March, 2024

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11 Ideas for Primary Math Stations

A Principal's Reflections

A few weeks back, I shared ideas on ELA stations for primary students after this was brought up during a coaching cycle with one of my schools. Upon reflection, I decided to do the same with math. Creating math stations for primary students can be a fun and effective way to introduce them to basic math concepts through hands-on activities. These stations can help develop their understanding of numbers, shapes, patterns, and measurements in an interactive and engaging manner.

Teaching 471
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3 Knowledge Domains For The 21st-Century Student

TeachThought

3 Knowledge Domains For Teaching And Learning by TeachThought Staff Thinking in the 21st century is just different. That doesn’t […] The post 3 Knowledge Domains For The 21st-Century Student appeared first on TeachThought.

Teaching 345
educators

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Why Students Give You the Blank Stare, and What to Do About It

Cult of Pedagogy

Listen to the interview with Blake Harvard: Sponsored by Listenwise and Khan Academy Kids Please allow me to describe an all-too-common situation that has occurred in probably every teacher’s classroom: You teach your heart out. Really just knock it out of the park: explaining, describing, providing examples, modeling … you know, all the things we’re taught to do during instruction.

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How Academic Historians can be Useful to K-12 Teachers

NCHE

After Jessica Ellison invited me to participate in a conversation about how academic historians might be of use to K-12 teachers, I did a little research: I asked teachers at our state social studies council what they most needed for their work. The answers were clear: time and confidence, they said. The two needs are related, for there is simply not enough time for those who teach multiple classes, often in multiple disciplines, to stay on top of the flood of specialized writing, to be conf

K-12 312
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Social Studies Thick Slides

HistoryRewriter

Thick Slides (although not in our book) are a flexible and popular EduProtocol that should be in every Social Studies teacher’s toolbox. Thick Slides help students extract key information from text, lesson, or video and complete a deconstructed paragraph that asks for specific fields like who, where, what, when, and why? They are a fun and engaging formative or summative assessment that gives students some structure for writing.

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Bringing Anthropological Concepts to Life in a Virtual Peer Exchange

Teaching Anthropology

By Shelene Gomes, University of the West Indies, & Lara Watkins, Bridgewater State University Students can read about culture, but hearing peers narrate personal experiences in another country provides invaluable firsthand insights. Analysing these narratives allows for a deeper understanding of cultural differences. In this instance, the online platform Flip enabled cross-institutional, cross-border student interactions to discuss cultural similarities and differences— core subject matter o

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Cultivating Lifelong Learners: How to Support Personalized Teacher Growth

A Principal's Reflections

Imagine a classroom buzzing with engaged students, actively constructing knowledge and diving deep into topics that spark their curiosity. This vibrant learning environment does not just happen by chance. It thrives under the guidance of a passionate, skilled educator who is constantly evolving alongside their students. However, like their students, teachers need personalized growth opportunities to stay engaged, motivated, and effective.

More Trending

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Some Thoughts on Teachers Crying in the Classroom

Cult of Pedagogy

Listen to this post as a podcast: Sponsored by Edge•U Badges and EVERFI The day it happened to me was in my fourth year of teaching. I was in a new seventh grade language arts position, one I’d started in January after a teacher retired mid-year, so I hadn’t had enough time yet to build the relationships that are the foundation of my approach to classroom management.

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3 Reasons Teachers Should Use the Playlist Model

Catlin Tucker

Let’s start with a quick review of the playlist, or individual rotation, model for those who have not heard of it. A playlist is a sequence of learning activities designed to move students toward a desired result. Most playlists culminate in a performance task or artifact intended to demonstrate students’ ability to transfer or apply what they learned working through the playlist.

Artifacts 198
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8 New Districts Join the League of Innovative Schools

Digital Promise

From Pennsylvania to California, these eight districts are the latest to join the network of 150 forward-thinking education leaders.

Education 158
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PROOF POINTS: Learning science might help kids read better

The Hechinger Report

A growing chorus of education researchers, pundits and “science of reading” advocates are calling for young children to be taught more about the world around them. It’s an indirect way of teaching reading comprehension. The theory is that what we grasp from what we read depends on whether we can hook it to concepts and topics that we already know. Natalie Wexler’s 2019 best-selling book, The Knowledge Gap , championed knowledge-building curricula and more schools around the country, from Baltimo

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Relevant Thinking and Learner Success

A Principal's Reflections

In today's rapidly changing world, where new challenges and technologies emerge at an unprecedented pace, students need to be relevant thinkers to successfully navigate the complex social, economic, and environmental issues they will face. The ability to think relevantly enables them to connect classroom learning with real-world applications, fostering deeper learning and cultivating critical life competencies such as problem-solving, adaptability, and creativity.

