Ask a Tech Teacher

FEBRUARY 18, 2015

'Assessments have become a critical piece to education reform. To prepare students well for college and career means they must deeply learn the material and its application to their lives and future learning.That means assessing student knowledge authentically and accountably. This doesn’t stop with quizzes, tests, and memorizing facts. Those approaches may be prescriptive, but they don’t measure results in a way that leverages learning.

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Creativity Deep Learning Curriculum Construction 294

Educators Technology

FEBRUARY 21, 2015

'February 21, 2015 Instructional strategies, according to Alberta Learning, are “techniques teachers use to help students become independent, strategic learners. These strategies become learning.read more.

Teaching 277

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The Innovative Educator

FEBRUARY 8, 2015

'While it’s not uncommon to hear students say “I hate school,” some are really suffering and desperately want out. I can relate. I became an educator not because I loved school, but because I was bored and miserable in school. I wanted to figure out how to change that for others. I started this blog to share ideas about how to do that. Like my own experience, many students today are bored and disengaged for many hours each day, despite the best efforts of their teachers and parents t

Schooling 107

Schooling Learning Education Education 107

User Generated Education

FEBRUARY 27, 2015

'All kids have worth. Some, though, want to prove to us that they have none. Our job as caring educators is to prove them wrong. This post was sparked by a blog post by. " href="https://twitter.com/mraspinall">Brian Aspinall , 5 Reasons Why I Stopped Sending Kids Out of Class and a follow up Twitter conversation I had with. " href="https://twitter.com/mraspinall">Brian Aspinall and Terry Heick.

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Achievement Learning Education Education 96

Speaker: Andrew Cohen, Founder & CEO of Brainscape

The instructor’s PPT slides are brilliant. You’ve splurged on the expensive interactive courseware. Student engagement is stellar. So… why are half of your students still forgetting everything they learned in just a matter of weeks? It's likely a matter of cognitive science! With so much material to "teach" these days, we often forget to incorporate key proven principles into our curricula — namely active recall, metacognition, spaced repetition, and interleaving practice.

Teaching

Science Teaching Junkie

FEBRUARY 28, 2015

I absolutely love teaching moon phases and after 14 years, I feel like I've almost perfected the art of teaching this concept. I've created a lot of new things, come up with tips and tricks that will stick with my students, and created some pretty awesome hands-on activities for my students to be able to interact and experience the lunar cycle. And because I only use activities that give me 'a lot of bang for my buck,' I'm able to shorten the amount of time I need to teach the concept and studen

Science 52

Science Sciences Teaching Learning 52

Ask a Tech Teacher

FEBRUARY 27, 2015

'These are clever approaches to keeping order among avid learners: Bouncy Balls –balls bounce based on level of noise in the classroom. Calmness Counter –how noisy is your classroom? Let students see. Class Dojo— class behavior mgmt. Class Badges. Doodle—schedule meetings, polls. Forms—Adobe interactive pdf, collect results. Google Safe Search Preferences.

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Curriculum Computer Technology Teaching 285

Educators Technology

FEBRUARY 13, 2015

'February 13, 2015 EasyBib Tools is definitely a must have app for college and research students. With one click you can generate citations for websites and create bibliographies. It is a time saving.read more.

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Research Research 276

The Innovative Educator

FEBRUARY 24, 2015

'The Managing Complex Change model puts language to that which makes some schools successful while others struggle. The model looks at five components necessary to create a desired environment. These include vision, skills, incentives, resources, action plan. If any one piece is missing the model indicates results schools will experience including change, confusion, anxiety, gradual change, frustration, and a false start.

Schooling 107

Schooling Science Sciences 107

User Generated Education

FEBRUARY 22, 2015

'I have discussed educators as model learners before: The educator’s role has or should change in this age of information abundance or Education 2.0-3.0. The educator’s role has always been to model and demonstrate effective learning, but somewhere along the line, the major role of the educator became that of content and knowledge disseminator. Now that in this information age content is freely and abundantly available, it is more important than ever to assist learners in the process of how to l

Education 104

Education Education Learning Robotics 104

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Mathematics, a subject steeped in abstract concepts, often poses challenges to students, especially those in grades 5-10. But imagine a bridge that transformed this intricate maze into an interactive adventure.

