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The recent issue of Educational Leadership (March 2013  Vol. 70 No. 6) is chock-full of articles that challenge the way we think about learning and technology. I was especially drawn to Marc Prensky‘s article, Our Brains Extended. He asks,

Is the human brain still the smartest thing on the planet? When enhanced by technology, it is. . . Wise integration of our evolving and powerful technology demands that we rethink our curriculum.

And, I agree with him.  I think the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are a stab in that direction.  Prensky challenges us,

We need to start teaching our kids that technology is, in a great many cases, the best way to learn something, not  just a new way to do old things. Would you maintain an expensive horse in the barn in case your car breaks down?

Ask yourself: Are students engaged? Marzano‘s research tells us that student engagement is strongly influenced by what teachers do in class.  I’m not talking gadgets,  but 21st century education. So, here we go:

• Edudemic’s 50 Education Technology Tools Every Teacher Should Know About 
• Edudemic–education technology tips for students and teachers
• Edutopia’s Blended Learning: Combining Face-to-Face and Online Education 
• International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)
• Flipped Learning Network
• Flipped-Learning
• The Flipped Classroom Infographic
• Khan Academy–a not-for-profit with the goal of changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education for anyone anywhere
• LearnZillion–a learning platform that combines video lessons, assessments, and progress reporting. Each lesson highlights a Common Core standard, starting with math in grades 3-9.
• SMART Exchange–lesson plans and resources for your SMART Board
• Mobile Learning, A Genie on the Loose 
• Math Teaching Resources for K-5 Classrooms
• National Educational Technology Standards (NETS)
• NETS for Students
• NETS for Teachers
• NETS for Administrators
• Edutopia’s Technology Integration in Education
• TED–Technology, Entertainment, Design
• TED–open translation project
• TED-Ed–lessons worth sharing
• Blackboard–Blackboard is a global leader in education technology that transforms the experience of millions of students and teachers
• International Reading Association–New Literacies and 21st Century Technologies

Related blogs:

• International Women’s Day 2013
  
• Science Technology Engineering Math–STEM
  
• Common Core–Framework for the 21st  Century
  
• Tree of Life Web Project

Graphic from Flickr Creative Commons by Henriksent

The recent issue of Educational Leadership (March 2013  Vol. 70 No. 6) is chock-full of articles that challenge the way we think about learning and technology. I was especially drawn to Marc Prensky‘s article, Our Brains Extended. He asks,

Is the human brain still the smartest thing on the planet? When enhanced by technology, it is. . . Wise integration of our evolving and powerful technology demands that we rethink our curriculum.

And, I agree with him.  I think the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are a stab in that direction.  Prensky challenges us,

We need to start teaching our kids that technology is, in a great many cases, the best way to learn something, not  just a new way to do old things. Would you maintain an expensive horse in the barn in case your car breaks down?

Ask yourself: Are students engaged? Marzano‘s research tells us that student engagement is strongly influenced by what teachers do in class.  I’m not talking gadgets,  but 21st century education. So, here we go:

• Edudemic’s 50 Education Technology Tools Every Teacher Should Know About 
• Edudemic–education technology tips for students and teachers
• Edutopia’s Blended Learning: Combining Face-to-Face and Online Education 
• International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)
• Flipped Learning Network
• Flipped-Learning
• The Flipped Classroom Infographic
• Khan Academy–a not-for-profit with the goal of changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education for anyone anywhere
• LearnZillion–a learning platform that combines video lessons, assessments, and progress reporting. Each lesson highlights a Common Core standard, starting with math in grades 3-9.
• SMART Exchange–lesson plans and resources for your SMART Board
• Mobile Learning, A Genie on the Loose 
• Math Teaching Resources for K-5 Classrooms
• National Educational Technology Standards (NETS)
• NETS for Students
• NETS for Teachers
• NETS for Administrators
• Edutopia’s Technology Integration in Education
• TED–Technology, Entertainment, Design
• TED–open translation project
• TED-Ed–lessons worth sharing
• Blackboard–Blackboard is a global leader in education technology that transforms the experience of millions of students and teachers
• International Reading Association–New Literacies and 21st Century Technologies

