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 our current virtual learning environment, educators are feeling the need to ensure students are learning by filling their day with back to back activities. Taking breaks prevents the brain from becoming overloaded and gives time for information to process (source). This idea is not new to the education world but it might be helpful in the virtual education world. The suggestions below will help create an environment that honors brain breaks in our virtual learning environment (source).
References:
Image source, Edutopia
All other sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.
@hollandkaylah
In our virtual, yet isolated, current environment, it is important to continue maintaining healthy relationships with students. “When kids spend their daytime hours in safe, supportive schools where adults work every day to build strong relationships with every student, they are simply better, more engaged learners” (source). Yet, how do educators continue to build strong relationships when students are on the other side of a screen? The suggestions below offer strategies to maintain strong relationships with students despite the virtual connection (source).
References:
Image source, Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
All other sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.
@hollandkaylah
The focus of education has shifted dramatically in the last few months due to the closure of face to face instruction. This unprecedented time has been deemed trauma-informed teaching. In order to prevail through the situation, many educators have turned to virtual education and video chats. The issue with video chatting is that there are limited ways to engage students through a screen. Below are several recommendations for amping up video chats in order to help educators finish the school year strong (source).
References:
Image source, Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash
All other sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.
@hollandkaylah
Forbes recently published an article titled Leading in Times of Uncertainty that mainly discussed what businesses can do to look forward with a positive attitude instead of simply reacting to whatever may happen in the future. “With all the news primarily focusing on what’s going wrong or could go wrong, it’s critical that we give equal energy to identifying what is working and where are the benefits or opportunities in the midst of all this upheaval” (source). The truth is that our normal routine as educators has drastically changed over the last few months. However, despite the change, it is important to focus on the positive things that have taken place. Focusing on positive behavior can help to alleviate the anxious or nervous feelings students have. As you prepare to end the school year virtually, you can help students focus on the benefits that learning virtually have provided by creating a safe place for conversations. Ask students questions about how they feel in the current situation. Help students work through the negatives and lean on the positives. Ask students what they can do to improve their own situation and ask students what you can do to help. Having open and authentic conversations will help students begin to process our current circumstances in a positive mindset and will help prepare them to return to face to face instruction whether in a few weeks or in the Fall.
References:
Image source, Photo by Oleg Laptev on Unsplash
All other sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.
@hollandkaylah
In our current global situation of quarantining at home and learning virtually, the most essential skill to educating students is vulnerability. Our current situation is one that has not happened before and makes educators and students feel afraid, stressed, and anxious. Educators often feel the need to seem like they have it all together so student’s will not know they are afraid or anxious. I once heard a presenter say that educators should leave their problems in the car when arriving at school so that student’s will not see them struggle but students learn from what is modeled and if educators model apathy then students will not learn how to deal with their emotions. David Brooks recently wrote an article titled “Student Learn From People They Love” (source). He states that if teachers show vulnerability, students will be able to connect with them on a personal level and will thus learn more from them as an educator because they have connected emotionally. Brooks states that an older view of educators is that “if you wanted to be rational and think well, you had to suppress those primitive gremlins, the emotions. Teaching consisted of dispassionately downloading knowledge into students’ brains” (source). However, in our current situation, we have seen numerous stories of teachers heroically overcoming so much in order to passionately care for and educate their students. Brooks discusses various research but concludes with the realization that “what teachers really teach is themselves — their contagious passion for their subjects and students. It reminded us that children learn from people they love, and that love in this context means willing the good of another, and offering active care for the whole person” (source). An educator’s vulnerability helps students feel connected and encourages them to learn. Students can also interact with each other through the same type of vulnerability. This type of teaching and learning has been named social emotional learning. Click here to read the entire article by David Brooks.
Next Steps
Interested in learning more? Check out the websites below for great information.
References:
Image source, The New York Times
All other sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.
