Thursday, December 17, 2015

Educational Resources & Tech Tools 12/18/2015

  • tags: travel sabbatical study abroad teach abroad

  • tags: teaching differentiation technology

      • o when tech is doing the things teachers did, what do teachers do? Here are some ideas.
         
         
           
        • Relationships: When technology provides  the on demand lecture and feedback, teachers have more time to develop  relationships with students.  Students  want to be seen, heard, and known. Technology enables teachers to better know  their students for who they are as a whole as well as their talents, interests,  and areas where they want to grow.
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        • Guidance: Young people need and  want guidance. Teachers can spend more time guiding and supporting students.
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        • Tutoring: When whole class  instruction can be done using technology, teachers are freed up to do small  group and one-on-one tutoring. 
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        • Digital Literacy: Teachers can play an important role in helping to support students in being  responsible and respectful digital citizens.
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        • Learning Network Development: Connections are key and with technology we can help students safely make local  and global connections.  What if we found  a mentor for every student that could support them digitally and/or  face-to-face.
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        • Cheerleader: Students love knowing  you know their accomplishments.  More  time to notice what students have accomplished. Discuss what that means and  give them support.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Educational Resources & Tech Tools 12/17/2015

    • Educators must embrace equity as a fundamental value for students, teachers, parents and other members of the community. A commitment and a dedication to equity is a necessary step in creating a safe culture and learning environment for teachers and all students.
    • five million of the 29 million households with school-aged children lack access to high quality broadband while at home.
    • Coined “The Homework Gap”, (although truly about connectivity and not homework), this disparity means that many of the children sitting in our classrooms lose connectivity the moment they step out of our doors.
    • Future Ready leaders should model high-quality professional learning and create a myriad of opportunities for educators to be empowered to own their learning.
    • The Edcamp “unconference” model works for many educators as personalized professional development, as they are charge of creating discussion topics and choosing which sessions to attend.
    • Collaborative leaders leverage a diverse staff by utilizing the collective strengths of all involved to create authentic learning opportunities for all kids.
  • tags: presenter presentation public speaking oral presentation

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Educational Resources & Tech Tools 12/16/2015

    • MRI imaging shows the physical harm done by bullying, not to the body, but to the brain. Bruises heal and broken bones mend, but neuroscientific research shows that emotional abuse can leave permanent scars on the brain.
    • When students do report on teacher or coach bullying, parents are instantly in a double bind, because the teacher and coach may still have power over their child. Reporting the harm might make the child more of a target. This is why teachers and coaches need greater oversight if we want children and parents to be confident speaking up about bullying.
    • Teenagers' brains are at a developmental stage that makes them as fragile as a 0- to 3-year-old child.
    • bullying causes a stress response that releases cortisol to the brain. That hormone has been directly linked to depression, a mental illness reaching epidemic proportions in our teen populations.
    • Bullying leaves neurological scars on the brain that can be seen on MRI scanners.
    • “MRI imaging shows the physical harm done by bullying, not to the body, but to the brain. Bruises heal and broken bones mend, but neuroscientific research shows that emotional abuse can leave permanent scars on the brain.” Students need to be told to report adult-to-student as well as student-to-student bullying.
    •    <!--[endif]-->Teens are almost adults and need to develop thick skins. Just the opposite is true for adolescents, says Fraser. They’re at a highly vulnerable state of development.

       

      <!-- [if !supportLists]-->-   <!--[endif]-->Bullying is actually tough love meant to make kids stronger. In fact, bullying causes a stress response that releases cortisol to the brain – which is linked to depression and other neurological problems. “None of this makes any child stronger, smarter, more artistic, or more athletic,” says Fraser. “It just harms his or her brain permanently.”

       

      <!-- [if !supportLists]-->-   <!--[endif]-->Emotional abuse isn’t as serious as physical or sexual abuse. Nonsense, she says. The damage is just as great and can last a lifetime.

       

      <!-- [if !supportLists]-->-   <!--[endif]-->Bullying is just part of growing up. This idea needs to be stamped out, says Fraser.

       

      <!-- [if !supportLists]-->-   <!--[endif]-->Students and athletes reach their potential under bullying regimes. Cortisol damages brain structures affecting learning, memory, concentration, and decision making.

