March, 2014

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Students Yearn For Creativity, Not Tests

A Principal's Reflections

'The other day as I was sitting in my office, sophomore Sarah Almeda popped into my office, as she usually does. After day three of PARCC field-testing I was catching up on some dreaded paperwork, one of the least favorite aspects of my job. Sarah, bubbly as ever, asked if she could email me her presentation as part of the Academies at New Milford High School.

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Redesigning and Rethinking Conferences-Reflections On #ASCD14

The Web20Classroom

'I recently returned from a trip to Los Angeles where I attended the annual ASCD conference. This is one of my favorite conferences of the year because of the diversity of the sessions offered. Everything from Edtech to Teacher Leadership, I usually come away with lots of ideas for going forward or things to think about. And this conference was no different.

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It's World Backup Day - make sure your data is backed up

Educational Technology Guy

'Today is World Backup Day! Everyone needs to have their files backed up. It is very easy to have your flash drive, hard drive, or computer crash, get damaged, or have your flash drive or laptop get lost or stolen. And it always happens at the worst possible time. There are many different ways to backup your files. You can use an external hard drive, backup to a flash drive, or backup your files to the cloud.

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Curriculet & Edmodo: #BetterTogether

Baker's B.Y.O.D.

'This week Curriculet announced the release of an Edmodo app version that allows teachers and students to use Curriculet using their Edmodo credentials and classlists. The app is a portal or gateway and opens Curriculet inside Edmodo. I am ecstatic about this announcement! I''ve been using Curriculet ( previously known as Gobstopper ) for two years now, and I can''t say enough good things about it !

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Enhancing Higher Education with Generative AI: A Responsible Guide

Generative AI holds tremendous promise for all stakeholders in higher education. But guardrails are needed. Strong governance that empower instructors are at the core of a responsible approach to using generative AI in academia.

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Is boredom the real epidemic in our schools?

The Innovative Educator

'Me and my mother I was at a large conference in the fall when the presenter asked the audience of more than 1000 educators to say the first word that comes to mind when thinking of high school. As if rehearsed for church choir, the audience responded. Their answer? BORED! I was thinking, wow! We all know this truth yet seem to accept it as just the way things are.

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Equality and Equity in Education

EdTechSandyK

'Original Source Unknown. Please let me know if you know the original source! Earlier this month, I participated on a panel about BYOD Equit y at SXSWedu. In the weeks leading up to the panel, the graphic to the right came across my radar. I thought it was an excellent visual of the difference between equality and equity. I used it when introducing our SXSWedu panel, and it seemed to resonate with others as well, as it was photographed and Tweeted during the presentation several times.

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More Trending

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Things That Have Me Thinking-March 12

The Web20Classroom

'A while back a friend of mine, Patrick Larkin , was a high school principal. (He has since moved up in the world to Asst. Superintendent ) He was regularly blogging for his staff and at the end of his weekly posts of updates, things to remember and such he had a list of things that had him thinking. It might have been a video, blog post, article, something, that had piqued his interest and he wanted to share.

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Sweet! You can now edit images right in Google Slides and Drawings

Educational Technology Guy

'Google just announced image editing inside of Google Slides and Drawings. I''m ecstatic about this as I use lots of images in my presentations and its so much easier to just edit them in the presentation than in a separate app. You can crop, add borders, and even add masks. Check out the full release below. Edit images right in Google Slides and Drawings Posted: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 Posted by Brian Levee, Product Manager (Cross-posted on the Drive Blog.

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Using Curriculet for Short Reading Texts & PARCC Prep

Baker's B.Y.O.D.

'My all time favorite tool for digital reading is Curriculet because of its versatility and ease of use (oh, and the price: FREE!). I can assign novels, poems, short stories, and current event articles for my students to read, and they can answer Common Core aligned questions and quizzes in the text. Since it is web-browser based, Curriculet can be used on any device or computer which is a must for my BYOD, 1:1 one day a week with Chromebooks classroom.

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7 Delightfully Surprising Things That Happened at the Second Google for Education Hawaii Summit (updated 5/21/14)

mauilibrarian2 in Olinda

'Google selfie with +Molly Schroeder and +Wendy Gorton (IC) Yes, +EdTechTeam ''s Second Google for Education Hawaii Summit was FUN! Seven delightfully surprising things happened: 1. I learned about how education can and should be ''uncomfortably exciting''. This is a new phrase I learned from Googler (and former Hawaii resident) +Evan Rapoport , via +Larry Page.

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Enhancing School Device Management for Improved Learning

Schools face increasing challenges as technology becomes integral to education. Efficient device management is essential for maximizing technology use and safeguarding investments. Our article discusses the importance of tracking devices, outlines current challenges, and suggests modern solutions that go beyond traditional methods like Excel. Learn how advanced tracking systems can streamline operations, improve maintenance, and offer real-time updates for better resource allocation.

