June, 2016

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9 Best-in-Class Digital Storytelling Tools

Ask a Tech Teacher

A digital story is a series of images connected with text and/or a narrated soundtrack — captured by a digital device such as an iPad or smartphone — that tell a story. It can be fiction, non-fiction, narrative, biographic, expository, or even poetry. Think of Ken Burns’ The Civil War , or Colin Low’s City of Gold. Because of its multimedia approach and appealing blend of text, color, movement, sound, and images, it has fast become one of the most popular writing exercise

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5 Great Tools for Learning English Through Movies and Video Subtitles

Educators Technology

June 5, 2016 Learning language is not only about learning syntax and grammar, it is also about knowing how to use language in real life situations. Linguists call this communicative competence. For.read more.

Learning 179
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Paul Rossi: Wildlife Photographer

Amy Brown Science

The Amazing Photography of my Friend and Neighbor, Paul Rossi Few places in this world can be both majestic and ethereal at the same time. I have had the good fortune of getting to visit one such place every summer for the past 50 years. As unspoiled and commercial free as any place we have left, I imagine this slice of our country to be much like Yellowstone or Yosemite before the crowds.

Research 130
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Maker Education: Pedagogy, Andragogy, Heutagogy

User Generated Education

Maker education is currently a major trend in education. But just saying that one is doing Maker Education really doesn’t define the teaching practices that an educator is using to facilitate it. Maker education takes on many forms. This post provides an overview of how maker education is being implemented based on the teaching practices as defined by the Pedagogy, Andragogy, Heutagogy (PAH) continuum.

Education 105
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Can Brain Science Actually Help Make Your Training & Teaching Stick?

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.

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8 Strategies To Get Your Principal to Say Yes To Anything

The Innovative Educator

So, your PLN is raving about a new product or program that has made teaching and learning better than ever and you want to bring this to your classroom too. Since you work for a school though, it’s not 100% up to you. You need buy in and support from your principal to allow you to move forward. That’s not always easy, unless you know the following secrets to success shared by former @NYCSchools Principal Jason Levy ( @Levy_Jason ), who now advises principals and superintendents on how to develop

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Dear Otto: My Students Think Hunt-and-Peck is Good Enough. What do I do?

Ask a Tech Teacher

Dear Otto is an occasional column where I answer questions I get from readers about teaching tech. If you have a question, please contact me at askatechteacher at gmail dot com and I’ll answer it here. . I got this question from a teacher. It’s becoming more common as students start life on iPads: Do you have any suggestions for kids who have developed substitute patterns for using home row keys?

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The attraction of magnet schools

STEMx

What is the “attraction” of magnet STEM schools, and how are they different, if at all, from other STEM schools? To find out, we asked Becky Ashe, founding principal of L&N STEM Academy in Knoxville, Tennessee, about her magnet high school and magnet schools in general. She also shared information about the Magnet Schools of America annual conference: Q: Your school, L&N STEM Academy, is a magnet high school.

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SkillsUSA 2016 – The Nationals in Louisville – Hanging out with the WebProfessionals.Org

CTE Learning

The 2016 SkillsUSA Web Design competition ran like clockwork this year. We (Web Professionals Competition Team) just keep getting better. Naturally, we fueled up on Louisville BBQ, coffee, and a few energy drinks and created an incredible experience for the secondary and post-secondary competitors. Mark DuBois and Jonathan Worrent lead the charge this year, and I can honestly say things ran smooth.

Energy 40
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Developing a Flexible & Risk-Taking Mindset

User Generated Education

A flexible and risk-taking mindset rather than a fixed one will benefit all stakeholders in an educator’s realm: the educator’s learners, colleagues, her or his learners’ families, the community, the field of education-at-large, and of course, the educator him-or herself. Mindset is defined as “a set of assumptions, methods, or notations held by one or more people or groups of people that is so established that it creates a powerful incentive within these people or groups

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Harnessing The Power Of Math Manipulatives

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.

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Reading: It's Not Always Fun-damental

The Innovative Educator

Parents and teachers work hard to instill a love of reading in young people. In fact, most consider that the love of reading is absolutely essential to a happy, successful, and fulfilling life. They are on an endless pursuit to find ways to cultivate readers or ignite a love of reading. But what about individuals who prefer not to get their information that way?

