The How’s and Why’s of Going ‘Full STEAM Ahead’ In Your Classroom | EdSurge News EdSurge Newsletters Receive weekly emails on edtech products, companies, and events that matter. Giving children the tools to succeed in a rapidly changing technology-based economy is the key to ensuring their future success. Making sure kids are excited by science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts hasn’t been America’s strong suit, but with the “STEAM” movement, we have a shot at engaging kids like never before. What is STEAM? STEAM, an interdisciplinary spin on STEM that includes an “A” for art, is an integral part of influencing kids’ interest in STEM by allowing kids to explore these subjects through hands-on making. The STEAM movement has inspired new school systems, companies and organizations to create new and engaging learning experiences that have captured kids’ interest. Kids yelling about the Pythagorean theorem sounds like the STEAM movement is doing something right. Looking to find STEAM projects for your kids? But...
How to Use a Visual Dictionary It's important to know how to use a visual dictionary as an English learner. In fact, I'd say that along with a collocation dictionary, a visual dictionary can be a secret weapon when it comes to learning new vocabulary. Of course, you'll always need a standard learner's dictionary, but using these other types will really help you expand your vocabulary quickly. What's the difference between a Visual Dictionary and a "Normal" Dictionary? A visual dictionary teaches through pictures. Visual Dictionary Differences Using a standard dictionary requires you to look up a word alphabetically. One negative aspect of visual dictionaries is that they do not provide words that are in similar (or opposite) in meaning. Many visual dictionaries do not provide pronunciation for individual words. How Should I Use a Visual Dictionary? Use a visual dictionary when you need to understand a specific situation or topic. The best use of visual dictionaries is to explore the physical world. I'm glad you asked.
String™ Augmented Reality 9 things you need to know about being a good citizen in the digital world | Top of the Class Today, the majority of schools are using technology in classrooms, especially the internet. So it is important for the users of the internet to have a good sense of digital citizenship – how we represent ourselves through digital media is just as important as how we represent ourselves in society. The extent of information available in the internet, both good and bad, makes every teacher or caregiver responsible for teaching young children how to appropriately use the internet. Before doing so, one must learn what digital citizenship means. The concept of digital citizenship is definitely gaining momentum throughout the world. Digital access This concept refers to becoming productive digital citizens by working together in order to ensure that no-one is denied digital access. Digital commerce With the increase in online buying and selling, a vast variety of goods are surfacing the internet. Digital communication Digital literacy Digital etiquette Digital law Digital rights and responsibility
Concept Mapping for ELLs Make-a-Map, our IdeaphoraⓇ-powered concept mapping tool, is officially live on BrainPOP ELL! (You’ll find the Make-a-Map button on all BrainPOP ELL lesson pages.) The new tool lets students connect and organize clips from movies, keywords, and other elements as they construct visual representations of their knowledge. To help you get started with concept mapping, we’ve put together some best practices for using it with English language learners. Whether you’ve already explored Make-a-Map or you’re completely new to concept mapping, read on for background and implementation ideas. Visual input. All language domains. Differentiation. Make-a-Map can be especially useful for students who are reluctant to participate in class activities. Prior knowledge. TIPS FOR USING CONCEPT MAPS WITH ELLs Share your concept maps with us!
