January, 2014

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Devices Need to Support Learning

A Principal's Reflections

'So yesterday as I was scanning the #NJED hash tag on TweetDeck I came across this intriguing image shared by Mike Marotta. It really puts into perspective why we make many of the decisions that we do at New Milford High School as to why we decided to implement a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiative and don''t mandate the use of one specific tool to support learning.

BYOD 401
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3 Things We Need To Remember For Every Professional Development

The Web20Classroom

'I remember my first professional development as a teacher. I was fresh out of college. The PD centered around how to use clickers in the classroom. I saw great potential there. The idea that I could get realtime information back on my students, I saw as a great help to me. The PD itself was boring and useless. The presenter leading did little to engage us.

Edcamps 273
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Wolfram releases Problem Generator to create practice problems

Educational Technology Guy

'Wolfram, creators of Wolfram|Alpha , have launched Wolfram Problem Generator. This tool allows students and teachers to create unlimited, random practice problems and answers in subjects such as elementary math, algebra, statistics and even college calculus. It provides hints and step-by-step solutions when needed to help the student learn. It can also create printable worksheets and answer sheets for offline work.

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Let's Not Lose Perspective

Tom Murray

'They were floating in the water when I first saw them — the paintings of my three-year-old girl. Once a moment of pride and jubilation, now wading in the water that stretched from side to side of my home. It’s an image I’ll never forget and one of the most difficult moments of my life. A few hours earlier, I had just finished a keynote in New York, when I glanced at my phone.

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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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3 Ways to Know If Your School or District Engages in Bullying Behavior

The 21st Century Principal

'"Systems can bully as much as individuals." Sharon Salzberg & Robert Thurman, Love Your Enemies: How to Break the Anger Habit & Be a Whole Lot Happier I began reading Love Your Enemies: How to Break the Anger Habit & Be a Whole Lot Happier by Sharon Salzberg and Robert Thurman today, and I stumbled on a section that focuses on bullying and dealing with those who bully.

Examples 107
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Addressing the CCSS with the Use of Infographics

Kathy Schrock

'First published in the AWSA Update Bulletin , October 16, 2013. Some information has been updated below. Overview Infographics are everywhere! We see them on the Web and in our professional journals. Students see them on Facebook and on advertiser’s pages. How can the use of infographics be used to address the Common Core State Standards? An infographic is a visual representation of information.

More Trending

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Showing How Awesome You Are-Building Your Brand

The Web20Classroom

'Back when I started this blog in February of 2009 I was trying to create a space to share resources with my teachers in my district. Web 2.0 tools were gaining in popularity so I wanted to capitalize on that, hence the name. The same with my Twitter account. I wanted the two places to be tied together. I wasn''t thinking about branding. Fast forward 5 years and @web20classroom and this blog are who I am.

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My top Android Apps for Educators

Educational Technology Guy

'I''m a huge Android user. I have my HTC One Smartphone and my own Nexus 7 tablet. In addition, my department uses Nexus 7 tablets for mobile access and some of our schools have Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets. I have a bunch of apps that I use on a regular basis, both when I was a teachers, as well as now as a CIO. This is my list of top apps for educators: Gmail - email is the main way I communicate with my staff, vendors, and school admin and teachers.

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Years Gone By: Relevant Learning Ties Remain

Tom Murray

'This post is co-authored by Tom Murray and Kristen Swanson. Dear Tom, Back in the days of giant desktop computers and Microsoft Publisher, you were my teacher. You showed me how to create digital learning spaces for my students, and you guided me as I started to think about the ways that technology could transform students into authentic writers and publishers.

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Using iPads to Support Social Learning in Kindergarten

My Paperless Classroom

'Students Using Puppet Pals in Groups Lesson Objective To help Kindergarten students better understand a complex play situation, and give them tools to effectively communicate in that situation. Time : 30 minutes Tools : iPads 3 students per device, using Puppet pals version 1 Begin by showing the set-up scenario movie: Pig and Sheep are playing a game and Cow approaches Pig : This is a great game!

iPad 98
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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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What Are the Real Motives Behind the Common Core State Standards? Let's Be Honest with Ourselves!