Math

Science Teaching Junkie

FEBRUARY 27, 2015

Click HERE to check out all of my Color-by-Number products What do you like to do on your days off? Me? Well I have issues. I took the last 2 days off to stay at home and work on creating more products for my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Lately, my color-by-number activities have been a big hit. I'm starting to add more to the growing list of available topics, so stop by my store and see if there's something you could incorporate into your lessons this week.

Science 52

Science Sciences Schooling Teaching 52

Technology Tidbits

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

'Quiz Hero is one of my favorite new free mobile (iOS/Android) apps for Game Based Learning. This amazing app uses an RPG style (i.e Bards Tale anyone ;-) to help students learn a wide variety of subjects, such as Math, Vocabulary, Science, etc. The game follows a familiar RPG formula where users select a class (i.e. mage, warrior, archer) and then begin a fun filled educational quest.

Math 51

Math Science Sciences Learning 51

Ask a Tech Teacher

FEBRUARY 26, 2015

'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 te

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Critical Thinking Problem Solving Curriculum Achievement 280

Ask a Tech Teacher

FEBRUARY 17, 2015

'There’s a secret to teaching kids how to use technology. It’s called ‘delegate’ I don’t mean sluff off the teaching to aides or parents. I’m referring to the importance of empowering students to be their own problem-solvers. Encourage them to be risk-takers and then expect it of them. Here are seven ways to make this happen: Let students know technology isn’t difficult.

Teaching 277

Teaching Curriculum Computer Technology 277

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These easy-to-use design briefs outline student objectives, challenges, and materials needed to complete each 30-minute to 4-hour lesson. ITEEA’s Integrative STEM curriculum, Engineering byDesign, includes many more standards driven hands-on activities just like these!

STEM

Ask a Tech Teacher

FEBRUARY 10, 2015

'Has this happened to you? You spend hours rewriting an old lesson plan, incorporating rich, adventurous tools available on the internet. You test it the evening before, several times, just to be sure. It’s a fun lesson with lots of activities and meandering paths students undoubtedly will adore. And it’s student-centered, self-paced. Technology enables it to differentiate authentically for the diverse group of learners that walk across your threshold daily.

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Technology Problem Solving Computer Curriculum 244

Ask a Tech Teacher

FEBRUARY 6, 2015

'Here are some fun Valentine sites to fill those few minutes betwixt and between lessons, projects, bathroom breaks, lunch, and everything else: Dress up the heart. ‘I love you’ in languages Afrikaans to Zulu. Line up the hearts. More heart writing. Valentine Day games and stories. Valentine Day poem generator. Valentine drag-and-drop. Valentine match.

Curriculum 231

Curriculum Computer Technology Teaching 231

Ask a Tech Teacher

FEBRUARY 16, 2015

'There are a lot of online math systems to help students through one of school’s toughest subjects (if not science). Each one proclaim s they have the way to teach students while having fun, in ways that are aligned with state and national standards. How do you decide what is best for your class? Here are guidelines, culled from top education sites like Edutopia, Google Education, Educational Technology, and EdWeek that are valuable when evaluating any website: free or small fee. support

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Math Gamification Critical Thinking Curriculum 225

Ask a Tech Teacher

FEBRUARY 3, 2015

'I’ve been blogging for about six years, some professionally (for my tech ed career) and others on topics of interest to me (writing, USNA, that sort). That first post–putting myself on the line, ignoring that I had no hits, wanting to approve comments from spammers because that would look like someone loved me–I thought that was the hard part.

Publication 212

Publication Computer Curriculum Teaching 212

Ask a Tech Teacher

FEBRUARY 11, 2015

'Create a magazine on any topic you’re covering in class using text, pictures, diagrams, charts. Add a cover and a table of contents. Click on each page of lesson plan. –from 55 Technology Projects for the Digital Classroom. Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-8 technology for 15 years. She is the editor/author of dozens of tech ed resources including a K-8 technology curriculum , K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum, and dozens of books on how to integrate technology into e

Research 202

Research Research Curriculum Computer 202

Ask a Tech Teacher

FEBRUARY 25, 2015

'Create a trifold brochure in Publisher to go along with colonization or another unit of inquiry in the classroom. This project focuses on research and is more involved than #51 History Trifold. Students add lots of detail and lots of research on different colonization topics. Besides Publisher, students learn to research on the internet and copy-paste pictures from the internet.

