Math Bingo

Fun with math for Kindergarten through Grade Three, Math Bingo ($.99) by ABCya.com, motivates children to learn addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division with five Bingo games. The games range in content level from easy to difficult. Bingo Bugs are given as rewards; a scoreboard displays student scores.  Three bonus games come with the app. According to a review in Education World, Math Bingo “is a great app to supplement regular math lessons.”

Kick Start Your SchoolYear by iTunes

The iTunes Store has compiled an extensive list of apps that will help you and your students become better organized and productive, in addition to increasing knowledge.  Included are reading and writing apps for all ages, apps for organization, and apps for math, science, history, geography, and art and creativity. So—as the new school year is about to begin, you’ll want to browse through the offerings (free and for-pay) in the Kick Start for the School Year section of iTunes.

Headstrong Nation: Dyslexic Community

The site, Headstrong Nation, provides help to the world’s largest disability group—those with dyslexia. It includes videos, books, and other resources for those with dyslexia and those working with those with dyslexia. You’ll find information on classroom accommodation tools and mapping children’s dyslexia. The fact section features information such as: 35% of American entrepreneurs are dyslexic, there are many different ways to read, being dyslexic does not mean those who have it are slow learners or stupid, dyslexia is not something anyone outgrows, and boys and girls are just as likely to be dyslexic. The mapping feature encourages parents and teachers to assess children’s strengths and attitudes by using the assessment survey provided. Areas used for mapping are Visual, Kinesthetic, Spatial, Narrative, Social, Verbal, Musical, and Mathematical/Scientific.  Resources available on the site help parents and students learn to use technologies to help with learning, learn to understand the world of dyslexics and those with attention deficit disorders, and learn to understand how disabilities affect family dynamics.

The Teenage Brain

WKCD (What Kids Can Do) includes information on how our students learn. Research shows us why teens act the way they do with behaviors such as “mood swings, surliness, impulsivity, poor decisions, insensitivity (or too much sensitivity), and more.” The brain’s frontal lobe, the area that affects judgment, is not fully developed until ages 25-30. As the brain grows, young people have difficulty making decisions quickly, don’t notice errors in judgment, have trouble identifying other’s emotions, and are “vulnerable to stress.” So—it’s good for all of us in education to remember that there is a biological reason for why teens are the way they are and that we need to be patient as we wait for their minds to mature.

Back-to-School Supply Lists & Teachers’ Lounge Makeover Contest

The free online service, TeacherLists.com, is a place for teachers to post lists (back-to-school and wish lists) in order to share them with parents and other teachers. Once lists are posted, they can be “broadcast” on school websites where they can be downloaded by parents, printed, and/or posted through social media. Lists can be viewed on smartphones, tablets, and computers. 

To welcome everyone back to school, TeacherLIsts is sponsoring a $5,000 Teachers’ Lounge Makeover contest, a Tell-a-Teacher referral reward program, and school supply coupons for parents.  If 20 teachers in your school post lists, you’ll be eligible for Lounge Makeover drawing.

Needed: More Tech in Classrooms

In a 2013 national survey by Harris Interactive, an overwhelming number of teachers and administrators (92%) said they want to make greater use of educational technologies in their classrooms.  Teachers report that they need to spend time searching for high quality resources and that other problems related to funding, time, access, and training limit their growth in the use of technologies.  As a result, only 1 in 9 teachers say they use 1-1 learning or BYOD in teaching and only 31% make use of information/reference tools. The infographic, EdTech: It isn’t optional, it’s essential, provides an excellent overview of the findings.

Educator Roles in 21st Century

“23 Roles of the 21^st Century Educator” offers a nice graphic, by Stephen Downes, showing how the roles of those of us in education have changed. Downes’ mind map of what an educator must be today includes the following: Learner, Tech Support, Convener, Lecturer, Salesperson, Coach, Theorizer, Bureaucrat, Designer, Demonstrator, Coordinator, Sharer, Programmer, Collector, Facilitator, Alchemist, Agitator, Curator, Evaluator, Mentor, Critic, Moderator, and Connector.  What other roles do you think educators must take on today?  How about writer, developer, curriculum designer, guide, counselor, protector, . . . ?

Change Mindsets to Change Schools

J. Robinson in the Tech & Learning Advisor Blog tells us that installing technologies in our classrooms isn’t the way to bring about change, since many teachers will continue as they have always done and as their predecessors did before.  What we need to do is to “stop automating the twentieth century ways of teaching and learning” to move forward.  If the mindset of teachers doesn’t change, teaching won’t change. —But, Robinson doesn’t tell us how to accomplish a change in mindset.

Of course, some teachers have already changed, and they are helping others to follow. Isn’t that what Apple’s Classrooms of Tomorrow research said many years ago—be patient, because you can’t force change? Perhaps, for all classrooms to change, those tech savvy kids of today will need to jump into tomorrow’s classrooms.

Adam Bellows Says Create, Not Just Consume

Adam Bellow, who gave the closing keynote, “Change the World” at ISTE 2013, says that we need a “start up culture” in our schools.  This culture would embrace individualization, not standardization, in “environments that ‘respect failure, embrace curiosity, and grow dreams.’” To bring about these changes, Bellow suggested that we use tools like MineKeeper, Minecraft, and Raspberry Pi, and that we share with each other through social media and personal interaction. Bellow is an inspiring speaker; his ISTE speech is available online. If you listen to it, you’ll get some excellent ideas for starting the 2013-2014 school year.

Flipped Learning Research

The Flipped Learning Network, Pearson, and George Mason University have been working together to review Flipped Learning.  According to the Flipped Learning Model whitepaper, to achieve student engagement through Flipped Learning, schools must have flexible environments that allow for varying learning modes and student levels; a student-centered learning culture; intentional content that teachers have evaluated; and professional educators who understand how to observe students, get help from others, and “tolerate controlled classroom chaos.”

A review of the research finds that while Flipped Learning seems promising for K-12 education, there is actually not much empirical evidence about the technique. Surveys of teachers using Flipped Learning found that nearly 70% said student achievement improved, most felt that student attitudes improved, and about 90% said that their job satisfaction improved.  Students surveyed reported favorable comments about the learning.

Concerns reported include the worry that teachers may rely on online videos, some of which may not be the best to use; the fact that some students may not have access to high speed Internet at home; the worry that face-to-face Socratic instruction will be missing because of time needed for activities; and according to journalist Gary Stager, “The model emphasizes traditional homework and lectures” simply flipped and is actually “a means of standardizing learning.”