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FEBRUARY 29, 2024

Education has come a long way since the focus on “reading, writing, ‘rithmetic” In Ask a Tech Teacher posts, we’ve covered many teaching strategies: Behavior Learning Theory Depth of Knowledge (DoK) Flipped Classroom Frayer Model Growth Mindset Habits of Mind Mindfulness Orton-Gillingham Project-based Learning (PBL) Socratic Method Standards-based Grading Understanding By Design Unschool VARK model Visible Learning Whole Brain Teaching Any of these might be perfect for yo

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UDL Artificial Intelligence Learning Curriculum 410

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JANUARY 31, 2024

Here are the most-read posts for the past month: Top Ten Articles, Tips, and Reviews for 2023 Tech Tip #8–Print a selection off a webpage Free MLK Lesson Plans Tons of Online Resources About Classroom Management Implementing Mindfulness Practices in Schools 13 Websites to Learn Everything About Landforms National Handwriting Day 5 Internet Safety Tips for Teachers What Happens When Technology Fails?

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Artificial Intelligence Math Curriculum Creativity 331

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JANUARY 29, 2024

National Puzzle Day is celebrated on January 29th each year. It’s a day dedicated to enjoying and solving puzzles of all kinds, including jigsaw puzzles, crosswords, Sudoku, and various other brain teasers. Puzzle enthusiasts often use this day to engage in their favorite puzzle-solving activities and share their passion with others. Whether it’s a solo endeavor or a group activity, National Puzzle Day encourages people to exercise their minds and have fun with the challenges that pu

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Artificial Intelligence Geography Critical Thinking Curriculum 316

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JANUARY 22, 2024

National Handwriting Day is celebrated on January 23rd each year. It is a day dedicated to promoting the importance of handwriting and encouraging people to embrace the art of writing by hand. This day was established to honor the birthday of John Hancock, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, known for his prominent and stylish signature on the Declaration of Independence.

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Artificial Intelligence Curriculum Creativity Professor 195

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JANUARY 15, 2024

Classroom management tools are useful for teachers to create an organized, productive, and conducive learning environment. Some reasons why you may find these tools beneficial are: Organization: organize lesson plans, assignments, and resources efficiently Communication: between teachers, students, and parents to foster a collaborative relationship, keep everyone informed Student Engagement: to make learning more interesting and interactive Time Management: schedule reminders, notifications, and

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Artificial Intelligence Data analysis Communications Curriculum 352

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DECEMBER 12, 2023

This week, I’ll post updated suggestions to get your computers and technology ready for the blitz of projects you’ll swear to accomplish in New Year resolutions. Here’s what you’ll get ( links won’t be active until the post goes live ): 12 Ways to Update Your Online Identity — December 11th 8+ Ways to a Speedier Computer — December 12th (today) Backup and Image your computer — December 13th Regular readers of Ask a Tech Teacher know these are updated each December.

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Computer Curriculum Professor Technology 195

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NOVEMBER 29, 2023

Artificial Intelligence–AI–has been around a long time, but caught everyone’s attention with the launch of generative AI, ChatGPT, and DALL-E. These made using AI easy enough for anyone and a viable tool for educators and students. Or is it? Let’s see what the Ask a Tech Teacher team says: Pros And Cons of AI in Education Artificial intelligence (AI) is making major inroads into education.

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Artificial Intelligence Education Education Critical Thinking 365

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OCTOBER 31, 2023

Three holidays are fast-approaching–Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. If you’re a teacher, that means lots of tie-ins to make school festive and relevant to students. Here are ideas for Halloween projects, lesson plans, websites, and apps ( check here for updated links ): Websites and Apps 30-day Halloween fitness challeng e Build a Jack-o-lantern (in Google Slides) Carve-a-Pumpkin from Parents magazine – Resolute Digital, LLC (app) Enchanted Learning Halloween games, puz

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Curriculum Computer Professor Technology 221

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OCTOBER 30, 2023

Inspiring Journeys of Certified English Language Educators The recent changes in the working environment and the ongoing global economic crisis have brought about significant shifts in people’s lifestyles. These changes have influenced personal habits, from shopping preferences to social norms, and have also impacted how individuals view their professional lives, with many now valuing flexibility over stability.