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Research Research Curriculum Computer 189

Ask a Tech Teacher

FEBRUARY 5, 2015

'This lesson is a crowd pleaser. Students create a timeline showing what was happening around the world while they lived their lives. I’ve found this generates lots of discussion between students and their parents as they try to understand what the world events were. Click on each page of lesson plan. Lesson Plans. Click for more lesson plans with timelines.

Curriculum 189

Curriculum Computer Technology Teaching 189

Ask a Tech Teacher

FEBRUARY 2, 2015

'Every month, subscribers to Ask a Tech Teacher get a free/discounted resource to help their tech teaching. This month: 18+ webinars on tech ed pedagogy. FREE. with coupon code FREEWEBINARS. Topics include: 6 Topics to teach every lesson. 8 Tools that are going away (from the classroom). Assessment. Class exit tickets. Class warm-ups. Differentiation—general.

Gamification 189

Gamification Problem Solving Research Research 189

Ask a Tech Teacher

FEBRUARY 24, 2015

'Every summer, Ask a Tech Teacher offers summer training. Summer Online Classes. We also offer online Summer PD on a variety of topics from specific skills (how to use Google Forms, how to use Tellagami–that sort) to overarching concepts (how to differentiate, how to scaffold learning, how to build a curriculum map). This is where we need your… Help!

Problem Solving 188

Problem Solving Curriculum Computer Research 188

Ask a Tech Teacher

FEBRUARY 12, 2015

'Presidents’ Day is an American holiday celebrated on the third Monday in February. Originally established in 1885 in recognition of President George Washington, it is still officially called “Washington’s Birthday” by the federal government. Traditionally celebrated on February 22—Washington’s actual day of birth—the holiday became popularly known as Presidents’ Day after it was moved as part of 1971’s Uniform Monday Holiday Act, an attempt to create more three-day weekends for the nation’s wor

Government 188

Government Curriculum Computer Technology 188

Ask a Tech Teacher

FEBRUARY 19, 2015

'Life is hard, but help is all around us. The trick is to take your learning where you can find it. In my case, as a technology teacher, it‘s from computers. Here are four lessons I learned from my computer. I might not survive without them. #1: Know when your RAM is full. RAM is Random Access Memory. In the computer world, it controls how much you can work on at any given moment.

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Computer Critical Thinking Argumentation Curriculum 187

Ask a Tech Teacher

FEBRUARY 13, 2015

'Here’s a list of great 4th grade websites on Culture: Classrooms around the world. Clothes around the world. Eat—food around the world. First Thanksgiving. Google World of Wonders. One day around the world–video. 360 Panorama of the world. Language Mapper—around the globe. Life in a Day—video (long). School lunches around the world. Sleep—where children sleep around the world.

Curriculum 173

Curriculum Computer Technology Teaching 173

Ask a Tech Teacher

FEBRUARY 4, 2015

'When the first school guidance counselors (update: thanks to those in the profession who took the time to educate me on their title) emerged in the late 1800’s, they were almost exclusively vocational counselors, their purpose to assist students in transitioning from an educational environment to a productive piece of society. Quickly, this morphed to helping students determine the career path best-suited for their innate abilities, interests, and skills.

Schooling 171

Schooling Achievement Primary Problem Solving 171

Ask a Tech Teacher

FEBRUARY 1, 2015

'Watch this Youtube and come away in the know: Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-8 technology for 15 years. She is the editor/author of dozens of tech ed resources including a K-8 technology curriculum , K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum, and dozens of books on how to integrate technology into education. She is webmaster for six blogs, CSG Master Teacher, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers , CAEP reviewer

Curriculum 171

Curriculum Computer Technology Teaching 171

The Innovative Educator

FEBRUARY 3, 2015

'Teens today. Always on their phones. Lightening fast thumbs sharing content on Snapchat, Vine, Instagram, Twitter and more. While teens, teachers, and parents are familiar with cell phone's use as a social tool, more and more are discovering they are a great learning resource as well. There's even evidence and research to prove it. This is useful for the texting teen trying to convince school staff or a parent that they really do use their devices for learning.

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Learning Innovation Research Research 85