2020

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10 Strategies Designed to Engage Elementary Students Online

Catlin Tucker

A few weeks ago, I published a blog titled “ 8 Ideas Designed to Engage Students In Active Learning Online.” I had several elementary teachers request that I work on a similar blog focused on younger learners. Below are ten strategies I hope will help elementary teachers to engage their young learners online. #1 Create Virtual Word Wall with a Bitmoji Classroom or Padlet.

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Important Lessons Learned During the Pandemic and How They Can Drive Needed Change

A Principal's Reflections

There is no shortage of challenges that have been leveled on schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. After some time, we have seen an initial move to all remote learning, depending on where you live, a shift to some sort of hybrid model. A spike in cases has led to buildings being closed again and a resumption of remote learning in some locations. Uncertainty and a lack of continuity have had a heavy toll on teachers, administrators, students, and parents.

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Gauging the Reality of Emerging Tech in Classrooms

EdTech Magazine

As virtual reality becomes more prevalent in K–12 educational spaces, developers continue to create content that enables students to partake in a host of realistic and fantastical simulations. Students can visit new places, create 3D artwork and conduct science experiments in ways that might not otherwise be possible. We have seen classroom applications of VR that fully utilize the technology to engage students in rich and novel immersive learning experiences.

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Successful Distance Learning for Young Kids

The CoolCatTeacher

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter You may be worried that the youngest kids can’t learn at a distance, but Dr. Nancy Frey, co-author of the Distance Learning Playbook comes along side us to help us understand how it can be done. From successful online meetings to screentime and essential things to include, Nancy encourages us to do what seems impossible.

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Quickly Create Personalized Learning Experiences that Work

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.

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Show Me the Money: How to Ace Your VC Meeting

Ed Tech from the Ground Up

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Engaging Students Right From the Start

User Generated Education

I, like many of you, have been doing remote teaching since March, 2020. I am a student-centric, hands on/minds on teacher. In normal times when students come to my classroom (I provide pull-out services for gifted elementary level kids), I get them doing hands-on activities within minutes of entering into my classroom. As many of you know, remote teaching is very different than face-to-face learning.

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4 Focus Areas For Successful Remote Leading

The Web20Classroom

The whole reason we are even talking about remote learning is because science tells us the way we stay safe is to stay home. Some will disagree with that decision but ultimately it can (and will) save the lives of students and the passionate educators who have been working tirelessly to provide them an education in the middle of a pandemic. Sure the word of the year in education has been "remote learning.

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Avoid magical thinking: ‘Design for online’ this fall

Dangerously Irrelevant

As coronavirus cases continue to increase across the country, numerous school districts are reluctantly announcing that they will be doing ‘remote learning’ again this fall. Although we had the summer to prepare for this eventuality, unfortunately we have instead seen a lot of magical thinking from educational leaders and policy makers. . As much as we want our children to go back to school in person, we can’t underestimate how harmful this magical thinking can be.

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Thanks to Teachers, Learning Loss This Year Was Not As Bad As Projected, NWEA Finds

Edsurge

When it comes to learning loss during COVID-19, the question is not whether it has happened, but how much. A new report out from NWEA, a non-profit assessment organization, offers insight into just how steep the so-called COVID slide has been so far. The good news is that students learned a lot more doing remote learning than education groups projected they would.

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Station Rotation Virtually with @MsBDuncan

Teacher Tech

I created this virtual station rotation after completing #DitchSummit20 over Christmas break. Many wonderful eduleaders shared keen advice on student engagement tools, strategies and pedagogy that can work in a hybrid, concurrent, or full virtual classroom. The post Station Rotation Virtually with @MsBDuncan appeared first on Teacher Tech.

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Can Brain Science Actually Help Make Your Training & Teaching Stick?

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.

