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Strategies for tailoring instruction to meet individual student needs based on readiness, interests, and learning profiles.

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Methods that involve students in the learning process through activities like think-pair-share, group discussions, and hands-on tasks.

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As a middle school English teacher, I incorporated plenty of group work into my instruction. I did it for a number of reasons. Sometimes it was because a task seemed like a natural fit for cooperative learning, like days when I wanted students to brainstorm ideas together. Other times it was just to mix things up and do something different. And then there was the "fewer grades" principle: If I had 120 students and I gave an assignment to groups of four, that meant I would only have to grade 30 final products, rather than 120.

It didn't always go well, though.

Student contributions were uneven. Some groups were better at staying on task than others. A lot of time got wasted. Personalities conflicted. Absences created logistical headaches. Not only did I observe these problems as a teacher, I had also experienced them plenty of times as a participant in group projects. I was the classic "just let me do it all" person: Sensing early on in most situations that other group members weren't going to add much value, I ended up taking on most of the work myself.

Despite it all, I never quite gave up on cooperative learning as a teacher. Not only did I believe in its inherent value-that as humans, we need regular practice in working together on things-but I knew that research said it was a good thing. At least, I was pretty sure it did.

As I talk with teachers about this, I'm finding that my experiences have been fairly typical: Many of us want to use cooperative learning in our classrooms, but we wish we could get it to work better. So I went in search of answers by taking a look at the research and asking for help in this tweet and this one.

And now I have the answers to two questions.

First, Is cooperative learning worth it? What does the research say? Beyond academic research, are there philosophical, "human" reasons we should keep taking it on?

Second, How do we solve some of the most common problems with cooperative learning? After seeking input from scores of teachers and mining my own experiences, I've settled on a list of four of the most pressing issues with cooperative learning. For each one, I'll share some of the most effective solutions coming from practicing classroom teachers and organizations that have developed formal systems for collaborative work.

Let's begin.

Is Cooperative Learning Worth It?

If most of the cooperative learning we implement only gives us lukewarm results, it makes sense to ask if we should even bother. Why not just have students work alone all the time?

What the Research Says

I'm going to keep this brief: Rather than dig through piles of studies on cooperative learning, I found one big overview of decades of research that has been done on the subject (Gillies, 2016).

Here's the big takeaway: In general, when students work together, they make greater academic and social gains than when they compete against one another or when they work individually. But merely putting students into groups is not enough to realize these gains. To be effective, cooperative work needs to be structured so that it embodies five key components:

positive interdependence: Group members must work together to achieve a common goal.

individual accountability: Each member is responsible for doing his or her part.

promotive interaction: Group members help, support, and encourage each other.

effective interpersonal skills: Students are taught how to communicate, solve problems, and resolve conflict effectively.

group processing: Groups are given time to reflect on how well their group functioned and to make plans for improvement.

Beyond Research: Why Cooperative Learning Matters in the 21st Century

Apart from the academic and social gains cooperative learning has offered for generations, we now find ourselves in an era where it may be more essential than ever before.

For one thing, it gives students practice in the kind of skills that are becoming more desirable in the workplace. P21's Framework for 21st Century Learning includes collaboration as one of its essential skills. As manufacturing is automated and information can be obtained with a few clicks, higher-level skills like communication, creativity, and collaboration are more valued-these are skills computers can't really replicate. The work of human beings is going to involve more and more of those kinds of skills in professional spaces, higher education, and community life.

On a deeper level, we need cooperative learning because technology is really starting to limit our face-to-face communication. Even when we're in school together, we are on devices so much of the time. This can be wonderful and efficient, and it offers so many more opportunities to expose ourselves to new ideas, but it is stunting our ability to have regular conversations and robbing us of all the gifts that come with those interactions. Giving students regular opportunities to share physical space and actually talk through complex problems is a gift they may not get anywhere else, so yes, it's worth it.

Four Common Problems with Cooperative Learning

Problem 1: Student contributions are uneven; sometimes vastly uneven.

It came as no surprise to me that this was the most frequently mentioned drawback teachers experience with cooperative learning. This problem shows up in different ways: The academically strong students end up doing all the work, while others slack off or give up because they can't find a way in. Or maybe students contribute an equal amount, but they don't actually work together; instead, they just divide up the work, then copy off each other's papers.

Unfortunately, many teachers assume this problem is caused by students not wanting to work together, but I think it often comes down to two larger issues: First, students haven't been taught collaborative skills. And second, the task has not been structured for true collaboration.

Solving this problem is not simple or one-dimensional. It will most likely require several different approaches: explicitly teaching collaborative skills, using some type of structure so that roles and procedures are more clearly defined, and setting norms and expectations ahead of time.

Explicitly teach collaborative skills.
If students are going to do good collaborative work, they need to be explicitly taught collaborative skills.

Teach these skills in the same way that you'd teach academic material. Do role-plays, model the behavior you want to see, do demonstrations of what not to do. If needed, re-teach the skills throughout the year. Do not assume students have already been taught how to collaborate or that they should know better. Chances are very good that neither of these are true.

Train students on collaborative skills by working on shorter, easier projects at first, then have students reflect on how well they collaborated. Only have them tackle a bigger project after they have mastered the collaboration skills.

If you're going to teach collaborative skills, you need to identify what the skills are. One great set of resources comes from PBLWorks, where you can download rubrics for assessing collaborative work. Whether you use the rubrics to actually perform assessment or not, they can help you identify the skills needed for effective collaboration.

Use cooperative structures.
In my own classroom, I rarely did anything to actually structure group work. I was barely aware that formal structures existed for this type of thing. Since then I have learned that quite a few of these have been developed to provide a framework for collaborative tasks. To implement most of these well, some training or professional development will likely be necessary. Some of the structures that were recommended by teachers are listed here:

Team-Based Learning
Learn More
Popular in medical schools but applicable for K-12, this method groups students into heterogeneous teams that stay the same over the course of a whole semester. It includes steps that ensure each team member has prepared ahead of group work with pre-reading and other tasks, and has built-in structures for individual accountability. Team-Based Learning seems to be most appropriate for courses where students are expected to demonstrate learning of and think critically about a large body of content.

Agile Project Management
Learn More
This approach to managing large, complex projects comes from the world of software development. It breaks large projects into shorter cycles, where parts of the project are developed and then assessed for quality so the team can make changes as they go. Two of Agile's most well-known formats are Kanban and Scrum, which is now available in a version made specifically for schools called eduScrum. Agile seems most appropriate for project-driven courses, where students need to come up with creative solutions to problems, rather than courses driven more by knowledge acquisition.

POGIL (Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning)
Learn More
This structure is most often used in science courses, but can be done in other content areas as well. In assigned, self-managed teams, students are given specific roles to carry out as they work through an activity designed to deepen their understanding of the content. Just like with Team-Based Learning, this seems to be best suited for courses that are more content-driven than those that focus on individual creativity or skills.

Kagan Cooperative Learning Structures
Learn More
Dr. Spencer Kagan's work on cooperative learning has been a teacher go-to for decades, giving us structures like Quiz-Quiz-Trade and Numbered Heads Together. The company offers professional development and lots of other resources, but probably the best (and most affordable) place to start would be with their book, Kagan Cooperative Learning, which provides a full overview of the structures and how they work. These are appropriate for all content areas and grade levels, but the artwork of the site and book suggests they are geared more toward grades K-8.

