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Students answer questions by holding up unique cards, so there's no need for student devices or accounts, and sessions can even be taken offline if no internet connection is available.

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Formative assessment has never been faster.

Plickers is the free card activity your students will love.

Join millions and play in your next lesson.
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Used by K-12 teachers in over 100 countries

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Formative assessment has never been faster. Plickers is the free card activity your students will love. Join millions and play in your next lesson. Sign up for free Used by K-12 teachers in over 100 countries

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Based on Bryan's session, how did your thinking about stress and resilience change?

What personal connections did you make?

Bryan stated that stress is a result of a perception of a lack of control?  What was your response to this?  How did this definition support your prior knowledge?

If "stress is contagious", how might that influence what we do to take care of ourselves?

Of the specific resilience-building strategies shared during the session, which one(s) seem most relevant for your classroom?

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Harris - Building Resiliency in Struggling Students - Summer 2024

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning framework from CAST. The UDL Guidelines can be used by educators, curriculum developers, researchers, parents, and anyone else who wants to implement the UDL framework in a learning environment. These guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

Reenvisioning the UDL Guidelines

Because the UDL Guidelines are meant to be informed by feedback from the field as well as new research, they have been updated several times in the past. We are in the process of updating the Guidelines once again in our UDL Rising to Equity initiative.

This update will focus specifically on addressing systemic barriers that result in inequitable learning opportunities and outcomes. CAST aims to develop a transparent, inclusive, and community-driven process. If you are interested in collaborating and staying updated on our progress, we invite you to complete a brief survey.

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning framework from CAST. The UDL Guidelines can be used by educators, curriculum developers, researchers, parents, and anyone else who wants to implement the UDL framework in a learning environment. These guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

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Random Name Picker

Random Group Generator

Arcade Games for review

Bingo Card Generator

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Russel Tarr, International School of Toulouse

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ClassTools.net: Create your own interactive learning resources

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Dozens of templates, quiz generators and learning tools for use in the classroom

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AnswerGarden is a new minimalistic brainstorm tool for online brainstorming, real time audience participation and classroom feedback.

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Your browser is currently set to block cookies. You need to allow cookies to use this service.

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Khan Academy offers a range of free resources including practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard. It covers subjects such as math, science, and humanities from kindergarten to early college levels.

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A required part of this site couldn’t load. This may be due to a browser extension, network issues, or browser settings. Please check your connection, disable any ad blockers, or try using a different browser.

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Nearpod is an interactive classroom tool for teachers to engage students with interactive lessons. It includes virtual field trips, quizzes, and polls.

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Nearpod: Foster a love of learning in every student

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Create active learning experiences students can’t wait to be a part of.

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Padlet is a versatile tool that helps teachers create boards, documents, and webpages that are easy to read and use. Teachers can create lesson plans, collaborate with colleagues, and engage students in interactive learning activities.

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ReadWriteThink provides free resources in reading and language arts instruction. Lesson plans are categorized by grade level and theme, making it easy for teachers to find relevant content.

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Not your everyday calendar, here you can find important events in literary history, authors' birthdays, and a variety of holidays, all with related activities and resources that make them more relevant to students.

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Not your everyday calendar, here you can find important events in literary history, authors' birthdays, and a variety of holidays, all with related activities and resources that make them more relevant to students.

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Discovery Education offers a vast array of free digital resources, including lesson plans, interactive videos, and virtual field trips, across a variety of subjects.

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Discovery Education | Your Daily Learning Platform

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Discovery Education inspires educators to go beyond traditional learning with award-winning digital content and professional development. Learn more today!

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Edutopia offers articles, videos, and resources for teachers' professional development. Topics include classroom management, teacher wellness, and innovative teaching practices.

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George Lucas Educational Foundation

The benefits of movement in the classroom aren't limited to younger students. Pairing new words and concepts with gestures or dance moves locks in understanding-and active brain breaks prime students to learn even more.

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A free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education.

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Coursera provides access to online courses from top universities and companies. Teachers can find professional development courses to enhance their skills and knowledge in various fields.

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Transformational teaching resources at your fingertips. Whether you're a novice or expert in online teaching, these free resources will help you gain the knowledge, skills and confidence you need.

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TeachThought is an online resource that provides articles, podcasts, and professional development programs aimed at fostering innovative teaching and learning practices.

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TeachThought – A Critical Thinking Classroom

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TeachThought promotes critical thinking and innovation in K-12 classrooms

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This site offers resources and tips for teachers, including lesson planning ideas, classroom management strategies, and professional development opportunities.

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We've done the work for you! Visit our Monthly Unit, Lesson Plans & Activities pages. You will find everything you need to make your month a great success.

Daily Writing Prompts that focus on our monthly event calendars.

Check out next months writing prompts!

We continue to receive requests from around the world on a daily basis for our FREE Pen Pal service! Visit the Pen Pals page, view the over 500 requests and make a match for your classroom.

Some of the most popular puzzle and worksheet makers in the internet!

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The Teacher's Corner - Lesson Plans, Worksheets and Activities

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A collection of educational worksheets, lesson plans, activities and resources for teachers and parents.

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EdTech Magazine offers insights and resources on integrating technology into the classroom. It's a valuable resource for teachers looking to stay updated on the latest educational technology trends.

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EdTech Magazine explores technology and education issues that IT leaders and educators face when they're evaluating and implementing a solution for K-12 and Higher Ed.

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Students in classrooms or training courses may be distracted. They have other considerations running through their minds, such as their other classes, personal lives, friendships, hobbies, physical distractions like hunger or tiredness, and so much more. When students are sidetracked by these or any other issues, their own education and accomplishment may be prioritized below their more immediate needs. Why is this? One human psychologist suggests that this occurs because immediate needs determine the immediate action of the student. When they are worried about these things, they focus solely on those distractions. Those preoccupations will take priority over education and accomplishment. What's the best way to capture our students' attention and get them to prioritize education? Teachers can assist students in eliminating their distractions, allowing the student's top priority to become course material, education, and accomplishment.

Maslow's Hierarchy

Human beings are motivated by goal accomplishment. Achieving goals allows humans to meet their individual wants and needs. Needs are mentally prioritized in order of importance (Maslow, 1943). Less immediate needs have to be met before more important needs can be satisfied. A person's actions will be focused around satisfying the lower-priority needs and will then move on to reach higher-priority needs.

Starting at the bottom of the pyramid (Figure 1), physiological needs are the first priority and must be satisfied first. These needs include nourishment, sleep, clothing, and shelter. People must have these basic needs met in order to focus on anything else - otherwise, their actions will focus solely on meeting these physiological requirements. They are the top priority and are therefore the most important driving factor for human beings. If a person is hungry, they will ignore any other wants or wishes to focus on satisfying their hunger. If a student is hungry, they could exhibit distracting or rule-breaking behavior because education is not their priority - hunger is. A student might fall asleep in class instead of working on their assignments because they lost sleep the previous night. In this example, the student would naturally prioritize sleep over education.

Once physiological needs are satisfied, the next priority is safety. Safety needs are usually environmental, which includes a student's home environment, school environment, and any other environment they're regularly a part of. If the student is having personal issues at home (for example, arguing parents, parents struggling with addiction, lack of parental structure, etc.) or they live in a dangerous area, they will have difficulty learning because their basic safety needs have not been met. Similarly, if the student is being bullied or if they don't feel accepted and liked by their educator, they will struggle to learn and complete their work. Their priority will be acquiring safety. Students thrive on predictability and structure, and they associate these factors with a feeling of safety. They do best with no disruptions in their routines. If they lack a routine, or if there are factors threatening their routines, they may feel unsafe and apprehensive. This can cause the student to perform poorly.

After physiological and safety requirements have been met, love and a sense of belonging become the priority. This applies to family and friend relationships. A student may develop their sense of belonging through joining clubs, volunteering, participating in church groups, or making other group-centered commitments. When a person does not feel loved or does not feel like they belong, they crave affection or acceptance in group settings. The need for love and belonging may be forgotten, but it can be just as critical to a student as their physiological requirements.

