Posts by Guest Author
Relax. It is You . . . And Them
Yes, it all happened. Everything we feared would come true did to some degree. We had students that got off task in class and missed the assignments or the lecture or the project. We had students download music in the hallways between classes so they could listen to it in the next period. We had students at home not doing the work they didn't due in class because they were playing games, or on Facebook, or tweeting, or listening. Yes, it all happened.
Collaboration for Innovation
Technology can do even more for students and teachers. Now students’ reading notes can be recorded online rather that in notebooks or on Post-its and shared instantly with the teacher. Students’ writing can be compiled in a digital portfolio accessible with a single tap by the teacher or the student.
The Hour of Code is coming – with Mark Zuckerberg & Angry Birds
Every educator who hosts an Hour of Code will get a gift of 10GB of free DropBox storage. And one participating school in every state will win a full class-set of laptops. Just register your school’s participation by Nov. 1 to qualify.
Students Outsmart School Laptops – And That’s A Good Thing
As a developer, my answer is simple: let the students explore their own laptops. They can use the educational software when required, and design their own programs when not. In a world that is increasingly built on computer knowledge and experimentation, do you really want your schools taking away technological devices simply because the students have learned how to use them? I don’t think so.
How Can We Prevent High School Seniors from Dropping Out?
Although the numbers indicate that these students leave during senior year, studies show that dropping out of school is often the result of a long, cumulative process and is not a decision students make overnight. The National Dropout Prevention Center/Network notes there is no single risk factor to accurately predict who is at risk of dropping out, but when multiple risk factors are considered, the accuracy of dropout predictions increases.
Twitter Turned Me Into an Elementary Teacher
Engaging in social media about education has become my learning habit. Last November I started the Pedagogy and Technology Used in Education chat (#PATUE) and I started this chat with the hopes of getting my fellow teachers involved. On a couple rare occasions I was lucky enough to host a teacher from my school, but more often I was chatting with teachers in Florida, Croatia, Iceland, or Brazil.
EdTech Roundup: Connected Educators Month
With Connected Educator Month in full swing, resources, ideas, and conversations are happening all over the Web. Get involved in Connected Educator Month with these recent stories and activities.
Alumni Engagement | Three Ways to Encourage Involvement
Three main factors contributed to this kind of success: offering different and convenient points of entry, providing a product they view as useful, and leveraging Alumni’s existing passions and values.
Is School Segregation Still A Problem?
Today, the number one predictor of a student’s academic achievement is not her race but rather her family’s level of income. And achievement gaps between low-income and high-income students are now much wider than those between black and white students.
Framing the Learning in the Blended Learning Environment
In a high quality competency based learning model, competencies are designed on conceptual understandings within and between a content areas. These ‘big ideas’ provide the deep, rich, conceptual connections across disciplines that invite strategic and extended thinking.