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Using a Flip Flop Design for the Concurrent Classroom

Catlin Tucker

“I wish I could just focus on one group of students at a time.” This is a sentiment I’ve heard repeatedly from teachers navigating the demands of the concurrent classroom. As I’ve said in previous blog posts, teaching in a concurrent classroom is the most challenging teaching assignment I can imagine. Many of the teachers in my life who are teaching two groups of students simultaneously–one group in the classroom and one group online–are exhausted, frustrated, and not fee

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Developing SEL Competencies Through Technology

A Principal's Reflections

The COVID-19 unleashed an array of challenges that resulted in schools being closed for in-person instruction for many months. As I write this post, many have begun the year with remote learning, while others have opted for a hybrid model where a certain amount of kids are still learning at home. There are growing concerns about students' mental well-being as well as inter- and intra-personal skills, which have only been magnified by not only the pandemic but also advances in technology as a res

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5 Best Practices for Managing Virtual Breakout Rooms

EdTech Magazine

Small group learning is absolutely essential today. In a virtual classroom, the instructor typically does most of the talking when leading a synchronous lesson. Students may find it more difficult to participate or think out loud in this environment. But with breakout rooms, educators can improve student engagement, differentiate instruction and give students more voice and choice in their learning outside of a traditional classroom.

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Two Good Sources of Virtual Manipulatives to Use in Your Teaching

Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

Below are two of our favourite sources where you can access virtual manipulatives to use with your students in class. The sites also offer other educational math resources that you can easily.

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Reimagining Chickering & Gamson's Principles Post-Pandemic: Technology's Central Role in Modern Edu

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.

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Reading is Self-Care

NeverEndingSearch

I supppose it’s something we simple know. But I suspect it’s something we don’t explicitly teach. Reading is more than an enjoyable and enriching experience. Reading is self care. At a time when they don’t see their friends. At a time when some are reluctant to turn their cameras on and share their faces. At a time we really can’t tell how they’re doing.perhaps it’s the right time to recognize the power we help kids help themselves.

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Among Us Classroom Style: Another Case for Game-Based Learning

User Generated Education

A few weeks ago, I blogged about my gaming club in Video Games for Relationship- and Team Building. It is still going very strong. Students from the three schools where I teach gifted students look forward to it all week long. We started with Fornite Creative but now they have moved onto Rocket League and Among Us. This is their gaming club so they get to decide the game.

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30 apps that work with Google Classroom

Ditch That Textbook

Assignments in Google Classroom are better with apps! Use these apps that work with Google Classroom to level up your activities. Google Classroom looks kind of bare at first glance. A stream. Assignments. Grades. It might make you want to say, "Where's the flash? Doesn't this thing have an app store like my iPhone does?"But […]. The post 30 apps that work with Google Classroom appeared first on Ditch That Textbook.

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30 Of The Best Google Classroom Tools For Teachers

TeachThought - Learn better.

30 Of The Best Google Classroom Tools For Teachers by TeachThought Staff Google Classroom has been one of the most popular tools in the modern classroom since its launch in 2014. In the years since, countless tools have either been designed to extend its use or have been redesigned themselves to integrate with it. So, […]. The post 30 Of The Best Google Classroom Tools For Teachers appeared first on TeachThought.

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Behind the Bell: The Underlying Impact of Tardiness in K-12 Schools

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

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Welcome back for the 2020 school year! [a letter from your local superintendent and school board]

Dangerously Irrelevant

Dear students, educators, and families, Welcome back for the 2020 school year! We are incredibly delighted to have our children and educators back in school again, particularly after such a challenging spring and summer. We couldn’t be more excited to see your kids’ smiling faces back in our classrooms! As you know, some things will be different this fall.

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What Highly Effective School Leadership Really Looks Like in a Pandemic

Edsurge

In the school building, while washing my hands in the bathroom, I fixed my face. As I dried my hands, I fixed my posture. Before opening the door, I fixed my tie. As I stepped into the hallway, I cleared my throat. The way I dressed, the way I walked, the way I looked, the volume of my voice: all of these, when I was an in-person principal, were elements of leadership.