    • How people perceive the practices, procedures, and behaviors that promote new knowledge and ideas is a key factor in their willingness to take risks and share ideas that improve performance. People won’t go out on a limb with new suggestions if the climate isn’t receptive.
    • People’s belief that they can take actions resulting in successful outcomes is a key factor in their being persistent in the face of obstacles.
    • leaders who aren’t confident in their ability to produce results will drag down the productivity of their colleagues.
    • t appears that high self-confidence is associated with an unwillingness to listen and adapt to change and take others’ views into account, leading to difficult relationships.
    • “reading is not seen as a cause worth fighting for. Academics who ought to know better have accepted the idea that students no longer possess the attention span required to read a book. Such claims serve as justifications for adopting a narrow, instrumental attitude toward reading… [but this] merely intensifies the problem that it is meant to avoid: intellectually switched-off students will become seriously distracted.”
    • He lists several qualities that the best teachers possess:

       

      <!-- [if !supportLists]-->-   <!--[endif]-->Enthusiasm – Students often catch this in their classrooms.

       

      <!-- [if !supportLists]-->-   <!--[endif]-->Charisma – Teachers can be Pied Pipers for their subject.

       

      <!-- [if !supportLists]-->-   <!--[endif]-->A capacity to clarify and make sense – This quality illuminates any subject.

       

      <!-- [if !supportLists]-->-   <!--[endif]-->Humor – It lightens the hard work students need to do.

       

      <!-- [if !supportLists]-->-   <!--[endif]-->Kindness – A teacher’s power is enhanced when there’s a human connection.

       

      <!-- [if !supportLists]-->-   <!--[endif]-->A genuine interest in students’ progress – This involves constantly checking for understanding and responding accordingly.

    • Good teachers have these qualities in varying proportions, and the net effect is that students begin to teach themselves. “And that, paradoxical as it may seem, is the best outcome of good teaching,”
    • Good teachers are those who remember being a student,” he concludes. “They hear themselves as their students hear them.
    • They point to clear benefits in having students wrestle with complexity, uncertainty, and difficulty and coming up with their own answers rather than being guided through every step.
    • But Ermeling, Hiebert, and Gallimore worry that “struggle” may become an end in itself, rather than a means to higher levels of student learning.
    • the instructional goals must be richer learning, not just struggle.” The key is getting students engaged with a task that captures the central idea of the lesson or unit.
    • Here are some other key elements in successful “struggle” lessons:

       

      <!-- [if !supportLists]-->-   <!--[endif]-->Determining the timing and placement in a curriculum unit;

       

      <!-- [if !supportLists]-->-   <!--[endif]-->Crafting the problem so it hits students’ zone of proximal development (ZPD) – the level of difficulty that will challenge them without undue frustration;

       

      <!-- [if !supportLists]-->-   <!--[endif]-->Making sure they have the prerequisite knowledge and skills – for example in the problem above, knowing how to add fractions with like denominators before tackling problems with unlike denominators;

       

      <!-- [if !supportLists]-->-   <!--[endif]-->Doing ongoing assessments to gauge students’ current level of understanding and proficiency;

       

      <!-- [if !supportLists]-->-   <!--[endif]-->Providing a safe environment that encourages student thinking, collaboration, and risk-taking;

       

      <!-- [if !supportLists]-->-   <!--[endif]-->Using probing questions to nudge students into their ZPD;

       

      <!-- [if !supportLists]-->-   <!--[endif]-->Providing appropriate help – “Success depends on teachers recognizing when a little timely assistance sustains student persistence but does not prematurely terminate productive struggle and learning,” say the authors.

       

      <!-- [if !supportLists]-->-   <!--[endif]-->Following up each struggle episode with carefully structured lessons that build on students’ ideas, address misconceptions, and help them reflect on their new understandings.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Educational Resources & Tech Tools 12/10/2015

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Educational Resources & Tech Tools 12/09/2015

    • “Researchers increasingly recognize,” say the authors, “that promoting mathematical learning requires teachers to engage students in ‘productive struggle,’ where students expend effort to make sense of mathematics and figure out something that is not immediately apparent. One way students can productively struggle with the mathematics is through their communication with others – both through explaining one’s own thought processes (e.g., reasoning about mathematical concepts and how to solve problems) and discussing other students’ reasoning process.”
    • Franke and her colleagues noticed three challenges that teachers faced as they tried to orchestrate good mathematical discussions:

       

      <!-- [if !supportLists]-->-   <!--[endif]-->Students sometimes seemed unable to engage with each others’ ideas.

       

      <!-- [if !supportLists]-->-   <!--[endif]-->Students sometimes provided little or no detail about others’ thinking;

       

      <!-- [if !supportLists]-->-   <!--[endif]-->At times, students provided details but didn’t address the mathematical ideas underlying other students’ strategies.

    • “just inviting students to engage with others will not guarantee that students will, in fact, engage with each other, nor necessarily engage in ways that are supportive of mathematical learning.”

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Educational Resources & Tech Tools 12/04/2015

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Wednesday, December 2, 2015