Self-esteem is the next need that must be met. Self-esteem involves individuality, respect for others, accomplishment, and confidence. Most people are extremely critical of themselves, which stems from their own evaluation of self-accomplishment and potential. Self-esteem can be two-fold. First, people will crave accomplishment, confidence, competence, and fortitude. Secondly, they will yearn for importance, appreciation, acknowledgment, and status. When all of these needs are met, people will feel adequate, capable, strong, and worthy. If these needs are not satisfied, people will feel incompetent, unprotected, and unimportant.

These first four needs can all be considered deprivation needs. If these needs are not satisfied, those shortcomings will motivate people to focus on meeting their highest-priority needs. One more need follows these deprivation needs, and that is self-actualization. This is an aspiration to fulfill one's own potential. This need is not driven by inadequacy, but instead by a craving for self-improvement. Maslow suggests that very few people ever attain this level. Self-actualized people tend to be impulsive, independent, analytical, and realistic.

Applying Maslow's Hierarchy - Teaching and Learning

Now that we've covered the premise of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, it is also vital to comprehend how this information can be used in education. First, it is important to understand that regrettably, we cannot satisfy every physiological need of every student. It would be impossible for a teacher or leader to equip every student with sufficient sleep, shelter, clothing, and nourishment. Luckily, free and reduced lunch programs are a great way to solve some of the issues of hunger in schools. Providing clothing, sufficient hygiene practices, and sufficient amounts of sleep are still factors. Based on the model, it is clear that if these basic needs fail to be provided, students will be unable to prioritize education. These are needs that teachers cannot always meet. However, teachers can strive to offer students resources and referrals to school programs in order to satisfy as many needs as possible.

Many aspects should be considered by teachers and leaders in order to help students feel a sense of safety. As previously mentioned, a sense of safety can come from routines and predictability. Teachers and leaders should enact routines in their classrooms. Set forth clear-cut rules and processes for your students. Maintain a predictable daily schedule, allowing students to anticipate and expect order in the classroom. Students will feel a sense of control in their classroom environment because they are able to anticipate what will happen next. Additionally, students must have a sense of psychological and emotional safety in their classroom environment. Teachers should foster an environment that allows for healthy levels of risk-taking, question asking and answering, open thought sharing, and healthy discussion. They should not feel fearful of judgment from other students. Students crave a trust-based relationship with their teacher.

To meet belongingness, self-esteem, and love needs, students want to feel needed, loved, and nurtured. Students may seek gratification from teachers or school staff. As teachers and leaders, it is important to regard each student as a unique individual, appreciating them for their one-of-a-kind character traits. Emphasize healthy, positive behavior and self-esteem. Make an effort to show students that their hard work and dedication are genuinely appreciated. This prioritization will support the development of each student's self-esteem and self-worth.

Teachers and leaders tend to primarily handle the four deprivation needs (self-esteem, sense of belonging, safety, and physiological). Every step an educator makes toward contributing to those fundamental needs will enhance their students' capacity for learning and achievement in the classroom. Ensure that you make a true effort to know each student and comprehend the level of their knowledge and their level on Maslow's Hierarchy. In doing so, you can best help students progress through the hierarchy. It may be necessary to explore outside or government resources for students with lower-level needs to help the students thrive in their learning environment. However, a greater comprehension of each student's basic needs is likely to lead to the teacher's ability to help the student overcome their personal educational obstacles, allowing each student to reach their educational potential.
References
Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-96.

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Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs in Education - Education Library

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Applying Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to Education Students in classrooms or training courses may be distracted....

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In-Text Citations: The Basics - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University

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This site is a curated collection of science phenomena for the NGSS, along with phenomenon based learning resources and help for how to use phenomenon to drive student questions in the classroom centered around 3 dimensional teaching and learning.

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Improving Science Education Through Three-Dimensional Learning

Quick Search Next Generation Science Standards

THE THREE DIMENSIONS OF SCIENCE LEARNING

Within the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), there are three distinct and equally important dimensions to learning science. These dimensions are combined to form each standard-or performance expectation-and each dimension works with the other two to help students build a cohesive understanding of science over time.

Crosscutting Concepts help students explore connections across the four domains of science, including Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, and Engineering Design.

When these concepts, such as "cause and effect", are made explicit for students, they can help students develop a coherent and scientifically-based view of the world around them.

Science and Engineering Practices describe what scientists do to investigate the natural world and what engineers do to design and build systems. The practices better explain and extend what is meant by "inquiry" in science and the range of cognitive, social, and physical practices that it requires. Students engage in practices to build, deepen, and apply their knowledge of core ideas and crosscutting concepts.

Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs) are the key ideas in science that have broad importance within or across multiple science or engineering disciplines. These core ideas build on each other as students progress through grade levels and are grouped into the following four domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, and Engineering.

More about 3D Learning

GET TO KNOW

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are K-12 science content standards. Standards set the expectations for what students should know and be able to do. The NGSS were developed by states to improve science education for all students.

A goal for developing the NGSS was to create a set of research-based, up-to-date K-12 science standards. These standards give local educators the flexibility to design classroom learning experiences that stimulate students' interests in science and prepares them for college, careers, and citizenship.

Get to Know the Standards

IMPLEMENT

The NGSS call for a three-dimensional approach to K-12 science instruction. This represents a significant transition from previous state standards. That's why effective implementation demands a great deal of collaboration and patience among states, districts, schools, teachers, and students.

Thoughtful and coordinated approaches to implementation will enable educators to inspire future generations of scientifically literate students. That is the vision of the NGSS. This website provides a range of high-quality resources that empower educators, administrators, parents, and the general public to help bring this vision to life.

Find Tools and Resources

WHY

Science-and therefore science education-is central to the lives of all Americans.

A high-quality science education means that students will develop an in-depth understanding of content and develop key skills-communication, collaboration, inquiry, problem solving, and flexibility-that will serve them throughout their educational and professional lives.

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Home Page | Next Generation Science Standards

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Improving Science Education Through Three-Dimensional Learning Quick Search Next Generation Science Standards Within the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), there are three distinct and equally important dimensions to learning science. These dimensions are combined to form each standard-or performance expectation-and each dimension works with the other two to help students build a cohesive understanding of science over time.

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Educational standards describe what students should know and be able to do in each subject in each grade. In California, the State Board of Education decides on the standards for all students, from kindergarten through high school.

Since 2010, a number of states across the nation have adopted the same standards for English and math. These standards are called the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Having the same standards helps all students get a good education, even if they change schools or move to a different state. Teachers, parents, and education experts designed the standards to prepare students for success in college and the workplace.

The California Department of Education helps schools make sure that all students are meeting the standards. Below you will find information about the standards and the CCSS-related activities taking place in California.

California Common Core State Standards

Current Standards

Search the California Content Standards
This application contains the 12 California content standards. The application is designed so educators can quickly find, search, and sort relevant standards across disciplines to aid in instructional planning and assessment. This is a web view of our available mobile application, which we encourage you to download. You can find more information about the mobile application on the CA Standards Mobile Application web page.

Resources

Common Core Search
Common Core Search is a collection of resources to support implementation of the CCSS. Resources organized by audience are available in the tab sections below.

Parent/Guardian Overview Brochures (Jan-2016)
These brochures explain the CCSS to pa​rents/guardians, providing insights into what students will learn and highlighting progression through the grade levels.

English Language Arts/Literacy (ELA):

Mathematics:

Achieve the Core
Free, high-quality resources compiled by Student Achievement Partners, writers of the CCSS, for educators implementing the CCSS, including professional learning modules, handouts, presentations, sample lessons, lesson videos, and much more.
Instructional Practice Guide
This guide includes coaching and lesson planning tools to help teachers and those who support teachers to make the key shifts in instructional practice required by the CCSS.

Achieve the Core
Free, high-quality resources compiled by Student Achievement Partners, writers of the CCSS, for educators implementing the CCSS, including professional learning modules, handouts, presentations, sample lessons, lesson videos, and much more.

Instructional Leadership and the CCSS Module
This is a 1.5 hour module designed to guide the school-level instructional leader in beginning the work of understanding and implementing the CCSS.

Instructional Practice Guide
This guide includes coaching and lesson planning tools to help teachers and those who support teachers to make the key shifts in instructional practice required by the CCSS.