Solve in Time
Learn More
This structure was created to help teams solve problems with a design thinking approach. Students work through steps of clearly defining a problem, researching and understanding it, coming up with a solution, then sharing it.

Jigsaw
Learn More
This strategy isn't necessarily designed for projects, but rather for having students learn a discrete body of information together. Each group member is tasked with learning a chunk of the material, then teaching it to the rest of the group.

Establish norms and expectations ahead of time.
Rather than solve problems only when they come up, many teachers have students create group contracts before starting work. Developed with input from all group members, contracts outline members' expectations and describe how students will respond when problems arise. These resources can help you get started with developing contracts:

Problem 2: Interpersonal conflicts interfere with productivity.

Sometimes students just can't get along well enough to work together. These conflicts sometimes exist prior to a group's formation; students may have a history with one another that has nothing to do with your class. Personal problems can also arise after group work starts, as students discover personality traits that create irritation or conflict.

These kinds of conflicts should not be treated lightly. When students don't feel socially or emotionally comfortable with other group members, they won't be willing to take the kinds of risks that are necessary for learning. In a 2-year study, Google interviewed hundreds of its employees to determine what qualities made some teams more successful than others. They identified 5 key traits, and the one they said was most important was psychological safety. Similarly, a 2017 University of Washington study reported that students who "felt more comfortable" in their group showed a 27% increase in content mastery over those who did not (Theobald, Eddy, Grunspan, Wiggins, & Crowe, 2017).

Here are some ways teachers have optimized interpersonal dynamics in groups:

Start with team-building. For teams that will stay together for more than a class period, it's worth it to delay the academic work at first and focus on building the team relationship. One way to do this is through team-building games and activities. The website Playmeo has lots of these you can try.

Survey students ahead of time. Before creating groups, have students complete a form indicating which classmates they would prefer to work with and if there are any they would rather not. Recognize that for some students, the reasons for not wanting to work together could run deep with painful memories; do not dismiss preferences as students "just wanting to work with their friends."

Survey students during group work. Some teachers have students complete daily reflection sheets where they indicate how well they felt their group worked together that day. These can help you detect problems early on so they can be addressed right away.

Work with students to problem-solve. In some cases, rearranging groups or allowing some students to work independently may be the most logical solution. But at other times, the teacher can work with students who struggle in groups to develop better social and collaborative skills.

Elementary teacher Erin Gannon used some of the above solutions with a student whose dominant personality and poor impulse control made others ask to not be grouped with her. Gannon worked with the student one on one to practice strategies for giving others more opportunity to lead. She also talked privately with the other group members.

"We ALL came up with a plan together for what would happen if she started to 'feel prickly,'" Gannon says. "(The student) wasn't perfect but they genuinely cheered her on when she had good days. It took a lot of work but I would have devoted the same attention to an academic need. She was an excellent student, very sweet, with great leadership abilities, but that trouble working with others could really have hurt her down the road. I think my other students really needed to better understand the situation and not just shun her. If students are working in teams there should be a sense that we are all responsible for each other's success. Empowering them to be part of the solution is pretty powerful."

Problem 3: Off-task behavior wastes time.

Whether it's excessive talking, inappropriate device use, or general fooling around, a lot of cooperative time can be wasted when students just aren't doing the work they're supposed to be doing. Here are some ways to tackle this problem:

Do check-ins. Establish specific tasks or benchmarks that groups need to complete and show you when they're done. Breaking the larger project into smaller tasks not only keeps everyone moving, it can also tell you which groups are starting to fall behind the others. These check-ins can be required for individuals or for whole groups. Some teachers assign points or grades for these to add extra incentive.

Use a timer. Several teachers said that setting a timer for the completion of certain tasks helped keep groups on track.

Look at the assignment. Students may have trouble focusing on the task because it doesn't really engage them. Maybe it's not personally meaningful to them, maybe it's too easy, maybe it's too confusing. Any of these shortcomings can make it much more difficult for students to stay on task, and no matter how many checks you put in place, if it's an uninspired or poorly designed assignment you'll be fighting an uphill battle.

Problem 4: Student absences can throw everything off.

Ideally, all group members will be present for the whole lifespan of a project. But things happen, and the longer the project, the more likely you are to have absent students. One missed day is usually not a big deal, but if a student misses multiple work days when the group should be actively collaborating, it becomes much harder for that person to make an equal contribution. Here are some ways teachers have found to work around this issue:
Plan ahead.

Design projects where some components require all group members' participation, but others are done by individuals and might even be considered "like to have" rather than "must have." That way if one person is unable to do their part, that part can just be dropped without impacting the whole project.

Make sure roles and responsibilities are clearly defined ahead of time for each student so that the "work" doesn't just get pushed around randomly. If a student is absent for a few days, it's clear what they need to do to catch up, and if they are unable to do it, the other group members can decide who takes on their tasks.

If students set goals together and include contingencies for absences in a group contract, then there will already be an agreed-upon plan to put into action.

Leverage technology.

Have students use a platform like a shared Google Drive or a HyperDoc for keeping all project materials in one cloud-accessible place. As long as the absentee has home internet access and is well enough to work, he or she can keep at it from home.

Some teachers allow groups to use Skype, Facetime, or Google Hangouts to video chat with the missing group member during regular class time.

If live video chat isn't an option, students could still document their meeting with video and share that with the absent student later.

Course correct.
If a student's absence lasts long enough to impact the group and the above solutions aren't working, the teacher may redistribute the workload among remaining members, remove the student from the group, and give that student an individual assignment to replace the group task. If you spell this out in the contract and/or rubric ahead of time, the process should be fairly straightforward.

A Few More Tips

Don't send work home. Because home environments vary so greatly and students have different access to materials, transportation, etc., it's best to keep all collaborative work in the classroom. Moreover, expecting students to meet outside of class time, especially if they are younger and don't have their own transportation, will automatically create problems within groups and from group to group.

Keep groups to 3-4 students. This seems to be the general consensus from expert readings to talking with individual teachers. Once a group gets larger than 4 it becomes easier for students to slip through the cracks.

Check out collaborative tech. While many schools are already using Google's collaborative tools, other tools have collaboration features that you may not be aware of. Some are built specifically for collaboration and project management, like Trello, Asana, Kanbanchi, and Slack. Other tools like Wakelet for curation and Canva for graphic design allow students to collaborate on projects from anywhere they have internet access.

The bottom line is this: If cooperative learning hasn't really worked for you in the past, don't lose hope. There are so many people out there who have come up with fantastic ways to get it right, so pick yourself and your students back up, try some of the stuff we've covered here, and see if you can make it better next time.

References:

Gillies, R. M. (2016). Cooperative learning: Review of research and practice. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 41(3). Retrieved from https://ro.ecu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2902&context=ajte

Theobald, E.J., Eddy, S.L., Grunspan, D.Z., Wiggins, B.L., & Crowe, A.J. (2017). Student perception of group dynamics predicts individual performance: Comfort and equity matter. PLOS One, 12(7): e0181336. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181336

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Solutions for four of the most common problems with collaboration.