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Education Education Flexibility Teaching 195

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SEPTEMBER 28, 2023

Let’s start by clearing up a misconception: Rigor isn’t unfriendly. Adding it to your class doesn’t mean you become boring, a techie, or overseer of a fun-free zone. In fact, done right, rigor fills your class with Wow , those epiphanies that bring a smile to student faces and a sense of well-being to their school day. Rigor provides positive experiences, is an emotional high, and engenders a pervasive sense of accomplishment students will carry for years–and use as a tem

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Critical Thinking Problem Solving Curriculum Achievement 292

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SEPTEMBER 18, 2023

In these 169 tech-centric situations, you get an overview of pedagogy—the tech topics most important to your teaching—as well as practical strategies to address most classroom tech situations, how to scaffold these to learning, and where they provide the subtext to daily tech-infused education. Today’s tip: How to backup a doc in 5 seconds Category: Problem-solving Q: I’m paranoid about losing lesson plans, report card comments, and other school work.

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Problem Solving Curriculum Professor Technology 195

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SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

I get a lot of questions from readers about what tech ed resources I use in my classroom so I’ll take a few days this summer to review them with you. Some are edited and/or written by members of the Ask a Tech Teacher crew. Others, by tech teachers who work with the same publisher I do. All of them, I’ve found well-suited to the task of scaling and differentiating tech skills for age groups, scaffolding learning year-to-year, taking into account the perspectives and norms of all stakeholders, wi

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EdTech Curriculum Technology Professor 278

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AUGUST 29, 2023

Learning to code is akin to receiving the key to a world of opportunities. It’s not about zeros and ones, or math and science. It’s about solving problems kids didn’t think they could, in creative ways that feel good. It gives students the power to shape a world they’re becoming part of, for many the key to a brighter future than their current one.

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Teaching Problem Solving Finance Curriculum 232

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AUGUST 18, 2023

I get a lot of questions from readers about what tech ed resources I use in my classroom so I’m going to take a few days this summer to review them with you. Some are edited and/or written by members of the Ask a Tech Teacher crew. Others, by tech teachers who work with the same publisher I do. All of them, I’ve found well-suited to the task of scaling and differentiating tech skills for age groups, scaffolding learning year-to-year, taking into account the perspectives and norms of

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Curriculum Publication Communications Technology 266

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AUGUST 14, 2023

Artificial Intelligence–AI–can greatly assist many mundane education tasks. Tools like Siri, Alexa, ChatGPT, and a plethora of apps seem perfect for handling the repetitive and time-consuming aspects of education that take teachers away from the core of most lessons that require critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving. Done right, this sort of collaboration between AI and teacher results in a better outcome for everyone.

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Data Analytics Gamification Artificial Intelligence Critical Thinking 290

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JULY 5, 2023

Many educators–and students–would like to use video to share ideas, but can’t master the skills required to edit out parts they don’t want. One of our Ask a Tech Teacher contributors has a simple way to accomplish this: How to Cut Unwanted Parts of a Video: a Step-By-Step Guide Video editing is a powerful tool that enables you to refine your footage, eliminate unwanted sections, and produce professional-looking content.

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JUNE 26, 2023

In this article, discover how high school education is shifting towards personalized learning. Gain insight into the strategies administrators are using to meet the changing needs of teen students. The Future of High School Education: Navigating the Shift to Personalized Learning High school – a time of excitement, curiosity, exploration and growth.