PACE/CCSESA Regional Leadership Sessions on CCSS Implementation
Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) and the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA) sponsored regional leadership sessions to highlight a variety of strategies, tools, and resources, including local examples and strategic advice on key issues, to support the successful implementation of the CCSS. On this Web site you can find videos of session presentations and related tools and resources.

Achieve Publications
Achieve publishes national and state reports as well as policy briefs, surveys, and white papers that focus on preparing all students for college and careers. All of these publications are available to the public for free in PDF format.

Parent/Guardian Overview Brochures (Jan-2016)
These brochures explain the CCSS to pa​rents/guardians, providing insights into what students will learn and highlighting progression through the grade levels.

English Language Arts/Literacy (ELA):

Mathematics:

K-8 California's Common Core Standards Parent Handbook
This handbook, created by the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA) in consultation with the California State Parent Teacher Association (PTA), gives parents an introduction to California's CCSS and a summary of what students are expected to learn as they advance from kindergarten through grade eight. This document has been translated into 17 languages. The handbook and translations may be found on theCCSESA Common Core Standards Communication Tools Web page under the General Overview Materials section.

California PTA Common Core Web Page
The California State PTA has made available many resources for parents to learn more about the CCSS and support their child's achievement of the standards. Resources include informational fliers, frequently asked questions, grade level parents' guides, links to additional resources, and articles of interest. The fliers and parents' guides are available in English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.
National PTA Assessment Resources
The National PTA has released a fact sheet on assessments to provide parents with information about what he assessments should do and what they are trying to accomplish. It has also made available videos about the assessments and test scores.

Council of Great City Schools Parent Roadmaps
The Council of Great City Schools has developed parent roadmaps for understanding the English language arts (ELA) and mathematics CCSS in kindergarten through eighth grade. For each grade and subject, the roadmaps explain to parents what children will be learning and how parents can support learning outside of the classroom.

Questions: Curriculum Frameworks and Instructional Resources Division | cfird@cde.ca.gov | 916-319-0881

Last Reviewed: Wednesday, July 19, 2023

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Information and resources about the new academic content standards for English language arts and mathematics adopted by the State Board of Education on August 2, 2010.

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We Speak LIke historians, scientists, digital citizens

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Strategy OverviewHow This Strategy Supports Language DevelopmentSentence frames and sentence starters are a helpful way to support students’ academic language development both in their writing and speaking by prompting students to discuss content with more complex structures and thinking. Using these structures allows students to focus on the content concepts or skill without providing the answers. They also indirectly teach how content-specific language appears in context.Sentence frames can be used for writing and in discussions.

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Focused Instruction
During focused instruction, instructors are leading the learning process. They begin with the purpose and use modeling, think-alouds, and noticing to provide direct explanations of their cognitive strategies (Fisher & Frey, 2014). This part of the instructional framework goes beyond telling. Instructors model the skill or concept. The strategy of think-alouds allows students to hear them simplify complex ideas or concepts, analyze, problem-solve, and use critical thinking skills. With the strategy of noticing, instructors pay attention to students' understanding or confusion; this will determine next steps and what to teach or reteach.

Guided Instruction
Guided instruction occurs after focused instruction, within small groups. It involves instructors beginning the process of shifting the cognitive load to students through the use of questions, prompts, and cues. With the guidance of the instructor, students are applying and transferring the concept, skill,or strategy to a new situation. Questions are used to check for students' understanding, but they can also be used to "uncover errors and misconceptions" (Fisher & Frey, 2014, p. 41). Prompts are incorporated within the lesson to give hints as the instructor navigates students through the application of the skill, concept, or strategy. If prompts are not helpful, the instructor uses visual, verbal, gestural, and environmental cues to direct students to the answer. However, if students are still struggling after the cues, instructors can use direct explanations. There is a shift from guided instruction back to focused instruction: The purpose is re-established, and the instructor is modeling, using think-alouds, and monitoring students' understanding (Fisher & Frey, 2014). Guided instruction gives the instructor more insight on students' needs as well as on next steps in planning, teaching, and assessing.

Collaborative Learning
Collaborative learning should be an established part of the gradual release of responsibility (Fisher & Frey, 2014). This takes place after the instructor engages students in guided practice. Students are still working and learning in small groups; however, their responsibility has increased as they continue to apply and transfer their knowledge. Collaborative learning entails students working together and utilizing soft skills - communication, leadership, negotiation - to problem-solve, to think critically, and to analyze (Fisher & Frey, 2014). With students in collaborative groups, the teacher offers guided instruction to focus on the specific needs of students who may still show confusion. During collaborative learning, students experience positive interdependence, face-to-face interaction, individual and group accountability, interpersonal and small group skills, and group processing (Johnson, Johnson, & Smith, 1991; Fisher & Frey, 2014). Students are learning from each other as they become more confident in understanding the new concepts, information, strategies, and/or skills that were modeled during focused instruction and targeted during the guided practice.

Independent Learning
Independent learning is one of the many goals of the gradual release of responsibility framework. As the instructor moves students through the phases of gradual release, students are exposed to the strategies, thinking, and processes needed for transfer of skills. Independent learning is not about students working alone; it is about students thinking about their thinking. Because the instructor scaffolded the instructional process using gradual release, students have been exposed to the knowledge needed to apply skills, strategies, ideas, and content to new and unique situations (Fisher & Frey, 2014). Independent learning consists of metacognition. Students learn to ask the following questions: (1) What am I trying to accomplish? (2) What strategies am I using? (3) How well am I using the strategies? (4) What else could I do? Students also learn and practice self-regulation, whereby they incorporate time management skills, task prioritization, and calibration or "the ability to accurately self-assess in order to affect learning decisions" (Fisher & Frey, 2014, p. 101). Students become confident in who they are as learners as they continue to engage in independent practice.

Learning is a recursive process. Using the gradual release of responsibility framework helps students receive the many supports, strategies, and resources essential to their understanding and achievement. Although the gradual release of responsibility begins with focused instruction, instructors can start with other phases of the gradual release of responsibility and work their students through the remaining phases. This process is ongoing and works to target areas of improvement and strength, in turn informing instructors' planning, teaching, and assessing.

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The Gradual Release of Responsibility Framework

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Instructors can earn more by reading about The Gradual Release of Responsibility Framework in the Center for Faculty Development’s Teaching Toolkit.

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The Learning Pit is used in schools, colleges & EY settings around the world. An online search generates hundreds of millions of results, making it one of the most popular and enduring illustrations of learning.

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In what way(s) was the lesson plan a useful too?​
Did I follow the plan?​

How will I adapt this lesson next time?​

Which parts were too easy or too hard for the students? ​

What do I need to reteach tomorrow if it was too hard? ​
How will I extend the lesson if it was too easy?​

Were the standards covered relevant to the topic, the lesson, the time of year, etc?​
How did this lesson extend student comprehension of the topic?​

How can this lesson be improved?​

My energy level was (1-5)​

My enthusiasm level was (1-5)​

My confidence level was (1-5)​

How did this lesson manage the class?​

​

​

​

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AnswerGarden " What questions do I ask to reflect on my lesson planning?

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AnswerGarden is a new minimalistic brainstorm tool for online brainstorming, real time audience participation and classroom feedback.

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Quick activities that can be used to check for understanding or emphasize key information at the end of a lesson.

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Why do you take notes? What do you hope to get from your notes? What are Cornell Notes and how do you use the Cornell note-taking system?

There are many ways to take notes. It's helpful to try out different methods and determine which work best for you in different situations. Whether you are learning online or in person, the physical act of writing can help you remember better than just listening or reading. Research shows that taking notes by hand is more effective than typing on a laptop. This page and our Canvas module will teach you about different note-taking systems and styles and help you determine what will work best for your situation.

In our Cornell Note Taking System module you will:

Examine your current note taking system

Explore different note taking strategies (including the Cornell Notes system)

Assess which strategies work best for you in different situations

The best way to explore your current note-taking strategies and learn about the Cornell note taking system is to go through our Canvas note taking module. The module will interactively guide you through how to use Cornell Notes - click on the link here or the button below. This module is publicly available.

