A Principal's Reflections
JANUARY 26, 2014
'So yesterday as I was scanning the #NJED hash tag on TweetDeck I came across this intriguing image shared by Mike Marotta. It really puts into perspective why we make many of the decisions that we do at New Milford High School as to why we decided to implement a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiative and don''t mandate the use of one specific tool to support learning.
The Web20Classroom
JANUARY 30, 2014
'I remember my first professional development as a teacher. I was fresh out of college. The PD centered around how to use clickers in the classroom. I saw great potential there. The idea that I could get realtime information back on my students, I saw as a great help to me. The PD itself was boring and useless. The presenter leading did little to engage us.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Educational Technology Guy
JANUARY 7, 2014
'Wolfram, creators of Wolfram|Alpha , have launched Wolfram Problem Generator. This tool allows students and teachers to create unlimited, random practice problems and answers in subjects such as elementary math, algebra, statistics and even college calculus. It provides hints and step-by-step solutions when needed to help the student learn. It can also create printable worksheets and answer sheets for offline work.
Tom Murray
JANUARY 22, 2014
'They were floating in the water when I first saw them — the paintings of my three-year-old girl. Once a moment of pride and jubilation, now wading in the water that stretched from side to side of my home. It’s an image I’ll never forget and one of the most difficult moments of my life. A few hours earlier, I had just finished a keynote in New York, when I glanced at my phone.
Advertisement
How can we actively engage learners 24/7, on their level and according to their interests, while respecting their learning styles? It’s not impossible. In this guide: Explore how to transform traditional, one-way videos into two-way interactive learning experiences Understand different types of artificial intelligence (AI), including - Generative vs.
The 21st Century Principal
JANUARY 12, 2014
'"Systems can bully as much as individuals." Sharon Salzberg & Robert Thurman, Love Your Enemies: How to Break the Anger Habit & Be a Whole Lot Happier I began reading Love Your Enemies: How to Break the Anger Habit & Be a Whole Lot Happier by Sharon Salzberg and Robert Thurman today, and I stumbled on a section that focuses on bullying and dealing with those who bully.
Kathy Schrock
JANUARY 1, 2014
'First published in the AWSA Update Bulletin , October 16, 2013. Some information has been updated below. Overview Infographics are everywhere! We see them on the Web and in our professional journals. Students see them on Facebook and on advertiser’s pages. How can the use of infographics be used to address the Common Core State Standards? An infographic is a visual representation of information.
EdTech Update brings together the best content for education technology professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
The Web20Classroom
JANUARY 6, 2014
'Back when I started this blog in February of 2009 I was trying to create a space to share resources with my teachers in my district. Web 2.0 tools were gaining in popularity so I wanted to capitalize on that, hence the name. The same with my Twitter account. I wanted the two places to be tied together. I wasn''t thinking about branding. Fast forward 5 years and @web20classroom and this blog are who I am.
Educational Technology Guy
JANUARY 23, 2014
'I''m a huge Android user. I have my HTC One Smartphone and my own Nexus 7 tablet. In addition, my department uses Nexus 7 tablets for mobile access and some of our schools have Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets. I have a bunch of apps that I use on a regular basis, both when I was a teachers, as well as now as a CIO. This is my list of top apps for educators: Gmail - email is the main way I communicate with my staff, vendors, and school admin and teachers.
Tom Murray
JANUARY 1, 2014
'This post is co-authored by Tom Murray and Kristen Swanson. Dear Tom, Back in the days of giant desktop computers and Microsoft Publisher, you were my teacher. You showed me how to create digital learning spaces for my students, and you guided me as I started to think about the ways that technology could transform students into authentic writers and publishers.
Baker's B.Y.O.D.
JANUARY 4, 2014
'During the 2013 Conference on English Leadership in the Transforming Decisions session lead by Gordon Hultberg , English teacher and department head at Intermountain Christian School in Utah , we discussed the concept of choice in our ELA classrooms. How often do we give students choice and how are teachers'' own personal preferences represented in the choices we allow?
Speaker: Andrew Cohen, Founder & CEO of Brainscape
The instructor’s PPT slides are brilliant. You’ve splurged on the expensive interactive courseware. Student engagement is stellar. So… why are half of your students still forgetting everything they learned in just a matter of weeks? It's likely a matter of cognitive science! With so much material to "teach" these days, we often forget to incorporate key proven principles into our curricula — namely active recall, metacognition, spaced repetition, and interleaving practice.