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Personalized Learning Schooling Learning Adaptive Learning 363

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JUNE 6, 2023

Here are the most-read posts for the month of May: School and Job Tips for Young Adults The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Education Tech Teacher Appreciation Week Teacher-Authors: What’s Happening on my Writer’s Blog Tech Tips to End the School Year Summer Reading Online How to Keep Learning Fresh Over the Summer 5 Surprising Ways Homeschoolers Use Canva for Learning and Fun 33 Online Research Resources 7–no 10–OK, 13 Skills I Teach With Blogging Here’s a preview of what’s comin

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Artificial Intelligence Curriculum Professor Research 250

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MAY 5, 2023

Introducing technology to your children can be a positive experience that can help them learn and develop valuable skills. But, if you’re not a techy parent, it can also be a challenge. Here are a few suggestions from one of our Ask a Tech Teacher crew: How to Introduce Tech to Kids as a Parent As modern parents, we all want to give our children the best opportunities available.

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Critical Thinking Problem Solving Technology Curriculum 294

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APRIL 27, 2023

This is part of the 169 tech tips for your class-but this is a bonus, not included in the ebook, just for readers of Ask a Tech Teacher. If you follow this blog, you’ve seen it before, but it’s worth repeating. Feel free to grab the image and use it in your classroom: Tech Tip #170: Cover your webcam when you aren’t using it! I used to do this and forgot about it.

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Government Curriculum Professor Technology 276

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APRIL 20, 2023

Here are popular online resources for physics classes (click for updates): CK12 Physics simulations Concord Consortium –chemistry, earth science, engineering, life science, physics Crash Course: Physics (videos) Monster Physics PhET Simulations for chemistry and physics Physics Catalyst Physics Classroom Physics Forums Physics instructional videos Roller coaster simulator Simple Physics Copyright ©2023 askatechteacher.com – All rights reserved.

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Physics Earth science Chemistry Curriculum 400

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APRIL 6, 2023

This is inspired by Jennifer Cohen over at Forbes who wrote a wonderful article on “ 5 Things Super Successful People Do Before 8am ” (few of which I do, though I can claim #5). She includes chores like exercise, eat a healthy breakfast, map out the day–all great ideas, but not pithy enough for the average teacher I know. Here’s my list of what the average teacher accomplishes before her first class of children crosses the threshold of her domain.

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Curriculum Professor Research Research 349

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MARCH 28, 2023

Excel makes graphs simple and easy for beginners. Even my parent helpers are amazed at how much students can do with a simple F11 shortkey and a right click. This lesson plan works just as well with Google Sheets though you may have to adapt a few of the instructions. If the lesson plans are blurry, click on them for a full size alternative. — Click for more Excel lesson plans Copyright ©2023 Askatechteacher.com– All rights reserved.

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Curriculum Professor Technology Teaching 252

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MARCH 23, 2023

Here are popular resources teachers are using to share stories: Aesop Fables —no ads Aesop’s Fables Audio stories Childhood Stories Classic Fairy Tales Fairy Tales and Fables Listen/read–Free non-fic audio books Owl Eyes (classics) Starfall Stories read by actors Stories to read for youngsters Storyline Unite for Literacy Click for more online story resources (or to update this list) Copyright ©2023 Askatechteacher.com– All rights reserved.

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FEBRUARY 28, 2023

In a perfect world, vocabulary is learned in context: The phrases and sentences around the unknown word define the meaning. If that isn’t sufficient, students use affixes — prefixes, suffixes, and roots — to decode meaning. But because the world isn’t always that pristine, Dorothy Frayer and her colleagues at the University of West Virginia came up with a vocabulary teaching tool that has come to be known as “the Frayer Model” Now used by thousands of educat

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Teaching Critical Thinking Curriculum Mathematics 322

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FEBRUARY 13, 2023

The hottest disruptive technology to come to education since iPads is ChatGPT. It sounds too simple when I read the dozens of articles that fill the internet so I asked the AI to tell me what it was: “ChatGPT is a computer program that generates text based on what you type to it. It uses advanced language processing to understand your prompt and respond with relevant, coherent text.

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Artificial Intelligence Professor Curriculum Robotics 300

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JANUARY 16, 2023

In honor of Martin Luther King: The 19-page two-lesson plan bundle to teach about Martin Luther King (click for more information) is Free through Jan. 17, 2023. Lesson plans include: an Event Chain of Dr. King’s impact on American history. interpreting his words with a visual organizer. What’s included in each lesson plan: brief summary of project.