Just want to see a bit more about Cornell Notes? You can view the videos below.

Watch: What are Cornell Notes?

Watch: Learn how students use the Cornell Note Taking System

The Cornell Note-Taking System was originally developed by Cornell education professor, Walter Pauk. Prof. Pauk outlined this effective note-taking method in his book, How to Study in College (1).

Pauk, Walter; Owens, Ross J. Q. (2010). How to Study in College (10 ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth. ISBN 978-1-4390-8446-5. Chapter 10: "The Cornell System: Take Effective Notes", pp. 235-277

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Why do you take notes? What do you hope to get from your notes? What are Cornell Notes and how do you use the Cornell note-taking system? There are many ways to take notes. It's helpful to try out different methods and determine which work best for you in different situations.

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Anticipating the

start of the new

school year,

how are you

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Use these practical methods to create a classroom environment that honors both teacher and student! This clear and concise third edition of a bestsell…

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timer countdown "countdown timer" clock "timer with music for kids" "5 minute timer with music for kids" "5 minute countdown timer" "30 minute countdown time...

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Thanks for visiting our channel! We offer one of the best high-quality countdown timers on YouTube! Great timer for kids, classrooms, events, home, and etc! Some of our timers have alarms, kid friendly music, bells, and animated designs! Stick around for more videos by subscribing!

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A Free flash online countdown, quick easy to use countdown! also an online stopwatch!

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Chunking information-breaking it down into manageable units and scaffolding it with activities-makes learning more accessible.

There's no debating that technology has changed, and continues to change, the ways we teach and learn. It allows for the immediate download of information and has inundated our lives. But despite this increased access, students still need quality processing time to understand manageable chunks of information and to fully comprehend it at a higher level.

Teachers, too, are grappling with larger volumes of information; sometimes, it feels like the amount of academic content we are expected to teach increases every year. But the amount of time we have to teach does not. So how do we keep teaching large amounts of content, at high levels, without having more instructional time?

One process that I have found useful is chunking, the breaking down of content into subunits. This strategy is tried-and-true, but to make it new and even more effective, I pair it with processing-time activities to allow students space to acquire and understand advanced content. Here's how.

Chunking Content in the Classroom

To effectively chunk curricular information and ensure that students have time to digest and process it, be intentional about incorporating wait time (i.e., processing time) into lecture-based classes or direct instruction.

But processing time is not just about verbal participation. Instead, when inserted during direct instruction, it allows all students to process the content to which they were just exposed and to make sense of and digest it before encountering additional volumes of information.

Processing time can take many forms. For example, you might ask students to complete a short writing task in which they explain the information that you just taught, but in their own words. Or they might use the time to exchange and compare their understandings with a peer, or to complete content-based puzzles or other manipulatives.

Games and activities that allow students to talk and move around the room invoke multiple learning modalities and better engage all learners, providing them with multiple ways to make meaning of the curricular content.

To that end, I have found that puzzles, especially, can be a great way for students to process information while also building important and transferable problem-solving and persistence skills. In today's world of immediacy, students are not always used to taking time to work toward and find a solution. But content-based puzzles often require intense focus for an extended period of time-a trying and retrying of problem-solving strategies. When you pair students to work on these types of puzzles, students also build collaboration skills and work together for a common goal-necessary in work and life contexts far beyond the classroom.

Station rotations are another great way to allow students of all ages to move around the classroom and to spend intentional time processing small chunks of instructional content.

Stations can comprise a paragraph-writing prompt, a math or science problem that needs to be solved, or even historical or societal issues that students contemplate alone or together. In my classroom, I use this approach for all sorts of content-from writing and naming compound formulas, to stoichiometry problems, to small lab activities.

Processing time is built into these practices. They allow students to move on to the next station on their own time. In your teaching, make sure to point out to students that they shouldn't leave a station until they understand its content-perhaps writing a summary of their understanding in a notebook or sharing it verbally with a peer.

Peer Sharing

Pairing students for sharing activities is another way to support processing time. In pairs, every student participates, and nonparticipation is easily detected and corrected. You can pair quieter students with someone they know and trust.

Whole class discussions sometimes devolve into scenarios where only a few students participate, or all students try to participate at the same time. But when students are paired, every voice has time and space to be heard, which can feel more inclusive and welcoming, especially to students who are not always willing to participate.

Aiding Knowledge Acquisition

When we take these types of intentional instructional approaches and prioritize processing time in the classroom, especially in moments when our teaching relies on direct instruction, we allow students more freedom to acquire knowledge-and to truly understand that knowledge before they're forced to move on. Such an approach can help prevent content gaps and can support differentiated instruction for all learners, making space for students to find multiple ways into their understanding of our lessons.

As educators, we often discuss wait time, but we do not use it as effectively as we could. Chunking content and using processing activities in the classroom allows us to create on-ramps to more challenging content. These scaffolds lead to deeper student understandings and ready learners for even more content, making teaching and learning more meaningful and efficient-critical in an information-heavy era.

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Teachers can support students' processing time in the classroom by chunking content-breaking it down into manageable pieces.

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Uploaded by LEARNstyle LearnTube on 2021-07-29.

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I don't know about you, but when I sit through a faculty meeting or professional development session of any sort, I start getting antsy by the 30-minute mark. If you can relate, just imagine how your students must feel when they've been sitting for too long. Educational brain breaks are the perfect way to help your students redirect their energy and focus when they start to fade.

I find it super-beneficial to incorporate quick mindful, physical, and mental check-ins with my students as a regular part of my classroom routine. These breaks include all types of movement, yoga and breathing exercises, as well as jokes, quick videos, and more. The activities I use have helped me throughout my lifetime, so I love sharing them with my students. Here are my favorite educational brain breaks that are sure to increase productivity and give your kids a much-needed way to unwind before the next lesson.

Mindful Educational Brain Breaks

1. Use transition times for mental check-ins

Transitions are a big part of the elementary school day. When I first started teaching 19 years ago, I was surprised by just how much time it takes to get ready for specials or to bring students back from centers. It's hard not to feel like that's lost time. That's why using transition time for mental health check-ins is such a game changer. Mental health check-ins can help students get in touch with their emotions, refresh and recharge, acknowledge and cope with negative thoughts and overwhelming feelings, and be more focused throughout the day.

2. Pretend to breathe like an animal

Source: Stephanie Sanders

This video shows students how to pretend to breath like some of their favorite animals. The snake breath involves hissing while slithering from side to side, while the whale breath has students pretend to breathe out through a blowhole! Tap into creativity by picking other interesting animals and acting them out through breath.

3. Do a 10-minute guided meditation

These guided meditations are educational and are perfect to use as brain breaks whenever you and your students just need to breathe. Catch your breath with any of these 20 guided video meditations.

4. Practice "focus ball" breathing

Walk your kids through the following exercise: Stand or sit with legs and feet together. Bring your palms together in front of your chest. Keep your fingertips touching as you pull your palms apart, forming a ball with your fingers. Press your fingertips together until you feel the muscles in your hands and arms activating. See if you feel your core tighten too. Now close your eyes and as you breathe in, inflate your ball, and as you breathe out, flatten the ball by pushing your palms together. (Repeat these instructions for 60 seconds).

Learn more: Mindful.org

5. Try the old ear-nose switcheroo

This is a quick and easy challenge to reset the brain. Instruct kids to touch their left ear with their right hand and at the same time touch their nose with their left hand. Then have them switch their hands and touch their right ear with their left hand and their nose with their right hand. Switch back and forth a few times. Then have them close their eyes, take a deep breath, and blow it all out.

Learn more: YouTube: Ear-Nose Switch

6. Take a yoga break

Source: The Pyjama Foundation

Inspire kids to move, stretch, and practice mindfulness with yoga. These printable yoga cards make it easy to incorporate yoga into your educational brain breaks. Each page includes a picture and description of the pose, and each page includes poses of increasing difficulty from level 1 to level 5. And don't worry, it's not a huge time commitment. The sequence on each card is designed to take only a few minutes.