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Quizalize

Technology Tidbits

Quizalize is a fantastic learning tool for educators to create game based learning quizzes. What separates Quizalize apart from similar sites is the detailed reports generated as well as how easy it is to differentiate instruction and see how each student or class is doing on any given topic. Also, Quizalize features a new dashboard integrating Zzish , which allows teachers to track student progress in real-time, while generating detailed reports and seeing exactly which questions were answered

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14 Ways to use Scribble Maps

Ask a Tech Teacher

Map skills borrow concepts from many different disciplines, including Math, Art, Language and of course Geography. Map skills should be basic to student education early in their journey and then used often to measure distances, calculate routes, preview field trip locations, explore historic sites, and more. For many of you, I’m not saying anything you don’t already know — but have you tried to personalize a map?

Geography 174
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National Science Foundation study on inclusive STEM schools

STEMx

by Mike Feder, Director of STEMx. STEM schools can be a vehicle for creating equity, setting high expectations, and an education that prepares kids for the 21. st. century world. As STEM advocates, we believe in these schools. But data matters just as much as our beliefs. When parents and policymakers want more than the beliefs of educators, what are the best ways to demonstrate the merits of our work?

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Downloadable Design Briefs for an Integrative STEM Curriculum

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!

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9 Google Apps Tips You Don’t Want to Miss

Ask a Tech Teacher

Here are the top 9 nine Google Apps tips according to Ask a Tech Teacher readers: Embed a File from Google Drive. Google Apps lesson plan. 8 Google Apps Tricks Every Teacher Should Know. Google Hangouts–Are You Using Them Yet? How to Embed Student Work into Digital Portfolios. Book Review: Google Apps Meets Common Core. Dear Otto: How do I teach Google Drive to K/1?

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3 Creative Tech Tools to Teach Writing

Ask a Tech Teacher

What is ‘writing’? If you look it up in the Free Dictionary, you find this definition: The act or process of producing and recording words in a form that can be read and understood. This focuses on recording words that are then communicated to others. In fact, if you ask students (and too often, teachers), to define ‘writing’, they probably agree with the Free Dictionary, adding that writing uses a pencil and paper (maybe a word processing program), requires language sk

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10 Grammar Tips You Don’t Want to Miss

Ask a Tech Teacher

Here are ten of the top grammar/word study/vocabulary tips according to Ask a Tech Teacher readers: Website Review: Grammarly. 3 Apps to Combat Grammar Faux Pas. 50 Sites to Add Rigor and Authenticity to Word Study. Monday Freebies #32: Color my Grammar. #32: How to Use Art to Teach Grammar. Weekend Website #91: 16 Word Study Websites for 2nd Grade.

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Bring Experts to Your Class Easily with Nepris

Ask a Tech Teacher

Statistically, almost half of school dropouts do so because they don’t see the relevance. Teachers have long-known the positive effect industry experts have on students, but the complications of finding the speaker, arranging the event, and preparing the class have made this a daunting task. Nepris , a cloud-based platform that connects STEAM subject experts (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) with teachers and classes, wants to turn that around.

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Dear Otto: How do I create a classroom library checkout system?

Ask a Tech Teacher

Dear Otto is an occasional column where I answer questions I get from readers about teaching tech. If you have a question, please contact me at askatechteacher at gmail dot com and I’ll answer it here. . I got this question from a colleague: I am looking for an app that classroom teachers can use to scan a classroom library and allow teachers to check books out with students.

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169 Real-World Ways to Put Tech into Your Class–NOW

Ask a Tech Teacher

In about a month, I’ll be starting a new series of tech tips. These will be from my upcoming ebook, 169 Real-World Ways to Put Tech Into Your Class Now (expected publication date: August 2016) where I provide 1) an overview of the tech topics most important to your teaching, and 2) practical strategies to address common classroom tech problems.

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10 Common Core Tech Tips You Don’t Want to Miss

Ask a Tech Teacher

Here are ten of the top Common Core tips according to Ask a Tech Teacher readers: 13 Ways Blogs Teach Common Core. Common Core Breathes Life into Keyboarding. Common Core requires publishing. Technology makes that happen. Dear Otto: What are Common Core keyboarding standards? 7 Ways Common Core Will Change Your Classroom. 7 Common Core Ways to Assess Knowledge.

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21st Century Digitally-infused Teacher-Starts June 6th

Ask a Tech Teacher

How to Make Tech Integration Easy, Authentic, and Normative. Starts Monday, June 6th! Last chance to sign up. Click this link ; scroll down to MTI 562 and click for more information and to sign up. Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-8 technology for 15 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-8 technology curriculum , K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum.

