Technology Teacher 09/07/2016

• Backward Design Definition - The Glossary of Education Reform

  • is a process that educators use to design learning experiences and instructional techniques to achieve specific learning goals
  • The basic rationale motivating backward design is that starting with the end goal, rather than a starting with the first lesson chronologically delivered during a unit or course, helps teachers design a sequence of lessons, problems, projects, presentations, assignments, and assessments that result in students achieving the academic goals of a course or unit—that is, actually learning what they were expected to learn.
  • Because “beginning with the end” is often a counterintuitive process, backward design gives educators a structure they can follow when creating a curriculum and planning their instructional process.
  • The teacher then determines the formative-assessment strategies that will be used to check for understanding and progress over the duration of the unit (the term formative assessment refers to a wide variety of methods—from questioning techniques to quizzes—that teachers use to conduct in-process evaluations of student comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress during a lesson, unit, or course, often for the purposes of modifying lessons and teaching techniques to make them more effective).
  • Advocates typically argue that formative assessment is integral to effective backward design because teachers need to know what students are or are not learning if they are going to help them achieve the goals of a unit.
  • The teacher may then review and reflect on the prospective unit plan to determine if the design is likely to achieve the desired learning goals.
  • backward design is an attempt to ensure that students acquire the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in school, college, or the workplace.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Technology Teacher 08/31/2016

• Actionable Steps to Bring Growth Mindset into the Classroom | Getting Smart

  • “It’s no wonder that many adolescents mobilize their resources, not for learning, but to protect their egos. And one of the main ways they do this…is by not trying.”
  • But when you take this problem and look at it from a mindset perspective, certain details can be seen in a new light. It could be that we have students with fixed mindsets that believe they are not smart (or not good at math, or not a good writer, etc.) and therefore believe there is no point in putting forth any effort.
  • these students (especially boys) would much rather look defiant in not doing the work than look stupid in getting it wrong.
  • iving them failing grades, teachers just confirm what these students already believed about themselves – that they are stupid
  • emphasizing grades as a motivational strategy, we are unknowingly reinforcing the problem that we find so exasperating!
  • Perseverance lives in other subjects as well, whether it’s the scientific process or the constant revision of essay drafts. This quality has been shown as one of the strongest indicators of students success, which Dweck and Paul Tough outline in their books nicely.
  • planning time to design lessons that promote perseverance
  • Someone said once that while we know we can’t reach every student, we don’t know which students we are going to reach and which ones will slip by, so we have to treat every student like we are changing their life.
  • As a coach, I have teachers who are beautifully honest with their student about my role in the classroom, and the students love finding out that their teacher is learning and growing at the same time they are.

• 4 Ways to Encourage a Growth Mindset in the Classroom | EdSurge News

  • Some of the very brightest students avoid challenges, dislike effort, and wilt in the face of difficulty.
  • And some of the less bright students are real go-getters, thriving on challenge, persisting intensely when things get difficult, and accomplishing more than you expected.
  • A person with a fixed mindset believes that his or her intelligence is static, while a person with a growth mindset believes that his or her intelligence can be developed
  • It is a critical factor separating high achieving students from those who struggle in the classroom, and is thus often discussed in the context of its applications for education.
  • A growth mindset has been repeatedly identified as a robust predictor of academic success; it increases students’ motivation, grades, achievement, and test scores.
  • The good news: a growth mindset can be taught. Dweck found that when students undertook an intervention to move them from a fixed to growth mindset, they immediately began performing at higher levels and achieved greater academic success.
  • It is accordingly well-documented that the most successful countries in the world base schooling on growth mindset messages and beliefs.
  • Design classroom activities that involve cooperative--rather than competitive or individualistic--work.
  • Students feel a sense of responsibility to the group to try their best, and thus will experience the positive feedback loop of effort and success, encouraging the development of a growth mindset.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Technology Teacher 08/23/2016

• 10 Things to Start with in Google Classroom - Teacher Tech

  • If it is a Google Doc to use Control Alt M to insert comments.
  • I use Control Enter to close the comment. I then use Control W to close the document.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Technology Teacher 07/30/2016

• Linekin Bay Resort, Jul 2016 (Boothbay Harbor, Maine) - Resort Reviews - TripAdvisor

  • Linekin Bay Resort

• Education World: Simulations Engage Students in Active Learning

  • simulation as a staged replication of an event or concept through the teacher's manipulation of the classroom setting in order to enhance students' understanding of the nature of the concept or event
  • It could be a deliberate ploy to draw students into a specific emotional response

• CAST UDL Lesson Builder: Learn About Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

  • Universal Design for Learning (UDL) recognizes that every learner is unique and processes information differently.  UDL is based on CAST's research related to three primary brain networks (recognition network, strategic network, and affective network) and the roles they play in understanding these differences.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Technology Teacher 07/26/2016

