Teachers know that creating a genuine audience for students’ work dramatically increases their focus and motivation. Yet when student work goes beyond pen and paper, what’s the best way to showcase it?
Mark Anderson’s post on displaying student online work highlights this issue--an important one to consider for educators in tech-integrated classrooms.
Is it possible for students to publish interactive content online and gather reader feedback, while still ensuring safety? Anderson believes it is, and for this purpose he suggests Edmodo, a free tool that uses an interface similar to that of FaceBook. Educators can assign and assess student work, and only invited visitors can access the class page. See five great ideas for back-to-school Edmodo activities.
With any method of displaying online work, teachers should consider their students’ level of technology skills to determine whether a given platform will be feasible. They also should select an online tool that not only gives young people an easy method of updating, but also enables proper teacher oversight.
Don’t miss related EducationWorld articles:
Social Media Tips for Administrators
Social Media in the Classroom
Free Tech Tools for Educators
Posting Student Work Online
Need a fun reading on the first Thanksgiving? I wrote a short story about a substitute teacher that takes her students back to witness the first Thanksgiving with purple adventure goggles. I also developed a webquest on the Mayflower and Pilgrims~ a short webquest on Turkeys and lots of links to other materials you might find of use during this month~ including a short read on "What Became of the Mayflower?...
I want to share a project that has helped my improve my students' writing ability as well as help foster creativity and develop a passion for writing itself. It involves students writing a full-blown screenplay. Using computers~ my students spend an afternoon or two aweek writing a screenplay. They are required to follow the exact format of a screenplay~ which I teach using a video from Discovery Education. Once they have the format down~ they come up with a genre and a...
Greetings!
I want to share a technique that has really helped my students not only learn the required material but also practice public speaking skills and build confidence. It comes down to one word:
Teach.
That's right. I believe teaching is one of the best ways to learn anything. Think about a subject you had to learn in order to teach it. You probably flipped through the teacher's guide for math or science~ trying to understand the material. But it...
Classroom management styles can greatly differ. Some rule with an iron hand; others are fairly lax. Most teachers are somewhere in between.
It wasn't until I met one of my early mentors~ Rafe Esquith~ the nationally recognized teacher based in Los Angeles~ that I began to look at my management styledifferently.
He told me that~ at the start of each school year~ he mentally divides his students into three categories. The "ones" are those students that totally get it...
Editor's Note: Today's guest post comes from Dr. Matthew Lynch, an assistant professor of education.
School-based management is another means of increasing parental involvement in the educational process. Proponents of this approach believe it is better for schools to create a managerial group, which possesses most of the decision-making power to influence the learning process of students at schools, rather than this power residing...
Greetings~
I want to talk about what I think is one of the best ways to improve as an educator. It boils down to two words:
TAPE YOURSELF.
Or rather have someone videotape you teaching. Tape yourself in action for at least 10-20 minutes then sit down and watch it. You will be amazed at how much you learn! I have taped myself a few times this school year and~ though I think I have improved in some areas~ Ilearned things about myself I would have never seen without...
You have to try this idea!
Let your students write on their desks using dry erase markers. Yes~ that's right. Ditch the pencil and paper and let them write~ draw and create on their desks or tables. Don't worry it comes off.
I tried this a year ago and was amazed at how much more engaged my students became when I let them work math problems on their desks. I was tired of wasting time getting paper out and sharpening pencils so I said "just write on your tables using...
Greetings~
I want to share a creative way to motivate and focus your students during math instruction. I call it Kung Fu Math.
First~ I created a series of belts or levels that the students aspire to and have them write it in their notebooks.
Then~ I tell them that everytime they get a math problem correct they earn a tally or "notch" towards the next stripe or belt. Everytime a student earns three notches they move up a stripe or belt (my...
With so many curriculum demands on teachers today~ do we have time to add career exploration(something popular back in the 80s)? I think young people need to be exposed to different career choices and careers can be incorporated into the subjects being covered. For example~ if you are covering the ancient Egyptians~ you could share the work of an archaeologist. Having kids discuss the different characteristics needed to be an archaeologists~ perhaps go on a dig using a chocolate chip cookie...