@hollandkaylah
Google for Education has announced the creation of a program to help support parents and educators teaching from home. The current global pandemic has caused schools around the world to close for in person instruction and almost instantly create lessons to be delivered virtually. Google’s Teach from Home program includes training materials for educators, schools, and parents including collaborating with educators, students, and families virtually, keeping students engaged, providing accessibility in lessons, managing virtual classrooms and much more. Teach from Home also provides weekly webinars, peer communities, and regular office hours to offer instant support for educators and families. Click here to access Google’s Teach from Home program.
References:
Image source, Google’s Teach from Home
All other sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.
@hollandkaylah
Teachers upload content (drawings, text, images, audio, links, or video) to ClassKick and then students interact with the content on their devices. Teachers can view all the student screens on their own device and can provide individualized, real-time feedback or allow students to give each other anonymous feedback. Students can also digitally “raise their hand” for assistance. The program helps the teacher to see who needs help and allows the teacher to monitor how students are progressing through the assignment. This is a great tool for teachers who do not have classroom management software since it gives them some control over their students’ digital space.
Tutorial Video from Amanda Moody:
The free version is very robust with unlimited assignments, the ability to give instant personalized feedback (and stickers!), as well as peer-to-peer feedback. The paid version adds automated questions with grading, the ability to export grades, class chat, and more. Click here to see more information including the pricing options for the upgraded version of ClassKick.
Check out the Assignment Library, to see how teachers are using Classkick to create innovative lessons. Each assignment has a corresponding blog post that breaks down the assignment to encourage intentional, thoughtful planning. You can also copy the lessons into your own Classkick account!
Classroom Success Stories
5 Reasons to Use Classkick
How to Get Started in Classkick
Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt
Teachers share a live session, students enter a code (no student accounts needed), and the lesson is synced to all devices.
Nearpod also allows you to add interactivity and instant assessments to your presentation. Interactivity includes quickly polling students, annotating on their screens, completing matching pairs, trying out computer simulations, viewing 3D models, sharing collaboration boards, and more. You can also ask multiple-choice, open-ended, or fill-in-the blank questions. Additionally, Nearpod integrates with LMS’s like Google Classroom, Canvas, and Schoology.
You can create your lesson from scratch within the program or quickly import existing lessons (pdfs, jpegs, ppts). There are also many lessons available in the Nearpod library. You can choose to show or hide student names as you move through the activities. However, you will have a record of each student’s engagement and can even deploy a student-paced quiz through Nearpod. The program provides detailed analytics and reporting.
The following video from Nearpod provides an overview of the program.
Click here to explore lessons in Nearpod’s library.
Guest Blogger: Raina Burditt
Reading and writing with math enables students to process real-world applications of math. Similar to mathematics, reading involves two parts of a thinking process: the transfer of information to the reader and the comprehension of that information on the part of the reader. Writing engages both hemispheres of the brain, as the learner generates ideas and organizes them. Writing allows students to clarify their thoughts and allows teachers insight into students’ thinking, making it valuable in the math classroom.
Consider the learning goals for your students, then choose the type of reading and/or writing activity that meets the goals. For improved comprehension, you might have students write about a math concept you’ve introduced to them, asking them to write an explanation of the concept to a friend. For helping students understand real-world applications of math, you might ask students to read current news articles involving math and share a summary with a classmate.
Implementing reading and writing encourages students who enjoy reading and writing more than the computational process of math and increases deeper understanding of mathematical concepts.
Ways to use reading and writing in math class:
Writing prompts:
Use current articles demonstrating mathematics embedded in real life:
Assessment can be completed via a writing rubric that includes effective communication and content understanding
Example: Student-produced Math Magazine Publication: https://backend.edutopia.org/sites/default/files/2018-10/Mathematics%20Applications_0.pdf
Reading and Writing in the Mathematics Classroom: http://math.coe.uga.edu/tme/issues/v08n1/3freitag.pdf
Reading and Writing in Math Class: https://www.edutopia.org/article/reading-and-writing-math-class
