Preparing Students for Online Classrooms

Using an online learning platform is sometimes intimidating for teachers but we often assume that students are ready for technology. We hear that students of today are the technological generation and excel at the use of technology. But, the reality is that the extent of technology use by many students may be social media, texting friends and online gaming. They may have more apps installed than teachers but when it comes to the skills needed in an educational setting many students are lacking and do not understand the use of educational apps. Surprisingly, they are also not very good at…

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Build Your Own Website with WordPress

Are you ready to take your online presence to a new level? Then it may be time to build your own website with WordPress as your platform. Creating your own website gives you the flexibility to organize your content in a way that you want and in a way that will make the most sense to your users. Your website can start simple with basic content and expand to become as complex with as many features as you would like when and if you are ready. Is a website something that anyone with minimal computer skills can create themselves without…

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Using Technology in the Classroom to Facilitate Student Learning

The use of  technology is everywhere in society today and yet there is often a resistance to using technology in the classroom on a day to day basis. Research shows that technology used correctly is an effective way to increase student learning and that students tend to be more engaged when technology is included as part of a classroom lesson. Students are more interested in lessons when they are able to use technology to personalize learning and are far more likely to retain information. So why are we so reluctant to include technology in our classrooms or even switch to…

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Creating Effective Online Lessons

Moving to an online learning platform can be intimidating and disconcerting but by applying a few simple guidelines, can be made much less unsettling. Most of us did not set out to be a good online teacher or even an online teacher at all! We have spent many years in classrooms and have developed a certain comfort level . We are not comfortable or experienced with online platforms and have not yet decided what is good or bad or even if online classrooms are needed.  Most of us don't know how to teach online and may not even know how…

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Why Norms Matter

As an educator you are most likely a part of collaborative teams. As a part of those teams you probably created and followed norms. Furthermore, even teams who are not asked to create norms should do so. Why is this important? Why do norms matter? Let's take a look at norms and why they are such a big deal. Norms are Behaviors that Lead to Better Collaboration What exactly are norms anyway? Norms are a list of behaviors that lead to better and more focused collaborative culture. These norms define the focus of collaboration and how we will communicate with…

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Better Student Learning? Take Small Steps

Teachers are encouraged to experiment and try new things to achieve better student learning. As a result, the task of implementing new strategies sometimes becomes daunting. Yet, we know that implementing a particular classroom management or instructional strategy is researched based. And, these have a record of proven success. Therefore, to implement new strategies effectively, we need to break them into smaller tasks that are more easily managed. By consistently taking these small steps, we may actually be able to accomplish big change.One of the best ways to implement change is to work within the framework of what we already…

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Collaborative Team Model

Collaborative teams are a part of any school that embraces the professional learning community model. These teams of teachers, teaching the same grade or course, work together to plan, instruct, assess and take actions based on student results. The efficient and targeted conduct of these collaborative team meetings is essential to effectively performing these tasks and achieving the  ultimate goal of student learning. What should a collaborative team meeting look like? Let's look at a basic model of an effective and efficient team meeting. This model works by itself or could be modified as needed, but the final product should…

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Student Centered Planning

Obviously as teachers, a great deal of time and thought goes into lesson planning, content creation, and student assessment, but what does planning and collaboration look like when it is student centered? In order to keep the focus on students, there are certain things that need to be done during planning and team collaboration time to ensure student-centered instruction during lesson delivery time. Any planning session or collaboration time must start with a clear understanding of not only what will be accomplished but also how the result will benefit students. Clear expectations from everyone on the focus of the time…

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A 21st Century Lesson Cycle

If we are to work toward a truly flexible classroom that meets the needs of all of our students, we not only need to find the correct ways to incorporate technology in our classrooms (see, A Vision for Technological Classrooms for the 21st Century), but we must work toward a focused plan for a 21st century lesson cycle. This lesson cycle will focus not on the material covered, but on the desired student learning outcomes. It must be driven by student success and not by the clock or calendar. Without this well-designed lesson cycle,  any attempt to incorporate meaningful use…

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Excellent Collaboration

With collective teacher efficacy scoring at the top of the Hattie's scale of effect sizes at 1.57 [Hattie, The Applicability of Visible Learning to Higher Education, 2015] and areas like teacher estimates of achievement, response to intervention, strategies to integrate prior knowledge and classroom discussion also ranking near the top; the way we conduct our collaborations with other educators becomes extremely important in addressing these areas. What makes collaboration time effective and efficient? Let's take a look at some strategies that we can use for collaboration that will help us to make better use of our time together. All collaboration…

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