My Paperless Classroom
JANUARY 9, 2014
'Students Using Puppet Pals in Groups Lesson Objective To help Kindergarten students better understand a complex play situation, and give them tools to effectively communicate in that situation. Time : 30 minutes Tools : iPads 3 students per device, using Puppet pals version 1 Begin by showing the set-up scenario movie: Pig and Sheep are playing a game and Cow approaches Pig : This is a great game!
A Principal's Reflections
JANUARY 2, 2014
'As students work to master the complex reading and writing standards demanded by the Common Core, Mrs. Montecuollo and Mrs. Westbrook collaborated to create writing scaffolds that address the diverse academic needs of their 9th grade students. These teachers believe that differentiation is about access points. Therefore, they used four support activities (scaffolds) to address different areas of difficulty they see their students face.
The 21st Century Principal
JANUARY 25, 2014
'Today, there was this post on the Public School Forum of North Carolina website defending the Common Core. That post, entitled "Common Core Standards Will Help NC Meet Its Challenges," was written by Caroline McCullen, the director of education initiatives at SAS which already has a multi-million dollar contract with North Carolina to provide value-added teacher data analysis software for teacher and principal evaluations.
Educational Technology Guy
JANUARY 2, 2014
'I know, another article about Evernote from Dave. Sorry, but I found these in my "to blog about" folder and wanted to share it before I forgot. Some interesting info and stats on here. There are three infographics: 100 new features in Evernote for Windows Desktop All About Evernote history abilities platforms users 101 Ways to use Evernote Enjoy! Lots more about Evernote: [link].
This white paper examines and proposes revisions to the "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" introduced by Arthur Chickering and Zelda Gamson in 1987 for today's technology-driven world.
SpeechTechie
JANUARY 3, 2014
'Write About This is an app designed by educators that uses the technique of providing photo prompts as a way to foster writing skills. Visuals such as those in this app give students a place to start with their language, and the prompts that come with the app provide a context to develop writing with the use of strategies such as story grammar mapping or use of expository text structure (list, sequence, description, etc).
The Innovative Educator
JANUARY 5, 2014
'Guest post by Computer Teacher & Tech Coordinator, Chris Casal | Cross posted at The Casal Operating System Editor''s note: Chris Casal is a member of the NYC DOE Social Media Advisory Team. His insights have helped inspire and guide teachers in the effective use of social media in the classroom. Here''s how he does it. I am often asked about how we use "social media" here at PS 10.
My Paperless Classroom
JANUARY 16, 2014
'This is a post I use in 7th grade to get them working on a digital portfolio. Read some samples from a great summer program Writing a Learning Reflection One of the objectives to learning to use Blogger is that it is a great platform for building a digital portfolio of learning. This portfolio allows you to showcase your learning products and process in a way others can access, share, and interact with.
A Principal's Reflections
JANUARY 22, 2014
'In case you didn''t know we had quite a bit of snow last night in the Northeast. As I was outside in the bone-chilling cold shoveling piles of snow I began to reflect upon how my professional practice has changed in a few short years when it comes to snow days. Typically in the past I would have received a phone call compliments of a meticulously developed phone chain.
Advertisement
Managing a K-12 campus with constant pressure to meet performance metrics is challenging. And tardiness can significantly limit a school from reaching these goals. Learn more about why chronic lateness matters, and key strategies to address the following impacts: Data errors caused by manual processes Low attendance and graduation rates that affect a school’s reputation Classroom disruption, which leads to poor academic performance High staff attrition and “The Teacher Exodus” Unmet LCAP goals t
The 21st Century Principal
JANUARY 2, 2014
'It was bound to happen sooner or later. Two companies: TeachersMatch and Hanover Research have found a way to use statistics and test scores to develop a model that predicts how effective teacher candidates might be at raising test scores. These kinds of business ventures makes one wonder when the absurdity of this endless pursuit of test scores is going to end.
Educational Technology Guy
JANUARY 21, 2014
'I''m a power Evernote user and have documented a lot of ways to use Evernote in education over the years. I recently found two blogs from educators that show how they use Evernote as teachers and offer some great ideas and tips for other educators. Jordan Collier has a great blog with a whole sect ion on Evernote. He is on #8 of 50 planned posts with different ways school administrators and educators can use Evernote to be more organized and more effective.
SpeechTechie
JANUARY 13, 2014
'The folks at ReadWriteThink are doing a nice job turning a number of their language-based web tools into apps- that are free, to boot. Brought to us by the International Reading Association, these apps including Trading Cards and RWT Timeline make great use of some of the features the iPad has to offer. Namely, it''s great when an app lets you set up profiles for students or groups for saving work, as we often don''t complete activities with students in one session, and can focus more on the la
The Innovative Educator
JANUARY 26, 2014
'While it is no longer unusual for teachers to embrace and understand the value of personal learning networks, few are supporting their students in doing the same. I went on a search for educators involved in this work a s part of a chapter I am writing for a book on the topic of student liberation being released by Steve Hargadon later this year, In the below Q&A you will get a look at the insights from one of these educators.