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Ongoing assessments used to monitor student progress and inform instruction.

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10 Benefits Of Formative Assessments | Edsembli

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Are you wondering whether or not formative assessments are beneficial for students and educators? Here are ten of their most prominent benefits.

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Tools for evaluating student learning at the end of an instructional unit.

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Assessment methods should help the instructor answer the questions, "How do I know the required learning has taken place? What might I need to modify about the course to best support student learning?"

Information about student learning can be assessed through both direct and indirect measures. Direct measures may include homework, quizzes, exams, reports, essays, research projects, case study analysis, and rubrics for oral and other performances. Examples of indirect measures include course evaluations, student surveys, course enrollment information, retention in the major, alumni surveys, and graduate school placement rates.

Approaches to measuring student learning

Methods of measuring student learning are often characterized as summative or formative assessments:

Summative assessments - tests, quizzes, and other graded course activities that are used to measure student performance. They are cumulative and often reveal what students have learned at the end of a unit or the end of a course. Within a course, summative assessment includes the system for calculating individual student grades.

Formative assessment  - any means by which students receive input and guiding feedback on their relative performance to help them improve. It can be provided face-to-face in office hours, in written comments on assignments, through rubrics, and through emails.

Formative assessments can be used to measure student learning on a daily, ongoing basis. These assessments reveal how and what students are learning during the course and often inform next steps in teaching and learning. Rather than asking students if they understand or have any questions, you can be more systematic and intentional by asking students at the end of the class period to write the most important points or the most confusing aspect of the lecture on index cards. Collecting and reviewing the responses provides insight into what themes students have retained and what your next teaching steps might be. Providing feedback on these themes to students gives them insight into their own learning.

You can also ask students to reflect and report on their own learning. Asking students to rate their knowledge about a topic after taking your course as compared to what they believe they knew before taking your course is an example.

Considerations for Measuring Student Learning

As you develop methods for assessing your students consider:

including indirect and direct assessments as well as formative and summative assessments

evaluating whether or not the assessment aligns directly with a learning outcome

ensuring the measurement is sustainable and reasonable in terms of time and resources, both for the students and the instructors (e.g., grading, response time, and methods). To estimate the time that students need to complete different assignments, see the Rice University workload calculator

using a mid-semester student survey, such as the CTI's Mid-Semester Feedback Program, a great way to gather feedback on what students are learning and what is helping them learn

using the results of the assessments to improve the course. Examples include revising course content in terms of depth vs. breadth, realignment between goals and teaching methods, employment of more appropriate assessment methods, or effective incorporation of learning technologies

Getting started with measuring student learning

At the course level, it is helpful to review course assignments and assessments by asking:

What are the students supposed to get out of each assessment?

How are the assessments aligned with learning outcomes?

What is its intrinsic value in terms of:

Knowledge acquired?

Skill development?

Values clarification?

Performance attainment?

How are homework and problem sets related to exams?

How are the exams related to each other?

What other forms of assessment (besides exams) can be used as indicators of student learning?

If writing assignments are used, are there enough of them for students to develop the requisite skills embedded in them?

How is feedback on student work provided to help students improve?

Are the assessments structured in a way to help students assess their own work and progress?

Does the assignment provide evidence of an outcome that was communicated? Is the evidence direct or indirect?

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Assessment methods should help the instructor answer the questions, "How do I know the required learning has taken place? What might I need to modify about the course to best support student learning?" Information about student learning can be assessed through both direct and indirect measures.

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A breakdown of Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) to identify key concepts and skills.

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This site will provide you with information on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), which are the state standards for what students should know and be able to do.

TEKS Review and Revision

The State Board of Education (SBOE) has legislative authority to adopt the TEKS for each subject of the required curriculum. SBOE members nominate educators, parents, business and industry representatives, and employers to serve on TEKS review committees. The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills Review by Subject area web page provides information regarding the SBOE's process and current and previous reviews. Subscribe to updates from TEA.

The following link will provide information for the TEKS by subject area review:

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills by Chapter

The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) are listed below in two different formats, a web-based version of the standards and a PDF version of the standards. Click on the link below to access the web version (Web) of the standards or a PDF version (PDF) of the standards. Please note that the web-version of the standards may contain more than one page.

TEKS-Related Documents

The following links provide access to TEKS-related documents:

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills by Grade Level (Elementary)

The following documents provide the elementary TEKS compiled by grade level:

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This site will provide you with information on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), which are the state standards for what students should know and be able to do. The State Board of Education (SBOE) has legislative authority to adopt the TEKS for each subject of the required curriculum.

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Visuals or documents outlining behavior expectations and routines.

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It's only been three days since school has started and so much has already taken place. In reality, it feels like three non-stop days of meetings and teaching. Many teachers are recharging this weekend to begin again on Monday. After reflecting on the last few days of school, I'm now starting to plan specific learning opportunities for next week.

Many community building activities were emphasized this past week. My class created classroom rules during the first day of school. This year I created the rules with my class and they are now posted on a bulletin board. Most research that I've read indicates that when students are part of the creation of the rules, they are more willing to take ownership and model the rules in the classroom throughout the school year.

Here's the rule creation process that I used this year:

Each student is given one Post-it note

The students are asked to not write their name on the Post-it

Each student writes down one rule that they think would benefit the classroom

I collect the Post-it notes and read each one to the class

If any student doesn't agree with a rule they may communicate why it shouldn't be a rule

The class "approves" each rule through consensus

After all of the rules have been read, the class starts to categorize the rules (since we can't have 23 unique rules!)

After categorizing each Post-it, my classroom rules look like this:

Respect Yourself and Others

The rules are posted on a poster in the classroom

Students place their signature on the poster and then each individual Post-it note is placed around the poster (like a border)

I (and often students) refer to the poster to reinforce classroom expectations throughout the year

I've found that this callaborative activity encourages students to participate in creating a positive classroom environment. It also provides students an opportunity to be responsible for creating the ground rules for the classroom. This activity gives students ownership and slightly shifts responsibility from the teacher to the student. Detailed directions for this activity are located here. Practical examples of this strategy can be found below.

The names in the above photo have been blurred. Having students sign the rules often encourages accountability.

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Image by Federico Stevanin It's only been three days since school has started and so much has already taken place. In reality, it feels like three non-stop days of meetings and teaching. Many teachers are recharging this weekend to begin again on Monday. After reflecting on the last few days of school, I'm now starting...

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A tool for tracking interactions with families to ensure consistent communication.

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A personal statement outlining your beliefs about teaching and learning.

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A curated list of go-to websites for lesson ideas, research, or collaboration.

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Teachers of Tomorrow wants to recognize the most respected education and teaching blogs of this generation. These blogs are consistently updated and focus on education's current events, technology, creative strategies, valuable resources, as well as personal experiences.

After reviewing hundreds of educational blogs, we found created a list of the top 50. These blogs contain indispensable content, out-of-the-box classroom ideas, thought-provoking insights, and entertaining media as a whole. If you are looking for awesome concepts to use in the classroom or even at home, we strongly suggest that you check out our exclusive rundown of the best teacher websites of 2023.