7. Stretch it out

It's never a good idea to spend too much time sitting in one position. Allow kids to take a break and bring some flexibility back into their spines. Have them stand with their feet shoulder-distance apart. Put their left hand on their hip and raise their right hand overhead. Lean to the left and stretch their arm as far as they can to the left. Repeat on the right side. Then stand tall and slowly roll down one vertebra at a time until their hands reach the floor (or at least their shins). Have them take a deep breath then slowly roll back up. Repeat as necessary.

Learn more: Mom Junction

8. Focus on sound

Have kids sit quietly with their eyes closed. Ring a chime or gong. Have them listen carefully to the chime, feeling the vibration in their body as the sound reverberates and then slowly fades. Tell them to breathe slowly and deeply as they focus on the sound.

9. Do a quick mindfulness activity

Mindfulness activity cards provide great educational brain breaks. Stash a pack in your desk and pull them out whenever you need them. Each card will give a prompt for kids to try that will let them refocus and recharge. Perfect for moments when you need to bring down the energy in the room.

Buy it: Mindfulness Cards for Kids at Amazon

10. Chill out with this cross-body exercise

Have kids stand tall and cross one leg in front of the other while pressing the outsides of their feet together. Now have them cross their arms over each other at the wrists. Clasp their hands and curl their arms into their chest. Take a few breaths, and uncross and cross the opposite way for a few more breaths.

11. Float with jellyfish

When you really need to take the energy in your room down a notch, turn off the lights, set a timer, and put on a calming video. For example, Cat Trumpet put together a jellyfish aquarium video where kids will find themselves under the brilliant blue sea in the middle of a swarm of jellyfish. They'll be mesmerized by the slow, fluid motions and lulled into calmness by the soothing music.

12. Break out the hot hands

This is a good break when you sense a weariness in the air. Have kids rub their hands together vigorously until they warm up. Tell them to close their eyes and place their hands over their eyes. Instruct them to breathe deeply as they clear their minds and refocus.

13. Try cat and cow poses

Source: Flow and Grow Kids Yoga

Have kids start on all fours and then give them the following instructions to complete the cat and cow yoga poses: Place your shoulders over your wrists and hips over your knees. Arch your back to the sky and tuck in the tailbone (cat pose). Let your head fall between your arms. From there, sink the belly towards the ground, and lift the chest and chin (cow pose). Gently alternate between the two poses while breathing deeply.

14. Do nothing for two minutes

Never underestimate the power of stillness. When the energy gets a little ramped up, and it's time for the entire class to take a pause, have them drop everything and glue their eyes to the screen as you show this countdown. The gentle lulling of the waves and the sight of the sun sparkling off the water will reset their nervous system in a jiffy.

Learn More: Calm

15. Spread your wings (in slow motion)

Walk your kids through this winged movement: Sit cross-legged on the floor. Stretch your arms down by your sides with your palms facing inward toward your body. Slowly raise both arms while rotating hands forward. When your arms reach shoulder level, your hands should be facing forward. Continue raising arms, slowly rotating palms so that by the time hands are overhead, palms are facing each other. Slowly lower arms, repeating the rotation (palms facing each other, palms facing forward, palms facing sides) until they are once again resting at your sides. As you raise and lower your arms, stretch them as long as you can, as if you are scraping the sides of the room and the ceiling. Repeat slowly three times, breathing deeply.

Physical Education Brain Breaks

16. Play Silent Ball when you have downtime

You can play a quick game of Silent Ball anytime, anywhere. Play a quick three-minute game right before dismissal or before transitioning to a new activity. All you need is a small squishy ball. The rules are simple: 1) stay quiet and 2) don't drop the ball when passing it around. This activity is one of those educational brain breaks that builds a positive classroom community, fosters friendly competition, and boosts nonverbal communication. Enjoy the silence.

17. Line up in unique ways

Kids are very social and curious beings. Most of them love to chat with one another at any chance they can get. Lining up to leave the room for anything is the perfect chance for them to mix and mingle. Make a more productive use of this time by having students line up in special ways. Some fun ideas include lining up in alphabetical order by name, by birth date, or by height order.

18. Just jump!

Sometimes kids just need to bounce their energy out. Have them pretend they are bouncing on a mini-trampoline (this will keep their movement on a vertical plane instead of all over the room), and give them a couple of minutes to let loose!

19. Take a cue from the stadium

Here's one for a group of kids-start the wave! Beginning at one end of the room, kids stand up and throw their arms overhead, bringing them back down as they return to their seats. Each row follows until you reach the other end of the room. Amp it up by encouraging your kids to tap their feet or tap their hands on their legs so that they are in constant motion. This activity works great on Zoom too!

20. Stir the pot

Have kids visualize they are standing in front of an enormous cauldron. Inside the cauldron is an ooey-gooey pot of caramel. Take hold of a large stirrer and plunge it to the bottom of the pot. Slowly begin to stir in a clockwise direction. Have them use their whole body to help get a full range of motion in their wrists and shoulders. Instruct them to throw their hips into the action. After a minute or two, reverse the direction.

21. Make it rain

Conjure up a rainstorm! Sitting or standing at a desk or table, have kids tap one finger on the desk, then two, then three, then four, then their whole hand until you all feel like you're in the middle of a deluge. Work your way backward from five down to one as the storm ebbs away.

22. Energize with these

First, instruct kids to touch their left elbow to their right knee, then touch their right elbow to their left knee. Switch back and forth, going slowly at first, building speed until they are going at a vigorous pace. Next, do some windmills by standing tall with their feet shoulder-width apart and their arms stretched out. Bend at the waist and touch their right hand to their left toes, then their left hand to their right toes. Switch back and forth.

23. Make X's and O's

Walk kids through the following exercise: Sitting in a chair with your feet on the ground and legs together, curl your body into your lap, folding yourself into a tiny O shape. Next, open your arms and legs wide, forming an X shape with your body. Pull back into an O shape, then back out to an X shape. Repeat three times.

24. Energize in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Get hearts pumping with a quick sequence of exercises. Call out five actions for your students to do as quickly as they can. For instance, five jumping jacks, four push-ups, three sit-ups, two squat jumps, and one tree pose.

25. Take a cruise on an imaginary skateboard

Have your kids line up next to a wall and place one hand on the wall. Tell them to plant the foot closest to the wall and swing the other leg, as if pushing off the ground on a skateboard. Start slowly, with tiny swings, moving up to power pushes. Repeat on the other side.

26. Take a break to groove

Music is a great way to reset the mood in a room and raise the energy level. Put on a fun song and have a 30-second freestyle dance party. Here's a big list of school-appropriate songs for kids.

27. Or take it to the next level

Teach your kids the steps to popular dances such as the Cha-Cha Slide, the Macarena, or the Kidz Bop Shuffle.

28. Ramp up with a round of cherry pickers

This easy activity will get your students' hearts pumping and give their brains a boost. Have them jump up off the ground, then down to the floor into a push-up position. From there, instruct them to hop their feet up into a frog position, then pop up to a standing position.

29. Clap on, clap off

When you say "clap on," kids clap their hands vigorously together. When you say "clap off," they stop as quickly as they can and freeze. Or follow along with this a fun video.

30. Skip it out

When the energy is fading and kids need to get their blood flowing, put on a peppy song and pull out the imaginary jump ropes. Have kids skip or jump rope in place until the song ends.

31. Make like a blender

Tell kids it's time to make fruit smoothies. Ask them to pretend they are in a blender and they are strawberries (or blueberries or bananas, etc.). Dramatically pour orange juice or yogurt into the air in front of you. Tell kids when you flip the switch that they need to wiggle and jiggle (separately, not together) until they are each individually blended up. Start with a slow speed, moving up to medium speed, fast speed, and finally turbo speed. And then reverse it! Start at turbo speed and go back to slow speed.

32. Celebrate with a silent cheer

This activity is perfect for the end of an activity or a sustained amount of work time-especially for kids who are learning remotely. Let kids stand up and silently cheer and gesture in celebration. How animated can they get?!

33. Do a full-body workout

This kid-friendly exercise video is great for your body and brain! Kids can follow along through a set of workout moves that will get their blood pumping.

