons that concentrate on different learning modalities. Lesson Plans Inc. strives to create great curriculum.
Tools for Teaching: How to Transform Direct Instruction Summer is the time to look over those unit plans. As you reflect and rethink lessons, here's something to consider: How can you turn direct instruction into experiences where students instead discover? We all know that designing learning activities takes time and brainpower -- both often limited during the mad rush of the school year. For new teachers, I'd like to help you get started: Let's first take this direct instruction on the topic of imagery: The teacher begins by presenting students with a definition for imagery and gives an example of it. Now, let's transform that scenario into a lesson of student-centered discovery: First step: The teacher dramatically reads aloud a short story, asking students that whenever they can picture something -- see an image in their minds -- put a star by those words. Second step: Then, students partner up and draw a picture to go with each star they have in common. Rationale I taught high school students and used this very lesson. I hear and I forget.
Skolcoacherna Soaring Through Second Grade: My Daily 5-ish I'm so excited to share a quick overview of my version of Daily 5{ish} with you today! It's taken me awhile because {I think} I've finally figured out (and it's only the end of the year, right), what works for me and my kids {right now!}. It's been an ever changing system, as I tweaked and figured out with the kids what works best, what keeps the flow going, and is simple for us all to manage! I start our reading block off with a fluency read. Then we head off to our rotations... I should also tell you, I don't (usually) see all of the groups in one day. Each station has "Must Dos" and "May Dos". The teacher table is where our guided reading groups happen. (I made them pose for this picture- that's what it should look like. Read to self is where the kids get to read independently. Listen & word word are combined because I just couldn't fit it all in. (Using iPads for listening!) Here's a picture of us ALL on task! I'd love to hear about your reading block!
The Best Student Engagement Strategies Explained - Paired Response When it comes to teaching, there are really two secrets - relationship and engagement. When it comes to relationship, the recipe is very simple - care about the students and remember that "it is not about you". Student Engagement, on the other hand, is much more challenging. There are some tips and tricks to student engagement, and one of those is the concept of "Paired Response." What is it? What does that look like? What are the steps? Assign partners -Have students paired up in advance to save on time, considering different pairings for different purposes. Peer work shows gains for all students, but it's essential for English language learners and is especially beneficial for these groups as well: Students in grades 1-3 Inner-city settings Low SES Minority students What are the crucial points?
How Student Centered Is Your Classroom? In the education world, the term student-centered classroom is one we hear a lot. And many educators would agree that when it comes to 21st-century learning, having a student-centered classroom is certainly a best practice. Whether you instruct first grade or university students, take some time to think about where you are with creating a learning space where your students have ample voice, engage frequently with each other, and are given opportunities to make choices. Guiding Questions Use these questions to reflect on the learning environment you design for students: In what ways do students feel respected, feel valued, and feel part of the whole group? Balancing Teacher Roles So let's talk about that last question, and specifically, direct instruction versus facilitation. Facilitation: open-ended questioning, problem posing, Socratic seminar, and guided inquiry Direct instruction: demonstration, modeling, and lecturing Coaching: providing feedback, conferencing, and guided practice
”Ta in en coach – och släpp kontrollbehovet” De är båda lärare i botten, men för ett antal år sedan upplevde de att de kört fast i sin lärarroll. Grundskoleläraren Anna-Karin Arenius kände sig ensam i klassrummet och hade svårt att sätta upp egna mål för sin undervisning. Gymnasieläraren Helena Isakson ville bli bättre på att stötta sina elever att nå målen. Deras lösning blev en coachutbildning. – Många ekonomiska ämnen handlar om entreprenörskap och här kände jag att jag saknade något som lärare. Jag hade ett kontrollbehov och behövde lära mig att släppa taget och förlita mig på att eleverna kan hitta sina egna lösningar och svar, säger Helena Isakson, som tidigare var biträdande rektor och gymnasielärare i ekonomiska ämnen. Nu driver de tillsammans Skolcoacherna, som ansvarar för individuell coachning i Skolverkets treårsprojekt ”Handledning för lärande”. – Det övergripande målet för coachning är alltid högre elevresultat, men det går att använda till så mycket i skolan. Hur hjälper ni dem som tappat lusten? Källa: Skolcoacherna
