You don’t need to be a Dickens scholar to understand that for many teachers it is both the best of times and the worst of times.
Let’s start with the good stuff. Digital innovation is inspiring imagination. Educators from all over the world are learning how to responsibly blend technology into their teaching, while sharing resource suggestions and best practices with colleagues and their growing professional learning networks.
The freedom to choose an assortment of apps, videos and open educational resources that can augment – if not replace – traditional curriculum for any given unit or lesson plan is empowering. Learning how other teachers put these tools into their own practice via Twitter Chats, EdCamps and other collaborative environments is exhilarating.
When it comes to kids, growth mindset is a hot topic in education. Studies indicate that children who view intelligence as pliable and responsive to effort show greater persistence when encountering new or difficult tasks. In contrast, children who view intelligence as static or “fixed” have a harder time rebounding from academic setbacks or are…
Over the past decade as many school budgets have remained stagnant, spending in educational technology has climbed to record levels, with no signs of slowing. As schools around the country consider investing in technology as a way to improve student outcomes, particularly for those students deemed “at-risk,” it’s imperative that district leaders understand the methods…
The resulting paper begins: “Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. The Green Light Situated at the end of Daisy’s East Egg dock and barely visible from Gatsby’s West Egg lawn, the green light represents Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for the future.” That’s not A+ work by any…
Few middle schoolers are as clued in to their mathematical strengths and weakness as Moheeb Kaied. Now a seventh grader at Brooklyn’s Middle School 442, he can easily rattle off his computational profile. “Let’s see,” he said one morning this spring. “I can find the area and perimeter of a polygon. I can solve mathematical…
Running schools as a business gives very little back to the taxpayer. It gives even less to the student. Source: Why Schools Should NOT Be Run Like Businesses | gadflyonthewallblog If you ever wanted a ton of research on why schools should not be run as businesses, this is the article for you.
The dinosaurs pair over Bluetooth to a new Jurassic World companion iOS / Android app, and kids can drag and drop code to make them do things. The robots can move, light up, make noise, or engage in different interactions. I particularly loved their dancing mode. Source: Dancing dinosaurs will teach your kid to code –…