34. Play popcorn

Students will all be sitting in their chairs, and at any time, a student can jump up and say, "Pop!" Once they do, that student remains standing. If two students pop up at the same time, everyone takes their seats, and the game starts over. How quickly can the entire class pop without having to start over?

35. Hit the wall

Pushing against a solid object is a good way to displace extra energy from your body. Have kids stand facing a wall with their arms stretched out in front of them, palms on the surface of the wall. Push the wall away with all their strength for a count of ten. Relax for five seconds, then push again. Other activities they can do at the wall include calf stretches and wall push-ups.

36. 3, 2, 1 blastoff!

Instruct kids to stand and then squat down with their hands on the ground in front of them. All together, count down 3, 2, 1. When you get to zero, they should push up like a rocket, jumping as high as they can-letting all of their energy burst from their center.

37. Quick as a snap, wink

This is a quick and easy refocusing activity. Tell kids to snap their left fingers while they wink their right eye. Switch to snapping their right fingers while winking their left eye. This activity is particularly effective for younger learners who may find both activities challenging.

38. Balance break

A great way to get kids out of their chairs is to practice balance. Have them hop on one foot. Then up the ante by having them stand on one foot and bend their other knee out in front of them.

39. Tabletop push-ups

Kids can use their desk, a chair, the side of their couch-anything really. Have them place their hands on the table and focus their eyes in the center, moving down slowly and pushing back up.

40. Try some facial gymnastics

Have kids get their silly on for 30 seconds. Tell them to wiggle their eyebrows up and down as fast as they can. Then try to raise one eyebrow at a time.

Mental Brain Breaks That Are Educational

41. Take a comedy break

Comedy is a great release when the atmosphere is feeling a little intense. Show a funny video clip or have kids volunteer to tell a joke or pose a few silly riddles. We have compiled a number of jokes by theme on WeAreTeachers for kids of all ages for guaranteed laughs. For example, your students will love one of our most recent additions, 34 Cat Jokes for Kids. From there, you can find dog jokes, seasonal jokes, food jokes, and much more.

42. Share fun facts

In addition to joke compilations, we have plenty of fun fact lists on our site with themes that will thrill your students. Plus they're an educational way to teach your students new information during brain breaks. Get started with these fun feline facts to accompany the jokes above. Meow!

43. Practice another language

Source: startasl.com

Teach your kids the alphabet in sign language. Use brain breaks to practice by singing the ABCs while signing the letters. Then practice vocabulary words by spelling them out loud while signing the letters.

44. Find out how it's made

Remember that classic Sesame Street video about how crayons are made? We watched in awe as crayons rolled off the assembly line, wrapped in paper, and then slipped into those familiar cardboard boxes. Kids today are just as fascinated by how things are made! Here are our favorite videos about how things are made-from fireworks to LEGO.

45. Take a doodle break

According to researcher Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, downtime is essential for brain health. Kids need time for their growing brains to integrate and process the vast amount of information they receive each day. In other words, it is actually beneficial to give our kids time to allow their minds to wander. Try this: Set a timer for three to five minutes and let kids silently doodle with pencil and paper or a dry-erase board and marker while soft, calming music plays in the background.

Learn more: Sage Journals

46. Try a directed-drawing activity

Directed drawing activities walk your students through the process step-by-step so anyone can create their very own masterpiece. Teachers can lead the session by drawing on the whiteboard or chart paper while students follow along. Even better, there are plenty of videos on YouTube that lead the lesson, giving you a little break too. We have done the work and gathered some our favorite free directed-drawing activities for kids. Grab your favorite art supplies and get creative!

47. Gather your favorite GIFs

Make a slideshow of your favorite GIFs and have your kids act them out. Funny animals are a good place to start!

48. Find the object

Kids don't even have to get out of their seats for this one, but they can! Have one student start by finding an object and saying, "I see something beginning with the letter [fill in the blank]." The first person to guess the item correctly gets to choose the next object. This can be a fun one to play on Zoom too! You can have kids add in additional clues to help.

49. Clap for a little call-and-response

Pep things up with a little call-and-response clapping. It's simple to do and is often used in the classroom to get students' attention. Simply clap out a pattern that your kids will repeat back to you. Switch out the pattern a few times until everyone is focused and engaged. Alternatively, try a vocal call-and-response. Sing out a few riffs and have kids echo the tune back to you.

50. Color yourself mellow

Even grown-ups have picked up on the coloring craze as an excellent way to calm down and zone out. Put on some nice mellow background music, set a timer, and pass out some of these free mandala coloring pages.

51. Try a brain-break spinner

One way to make sure educational brain breaks are effective is to change up activities. Check out these online movement spinners for Wheel of Fortune-type games that help you add variety to brain breaks!

53. Would You Rather?

Students of all ages love participating in Would You Rather? videos, which can be found all over YouTube these days. Each video is approximately 8 minutes long, and students are given two scenarios where they choose which one they would rather participate in. Topics range from food items to activity choices to places to visit and more. As students choose the scenario, they move to either the right or left side of the room. Students then perform 30-second rounds of a specified exercise before repeating the process with another choice. Some of our favorite Would You Rather? channels include PE with Mr. G, Phonics Man, and Fix and Play. Students love when their teacher participates with them in the fun!

Learn more: PE With Mr. G

52. Write it out

Don't underestimate the power of journaling or creative writing. Give your kids a 5- or 10-minute break to open up a page of their notebook and write about anything they'd like. They don't have to share it with the class or do anything else with it; just use the quiet time to focus on something they love and want to write about.

Educational Video Brain Breaks by Grade Level

54. Brain-break compilations by grade level

If you are looking for a sample of brain breaks suitable for your students by grade level, look no further. We have created separate links of 25 videos each for individual grades at the elementary level. Go down the list and find your favorite!
Kindergarten Brain Breaks First Grade Brain Breaks Second Grade Brain Breaks Third Grade Brain Breaks Fourth Grade Brain Breaks Fifth Grade Brain Breaks
What educational brain breaks do you love? Share them in the comments!

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Quick, easy educational brain breaks that will help students re-energize, refocus, and give their brains a much-needed boost.

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Are you looking for a quick, easy, and tasteful way to display voice levels in your classroom? If yes, this poster is a must! This poster is written in student friendly language, and is a great visual for students to reference as they are monitoring their voice level throughout the day.

Included in this poster printable:

- 5 Color Options: (cool tones, tangerine dream, blue/purple delight, neon lights, and light and bright)

- 18 x 24 printable poster

- Printing instructions & tips

Voice Levels Included:

0- Ninja Mode (no talking)

1- Spy Talk (whisper)

2- Table Talk (quiet talking)

3- Loud & Proud (presenting voice)

If you're interested in a smaller/interactive voice levels chart use this link: https://bit.ly/2Pwb4b3

Thank you for your interest in this product!

Faith and Fourth

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VOICE LEVELS CHART PRINTABLE POSTERAre you looking for a quick, easy, and tasteful way to display voice levels in your classroom? If yes, this poster is a must! This poster is written in student friendly language, and is a great visual for students to reference as they are monitoring their voice lev...

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Use it, edit it, this document was created as an employee of CCA and is the intellectual property of CCA

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NEW - Updated Second Edition!

Taking Control of the Classroom

The Gold Standard of practical and effective strategies for...

Gaining cooperation from students who don't respond to traditional behavior management systems
Managing large groups of students without having to apply complicated, time-consuming techniques
Motivating apathetic students who just won't try
Reducing classroom drama and helping students learn to take responsibility for solving the problems they face
Succeeding with extremely difficult Helicopter or Drill Sergeant parents
Classroom intervention and behavior management
Taking great care of yourself as you inspire your students toward greatness
Teaching defiant kids

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Teaching with Love & Logic: Taking Control of the Classroom Jim Fay; Charles Fay [Jan 01, 2016]

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NEW - Updated Second Edition! Taking Control of the Classroom The Gold Standard of practical and effective strategies for... Gaining cooperation from students who don't respond to traditional behavior management systems Managing large groups of students without having to apply complicated, time-con...

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Classroom Management August 2024 for Padlet

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SadoTech Wireless Doorbells for Home - Adjustable Volume with 52 Chimes, 1000Ft Range, Easy Installation, Weatherproof Wireless Doorbell w/LED Flash, White

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How do you ensure the majority of your students have an opportunity to participate in class? 