The 21st Century Principal

'Today, there was this post on the Public School Forum of North Carolina website defending the Common Core. That post, entitled "Common Core Standards Will Help NC Meet Its Challenges," was written by Caroline McCullen, the director of education initiatives at SAS which already has a multi-million dollar contract with North Carolina to provide value-added teacher data analysis software for teacher and principal evaluations.

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Writing Scaffolds to Meet Diverse Learning Needs

A Principal's Reflections

'As students work to master the complex reading and writing standards demanded by the Common Core, Mrs. Montecuollo and Mrs. Westbrook collaborated to create writing scaffolds that address the diverse academic needs of their 9th grade students. These teachers believe that differentiation is about access points. Therefore, they used four support activities (scaffolds) to address different areas of difficulty they see their students face.

Meeting 349
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Write About This

SpeechTechie

'Write About This is an app designed by educators that uses the technique of providing photo prompts as a way to foster writing skills. Visuals such as those in this app give students a place to start with their language, and the prompts that come with the app provide a context to develop writing with the use of strategies such as story grammar mapping or use of expository text structure (list, sequence, description, etc).

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Infographics about Evernote

Educational Technology Guy

'I know, another article about Evernote from Dave. Sorry, but I found these in my "to blog about" folder and wanted to share it before I forgot. Some interesting info and stats on here. There are three infographics: 100 new features in Evernote for Windows Desktop All About Evernote history abilities platforms users 101 Ways to use Evernote Enjoy! Lots more about Evernote: [link].

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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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Practical examples of social media in elementary school

The Innovative Educator

'Guest post by Computer Teacher & Tech Coordinator, Chris Casal | Cross posted at The Casal Operating System Editor''s note: Chris Casal is a member of the NYC DOE Social Media Advisory Team. His insights have helped inspire and guide teachers in the effective use of social media in the classroom. Here''s how he does it. I am often asked about how we use "social media" here at PS 10.

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Writing a Learning Reflection

My Paperless Classroom

'This is a post I use in 7th grade to get them working on a digital portfolio. Read some samples from a great summer program Writing a Learning Reflection One of the objectives to learning to use Blogger is that it is a great platform for building a digital portfolio of learning. This portfolio allows you to showcase your learning products and process in a way others can access, share, and interact with.

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Using Statistical Models to Predict Future Effectiveness of Teacher Candidates: A New Snake Oil Approach

The 21st Century Principal

'It was bound to happen sooner or later. Two companies: TeachersMatch and Hanover Research have found a way to use statistics and test scores to develop a model that predicts how effective teacher candidates might be at raising test scores. These kinds of business ventures makes one wonder when the absurdity of this endless pursuit of test scores is going to end.

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Communicating in the Information Age

A Principal's Reflections

'In case you didn''t know we had quite a bit of snow last night in the Northeast. As I was outside in the bone-chilling cold shoveling piles of snow I began to reflect upon how my professional practice has changed in a few short years when it comes to snow days. Typically in the past I would have received a phone call compliments of a meticulously developed phone chain.

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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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#CEL13: Choice

Baker's B.Y.O.D.

'During the 2013 Conference on English Leadership in the Transforming Decisions session lead by Gordon Hultberg , English teacher and department head at Intermountain Christian School in Utah , we discussed the concept of choice in our ELA classrooms. How often do we give students choice and how are teachers'' own personal preferences represented in the choices we allow?

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Two great teacher blogs showing uses of Evernote as teachers

Educational Technology Guy

'I''m a power Evernote user and have documented a lot of ways to use Evernote in education over the years. I recently found two blogs from educators that show how they use Evernote as teachers and offer some great ideas and tips for other educators. Jordan Collier has a great blog with a whole sect ion on Evernote. He is on #8 of 50 planned posts with different ways school administrators and educators can use Evernote to be more organized and more effective.