• Critical Thinking: A Necessary Skill in the Age of Spin | Edutopia

  • Decisions about joining the military, becoming a parent or choosing a career have indelible effects on a person's life. An inability to think critically at an early age can have devastating consequences.
  • Every educator is in a position to teach students how to gather information, evaluate it, screen out distractions and think for themselves.
  • but also the obligation to incorporate critical thinking into his or her subject area

• What Should Be Taught About War in the Gulf? - NYTimes.com

  • Everyone is interested in getting as much information as possible
  • wanted to talk about the war he was told by several teachers that now was not the time
  • I just think that if the schools can teach the kids, then it would help out a lot in kids' emotional feelings

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Technology Teacher 07/19/2016

• Becoming Culturally Responsive Educators: Rethinking Teacher Education Pedagogy

  -Some schools of education have acknowledged the urgency for developing culturally competent teachers, while others grapple with ways to fit appropriate programs into their curriculum - s. A major part of the resistance comes from teacher educators’ discomfort, if not fear of, addressing issues such as race and racism in their courses, or even on their campuses - Research suggests that when teachers have had the benefit of multicultural teacher education preparation, they are less likely to embrace cultural deficit views - r, teachers who have learned culturally responsive pedagogy are more confident and believe they are effective in their instruction of diverse children - Teacher educators need to: • Develop cohesive and comprehensive multicultural curricula in general and special education TEPs • Infuse multicultural principles throughout to prepare teachers to respond to the needs of diverse learners and their families • Identify critical teaching behaviors and essential best practices for diverse students Below is a brief description of the six characteristics. • Sociocultural consciousness means understanding that one’s way of thinking, behaving, and being is influenced by race, ethnicity, social class, and language. Therefore, prospective teachers must critically examine their own sociocultural identitiesand the inequalities between schools and society that support institutionalized discrimination to maintain a privileged society based on social class and skin color. Teacher candidates must inspect and confront any negative attitudes they might have toward cultural groups. • An affirming attitude toward students from culturally diverse backgrounds significantly impacts their learning, belief in self, and overall academic performance. By respecting cultural differences and adding education related to the culture of the students, programs become inclusive. • Commitment and skills to act as agents of change enable the prospective teacher to confront barriers/obstacles to change, and develop skills for collaboration and dealing with chaos. As agents of change, teachers assist schools in becoming more equitable over time. • Constructivist views of learning contend that all students are capable of learning, and teachers must provide scaffolds between what students already know through their experiences and what they need to learn. Constructivist teaching promotes critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and the recognition of multiple perspectives. • Learning about students’ past experiences, home and community culture, and world both in and outside of school helps build relationships and increase the prospective teachers’ use of these experiences in the context of teaching and learning. • Culturally responsive teaching strategies support the constructivist view of knowledge, teaching, and learning. As teachers assist students to construct knowledge, build on their personal and cultural strengths, and examine the curriculum from multiple perspectives, an i Exclusive, the lowest level, represents traditional mainstream perspectives of diversity. Inclusive, the next level, represents a mixture of normative and nontraditional diversity perspectives. The highest level, the Transformed curriculum, represents a structural transformation. Guidelines for a Culturally Responsive Curriculum (Schmitz, 1999) (1) Define Learning Goals - What do students in your field need to know about: - the history of diverse groups: their writings, theories, and patterns of participation? - the social dynamics of identity formation and change? - structures of power and privilege in society, prejudice, discrimination, and stereotyping? - patterns of communication and interaction within and among different cultural groups? - theories of personal, institutional, and societal change? (2) Question Traditional Concepts - Have traditional ways of organizing content in this course obscured, distorted, or excluded certain ideas or groups? - What new research is available that addresses past distortions and exclusions? - How will the course change if I include this new research? - How might a change in this syllabus affect its relationship to the rest of the curriculum? (3) Understand Student Diversity - What kinds of diverse perspectives and experiences will students bring to the class? - How can I assess students’ prior knowledge of race, class, gender, etc.? - How can I incorporate diverse voices without relying on students to speak for different groups? - How will my own characteristics and background affect the learning environment? - Will some students see me as a role model more readily than others? - How can I teach to all students? (4) Select Materials and Activities - If the course topics remain the same, what new research, examples, and writings can illustrate these topics? - Is there a new thematic approach to this material that will help to put cultural diversity in the foreground? - How do I integrate new material so that it is not simply an “add-on”? - What teaching strategies will facilitate student learning of this new material? (5) Evaluate Effectiveness - What are my strengths and limitations relative to the new content and teaching techniques? - How will I assess student learning? -culturally responsive teachers in preservice courses: • Creating classroom communities of learners— learners construct meaning individually through cognitive processes and socially through a collective participatory process involving interactions with others. • Developing dispositions, knowledge, and skills of culturally responsive teachers by engaging students -Cultivate and require early field experiences, practica, and internship sites in culturally diverse classrooms and communities - Place preservice teachers with cooperating teachers who have a thorough knowledge of and extensive experience with culturally responsive education - Implementing curricula and field experiences that are committed to diversity enables future practitioners to engage in pedagogy with insight and view all communities as resources for learning and social justice.

