I feel like my teachers always emphasized the importance of group work but kind of threw us to the wolves to figure out how to do it, especially when we are all supposed to be equal players with no manager to oversee the final product. Can you recommend any resources for how to do effective,…
Today’s enthusiasm for project-based learning (PBL) fits into the paradigm-shifting category, helpfully emphasizing that we learn best by doing. As a complete educational philosophy or strategy, however, it falls short on many fronts. Source: Project-based learning needs more learning Wow, I don’t think the author understands what Project Based Learning is. I mean, I find very little…
This is part 2 of 13 Gmail hacks for teachers. As we learned yesterday, we want to reduce our cognitive load of dealing with emails by getting them out of the inbox and into a system where we don’t have to remember what we need to do, but can easily find what we need to…
To get that valuable time and space to collaborate with fellow educators—in their city, state, country or across the world—some teachers are taking to online networks and DIY-ing their own face-to-face meet-ups. Through grassroots “unconferences” like Edcamps, online forums like #edchat and informal Facebook groups, teachers are taking professional learning into their own hands. Source: 7 Ways…
Since our students are using technology to play, learn, and communicate while at home and at school, they should be learning how to use that technology responsibly. Full integration of digital citizenship (or DigCit) curriculum into every class and every content area—at every grade level—should be the goal to meet this need. Source: How to…
This is part 1 of 13 Gmail hacks for teachers. There’s a phrase I like to use, “Your inbox is not an organizational tool”. But, how many people do you know that have thousands of emails in their inbox, mingling archived emails with actionable emails? By working toward inbox zero you’ll lessen the cognitive load…
There is a new platform for immersive learning games that’s taking classrooms across the world by storm. Based on the same principles as interactive Escape The Room digital games — which challenge players to use their surroundings to escape a prison-like scenario — Breakout EDU is a collaborative learning experience that enhances critical thinking and…
For a moment, let’s pretend. That everything you know about America’s public education system — the bitter politics and arcane funding policies, the rules and countless reasons our schools work (or don’t) the way they do — is suddenly negotiable. Pretend the obstacles to change have melted like butter on hot blacktop. Now ask yourself:…
The one application that is probably used the most by teachers is email. Here are 13 hacks for Gmail, although a lot of them would work with any email system. These are the tricks I use every day to manage my email and make myself more productive in reaching inbox zero. Inbox zero is a…
As educators, we’ve spent years attending classes, participating in workshops, going to conferences, and continuing our education. The more we learn, the more we create and collect. Because of the time and effort that we spend developing such rich resources, it becomes challenging to let some of them go. I’ve struggled with this for years….