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EdTech Curriculum Professor Teaching 339

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DECEMBER 12, 2022

Education has become a lot more complicated the last five years. Part of that is the impact of COVID on in-person and remote teaching. Another large part is the transparency now requested/required by parents as to what is going on in the classroom. The importance of education consultants, mentors, and teacher coaches has never been more pressing. Here’s a good article from the Ask a Tech Teacher crew on what that means and how you as an educator can confront the issues: Exploring the Need

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Education Education Curriculum Teaching 310

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DECEMBER 6, 2022

Over the next week, I’ll share ideas that will get you ready for your Hour of Code. This includes (links are live on publication day) : An Overview of This Week. Long list of websites by grade. 10 Unusual Projects. 6 Unplugged Hour of Code Activities. This is a long list of online activities related to coding and programming. It is updated once a year so I apologize in advance for any dead links.

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Robotics Computer Science Computer Curriculum 303

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NOVEMBER 19, 2022

I’ve updated Ask a Tech Teacher’s list of ten math tools we posted in 2016 to be shorter and with a new option. The new one is larger and in the #1 position. I think this will better reflect what’s going on today in our classrooms: It can be difficult to teach math, but with the proper tools, it can often be made easier. This article will discuss some of the best tools for tutoring math online, and the way they can help teachers to improve their student’s skills.

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Math Mathematics Adaptive Learning Curriculum 274

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NOVEMBER 14, 2022

Promoted by National Geographic, here’s what you should know about Geography Awareness Week which occurs November 14-18, 2022: Too many young Americans are unable to make effective decisions, understand geo-spatial issues, or even recognize their impacts as global citizens. National Geographic created Geography Awareness Week to raise awareness to this dangerous deficiency in American education and excite people about geography as both a discipline and as a part of everyday life.

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Geography Geology Curriculum Publication 335

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OCTOBER 26, 2022

Back when I started teaching tech, teachers loved saying that kids knew more than they did, even defer to students to teach. That doesn’t work anymore which means even the most tech-phobic of teachers must step up. Here’s a good article from Yahoo Finance on that: Why Teaching Tech to Teachers Is More Important Than Ever. “With technology, it’s not all or nothing,” says Williams.

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OCTOBER 20, 2022

I don’t write enough about special needs so when Rose contacted me with an article idea, I was thrilled. Rose Scott is a literary teacher with a goal of making education comfortable for students with special needs. Her dream is to help students explore their talents and abilities. In this article, Rose writes about a little-known problem that students may unknowingly suffer from that may make it look like they are plagiarizing when–to them–they aren’t.

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Technology Curriculum Professor Teaching 303

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SEPTEMBER 19, 2022

Keyboarding is a topic that most parents want their children to learn and many schools don’t have time to teach. Of all topics on Ask a Tech Teacher, keyboarding articles are the most visited. If you’re looking for a curriculum for your K-8 classes, here are two popular ones we offer: The Essential Guide – -a thorough K-8 curricula intended for schools that allot about 45 minutes a week to tech classes.

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Curriculum Computer Teaching Achievement 339

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SEPTEMBER 11, 2022

9-11 Day has become Patriot Day here in America, but it doesn’t change its purpose: to show how much we love our country. What day in recent history do you remember most from your country?

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AUGUST 25, 2022

How to incorporate podcasting into your curriculum this school year. School is almost back in session and educators are busy working on curriculum for the upcoming school year that will challenge students, improve their communication skills and provide a platform to express their thoughts and interests. If you haven’t created a podcasting unit before, there are plenty of platforms that will help you get started with low or no start-up costs.

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AUGUST 19, 2022

In these 169 tech-centric situations, you get an overview of pedagogy—the tech topics most important to your teaching—as well as practical strategies to address most classroom tech situations, how to scaffold these to learning, and where they provide the subtext to daily tech-infused education. Today’s tip: Habits of Mind. Category: Pedagogy.

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Critical Thinking Problem Solving Curriculum Professor 299