• Culturally Responsive Teaching

  -The notion of culturally responsive education is premised on the idea that culture is central to student learning - It is an approach that empowers students intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically by using cultural referents to impart knowledge, skills and attitudes. - This link between culture and classroom instruction is derived from evidence that cultural practices shape thinking processes, which serve as tools for learning within and outside of school - Each practice includes an explanation, a summary of each story that exemplifies the practice, a research summary - Communication of High Expectations − There are consistent messages, from both the teacher and the whole school, that students will succeed, based upon genuine respect for students and belief in student capability - Active Teaching Methods − Instruction is designed to promote student engagement by requiring that students play an active role in crafting curriculum and developing learning activities - Teacher as Facilitator − Within an active teaching environment, the teacher's role is one of guide, mediator, and knowledgeable consultant, as well as instructor. - Positive Perspectives on Parents and Families of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students − There is an ongoing participation in dialogue with students, parents, and community members on issues important to them, along with the inclusion of these individuals and issues in classroom curriculum and activities - Cultural Sensitivity − To maximize learning opportunities, teachers gain knowledge of the cultures represented in their classrooms and translate this knowledge into instructional practice - Reshaping the Curriculum − A reshaped curriculum is culturally responsive to the background of students - Culturally Mediated Instruction − Instruction is characterized by the use of culturally mediated cognition, culturally appropriate social situations for learning, and culturally valued knowledge in curriculum content - Student−Controlled Classroom Discourse − Students are given the opportunity to control some portion of the lesson, providing teachers with insight into the ways that speech and negotiation are used in the home and community. - Small Group Instruction and Academically−Related Discourse Instruction is organized around low−pressure, student−controlled learning groups that can assist in the development of academic language. -Teachers have at their command a repertoire of teaching approaches to reach students in a range of culturally appropriate ways - Teachers scan continually for feedback from students, looking for indications of understanding or confusion -Cultural sensitivity is not equated with a focus on easily stereotyped artifacts of the culture, such as food and art. - Cultural sensitivity requires that teachers interpret their students' behaviors within the cultural context of the student -Children who experience discontinuity in the use of language at home and at school are often misunderstood in classrooms - Once teachers understand home and community norms, they can help students expand their discourse repertoire. -

• ​8 Proven Ways to Help Close the Achievement Gap | EdSurge News

  • Ample evidence shows that almost all students can achieve at high levels if they are taught at high levels.
  • The curriculum should feature balanced instruction, emphasizing basic skills for increasing comprehension
  • Struggling students often need more instructional time coupled with an increased intensity of instruction in small groups and more repetitions or doses of instruction.
  • Supplemental instruction is intended to fill in students’ learning gaps as quickly as possible and return them to core instruction.
  • Using formative assessments, teachers can pinpoint where students have gaps and intervene accordingly.
  • When tasks are not matched to students and they are asked to perform skills they do not have, their motivation and engagement decrease.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Technology Teacher 07/17/2016

• 3 Ways to Help Rural Schools | US News Opinion

  • Tax bases in many rural communities are small, which makes it difficult to provide adequate funding for good schools.
  • States and the federal government should increase funding for rural students, to help offset the disadvantage that currently exists.
  • Cutting down on long and arduous journeys from a rural student’s home to her school; virtually attending classes taught by a subject matter expert in another city; linking students who share similar interests but attend schools great distances apart – online learning can make all this and more possible.

• Education World: Rural Children, Real Challenges

  • More rural children (18 percent) than urban children (15.5 percent) live in poverty.
  • A single parent heads 24 percent of all rural families.
  • One in 12 rural children is born to a mother under 20.
  • One rural child in six is born to a mother who has less than a high school education.
  • Though fewer rural high school students drop out of school than the state average, only 18 percent of these dropouts plan to get a GED.
  • One rural infant in five is born to a mother who used tobacco during pregnancy.
  • There is one primary care doctor for every 358 rural children.
  • Benso believes that effects of the poverty, poor health, and detrimental family situations that appear to be common in rural communities land squarely in the classroom

