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Topics:

1. Danielson Rubric - Critical Attributes

2. Novice Teacher Survival Tips

3. Grading and Feedback Suggestions

4. Novice Teacher Padlet!

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Topics:

1. Evaluations

2. Resetting Expectations and Routines Mid-Year - Tips and Games

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Check out this US Letter designed by Nicolette Smith.

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Grade book Training for Teachers 2025.pptx

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Topics:

1. Novice Teacher Padlet

2. Fall Novice Teacher Survey

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ASCD - Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development 

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ASCD - Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development 

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We create practical, timely, affordable professional learning to help educators and instructional leaders provide students with a modern, equitable, and quality education.

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This is a resources from one of my absolute favorite Blogs, Cult of Pedagogy! It is awesome!

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This post contains Amazon Affiliate links; if you purchase from Amazon after going through these links, Cult of Pedagogy receives a small commission at no extra cost to you.

You have probably come to this article for one of two reasons: Either you want to start differentiating instruction in your classroom and don't know where to start, or you already differentiate, but want to see if you're missing anything. I have combed through tons of online resources on how to differentiate instruction, and have put together this collection of the clearest, most high-quality resources for learning how to differentiate in your classroom. Off we go, then!

Lots of teachers think they are differentiating, when they really kind of aren't. So before you get started, give yourself a solid overview of what differentiation is (and isn't) and how it works. To do that, you need to read Carol Tomlinson, whose work is the gold standard in differentiation. Her book, How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms , is the best one I've seen on the subject. And it's short: At just over 100 pages, it's a fast, easy read, and is full of useful information that will set you on the path toward high-quality differentiation.

In addition to explaining basic principles, the book shows you how to manage a differentiated classroom, teaches you specific strategies, and lets you peek inside a few sample differentiated classrooms so you can see how all the parts work together. I really can't recommend this book highly enough...get it!

Reading about how to differentiate on paper is helpful, but seeing other teachers actually doing it will give you a far better understanding of how to implement the strategies in your own classroom.

This Edutopia video shows how one school has set up a system they call Reteach and Enrich, where time is built into the schedule every day to reteach students who haven't met learning targets or provide enrichment activities for those who have. Watching this process in action makes it really clear HOW to make it work:

In this Teaching Channel video (click below), high school math teacher Maria Barchi demonstrates how she tiers instruction by giving different exit slips to students based on their mastery of a lesson, then adjusts instruction the following day based on their responses:

Below, second grade teacher Robert Pronovost shows how he uses two separate online programs, Planet Turtle and Dreambox, to meet students' individual needs in 2nd grade math (Teaching Channel):

The next video shows 5th grade teacher Stacy Brewer demonstrating how she differentiates process for readiness in writing responses to a text: Because this group of ELL students needs additional help, she works with them while the rest of the class responds to their questions independently (Teaching Channel).

Finally, this Teaching Channel video shows how Mary Vagenas uses Learning Menus to differentiate in her 7th grade Social Studies class:

Once you understand the basic principles of differentiation, it's a good idea to have a few basic tools on hand.

Task Cards
What are task cards? They are all the rage in some classrooms: The basic idea is that you take tasks and questions that might normally appear on worksheets and put them onto laminated cards (one item per card), which allows you to better individualize instruction, set up centers, and group students according to need (plus, you can re-use them year after year!). You can make your own or browse through thousands on Teachers Pay Teachers. This free e-book by Rachel Lynette explains how to use them in detail:

Tiered Lesson Template
This blog post from Marsha McGuire at A Differentiated Kindergarten shows you how to plan a tiered lesson and includes an editable template. Even though the featured classroom is a kindergarten, Marsha's system would work effectively with all age groups.

Using Color to Help You Tier Differentiated Activities

Learning Menus
This packet from the University of Virginia Curry School of Education teaches you how to create learning menus or choice menus, which offer students a variety of learning activities to choose from, depending on their interests and learning profiles.

Choice Menus (PDF)

There's No Time to Differentiate: Myth-Busting DI, Part 2
by John McCarthy
This Edutopia article discusses some of the myths about and objections to differentiation.

Dr. Kathie Nunley's Layered Curriculum
This website is based entirely on the Layered Curriculum philosophy. Somewhere between a learning menu and a tiered unit, a layered curriculum looks like an interesting take on differentiation and is worth a look once you've got the basics down.

Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroom
by Carol Tomlinson and Marcia Imbeau
Although I have not read this one, I got a recommendation from Dr. Jennifer Beasley, an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Arkansas. "This is a practical guide for how to begin to establish routines and practices that facilitate differentiation. We all know that we could have the most beautiful lesson on paper and see that same lesson fall apart in the classroom as a result of forgetting to give directions for handing out materials. This resource offers many practical examples for putting some routines in place to allow for working in groups, answering questions, or even talking with your students about differentiation."

If you thought this was helpful, stick around.
Join my mailing list and never miss another post. You'll get weekly tips, tools, and inspiration - in quick, bite-sized packages - all geared toward making your teaching more effective and joyful. To thank you, I'll send you a free copy of my new e-booklet, 20 Ways to Cut Your Grading Time in Half. I look forward to getting to know you better!

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A Starter Kit for Differentiated Instruction

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A collection of the clearest, most high-quality books, articles, videos, and downloadable documents for learning how to differentiate in your classroom.

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Differentiation 101- Vanderbilt University, Peabody College

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Differentiation 101- Vanderbilt University, Peabody College

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Amazing resources!

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Lilian Katz, Professor Emeritus, College of Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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IRIS | Page 1: Defining Differentiated Instruction

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Mr. Shelton learns that differentiated instruction is an approach whereby teachers adjust their curriculum and instruction to maximize the learning of all students: average learners, English language learners, struggling students, students with learning disabilities, and gifted and talented students. Differentiated instruction is not a single strategy but rather a framework that teachers can use to implement a variety of strategies, many of which are evidence-based. These evidence-based strategies include:

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WCSD has an awesome Padlet with tons of great resources for i-Ready!!!! 

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WCSD has an awesome Padlet with tons of great resources for i-Ready!!!! 

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This is the go-to site for how to use your data, run reports, etc. You will need to log into your i-Ready account to access resources.

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Log in to i-Ready®, online assessment and instruction that helps teachers provide all students a path to proficiency and growth in reading and mathematics.

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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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Loads of How To's on this FAQ page!!

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So many great ideas for how to differentiate by process, product, content, or environment.

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TeachersFirst: Examples of ways to differentiate instruction

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Education news, analysis, and opinion about teaching and teachers

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WCSD Mentoring and Induction Program Website 

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WCSD Mentoring and Induction Program Website 

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Mentoring and Induction Program - Washoe County School District

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Mentoring and Induction Program - Washoe County School District

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Playlists have been curated for easy access to classes reccomended for First, Second and Third year teachers! Log into MyPGS, click on "Professional Learning" then select "My Professional Learning" and finally "My PD Playlist". Here you will find a list of courses That meets the criteria for NTA credits!

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Topics:

1. Regional Seminar Information

2. Differentiation

3. Restorative Practices

4. Novice Teacher Checklist

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Check out this US Letter designed by Nicolette Smith.

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Login | Washoe County School District, NV

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Many forms and resources to support distirct staff are located on this portal

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There are basic videos avilable for how to message parents, access student information, attendance and grades.

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Campus Passport Videos - Washoe County School District

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Infinite Campus 101- Basics for beginners

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Infinite Campus 101- Basics for beginners

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Infinite Campus Basics- Guide for Beginners

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Log into i-Ready and search for resources on Success Central.

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Pre-K-3 - Strategies for Primary Classrooms 

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Pre-K-3 - Strategies for Primary Classrooms 

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Cool Paslet with lots os ideas for pre-K and primary classrooms.

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a quick and easy way to ensure that you are holding all students accountable!

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Enter names, spin wheel to pick a random winner. Customize look and feel, save and share wheels.

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Classroom Management Tips for Upper Elementary - Teaching with Jennifer Findley

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Classroom management is crucial to your students’ success. Read my top classroom management tips for upper grades on this post.

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Classroom managment strategies that every teacher should know!

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Classroom managment strategies that every teacher should know!

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25 Best Classroom Management Strategies — Schools That Lead

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Classroom management can reduce issues with student behavior, improve grades, and create a safe space for students to express themselves.

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This website is a true virtual cornucopia of resources for grades K–12—everything you need in one place!

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teaching ideas, reviewed web sites, lesson plans, teaching units, classroom ideas, effective use, educational technology, integrating technology, best web sites for teaching, projector-ready lessons, interactive lessons, interactive whiteboard ready

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Great ideas!!!!

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University of San Diego - Professional & Continuing Education

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How to Implement Restorative Justice Practices in the Classroom

Restorative justice (RJ) is a trending topic in the world of education. While many educators have a basic understanding of what it is, what it takes to actually implement restorative justice practices is not as clear. But with an indisputable upside - research shows that restorative justice programs help reduce exclusionary discipline and narrow racial disparities in school discipline - more teachers are seeking resources to help begin the process.
Here are our tips to help you start implementing restorative justice practices in your classroom and school community.

What is Restorative Justice?

Restorative justice is defined as "a philosophy and a theory of justice that emphasizes bringing together everyone affected by wrongdoing to address needs and responsibilities, and to heal the harm to relationships as much as possible." Restorative justice in school settings is being used to replace traditional punishment practices with a community-oriented approach that involves all stakeholders finding a solution.

How Does Restorative Justice Work in the Classroom?

While the process will vary from incident to incident, there is a basic structure that frames all restorative justice interactions. It is as follows:

1. All involved parties discuss the incident in question.

2. The victim will be given the opportunity to share their feelings, as will the accused. Restorative practices must provide equal time to each party as the primary goal is not punishment, but restoration.

3. Teachers/administrators will act as facilitators to the mediation, where they ask open-ended questions in an effort to foster reflection. These group meetings are known as circles and are central to restorative justice practices.

4. Questions posed to students often include: What can you do to fix this? How would you feel if the same thing happened to you? How did your behavior impact your fellow students?

5. All involved parties decide on a course of action, and all parties work together to carry out that plan.

What Are the Benefits of Restorative Justice in the Classroom?

