The Oxford English Dictionary’s annual June update has a decidedly tech feel this year as the much ballyhooed reference title is adding the words “tweet,” “crowdsourcing,” “e-reader” and “re-direct.”
Every June the dictionary adds several new words to the English vernacular, provided they meet certain criteria. While “tweet” does not meet the standard of having been in existence for at least 10 years, OED chief editor John Simpson said, “it seems to be catching on.”
AllThingsD reports that the 2013 OED update is particularly tech-savvy, “Whatever the reason, ‘tweet’ was just one of a batch of tech-related words and phrases added to the OED in the last year. Among the others is ‘big data,’ the fashionable phrase and subject of glossy photo books that evokes the act of analyzing large data sets for otherwise undetectable patterns.”

“The pressures in systems in the North is to compete to ensure more and more learners are succeeding in acquiring higher order learning skills as articulated in cross-national tests like PISA, PIRLS and TIMSS.” — Brahm Fleisch
The North-South or Rich-Poor Divide is the socio-economic and political division...


One of the first things I talk about in my written expression class is the importance of using verbs to show action. We usually begin with describing what a...

It's time to enhance descriptive writing with visual art. Try this K3 lesson:
Materials you need would be small pictures of animals/ people, places or things, colored pencil/crayons, white paper, construction paper, lined paper or worksheet, pencil, glue and scissors.
...It is imperative that children learn to take notes and organize their thoughts and facts before, during, and after their reading and writing. You may choose to use some of these organizers and planners the way they are presented.
Perhaps you can add some artistic expression as well. Just cut, glue and embellish! You will undoubtedly be amazed by the presentation when we allow children to transpose their graphics into visual writing. The skills and objectives will be learned with...
When you’re in the classroom, are you really there? When a student asks you a question, are you really listening? When collaborating with other teachers on lesson plans, are you truly present?
Of course, you say. I’m in the classroom; I’m with the student; I’m at the meeting. But what I am referring are your mental energies, your awareness, your attention. In this age of technological distraction, it’s so easy to get side-tracked, to lose focus. And with...
Center time has just started in Miss Shipley’s Kindergarten classroom. The environment is bright, engaging, and buzzing with curiosity and “play”. Children are choosing what dress-up clothes to put on, building towers as high as they can, and listening to stories that build on the curriculum they are learning that week. Miss Shipley and a volunteer/teacher’s aide are getting a round table and horseshoe table...


R.L. 2.1- Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
We always begin the year with asking questions (who, what, where, when, why and how?) and I start with a tactile experience. This ELA standard has been a foundational standard for my...