Related blogs:

• International Women’s Day 2013
  
• Science Technology Engineering Math–STEM
  
• Common Core–Framework for the 21st  Century
  
• Tree of Life Web Project

Graphic from Flickr Creative Commons by Henriksent

Educational Leadership Vol. 70 No. 4, Common Core Now What? we’ll take a look at Math and the Common Core.  One of my all time favorite educators is Marilyn  Burns, a math guru who knows math and how to teach kids.  A classic math book I highly recommend to all math students and teachers is The I Hate Mathematics! Book, originally published in 1975.  But I digress. Ms. Burns pens the article  Go Figure: Math and the Common Core.

The CCSS for Math takes a new look at our old standards and challenges teachers (requires teachers actually)

to strengthen students’ numerical reasoning and mental math skills.  There is a two-part structure to CCSS Math: Standards for Mathematical Practice and Standards for Mathematical Content, both equally important.

Mathematical Practice is the same across all grades while Mathematical Content is particular for each grade. There are eight CCSS Standards for Math Practice:

1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
4. Model with mathematics.
5. Use appropriate tools strategically.
6. Attend to precision.
7. Look for and make use of structure.
8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

The Math Content standards define what students should understand and be able to do.  There are clusters and domains, all related, and specific to each grade level.  There is no scripted program to follow, but teachers must build on what the student has learned. 

Ms. Burns has developed the Math Reasoning Inventory (MRI), an online tool that helps teachers assess their students’ numerical proficiency. It focuses on the numerical skills and understandings required by CCSS for Math for students entering middle school. The MRI website provides, free of charge, complete instructions and support for administering these assessments with a library of over 80 videos that show students solving problems.

As with all the CCSS, the focus in Math is to “help all students develop enough mathematical expertise to be  prepared for college or the workplace.”

Related articles:

• Instigating Thinking in Math Class by Jessica Hiltabidel
• 10 Big Math Ideas by Marilyn Burns
• The Mathematics Common Core Toolbox by The University of Texas at Austin

Graphic from Flickr Creative Commons License Evelyn Saenz 

Educational Leadership Vol. 70 No. 4, Common Core Now What? we’ll take a look at Math and the Common Core.  One of my all time favorite educators is Marilyn  Burns, a math guru who knows math and how to teach kids.  A classic math book I highly recommend to all math students and teachers is The I Hate Mathematics! Book, originally published in 1975.  But I digress. Ms. Burns pens the article  Go Figure: Math and the Common Core.

The CCSS for Math takes a new look at our old standards and challenges teachers (requires teachers actually)

to strengthen students’ numerical reasoning and mental math skills.  There is a two-part structure to CCSS Math: Standards for Mathematical Practice and Standards for Mathematical Content, both equally important.

Mathematical Practice is the same across all grades while Mathematical Content is particular for each grade. There are eight CCSS Standards for Math Practice:

1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
4. Model with mathematics.
5. Use appropriate tools strategically.
6. Attend to precision.
7. Look for and make use of structure.
8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

The Math Content standards define what students should understand and be able to do.  There are clusters and domains, all related, and specific to each grade level.  There is no scripted program to follow, but teachers must build on what the student has learned. 

Ms. Burns has developed the Math Reasoning Inventory (MRI), an online tool that helps teachers assess their students’ numerical proficiency. It focuses on the numerical skills and understandings required by CCSS for Math for students entering middle school. The MRI website provides, free of charge, complete instructions and support for administering these assessments with a library of over 80 videos that show students solving problems.

As with all the CCSS, the focus in Math is to “help all students develop enough mathematical expertise to be  prepared for college or the workplace.”