The sites are in no particular order, but we did organize them by site type:

Education and Learning Blogs

A comprehensive resource for project-based learning,
social/emotional learning, comprehensive
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Contact: Nora Fleming, Editor

Twitter: @norafleming1

Technology, teaching strategies, and classroom management - this blog has these all covered. Every week, new content is published about using technology and practical teaching strategies. This blog also provides ways to utilize classroom resources to build stronger relationships with students.

Contact: Annie Condron, Author

Twitter: @anniecondron

Library Stuff

A law librarian's weblog that shares
daily bits of education news, current state, conferences, periodicals, and tons of other information that can be exhausted for professional development. Stay in the loop with the latest updates on education by subscribing to this personal teacher website.

Contact: Steven Cohen, Author

Twitter: @librarystuff

Education News Websites

An all-in-one ed blog that compiles teaching resources and tools, strategies and ideas, fun student activities, good books and authors, as well as updates ed news in a single setting. The website also provides amazing devices for new and experienced teachers alike.

Contact: Alexander Russo, Author

Twitter: @alexanderrusso

For passionate educators, EdWeek offers daily news and fantastic advice on addressing everyday classroom scenarios. Browsing this blog will provide you with easy access to e-books, professional development kits, and links to follow-worthy blogs related to education.

Contact: Ryan Lanier, Marketing Manager

LinkedIn: @ryan-lanier-92111710

Need daily updates of technology and innovation? Look no further! In addition to brilliant featured articles, eSchool News also features tons of teacher resources, classroom improvement ideas, and professional development tools for avid educators.

Contact: Meris Stansbury, Editorial Director

LinkedIn: @MerisCCI

AEIdeas is more than just an ordinary public policy blog. It's a multifunctional website, featuring works of valued authors in education. Follow AEIdeas to stay in-tune with the latest education news, innovation, reforms, events, and opportunities for career development.

Contact: Megan Cahill, Media Relations and Marketing

Showcasing in-depth journalism at a whole new level, The Hechinger Report deals with the latest innovation and everyday issues on education and academics. The website tackles a plethora of timely topics including blended learning, early education, higher education, high school reform, teacher preparation, and so much more.

Contact: Liz Willen, Editor

Twitter: @L_willen

A delegated learning website that
supports creative expression, civic engagement, and problem solving by means of multimedia, digital devices, experiential activities, and professional tools in education. It also features noteworthy articles about Arts, Post-Secondary ESL, Science, and News & Civics.

Contact: Christina Reagan

Twitter: @KQEDedspace

An education policy and politics blog composed by Andrew J. Rotherham, the Co-founder and Partner at Bellwether Education Partners. It is open for collaboration with guest authors who are passionate about policies and politics in the broad field of education.

Contact: Andrew J. Rotherham

Education and Tech Blogs

This site started as a technology and learning magazine in prints, but now has taken publication to new heights! Providing an all-in-resource for school administrators, teachers, and students. It allows them to manage, educate, and learn using the website's cutting-edge information.

Contact: Kevin Hogan, Author

Twitter: @techlearning

Lucy Gray designed her blog to inspire today's educators. Here, she shares not only ideas and resources, but also downloadable PDFs and multiple useful links for the savvy teacher. Plus, you'll get easy access to her YouTube workshop by joining in!

Contact: Lucy Gray

Twitter: @elemenous

This blog provides you with a wide selection of useful education-related information, ranging from Math tools, Social Studies and Sciences, reading, writing, educational technology, and new teaching strategies. You will also get instant updates on the latest events and workshops for professional advancement.

Contact: Monica Burns

Twitter: @ClassTechTips

Kelly Tenkely's purpose of creating this edutech weblog is to create education opportunities based on how it can and should be. In addition to updates on her everyday journey as a teacher, she also lets readers to take part in tips on integrating technology in the classroom for more effective education.

Contact: Kelly Tenkely, Author

Twitter: @ktenkely

This high school math teachers blog is perfect for techie and learning addicts like himself. The Author is passionate about making lessons feel like play. Learn about tips on using technology, making creative project ideas, and how to transform monotonous lessons into dynamic and fun-filled discussions.

Contact: Stacey Roshan

Twitter: @buddyxo

A blog owned by a commerce and information technology teacher that aims to implement technology in classrooms all over the world. Her blog highlights her recent collaborations in the ed industry, newest projects, guest blog posts, as well as the latest presentations she has participated with.

Contact: Anne Mirtschin, Author

Twitter: @murcha

This blog targets schools and teachers who are new to educational technology. Various topics are covered such as educational website/app tutorials, EdTech lesson ideas, class management technology, and tons of other useful tools.

Contact: Neil Jarrett, Author

Twitter: @edtechneil

An incredible resource for updates on educational technology news and reviews. This teacher website also contains a full load of ingenious lesson plans/strategies for incorporating technology in everyday classrooms and helping teachers to easily incorporate technology into the curriculum.

Contact: Michael Karlin, Author

Twitter: @etroundup

A jam-packed reference guide
specializing in AT hardware and software solutions to address several areas including communication, writing, organization, reading and multimedia for special needs students. The ed blog is written for both general and SPED teachers looking for ways to increase students' awareness on using technology devices for learning.

Contact: Brian Friedlander, Author

Twitter: @assistivetek

A blog created and maintained by an instructional technology specialist based in Central Philadelphia. The site is dedicated to sharing innovative teaching strategies using digital media and the latest technology devices to further engage students and provide a millennial educational experience.

Contact: Jamie Forshey, Author

Twitter: @edutech20

A tech integrator's avenue for disclosing classroom management tips, classroom and technology integration ideas, non-conformal teaching techniques, imaginative student project ideas, and loads of other tech resources that both parents and teachers can use, whether at home or in school.

Contact: Matt Bergman, Author

Twitter: @mattbergman14

This news and technology blog designed by a teacher based in Oslo, Norway. The website combines a myriad of fantastic resources for getting more creative at drafting lesson plans, incorporating technology in the classroom, as well as improving teaching in general.

Contact: Ann Michaelsen, Author

Twitter: @annmic

Teacher Websites

A weblog written and edited by a speaker, author, and learning evangelist who aims to help educators and school administrators better understand social media and technology through a humorous learning approach. Learn more through his articles, interviews, and philosophies on the future of education.

Contact: Steven W. Anderson, Author

Twitter: @web20classroom

An influential teacher's blog provided by deputy headteacher working in an inner-city school in London, UK. Sink your teeth into real-world tips on teaching, training, resources, books, articles, and creating lesson plans. Stay updated with the latest ed news and policies through this site.

Contact: Ross McGill, Author

Twitter: @teachertoolkit

A teacher's journal presenting his daily experiences in learning and leading in education. Focused on innovative teaching and learning, the author has also published inspiring books and shared viable resources covering effective teacher-student relationships, visionary leadership, leading a learning community, revamping professional learning, and loads more.

Contact: George Couros

Twitter: @gcouros

An encouraging teacher blog that shares inspiration, ideas, and support for those in the field of education. Featured in prominent media outlets such as Forbes and The Washington Post. Cool Cat Teacher shares cool teaching secrets, technology utilization ideas, education trends, and a multitude of cool stuff for keen teachers.

