7 Tips for Planning a Makerspace
This article offers seven practical tips for creating a makerspace using examples from experts who share insights on planning and execution. Makerspaces are informal workshop environments where students can invent, tinker, and build to increase exposure to STEM subjects and technical disciplines. Topics include ideas to establish a maker culture and involve other stakeholders. This article… Read More ›
What Learning to Code Means for Students
“Coding is the new literacy. To thrive in tomorrow’s society, young people must learn to design, create and express themselves with digital technologies.” –Mitchel Resnick, MIT Media Lab Professor What does “coding is the new literacy” really mean? As programming languages evolve, what students learn today won’t be applicable within a decade or less. Coding… Read More ›
Personalized Learning in Practice: How a Risk-Taker Tailored Learning in Her District
This in-depth article, from EdWeek’s Leaders to Learn from series, features Patricia Deklotz, superintendent of the Kettle Moraine School District in Wales, WI. Over 17 months, Deklotz and a task force of 25 educators transformed the small district of 4,100 students to a personalized learning model. The article shares the process of this transformation, including what motivated her… Read More ›
Black History Month Resources for the Classroom
This compilation brings together 20 lesson plans and resources created by PBS NewsHour Extra to help teachers quickly find high-quality materials for any classroom to engage in authentic student-driven learning about Black History Month. Topics include historical civil rights events and current events. They include descriptions of the targeted grade-level, materials needed, national standards covered,… Read More ›
An Overview of Personalized Learning for Schools, Families & Communities
This report provides an overview of student-centered learning for families and community members, using parent-friendly language, short explanations, and many examples. The report first outlines the need for and the basics of personalized learning. It explores, through five short case studies, personalized learning in action and how it differs from traditional learning environments. It also… Read More ›
Educating the Whole Child in a World of Silos
In this webinar, Ian Fogarty, Chemistry and Physics Teacher at Riverview High School, will highlight how Riverview High School (RHS) became a top finalist for the 2017 FETC STEM Excellence Awards in the High School Division. RHS has found a way to enact research and provide a student-centered personalized learning environment that balances consistency with freedom, and… Read More ›
Student Voice in Practice: Burlington High School Help Desk
The Burlington High School (BHS) Help Desk is the heart of the school’s Student Technology Innovation and Integration course. The semester-long course open to students in grades 10-12, provides a hands-on study of technology integration in an educational context. Students are required to assess technology problems submitted by fellow students and teachers and define the… Read More ›
Research Collaborative: Where the Journey Goes from Here
In my previous post, I wrote about the Student-Centered Learning Research Collaborative and its goal to break down silos so that educators, researchers, and policymakers can collaboratively examine, apply, and share knowledge about student-centered learning so that we can elevate learning outcomes, particularly for underserved students. Now, let’s talk about how we do this. Our… Read More ›
How Lesson Imaging Brings Math and Science Instruction Into Focus
This article, written by an associate professor of mathematics instruction, details the student-centered lesson planning strategy called “lesson imaging”. The author asserts that traditional math and science teaching methods don’t support 21st century skill development. She advocates for a shift to a more student-centered pedagogical approach. In inquiry math and science classrooms the teacher presents a rich… Read More ›
Strategies for Personalized Instruction and Implementation
In this webinar, Lizzie Choi, Chief Program Officer of Summit Learning, and a principal/educator will discuss the journey of developing Summit Learning. Summit Public Schools, a California-based charter school network, believes that personalized learning empowers teachers and helps students build the skills they need to succeed in college, career, and life. Summit has set out… Read More ›
Self-Regulation in the Classroom: Helping Students Learn How to Learn
As an educator, you want your students to be self-regulated learners, seeking out challenges, asking for help, resisting distractions, and seeing mistakes as chances to try again. Self-regulation for learning (SRL) is the ability to effectively balance affect (how you feel), behaviors (what you do), and cognition (how you think) to pursue worthy academic goals.… Read More ›
Media Literacy: A Crash Course in 60 Minutes
Fake media is a hot topic in education today. In November 2016, the Stanford History Education Group (SHEG) published Evaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Reasoning, a study that revealed concerning results. Because students increasingly turn to online news to meet their research needs, it is more important than ever for educators to help… Read More ›