Explore the world without leaving your classroom | Teaching in the Primary Years Article written for Education Today Classrooms in the 21st Century should not be confined by its four walls. Technology allows teachers to create learning experiences for their students that enable them to be immersed in locations all over the world, all without leaving their school. These experiences bring learning to life, engaging and motivating our students to inquire and wonder about the world in which we live. We live in a world that is continuing to be flattened by the accessibility the internet and technology brings. As teachers, we converse with our students about locations and landmarks from all around the world. Google has created a variety of technologies that enhance teaching and learning by allowing students to explore and have experiences all around the world. My favourite tools include; Google HangoutsGoogle Maps (Google Views) Google MyMapsGoogle Art Project Google Expeditions Google Hangouts Google Hangouts are fantastic. Google Hangouts on Air record your Google Hangout.
Study Skills Guide: Improve Reading Comprehension Skills Good reading comprehension comes only with practice. The basic aspects of reading, such as word recognition, phonetics and fluence, can be mastered in just a few years. However, throughout this process reading comprehension must be emphasized. Students may be able to eloquently repeat the words that the see on a page all day, but without reading comprehension skills, they're unable to fully understand the content, predict what will happen next, recognize characters, gain insight or understanding to build upon, or relate what they're reading to their own life's experience. Sadly, classrooms across the United States have students who struggle with reading comprehension. Students frequently enter college without understanding how necessary good reading comprehension skills are for academic success. Pre-reading survey Before reading a text, complete a pre-reading survey for a brief summary of it. Define your purpose Read the text Take notes or highlight important concepts Post-reading review
Pearson Prentice Hall: eTeach: Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension by Patricia Babbitt Introduction Most Effective Strategies Practical Applications of Reading Strategies Summary Resources Remember the adventures that lived and breathed between the pages of a really good book when, as a young reader, you slipped away undiscovered into your own magical world? But surprise need not lead to a permanent state of frustration. Theoretically speaking, if the daily reading curriculum uses research-proven methods, students should develop skills for comprehending the text. Comprehension monitoring Cooperative learning Graphic organizers Story structure Question answering Question generating Summarization Multiple Strategy Comprehension monitoring Reading activities can be divided into three categories, depending on when they take place: pre-reading, reading, and post-reading. Pre-reading: Collecting and defining vocabulary terms from the text will assist students in understanding words that otherwise may interrupt their reading. Cooperative learning Explain why….
Why Finland has the best schools The Harvard education professor Howard Gardner once advised Americans, “Learn from Finland, which has the most effective schools and which does just about the opposite of what we are doing in the United States.” Following his recommendation, I enrolled my 7-year-old son in a primary school in Joensuu, Finland, which is about as far east as you can go in the European Union before you hit the guard towers of the Russian border. OK, I wasn't just blindly following Gardner — I had a position as a lecturer at the University of Eastern Finland for a semester. But the point is that, for five months, my wife, my son and I experienced a stunningly stress-free, and stunningly good, school system. In Finland, children don't receive formal academic training until the age of 7. Unlike in the United States, where many schools are slashing recess, schoolchildren in Finland have a mandatory 15-minute outdoor free-play break every hour of every day. But what if the opposite is true? “Do you hear that?”
Transforming Teaching and Learning at an Early Age: EPISD Early Childhood Integration Model By Tim Holt The El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) in El Paso Texas is a district that is in the midst of a system-wide cultural change. One of those systemic changes is the shift away from traditional teaching and learning strategies towards a more personalized, active learning model. Another shift is away from paper pencil assignments towards more digitally infused activities that engage students and teachers as well. The district is also on a path towards a districtwide dual language approach where students learn their content in equal parts English and Spanish. Early Dual Language Learners Nowhere is that more evident than in EPISD’s Early Childhood Technology Integration Program. “We do not want our students using technology as just a substitute for paper-pencil exercises,” stated Balsiger. The stated goal of the teacher’s work is to increase the use of oral language and content appropriate vocabulary in both English and Spanish at the district’s Title 1 Campuses.
5 Problems in Education That Technology Will Soon Solve Years ago, associate professor Kentaro Toyama wrote an influential article and argued that the history of education in technology was “fraught with failures” and that technology could not address the individualized concerns that are necessary for good teaching. And for a while, his criticisms seemed to hold a lot of water as EdTech (“education technology”) never managed to revolutionize classrooms, even after years of investment and many broken promises. However, its time may finally be here. The Promise of EdTech The idea that good teachers are an essential ingredient to good education isn’t up for debate, but Toyama’s harsh view of EdTech’s potential needs addressing. In the past 100 years, most industries have evolved in spectacular ways, including in the ways we live our lives and in the ways we work. The response here should be measured. The 5 Problems Facing EdTech The main issue, then, is whether the education system will take advantage of this opportunity to grow. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
7 Hi-Tech Education Trends to Watch for in 2016 The need to build upon traditional classroom-based learning approaches has steadily grown in recent years. Professionals looking to expand their marketability by increasing their certifications and skill sets and students with special learning needs ranging from learning disabilities, to gifted needs and other issues not well suited to traditional classroom settings have steadily grown. The number of available technologies and their enhanced interactive potentials have resulted in new learning technologies to increase in popularity. In this article, we review 7 education technology trends to watch in 2016 Cloud Mobile Learning Cloud-based learning will continue to grow. Remote Learning Supporting cloud-based learning tools, the potential of remote and online learning options has continued to gain momentum. Programs such as Coursera, MITx and studyUSA provide certificates to students who complete assignments and pass examinations based upon popular open course-ware study materials. eBooks
Never Too Young To Code Kindergartners use Bee-Bots to explore coding and mapping skills at the Cook SchoolPhotos courtesy of Catherine Cook School As with other aspects of tech use in early childhood, deep discussions are underway about the appropriate role coding has in young children’s classrooms—and in the library. Sometimes referred to as the “new literacy” in schools, teaching coding means teaching children the language used to operate tablets, computers, and other devices they interact with every day. Experts say these beginning programming skills teach problem-solving and critical thinking and expose children to the world of computer science. Coding brings young children rich opportunities for language development and the “notion of learning from mistakes,” says Chip Donohue, the dean of distance learning and continuing education at the Erikson Institute in Chicago, a graduate school in child development. “We actually don’t do enough of that with young kids.” When teaching, be active; be social