Teaching Tech to Teachers: Survey shows need for professional development to power classroom success from Samsung Business USA The good news: teachers desperately want quality technology professional development. The bad news: many still aren’t receiving options for high quality, ongoing professional development. ISTE Coaching Standard 1d asks coaches to “implement strategies for initiating and sustaining technology […]
A key component in the success of our students is recruiting parents as allies in the learning process. For my exploration of ISTE Coaching Standard 3G, I wanted to learn more about the most effective digital tools for communication with students and parents. The standard asks teachers to “Use digital communication and collaboration tools to […]
Introduction Professional Development (PD) has changed drastically in the relatively short amount of time that I have been a teacher. PD no longer has to constitute a one-size-fits-all lecture model. Thanks to technology, teachers are empowered to take control of their learning. One of the most popular tools for teachers to communicate and collaborate in […]
Meeting the needs of all learners in our classrooms can be a challenge. Students bring a wide variety of needs from learning disabilities, physical impairments, to attention issues. Fortunately, there are many assistive technology options available that can help teachers to meet these needs. For this week’s post, I want to focus on ISTE Coaching […]
Even before the availability of technology in the classroom, group projects have gotten a bad rap. Students worry that the work will not be shared equally or that other’s actions (or inaction) will impact their grade. Teachers likewise want to ensure that collaboration results in all students accessing the content. The benefit of using technology […]
Mention the word ‘data’ in a staff meeting and you’ll see teachers stifle eye rolls and sighs. Because we know what’s coming next…graphs and charts depicting test scores from the prior school year or quarter showing us all the ways in which our students didn’t meet the districts’ lofty goals. This isn’t the kind of […]
This week’s post was inspired by a Standards-Based Grading system I observed while subbing in a middle school math class recently. In the class, students were using the Schoology LMS (Learning Management System) to view the math goals (dubbed proficiencies) they had not yet reached for the quarter. They then took that information and sought […]
ISTE Educator Standard 5a calls for teachers to “Use technology to create, adapt and personalize learning experiences that foster independent learning and accommodate learner differences and needs.” When considering which tool might best serve this purpose, my mind immediately went to Google Apps for Education. GAfE offers many features that support personalized learning such as […]
As I considered ISTE educator standard 2c which calls for multiple stakeholders to participate in shaping learning through technology, I kept thinking of the popular saying ‘it takes a village to raise a child.’ Like most educators, I have seen wonderful things happen when a community of learning forms around a student. A healthy community […]
Collaboration. It’s one of the biggest buzzwords in education, and when done properly can take your teaching to the next level. The problem is that time is not something teachers have a lot of. What tools exist for asynchronous collaboration that will actually make life easier while enhancing student learning? This was my guiding question […]