While research is still ongoing, there are a number of benefits that many organizations - both schools and other settings - have experienced after shifting to restorative practices. Here are some of the most important:

Reduces exclusionary discipline

Builds stronger interpersonal relationships

Improves respect amongst peers and teachers

Reduces overall stress in the school community

Allows teachers to focus more time on teaching

Narrows racial disparities in disciplinary action

Improves student academic performance

Encourages all parties to take responsibility

Strategies for Implementing Restorative Practices in the Classroom

Implementing restorative practices in your classroom doesn't have to be done all at once. In fact, it is easier - and you as a teacher will find more success - to add RJ strategies slowly in ways that work for your classroom environment. Here are some steps you can take to start using restorative justice in your class.

Circles are one of the pillars of restorative justice in schools, and are a great starting point for teachers looking to use more RJ practices. Circles are a whole class activity designed to help the class community set their expectations and standards of behavior for the environment. During the circle exercise, students and teachers alike are encouraged to share their goals, what worries them, and how they want to interact with their classmates. With circles, students are given the feeling of ownership over class rules that will directly impact them.

Circles are also used after an incident that needs remedying. In a post-event circle, all relevant stakeholders will meet with a teacher who acts as the mediator for the discussion. With restorative justice, the conversation follows the same format:

Discuss what happened

Address the harm, needs, and cause of the conflict

Determine acceptable outcomes

Act on the plans of action

Implement Focused Communication Practice

Communication is vital in any restorative justice model, so any RJ practices should start with focused communication practice. In your classroom, find ways to demonstrate clear, thorough communication skills. This will help students understand what is expected of them and learn how to effectively listen, learn, and share.

Introduce Restorative Skills

Skills like problem solving, empathy, positivity, and communication are all critical for restorative practices to be effective. And while these things are all introduced through other aspects of your teaching, make an effort to discuss and model these through the lens of restorative justice.

Have Daily Circle Discussions

Restorative justice relies on the classroom truly feeling like a community - a sense of closeness, honesty, trustworthiness, and dependability are all important ingredients. One way to foster these feelings is by holding circle discussions every day. In this environment, students can communicate openly and get to know their classmates, which builds a sense of closeness and strengthens your classroom culture.

Encourage Independent Communication

As you know, restorative justice practices involve the perpetrator and the victim (for lack of better terms) resolving issues together. To build a foundation for this type of interaction, allow students to independently communicate about issues that may have been taboo before. Discussing feelings, ideas, and reactions without teacher involvement will help them feel more comfortable in formal RJ interactions.

Let Students Share About Themselves

Restorative justice practices take students and their personal lives into account, so it's only logical that you would take time to get to know more about each pupil in your class. Depending on the age group this can be intimidating or even hard to accomplish, but students at the minimum should know they are encouraged to share. By getting to know the whole student, teachers and classmates can get to understand their behaviors better.

3 Real Examples of Restorative Justice Practices in Schools

To give you proper context around restorative justice in schools, here are three very different school districts who have found success with RJ practices.

1. Oakland Unified School District

2. Chicago Public Schools

3. Primary schools in Australia

Restorative Justice Resources

The best way to move to a restorative justice model in your classroom or school is to improve your knowledge and understanding of its practices in an in-depth manner. At the University of San Diego Division of Professional and Continuing Education (PCE), we offer a Restorative Justice Facilitation and Leadership Certificate that will equip participants with the level of mastery and understanding of restorative justice that empowers them to spearhead any implementation of restorative justice. Available online, this three-course certificate covers everything from the philosophy of RJ to the tenets of restorative leadership.

If you are an educator looking to do more high-level research first, here is an introductory list of restorative justice resources.

FAQs About Restorative Justice in the Classroom

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6 Restorative Justice Practices to Implement In Your Classroom [+Real Examples]

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Restorative justice in schools is proven to have countless benefits - here are 6 practices to implement in your class: [link]

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Amazing ideas for differentiating your classroom!!!

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Dynamic Differentiation Strategies - Student Choice

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"Providing cognitively & intellectually appropriate challenge and structured choice to gifted students increased motivation, engagement, and sense of empowerment." (Graefe & Ritchotte)

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There are lots of resources available for differentation. Just always remember that you differentiation can be done with product, process, content - but should always keep students engaged with grade-level content!!!

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Scaffolding Strategies to use with your students

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Scaffolding Strategies to use with your students

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6 Scaffolding Strategies to Use With Your Students

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Support every student by breaking learning up into chunks and providing a concrete structure for each.

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Great ideas for how to scaffold, and explains well how to withdraw those temporary supports!

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What is scaffolding?

Scaffolding means providing temporary support for an inexperienced learner in order to help them to complete a task or acquire a skill, and then gradually withdrawing that support. Inexperienced learners learn from working with someone more experienced than themselves as they are 'scaffolded' by their knowledge and expertise. This idea is integral to the learning of a language, as learners who are the New to English, Early Acquisition and Developing Competence stages of English language proficiency will need more scaffolding in terms of support for their language development.

Scaffolding language and learning includes such strategies as:

Modelling and demonstrating language orally or in writing to the learner

Encouraging learners to use their first language skills

Activating prior knowledge about a new topic to create a context for the new learning

Incorporating collaborative group or pair work into lessons

Using visuals and graphic organisers such as pictures, models, diagrams, grids, tables and graphs to support understanding

Providing language prompts and frames for speaking and writing

Examples of activities

Scaffolding is important at all ages, in all subjects and at all stages of English language proficiency, but especially the earlier stages. Here are some examples:

1. Vocabulary building:

Teach key words and phrases in the learner's first language in preparation for a task. Translated vocabulary could be provided or learners could use a bilingual dictionary to find out the meaning of target language. This way the learner is using what they already know in their first language as a scaffold for their learning. For example, GCSE poetry resources, such as Poppies by Jane Weir, identify key words and phrases for EAL learners to look up before or while reading the poem.

Substitution tables are an excellent way of providing scaffolding for EAL learners to generate simple sentences orally or in writing. They can give the learner choices about the content of their sentence whilst still maintaining a specific structure. For example, in Specialised Cells there are substitution tables to support EAL learners in describing particular cells, e.g. Sperm cells can swim, and also to describe the function of these cells, e.g. The function of nerve cells is to carry messages around the body.

3. Collaborative activities:

Provide planned opportunities for learners to work collaboratively, in pairs or a group, on a task that requires a particular type of talk and has a clear outcome. If the groups are of mixed ability, contain learners who share a first language and/ or more proficient users of English, this provides a scaffold.

4. Speaking and writing frames:

Like substitution tables, speaking and writing frames provide a scaffold for EAL learners to practise specific structures. For example, in A Balanced Diet, speaking/writing frame cards are provided as scaffolding to support EAL learners to talk and write about why we need particular elements for a healthy diet. We need _____________ to help...

How scaffolding works

The kind of support and scaffold that the teacher provides is crucial to the educational success of the learner. As demonstrated above scaffolding for language development can take a wide variety of different forms, such as peer support, use of first language, written prompts such as substitution tables or writing frames. The key elements are:

Choose a type of scaffold appropriate to the task

Use the scaffold as a temporary support that is withdrawn as soon as the learner can manage independently without it

Top tip: Use a scaffold that will enable the cognitive challenge of the task to be appropriately high. For example, encouraging EAL learners to look up key language in advance in a bilingual dictionary will enable them to build on their prior knowledge and undertake a more challenging task than they would be able to tackle in English alone.

Why is scaffolding a Great Idea for EAL learners?

Scaffolding is important for EAL learners as it enables them to move from dependent to independent learning, as emphasised by NALDIC (1999). They gradually take over more of a task until they can do it without the expert's support. They can then move onto more challenging learning which continues to be scaffolded by the expert. Scaffolding also enables teachers to maintain high expectations of the learner rather than simplifying the task.

Scaffolding is a key concept in Vygotsky's work on the relationship between thought and language (e.g. Vygotsksy 1962), and Bruner's research in the 1970s (e.g. Bruner 1975) also looked at this and suggested that language learning is scaffolded by what he termed the learner's Language Acquisition Support System. More recently, practitioners like Gibbons emphasised the importance of scaffolding language as well as learning when working with EAL learners (Gibbons 2015).

References

Bruner, J., 1975, Language as an instrument of thought, in A. Davies (Ed.), Problems of Language and Learning, London: Heinemann.

Gibbons, P., 2015, Scaffolding language scaffolding learning (2nd edition), Portsmouth NH: Heinemann.

NALDIC, 1999, The distinctiveness of English as an Additional Language: a cross-curricular discipline, National Association of Language Development in the Curriculum, Working Paper 5.

Vygotsky L. S., 1962, Thought and language. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

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Scaffolding Play What is scaffolding? Scaffolding means providing temporary support for an inexperienced learner in order to help them to complete a task or acquire a skill, and then gradually withdrawing that support. Inexperienced learners learn from working with someone more experienced than themselves as they are 'scaffolded' by their knowledge and expertise.

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10 Must-Try Scaffolding Strategies For The Modern Classroom | ClassPoint

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Discover 10 powerful scaffolding strategies to boost engagement & ensure all students can master any skill in your classroom.

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What do we mean by assessment of learning? Dylan Wiliam

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What do we mean by assessment of learning? Dylan Wiliam

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Dylan William: What do we Mean by Assessment for Learning?

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27 Easy Formative Assessment Strategies for Gathering Evidence of Student Learning

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27 Easy Formative Assessment Strategies for Gathering Evidence of Student Learning

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27 Easy Formative Assessment Strategies for Gathering Evidence of Student Learning

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All 27 of these formative assessment strategies are simple to administer and free or inexpensive to use. They provide the teacher with the evidence of student learning needed to make lesson plan adjustments and keep learning on target and moving forward.

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7 Smart, Fast Ways to Do Formative Assessment

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7 Smart, Fast Ways to Do Formative Assessment

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Formative assessment-discovering what students know while they're still in the process of learning it-can be tricky. Designing just the right assessment can feel high stakes-for teachers, not students-because we're using it to figure out what comes next. Are we ready to move on? Do our students need a different path into the concepts? Or, more likely, which students are ready to move on and which need a different path?

When it comes to figuring out what our students really know, we have to look at more than one kind of information. A single data point-no matter how well designed the quiz, presentation, or problem behind it-isn't enough information to help us plan the next step in our instruction.

Add to that the fact that different learning tasks are best measured in different ways, and we can see why we need a variety of formative assessment tools we can deploy quickly, seamlessly, and in a low-stakes way-all while not creating an unmanageable workload. That's why it's important to keep it simple: Formative assessments generally just need to be checked, not graded, as the point is to get a basic read on the progress of individuals, or the class as a whole.