Speaker: Chris Paxton McMillin, President of D3 Training Solutions
There are plenty of great authoring tools for developing eLearning, but the one you select could directly impact your course's outcomes. Depending upon your learners’ needs and your organization’s performance goals, you could be overlooking considerations that impact the both effectiveness of your courses and how long it takes to finish them. From general capabilities to specific workflow structures, some aspects are critical when it comes to learning objectives and deadlines.
My Paperless Classroom
JANUARY 19, 2014
'Image from Open Media on Flickr Even though I have been down with the flu this week, I did hear the news about the supreme courts "Net Neutrality" ruling. If you don''t yet know what net neutrality is, here is a simple version that you can tell your grandkids: once upon a time there was the idea that all Internet content providers should have the same level of access to the Internet.
A Principal's Reflections
JANUARY 7, 2014
'I knew early on in my education career that I wanted to be an administrator. The predominant reason for this was that I wanted to at least attempt to be a fraction of the leader that my father was. My father was an elementary principal for 30 years and I always admired how he was able to inspire his staff to focus on student learning. To say that he was beloved by all would be a significant understatement.
The 21st Century Principal
JANUARY 4, 2014
'Two days ago, I posted about Teacher Match and Hanover Research, two companies that are now using value-added statistical modeling to predict the effectiveness of prospective teachers'' abilities to raise test scores. ( "Using Statistical Models to Predict Future Effectiveness of Teacher Candidates: A Snake Oil Approach" ) As I pointed out, there are some major flaws, especially flaws in the assumptions about teaching, in using this approach as even a part of a new teacher candidate selection p
Educational Technology Guy
JANUARY 27, 2014
'I use Evernote a lot. I have about 100 Notebooks and close to 6,000 notes, so it can get a little overwhelming at times. I use tags and Evernote''s search is great and the related notes feature helps find other info, but I just learned about a new service, made for Evernote, that turns your Evernote notes and notebooks into a mind map. It''s called MohioMap.
Speaker: Amanda Davis, Chief Experience Officer and Liam O'Malley, VP of Association Solutions
The "new normal" is now a little less new, a little more normal. Does that mean your current LMS strategy is in need of a refresh? Is your organization or association leaning into the always-evolving eLearning environment to ensure you have the tools and content to remain relevant through all this change? There are many complex decision-making processes within your learning & development strategy and LMS lifecycle management, including: Selection.
EdTechSandyK
JANUARY 20, 2014
'Photo by Wolfgang Lonien Used With Permission Under a Creative Commons License Agreement Have you heard? By the year 2020, there''s going to be one million more computer science jobs in the United States than there will be people to fill them. That''s bad news on many levels, including for our economy, because businesses will be forced to look overseas for employees to meet the need.
Kathy Schrock
JANUARY 9, 2014
'Screenmailer is a new screencasting/screen recording tool for Mavericks on the Mac. It is easy to use, quick to render, and can be used as an on-the-spot solution for teacher or student screencasts! As with any screencast, you should first plan your recording, get things set-up on your desktop, practice your script, and then start the recording. Setting up the screencast Screenmailer runs on your Mac, and, once installed, allows you to log-in with Google credentials or create a Screenmailer acc
My Paperless Classroom
JANUARY 11, 2014
'Like many teachers, I found The Hour of Code, sponsored by Code.org to be truly inspirational, I was already doing programming with most of my k-5 students, but it was stand alone, programming for the sake of programming. (Which IS worth it''s own time, seriously. ) But I am always looking for those opprotunities to create another way to master a skill or demonsrate understanding.
A Principal's Reflections
JANUARY 14, 2014
'I''m not going to lie, New Milford High School is an amazing place to work. We have fantastic students, supportive parents, a Technology Director that gets it, and a Central Office and Board of Education that provide us with the autonomy to take risks. With these elements in place the stage is set for innovation and the creation of a school culture that works for students in the digital age.
Advertisement
K-12 looks different these days. But one thing remains the same: you need a reliable learning platform that serves as the foundation for teaching and learning––for all students, in a variety of learning experiences. Discover how the Instructure Learning Platform supports today's K-12 classroom through: A central, consistent, connected hub of the digital learning environment.
Expert insights. Personalized for you.
353 
Let's personalize your content