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An Example Of Rigor-Based Differentiation

TeachThought

contributed by Barbara R. Blackburn Differentiation is a popular concept in today’s schools. After all, it makes sense. We’d all love to provide instruction tailored to every student’s needs. However, intentionally or accidentally, many teachers simply lower the rigor for struggling students. When we do that regularly, students always stay behind.

Advocacy 339
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Massachusetts Is Investing Big in Early Care and Education. It’s Paying Off.

ED Surge

Five months after federal stabilization grants expired, deeper cracks are beginning to show in the early care and education sector. Without the historic level of operational funding that was distributed monthly to child care programs across the United States through September 2023, many providers are experiencing staff departures and shouldering rising costs, leading many to increase tuition for families and some to close classrooms — or worse, close their doors entirely.

Education 142
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Vocabulary Haiku: A Creative Approach to Deeping Understanding of Academic Vocabulary

Catlin Tucker

Written by Noelle Gutierrez Educators know the importance of academic vocabulary instruction. Student knowledge of academic words and phrases has a direct impact on their ability to acquire and comprehend information, which is why it should be a part of every subject area and class. As an instructional coach and administrator, I regularly observed teachers providing direct instruction using explicit vocabulary routines.

Education 158
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How Can Educational Leaders Strengthen Digital Equity in an Age of AI?

Digital Promise

The post How Can Educational Leaders Strengthen Digital Equity in an Age of AI? appeared first on Digital Promise.

Education 154
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Data science under fire: What math do high schoolers really need?

The Hechinger Report

OXNARD, Calif. — On a Wednesday morning this December, Dale Perizzolo’s math class at Adolfo Camarillo High School is anything but quiet. Students chat about the data analysis they’ve performed on their cellphone usage over a week, while Perizzolo walks around the room fielding their questions. The students came up with the project themselves and designed a Google form to track their phone time, including which apps they used most.

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AI in the Classroom: A Teacher's Toolkit for Transformation

A Principal's Reflections

The landscape of education is constantly evolving, and artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a powerful tool for educators. While it won't replace the irreplaceable human touch in the classroom, AI can significantly enhance teaching and learning by offering personalization, efficiency, and insightful data analysis. Below are some ways educators can leverage AI to create a more dynamic and effective learning environment while also getting professional learning support from Five Star Technol

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Richard Feynman On Knowing Versus Understanding

TeachThought

Richard Feynman On Knowing Versus Understanding by TeachThought Staff Who is Richard Feynman? Richard Feynman, born in 1918, was a theoretical physicist whose work in quantum mechanics earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965. According to nobelprize.org , Feynman obtained his B.Sc. in 1939 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and studied “at Princeton University, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1942. “He was Research Assistant at Princeton (1940-1941), Professor of Theor

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What New Research Says About Fostering a ‘Sense of Belonging’ in Classrooms

ED Surge

When some students hit an obstacle in school or college, they can take it as a sign that this whole education thing just isn’t for them. That can especially be the case for students who are racial minorities. That can be true with challenges like glitches in the federal financial aid forms or a student registration system, says Greg Walton, a psychology professor at Stanford University.

Research 139
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Pre-assessment is Key to Designing with Intention

Catlin Tucker

At a recent workshop, a teacher posed a compelling question about the effectiveness of small-group versus whole-group instruction. This inquiry always prompts me to reflect: How many educators gather pre-assessment data before crafting their lesson plans? Such preliminary insights, whether through pre-assessments, diagnostics, or activities aimed at accessing prior knowledge, can illuminate the diverse range of skills, abilities, and needs within a classroom.

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How Verizon Innovative Learning Schools Transformed My District

Digital Promise

The post How Verizon Innovative Learning Schools Transformed My District appeared first on Digital Promise.

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PROOF POINTS: The surprising effectiveness of having kids study why they failed

The Hechinger Report

In an experiment on how best to study for a math test, learning through errors was pitted against working through practice problems in a Barron’s study guide, pictured above. Credit: Jill Barshay/ The Hechinger Report / The Hechinger Report For a few weeks in the spring of 2016, nearly all the eighth graders at a small public school affiliated with Columbia University agreed to stay late after school to study math.

Tradition 142
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Was the “Odyssey” originally set in the Baltic?

