Feel free to download a full-sized version of this poster for use in your school.
Maker Education: A Quick Introduction
Journey from a Makerspace to a Maker District
Building the Future: Tinkering and Playful Learning
The Maker Movement in K-12 Education: A Guide to Emerging Research
Invent to LearnThe Maker Movement in K-12 Education: A Guide to Emerging Research
“In a school or district, as in any organization, the leader is responsible for setting the tone, and one way leaders can nourish organizational harmony is to consider three spaces” – Eric Saibel
Eric Saibel contends that district leaders can build strong relationships among educators by focusing on three factors: the physical space, the interpersonal space, and the historical space.
“Only by balancing these three spaces will leaders cultivate the influence that permeates an entire organizational culture, and only by attending to these critical human needs will leaders experience the deep happiness that keeps them engaged and attentive for the long haul.” – Eric Saibel
Read more details about Eric Saibel’s thoughts on how to organize these spaces here.
Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt
The following chart from Kathleen Cushman’s Fires in the Mind gives teachers a great tool for creating more meaningful assignments that really allow students to demonstrate their learning.
For more thoughts on this topic, see this post by TeachThought.
Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt
“The traditional grading language is passive and judgmental and subconsciously by using this language, we are putting the focus on the wrong things.” – Starr Sackstein
When discussing student progress, it’s important to focus on the level of mastery, rather than a fixed point, such as a grade. Making small tweaks in how we discuss student work is the first step towards larger shifts in assessment practices. Starr Sackstein shares more thoughts in her blog post Shifting the Grading Mindset Starts With Our Words.
Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt
Mystery Doug’s videos are geared towards elementary students, ages 5-10, to spark their curiosity and teach them how to be critical thinkers and problem solvers. The goal of each video is to nurture children’s curiosity by explaining how we know things, not just what we know.
The weekly videos are created based on questions submitted by kids, and at the conclusion of each video, viewers get to vote on which question will be answered next. Some recent questions were:
Teachers can use these videos during morning meeting, snack time, transitions, warm-ups, or even as rewards. Parents could use them with their children for enrichment.
Doug also has a full science curriculum that is definitely worth checking out.
Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt
“PBL isn’t about writing a state report. It’s about using what you know about the state you study and then creating your own state. It isn’t about building a replica of the Washington Monument. It’s about researching someone to honor, designing your own monument, and persuasively pitching a committee to build it.” –Edutopia
Are your students engaged? Engaged learners find personal meaning and value in their work, and they often go above the bare minimum. They may also spend their free time on the assignment.
As a teacher, are you becoming more of a guide on the side? You should notice that students start asking each other questions instead of always coming to you. They also should become more independent in finding their own answers either through research or experimentation.
Are your students learning in new ways? One sign that your students are thinking more critically is if you are hearing questions like, “But why is it like that? But couldn’t this work, too? Has anyone tried it like this before?” Even negative push back from students is actually a sign that they are being stretched and challenged, which is a good thing!
Are your students making choices about their products or processes as they learn? In other words, are your students finding different ways to demonstrate their learning, rather than all producing the same product?Are your students learning while doing instead of learning and then doing? Many traditional class projects don’t begin until after the students have finished their learning. They master a concept and then produce something. In PBL, the learning happens through the process of producing something.
Check out this video from friEdTechnology:
What the Heck is Project-Based Learning?
Buck Institute for Education: PBLWorks
Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt
Students select their sports, music, and/or movie interests and NoRedInk builds sentences that incorporate these interests. Students appreciate the personalization and are more engaged. Teachers assign specific topics, and whenever students make a mistake, NoRedInk instantly remediates and directs them to more practice on the same skill. It is truly mastery learning with students taking ownership of their own learning by identifying strengths and weaknesses and working to master individual skills.
Teachers assign diagnostic quizzes to their students. Based on the results, teachers then assign tutorial-style lessons with adaptive mastery-based practice. Students conclude with a summative quiz and the teacher can review the students’ overall mastery of various skills.
The free version contains only 20% of their curriculum, so there are several buy-up options. Click here to see the differences between the free and paid versions of NoRedInk.
Click here for a quickstart guide for NoRedInk.
Check out this video from Brad Scott that shows how students interact with the program.
NoRedInk State and National Standards Alignment Guide
Classroom Integration Strategies
Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt
“Imagine that you could give every learner their own personalized course, made specifically for their strengths, weaknesses, goals, and engagement patterns. Imagine a course that adapted in real-time to their activity and adjusted moment by moment to their performance and interest level. That’s adaptive learning.” – McGraw-Hill Education
The goal of adaptive learning is to harness computer algorithms to create a learning experience for students that changes based on the user input it receives. For example, if a student misses a practice question, the program will adapt to provide remedial work for that student. Each students’ experience is individualized based on how they perform within the program.
Check out this video from Pearson Higher Education
Adaptive learning is able to differentiate for individual students, assessing each person’s background knowledge and addressing their specific instructional needs. The student is able to work at his or her own pace while receiving targeted, real-time feedback and instruction. This results in students who do not spend time on material they already know, which leads to boredom and disengagement. Similarly, they are not pushed to a point that is too challenging for them, which can result in frustration and a reluctance to continue learning. Instead, the program is able to identify precisely what content they are intellectually prepared to work with, while scaffolding them towards the curricular goals. Teachers then have access to aggregate data on each of their students, as well as the ability to identify general class trends. The use of adaptive learning enables true mastery learning, resulting in a more solid understanding of the curriculum.
Dreambox Learning (Math)
NoRedInk (Grammar & Writing)
Istation (Reading, Math & Spanish)
MyLab and Mastering (Science & Engineering)
SmartSparrow (Design Your Own)
Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt
Badgr is a program teachers can use to create and disburse a credential or a “badge” to signify a specific accomplishment or skill acquisition. The badges contain detailed descriptions of the recipients’ achievements and can link to evidence of their work. These badges can be collected by the student to build a personal portfolio or resume. Students can also post these badges via social media. Badgr API integrates into websites and applications such as Canvas (learning management system). Additionally, Badgr has “Learning Pathways,” which allow learners to build their personal learning network and see a map view of where they are in a curriculum.
Check out this video from the Chicago Art Department about the benefits of badges.
How to Create a Badge
The Teacher’s Guide to Badges in Education
Case Studies on Open Badge Use
The Open Badge Network
How to Gamify Your Class
Guest Blogger: Raina Burditt
Guest Blogger
Kaylah Holland
Breakout EDU is one of the newest trends hitting education. Breakout EDU is an immersive game requiring hands-on critical thinking to solve clues. This type of game is completely flipping current education because it requires students to collaborate, problem solve, and think critically.
The CEO, Adam Bellow, says: “There are cheers, there’s frustration, and ultimately, if there is success, it’s that moment of ‘We did it!’ And that is intrinsic. It doesn’t need something else,” he said. “I don’t see kids cheering when they do worksheets” (source).
The video below will explain the basics.
The “Get Started” section of the website lists four steps:
I have personally facilitated numerous Breakout EDU games and have a few tips.
The main resources are the website and the facebook community.
Check out these ten reasons for playing Breakout EDU in your classroom!
Kaylah Holland is currently a Middle School Instructional Technology Facilitator at Charlotte Christian School in Charlotte, NC. In addition to teaching coding, app development, and robotics; she has a vital role of assisting teachers with the integration of technology into the classroom through ample research, lesson planning, and training. She is currently completing her doctoral degree in the field of Instructional Design and Technology and is in the process of becoming a Google Certified Trainer. She is passionate about building an innovative culture for learning.