Contact: Vicki Davis

Twitter: @coolcatteacher

A Texas principal's medium for sharing views about on educational leadership, effective technology integration, best practices, and creating a student-centered learning culture. It also boasts his innovative approach to teaching, and how to adapt relevant methods to capture lasting student engagement.

Contact:Eric Sheninger

Twitter: @E_Sheninger

A teacher's blog that focuses on modern learning and schooling. The blog's main mission is to orient educators and schools in terms of technology, learning and everything in between. Will Richardson invites you to join in his wonderful journey of teaching and inspiring future educators.

Contact: Will Richardson

Twitter: @willrich45

A nerdy teacher's guide to everything education and techie. Learn to become an improved leader, learner, and teacher by browsing through these nerdy articles, which give out tips and ideas to maintain student interest and engagement.

Contact: Nicholas Provenzano

Twitter: @thenerdyteacher

A blog maintained by Kathy Schrock, an instructional technology specialist and retired public library librarian. She also authored over a hundred education and technology articles and multiple books about educational technology. Kaffeeklatsch offers a perfect place for learning and chatting about anything related to education.

Contact: Kathy Schrock

Twitter: @kathyschrock

The site is developed by Dr. Wesley Fryer, a speaker, author, and teacher in Oklahoma City. Blog is created to digitally document his journey and collaboration with educators and learning enthusiasts across the globe. His main interest is using media creatively to help students in learning.

Contact: Dr. Wesley Fryer

Twitter: @wfryer

A teacher's multi-functional website, containing a plethora of useful tools regarding educational books, writing, reading, math and science, technology and so much more. The blog is an awesome resource for new teachers, especially those employed in preschool and elementary levels.

Contact: Melissa Taylor

Twitter: @imaginationsoup

Edited by Dr. Inger Mewburn, the blog focuses on all things related to the creation of school thesis. It contains editorial guidelines, useful resources, and also workshops and training opportunities for graduating students. Dr. Mewburn is the Director of research training at the Australian National University.

Contact: Inger Mewburn

Twitter: @thesiswhisperer

A preschool teacher's journal for sharing her daily route towards learning and growing as an educator. Discover DIYs, fun classroom activities, and tons of other helpful resources covering topics such as literacy, STEM, art, sensory play, and motor skills.

Contact: Deborah J. Stewart

Twitter: @teach_preschool

The Jose Vilson is a site drafted by an activist, author,
speaker, and a teacher rolled into one. He teaches math in middle school in New York, NY. His website covers a plethora of great topics, including education, resources, writing, and the list goes on.

Contact: Jose Vilson

Twitter: @thejlv

A blog inspired by a community of teachers who want the best for themselves and their students. The website Provides you with valuable teaching tips, lesson plans, and classroom activity ideas such as dramatic play and learning workshops.

Contact: Vanessa Levin

Twitter: @prekpages

A journal on modern education, including tips, techniques, and classroom ideas for today's techie educators. Sam usually posts about programming, technology, STEM education, language arts, creative classroom projects, curriculum, student programs, student behavior, and other teaching-related concepts.

Contact: Sam Patterson

Twitter: @sampatue

Ira is passionate about linking conceptual and historical research with real, on-the-ground, investigation and using best practices to create a unique perspective at educational systems, whether formal or informal. In this blog, he shares enlightening insights about education, technology, and school reforms.

Contact: Ira David Socol

Twitter: @irasocol

Darcy's blog emphasizes on learning, leadership, education, schooling, teaching, digital technologies, edutech, books, literature, travel, genealogy, music, photography, citizen science and the impact of social media to students of this generation. Darcy is a father, a traveler, and a deputy principal at NSW Department of Education and Communities.

Contact: Darcy Moore

Twitter: @darcy1968

An online learning specialist's avenue for sharing new topics concerning online educational media. The blog discusses passion in spreading knowledge, learning, and interaction. The website also shares good leads to books, publications, presentations, newsletters, and articles that educators might find useful in their profession.

Contact: Stephen Downes

Twitter: @downes

A teacher resources website
containing ideas and time-saving resources for busy teachers. Laura's posts consist mainly of teacher hacks, fun activities for kids, professional development insights, student engagement, making connections, and other fun ideas. Laura is an author and teacher based in Fayetteville, NC.

Contact: Laura Candler

Twitter: @lauracandler

An edublog involving a teacher's fun experiences with six-year-olds in a school in Saskatchewan, Canada. Ms. Cassidy invites you to join the joy and excitement of learning through her Twitter feed and daily activities with her jolly and super curious students.

Contact: Kathy R. Cassidy

Twitter: @mscassidysclass

Sheryl's blog revolves around playful learning, mainly for little kids in preschool and nursery. Get exclusive tips, activity concepts, themes, and helpful content aimed at teachers, preschoolers and toddlers for more effective education at the early stage of development.

Contact: Sheryl Cooper

Twitter: @tch2and3yearold

A psychology-themed blog written by a Chartered Psychologist and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. Most of his articles discuss teaching theories, learning concepts, education-related research, emotional issues of youth, learning determination, resilience, and general mental health.

Contact: Marc Smith

Twitter: @PsychologyMarc

Parent-Friendly Websites

It's more than just a teachers' website. It's a blog created to promote learning, critical thinking, effective teaching strategies, as well as valuable content for parents. Take an in-depth look at timely education topics and significant advice on professional growth.

Contact: Terry Heick

A writer's website encompassing piles of helpful links for today's educators. Browse through collection of respected blogs of organizations and teachers or scroll through a comprehensive rundown of the best online resources that are not only for teachers, but also for dedicated parents.

Contact: Joanne Jacobs

Twitter: @joanneleejacobs

An educator's blog containing fun children themes and activities that teachers and parents can use in the classroom or at home. Obtain interesting concepts for dealing with preschool and kindergarten students using Darla's tips. With blissful and colorful themes, you'd surely get more attention and participation from your students.

Contact: Darla Hutson

Twitter: @pschooltoolbox

EdReform Websites

An information-packed website that delivers the latest news on educational opportunities, economic outcomes, and innovation. The team is actively working to expand educational opportunities so everyone may achieve the American dream. Its mantra is to combine innovation and opportunity to achieve positive results.

Contact: Jeanne Allen

Twitter: @edreform

An excellence-focused website concentrating on school reforms and its changes over the years. ExcelinEd is created to encourage student readiness for university and careers so that students will be able to succeed in this modern and fast-changing world.

Contact: Kristin Lock

An ESL teacher's blog that includes a compilation of the latest stories in education news and politics. Updated daily by Arthur Goldstein. If you're subscribed to this blog It's impossible to miss anything big, notable, or life-changing happening in NYC.

Contact: Arthur Goldstein

Twitter: @teacherarthurg

Edvocate aspires to make education policy shifts to improve students quality of education and learning opportunities. The team strongly calls for a relatively radical and comprehensive reform of America's education system.

Contact: Matthew Lynch

Twitter: @Lynch39083

Want To Become A Teacher?

Check out our how to become a teacher expert guide, and get started with our state approved programs.

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Top 50 Teacher Websites for Seriously Dedicated Educators [2017]

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We've ranked the top 50 teacher websites based on content, post frequency, and post quality. These exceptional blogs made it to our exclusive list.

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Objectives that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

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A student-centered approach where learners explore questions and problems, fostering critical thinking and discovery.