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How do you ensure the majority of your students have an opportunity to participate in class? 

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Check out this video from Edutopia "Inviting Participation with Thumbs-Up Responses" for one of many ways to give all students a chance to thing and respond.

https://www.edutopia.org/video/inviting-participation-thumbs-responses

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Inviting Participation With Thumbs-Up Responses

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A quick assessment strategy replaces raised hands, encouraging more students to contribute by accommodating their different processing needs.

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HMS Classroom Expectations (PBIS Lesson)

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Picker Wheel - Spin the Wheel to Decide a Random Choice

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Picker Wheel is a wheel spinner for a random picker. Various functions & customization. Enter choices or names, spin the wheel to decide a random result.

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Quick activities that can be used to check for understanding or emphasize key information at the end of a lesson.

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Aligned with 2020 Norms

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Resilient teachers, now and for the future, with Robyn & Sarah Sturgeon - The Continuing Educator

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Robyn & Sarah, a mother & daughter teaching duo, stop by to chat with Jacob about what each generation has learned from the other, what’s better about teaching today, and what’s more challenging. They also talk about Sarah’s alternative ce…

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Beyond Standardization: State Standards and School Improvement

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Beyond Standardization: State Standards and School Improvement

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1. USE THIS Beyond Standardization_ State Standards and School Improvement

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The Consequences of Large-Scale, High-Stakes Testing on School and Classroom Practice

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The Consequences of Large-Scale, High-Stakes Testing on School and Classroom Practice

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1. USE THIS CONSEQUENCES OF LARGE-SCALE, HIGH-STAKES TESTING ON SCHOOL AND CLASSROOM PRACTICE

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Using Literacy Assessment Results to Improve Testing for English-Language Learners

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Using Literacy Assessment Results to Improve Testing for English-Language Learners

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1. USE THIS Using Literacy Assessment Results to Improve Teaching for English-Language Learners

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High-Stakes Testing Issues, Implications, and Remedies for English Language Learners

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High-Stakes Testing Issues, Implications, and Remedies for English Language Learners

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1. USE THIS High Stakes Testing_ Issues, Implications, and Remedies for English Language Learners

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Linking Testing and Instruction Policy Issues

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Linking Testing and Instruction Policy Issues

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1. USE THIS Linking Testing and Instruction_ Policy Issues

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Tying together the Common Core of Standards, Instruction, and Assessments

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Tying together the Common Core of Standards, Instruction, and Assessments

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1. USE THIS Tying Together the Common Core of Standards, Instruction, and Assessments

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How to Create an Effective Learning Community

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How to Create an Effective Learning Community

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If managed well, these teams can help teachers innovate in the classroom and improve student outcomes.

Bob Daemmrich / Alamy Stock Photo

Many teachers work to guide students to take academic risks that will help them learn. Can schools apply that idea to teacher learning as well?

The answer may be found in the collaboration achieved in professional learning communities (PLCs). PLCs-which harness "an ongoing process in which educators work collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve"-are a common and proven practice to promote teacher collaboration that increases student achievement.

However, it is possible to fall into collaborative work that stifles innovation. This can happen, for example, if PLCs focus too heavily on common assessments and a common understanding of what students are learning, leading to common everything-students getting the same lesson plan in each class. I've heard administrators use the term "common experience" when setting expectations for teaching and learning. That strikes me as going too far.

Although this is grounded in wanting to ensure student success through consistency, it can stifle innovation, and one of the purposes of a PLC is to try out new strategies. The PLC is designed for teacher learning, and thus the team must balance risk taking and teacher autonomy with shared expectations for student learning. It's important that teachers in a team have that clear understanding of purpose so that everyone feels safe to take risks.

A learning team constantly engages in a cycle of learning: analyzing data, setting goals, and learning individually and collaboratively, as well as implementing and adjusting practices to meet the needs of all learners. This process allows teachers to try new teaching practices and discover what's working and what isn't.

Determining Common Learning and Assessments

In PLCs, the fundamental questions teachers explore are: "What do we want students to learn?" and "How will we know if they have learned it?" These questions are foundational to any PLC, as they require teachers to come to a common understanding of the learning as well as common assessments that check for understanding.

PLC make this happen by prioritizing standards using specific criteria and then unpacking those standards, analyzing the nouns and verbs in the standards to understand which skills and concepts students will need to learn in order to be successful. Teachers identify what is hard to teach and what is hard to learn in the standards so that they can anticipate interventions and extensions.

It's important to note that parts of this process call for tight alignment between teachers and don't allow for the creativity and autonomy teachers may be used to. In order to achieve success for students, we do need some common practices. However, by agreeing as a team on what should be tightly aligned, we can set the stage for teacher autonomy and exploration of the art of teaching and instructional practice.

Making Space for Innovation

A PLC is constantly trying out new strategies to improve student learning, so individuals within the team must be given space to innovate. This is where the PLC should be only loosely aligned.

Teachers can never know what teaching works best for their students unless they are given the freedom to try out new strategies. PLCs can make this happen by having teachers collect evidence from common assessments and using data protocols to determine which strategies were most effective.

Ensuring That Teams Work Effectively

Sam Kaner coined the term Groan Zone to describe the space between a problem being posed and a solution being reached, and he described the divergent and convergent thinking that occurs there. Sometimes teachers in a PLC are afraid to engage in conflict or explore different ideas, worrying that even productive conflict signals that one is "not a team player." Conversely, teachers may feel pressured to get work done and feel they don't have time to spend in conflict.

But productive conflict can allow us to build better ideas and stronger teams, and PLCs should embrace productive conflict and create a space for it in order to innovate. PLCs can make this happen with clear norms as well as protocols to ensure that all voices are heard and that it is safe to engage in this conflict. It's also helpful to make sure the projected outcome of a meeting is clear: Are we "generating ideas" or "making a decision"? This clarity can make space for open conversation.

PLCs need strong facilitators in order to engage in conversations that promote learning, risk taking, and innovation. However, the facilitators or leaders of those teams may be torn between advocating for ideas and managing the complex process of moving the team forward. This can lead to situations where team members have a facilitator who is strongly advocating for an idea rather than allowing for all voices to be heard, and team members may not feel safe to speak up or take risks. If facilitators need to advocate, they should select someone else to facilitate, in order to continue to balance advocacy for new ideas against team consensus and integration.

I recommend clear decision-making process like the Gradients of Agreement structure, which allows for decision making that honors the Groan Zone and divergent thinking while still moving toward convergent thinking and consensus decision-making.

PLCs are the lifeblood of innovation and risk taking in school. When structured well, they can be teams that constantly learn together and work to discover what is best for students.

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If managed well, these teams can help teachers innovate in the classroom and improve student outcomes.

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PLC Norms, Sample Agenda, Goal Setting Worksheet

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PLC Norms, Sample Agenda, Goal Setting Worksheet

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If you don't have a login, let Rebekah know

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Universal Design for Learning: Action and Expression - AVID Open Access

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Explore key concepts and digital options for the areas of action and expression within CAST’s Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Guidelines.

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The Good

We know that the choices our students make today will shape their future and could possibly have long-lasting effects-positively or negatively-on their lives. That is why it is so important for us, as educators, to provide many opportunities for students to create positive digital footprints and empower them to continue to make good choices when they are on their own. Just like in this article, we do want to acknowledge and ensure that students are aware of the bad and ugly things that can happen as a result of negative digital footprints. However, our main focus should be on the good and how to amplify their amazing, positive selves. Below are a few strategies that you can use to help students engage in understanding and creating positive digital footprints:

Share examples with students of individuals who have created a positive online image and positive digital footprints.

Provide students with opportunities to create and post things that they are proud of to help promote themselves positively online. Consider the options below as possible activities for students.

Encourage students to create and post digital portfolios of their work.

Guide students through creating and sharing their digital eBinder.
The AVID eBinders site offers an eBinder template for you and your students to download as a starting point.

Create and post educational and positive YouTube videos, Instructables, podcasts, etc.

