Student “engagement” declining dramatically – and what schools can do | Hometown SourceHometown Source Joe Nathan Column – What can five- and six-year-olds learn from building a playground, or high school students learn by helping to produce a play, writing a history of their community, creating You-Tube videos about the value of Dual (High School/College) credit courses, conducting water quality testing, or planning and then building a community garden? The answer is clear: Students who participate in such hands-on, active learning generally will be more “engaged” in their learning. And, a 2012 Gallup poll of almost 500,000 American students, grades 5-12, helps explain why student engagement is so important. Joe Nathan The poll also shows a dramatic decline in student engagement as students move thorough our public schools. How do we “engage” students? Let’s be clear. But as the national Gallup organization points out, we should care about this because “Hope, engagement and well being of students accounts for one third of the variance of student success.
Overall Implementation Plan Preschool lessons: New research shows that teaching kids more and more, at ever-younger ages, may backfire Illustration by Alex Eben Meyer Ours is an age of pedagogy. Anxious parents instruct their children more and more, at younger and younger ages, until they're reading books to babies in the womb. They pressure teachers to make kindergartens and nurseries more like schools. There are skeptics, of course, including some parents, many preschool teachers, and even a few policy-makers. What do we already know about how teaching affects learning? Developmental scientists like me explore the basic science of learning by designing controlled experiments. In the first study, MIT professor Laura Schulz, her graduate student Elizabeth Bonawitz, and their colleagues looked at how 4-year-olds learned about a new toy with four tubes. All of the children pulled the first tube to make it squeak. Does direct teaching also make children less likely to draw new conclusions—or, put another way, does it make them less creative? Why might children behave this way?
In praise of failure: the key ingredient to children’s success | Canada Mike Faille/National Post Emily Martell was born to be Rizzo. So badly did the Grade 4 student want the role of the sassiest Pink Lady in her school’s production of Grease that she marched into the audition in a short brown wig and silky pink jacket and told the panel as much. “She was so good and I was so proud of her and thought ‘She’s going to get this part,’” her mother, Ali Martell, said. She didn’t get it, and saw the defeat as a crushing failure — one so traumatic she seriously considered abandoning her passion for school plays. Ms. “She stewed on it for a day and a half, then came back to us and said ‘I never want to quit, I love drama. In letting her daughter work it out alone, Ms. The most recent plea for the embrace of failure came this week from a New Hampshire middle school teacher, Jessica Lahey, who recalled talking with a student’s mother about her daughter’s blatant plagiarism. Ms. Courtesy of Ali MartellEmily Martell (L): “I never want to quit, I love drama. Ms.
IPads in the classroom: The right way to use them, demonstrated by a Swiss school Photo by Frederick Florin/Getty Images Touch-screen tablets for young students have become all the rage. Some districts are even buying iPads for every kindergartner, a move sparking both celebration and consternation. Last month, I had a rare opportunity to ask those questions at a school in Zurich, Switzerland. ZIS, as the school is called, has distributed 600 iPads—one to every student in first through eighth grades, plus a set for teachers in preschool and kindergarten to use with children in small groups. I was wrong. The school has an unconventional take on the iPad’s purpose. One morning I watched first-graders taking assessments of what they understood about “systems.” Sam Ross, a second-grade teacher at ZIS, sees real potential in moments like this. At ZIS, every student has a blog or, in the case of younger children, a digital portfolio that teachers maintain. Ten years ago, Stanford’s Larry Cuban noted that computers in the classroom were being oversold and underused.
How Does Music Stimulate Left and Right Brain Function and Why is this Important in Music Teaching? | The Music Teachers Blog « Confused About Interactive Whiteboards? | Home | Music Teaching Quotes » Music research indicates that music education not only has the benefits of self-expression and enjoyment, but is linked to improved cognitive function (Schellenberg), increased language development from an early age (Legg), and positive social interaction (Netherwood). How does music stimulate the right and left hemispheres? The right hemisphere engages in synthesizing several different parts to create a cohesive whole when processing new information (Williams). The right brain, often considered the more subjective and creative hemisphere, focuses on the melody in music. Music Listening vs. The act of listening to music has several noted benefits (Yoon):Stress relief and emotional releaseIncreased creativity and abstract thinkingPositive influences on the bodies overall energy levels and heart rhythm Some key points to remember: SOURCES: Legg, R. (2009). Schellenberg, E. (2005). Vitale, J.L. (2011). Bajaj, Manjul.