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Tools and platforms that enhance learning through digital means (e.g., simulations, interactive whiteboards, apps).

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We spoke to hundreds of educators and sifted through more than 500 comments to hear about what math tools they found helpful and unhelpful during remote learning this spring, and which are making the cut to use in the new school year.

Math Skills Practice

A number of math apps and online tools can help students develop the necessary foundational understanding of arithmetic operations they'll need as a baseline for more challenging math problems later on, math teachers told us.

To help younger students practice skills like counting, addition, and subtraction, Ashley Blackwelder, an elementary STEAM coordinator in South Carolina, highly recommends Moose Math, a free app for iPhones and iPads. In Moose Math, students play math games that earn them points to help build a town. Blackwelder says the format is easy for kids to navigate and great for short attention spans.

Curriculum and instructional designer Cassie Tabrizi recommended Happy Numbers (pre-K-grade 5), a subscription-based website ($14.50 per student or $1,450 per site for first-time schools) that breaks down mathematical equations to help students build understanding of higher-order math concepts. To use it, students transform into a dinosaur character and solve math problems to hatch dinosaur eggs. Tabrizi said that the website is helpful, but she recommends using it in moderation: It can feel tedious for students if they practice longer than 10 minutes a day.

Students fight monsters in the persona of a wizard in Prodigy (grades 1-8), a free game-based website (also available as an app for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and Android). Prodigy is loved by kids, but less so by educators because it is more play based. Brittney Paige, a fifth-grade teacher in Seattle, says that even though it is more of a game, she likes that it automatically targets math concepts that students struggled with in its preassessment and tracks how much progress they make on target areas. Most teachers offer Prodigy as an option for students if they finish an assignment early.

Zearn (grades 1-5), a free, self-paced, web-based program aligned with Eureka Math-a free pre-K through 12 math curriculum-starts a typical lesson with fun warm-up activities, like adding up how many apples a cartoon fox eats, to engage students. As they work through the program, students complete timed arithmetic problems, watch instructional videos on new concepts, and solve practice problems. Shannon McGrath, an instructional coach in Western Springs, Illinois, says that Zearn is good "high-level, conceptual practice" and gives good feedback for both teachers and students, but can sometimes progress too slowly for kids who master concepts quickly.

Open Math Tasks

Open math tasks-problems that typically have more than one answer-help students develop a conceptual understanding of math rather than get hung up on memorizing facts, said math educators we talked to, who consistently mentioned three free websites to use for open math tasks.

Rich Math Tasks

For rich math tasks-tasks that lend themselves to rigor, collaboration, and conceptual thinking-math educators noted a couple of websites.

Visual Patterns (K-grade 12) shows the beginning of a pattern-like several boxes in a grid-then asks students to figure out the equation to fit the pattern. "Even though there is only one answer," says Manfre, "you can ask deeper questions with these kinds of tasks, and engage students with mathematics in its more natural, visual form."

Simulation Tools

According to math teachers, simulations, like manipulating an expression and seeing a change in a graph, are great tools to help students visualize math concepts.

Desmos (grades 6-12), a website with interactive math activities and a graphing calculator (also available as an app on iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and Android), is another free tool and a favorite among teachers, we heard. While social and emotional learning (SEL) and math may not seem to go hand in hand, teachers integrated SEL into math lessons using Desmos. In the first week of distance learning, Ashley Taplin, a secondary math specialist in San Antonio, Texas, had her students graph how they were feeling, for example. Taplin says she particularly loves that teachers can make their own activities-like this one about parabolas and this card sort, where students match cards with the name, corresponding equation, and correct graphical representation of a function.

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11 Teacher-Recommended Math Apps and Online Tools

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We spoke to hundreds of educators and sifted through more than 500 comments to hear about what math tools they found helpful and unhelpful during remote learning this spring, and which are making the cut to use in the new school year.

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Templates or tools for tracking student performance over time.

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10 Excel and Google Spreadsheets for Teachers | Resilient Educator

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Plan tomorrow’s lesson. Track students’ behavior and progress in reading. Make sure everyone brought permission slips. Contact parents. And decide what’s for

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Resources that encourage students to reflect on their own or peers’ work.

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The metacognitive work of reflecting on learning boosts engagement and encourages the development of critical thinking skills.

Reflection is a powerful tool for enhancing learning and knowledge acquisition and is essential for teachers and students. When students engage in reflective thinking, they are better able to analyze and evaluate their experiences, which enables them to extract meaning and actively process what they have learned and to make sense of it. By taking the time to engage in the metacognitive practice of thinking and reflecting on learning, students can make more meaningful connections and gain a deeper understanding of the material, leading to greater long-term retention and application of knowledge.

Reflection also helps students develop metacognitive and social and emotional skills, such as self-awareness and self-regulation, by identifying areas for improvement and setting new goals. These are all important skills for lifelong learning.

5 Learning Activities that Can Foster reflection

To promote reflection, there are many options available that provide students with choices in how to share what they have learned and to engage in reflective practice.

1. Blogging. For students who enjoy writing or jotting down ideas, blogging or journaling can be a great choice. Whether students contribute to a class blog or share it only with their teacher, it enables students to practice their writing skills, reflect on their learning, and potentially receive feedback from their peers. The blog can be on a topic related to their coursework, such as a book review, a reflection on a field trip, or a summary of a research project and what they learned and how the experience was for them.

WeVideo is a neat way for students to compile a series of video reflections and have an artifact of their learning to look back on throughout the year. It also promotes student choice and building digital skills with its editing tools and features. Students can even collaborate with classmates as they reflect.

2. Digital storytelling. Digital storytelling is a popular and engaging option for students who are looking to showcase their knowledge through multimedia. With digital storytelling, students are empowered with choices in how to create a visual representation of their learning in a fun, engaging, and meaningful way. Depending on the tool used, students can include images, video, and audio to share thoughts and reflections of learning.

StoryJumper is a digital storytelling platform that promotes student choice and voice in learning. Students can choose different background scenes, characters, and props and record audio for their books. Books can easily be shared with a QR code.

3. Making mind maps. Creating graphic organizers or mind maps can be another way to boost visualization of learning and for students to present their thought processes, ideas, and connections between different concepts they have learned. Mind maps can promote critical thinking and creativity skills, as well as helping students evaluate how well they understand complex topics and develop a deeper understanding of the material.

Ideamapper is a tool that can be used by students and teachers for creating a mind map. There are many templates available to start with that make it easy to process learning, creating visualizations that help students reflect on concepts learned and make connections, leading to better content retention.

4. Podcasting. For students who prefer speaking rather than writing to communicate their thoughts and ideas, podcasts are a great option. I started my own podcast as a way to reflect on my teaching practices and also to share what I was learning and how it impacted my classroom. By creating a podcast, students can explore their communication skills, delve deeper into a topic, and have a thoughtful discussion with classmates or simply a conversation with themselves that they can listen to and process for further reflection.

Students can create an episode to talk about a current event or a specific area of study, or to self-assess their learning experiences. Students can provide their unique perspective and insights on a topic while refining their speaking and communication skills. They will articulate their ideas more clearly, structure their thoughts, and engage in conversation, all of which also benefit their SEL skills.