7 Approaches to Formative Assessment

1. Entry and exit slips: Those marginal minutes at the beginning and end of class can provide some great opportunities to find out what kids remember. Start the class off with a quick question about the previous day's work while students are getting settled-you can ask differentiated questions written out on chart paper or projected on the board, for example.

A quick way to see the big picture if you use paper exit tickets is to sort the papers into three piles: Students got the point; they sort of got it; and they didn't get it. The size of the stacks is your clue about what to do next.

No matter the tool, the key to keeping students engaged in the process of just-walked-in or almost-out-the-door formative assessment is the questions. Ask students to write for one minute on the most meaningful thing they learned. You can try prompts like:

What are three things you learned, two things you're still curious about, and one thing you don't understand?

How would you have done things differently today, if you had the choice?

What I found interesting about this work was...

Right now I'm feeling...

Today was hard because...

Or skip the words completely and have students draw or circle emojis to represent their assessment of their understanding.

2. Low-stakes quizzes and polls: If you want to find out whether your students really know as much as you think they know, polls and quizzes created with Socrative or Quizlet or in-class games and tools like Quizalize, Kahoot, FlipQuiz, Gimkit, Plickers, and Flippity can help you get a better sense of how much they really understand. (Grading quizzes but assigning low point values is a great way to make sure students really try: The quizzes matter, but an individual low score can't kill a student's grade.) Kids in many classes are always logged in to these tools, so formative assessments can be done very quickly. Teachers can see each kid's response, and determine both individually and in aggregate how students are doing.

Because you can design the questions yourself, you determine the level of complexity. Ask questions at the bottom of Bloom's taxonomy and you'll get insight into what facts, vocabulary terms, or processes kids remember. Ask more complicated questions ("What advice do you think Katniss Everdeen would offer Scout Finch if the two of them were talking at the end of chapter 3?"), and you'll get more sophisticated insights.

3. Dipsticks: So-called alternative formative assessments are meant to be as easy and quick as checking the oil in your car, so they're sometimes referred to as dipsticks. These can be things like asking students to:

write a letter explaining a key idea to a friend,

draw a sketch to visually represent new knowledge, or

do a think, pair, share exercise with a partner.

Your own observations of students at work in class can provide valuable data as well, but they can be tricky to keep track of. Taking quick notes on a tablet or smartphone, or using a copy of your roster, is one approach. A focused observation form is more formal and can help you narrow your note-taking focus as you watch students work.

4. Interview assessments: If you want to dig a little deeper into students' understanding of content, try discussion-based assessment methods. Casual chats with students in the classroom can help them feel at ease even as you get a sense of what they know, and you may find that five-minute interview assessments work really well. Five minutes per student would take quite a bit of time, but you don't have to talk to every student about every project or lesson.

You can also shift some of this work to students using a peer-feedback process called TAG feedback (Tell your peer something they did well, Ask a thoughtful question, Give a positive suggestion). When you have students share the feedback they have for a peer, you gain insight into both students' learning.

For more introverted students-or for more private assessments-use Flipgrid, Explain Everything, or Seesaw to have students record their answers to prompts and demonstrate what they can do.

5. Methods that incorporate art: Consider using visual art or photography or videography as an assessment tool. Whether students draw, create a collage, or sculpt, you may find that the assessment helps them synthesize their learning. Or think beyond the visual and have kids act out their understanding of the content. They can create a dance to model cell mitosis or act out stories like Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" to explore the subtext.

6. Misconceptions and errors: Sometimes it's helpful to see if students understand why something is incorrect or why a concept is hard. Ask students to explain the " muddiest point" in the lesson-the place where things got confusing or particularly difficult or where they still lack clarity. Or do a misconception check: Present students with a common misunderstanding and ask them to apply previous knowledge to correct the mistake, or ask them to decide if a statement contains any mistakes at all, and then discuss their answers.

You can use sticky notes to get a quick insight into what areas your kids think they need to work on. Ask them to pick their own trouble spot from three or four areas where you think the class as a whole needs work, and write those areas in separate columns on a whiteboard. Have you students answer on a sticky note and then put the note in the correct column-you can see the results at a glance.

Several self-assessments let the teacher see what every kid thinks very quickly. For example, you can use colored stacking cups that allow kids to flag that they're all set (green cup), working through some confusion (yellow), or really confused and in need of help (red).

Similar strategies involve using participation cards for discussions (each student has three cards-"I agree," "I disagree," and "I don't know how to respond") and thumbs-up responses (instead of raising a hand, students hold a fist at their belly and put their thumb up when they're ready to contribute). Students can instead use six hand gestures to silently signal that they agree, disagree, have something to add, and more. All of these strategies give teachers an unobtrusive way to see what students are thinking.

No matter which tools you select, make time to do your own reflection to ensure that you're only assessing the content and not getting lost in the assessment fog. If a tool is too complicated, is not reliable or accessible, or takes up a disproportionate amount of time, it's OK to put it aside and try something different.

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7 Smart, Fast Ways to Do Formative Assessment

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Within these methods you'll find close to 40 tools and tricks for finding out what your students know while they're still learning.

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Formative Assessment Modules - National Council on Measurement in Education

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Formative Assessment Modules - National Council on Measurement in Education

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National Council on Measurement in Education

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Formative Assessment Modules - National Council on Measurement in Education

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Formative assessment practices are those that provide teachers and students with information about learning as it develops—not just at the end of a project, unit, or year. The information is…

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Fantastic set of resources from an amazing educational leader, Rick Wormeli

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RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Tweet any suggestions to add to this list at @RickWormeli2, or email Rick at rick@rickwormeli.onmicrosoft.com.

For articles authored by Rick and more multimedia, check the links below.

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Note: * indicates a website that requires a sign-in to gain access to the material (no cost necessary).

Assessments & Grading

A teacher attempts implementing re-takes and asks, "What was I getting into? Would I be inundated with work? Would the kids just slack off on the first try at an assignment? Would it even make a difference?" Here's what happened on the blog, The Art and Science of Teaching.

Ken O'Connor, Lee Ann Jung and Douglas Reeves posit that a better grading system would produce grades that are FAST (fair, accurate, specific, timely).

Network website for Assessment FOR Learning, with blogs, forums, videos and hot topic articles on assessment practices. *

Tom Schimmer, one of the great thinkers for leaders and practitioners when it comes to standards or outcomes based assessment and grading, authors this blog.

Shannon Shult-Standards-Based Grading

Douglas Reeves-Effective Grading Practices

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Web series based around his book, Elements of Grading

Highlighting Mistakes-A Grading Strategy ​

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By Jamalee Stone

Education Leadership

Larry Ferlazzo responds to a question on balancing district mandates and
student needs.

Differentiation

David Cutler interviews Rick Wormeli on doing what's fair in the differentiated classroom, hosting by Spin Education.

Can You Solve This?

Veritasium asks, "How do you investigate hypotheses? Do you seek to confirm your theory - looking for white swans? Or do you try to find black swans? I was startled at how hard it was for people to investigate number sets that didn't follow their hypotheses, even when their method wasn't getting them anywhere."

Getting Started on Differentiated Instruction ​

Carol Tomlinson provides an explanation on getting started with differentiate instruction.

Assessments, Grading and Mastery Learning: Healthy Practices for All Learners

Lee Ann Jung offers this half-hour differentiated assessment and
grading module.

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RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Tweet any suggestions to add to this list at @RickWormeli2, or email Rick at rick@rickwormeli.onmicrosoft.com. For articles authored by Rick and more multimedia, check the links below. ​ ​ ​ ​ Note: * indicates a website that requires a sign-in to gain access to the material (no cost necessary).

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We believe that the best possible working conditions are the best possible learning conditions for the children of Washoe County. It is our goal as an association to advocate for the members in the classroom, at the school site, and with the District, as well as at state and national levels.

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Washoe Education Association | Serving Educators in Washoe County Since 1965

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We believe that the best possible working conditions are the best possible learning conditions for the children of Washoe County. It is our goal as an association to advocate for the members in the classroom, at the school site, and with the District, as well as at state and national levels.

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Just Two Teachers is an amazing resource created by two educators from WCSD!!

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There has been no point in my career when I have been "only" a teacher, and I was reminded of that recently. I shared the following "Run Reflection" on Instagram [...]

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Engaging in daily activity has become imperative to my mental, physical, and emotional wellness over the past 3 years. I love to either run or attend CrossFit classes at my local gym on average of 5-6 days a week. However, life happens... rain, Covid, quarantine, after-work commitments, cold weather, travel, and sometimes plans shift and I have to come up with a plan C. The challenge for me, as it probably is for most, is motivation and accessibility. Not everyone has the equipment or space to work out at home, and even if you did, it's sometimes difficult to know where to start or what to do. I have found these 3 gamified workouts to be an easy and fun way to get a fantastic workout that is extremely customizable and mobile!

I was at Target recently and found this awesome 12-sided foam die for $3! Each side has a different exercise. Ie. 10 burpees, 25 crunches, 10 squats, etc.

If you can't find this 12-sided die, I also found this version at Amazon, for $8.88. Alternatively, you could buy a 4-sided dry erase die at Dollar Store or on Amazon and write a different exercise and rep amount on each side. You could write wild on one side, if you wish to add some chance!

Instructions:

1. Set a timer for the amount of time you have to exercise: 10, 20, 30 minutes or more.

2. Roll the die and complete the exercise it lands on.

3. Roll and repeat until time is up!

There are so many reasons to love this! The die is foam so can easily pack in a suitcase for travel, the movements don't require equipment or a lot of space, and you can adjust the time. You could even double the movements, if you chose or create your own variations!

I learned this game from my amazing CrossFit instructor, Michelle Abbott ​, from Crossfit The Den in Medford, Oregon. All you need is a deck of cards and a piece of paper or small whiteboard to write down the movements. You will need to choose one exercise for each of the suits in the deck (hearts, diamonds, spades, clubs). If you don't have equipment, choose exercises that only require bodyweight. Ie. squats, sit ups, push-ups, alternate lunges (L/R=1), jumping jacks, etc. Each number in the deck represents the number of repetitions you will complete of that movement. Aces = 11, royals = 10, and jokers are wild. When you draw a joker you can complete any of the 4 movements, or choose something entirely different.