Share and allow students opportunities to practice the following five questions they should ask themselves before posting anything online:

1. Is what I am posting true?

2. Is what I am posting helpful?

3. Is what I am posting inspiring?

4. Is what I am posting necessary? Will it make the world better?

5. Is what I am posting kind?

For younger (and even older) students, you can develop understanding and have positive conversations around digital footprints using picture books. Below are some great picture books to help students develop their understanding around digital citizenship and what a digital footprint is:

The Technology Tail: A Digital Footprint Story written by Julia Cook and illustrated by Anita DuFalla

Building a Digital Footprint written by Adrienne Matteson and illustrated by Rachael McLean

Chicken Clicking written by Jeanne Willis and illustrated by Tony Ross

Nerdy Birdy Tweets written by Aaron Reynolds and illustrated by Matt Davies

Communicate and collaborate with parents/guardians. It is important to create opportunities to involve them in the discussion of digital citizenship and specifically their child's digital footprint. Work collaboratively to develop strategies around technology use that can be used at home and at school and create a common language. Make sure to focus on the positive aspects of their child's digital life as well as the possible negative ones. Consider raising the topic with parents/guardians during a community forum or even during conferences. Many districts have shown the movies Screenagers or Screenagers Next Chapter, with guided discussions following the showing. These movies tend to focus on the "bad" and the "ugly" parts of digital footprints, so make sure to provide a balanced perspective with additional positive examples. Make sure that both parents/guardians and students understand how colleges and workplaces investigate the digital footprint of their potential students and/or employees in order to make decisions around admission and hiring. In many cases, having no online presence at all has the same outcome as having a negative online presence. It is very important that you, parents/guardians, and your students are all working together to help students create a positive online presence.

The Bad

It is inevitable that students are going to make mistakes, and this is also true when students are using technology. When students do make a mistake, saying something like, "That is so terrible," does not help students learn and grow. We need to empower them to be able to clean up their mistakes if, and more likely when, they are made. When we talk about a student's digital footprint as something scary and horrible, that doesn't help them learn how to use technology to empower themselves or how to deal with it when they make a mistake. We need to prepare students for as many situations as possible, so when they are on their own, they cannot only handle it, but thrive.

One way to help our students learn how to "clean up" their digital footprint is to teach them how to self-evaluate their own technology use, especially outside of school. Before having students look at their own, as a class you might choose a famous person and look through that person's Twitter tweets, Instagram posts, etc. As a group, discuss the impression of the person based on what they have posted. What kind of image is the person portraying online? What does their digital footprint say about them? If their digital footprint is saying something negative, how might they change it? After trying it as a group, students can work as teams and look at another famous person and answer the same questions. Finally, have students independently look at their own digital footprint. Even if they are not posting updates themselves, it is very likely that there are still things posted about them.

It is important to emphasize with students how to create a positive digital footprint. If you put value and importance on a student's digital footprint, then they will put value on it. It will become something that matters. As you begin to help students create and practice a positive digital footprint, start small. Have students focus on one or two specific skills at a time. Give students time to look at each other's digital footprint and discuss the impression that it gives. Continually ask students if they are representing themselves in a positive way. Continually ask them, "How might the way you are being represented impact your future?"

The Ugly

While we need to focus on helping students create and practice a positive digital footprint, there are instances where a student's online posts, or posts online about them, can lead to negative consequences. In conversations about digital citizenship, it is critical to make students aware of the ugly things that can happen and how to prevent them, as well. We must teach students, in collaboration with their parents/guardians, the following:

Why it is important to not post private information online

How to use privacy settings and how these settings impact the information they are sharing

How to check privacy policies to be aware of how their personal information may be shared

What to do if someone steals their identity

What to do if they are being cyberbullied

What the laws are around digital citizenship

You aren't going to be able to teach all of these concepts at once. Some of these concepts are more appropriate for certain ages than they are for others. That said, it is important to teach digital citizenship at all grade levels and to provide opportunities for students to make mistakes under the watchful guidance of their teacher, rather than waiting until they are on their own, where the consequences may be much worse and more permanent.

There are many resources available to support you and the parents/guardians of your students. Common Sense Education has curriculum and lessons available for free. In addition, they have resources developed specifically for parents/guardians, as well. The following are several of the family tip sheets from Common Sense Education that focus on Digital Footprint and Identity, as well as Privacy and Security:

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Address Digital Footprints: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - AVID Open Access

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We know that the choices our students make today will shape their future and could possibly have long-lasting effects-positively or negatively-on their lives. That is why it is so important for us, as educators, to provide many opportunities for students to create positive digital footprints and empower them to continue to make good choices when they are on their own.

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Understanding the Basics of Misinformation and Disinformation - AVID Open Access

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Explore the motivations and psychology that contribute to the sharing of misinformation and disinformation in online spaces.

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Increase Digital Citizenship in the Classroom AVID

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Increase Digital Citizenship in the Classroom AVID

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5 Ways to Increase Digital Citizenship in Your Classroom- AVID Open Access

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Discover five ways to help you increase digital citizenship in your classroom.

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Building Awareness, Setting Expectations, and Nurturing a Positive Culture

Awareness: Start by building awareness of digital citizenship-help students define it, develop activities to help students experience it, and model it through your remote and hybrid teaching.

Define it. Common Sense Education defines digital citizenship as a way of thinking, being, and acting online: Think critically, be safe, and act responsibly.

Develop experiential activities. Educator Heather Marrs explains that "digital citizenship is a key skill for living and working in a connected world. And I've found that if my students don't learn this important skill set in an authentic way, it will be just another abstract idea that becomes real only when they run into problems down the road."
For the most powerful learning experiences, students should participate in collaborative learning where they are sharing and connecting online with others in a variety of environments. One example is to have your students work together to build a website about a class project. As they research ideas, craft content, design the website, and create media to support it, you will have multiple opportunities to engage in deep conversations about respecting the rights and responsibilities of others.

Model it. Use technology in a way that demonstrates problem-solving, idea generation, and information gathering. Because technology is so pervasive, students can learn anytime and anywhere, so long as you show them how.

Expectations: Create and share high expectations around digital citizenship, hold students accountable for following those expectations, and teach digital citizenship skills to your students in both direct and indirect ways.

Provide transferrable strategies. Help students develop strategies and habits that can be transferred across technologies. Technology is changing so rapidly that what might be true today could be different tomorrow. The ISTE Standards for Students are examples of transferable skills that can be taught.

Culture: Develop a culture of positive digital citizenship, where students become empowered to support and inspire one another.

Provide a safe space to practice. Start internally, with your LMS or sites with limited sharing. Older students can create a blog or website. Younger students can share a class space like a Seesaw blog. Review each other's work and send praise. "This is what you did well" goes a long way toward reinforcing and continuing positive digital citizenship. Whether young or old, no one tires of praise.

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#16 - More Dos (and Fewer Don'ts) for Teaching Digital Citizenship - AVID Open Access

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Shift digital citizenship from a list of don'ts to a concept that is integrated into learning so that students are empowered to become thoughtful, empathetic digital citizens.

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Supporting a Healthy Digital Lifestyle AVID

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Supporting a Healthy Digital Lifestyle AVID

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Supporting a Healthy Digital Lifestyle, with Eisha Buch- AVID Open Access

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Eisha Buch, the Director of Education Development and Programs at Common Sense Media, shares details about a new collection of lessons designed to support a healthy digital lifestyle.

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Incorporate Strategies for Critical Reading of Video and Digital Images - AVID Open Access

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Teach students to “read” videos and digital images with the critical reading process that they use when reading texts.

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Enhance Netiquette and Decrease Cyberbullying AVID

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Enhance Netiquette and Decrease Cyberbullying AVID

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Enhance Classroom Netiquette and Diminish Cyberbullying - AVID Open Access

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Enhance classroom netiquette and learn how to diminish cyberbullying among your students.

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Media Literacy, with Dr. Federica Fornaciari - AVID Open Access

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Dr. Federica Fornaciari, a professor in the Strategic Communication programs at National University, helps us unpack the importance of media literacy, concerns with mis- and disinformation, and strategies for becoming better consumers and producers of media.

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If you don't have an AVID login, email or message Rebekah

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This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice. Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.