The Importance of Formative Assessments
Formative assessments are a powerful tool that not only allows a teacher to gauge where his/her students are and aid in personalizing learning, but also allows the student to reflect on what and how they are learning. Thinking about thinking is one of the 16 Habits of Mind that help us navigate situations when we don’t […]
What’s Your Digital IQ?
In the article, How Educators Can Raise Their Digital IQ, Matthew Lynch says, Just as we strive to make advancements in other areas of our schools, educators should be working to raise their digital IQ. Setting a higher standard for teacher development in this area could have a major benefit to the students they serve. […]
Preparing for an Unknown World
When I was in school (not that long ago), my teachers prepared me for a known world. People went to school, got jobs with companies who offered insurance, worked for forty years and then retired with a pension. Today, teachers have to prepare our students for an unknown world. In the book, Inquiry and Innovation in the Classroom, […]
Learning: Always the Goal
In the classroom, it can be easy to get lost in the technology – it’s new and exciting and pretty and there’s always something new to try. Teachers often need support and training to effectively use technology, and that’s where instructional technology coaches come in. In the article, How Instructional Technology Coaching Can Help Teachers Create […]
How Edtech Can Help Your Classroom Management
With new technology in the classroom comes new opportunities for students to do things we probably don’t want them to do. Managing this and keeping them on task and engaged is a skill. In the article, Technology Helps Teachers Prevent and Mitigate Bad Behavior in the Classroom by Eli Zimmerman, he writes, “It can be difficult for […]
When the Soft Skills Become the Hard Skills
At the International Conference on Thinking in Miami this year, over and over again the speakers mentioned how important it is for our students to master the soft skills. Employers care less bout the academic content a student has memorized and more about things like flexibility, creativity, and productivity. Focusing on the soft skills just […]
Teachers vs. Tech
What has the biggest impact on student achievement? The teacher or the tech? In an article titled, “Why the Teachers vs Tech Narrative Must Go” Matthew Lynch argues that tech is never going to replace the teacher. He says, “Research studies consistently have shown that the single most significant indicator of student success is the […]
Edtech Tools to Try This School Year
Not everyone likes to think about the school year over the summer, but if you are planning ahead like I am, you may be researching ways to leverage technology in your classroom. Luckily, in an article titled, 38 Amazing Edtech Tools for Student Creation and Innovation, Mathew Lynch has done some of the work for […]
The Coworking Classroom for the 21st Century
I don’t teach students in a classroom, I facilitate the learning of students in a coworking space. Maybe don’t tell my principle, but my main goal as an educator is not to drill the content into the kids’ heads. My focus is to help prepare them for the 21stcentury and life beyond the classroom. I […]
Make Thinking Visible
So many of the most exciting trends in education right now are coming from Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. One of those is the idea of Visible Thinking. Visible Thinking aims to document student thinking, help students understand thinking routines, and help students and teachers with their reflective practice. In an article […]