2. Complete the corresponding exercise and reps.
1. Start the timer and turn over the first card in the deck.

3. Draw a new card and repeat until you have completed all the cards in the deck.
This typically takes about 30 minutes, but you could set the timer, and see how many cards you can complete before time is up! This is fun to do as a partner workout too.

A four-minute tabata workout, is comprised of 20-seconds of exercise at 100% effort, followed by 10-second of rest for a total of eight rounds. This is another great workout that you can take anywhere. I use an online Tabata Timer that does all the interval counting for you. To add a gamified twist, roll the 12-sided workout die (or a 4-sided dry erase die) for each of the 8 rounds to determine the movement.

When we can add a little chance to our workouts, it can make it just a bit more fun! I'd love to hear your ideas for gamified twists on your favorite workout! Reply or share on Twitter or Instagram using the #MLmagical hashtag!

Over the course of a week I noticed many of my friends on social media were posting a perplexing grid of squares in yellow, grey, and green with a secret number code. The more I saw it, the more intrigued I became. I couldn't figure out what it was that was filling my Twitter feed, but I was intrigued!

By the seventh day, I couldn't take being in the dark any longer...I had to know! After a little Google research, I had solved the mystery and discovered the daily web-based game, Wordle. The instructions were simple and in a matter of minutes, I had joined millions of others in guessing the word of the day. It has now become a morning tradition to play a game of Wordle along with my morning coffee. This is why I love it, and also why I think it has become so popular so fast.

Curiosity is what drew me in from the start. I wanted to know what these green and yellow grids were all about. I kept watching them fill my Twitter feed until I couldn't take it anymore. I had to know!! Curiosity

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Curiosity is a powerful force! How can we create classroom experiences that elicit wonder & intrigue? Create a little mystery around the learning and you will find your student's interest in your content soars!

Community
Just as my curiosity was sparked by seeing the grids appear in my Twitter feed, I also felt like I was missing out on something special. There was a community of people that knew what the secret code meant and I wanted to be a part of it. Also, every day everyone in the world playing gets the same word. So when you share out your grid on social media, everyone is comparing your daily stats to their own. It gives everyone a sense of camaraderie to know the experience is shared.

​Common experiences bond us and make us feel like we belong. When we create a sense of community in our classrooms, students feel like they are part of a family. Incorporate shared experiences that make all students feel a sense of belonging and you will find that your classroom will become a very special community of learners that grow together.

Strategy
When I talk to other Wordle players, I am often asked, "How do you pick your first word?". Some pick at random, some have the same they use every time. Regardless, every player develops a strategy for what word will be entered first in hopes to increase the probability that the word will be guessed in the fewest amount of tries.

​When we strategize, we are critically thinking about the game and what is going to generate the best outcome. When we teach students to strategize, we are helping them develop important skills that will empower them as learners.

Chance
Regardless of the strategy you use to select your first word, there is still an element of chance involved. You may select a word that just happens to include 3 or more of the correct letters, or you may strike out and not get any letters correct at all. This levels the playing field knowing that even the most strategic and skilled wordsmith, may have an unlucky day.

​When we incorporate some elements of chance into learning, it adds agency and fun. Add a gamified twist to a lesson by adding dice or a spinning wheel and student engagement will soar!

Scarcity
No matter how much you love playing Wordle, you only get one shot a day. This increases the stakes a bit, knowing that the daily word puzzle will only be available to figure out once. One chance to play; one chance to share with the world. The good news is, there is always tomorrow.

It's a lesson in supply and demand. When items are limited, we are much more interested in them and their value is at a premium. What if we created exciting learning experiences in our classroom that are only available for a "limited time"? How much more interested would students be in the learning?

Intuitive
The directions were short, full of visual graphics, and easy to understand. I was playing within a few minutes. If the directions were difficult to understand or too lengthy, I may have decided to pass no matter how curious I was. See the actual directions from the Wordle site below.

Finding ways to make learning intuitive for students is so important. Break down instructions into its simplest form, add pictures, and keep it short. This can make all the difference in how confident and comfortable students feel approaching the learning.

Free Access
Wordle is accessible on any web-based platform, and it's free. Enough said!

Equitable access is critical in learning. Do all our students have access to the experience we create for them? Making sure every student has an equal opportunity to learn and access the tools we give them is vital. If students can access the learning in class, but not all have an opportunity to access it from home, it creates an unfair learning environment for our students. Being mindful of this when we create our lessons, is so important.

Like any game that I play, I am always trying to figure out a way to bring it into learning. I have created a template in Canva that you can play in any classroom. See the video below to learn how to play.

Wordle & Pico Fermi Bagel-Inspired Canva Templates
Below I have shared two different game templates to use with your students. The first one is the Wordle-Inspired Canva template. The second one is very similar, but you play with numbers instead of words! The directions for each are in the first slide of the template. Simply click on the button below and you will have your very own template to use with your students!

WORDLE-STYLE GAME NOW ON FLIPPITY TOO!

Have fun and share out your ideas on Twitter and tag me: @tishrich!

Updated from a post I wrote in 2018
Building meaningful relationships from the beginning is really important to me. It was always a priority as a teacher, and it is a priority in my role as a Student Engagement & Professional Development Specialist as well. I serve 20 schools in my position, so I have a lot of area to cover since my Spark Starters are from 20 different schools covering a wide area. A dear friend and colleague of mine was chatting with me the first year in my district role about how we needed to collect our "greatest success" moments this year with all the new adventures we are beginning. That's when my friend Jenni had an idea to create a jar to collect them that we can reflect back on. I loved this idea so much that another lightbulb moment happened! What if I create jars for each of the "Spark Starters" to collect "Daily Spark" moments?! I could deliver them when I visit each of them at their schools in the first month of the school year!

With a plan developing in my head, my colleague and I hurried off to Walmart on the hunt for a few items for our jars. The items were easy to find and even more fun to assemble. Here are the directions:

Mason Jars
Colorful pens
Colorful Cardstock or Post-It Notes
​Tags
​Twine or Ribbon

Directions:
1. Cut the cardstock using a paper cutter into small rectangles and tied 30 pieces together with twine. You could also use a pad of Post-It Notes instead. (I purchased Sticky Notes to save time after the first year)

2. Create a message and print it out on cardstock to place inside the Jar. You can use this Spark Moments template I created in Canva to customize and print your own.

3. Create tags to tie on front of the jar that say, "Daily Sparks" or "Spark Moments" on one side and an inspirational quote on the other. You could also design these in Canva or another digital creation tool and print to save time. As an alternative, buy Chalkboard labels and instead of tying a tag around the lid, write on the label and adhere it to outside of the jar.

4. To assemble, place the cardstock bundle, pen, and instructions in each (I threw in a Make Learning Magical sticker too). Screw on the lid and tie a tag around the top with twine or ribbon or adhere a chalkboard label to the front of the jar as shown above.

VOILA'! The Daily Spark jar is ready for delivery!

The best part of this process was delivering them! I absolutely love the adventure of driving to schools and finding each Spark Starter's classroom. It was a wonderful way to see them in their element and in many cases meet them for the first time. It brings so much joy to my heart to be able to give this gift of love and appreciation for accepting my invitation to be on our Innovation Team!

Each month when we meet for our Spark Sessions, I begin with Spark Moments and everyone shares their favorite moments since the last time we met. Each month we share in a different format. We have shared in Jamboard, Canva, in the Zoom chat, Word Clouds, and Padlet, and Pear Deck. The possibilities are really endless, and all equally powerful!
Beginning our time together sharing special moments sets the tone in a positive and encouraging way.

Regardless of your educational role, Spark Jars are a wonderful gift to create for others and yourself! I encourage you to create a Spark Jar to bring into the new year to help focus on the sparks that surround us every day!

This is an expanded version of an earlier blog I wrote.

One of my favorite things about my role as a Student Engagement & Professional Development Specialist is bringing new ideas and strategies into classrooms. Every year I visit high school AVID classes and teach them one of my favorite note taking strategies, sketchnoting. I discovered this form of visual notetaking about 7 years ago at a conference and immediately knew that this was a strategy that could transform the way that I took notes forever. After spending that summer sketchnoting Youtube videos, podcasts, and book chapters, my prediction had proven true. I was hooked on sketchnoting and I would never look back.

I love incorporating doodling games into the sketchnoting sessions I facilitate. Some of them are adaptations of ideas I've found over the years and many were inspired by a session facilitated by Sunni Brown at IntegratED in Portland, Oregon I attended 6 years ago and her book The Doodle Revolution. My session participants, young and old, enjoy them so much I thought I'd share the games with you. For each game, I've shared how it can be played using paper, or digitally using interactive PearDeck slides or Pop-Up activities, or using the new "Draw" feature in Canva. The variations allow for you to play in a remote, hybrid, or brick and mortar classroom. Additionally, they can be played indvidually or combined together. Endless possibilities!

Idea from Doodle Revolution, by Sunni Brown
For this game, students grab a piece of paper and pen and closing eyes, poise the pen over the page. When you say go, they make a haphazard wild mark on their page with at least one change of direction in it. Once the mark is drawn, they open their eyes and make a face from it; eyes, mouth, and nose. This is a great way to get the room relaxed and bring a smile to everyone's face.

Add an interactive "Draw" slide to your Pear Deck presentation or create a Pop-Up activity with a "Draw" slide. Students draw their haphazard mark directly on the slide with their finger or stylus. Students open their eyes and make a face from it; eyes, mouth, and nose using colors, if they choose. When students are finished, "show responses" on the screen scrolling through each one. Students love this because they are able to see everyone's creations, and it's anonymous. Pear Deck variation:

Canva variation: Create an 11" x 8.5" design that includes 1 blank page for each student. Have every student claim a page. Using the "Draw" feature in Canva, students draw their haphazard wild mark on their claimed page. After the 20 seconds is up, "present" the design on the screen to show all of the doodles.

This game is played the same as Face It, except instead of making the line into a face, you make it into a bird with eyes, a beak, wings and feet. I came up with the name, however I know I found the idea somewhere....just can't for the life of me remember where!
origin unknown

​ Pear Deck and Canva variations are similar to the Face It variation

Idea from Doodle Revolution, by Sunni Brown
For this game, students are given 20 seconds to doodle a word that you display on the screen. Often times I will start with more concrete words like coffee and apple and end with more abstract words like idea or brave. After the 20 seconds are up, have students pass their paper around the table until each person gets their paper back again. If the room is set up in rows, students can either trade with the person sitting next to them or pass their paper back through the row and the last person passes the papers back to the original owner.