Related articles:

• Instigating Thinking in Math Class by Jessica Hiltabidel
• 10 Big Math Ideas by Marilyn Burns
• The Mathematics Common Core Toolbox by The University of Texas at Austin

Graphic from Flickr Creative Commons License Evelyn Saenz 

This week, another look at the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).  Dr. Nancy N. Boyles in the Educational Leadership article, Closing in on Close Reading, Vol. 7 No. 4, states,

We can’t wait until middle school to teach students to read closely.  Three practices bring close reading to the lower grades. . . 1) use short texts, 2) aim for independence, 3) focus on observing and analyzing.

When I read Dr. Boyle’s article, I realized that close reading wasn’t new, but a re-newel of analytic reading, “Close reading means reading to uncover layers of meaning that lead to deep comprehension,”  this uncovering of layers allows the reader to  examine the meaning of the parts and relate the reading selection to other texts.

Close, analytic reading stresses engaging with a text of sufficient complexity directly and examining meaning thoroughly and methodically, encouraging students to read and reread deliberately. (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, 2011, p. 7)

Some believe that reading instruction for the past ten years has focused too heavily on strategies rather than the text. Here are Dr. Boyle’s three recommendations to engage elementary students in close reading.

1. Use Short Texts–not to abandon longer texts, but studying shorts texts is helpful if we want to enable students with a wide range of reading levels to practice closely reading demanding texts.  Traditional literature lends itself to close reading, such as folktales, legends,, myths, fables, short stories, poetry, and scenes from plays. Children’s listening comprehension outpaces their reading comprehension in the early grades, so being read to as well as independent reading can build knowledge.
2. Aim for Independence–go beyond ho-hum questions and ask a sequence of questions that will lead students more deeply into a text. Teach students to ask the questions so that students can take what they learn from the study of one text and apply it to the next text they read.
3. Focus on Observing and Analyzing–see whether students have noticed the details of a passage and can recount those details. If students can’t paraphrase the basic content of a passage, how can they dig for its deeper meaning?

Related articles:

• Literacy Implementation Guidance for the ELA Common Core State Standards, International Reading Association
• Common Core State Standards: A Tool for Improving Education, a National Education Association  policy brief
• Common Core’s Implications for  Special Ed Students, District Administration

Graphic from stunningbooks.wordpress.com

In a recent issue of Educational Leadership (Vol 69 No 6), a publication of ASCD, the focus was on reading, the core skill.  Richard L. Allington and Rachael E. Gabriel, in their article “Every Child, Every Day”, outlined six research based elements for effective reading instruction.  Allington, a member of the Reading Hall of Fame, researches and writes about reading difficulties. ”Despite good intentions, educators often make decisions about instruction that compromise or supplant the kind of experiences all children need to become engaged, successful readers.” Here are six elements of instruction Allington and Gabriel outline that children should experience daily:

1. Every child reads something he or she chooses.  The research base on student-selected reading is robust and conclusive: Students read more, understand more, and are more likely to continue reading when they have they choose what they read.
2. Every child reads accurately. Research shows reading at 98% or higher accuracy is essential for reading acceleration, below 90% accuracy doesn’t improve reading ability at all.
3. Every child reads something he or she understands. Research shows here too, that remediation that emphasizes comprehension can change the structure of struggling students’ brains. It takes lots of reading and rereading of text that students find engaging and comprehensible to enable the brain to develop the ability to read.
4. Every child writes about something personally meaningful.  Writing provides a different modality within which to practice the skills and strategies of reading for an authentic purpose.
5. Every child talks with peers about reading and writing. Research has demonstrated that conversation with peers improves comprehension and engagement with texts in a variety of settings. Even small amounts of such conversations can improve standardized test scores.
6. Every child listens to a fluent adult read aloud. Listening to an adult model fluent reading increases students’ own fluency and comprehension skills, as well as expanding their vocabulary, background knowledge, sense of story, awareness of genre and text structure, and comprehension of the texts read.  Teachers should spend a few minutes a day reading to their students.

So, how to do this?  Allington and Gabriel give us two easy suggestions: First, eliminate almost all worksheets and workbooks.  Second, ban test-preparation activities and materials from the school day. Eliminating both provides time and money to spend on the things that really matter in developing readers.