Back to school means it’s time for teachers to implement strategies to get to know students. Whether it’s ice breakers, activities, or routines to roll out on the first day back in the classroom, it’s important that teachers are strategic about these first few days in the classroom. Orienting students to expectations for the upcoming year sets them up for success.
Continue reading “Back-to-School Classroom Management Strategies”
As a teacher, you know just how important it is to prepare your students for standardized testing. SAT scores are a hot topic for high schoolers. Most colleges and universities around the country require SAT scores for admission, but they have other uses for them as well.
In a time disturbed by COVID-19, the exploration of digital learning tools has become an essential strategy for keeping students engaged while socially distanced. Although game-based learning (GBL) is not a new concept, the benefits of digital game-based learning are more apparent than ever.
Game-based learning and gamification have been shown to increase student engagement, foster social-emotional learning, and motivate students to take risks. So what exactly is game-based learning and gamification? How do games help students become active participants in their learning process? We will cover those questions and more in this article on digital game-based learning.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted classroom instruction immensely. Educators of all walks have been forced to embrace technology inside the classroom, and have used the opportunity to develop valuable technology skills in their students.
Continue reading “Coding in the Classroom: An Emerging Skill”
Gone are the days of teachers planning lessons alone and of teachers encouraging rote memorization of facts and praising their mindless repetition. Presently in education, pedagogy is trending heavily toward interdisciplinary practices with cross-curricular subject matter. Leaders in education want teachers to collaborate when developing long-term plans so that students’ skills can be robustly developed and consistently practiced in a variety of settings. The goal of this approach is that students will engage more fully in each class and their own education as a whole process.
Continue reading “Cross-Curricular Standards with Collaborative Teaching”
The internet is a vast abyss of content. These days it seems like you can learn almost anything online—from how to change a tire to how to suture like a surgeon. The growth of edtech tools has led to a whole new range of possibilities when it comes to learning. As students and teachers leverage technology to enhance learning, it is imperative that students understand the qualities of digital citizenship.
The shift to online learning during the pandemic was a challenge to say the least; however, we can’t deny the benefits of ed tech’s capacity to engage students like never before. As we embrace a more digital curriculum, we need to be prepared to teach digital citizenship.
Continue reading “Digital Citizenship in the Time of Remote Learning “
With the COVID-19 pandemic still looming over our heads, educators are continuously looking for ways to modify lessons to create lessons for digital learning. The tech classroom is a place for students to learn valuable and real world skills that will help them be successful in today’s workplace. While edtech teachers work to create engaging lessons for their students, it is important for them to consider ways to support accessibility in the classroom and achieve equity in the classroom.
Continue reading “Accessibility in the Tech Classroom: Including Every Learner”
Ask any teacher what learning loss is, and they’re likely to tell you that it’s the forgetting of previously learned information that occurs every year while students are on summer break. After all, it’s why teachers always start the first few weeks of each new school year by having students review information and practice skills they learned the year before.
And while learning loss certainly isn’t a new phenomenon by any stretch of the imagination, it has garnered a lot of attention ever since the covid school closures brought the issue into focus. The learning loss in the 2021–2022 school year is going to be a challenge even more difficult than it ever has been before. Kids are far behind in academics and they are struggling to make sense out of everything that has happened since the pandemic.
Continue reading “Back to School in Edtech: How to Combat Learning Loss”
Use Your ESSER Funding in the Technology Classroom! Are you ESSERIOUS?
Time is ticking for ESSER grants. There’s lots of information to sift through when deciding how to seek ESSER funding for your school or classroom. Are you going cross-eyed yet? We are! How can you allocate the ESSER funds for your technology classroom? We’re breaking it down for you piece by piece and giving you the best resources you need to cash in on some much-needed funding for typing and digital citizenship as summer winds down and back to school kicks into gear for 2021-2022.
The American Rescue Plan (ARP) requires local districts to release plans for a safe return to in-person instruction within 30 days of receiving funds, so the time to plan for your technology classroom is now!
Read on to combat the substantial learning loss affecting most children from COVID-19.
Continue reading “Use Your ESSER Funding in the Technology Classroom! Are you ESSERIOUS?”
Technology has an important role to play in the teaching of children and adolescents in the new era of learning. That is why we are proud to be a part of The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Best Digital Tools 2021!