Pear Deck variation: Add an interactive "Draw" slide to your Pear Deck presentation or create a Pop-Up activity with a "Draw" slide. Students draw their doodle directly on the slide with their finger or stylus. After 20 seconds is up, "show responses" on the screen scrolling through each one.

Canva variation: Create an 11" x 8.5" design that includes 1 blank page for each student. Have every student claim a page. Using the "Draw" feature in Canva, students draw their doodle on their claimed page. After the 20 seconds is up, "present" the design on the screen to show all of the doodles.

I love this activity because it helps students visualize the images in their head. It also shows that everyone visualizes things differently. There is no right or wrong way to doodle an image. The important part is that it represents something to the person who is doodling it. Often times I will choose words for this Graphic Jam that are in the video clip they will be practicing sketchnoting with at the end of the session. By doing this, participants will be able to pull that image more readily when doodling it again.

In my sessions I explain how to incorporate text, images, and structure into sketchnotes. The following games are a great way for students to practice these components.

​
Idea from Doodle Revolution, by Sunni Brown
For this game, I tell students they are going to practice a word they've been writing since they began school, their name. After explaining text and some of the possible font variations, they write their name on the paper using whatever font they choose. When done they can color their name and add lights or any other symbols that represent them. I love seeing all the different styles students come up with. They have a lot of fun with this. I usually give them about 3-5 minutes for this, but time can vary.

Pear Deck variation: Add an interactive "Draw" slide to your Pear Deck presentation or create a Pop-Up activity with a "Draw" slide. Students write their name directly on the slide with a stylus. After 20 seconds is up, "show responses" on the screen scrolling through each one. Just like in the other doodling games I've shared, students love to see everyone's creations.

Canva variation: What better way to practice fonts than to use fonts in the Canva library and trace over them! Create an 11" x 8.5" design that includes 1 blank page for each student. Have every student claim a page. Have students type their name using a font of choice. Using the drawing tool, have students trace over the letters to practice, then remove the text when they're done. Of course, students can opt to create their own font rather than trace over an existing font, if they choose. Students can doodle around their name or bring in other Canva elements or animations that best represent them! After the time is up, "present" the design on the screen to show all of the doodles. I love how Canva takes this game to another level!

This is another game I discovered over the years, and can't figure out where! For this game, students are given 2 minutes to find something in the room and doodle it using only these 5 shapes: triangle, circle, square, dot, and line. This is a great way to explain that we don't have to be artists to doodle. If you can draw these 5 basic shapes, you can draw most anything!Add an interactive "Draw" slide to your Pear Deck presentation or create a Pop-Up activity with a "Draw" slide. Students doodle their object directly on their slide using the colors available. They can even incorporate the line feature on their slide, if they wish. After the 2 minutes is up, "show responses" on the screen scrolling through each one. 5 SHAPE DOODLE
origin unknown

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Pear Deck variation:

Canva variation: In Canva, students can doodle or combine shape elements from the library. Create an 11" x 8.5" design that includes 1 blank page for each student and include a dot, circle, square, triangle, and line from the Canva library. Have every student claim a page. Students can move the shapes around to create the object. Once arranged on slide, students doodle right over the shapes and remove them when done. They then can shade in the object with colors of choice. After the 2 minutes is up, "present" the design on the screen to show all of the doodles.

Variation of Sunni Brown's I came up with this variation based on the game below. I call out an emotion and students draw a face expressing that emotion within 1 minute. I love how this illustrates how much we can convey just with a simple emoji.Add an interactive "Draw" slide to your Pear Deck presentation or create a Pop-Up activity with a "Draw" slide. Students doodle a face expressing the emotion called out directly on their slide using the colors available. They can even incorporate the line feature on their slide, if they wish. After 1 minute is up, "show responses" on the screen scrolling through each one.
Stickify This

Canva Variation: Create an 11" x 8.5" design that includes 1 blank page for each student. If you wish, you could add emojis from the Canva library so they have a visual to look at when they are doodling their emojis. When you say go, students doodle a face expressing the emotion called out directly on their page using the colors available. After the 1 minute is up, "present" the design on the screen to show all of the doodles.
​ Pear Deck Variation:

This game is much like Emoji This. I call out an action word and the participants have to doodle a stick figure demonstrating that action. As with
Idea from Doodle Revolution, by Sunni Brown
Emoji This, it is a wonderful way to illustrate how a simple stick figure can convey emotion as well as action.

​ Pear Deck Variation: Add an interactive "Draw" slide to your Pear Deck presentation or create a Pop-Up activity with a "Draw" slide. Students doodle a stick figure demonstrating the action called out directly on their slide using the colors available. They can incorporate the line feature on their slide to create the stick figure, if they wish. After 1 minute is up, "show responses" on the screen scrolling through each one.

​ Canva Variation: Create an 11" x 8.5" design that includes 1 blank page for each student. When you say go, students doodle the action called out directly on their page using the colors available. They can bring other elements from the Canva library and or animations to further illustrate their action. After the 1 minute is up, "present" the design on the screen to show all of the doodles.

SKETCHNOTING PRACTICE
At the end of every sketchnoting session, I have participants practice. I usually select Youtube videos that have steps and are no more than 5-10 minutes in length. Sometimes the videos are connected to the content, sometimes they aren't. It depends on the learners and the class that I'm facilitating the session for. I find that scaffolding their first practice session is really important. When you learn something new all your focus is taken learning that skill, so it's hard to absorb any additional content. By scaffolding the sketchnoting process the first few times, it helps the learner focus on the content being sketchnoted as well as the process of sketchnoting itself. Without the initial scaffolding, I've often found people get frustrated and are less likely to give it a second try thinking it must not be for them. Click HERE for an example of a video I've used.

To begin practice, I give students a few minutes to write their title, cite source, and set up the structure. I tell them how many steps are in the video so they can write them on their paper in whatever structure they wish. I also will give a list of words that they may choose to draw during the video so they can start thinking about the image that comes to mind. As mentioned before, I use some of these words when doing the Graphic Jam game so they've already doodled these images once. Once the video starts I pause it for a minute after every step so they have time to complete their notes for that step. I find that by doing this, students feel more relaxed and can process as they go.

I have created some sketchnoting templates that can be found in the Canva library as well, if you'd like to customize and print. Once students, have had some practice on paper, have them try in Canva! Check out the video tutorial below to learn how to use the "Draw" feature in Canva.

One of the most important parts of this process that often gets overlooked is reflection. By allowing 5-10 minutes after the video is over for students to finish their sketchnotes gives time to shade in, add more images and text, and reflect and process what they just took notes on. This step has been extremely valuable to me as well as my students and others that I've helped teach this process to. REFLECTION

GAME CHANGER!
Recently when I visited classrooms, I had a few students in my session that had been in my session in another class. When they saw me, they said, "Are you teaching sketchnoting again?! That was the best lesson I have had all year! I love sketchnoting...it's helped me so much!" It made my day to hear this feedback. It truly is a game changer for many students, I know it was for me!

LEARN MORE!
If you are interested in learning more about sketchnoting check out my resource page with additional blogs and templates below. Also, make sure to follow my inspiration for many of these games, Sunni Brown, and check out her book The Doodle Revolution! This book is rich with inspiration, content and lots more doodling games and activities! Also, make sure to follow other sketchnote extraordinaires, Carrie Baughcum, Monica Spillman Sylvia Duckworth, and Nichole Carter. They are all amazing and have lots of resources, inspiration, and experience to share!

The last week of the year is one of my favorites. The warmth of the holidays with family is lingering, and there is time to rest, rejuvenate, and reflect before the hustle and bustle of a new year begins. I wrote a blog last week called Abracadabra: I create as I Speak inspired by the holiday series, Dash & Lily, that I watched on Netflix this month. Following my post I continued pondering the magical word "Abracadabra". It is said to originate from the Aramaic word "avra kehdabra" meaning "I create as I speak". As I thought about that phrase, I wondered how often I create my own reality by the words that I speak aloud and quietly in my thoughts. Why am I my own worst enemy? I continually am questioning my actions, my words, my creations, my thoughts and conjuring up false realities in my head of what others think of me. It's something my empathic self has battled my whole life. I feel emotions across a room, a text conversation, or a Zoom screen. The internal dialogue goes something like this: Why did they not use a period rather than an exclamation point in their text...are they mad? Why did they leave me on "read"...did I say something that offended them? Their tone is different than normal...is it something I did? It's sounds childish and it's embarrassing to admit, but it's true. As an empath, I know when something is off...I feel it. The issue is, I too often absorb the emotions or actions of another and take them on as my responsibility to fix, or worse assume that the emotions are related to something I did or didn't do. It is exhausting, and quite honestly destructive. It saps my energy and joy and causes me to spin into a lonely and negative place.

I know that I was given the gift of empathy for a reason. It allows me to be placed in someone else's shoes. I'm able to read a room and respond accordingly. I can sense when someone needs to be listened to. I want to embrace the beauty of this trait and establish some healthy habits to keep my negative self-talk in check. As I look towards a brand new year, I've decided to choose Abracadabra as a one-word to help me speak into existence the reality that I want to create in 2022. In each daily interaction I have a choice to filter the emotions rather than absorb them as my own. I have the choice to speak words of kindness, praise, and truth to myself, rather than allow myself to spin into a negative spiral of self-talk. I have the choice to speak words of courage, love, and joy to those I serve, regardless of whether I think they want to hear it. I have the choice to speak my big audacious dreams into reality, rather than talk myself into thinking those dreams are for someone else. I will be saying abracadabra a lot this year. It will mostly be in my own head, but if I say it out loud you'll know why! Let's create a magical 2022! I'm ready! Abracadabra!

Would you like to create a one-word focus for 2022? Find some One-Word templates that I created in Canva below. Share to #CanvaOneWord and #OneWord2022! Would love to hear what your focus is for the year ahead!

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Engaging in daily activity has become imperative to my mental, physical, and emotional wellness over the past 3 years. I love to either run or attend CrossFit classes at my local gym on average of 5-6 days a week. However, life happens...

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Many organizations focus on orienting new team members to the technical aspects of a job and their roles and responsibilities. That's necessary. Few organizations focus on intentionally bringing new teammates into the organization's culture.