NixIT Teaching Technology The Educator with a Growth Mindset: A Staff Workshop I had the great privilege of facilitating a staff workshop on growth mindsets for the teachers and staff at Carlos Rosario International School and more recently at ISTE 2015. Participants were given access to the slide deck in order interact with the slides and resources during the workshop. What follows are the activities along with some of the resources used during the workshop. It began with the viewing of a few “inspirational” videos. Exploring the Characteristics of Growth v Fixed Mindsets Online resources were provided and small groups (prearranged prior to the workshop based on teaching disciplines) were asked to explore and list the characteristics of both growth and fixed mindsets. They provided with a link to this The Educator and the Growth Mindset Thinglink (which contains lots of linked resources). They were also given: The participants were asked to bring their own devices. They were then asked to flip their tarps. Like this:
Free Printable Worksheets for ESL Teachers and Students Most of the free printable worksheets on EnglishHints.com can be used online or downloaded for use whenever you want. This page includes a list of links to the downloadable pdf versions. (Many of these ESL printables are also available on the related pages on English Hints.com.) You may use these ESL printables freely at home or in an ESL classroom as long as you keep the copyright notice on the bottom of each page. (You may not sell these or otherwise use them commercially or on another website, though you may link to the pages.) I hope you find these free printable worksheets helpful. You will need Adobe Reader (the latest version is best) installed on your computer in order to download or print these pdfs. If you want to open the file in your browser window, just click on the link for each pdf. When you are ready to use it, locate the place on your computer where you saved it, and double click to open it. Vocabulary Improvement Worksheets Free Grammar Worksheets ESL Printable Puzzles
chi beating :) Kap What's the difference between accuracy and precision? - Matt Anticole Scientists (and engineers) are used to taking measurements and working with numerical data. With numerical data, we can try to identify patterns hidden in nature. With those patterns, we can begin to understand, predict, and perhaps ultimately control the world that surrounds us. Because data is so important to scientists and engineers, sometimes they need to worry about more than just whether they are right or wrong. What is the difference between a Number and a Measurement? Taking a measurement requires you to use a measuring tool of some sort: a ruler, a thermometer, a graduated cylinder, etc. What is accuracy? What can change the accuracy of a measurement? While accuracy is easy enough to understand, it does have an underlying weakness. Be careful though, some people assume that if you write a lot of digits after the decimal point, the measurement has to be accurate. What is precision? Significant Digits (or Figures) What are significant digits?
Improving Writing Skills: ELLs and the Joy of Writing "The meaning of even a single word is rather more complex than one might imagine." - Editors of the American Heritage Dictionary, 1980, p. viii "Teacher, do we need our pencils today?" my Puerto Rican elementary students would urgently ask when I came to their classroom to escort them to my English as a Second Language classroom. I was a student teacher in a Massachusetts elementary school, and it took me awhile to figure out the correlation between the pencil and hallway behavior. So, what was the correlation? I have been teaching ESL for many years and there is no perfect solution to this problem; however, I do believe I have added quite a few writing activities to my bag of tricks and improved my ability to differentiate writing tasks based on student ability. There is a very important correlation between writing and language development. With that said, teachers have a big task in improving ESL student writing skills, but the payoff for instructional dedication can be great.
PB4L School-Wide / Welcome - Positive Behaviour for Learning PB4L School-Wide looks at behaviour and learning from a whole-of-school as well as an individual child perspective. The framework is based on international evidence. The Positive Behaviour for Learning School-Wide framework, otherwise known as PB4L School-Wide, is helping New Zealand schools build a culture where positive behaviour and learning is a way of life. The framework can be tailored to your school’s own environment and cultural needs. It’s not about changing the students; it’s about changing the environment, systems and practices you have in place to support them to make positive behaviour choices. PB4L School-Wide is based on the Positive Behavioural Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework developed at the University of Oregon in the 1990s. Read more . . . Return to top ^
Helping ESL students understand written texts Introduction Every day in school and at home ESL students have many different texts* to read. It is through reading that they acquire much of their knowledge and understanding of the different subject areas, and reading often forms the basis of follow-up work such as class discussions or homework questions. For these reasons it is essential that ESL students are helped as much as possible and necessary to understand what they read. [* The word texts is used here to refer to all kinds of reading material that ESL students have to deal with; e.g., textbook passages, worksheet questions, short stories, Internet articles, etc.] The purpose of this article therefore is to suggest to mainstream teachers how they can help the ESL students in their classes to become more effective readers. What makes texts difficult to understand Here are the main sources of language difficulty for ESL students: Illegibility A first, obvious difficulty relates to the legibility of a text. Unfamiliar Words Polysemy