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Turnitin Opens Nomnations for 2016 Global Innovation Awards

Ask a Tech Teacher

I’ve written about Turnitin’s great programs for classrooms (see this review on Revision Assistant ). Their focus is always on how to help teachers and students, and now they’ve announced their Global Innovation Awards , a way you can honor teachers readers think demonstrate excellence in the field. Here’s their press release: Turnitin has opened nominations for the 2016 Global Innovation Awards program, which recognizes educators who demonstrate excellence in promoting a

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Beyond Digital Literacy: How EdTech Fosters Children’s Social-Emotional Development

Ask a Tech Teacher

Most educators–and parents–focus technology benefits on how it helps academically, but efriend Joe Peters reminded me the other day that there’s more to it than that. Joe’s not only a parent, but a freelance journalist and tech enthusiast, so I asked him to explain that to me and to my readers. Here’s his article on how edtech fosters a child’s social-emotional development: As technology has become mainstreamed in modern education, learners are able to enjoy many ke

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Last Chance to Join Tech-infused Teacher and Teach Writing With Tech

Ask a Tech Teacher

Last chance–class starts Monday, June 20th! Summer PD. Three spots left. More on Summer PD: Top Ten Reasons to sign up for Summer PD. 17 Take-aways from Summer PD. Summer Tech Camp–Everything You Need. Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-8 technology for 15 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-8 technology curriculum , K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum.

Teaching 150
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Subscriber Special: June

Ask a Tech Teacher

Every month, subscribers to Ask a Tech Teacher get a free/discounted resource to help their tech teaching. June 9th-June 12th (four days only): K-8 Technology Curriculum UPDATED 6th Edition. Student Workbooks. 15% Discount on Room License–use coupon code STUDENTWKBKSPECIALROOM. 20% Discount on School License–use coupon code STUDENTWKBKSPECIALSCHOOL. 25% Discount on District License–use coupon code STUDENTWKBKSPECIALDISTRICT.

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Get Your Summer Started with Ask a Tech Teacher

Ask a Tech Teacher

If you’re new to Ask a Tech Teacher, here’s what you do: Sign up for a newsletter. They’re (kinda) weekly and always free. Weekly Tech Tips. Weekly Websites. New Tech ed Projects. Check out our columns. They are numerous and varied, including. Weekly tech tips. Weekly websites. How-to’s–how to use web tools, software, hardware, more. Dear Otto –questions from educators on tech questions.

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What You Might Have Missed in May

Ask a Tech Teacher

Here are the most-read posts for the month of May: Thirteen Writing-with-Tech Tips You Don’t Want to Miss. Use the SAMR Model to Spearhead Technology in Your Classroom. 6 Summer School Tech Activities. 7 Must-have Tools for Ed Conferences. 10 Spreadsheet Tips. Ten Tech Problem-Solving Tips. 10 Things Students (and Teachers) Can Do With Buncee. And, just in time for summer, here are a few new technology-in-education products you may be interested in: updated K-8 Technology Curriculum (6th Ed.) wi

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Face Off: Should Teachers Pay Teachers Or Share Freely?

The Innovative Educator

Summer is the time that innovative educators reflect on their practice and begin putting in place plans to make their upcoming year better than ever. The big debate at #ISTE2016 this year is which materials they'll use to do that. Sparking this debate is @AmazonEdu's Inspire ( click here for early access). Amazon announced yesterday that they would use their familiar marketplace look and feel with a search bar, ratings, and reviews to offer teachers a platform where they can access tens of thous

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Future of Education Highlights from Dr @MichioKaku at #ISTE2016

The Innovative Educator

The #ISTE2016 opening keynote was Dr Michio Kaku who had powerful insights impacting the future of education. Here is a recap of what he shared that stood out for me. Take a look and consider how this can impact teaching and learning where you work.

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Navigating the Orlando Tragedy In Our Schools #LoveWins #WeAreOrlando #LGBTQ

The Innovative Educator

This week I am in Florida where I was horrified to learn when I awoke Sunday morning, was home to a tragic mass shooting at Pulse, a popular #LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Educators will undoubtedly have students discussing what took place. Jared Fox , the New York City Department of Education’s (NYCDOE) full-time #LGBTQ liaison has put together a helpful list of crisis response and emotional support resources.

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14 #EdTech Blogs to Make Up Your Summer Reading List

The Innovative Educator

Blogs are a great choice for summer reading because not only are they current, but they also invite you to connect with others and join the conversation that is of interest to you. EdTech: Focus K-12 makes choosing those blogs easy with their 2016 honor roll featuring the 50 top K-12 ed tech blogs. This year the blogs are divided into four categories: Tech Gurus, Community Corner, Classroom Leaders, and Admin-All Stars.

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