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National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY)

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National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY)

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NNSTOY is a great resource for a wide variety of topics. The best part, is that all the materials are developed by and for teachers!!

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National Network of State Teachers of the Year

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Expand your ability to address the cultural needs of all students and access relevant tools and resources to meet their needs. Receive exclusive access to all recorded sessions from the Teach for Equity convening. This includes curated resource lists and presentation materials from all sessions.

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Home - National Network of State Teachers of the Year

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Expand your ability to address the cultural needs of all students and access relevant tools and resources to meet their needs. Receive exclusive access to all recorded sessions from the Teach for Equity convening. This includes curated resource lists and presentation materials from all sessions.

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Topics:

1. Classroom Managment

2. Opportunity Myth - High expectations for all students!

3. Novice Teacher Checklist

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Topics:

1. Phases of a First Year Teacher

2. Novice Teacher Learning Pathway

3. Novice Teacher Checklist

4. Registering for Regional Seminars

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Check out this US Letter designed by Nicolette Smith.

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Nevada Department of Education Licensure FAQ

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Nevada Department of Education Licensure FAQ

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Classroom Strategies videos on planned breaks, proximity, giving choice, delivering specific praise, avoiding power struggles, mindfulness and more!!

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Classroom Strategies Video Links_10-25 MTSS.pdf

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Novice Teacher Frequently Asked Questions.docx

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Amazing resource!!!!

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At youcubed, we inspire, educate and empower teachers of mathematics, transforming the latest research on mathematics learning into accessible and practical forms.

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Create your own jeopardy template online, without PowerPoint. Or browse the pre-made templates created by other people!

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Enter names, spin wheel to pick a random winner. Customize look and feel, save and share wheels.

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Brisk Teaching is the #1 AI-powered Chrome extension , helping you automate your workload without adding to it.

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Provide Instant AI-Powered Personalized Feedback

Give personalized feedback and ensure high-quality feedback on every assignment, from the first to the last. Brisk's four feedback styles - Targeted Comments, Glow & Grow praises, Rubric Criteria, and actionable Next Steps - simplify your feedback routine.

Create AI-Driven Curriculum, Lesson Plans, Quizzes, and More with Ease

Say goodbye to the endless challenge of crafting engaging and relevant instructional materials. With just a few clicks, you can quickly generate rigorous quizzes, comprehensive lesson plans, detailed rubrics, captivating presentations, effective interventions, and much more, streamlining your preparation process.

Inspect and Assess Student Writing with AI Tools

We've taken AI detection to the next level. With the 'Replay' feature, you can see exactly how your students put together their assignments, with a video of their whole process from beginning to end.

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Brisk is a free AI-powered Chrome extension that helps busy teachers save time directly within the tools they already use, like Google Docs, Slides, YouTube, and web articles. Quickly create instructional materials, share feedback, evaluate student writing, and adjust or translate texts - all without leaving your current workspace. With Brisk, the days of toggling between apps are over, freeing up more time for what you love: teaching.

Prep for the week in seconds with the Create Menu

No matter what grade level or subject area you teach, you can create, personalize, and differentiate curricular materials, lesson plans, quizzes, IEPs, rubrics, and more with the click of a button.

Using Google? Brisk integrates seamlessly with Google workspace. Google docs and forms created with Brisk can be instantly assigned in Google Assignment and Google Classroom. No copy and paste needed.

Drastically reduce time spent grading with feedback in Brisk

Leave feedback for students in four ways: ✨ Glows & Grows, 🎯 Targeted, 📏 Rubric Criteria, and 🪜 Next Steps.
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Brisk's unparalleled 🎯 Targeted Feedback tool instantly crafts Google Doc comments aligned with your rubric and standards, guiding students precisely where they need to revise. (Premium Feature

Inspect writing to understand the evolution of student work

Wondering how students revised their work? With Brisk you can watch a step-by-step playback of your students' revision history, including their copy and paste actions.

Brisk also leverages a cutting-edge AI-detection model to estimate the likelihood of AI writing. This gives you a starting point to facilitate conversations around academic honesty and dishonesty.
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Level educational materials to meet students where they're at

Have you encountered a resource that doesn't match your classroom's reading level? Brisk takes content from any Google doc, article, or website and converts the material into a document that is suitable and leveled for your students. Brisk will simplify complex ideas, shorten lengthy sentences, adjust the word choice, and so much more.

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Trusted by Over 200,000 Educators

"Brisk Teaching is an incredible AI tool. It serves as a blueprint for instant student feedback - which you can edit on the spot. If this would have come out years ago, more teachers would likely be feeling way less burnout. You can tell this is a product made by teachers for teachers. They thought of everything. If you're a teacher and haven't tried this tool, do it."

"I just have to say, Brisk is the gift that keeps on giving.to my classroom. I have used it almost every day... As a teacher who left teaching because of burnout and came back because I missed the classroom so much, your tool has made my job SO MUCH MORE MANAGEABLE, and has allowed me to give such quality feedback to my students in SECONDS! As an ELA teacher, this is life saving. Truly."

"As a Language Arts teacher, one of the hardest parts of my job is providing enough meaningful feedback for my students. Brisk has allowed me to provide way more specific and actionable feedback for my students. It has also helped me to see more elements of quality that I had previously overlooked in my students' work. The ease of access with Brisk is also a huge bonus. I can use this tool in all of the different platforms that my students use. I can't wait to see future versions - that will continue to help me provide the feedback that my students need."

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Queens College Taunton

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English Teacher
Derry, New Hampshire

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Brisk is a free AI-powered Chrome extension that helps busy teachers save time directly within the tools they already use, like Google Docs, Slides, YouTube, and web articles. Teachers use Brisk as a Targeted Feedback Generator, AI Presentation Maker, AI Quiz Maker, AI Lesson Plan Generator, AI Rubric Generator, Letter of Recommendation Generator, IEP 504 Template Maker, and so much more.

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TeacherVision provides teachers with expertly curated teaching resources and printables across all subjects for grades pre-K to 12.

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Since launching on March 6, 2007, our goal at TeacherTube has been to provide an online community for sharing instructional and education videos for college students, high school students, middle school students and elementary school students. We seek to fill a need for a more educationally focused, safe venue for teachers, students, schools, and home learners. It is a site to provide anytime, anywhere professional development with teachers teaching teachers. It is also a site where teachers can post videos designed for students to view in order to learn a concept or skill.

On September 1, 2017, TeacherTube.com was acquired by Salem Web Network. Salem's goal is to continue the growth of TeacherTube and support innovative ideas for education.

Most importantly, TeacherTube community members are a major part of the evolution of the site. Members are encouraged to not only upload educationally relevant videos but also to make constructive comments and use the rating system to show appreciation for videos of value to one as an educator or learner. Users also have the ability to preserve the integrity of the site by flagging inappropriate videos. TeacherTube staff review flagged sites and will remove any inappropriate posts. With more collegial commentary and discussion through messaging and responses, the quality of this resource will only increase.

The service is free for everyone. We always encourage our users to Contact Us with thoughts, suggestions, or other feedback. We do have a vision for TeacherTube to truly be a better alternative to other video storage sites. With the community's help, it can become more interactive and engaging for all teachers and learners.

Science videos are one of the key subjects that students are taught in school. Science is present from the early years of grade school up to the highest levels of academic achievement. As students move up the ranks, their study of science tends to get more specialized into one specific field only, like chemistry, biology, or physics. We have educational videos for all of these courses.

TeacherTube.com's section on science educational videos has content of interest to all learning levels. We have topics as varied as educational songs for elementary school students, up to chemical engineering for college students.

Mathematics is one of the fundamental 3Rs of early education. Known as "arithmetic" in those levels, it involves counting and the basic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. As kids advance through the grade levels, they progressively deal with more complex mathematical problems. Also, more new concepts get introduced as they progress.

Math is crucial for almost any business career. Accounting, budgeting, and projecting sales all require some level of competence in math. Many resources for these topics can be found here on TeacherTube.

Even everyday situations benefit a lot from math skills. Managing one's finances, for instance, obviously requires math, as with anything involving money. Cooking also involves math: proportions of ingredients, for example, as well as measurements.

TeacherTube.com's section on math education videos covers everything from fractions and measurements to money management. We also cover more complicated subjects such as trigonometry, and well as probability and statistics.

History is a very valuable subject, but not just because it is useful for preventing future wars. The lessons from history can also teach people to build a better future. What people have done right in the past should be continued and improved upon in the present.

The subject of history covers a wide range of timelines and locations. There's ancient history and modern history. There is also Asian history, US history, Latin American history, and European history. Each one is unique, reflecting the cultures of the people involved.

If there's one thing common to all history classes, it's usually names, dates, and places. This is also the part that many kids hate the most. They do not see the point of memorizing so many random facts that appear purposeless. Well, that is the wrong way to teach history.

TeacherTube's history education videos section makes the past come alive with a sterling array of videos and tutorials that cover subjects as varied as our prehistory, ancient history, the civil war, and the study of world civilizations.

The purpose of social studies, based on the US National Council for the Social Studies, is to promote "civic competence" among students. In other words, the subject equips students to become better citizens of a country. This is done by exploring history, geography, current events, and governments, among others. Middle school social studies usually deal with one of each of these fields per grade level.

With this knowledge, students gain the ability to become more socially aware and to be actively involved citizens of their country. Through analyzing current events, students will also learn how to predict the consequences of the things happening around them. With that, they can be good influences on their communities.

It is with this goal in mind that TeacherTube offers a wide variety of learning video materials for both students and enthusiasts.

We have videos on everything from strengthening your knowledge of economics terminology to the nuances of various world cultures.

Language arts, as the name suggests, equips students with a wide range of ways to use language. It comprises both speaking and writing skills. In addition to the basics, the subject also deals with the artistic side of language, infusing creativity in the ways students communicate.

There are four basic aspects to understanding a language: speaking, reading, listening, and writing. Language arts classes aim to enhance those skills at each year level. At first, it covers basic topics like grammar, sentence construction, and paragraphs. Exercises in language arts become progressively more complex as students move up the ranks, and usually, in higher grades, more emphasis is put on creativity and persuasiveness.

With the noble goal of harnessing the power of words to effect change in the world in mind, TeacherTube is proud to offer videos on everything from general communications to speaking and even videos on strengthening your studying skills.

