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Teacher Resources, Tools & Giveaways for the week (May 25 – Jun 1, 2013)
TOOLS Draft An easy to use collaborative writing tool. befunky A web tool to cartoonize and customize pictures. dropmark Drag and drop files to share. RESOURCES Comic Book Show and Tell An activity to help students learn about scripting and creative writing. ATLANTIS Remixed Online and offline learning activities. Technology Integration Rubric A rubric to help teachers integrate technology. GIVEAWAY... Read More...
Health Concerns in the Classroom
It’s quite common today that we have students who have asthma, diabetes or severe allergies in our classrooms. There was a time when all their medical needs were the responsibility of the school nurse, and the teacher did not really have to know much about a child’s medical issues. However, things have changed a lot today. These types of health concerns are increasingly more common and it may be... Read More...
How can I Use Clickers Effectively to Encourage Active Learning?
Clickers are also known as Audience response systems (ARS), student response systems (SRS) or personal response systems (PRS). These input devices allow students to express their views freely under the cloak of anonymity, as only the cumulative response of the class is shown on the public screen. They help to make the lesson interactive and keep the students alert and ready to respond. Clickers have... Read More...
What is the Purpose of a Learning Target in Formative Assessment?
Tuttle (2009) explains that “Curriculum and instruction are not based on a textbook but on the standards that all students are to meet through differentiated instruction. Also, assessments are not used to determine a grade but to inform students of expectations and achievements. In the same manner, student feedback is much more than just a letter grade; student feedback focuses on progress toward... Read More...
Teacher Resources, Tools & Giveaways for the week (May 18 – 25, 2013)
TOOLS FlipSnack Create flipping books easily. Also embed on any website or blog. Delicious An easy way to save, organize and remember interesting links on the web. Presefy Broadcast and run presentations from your mobile device. RESOURCES Density of Glass Fragments Help students learn about density. Introduction to input/output tables A teacher directed worksheet to introduce input/output tables. Human... Read More...
College and Career Readiness
Do you know what each of your students wants to do in the long-term? Asking them about this is a great exercise in getting to know every student and discovering what they would like to “be when they grow up” and why. Then, encourage students to collect information about what they want to do and develop grounded and realistic expectations. As a new batch of students get ready to graduate this year,... Read More...
What is the “Whip around” Strategy?
Whip around is a simple closure activity by which teachers can objectively analyze the quantity and quality of the students’ comprehension of the lesson. Though it does not allow for individual assessment, the whip around technique is a great way to identify the presence of gaps in understanding. It serves as an indicator i.e. whether to proceed or to re-teach the topic and is also used to generate... Read More...
How can I Train Comprehension by Teaching Students the “Make a Movie” Strategy?
If we want to train comprehension, we need to help students to make a movie in their head. By asking questions such as: What? Who? Color? Number? Size? Background? Movement? By thinking about the answers to these questions we create a picture in our heads. Here’s the sentence again: “The puppy liked to help Emily with her food.” Now, please ask yourself: What did Emily look like?... Read More...
Teacher Resources, Tools & Giveaways for the week (May 11 – 18, 2013)
TOOLS ToonDoo An easy way to create cartoons. Prezi A presentation tool that helps to organize and share ideas. KerPoof An online tool that allows students to create drawings and movies. RESOURCES Behavior Reflections A sample behavior reflection form for your class. Curious George Games that help kindergarten students to grow in math and science. Amusement Park Physics Reinforce the laws of physics... Read More...
Word-Rearrangements
Sometimes, a simple re-arrangement of words can result in extraordinary messages. I recently came across something that caught my attention, and made me think. A woman wrote about being NO-WHERE vs NOW-HERE. It’s the same words, just split and perceived differently. Instead of thinking that there’s no-where to go, or that the future looks bleak, we can look at our current situation and realize... Read More...