Science Games for 1st Grade & 2nd Grade . Science . Education Try some of these free science games for grades 1 and 2 featuring PBS KIDS characters to boost your child’s early development of science skills and interest in science. Sid the Science Kid: Super Fab Lab Help Sid, May, Gabriela and Gerald play a series of games all about weather, temperature and more!Muscle Memory Learn how to follow directions by clicking on the body part that Sid’s dad tells you to move.Vegetable Patterns Use the vegetables in the baskets to complete the pattern of vegetables on the counter.Super Duper Antibodies! Help Sid use antibodies to fight off the flu virus.I want to be a Scientist! Curious George: The Cat in the Hat: Dinosaur Train: Hungry Hungry herbivore Guide Tank the Triceratops to find yummy plants to eat while keeping him safe with his herd! Sesame Street: A Twiddlebug Tool Adventure Use different tools to help Timmy the bug get home. Arthur: FETCH! Water We Doing? Caillou: Caillou the Paleontologist Help Caillou uncover and rebuild a dinosaur skeleton.
Simple Student Engagement Strategies - Mr. Guymon's Classroom "I love seeing blank stares from my students after posing a question about what we are learning," said no teacher ever. Still, we have all been there. While many students sit like logs, waiting for someone to act on them, equally discouraging are the hogs, those four or five students who always have their hand up. I'm not immune to the situation, bet here are three strategies that I use in my classroom that help to engage all students in discussions that you might consider using too. House of Cards When students walk into my classroom, I'm always at the door to greet them. "Do I have any 7s?" I have students leave their card face up on their desk so that I know that none of them are trying to go under the radar. Hollywood Mingle Movement is a great way to get students participating. If students are growing restless, or I simply want to shake things up, I'll tell them that we are going to have a "Hollywood Mingle" to discuss this next concept or question. Pirates! Poker Face
The Qualitative Formative Assessment Toolkit: Document Learning with Mobile Technology What is qualitative formative assessment? Some call it anecdotal or informal assessment. However, such designations imply passivity -- as if certain things were captured accidentally. I believe the word "formative" should always be included with the word assessment because all feedback mechanisms should help shape and improve the person (or situation) being assessed. For my purposes, qualitative formative assessment is the ongoing awareness, understanding, and support of learning that is difficult or impossible to quantify. Carly Schuler stated that the learner needs to be mobile, not the technology. These approaches form the Qualitative Formative Assessment Toolkit (QFAT). 1. Cameras are powerful tools for capturing moments and documenting learning. 2. Learners spend time using technology as part of their learning, but not all software or applications have a "save" button, especially in moments that may be more interesting than a final export. 3. A Quick Hands-On Break Let's practice.
Inre motivation positiv för elevers utveckling och lärande: Venue: Lärarutbildning: Linköpings universitet Tomas Jungert, Linköpings universitet Har yttre belöningar (exempelvis guldstjärnor i kanten av skrivboken) en negativ inverkan på elevers inre motivation? Minskar intresset för människor att engagera sig i eller prestera väl i en uppgift när yttre belöningar erbjuds? Flera meta-analyser har visat att så är fallet. n av de mest utmanande och kritiska uppgifterna i undervisningssituationer är att motivera elever. Yttre motivation är instrumentell till sin natur och refererar till att elever engagerar sig i en skoluppgift på grund av yttre krav eller för att nå ett yttre resultat, såsom ett högt betyg eller att undvika hot om att bli bestraffad, exempelvis att få underkänt. Self-determination theory (SDT) är en teori som såväl teoretiskt som praktiskt belyser hur lärare kan stödja elever för att öka deras inre motivation (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Inre motivation Olika grader av motivation Internalisering och grundläggande behov Att tillgodose de grundläggande behoven Avslutningsvis Referenser