Not all kids want to go through lectures. Some of them may not have the attention span or the patience to endure long hours just sitting down and listening to someone talk in front. No, that doesn't mean these kids are lazy. It just means they learn differently.

Some kids are auditory learners. In other words, they learn best when they listen to sounds and music. For this type of student, educational songs will certainly be a big helping hand. Even the most complex of concepts, when taught through songs, will be very easy for them to understand and remember. Even kids who are not so much inclined to auditory learning may like this method.

Educational song vidoes are available in a wide variety of subjects. English, math, social studies, science, and everything in between, there's bound to be a song for every subject. For example, on the website Teachertube.com, there are science topic songs, reading songs, skip counting songs, reading phonics songs, and even quadratic formula songs.

The advantage of using educational song videos is that it accomplishes two things at once. First, these songs are entertaining, and second, they also teach a concept. They facilitate learning a lot better than plain lectures simply because of the entertainment part. When a lesson is made fun of, kids will want to learn them. In fact, it could even be the kids themselves, on their own, who will play the songs repeatedly.

TeacherTube offers education songs on topics as varied as the circulatory system to math songs about polynomials and even videos on St. Patrick's Day.

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TeacherTube Educational Videos for the School Classroom and Home - Including Educational Songs, History Videos, Student Videos and Math Videos

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A free community for sharing instructional videos, Educational Songs, History Videos, Student Videos, Math Videos, and other content for teachers and students. We are an education focused, safe venue for teachers, schools, and home schoolers to access educational for the classroom and home learning.

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Steve Wyborney's Blog: I'm on a Learning Mission.

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Welcome to Splat! You are only moments away from a VERY POWERFUL, highly interactive number sense strategy that can be used at any grade level!

This post includes 50 (fifty!) free, downloadable PowerPoint math lessons!

Watch the video, download some (or all) of the lessons, and experience what happens when you unleash this resource in your classroom!

I've been excited to click the Publish button on this post for several weeks! It's time!
UPDATE: The Fraction Splat! Series (with 20 more downloadable lessons) is now available!
After reading this blog post, take a look at THE 12 MOST POPULAR MATH STRATEGIES AND DOWNLOADS ON THIS BLOG.

Splat Through 10
How many dots are under the Splat?

Splat Through 20
How many dots are under the Splat?

Multiple Splats
(Note: Splats that are the same color must cover the same number.)
Splat 3.1 - multiple splats Splat 3.2 - multiple splats Splat 3.3 - multiple splats Splat 3.4 - multiple splats Splat 3.5 - multiple splats
Instant Multiple Splat
(Note: An additional feature of this level is the opportunity to ask, "What could the total be?")

Splat 4.1 - Instant Multiple Splats Splat 4.2 - Instant Multiple Splats Splat 4.3 - Instant Multiple Splats Splat 4.4 - Instant Multiple Splats Splat 4.5 - Instant Multiple Splats
2-Color Splat
(Splats of different colors must have different values.)

Splat 5.1 2-color Splat Splat 5.2 2-color Splat Splat 5.3 2-color Splat Splat 5.4 2-color Splat Splat 5.5 2-color Splat Splat 6.2 Instant 2-color Splat Splat 6.3 Instant 2-color Splat Splat 6.4 Instant 2-color Splat Splat 6.5 Instant 2-color Splat
Instant 2-Variable Splat
(Splats of different colors must have different values. Splats of the same color must have the same value.)
Splat 7.1 Instant 2-variable Splat Splat 7.2 Instant 2-variable Splat Splat 7.3 Instant 2-variable Splat Splat 7.4 Instant 2-variable Splat Splat 7.5 Instant 2-variable Splat
Number Splat
(Note: Only the numbers circled on the screen may be used.)
Splat 8.1 - Number Splat Splat 8.2 - Number Splat Splat 8.3 - Number Splat Splat 8.4 - Number Splat Splat 8.5 - Number Splat Splat 9.1 - Instant Number Splat Splat 9.2 - Instant Number Splat Splat 9.3 - Instant Number Splat Splat 9.4 - Instant Number Splat Splat 9.5 - Instant Number Splat
Instant Number Splat with 2 Variables
(Note: Only the numbers circled on the screen may be used, and Splats of different colors must have different values.)
Splat 10.1 - Instant 2-Variable Number Splat Splat 10.2 - Instant 2-Variable Number Splat Splat 10.3 - Instant 2-Variable Number Splat Splat 10.4 - Instant 2-Variable Number Splat Splat 10.5 - Instant 2-Variable Number Splat
NOTE: I wrote each of these lessons using PowerPoint, so I recommend playing them in PowerPoint. If you do not have PowerPoint, you may want to download the PowerPoint viewer so that you can play the lessons.

UPDATE: The Fraction Splat! Series (with 20 more downloadable lessons) is now available!
Other Posts and Resources Which May Be of Interest Tiled Area Questions The Maze Hundreds Chart
Introducing Cube Connectors
Provide Massive Space to Notice
Primary Tile Questions
3 Powerful Tile Strategies (and 40 new downloadable pages)
Please take a moment to subscribe to the blog so you'll be notified each time new resources are posted!

I would treasure hearing about your experiences using Splat! to promote number sense in your classroom!

All my best,
Steve

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Splat! - Steve Wyborney's Blog: I'm on a Learning Mission.

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Welcome to Splat! You are only moments away from a VERY POWERFUL, highly interactive number sense strategy that can be used at any grade level!

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Great for presentations, flyers, games, etc.

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Canva is a free-to-use online graphic design tool. Use it to create social media posts, presentations, posters, videos, logos and more.

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ReadWorks | Award-Winning, EdTech Nonprofit Organization

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ReadWorks is an edtech nonprofit organization that is committed to helping to solve America's reading comprehension crisis.

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Boddle transforms K-6th education with engagement. Unlock your confidence to learn.

Create a free account as a:

Boddle transforms K-6th education with engagement. Unlock your confidence to learn.

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Curriculum-aligned, Secure, and Fun

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2nd Grade Teacher

We love Boddle in our 2nd grade classroom! We use it as part of the technology station during math. My students love customizing their Boddle and the games. I love being able to give assignments on our standards, or assign challenges or extra practice if needed, too! Boddle is so engaging and fun. We love it!
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Parent

The best part is that my son doesn't get frustrated. With other programs, he'd quit from being overwhelmed by questions he can't answer. That never happened with Boddle!

After School Director

The program is amazing and the students can't get enough of it! They look forward to Tuesdays and Thursdays which happen to be our math days.

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Boddle Learning | 3D Math Game for K-6 Kids

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Boost math engagement and close learning gaps with the most interactive 3D math game. Tackle learning loss and help your kids catch up and excel in K-6 math with Boddle's adaptive learning platform!

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Google NotebookLM | AI Research Tool & Thinking Partner

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Meet NotebookLM, the AI research tool and thinking partner that can analyze your sources, turn complexity into clarity and transform your content.

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Clever login for access a lot of great ideas for student engagement!!

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Student Engagement: Signs to Watch and Strategies That Work | Discovery Education Blog

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Discover the definition of student engagement and how to strengthen it with proven strategies and examples. Improve motivation, participation, and learning outcomes in any classroom.

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Student Support Strategies - Testing Accommodations

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⃞ Models or examples of process and/or end product
⃞ Encourage students to repeat back the directions orally
⃞ Read aloud words, phrases, sentences in questions, or answer choices
⃞ Allowing a student to write all answers in his/her textbook or activity book, rather than on a separate

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John Hattie developed a way of synthesizing various influences in different meta-analyses according to their effect size (Cohen's d). In his ground-breaking study "Visible Learning" he ranked 138 influences that are related to learning outcomes from very positive effects to very negative effects. Hattie found that the average effect size of all the interventions he studied was 0.40. Therefore he decided to judge the success of influences relative to this 'hinge point', in order to find an answer to the question "What works best in education?"
Originally, Hattie studied six areas that contribute to learning: the student, the home, the school, the curricula, the teacher, and teaching and learning approaches. (The updated list also includes the classroom.) But Hattie did not only provide a list of the relative effects of different influences on student achievement. He also tells the story underlying the data. He found that the key to making a difference was making teaching and learning visible. He further explained this story in his book " Visible learning for teachers ".

John Hattie updated his list of 138 effects to 150 effects in Visible Learning for Teachers (2011), and more recently to a list of 195 effects in The Applicability of Visible Learning to Higher Education (2015). His research is now based on nearly 1200 meta-analyses - up from the 800 when Visible Learning came out in 2009. According to Hattie the story underlying the data has hardly changed over time even though some effect sizes were updated and we have some new entries at the top, at the middle, and at the end of the list.

Below you can find an updated version of our first, second and third visualization of effect sizes related to student achievement.
Order VL for Teachers!

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Hattie effect size list - 256 Influences Related To Achievement

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Hattie's updated effect size list of 256 influences across all areas related to student achievement.

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Resetting Expectations Mid-Year grades 6-12th 

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Resetting Expectations Mid-Year grades 6-12th 

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Interactive Games for Rule Reinforcement.pdf

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Professional Development For The Besties

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Our classrooms will run themselves by October! We are setting up the most solid, peaceful, vibes-y classrooms starting from the ground up—with a super solid…

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"kids yoga" "yoga for kids" "yoga for children yoga story for kids" "children's yoga" "yoga adventure for kids" "kindergarten yoga" "preschool yoga" "kids me...

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YOGA | MINDFULNESS | RELAXATION FOR KIDS! Screentime that gives kids SUPERPOWERS! ⬇️ D O W N L O A D T H E C O S M I C K I D S A P P ⬇️ 🍏Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cosmic-kids/ 🛍️Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cosmickids 🖥️ Desktop (great for teachers!): https://app.cosmickids.com/ 📺 Roku: https://rb.gy/44r8d -------------------------------------------------------------------- Why watch on the App?

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Some of the ressources have been moved into Sharepoint. If you are looking for a resource and the link is broken please reach out to NSmith@washoeschools.net and we will help you find the location of the resoruce!

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This site is now maintained by NNCSS. For inquiries, contact Sarah Brown at sabrown@washoeschools.net.

Project TAHOE reflects the committed work of teachers from Northern Nevada since 2006. The work began through Teaching American History Grants and continues because many Social Studies teachers in our region have experienced the benefits of teacher collaboration and of creating and implementing high leverage, rigorous lessons that engage ALL students in the work of thinking like historians.