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Tips for Education Conference Presenters

EdTechSandyK

'Photo from Flikr User MattHurst Used Under a Creative Commons License My favorite part of attending conferences like SXSWedu , TCEA , Tech Forum , or iPadpalooza is getting to learn from education colleagues and share my own learning with them in formal and informal spaces. Having just attended two conferences within the space of a month and done a solo presentation at one of them, I have a few tips fresh on my mind that might help anyone who plans to present at a conference or professional dev

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QR Codes in the Math Classroom

A Principal's Reflections

'In Mrs. Chellani’s continual efforts to create an engaging learning experience for her students, she has found utilizing QR codes to facilitate collaboration to be highly beneficial. In order to review material discussed in an assigned video and in class in her Pre-Calculus and Calculus courses, she created QR codes with relevant questions on the material and its’ applications.

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Things That Have Me Thinking-March 28

The Web20Classroom

'This is my series where I explore a few things that I have seen or heard about that is pushing my thinking, getting me to see something a different way or just something I want to share. This week we look at the 3 things that have me excited this week. It’s Complicated -For adults, what teenagers do online has been somewhat of a mystery. We assume they spend their days writing about relationships or drama or other stuff.

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educlipper Social Web Clipper iPad app Gets Even More Great Features

Educational Technology Guy

'Educlipper is a great, free app from a colleague of mine, Adam Bellow, that just keeps getting better. I''ve written about it before ( EduClipper social web clipper gets Updated with Some Great New Features ). It started as a way to clip and share online educational resources, but it has expanded to have a huge variety of features. Take a look and try it out.

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Quickly Create Personalized Learning Experiences that Work

How can we actively engage learners 24/7, on their level and according to their interests, while respecting their learning styles? It’s not impossible. In this guide: Explore how to transform traditional, one-way videos into two-way interactive learning experiences Understand different types of artificial intelligence (AI), including - Generative vs.

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#CUE14 Pictures using Loupe Collage

Baker's B.Y.O.D.

'I wanted a creative way to compile and share my pictures from my recent trip with Curriculet to CUE 2014 conference in Palm Springs, California. Searching through the Chrome Web Store, I found Loupe Collage. Similar to creating a customized word cloud in Tagxedo , Loupe Collage allows users to pull in pictures from Facebook, Google +, Drive, Dropbox, Twitter, the web, Instagram, and files ( ok, everywhere ) to create a collage where the shape and background can be customized.

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Principal Walk-Throughs a Waste of Time? Maybe So

The 21st Century Principal

'Today, I stumbled an interesting article from Education Week I feel I must share and comment upon. The article, "Principals Pressed for Time to Lead Instructional Change" by Leslie Maxwell, adds an interesting wrinkle to the focus on principals getting into classrooms and conducting walkthrough observations. Apparently, if you''re doing it to raise test scores, you might be wasting your time.

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How obsolete is your school? Take this quiz to find out.

The Innovative Educator

'In his recent article, " 14 things that are obsolete in 21st century schools ," Ingvi Hrannar Ómarsson, gives innovative educators, students, and parents some food for thought in their own schools. When I read the article, I couldn''t help but think that an excellent activity would be to turn the article into a quiz for school staff, students, and parents.

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Global Connections Made Possible Through Technology

A Principal's Reflections

'Mrs. Collentine’s Global Perspectives in Literature had a different spin on their research paper this year. In previous years, students had selected a charity to research and then, where possible, were to work for that charity in some capacity as part of the research paper experience. This year, students were to select a charity from a different part of the world—namely the country that is their own heritage and background.

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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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20+ Mobile Learners Worth Following On Twitter #mlearning

The Mobile Native

'Here is a list of 20+ Mobile Learners that share great mlearning content on twitter. Each one of them shares their unique views of mobile learning from around the world. Here is a list I created on twitter of 101 Mobile Learners.

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Silicon Valley Cue

My Paperless Classroom

'Cheryl and I co-wrote this post. We would love your feedback as we continue to develop workshops to educate teachers in the tools of flipping and the magic of puppets. Sam: In my life as an educator I have lead workshops in responding to student writing, writing college essays, writing blogs with students, and sharing student writing. There have been other workshops and they all revolved around the common theme of writing.

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GUEST POST: Team Tournaments HS Gamification Using Class Dojo

Baker's B.Y.O.D.

'This is a guest post from Mrs. Marynn Dause , an English teacher at King George High School in King George, Virginia, who is using Class Dojo to gamify her class. I''m fascinated with gamification and using Edmodo to gamify my Odyssey unit , but Mrs. Dause''s approach has got me thinking. Using Class Dojo, her method is something we all can learn from and with Class Dojo''s BIG ANNOUNCEMENT , staying in contact with parents and students just got easier.

