-
A look at summer MOOCs for K-12 students
Bambi Majumdar EducationThere was once a time when K-12 students had a huge list of summer homework handed over to them on the last day of school. Today, parents get an exhaustive list of websites for their children to visit over summer to continue learning from. The concepts of flipped classrooms and digitized lessons have brought Massive Online Open Courses into the mainstream. MOOCs are increasingly replacing summer school and bridge programs through platforms that students can easily manage and parents can monitor simultaneously.
-
Engage all learners: Make students think visually
Savanna Flakes EducationOne way to increase student engagement and facilitate deeper learning is to frequently check for student understanding throughout a lesson. Practitioners find many benefits in using frequent assessment techniques to simultaneously check all students' level of understanding. My three favorite technology tools increase student engagement and quickly get students thinking visually so teachers can adjust and differentiate instruction on the spot. All three technology tools are free, teacher-friendly, and the student data can be saved and graphed to facilitate data charts.
-
ELL writing skills: The exercises
Douglas Magrath EducationWriting is essential for communication. Note the following from the ACTFL Standards: "Communication is at the heart of second-language study, whether the communication takes place face-to-face, in writing, or across centuries through the reading of literature."
-
Coming soon to a school near you: The new SAT
Brian Stack EducationThe introduction of the Common Core has caused many high schools and colleges to move toward proficiency and competency-based assessment systems in recent years. The focus in the educational community has now turned to one of the rites of passages that many high school juniors and seniors still face: college entrance exams like the SAT.
-
Summertime for special educators: Learn something new
Pamela Hill EducationIf you are a special educator and have reached the last day of school, congratulations! Another school year is complete! At some time during this month all schools that follow a traditional calendar will provide a summer break of several weeks. Schools who follow year-round calendars will also have break, typically in August. In all situations, the special educator will have an extended time to have a break from teaching.
-
Should schools schedule more field trips for students?
Bambi Majumdar EducationThe importance of field trips has never been felt more. As rising debates about changes in education policies and methods rage all over the country, more school districts are exploring their field trip calendars to incorporate interactive and innovative learning programs.
-
Effectively incorporating technology with English learners
Erick Herrmann EducationAs the school year comes to a close for students across the United States, some districts are planning and purchasing technology to incorporate into instruction. Purchases may include new devices for teachers such as interactive whiteboards, tablets or computers, as well as devices for students such as computer carts, tablets or other devices.
-
18 ways to advocate for your child with learning disabilities
Howard Margolis EducationWith summer vacation here, scores of IEPs are in disrepair. And many parents feel bewildered. They know they must advocate for their children, but don't know what to do and how to do it. Consequently, many act in self-defeating ways, inadvertently undermining their children's education.
-
College 2.0: A new age of learning
Brian Stack EducationFor 100 years or more, America's greatest institutions of higher learning have relied on a tried-and-true recipe for success: Hire the greatest minds in our society as professors and charge students a fee to be able to learn from the lectures and stories those great minds would tell in their classrooms.
-
Play: Far more than purposeless activity
Debra Josephson Abrams EducationSome whisper, some laugh and guffaw, some argue. They gesture wildly, demonstrate their ideas with their hands or drawings. From the air, from their minds, from their partners, they search for the English words they need. They are furiously engaged in play, and they have forgotten that I — the teacher — am in the room. It is just as education should be.
All Education Articles