7 Essential Principles of Innovative Learning Big Ideas Culture Teaching Strategies Flirck:WoodleyWonderworks Every educator wants to create an environment that will foster students’ love of learning. Because the criteria are intangible, it’s difficult to define or pinpoint exactly what they are. Researchers at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) launched the Innovative Learning Environments project to turn an academic lens on the project of identifying concrete traits that mark innovative learning environments. Their book, The Nature of Learning: Using Research to Inspire Practice and the accompanying practitioner’s guide, lay out the key principles for designing learning environments that will help students build skills useful in a world where jobs are increasingly information and knowledge-based. “Adaptive expertise tries to push beyond the idea of mastery,” said Jennifer Groff, an educational engineer and co-founder of the Center for Curriculum Redesign. Related
Future@Now Conference | Digital Textbooks Are Here Congressman George Miller (D-CA) Congressman George Miller is the Senior Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee and a leading advocate in Congress on education, labor, the economy, and the environment. First elected in 1975, he now represents the newly created 11th District of California in the East Bay of San Francisco, including the majority of Contra Costa County. He recently introduced the Transforming Education through Technology Act, which would require states and school districts to develop plans and policies that put the best technology in the hands of students and teachers to support learning and achievement for all students. Alberto Carvalho Superintendent Miami-Dade County Public Schools (FL) Alberto Carvalho is Superintendent of the nation's fourth largest school system. Jim Shelton Assistant Deputy Secretary, Office of Innovation and Improvement U. Dr. Mark Edwards, Ed.D. is considered a pioneer of 1:1 computing in public schools. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr.
PBL and Standardized Tests? It Can Work! It's never too late to address this subject. Yes, many of us are gearing down from (or gearing up for) the epic standardized testing season, enjoying the freedom, released from the many pressures that come with the tests. However, these tests will keep happening. PARCC and Smarter Balanced Although some states have opted out of the PARCC or Smarter Balanced Assessments, many of our students will be taking them -- or something similar to them. Don't Wait Until After Testing Season "I'll wait til after the testing season," is one I hear often. Power Standards and Learning Targets Whether individually or through facilitated professional development, teachers spend a lot of time unpacking the standardized tests and the targeted standards and learning on which they're based. Embed Test Stems and Questions in the PBL Project Standardized test preparation does not need to go "out the window." PBL Projects Where They Fit Some of us have to deal with testing more frequently than others.
OESIS 2013 : Online Education Symposium for Independent Schools Camp Minecraft: How educators use the block-building game to inspire kids to code | GamesBeat Summer camp used to mean swimming, hiking, and bonfires. These days it could mean mines, exploding creepers, and JavaScript. Educational group iD Tech Camps is using the block-building sandbox Minecraft and other games to teach children about science, technology, education, and math (STEM). “This is our 15th season,” iD Tech vice president of marketing and business development Karen Thurm Safran told GamesBeat. The company uses developer Mojang’s Minecraft to introduce many basic and advanced concepts to the students in four courses. Courses come in two flavors, one-week camps and two-week “academies,” but just because the camps are only a few days long doesn’t mean they won’t cover heavy subjects. “Most kids play Minecraft, and so they’re very excited to go in and modify it,” said Safran. While Minecraft’s appeal is helping id Tech grow, the company has always worked with games. A bait and switch Video games are just the bait, according to one of the program’s graduates.
How to Teach Internet Safety in K-6 The Internet is a wonderful resource for kids for researching school reports, communicating with teachers, staying in touch with friends, and entertaining themselves. They can literally hit a few keystrokes and Click poster to purchase find out about culture in China, the history of Europe, or take a tour of the American White House. But with that access comes risks, even if you’re careful. The digital natives we are educating don’t want to hide from these sorts of problems, though. Kindergarten I mix internet safety lessons in with other teaching during my 45-minutes-per-week lesson. Have sufficient adult assistance that student activities can be corrected immediately so learning is seamless and students aren’t confused First Grade I mix these lessons in with other teaching throughout the year. Second Grade Third Grade—this is a four-week unit Fourth Grade—this is a five-week unit Fifth Grade—this is a seven-week unit Sixth Grade (and Teens) Self-directed online internet safety unit Follow me.
Finding Students' Hidden Strengths and Passions Rabbi Brad Hirschfield is the President of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership and he has spent a lot of time thinking about how to inspire both. He has some ideas about how we can inspire our students by helping them find their hidden strengths and passions. To use the word "hidden" may not be quite accurate because often, strengths are hidden by lack of opportunity to display them. Too often, when students are in school, they are not looked at in terms of their strengths; rather, there is a focus on remediating their deficits. This is rarely a source of inspiration for anyone. So what can educators do? Second, ask students to talk about times when they found out something surprising and good about someone else. Third, have students talk to their parents or guardians about "hidden talents"-- you may want to use this exact term. You may have your own ideas. Brad Hirschfield reminds us that miraculous discoveries must be discovered.