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Higher education technology predictions for 2014

Mark Smithers

'TL;DR. Wizard by seanmgrath. In summary, we’ll have another contentious year. We’ll see big growth in higher education services from outside of the university sector, a continued gnashing of teeth from established providers. Some new services and platforms will emerge to cater for different forms of learning, MOOCs will evolve and improve and open badges will be hot.

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What does the Net Neutrality Ruling Mean for Schools?

My Paperless Classroom

'Image from Open Media on Flickr Even though I have been down with the flu this week, I did hear the news about the supreme courts "Net Neutrality" ruling. If you don''t yet know what net neutrality is, here is a simple version that you can tell your grandkids: once upon a time there was the idea that all Internet content providers should have the same level of access to the Internet.

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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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More About Using Voodoo Value-Added Measures to Determine Teacher Candidate Quality

The 21st Century Principal

'Two days ago, I posted about Teacher Match and Hanover Research, two companies that are now using value-added statistical modeling to predict the effectiveness of prospective teachers'' abilities to raise test scores. ( "Using Statistical Models to Predict Future Effectiveness of Teacher Candidates: A Snake Oil Approach" ) As I pointed out, there are some major flaws, especially flaws in the assumptions about teaching, in using this approach as even a part of a new teacher candidate selection p

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The People and Moments That Define Us

A Principal's Reflections

'I knew early on in my education career that I wanted to be an administrator. The predominant reason for this was that I wanted to at least attempt to be a fraction of the leader that my father was. My father was an elementary principal for 30 years and I always admired how he was able to inspire his staff to focus on student learning. To say that he was beloved by all would be a significant understatement.

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Educator Ann S. Michaelsen explains the power of student PLNs

The Innovative Educator

'While it is no longer unusual for teachers to embrace and understand the value of personal learning networks, few are supporting their students in doing the same. I went on a search for educators involved in this work a s part of a chapter I am writing for a book on the topic of student liberation being released by Steve Hargadon later this year, In the below Q&A you will get a look at the insights from one of these educators.

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MonioMap - visual mind map of your Evernote notes and notebooks

Educational Technology Guy

'I use Evernote a lot. I have about 100 Notebooks and close to 6,000 notes, so it can get a little overwhelming at times. I use tags and Evernote''s search is great and the related notes feature helps find other info, but I just learned about a new service, made for Evernote, that turns your Evernote notes and notebooks into a mind map. It''s called MohioMap.

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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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Timeline

SpeechTechie

'The folks at ReadWriteThink are doing a nice job turning a number of their language-based web tools into apps- that are free, to boot. Brought to us by the International Reading Association, these apps including Trading Cards and RWT Timeline make great use of some of the features the iPad has to offer. Namely, it''s great when an app lets you set up profiles for students or groups for saving work, as we often don''t complete activities with students in one session, and can focus more on the la

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Differentiation: Programming and Geometry in Second Grade

My Paperless Classroom

'Like many teachers, I found The Hour of Code, sponsored by Code.org to be truly inspirational, I was already doing programming with most of my k-5 students, but it was stand alone, programming for the sake of programming. (Which IS worth it''s own time, seriously. ) But I am always looking for those opprotunities to create another way to master a skill or demonsrate understanding.

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Being Right Isn't the Most Important Thing: Getting Leadership Right

The 21st Century Principal

'"One of the biggest problems we encounter is verbal communication that is misunderstood or unskillfully handled." Sharon Salzberg & Robert Thurman, Love Your Enemies: How to Break the Anger Habit & Be a Whole Lot Happier It''s Monday morning, and you''re sitting at your desk. You get a call from your school receptionist that Ms. (You Insert the Name Here) has arrived in the office and she is agitated and angry, much like she usually is.

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Daily Inspiration is the Norm

A Principal's Reflections

'I''m not going to lie, New Milford High School is an amazing place to work. We have fantastic students, supportive parents, a Technology Director that gets it, and a Central Office and Board of Education that provide us with the autonomy to take risks. With these elements in place the stage is set for innovation and the creation of a school culture that works for students in the digital age.

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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.