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OpenEd: Free Online K-12 Educational Resource Site Now Includes Tablet Apps Too

The 21st Century Principal

'OpenEd, which bills itself as "the Largest K-12 Educational Resource Catalog," announces the availability of public courses on its web site. Users can now publish any course they have created to the OpenEd community. Here are some of the most notable features of this online instructional resource. Users can use courses already created and located at the site.

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Behind the Bell: The Underlying Impact of Tardiness in K-12 Schools

Managing a K-12 campus with constant pressure to meet performance metrics is challenging. And tardiness can significantly limit a school from reaching these goals. Learn more about why chronic lateness matters, and key strategies to address the following impacts: Data errors caused by manual processes Low attendance and graduation rates that affect a school’s reputation Classroom disruption, which leads to poor academic performance High staff attrition and “The Teacher Exodus” Unmet LCAP goals t

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5 Ways to Encourage Child Creativity

The Innovative Educator

'Schools don’t have to kill the creativity Sir Ken Robinson laments in his popular video. To follow are a few ideas that can teachers can share with parents, or use in their classrooms, to provide young people with the inspiration to be creative. 1) Create safe havens Julia Cameron , author of The Artist’s Way tells the guardian that by “Creating safe havens where our children are allowed to dream, play, make a mess and, yes, clean it up, we teach them respect for themselves and others.” 2) In

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Making to Learn in Physics

A Principal's Reflections

'Ms. Fleming recently hosted Mr. Fowler’s Conceptual Physics classes for some hands-on experiences with electronics in the Makerspace at New Milford HS. Prior to their experience in this space, students had worked with the pHET DC Circuit Simulator. They were able to explore current flows through light bulbs in circuits powered by batteries and controlled by switches.

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Giving Students Freedom

Philly Teacher

'A few weeks ago I was sitting in a report card conference with one of my advisees discussing his classes, his school work and some struggles he’d been having. At one point he said, “I think I’m taking advantage of the freedom I have.” It was a powerful statement and a one that really stuck with me. We give our students at SLA Beeber a lot of freedoms.

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Teaching Sequence in Kindergarten with Robots

My Paperless Classroom

'Bongo and 3 of the Bee Bots Our first lesson was a getting to know the bee bots session. We had 4-5 kids per mat and we distributed some command cards to each kids (next time I should give each kid identical mixed packs of command cards). The kids had to map out the course with the cards and I modeled placing each card on the mat in order. This helped them visualize the sequence.

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The Battle of the Authoring Tools: A 10-Point Comparison for Picking the Right One

Speaker: Chris Paxton McMillin, President of D3 Training Solutions

There are plenty of great authoring tools for developing eLearning, but the one you select could directly impact your course's outcomes. Depending upon your learners’ needs and your organization’s performance goals, you could be overlooking considerations that impact the both effectiveness of your courses and how long it takes to finish them. From general capabilities to specific workflow structures, some aspects are critical when it comes to learning objectives and deadlines.

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BIG ANNOUNCEMENT from ClassDojo: App Messaging

Baker's B.Y.O.D.

'ClassDojo iOS and Android apps now include ClassDojo Messaging — a new feature enabling teachers and parents to easily and meaningfully communicate about student progress. Users of Class Dojo and BYOD advocates will appreciate the ease with which they can keep parents connected to the classroom. Take a look at the screenshots below showing how ClassDojo Messaging will look on a personal device.

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2014 NCTIES Presentation: My Favorite Apps, Hacks, and Tech Tricks for Educators

The 21st Century Principal

'As a teacher and now as an administrator, looking for shortcuts and easy ways to manage aspects of the job has become second nature. I must confess that I began my job as an educator when desktop computers were rare, and mobile phones were too large to really be considered mobile. I didn''t even have a phone in my classroom in those days. The only thing that connected me to the office was a button that activated a buzzed through the school''s intercom system.

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Face off: @Twitter verses @Remind101 for family outreach via texting

The Innovative Educator

'To engage or not to engage? That is the question when it comes to figuring out the best platform for strengthening the home-school connection with texting. Schools know that texting is a great way to reach out to families. It’s better than the “robo-calling” that is only one-way, is overwhelmingly reported as an annoyance to the Better Business Bureau , can disturb parents at work, or set off all the school staff phones ringing at the same time.

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Moving Beyond 140 With Google+ #digilead

A Principal's Reflections

'The following was written by Evan Scherr and the original post can be accessed at Just Thinking Out Loud. I love Twitter. I have connected with some really amazing practitioners because of it. I have become friends with some really fantastic people as a result of it. Twitter serves as the bridge to my connecting and my learning. It is a beautiful bridge.

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Reimagining Chickering & Gamson's Principles Post-Pandemic: Technology's Central Role in Modern Edu

This white paper examines and proposes revisions to the "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" introduced by Arthur Chickering and Zelda Gamson in 1987 for today's technology-driven world.