• Urban School Challenges | RTI Action Network

  • Unlike suburban and rural school districts, urban school districts operate in densely populated areas serving significantly more students.
  • urban school districts are frequently marked by higher concentrations of poverty, greater racial and ethnic diversity, larger concentrations of immigrant populations and linguistic diversity, and more frequent rates of student mobility
  • broader social and economic inequities facing such populations that invariably frame the work of urban schools
  • Alternatively, cultural challenges are those policies, practices, and sets of beliefs that contribute to dysfunctional perceptions of students’ intellectual abilities—particularly those students who are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD)—due to limiting predictors of school achievement (Noguera, 2003).
  • Given the sociodemographic backgrounds of the urban school population, students attending urban schools enter at varied levels of academic readiness and oftentimes with particular stressors that challenge students’ ability to perform at high levels.
  • Moreover, negative stereotypes about families often misinform educators and lead to negative views about students (Harry & Klingner, 2006; Harry, Klingner, & Hart, 2005).
  • Urban schools are bombarded with so many instructional initiatives and approaches that they can become fragmented, or indeed contradict one another.
  • Given the diversity of their student populations’ needs, urban school districts require a variety of initiatives, but these need to target specific and identified needs that are aligned within a broader vision of student success and academic standards.
  • issue of teacher quality is considered central to growing efforts to understand and reduce performance gaps in achievement between students of color and their White and Asian peers
  • Experienced teachers, however, are not equally distributed across low- and high-poverty schools
  • demonstrated that teachers are drawn to schools with low concentrations of poverty, low minority populations, and high levels of student achievement, thus framing the problem of teacher quality as one related to professional mobility.
  • Urban schools often fail to provide environments of high academic expectations
  • While also a persistent cultural challenge, urban school districts have structural challenges that either produce or perpetuate low expectations of students.
  • Low-income and racial/ethnic minority students are often viewed by school practitioners as not “ready” for school

• The challenges facing struggling rural schools | The Thomas B. Fordham Institute

  • The report focuses on two of the most challenging issues: recruiting and retaining teachers and increasing parental involvement.
  • Long commutes dissuaded teachers willing to teach in a rural school but wanting to live in a town or a city
  • The geographic isolation of many rural communities can mean limited housing options and even more limited job opportunities for teachers’ spouses
  • As for parental involvement, work schedules were the largest barrier to engagement and attendance at events such as parent-teacher conferences, report card pickups, and volunteer activities.
  • more than half of the schools also believed that “parents don’t value education.”
  • public and private transportation in rural areas and the distance between home, work, and school also prevented parents from becoming more involved.

• Dropout Nation » The Myth of Differences Between Urban and Rural Schools

  • most-enduring myths in the debate over the reform of American public education is the idea that urban school districts and the kids who attend them are somehow different than those in suburban and rural communities.
  • While big-city districts are home to half of the nation’s dropout factories — high schools with graduation rates of 60 percent or lower as defined by Johns Hopkins researcher Robert Balfanz —  one out of every five persistently failing high schools are located in the nation’s rural communities.
  • Just 54 percent of black ninth-graders attending rural high schools graduated during the 2005-2006 school year, according to the Alliance for Excellent Education, just 8 points higher than the graduation rates for their counterparts in big-city schools.
  • The low quality of math instruction endemic in many urban districts are also problematic in rural schools: Twenty-six percent of rural fourth-grade girls performing Below Basic proficiency in math on the 2009 NAEP, just seven points below the percentage of urban fourth-grade peers struggling with low math literacy.
  • We have to stop looking at children through the location of the schools they attend and just look at them for who they are: Young men and women who deserve a high-quality education no matter where they live.

•  - The Future of Children -

  • each face particular challenges in attracting, retaining, and making the most of their teacher workforce.
  • Most of the lowest-performing schools and students in the United States are in urban districts, where poverty is highly concentrated and large shares of students have limited
  • English proficiency and perform poorly on achievement tests
  • Higher wages in other occupations make it more costly for schools and districts to hire workers; space is often expensive; and high crime rates increase facilities requirements and tend to make upkeep more expensive.
  • manage their many schools, large urban districts often institute unwieldy bureaucratic systems that slow the pace of operations.
  • Urban districts thus face challenges both in attracting teachers to their schools and in optimizing their hiring, transfer, and retention policies so that they are able to bring the best available teachers into their classrooms and retain them.
  • small size, sparse settlement, distance from population concentrations, and an economic reliance on agricultural industries that are increasingly using seasonal and immigrant workers to minimize labor costs.
  • Classes in rural schools tend to be small, and teachers often report good working conditions and relatively few discipline problems.
  • Moreover, rural areas often have a smaller pool of college-educated workers from which to recruit teachers.
  • Relatively large shares of students with special needs and of highly mobile children of low-income migrant farm workers can also complicate recruiting and retaining teachers.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.