Soundtrap for Education offers students and teachers many resources for getting started with podcasting in the classroom. Soundtrap also has lesson plans on a variety of topics and content areas for educators to explore and start podcasting with students right away.

5. Building digital portfolios. Digital portfolios are a great way to have students track their progress. Through a portfolio, they can build a narrative of their work and have a space to reflect on their progress and set goals.

Spaces EDU is a digital portfolio platform that helps teachers gain a deeper understanding of students' interests, needs, and learning styles. Students can track their growth over time, identifying strengths and areas where they can set new goals. This information is critical in supporting reflective practice, allowing teachers to adjust their teaching strategies to better serve each student's unique needs.

Wakelet offers many possibilities for classroom use. Students can have their own Wakelet to add artifacts of work and create a digital portfolio, as well as record Flip videos to reflect on their learning. Flip has been a very beneficial tool in my classroom for several years. Whether students record videos to share their ideas or respond to prompts, it offers many choices that provide authentic and engaging learning and reflection opportunities for students.

Benefits of reflection

Reflection promotes self-awareness and self-improvement and helps students identify strengths and weaknesses, set goals, and develop strategies to improve their learning outcomes. We want students to take ownership of their learning and become more active and engaged learners.

Reflective practices also enhance critical thinking and problem-solving skills. When we engage in the metacognitive process of thinking about thinking, we develop greater awareness of our learning experiences. Students will develop a habit of self-reflection that will enable them to better adapt to new challenges, learn from experiences, and continue to grow and develop as they prepare for the future.

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5 Activities That Promote Reflection in the Classroom

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Teachers can use these tech tools to promote reflection as a learning tool and encourage a deeper understanding of course material.

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Quick, informal assessments at the end of a lesson to gauge understanding.

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1. Ask "What stuck with you today?"

Find out what made the most impact with one simple question. Sticky notes are fantastic for exit tickets; just have each student post theirs to the board on their way out the door.

2. Lunch questions

In elementary classrooms, there's no need to wait until the end of the day. Try using exit tickets before lunch or recess. Kids too young to write? Have them tell you their answer on their way out the door.

3. Have them "tweet" it

This cute "Twitter" board is sure to appeal to young social media fans. Laminate the cards so they can be reused each day.

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4. Gauge understanding with emojis

Here's another way to help today's kids connect and share their progress. Have them circle an emoji on this free printable and explain why it reflects their understanding.

5. Record a Flip video

Flip (formerly Flipgrid) is a totally free online tool for schools, where kids record video answers to a question posted by their teacher. This is such a cool exit ticket idea for virtual classrooms, though it works in face-to-face classrooms too.

6. Collect exit tickets on a traffic light

Have students post their tickets on a traffic light to indicate whether they're doing fine or struggling a bit. That way, you can focus on those who need more help first.

7. Give them a prompt

Sometimes exit tickets are very specific, but other times you just want to know what students' general reaction was to the class that day. We like this simple option that offers a few prompts to get them started.

8. Use the "Post-It, Prove It" method of exit tickets

Here's an example of a more specific exit question. Try to ask questions that have more than one right answer, so students don't just copy each other's responses.

9. Let them teach others

Kids often surprise us by looking at things in entirely different ways but still getting the correct answers. Their thoughts on a subject may give you ideas for helping other students who need a bit more instruction.

10. Take a poll

Online polls make terrific exit tickets. Poll Everywhere is free to use, and kids can text their answers. Fun!

11. Encourage self-reflection

Valuable as they are to teachers, exit tickets are also important for helping students self-assess. This version lets them reflect on their strengths and areas for improvement.

12. Tell two facts and a fib

We love this interactive ticket idea! Kids write down two facts about today's subject and one fib. They trade with another student to see if they can guess the incorrect fact before turning them in.

13. Try them in any class

Oui, oui, les "billets de sortie" work in French class, or Chemistry, or Art History ... every teacher should try them.

14. Keep an exit ticket journal

Give exit tickets a bit more substance by having students keep them in a journal. This gives them a nice record of learning and can help when it comes time to review for tests or write a paper.

15. Post exit tickets on Padlet

Think of Padlet as an online bulletin board. Teachers post a question or topic, and kids add their answers. See our review of Padlet here, then give it a try.

16. Print exit tickets on sticky notes

Did you know you can easily print on sticky notes? This game changer means you can easily customize exit tickets for any topic.

17. Write a 3, 2, 1 list

The 3, 2, 1 method allows kids to self-assess, but it also lets them indicate a deeper level of interest in the topic at hand.

18. Make it a mini-assessment

You'll have to prep these in advance, but an assessment exit ticket is sort of like a no-stress quiz. Kids simply do their best, without worrying about grades, and you get a better feel for their progress.

19. Fill up a shopping cart

Here's a chance to really see what their takeaways were from a lesson. This will let you see if your learning objectives are coming through as they should.

20. Follow science lab with exit tickets

Hands-on science exploration should be followed up with written observations and conclusions. Use exit tickets to check for understanding.

21. Sum it up with one sentence

Help your students distill what the day's lesson was all about with a one-sentence summary. This requires students to prioritize the most important elements of the activity and reveals whether they are getting the "big picture."

22. Keep it simple

Sometimes you look out at your students and you see a lot of blank stares. When this happens, take a quick moment to use this exit slip. It will help you assess who's on board and who needs further instruction.

23. Change it up

If you always use the same exit tickets after a lesson, your students might go on autopilot. Change up your format by asking students how they're doing in a variety of ways.

24. Match your exit tickets with your teaching philosophy

These colorful prompts were developed to support the Habits of Mind framework. Choose from questions that encourage your students to observe, reflect, and explore what they're learning.

25. Collect answers on Google Forms

Teaching online or looking to save paper? Collect your tickets using Google Forms instead. This is especially useful if you're already using Google Classroom.

26. Take time to analyze exit tickets

Make sure your exit tickets are worth the effort. Spend a little time at the end of each class or day looking over student responses, and make notes about any needs they indicate.

Exit tickets are just one type of formative assessment. Check out our guide to formative assessment.

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26 Exit Ticket Ideas and Examples That Give Immediate Feedback

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Use exit tickets to check student understanding of what they learned and get immediate feedback on that day's lesson.

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A framework for categorizing educational goals to promote higher-order thinking.

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A breakdown of Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) to identify key concepts and skills.

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Overview and Purpose

Welcome to the TEKS Guide, BETA, for reading language arts. The purpose of the TEKS Guide is to help teachers understand each student expectation in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and to provide valuable resources to support instruction.

Bookmark us now and return often as we respond to your feedback, evolve, and grow.

What are the TEKS?

The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) are the state standards for what students should know and be able to do in each subject and grade level. The Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) has legislative authority to adopt the TEKS for each subject of the required curriculum. The SBOE periodically reviews and revises the TEKS for each subject area. To learn more about the process and timelines for review and revision of the TEKS please visit https://tea.texas.gov/curriculum/teks-review/.

Take a tour of the TEKS Guide

This video provides a guided overview of each component of the TEKS Guide, BETA.