Strange Maps

Had he not wrapped himself in a discarded cloak, Ulysses would have frozen to death at Troy. Our hero’s host, Eumaeus the swineherd, hears the story and gets the hint: He loans Ulysses a cloak, because again, the night is freezing cold. This part of Homer’s Odyssey doesn’t sound very Mediterranean. Sprinkled through Homer’s twin epics, Felice Vinci spotted a heap of similar anecdotes that pointed away from the traditional setting of the Iliad , an account of the Trojan War, and the Odyssey

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Tips For Improving Family Engagement Through School-Home Communication

TeachThought

Tips for improving family engagement through home-school communication include goal setting and consistent communication. The post Tips For Improving Family Engagement Through School-Home Communication appeared first on TeachThought.

Education 267
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We Need More Math Teachers. Here’s How to Prepare Them for Life in the Classroom.

ED Surge

During the day, I teach Algebra I classes to high school freshmen in Springfield, Missouri. One night per week, I teach preservice elementary school teachers who serve as paraprofessionals at K-12 schools in Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama and California through Reach University. Reach University offers adults employed in schools and other workplaces the opportunity to earn a unique bachelor’s degree that embraces work experience as part of the learning process.

K-12 138
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For the Love of Cats in Turkey

Sapiens

On a visit to feline-friendly Turkey, an anthropologist considers what long-standing practices of caring for cats reveal about human societies. ✽ While visiting eastern Turkey to climb Mount Ararat, I discovered a nice cafe called Ru Sahaf in the town of Doğubayazıt. I had arrived days before the hike and was looking for a place to work remotely. The cafe had nice chairs, jazz music, good coffee, and decent internet: a perfect spot.

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Insights from NSF-Funded Research During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Digital Promise

The post Insights from NSF-Funded Research During the COVID-19 Pandemic appeared first on Digital Promise.

Research 141
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PROOF POINTS: How Covid narrowed the STEM pipeline

The Hechinger Report

The STEM pipeline – a metaphor for the development of future scientists, engineers and other high tech workers – likely starts with a narrower funnel in the post-pandemic era. Credit: CSA Images via Getty Images Universities, philanthropies, and even the U.S. government are all trying to encourage more young Americans to pursue careers in STEM, an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

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Teaching the Judicial Branch

Passion for Social Studies

While the United States runs smoothly now, this has not always happened. It took trials and tribulations to form different departments, appoint leaders, and establish law. Thankfully, the branches of government all have essential yet distinct roles. This allows them to focus on specific aspects to strengthen and successfully run the United States without conflict.

Teaching 130
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A Powerful, One-Sentence Argument For Progressive Learning

TeachThought

by TeachThought Staff Do not limit a child to your own learning, for they were born for another time. R […] The post A Powerful, One-Sentence Argument For Progressive Learning appeared first on TeachThought.

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Learning Designers Call for More User Testing of Edtech Products and Teaching Materials

ED Surge

These days there’s a wave of new edtech products hitting the market, and teachers and professors are increasingly making teaching videos and other materials for their classes. But one group is often left out of the design process: students. “Many educational products are never shown to students until they have already been designed,” said Elliott Hedman, a consultant who works with edtech companies, in a talk this month at the SXSW EDU festival.

EdTech 138
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Pacific Podcasts

Geography Education

I love the podcast “Everything Everywhere Daily” Podcast. As the title implies it’s an omnivorous exploration of fascinating topics, often focusing on interesting places or pivotal moments in history. Most are approximately 10-minute summaries. Some island nations of the Pacific are very remote, and consequently, more distinct and less well-known to the outsiders.

History 130
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How to Ensure Your School District is Data Ready

Digital Promise

The post How to Ensure Your School District is Data Ready appeared first on Digital Promise.

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OPINION: School counselors can’t undo the FAFSA mess on their own. We need a national movement right now

The Hechinger Report

As of today, we are over 30 percent behind last year in FAFSA filings. If we do not mobilize as a college access community, we are at risk of losing thousands of students from the pipeline to higher education. The culprit? The difficult revised FAFSA process. Many public school counselors have told me that their students are frustrated and waiting until next year to apply.

Economics 140
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Teaching Nixon and LBJ

Passion for Social Studies

Students across the United States often focus on specific events and people during history courses. For instance, learning about World War 1, World War 2, and September 11th are essential topics. Additionally, learning about Martin Luther King Jr, Richard Nixon, and Lyndon B. Johnson is crucial due to their impact. However, creating lessons that ensure students have a deep understanding of vital events and people can be challenging.

Teaching 130
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Excavating the Coexistence of Neanderthals and Modern Humans

Sapiens

An archaeologist explains how remains recently recovered from a cave in present-day Germany suggest that Neanderthals and modern humans populated Europe together for at least 10,000 years. This article was originally published at The Conversation and has been republished under Creative Commons. ✽ THE IDEA THAT TWO different human species, Homo sapiens (us) and Neanderthals, coexisted in Western Eurasia 50,000–40,000 years ago has long captured the imagination of academics and the public alike.