327 Common Core Aligned Playlists from MentorMob & LearnZillion MentorMob and LearnZillion have teamed up to create a comprehensive collection of Common Core aligned learning playlists perfect for providing students with easy access to guided learning experiences. Currently there are 327 Common Core aligned playlists ready and available for free on the MentorMob site.MentorMob playlists are displayed in a step-by-step format that allow users to interact with live web content right on the page, keeping students on track without getting lost in a stream of open tabs and new pages. As students progress through a playlist at their own pace, MentorMob keeps track of completed steps. Flexibility to move within a playlist is provided by a preview that's always accessible on the side of the screen, allowing users to jump to different steps as needed for reteaching and challenge. The newly added LearnZillion Common Core aligned lessons focus on the use of narrated video for instruction. Coming Soon!
Express 7.13 - Are You Meeting Your Students' Needs for Love and Belonging? Are You Meeting Your Students' Needs for Love and Belonging? Muriel Rand "Ignore him—he just wants attention!" How many times have you heard a teacher say something like this? Attention-seeking behavior has a bad reputation in our schools, and it can often lead to difficult classroom management challenges. Yet Abraham Maslow, the humanistic psychologist, has helped us understand that seeking attention is a way of getting our needs for love and belonging met. Some children, because of a lack of social-emotional skills and competence, are hard to interact with. Notice what the consequences are when children act out inappropriately. So wouldn't it make sense to ignore these behaviors to stop reinforcing them? Schedule time to spend with the child. Meeting the strong attention needs of children not only helps them socially but also supports them academically. ASCD Express, Vol. 7, No. 13.
Google Announces 100 Live Hangouts For Teachers Around The World Track Hurricane Sandy Using The Google Crisis Map 1.05K Views 0 Likes If you're on the east coast like we are, you've got a pit in your stomach about Hurricane Sandy. It's shaping up to be brutal and there's talk of widespread power outages and dangerous flooding and winds. In an effort to keep everyone safe, Google has created a very useful 'Crisis Map' that shows plenty of relevant information about the storm's trajectory, details about it, radar views, cloud cover, and more. Report: Vast Majority Of Top U.S. 7.33K Views 0 Likes Google has just unveiled some new statistics on the uptake of its popular Google Apps In Education platform. University of Michigan Developing Crash-Proof Cars 1.85K Views 0 Likes Forget Google's driverless cars. Google Drive Now Supports Native Editing On Mobile Devices 4.09K Views 0 Likes Google Drive is one of the most controversial yet useful edtech tools today.
Looking Collaboratively at Student Work: An Essential Toolkit Siderbars:Some Guidelines for Learning from Student Work The Collaborative Assessment Conference The Tuning Protocol: A Process for Reflection on Teacher and Student Work The Primary Language Record & The California Learning Record The 'External Review' of Portfolios and Exhibitions Making the Whole Student Visible: The Descriptive Review of a Child Surfacing the "Opportunity to Demonstrate" Factor Sampling a "Vertical Slice" of Student WorkWhat to Look for in Student Work: Some Standards for 'Authenticity' Examining Student Work: A Constructivist Protocol For More Information Looking closely together at student work can unveil a treasure trove of insights to guide school communities as they reflect on their purpose, assess their progress, and plan strategies for reaching all children better. It's scary work, though, and respectful protocols can help. In the two years after their nine-month-long project, the death rate among their patients fell by an astonishing 25 percent.
What Successful People Do With The First Hour Of Their Work Day Remember when you used to have a period at the beginning of every day to think about your schedule, catch up with friends, maybe knock out a few tasks? It was called home room, and it went away after high school. But many successful people schedule themselves a kind of grown-up home room every day. You should too. The first hour of the workday goes a bit differently for Craig Newmark of Craigslist, David Karp of Tumblr, motivational speaker Tony Robbins, career writer (and Fast Company blogger) Brian Tracy, and others, and they’ll tell you it makes a big difference. Here are the first items on their daily to-do list. Don’t Check Your Email for the First Hour. Tumblr founder David Karp will "try hard" not to check his email until 9:30 or 10 a.m., according to an Inc. profile of him. If you need to make sure the most important messages from select people come through instantly, AwayFind can monitor your inbox and get your attention when something notable arrives. Choose Your Frog
How Does New Tech Measure Up to Traditional Standards? Lenny Gonzalez Some might say it’s all well and good to teach responsibility and accountability and self-sufficiency, but what about test scores? At Napa New Tech, the numbers speak for themselves. The school’s 2009 API scores was 818. “In general, our students do better across the country in humanities, language arts, social studies, and science,” said Chris Walsh, director of innovation and design at New Tech Network. He’s right. Also according to Knowledgeworks: - 26 of 28 New Tech schools with available data (or 93%) had attendance rates between 90-100% in 2008-09. - 98% of Napa New Tech graduates surveyed advanced to post-secondary education. - 40% are in Science, Technology, Engineering or Math (STEM) career tracks compared with 7% of high school graduates nationwide. More numbers to take into account, showing that the New Tech model could work in any setting. - 1/3 of New Tech schools are in rural areas; 1/3 are in suburban; and 1/3 are in urban neighborhoods. Related
5 New Technologies That Have Changed The Digital Classroom In the past, the suggestion of getting a college degree without ever cracking a book meant paying a degree mill. It meant the degree was in name only, reflecting neither learning nor effort. Then distance learning meant correspondence courses, perhaps combined with some coordinated telecasts. Technology has already changed all that, and the future will change it even further. eTexts Now online college students can obtain legitimate college degrees without cracking a book– but that doesn’t mean they don’t have to read. Students can copy the PDF to mobile devices, and carry all of their texts on one iPad or Galaxy Tab. Virtual Libraries Most online school programs — even those which still use correspondence course designs have robust virtual libraries – something that never existed 15 years ago. Distance learners access the same journals as campus students — from anywhere in the world. Online School Portals Webcams & Teleconferencing Mobile Apps & Augmented Reality
Napa New Tech: School of the Future is Here Lenny Gonzalez What does the high school of the future look like? It’s one that emphasizes useful, relevant skills that can be applied to college and the work world beyond. If these are the tenets, then the folks at Napa New Technology High School in Napa, Calif., believe theirs is the model. One of 62 schools in the New Tech Network, Napa New Tech High has turned the traditional high school model on its ear. I visited the campus recently and came away with a clear understanding of the school’s vision. 1) Breeding a culture of accountability. Aligning with the growing movement of teaching 21st century skills, one of the recurring mantras at New Tech High is the pervasive culture of respect, trust, and responsibility that goes both ways between educators and students. “How students work here is different from traditional schools,” said Paul Curtis, assistant director of school design at Napa New Tech. 2) Project-based curriculum. 3) Smart use of technology. Related
An Open Letter to Tech-Fearing Teachers Everywhere - The Inspired Classroom You are certain to enjoy today’s guest post from Neven Jurkovic. He has written a letter for all tech-fearing teachers and has done so in a positive and motivating way. So, for today’s post in this month’s tech series, consider how you might use his ideas and words to coax a colleague or even yourself! ~EMP Dear Technophobic Teacher, Thanks for taking a few moments to read this letter. Quote #1: “The kids will learn technology whether we teach it or not, so why waste our time on it?” I’m glad you brought this up. Quote #2: “Technology changes so fast that anything we teach them about technology will be obsolete by the time they get into the workplace.” I’ll grant you this: If we spend all of our time teaching specific tools or websites, you’re right, there’s a real chance that we’ll have wasted our time. Quote #3: “We didn’t have much technology in schools when I was growing up, and we turned out just fine.” The world has changed. About the Author: