The 8 Steps Teachers can Create an Infographic

Infographics are a catchy way that present awesome visualization for key notes of lesson units.

Teachers can create their own infographics in teaching some topics or lessons in the classroom to catch the attention of the students in a creative way.

Check out the following link http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/05/eight-free-tools-for-teachers-to-make.html

5 Ways to Make the Most of Your Non-Teaching Time

Time. It's the thing every teacher needs more of, and no teacher has enough of. Whether you wish to get deeper into student data analysis or want to spend more time with your own children, no teacher has enough hours in the day to do it all. But with very careful planning of their non-teaching time, I've seen thousands of teachers get more time back in their lives. Here are the top five ways you can make the most of your limited "free" time each week:

1. Start with a Detailed Plan

Whether you map out your week digitally in Outlook like Heidi Reed or on a paper planner like Hollis Hyland, start with a plan. 

Heidi Reed's planner. (Click image to enlarge.)

Image Credit: Microsoft Outlook

Both Heidi and Hollis, middle school teachers at the same school in Washington, DC, map out their weeks the Friday prior. Yes, you heard right! The Friday before the week ahead! As they plan their weeks, Heidi and Hollis carefully consider their non-teaching time and what they want to accomplish -- both personally and professionally. This way, they head into the weekend with clear heads and way less stress.

Hollis Hyland's planner. (Click image to download a PDF.)

Image Credit: The Together Teacher

2. Batch Process Your Work

Most prep periods end up being a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and by the time you've used the restroom, filled your water bottle, and decompressed for a second . . . wait, who are those 30 children walking in the door already?

Try this instead. Look ahead at your entire week and determine which prep periods are dedicated to planning, to grading, to family contact, to student tutoring, and so on. If you do your "like items" all at once, you will get into an efficiency groove. And while you're at it, try packing your lunches for the entire week at the same time! Don't Kate from Denver's lunches look amazing?

Kate's lunch.

Photo Credit: Maia Heyck-Merlin

3. Consider Your Energy Levels

Let's be real. At the end of any teaching day, you're exhausted. Instead of staggering around your school at 4 PM in search of a cola or chocolate, become mindful of when you are capable of doing higher-level work and when you just need to check something easy off your list. Plan your lower-energy work, like data entry, quick emails, or erasing the whiteboard, for when you really just want to crash. There's just no sense in trying to write an awesome unit plan when you are dead-dog tired.

4. Bite-Size Your To-Do's

See those plans from Hollis and Heidi? See those teeny tiny to-do's, like print these documents or create those materials? Making a task specific and bite-sized helps ensure that it gets done. When to-do's are too big, they have a tendency to sit there like heavy bricks. Break it down and make it small. Yes, it will make your to-do list look longer, but it also makes it easier to take advantage of those teeny tiny five- or ten-minute pockets of time that materialize before staff meetings or when you're waiting for the copier (not to mention the satisfaction you get from all the checking and crossing off). And speaking of small pockets of time . . . 

5. Use Small Pockets of Time

Since a half-day of time to plan, grade, and analyze data is not going to magically appear any time soon, be physically prepared to use those little blocks of time that do pop up in your day. One of my favorite teachers, Sue Harmon, has two nifty tote bags packed and ready to go at all times. Her first bag is full of grading materials, including sets of essays, stickers, her grade book, and her special grading pens. At a moment's notice, she can knock out a set of papers. Her second tote is packed with planning materials, like the book for an upcoming novel unit, Common Core Standards, and diagnostic data. When she has a moment to get some planning or grading done -- voila! -- her materials are right there waiting for her. And while you're at it, make a folder of everything you need to copy, and carry it with you at all times. You never know when you may see an opening in the copy line.

Teaching is a unique (and awesome) profession that doesn't lend itself to much "work" time. It's constantly changing, and we're always "on" with other people, be they students, parents, or colleagues. It's too easy to end every day feeling like the to-do list is never done. Take advantage of the tips above to get a few minutes back in your day! 

Funny and sad

Think about it

A thought of the day

Start a Reading Revolution: Flip Your Class With Blogs

Brian zsabnik

Are kids actually reading? It's a worthwhile question. In an age when distractions seem to make readers more reluctant, one must wonder how many students actually do it.

There's evidence to support this fear. Grant Wiggins recently published a survey of a typical American high school. It found that English is students' least favorite subject, and worse, they despise reading. Here's some student feedback:

Even though the books are classics, they are very uninteresting. Almost every one of my classmates admits to never reading the books because they are so painfully boring to read . . . Also, unless the essays are written exactly how that teacher likes, you are almost always guaranteed a poor grade. You never get a chance to write in your own voice because it's so formatted and strict. No real freedom there. Overall a miserable class.

I don’t like it because all the books we read I am not interested in. Which makes it hard to read everything fully, I would rather have a choice on what books to read rather than having them choose for me.

It doesn’t have to be this way. A reading transformation can occur in your school much like it has in my classroom, replacing fear and dread with excitement and self-expression. Students will read if they choose the books. They will write with voice and clarity if they have the ability to express their thoughts. They can change from reluctant to inspired readers if it happens on their own terms. All you have to do is flip the experience, turning the practice of reading on its head by making them the creators of their own learning.

The Flip

In flipped classrooms, students watch online lectures at home so that they can engage in project-based learning during the school day. Frequently used in math and science classes, the flip has upended traditional learning as teachers spend less time lecturing and more time coaching. Students can access the teacher's help more frequently, increasing the likelihood of improvement and understanding.

But what does flipping look like in an English or reading classroom? This question troubled me because so much had been written about its use in math and science but so little attention was paid to the language arts. In many English and reading classes, students focus on one common text (like a novel) and take notes, complete worksheets, or do group work. The reading occurs at home, far away from the assistance of a teacher. The trouble is, there is no way to know for sure whether students are actually reading, let alone enjoying the experience, nor any chance to help them when they struggle.

The Solution

I realized that the traditional English experience needed to be turned upside down. Students should have an opportunity to read in class and a choice in what they read. Rather than answer teacher-generated questions on a study guide, students should be empowered to write what they want in the format they deem fit.

My flip, which I first explored two years ago, did all of these things, and created a contagious atmosphere of passionate readers. Its two cornerstones are choice and blogs. This approach has completely changed the way I teach reading, with my students repeatedly saying that it was the best and most important unit of the year.

To continue reading follow the link

http://www.edutopia.org/users/brian-sztabnik

Using Bee Bots to Develop Skills in Classrooms

I loved to share with you guys  this video on how to use Bee bots to develop skills in a creative way. . It's ideal for primary students.

Learning with Robots: Content Mastery and Social Skills

By Sam Patterson

You live in the age of robots. A robot built your car, opened your garage door, and made the espresso that went into your double mocha. In large and small ways, robots are everywhere in our lives.

The robots in my classroom amplify learning for my students. Robots are another tool in my high-engagement toolbox. I use the term high-engagement as a description and a warning. In my experience, high-engagement tools need to be matched with high-challenge learning. If we are using robots to support learning goals, the learning goals have to be robust and demanding. Without a carefully crafted learning context to support a demanding learning goal, students end up engaging the learning medium and just playing with robots.

High Engagement, Sharing, and Reflection

I start in kindergarten with Bee-Bots. They are really simple robots -- rechargeable, self-contained, and only minimally programmable. My computer science goal is to get the students comfortable with the technology, and to have them understand the relationship between the commands they input and the actions the robot takes once they press the GO button.

So how do I layer learning goals into a lesson that will keep the kids actively learning through the robots and not just playing with the robots? Beyond the simplest mechanics of programming, I focus on social skills. Sharing, turn taking, and communication are major goals for our kindergarten students. Can I get four students to work together on one robot and structure this learning in such a way that the students are building their social skills at the same time as they build their understanding of computer science and robotics?

I start planning by following the best advice available for group work -- I borrow the concept of roles within the group from literature circles. Of course, there is a great deal of adapting to do, and I think there is still some work for improvement.

When I am using the Bee-Bots in grades K and 1, the roles might look like this:

1. The Head Programmer plans the next move.
2. The Code Writer puts the command cards in order.
3. The Command Keyer keys in the commands.
4. The Debugger tracks where in the program the robot currently is and fixes any problems that arise. 

As the students work, the adults in the room observe and call out great examples when we see them. Two or three times in the course of the lesson, I will stop all the robots and ask group members to share something they learned or noticed. These reflective breaks are great because they give the students a chance to formalize their understanding and share it with each other, creating space for meta cognition and breaking up the momentum of the activity.

Learning Goals and Skill Levels

This group structure works well with the Bee-Bots because those robots are designed to navigate on a mat. The mat is big enough for four kids to sit around with equal access. My other robot of choice, the Sphero, is controlled by an app on a mobile tablet. With the Sphero, I usually have the students working in pairs. This robot's app-based control makes it challenging to actively engage more that two students at a time, but the price point on the Spheros is lower than the Bee-Bots, so while I might need more robots to engage my students in a full-class lesson, the opportunity cost is comparable.

When I am thinking about differentiation in the lesson, I don't base it on the tech skills, but on elements such as social skills or content area knowledge. For my kindergarten class, the teachers group the kids in mixed social skill groups, so that each group has a variety of social skill levels. When we pair students up to work on the Spheros, we will often group them in like skill levels. I have to note here that when you have two students who do not enjoy sharing and ask them to share an iPad and a robot, you should be ready to support those students with frequent intervention. (It's also great idea to have the iPad in a heavy-duty case that can tolerate being dropped, as well as a robot that is as tough as the Sphero.)

In addition to social learning, we connect to content with robots. We want to make sure that we have the robots moving for a reason. My first grade students have to program a robot to fly from one planet in the solar system to the next. Second graders construct two-dimensional geometric shapes by programming Spheros to draw a square, a triangle, a pentagon, and maybe even a dodecahedron. (Always prepare more challenges than you think they can meet.) As we introduce more complex programming platforms, our learning goals also become more complex -- consider the possibilities of discovering rate x time = distance instead of just practicing it.

Do you use robots to support social and content goals in your class? What could you teach through robots? Share your idea in the comments, and let's think carefully together about the best ways to teach through robots.

Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/learning-robots-content-mastery-sel-sam-patterson

A Handy Graphic of Visual Features Created to Stimulates Creativity

It includes simple ideas to inspire creativity of students. A teacher can use it as a method  to stimulate creativity her students. However, teacher should be consistent and use it every day to get desirable results.

 For more information visit this link http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2014/03/handy-visual-featuring-20-ways-to.html   

The History of Technology in Education

Hello, everyone
I found this interesting video about the history of technology in education.
Hope you like it:)