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Top 10 Blog Posts of 2020 for alicekeeler.com

Teacher Tech

For most of us 2020 was not a typical year. Turns out the top blog post hits of 2020 were not in 2020 at all! 1. Google Classroom Header Template 2. Roll Dice in Google Slides Add Videos to Google Classroom 4. Google Slides Rotate to Portrait Mode 5. Submitting Photos to Google Classroom 6. […]. The post Top 10 Blog Posts of 2020 for alicekeeler.com appeared first on Teacher Tech.

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The Why, How, and What of Blended Learning

Catlin Tucker

The events of the last nine months have launched the phrase “blended learning” into the mainstream. I worry that instead of articulating the value of a powerful blend of online and offline learning, teachers are receiving the message that they “must” adopt blended learning to meet the demands of the moment. Yes, blended learning can help teachers navigate the challenges of teaching at this moment.

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The Battle of the Authoring Tools: A 10-Point Comparison for Picking the Right One

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.

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Avoiding Synchronous Video Fatigue During Remote Learning

A Principal's Reflections

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in some monumental shifts to practice. Educators have taken a critical lens as to why they teach the way they do and how it can be done more effectively. For virtually every school that is, or will be, implementing some sort of remote or hybrid learning model, you can bet that videoconference tools will play an enormous role.

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4 Tips for Enhancing STEM Engagement in a Hybrid Classroom

EdTech Magazine

COVID-19 upended virtually every aspect of business and society this year. Unfortunately, education hasn’t been spared. But there is an upside to the situation. As we continue to live in a more contactless world, innovation in education prevails. For instance, STEM educators are finding creative strategies to engage students remotely. I wrote about some of these strategies in a higher education context, but they also apply to today’s K–12 schools.

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How to teach critical thinking skills online

eSchool News

This story on how teaching critical thinking skills online during the COVID pandemic, originally published on April 29, was eSN’s No. 8 most popular story of 2020. Check back each day for the next story in our countdown. As educators, we often hear about the importance of teaching critical thinking skills to our students. What we hear about less, however, are the most effective techniques for teaching those skills and how teachers can implement them in the classroom—especially now that sch

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Schools bring mindfulness to the classroom to help kids in the Covid-19 crisis

The Hechinger Report

Middlesex School students in Massachusetts share their observations after a 10-minute guided meditation. Credit: Jena Brooker for The Hechinger Report. Doug Worthen guided his small class of ninth graders at Middlesex School through an exercise designed to focus their attention. On his screen, he saw the students sitting outside or at desks and lounging across their beds as they joined their weekly mindfulness class online.

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The Roses and Thorns of an LMS Strategy: How to Flourish with the Right LMS

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.

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Virtual Team Building Activities

User Generated Education

I, like many others, was forced to move a face-to-face college class to virtual synchronous meetings in Zoom. This term I am teaching a group dynamics course. One of my goals is to have my students experience similar dynamics and processes as they would face-to-face. Typically, I do this through experiential group activities. My task has become converting these experiences to a virtual environment.

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20 virtual field trips for your classroom

Ditch That Textbook

Virtual field trips allow us to take our students where the bus can’t. Students can make connections with locations, concepts or people through the power of virtual field trips. What are the best virtual field trips out there? And how can we take the learning even further? Here are 20 field trips and 10 activities […]. The post 20 virtual field trips for your classroom appeared first on Ditch That Textbook.

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63 Things Every Student Should Know In A Digital World

TeachThought - Learn better.

In an increasingly digital world, the things a student needs to know are indeed changing--sometimes drastically. The post 63 Things Every Student Should Know In A Digital World appeared first on TeachThought.

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Back in My Classroom, Jamming with Jamboard

MiddleWeb

When Kathie Palmieri came back to her physical but socially distanced classroom, collaboration was one of her biggest concerns. Drawing on her ‘emergency’ teaching experiences and her new confidence about ed tech, she searched out Google Jamboard “and felt a sense of relief.”.

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Building the Foundation for a Modern K-12 Classroom

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.