Unpack Student Expectations:

Teachers can begin unpacking each standard by exploring the following information on the overview tab for the student expectation:

Detailed explanations of the standard

Glossary support for key terms

Supporting information including:

Related 2009 student expectation(s)

Summaries of research related to the student expectation

Demonstrated Proficiency:

For each student expectation, the overview tab includes one example of how the standard might be assessed. This could be a formative assessment activity or a released STAAR assessment item. These examples assist teachers in measuring their students' demonstrated proficiency of the TEKS. In addition to the activity or question, the demonstrated proficiency section includes rationales for STAAR answer choices and further explanations for teachers about the assessment example.

Alignment:

Information in the alignment tab helps teachers make connections within and among the student expectations. Breakouts allow teachers to visualize each component of a student expectation while the vertical alignment shows related knowledge or skills in other grade levels. The focal points are intended to show the multiple connections among student expectations within the grade level.

More to Come:

Why is TEKS Guide in BETA?
Planned enhancements will make this resource even more useful for teachers. For example, TEA will solicit examples of student work aligned to the TEKS from Texas classrooms throughout the 2019-2020 school year. Student work will be added as exemplars in the TEKS Guide 2.0 that is scheduled to be available in Summer 2020. If you have a great example of student work, please contribute it!

To see what has been added or changed recently, please review the version log.

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The TEKS Guide by the Texas Education Agency is a resource to help teachers understand each content standard in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and access valuable, related resources to support instruction.

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A structured plan for promoting positive behavior, inspired by Morrish’s PBIS approach.

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The home of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). FInd more information on PBIS, how to implement PBIS, get resources and materials, and how to get support. Funded by the U.S.

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A format for updating families on classroom news, homework, and events.

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Short- and long-term goals for your teaching career.

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Kick-off your new year with goal planning and reflection!

Goal planning gives us a focus. It motivates us to work towards both short-term and long-term achievements. Establishing a plan allows us to prioritize our attention, resources, and time to increase our chances of successfully achieving our goals. Essentially, goal planning gives us the hope we need to succeed.

We know your time is limited, so we've put together a resource bundle of Goal Planning & Reflection templates to use yourself or with your students.
In this free download resource designed for both teachers and students, you'll receive the following templates: Let us help you kick-off your goal planning with ease.

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Goal Planning & Reflection Templates - SimpleK12.com

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Kick-off your new year with goal planning and reflection! Goal planning gives us a focus. It motivates us to work towards both short-term and long-term achievements. Establishing a plan allows us to prioritize our attention, resources, and time to increase our chances of successfully achieving our goals.

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Notes and takeaways from professional learning events.

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About Notes.io
Notes.io is an astonishingly simple web-based application for taking notes as quickly and as efficiently as possible. Notes.io's ease of use and ability to share information immediately make it highly beneficial for teachers in a hurry or students who are just getting used to classroom technology.

How to Use Notes.io
To use Notes.io, simply click on the link above and start typing! When you're ready to share your notes click the "Short" icon in the right hand corner. You will then be provided with a link to share via email, text, or a document. Notes.io also gives you the capability of sharing via Facebook, Twitter or FriendFeed.

2. mySchoolNotebook

About mySchoolNotebook
mySchoolNotebook is a note-taking platform that allows you to work online or offline. It ensures that you are never without a way to create an engaging note-taking experience for your students.

How to Use mySchoolNotebook
To get started using mySchoolNotebook, first click the link above to go to the website. Next, create a profile through a Facebook account or through an email address. Once you've completed your profile you will be directed to your homepage.To start taking notes, click "New Notebook." Fill in the "Title" and "Teacher's Name" boxes. Click the checkmark to save your work thus far. Now click the "Add a Topic" button, type in the name of your topic and click "Save."To add content to your notes, click "Add a Lesson." Type in the notes you would like to take and once you're content with your work, click "Save and Close." Once you're done you are free to export your notes to PDF, print them, or share them!

3. Scriblink

About Scriblink
Scriblink is an online note-taking program that functions like a digital whiteboard. It allows user to share notes, drawings, or diagrams at any time. Scriblink's ability to share free-hand sketches make it a valuable tool for any classroom full of creative students.

How to Use Scriblink
Scriblink's use of Java makes it incredibly easy to use and incredibly simple to share. No signup is necessary. Simply click the link above to go the site and begin working on your whiteboard! The tools at your disposal include: a free-form pen, a straight-line tool, a square creation tool, a circle creation tool, an eraser, a text tool, an "Upload" button, a color selection bar for your lines and your background, a slider that lets you vary the thickness of your lines, an "Undo" button, and a "Clear" button.Utilize all of these tools to create something worthy of sharing. Then save it, send it, or print it!

4. Penzu

About Penzu
Penzu is an online personal journal. It was created in order to keep journal entries away from prying eyes and enables users to add photos and format their journal in other appealing ways. It's perfect for students that want to keep notes to themselves or classroom journaling time.

How to Use Penzu
To begin taking notes with Penzu, sign up by clicking the green "Create Your FREE Journal" button. Fill in the required information and click "Sign Up."Next, you will be prompted to select an avatar for your account. Choose your favorite from the options available and click "Next." You will now be taken to a page that allows you to share Penzu on Facebook or Twitter, either do this or simply click "Next."Penzu will now take you to a page that lets you decide whether you'd like to turn on Looking Glass or not. Looking Glass is a setting that enables you to be emailed old journal entries for nostalgia's sake. Make a decision regarding this setting and click "Next." You will be asked if you would like to be sent reminders to journal on Penzu, select and option from the dropdown menu and click "Next." Now choose a font for your journal and click "Done."Now click "Untitled Journal" and write away! As a free user you are allotted one journal, so make the most of it by adding pictures, comments, or changing the format of the text from the list of icons directly above your journal. Once you're done, save your journal, then either lock it or send it to someone!

5. Evernote

About Evernote
Evernote is one of the most sophisticated online note-taking tools out there. It allows users to take notes online and sync information to a phone or other device. Evernote even lets users take snapshots or record audio through a phone or tablet-based app, so it's perfect for a classroom full of tech-savvy students.

How to Use Evernote
Begin by clicking the link above to go to the Evernote site. Click the "Sign up" link in the top right corner of the screen. Fill in your information and click "Register." Go to your email and find the message from Evernote, click "Confirm Registration" to confirm your account and complete the signup process. Go to your home page on the website and find the link in the middle of the screen that reads "New Note." On the right side of your screen, Evernote will open an "Untitled" note sheet. Give the document a title and let your creative side go to work! You are free to add a table, a to-do list, attach a file, and change the font size or style. Evernote saves your notes automatically, so once you're satisfied with the notes you've taken, you really don't have to do much. However, if you'd like to share the notes with your class, a friend, or a colleague, click the "Share" link to the right of your screen to share your notes via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Email, or a simple URL.

Free Educational Technology

Although it may be hard to believe, remember that all of these educational technology tools are free! They are unrivaled in their ability to get students excited about note-taking so incorporate them into your classroom as often as you'd like!

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The 5 Best Free Note Taking Tools For Teachers - eLearning Industry

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About Notes.io Notes.io is an astonishingly simple web-based application for taking notes as quickly and as efficiently as possible. Notes.io's ease of use and ability to share information immediately make it highly beneficial for teachers in a hurry or students who are just getting used to classroom technology.

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A quick-access document listing relevant TEKS for 5th grade math and science.