All grade-level lessons are are aligned to Common Core State Standards and to our Nevada Content Standards (NVACs if you live in Nevada).

Funding for this site comes from the Library of Congress, Nevada's Northwest Regional Professional Development Program, the Northeastern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program, and Washoe County School District.
A few things to note as you browse the site:
The menu in the left hand column includes documents and descriptions of types of lessons included on the site. The drop down menu is where you will find lessons specific to the grade/s you teach.

For best results, use Google Chrome as your browser. It's best to download resources prior to printing.

Types of Lessons available on the website:

Close Readings

"One Pagers" (brief close reading exercises)

Document Based Questions

OUTs "Opening Up the Textbook"

Zoom-Ins

Research Based Discussion Strategies

Controversial Issue Lessons

Argumentative Writing Lessons

Evidence Ranking Activities

Inquiry Lessons

Resources are added periodically.

We hope you and your students enjoy these lessons.

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This site is now maintained by NNCSS. For inquiries, contact Sarah Brown at sabrown@washoeschools.net. Project TAHOE reflects the committed work of teachers from Northern Nevada since 2006. The work began through Teaching American History Grants and continues because many Social Studies teachers in our region have experienced the benefits of teacher collaboration and of creating and implementing high leverage, rigorous lessons that engage ALL students in the work of thinking like historians.

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raciolinguistics mike mena race linguistics "race and language" "language education" "social life of language" "mike mena" translanguaging "language and poli...

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SLL MISSION STATEMENT: 'The Social Life of Language' is an open-access educational YouTube channel designed to bring complex theoretical academic work on language and race into the realm of public discourse in a way that is simple, but never simplified.

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Positive parenting and teaching techniques to build healthy relationships with kids. Since 1977 we’ve helped make parenting and teaching fun and rewarding.

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Engaging the Whole Class through Soft Starts: Making the Most of the First Five Minutes

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Engaging the Whole Class through Soft Starts: Making the Most of the First Five Minutes

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RPDP resource!

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Free Resources to Teach Your Child to Read

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A Starter Pack of Resources for New Teachers

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A Starter Pack of Resources for New Teachers

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We've pulled together articles and videos in which educators-both veteran and new-share what they wish they knew on day one about classroom design, assessment, working with parents, and more.

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A Starter Pack of Resources for New Teachers

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Edutopia has a lot of great resources for new teachers, so we've gathered some of the best in one place to help you get started.

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Classroom Screen - Word is this is "the BEST" resource! 

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Classroom Screen - Word is this is "the BEST" resource! 

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What Is the 5E Model?

The 5E model is a constructivist framework designed to guide science instruction. It consists of five stages, each emphasizing active student participation:

Engage. Begin by connecting the topic to students' prior knowledge and experiences. Encourage questions and curiosity to set the stage for exploration.

Explore. Students actively investigate the topic through hands-on activities and group work. They develop hypotheses and explore key concepts without direct instruction.

Explain. After exploration, students construct explanations based on their observations. Teachers facilitate discussions and answer questions.

Elaborate. Students extend their understanding by applying concepts to new contexts. Additional activities or research deepen their knowledge.

Evaluate. Assessment occurs throughout the process. Students demonstrate their learning and reflect on their experiences.

Why Use the 5e model?

There are several good reasons to use the 5E model:

Student-centered learning. The 5E model shifts the focus from teacher-led instruction to student-driven exploration. It encourages critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity.

Inquiry-based approach. By posing real questions and allowing students to explore, the 5E model fosters curiosity and scientific inquiry. Students learn by doing, not just memorizing facts.

Differentiation. The model accommodates diverse learning needs. Students engage at their own pace, and teachers can tailor assessments to individual abilities.

Impactful Research: The Biological Sciences Curriculum (BSCS) Study

The Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) conducted research on the 5E model and prepared a report. Their findings? Students using the BSCS program for two years outperformed peers on standardized tests. The sustained use of the 5E model led to significant gains in science understanding.

Resources for Implementation

There are helpful resources available regarding implementation of the 5E model:

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The 5E model is a constructivist framework designed to guide science instruction. It consists of five stages, each emphasizing active student participation: Engage. Begin by connecting the topic to students' prior knowledge and experiences. Encourage questions and curiosity to set the stage for exploration. Explore.

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ReadWorks | Award-Winning, EdTech Nonprofit Organization

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ReadWorks is an edtech nonprofit organization that is committed to helping to solve America's reading comprehension crisis.

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Boddle helps you easily tailor K-6th grade math and ELA instruction to each student's needs-while keeping them wanting to learn more!

Totally free for teachers!

Boddle helps you easily tailor math instruction to each student's needs-while keeping them wanting to learn more!

Totally free for teachers!

Perfect Balance of Learning + Fun

So fun and engaging that your students will have a blast learning!

Curriculum Aligned Content

Easily match practice and assessments to your lesson plans.

24/7 Free Access

Print students' login info right from your teacher portal so the fun learning can continue at home.

For All Learning Environments

Whether in-person, remote, or hybrid, Boddle is your math and ELA resource.

Content that matches your Curriculum

Finding platforms that align to your state standards can be difficult. That's why we made sure to include quality math and ELA content that is aligned to state standards including CCSS, TEKS, and B.E.S.T.

Adaptive

Address each student's specific learning gaps using Boddle's AI to ensure they fully master skills. Gameplay is adjusted to match each student's skills, pace, and progress.

Simple Parent Communication

Easily link parents/guardians to their kids so that they can stay up to date on their progress. Students who have parent/guardian accounts linked are more engaged.

Learn More About Boddle

Educator Case Studies: Get the Inside Scoop

Discover how our community of educators use Boddle in their own classrooms.

Check It Out

Getting Started:
A Guide for Teachers

Classroom setup, adding students, managing learning, reports - begin your journey into the Boddle-verse!

Let the Fun Begin

Send Boddle Home for Even More Fun Learning

There are several amazing benefits to having students login to Boddle at home for extra practice - click here to find out more.

Learn More

Your time is precious, and there are already a ton of tasks on your plate. Boddle helps you easily tailor math instruction to each student's needs-while keeping them wanting to learn more!

Sign Up for Your Teacher Account

Math that Matches Your Curriculum

Finding math platforms that aligns to your state standards can be difficult. That's why we made sure to include quality math content that is aligned to state standards including TEKS and MAFS.

Personalized Learning for each Student

Adaptive Learning

Address each student's specific learning gaps using Boddle's AI to ensure they fully master skills. Gameplay is adjusted to match each student's skills, pace, and progress.

Differentiated Practice

The teacher platform allows you to deliver assignments, exit tickets, and practice questions - a perfect complement to summative and formative assessment activities and even standardized test prep. The best part is that students will have a ton of fun while learning key math skills.

Super Easy Sign-Up

Simple Parent Communication

You can easily link parents/guardians to their child's account so they can view progress and stay up to date. Students who have a parent/guardian accounts linked are more engaged.

Super Easy Sign-Up

Super Easy Sign-Up

Getting a class set up couldn't be any easier. We have integrated with Clever and Google Single Sign On, so you can set up a teacher account and get your students logged on faster.

We love working with teachers and schools!
Contact Us for School/District Partnership Programs
Find Out About How Boddle Helps with Today's Classroom Challenges

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Boddle gives teachers the tools they need to personalize learning for each student. It allows you to easily tailor math instruction to fit students' individual needs-saving teachers time and keeping students engaged.

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Steve Wyborney's Blog: I'm on a Learning Mission.

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Welcome to Splat! You are only moments away from a VERY POWERFUL, highly interactive number sense strategy that can be used at any grade level!

This post includes 50 (fifty!) free, downloadable PowerPoint math lessons!

Watch the video, download some (or all) of the lessons, and experience what happens when you unleash this resource in your classroom!

I've been excited to click the Publish button on this post for several weeks! It's time!
UPDATE: The Fraction Splat! Series (with 20 more downloadable lessons) is now available!
After reading this blog post, take a look at THE 12 MOST POPULAR MATH STRATEGIES AND DOWNLOADS ON THIS BLOG.

Splat Through 10
How many dots are under the Splat?

Splat Through 20
How many dots are under the Splat?

Multiple Splats
(Note: Splats that are the same color must cover the same number.)
Splat 3.1 - multiple splats Splat 3.2 - multiple splats Splat 3.3 - multiple splats Splat 3.4 - multiple splats Splat 3.5 - multiple splats
Instant Multiple Splat
(Note: An additional feature of this level is the opportunity to ask, "What could the total be?")

Splat 4.1 - Instant Multiple Splats Splat 4.2 - Instant Multiple Splats Splat 4.3 - Instant Multiple Splats Splat 4.4 - Instant Multiple Splats Splat 4.5 - Instant Multiple Splats
2-Color Splat
(Splats of different colors must have different values.)

Splat 5.1 2-color Splat Splat 5.2 2-color Splat Splat 5.3 2-color Splat Splat 5.4 2-color Splat Splat 5.5 2-color Splat Splat 6.2 Instant 2-color Splat Splat 6.3 Instant 2-color Splat Splat 6.4 Instant 2-color Splat Splat 6.5 Instant 2-color Splat
Instant 2-Variable Splat
(Splats of different colors must have different values. Splats of the same color must have the same value.)
Splat 7.1 Instant 2-variable Splat Splat 7.2 Instant 2-variable Splat Splat 7.3 Instant 2-variable Splat Splat 7.4 Instant 2-variable Splat Splat 7.5 Instant 2-variable Splat
Number Splat
(Note: Only the numbers circled on the screen may be used.)
Splat 8.1 - Number Splat Splat 8.2 - Number Splat Splat 8.3 - Number Splat Splat 8.4 - Number Splat Splat 8.5 - Number Splat Splat 9.1 - Instant Number Splat Splat 9.2 - Instant Number Splat Splat 9.3 - Instant Number Splat Splat 9.4 - Instant Number Splat Splat 9.5 - Instant Number Splat
Instant Number Splat with 2 Variables
(Note: Only the numbers circled on the screen may be used, and Splats of different colors must have different values.)
Splat 10.1 - Instant 2-Variable Number Splat Splat 10.2 - Instant 2-Variable Number Splat Splat 10.3 - Instant 2-Variable Number Splat Splat 10.4 - Instant 2-Variable Number Splat Splat 10.5 - Instant 2-Variable Number Splat
NOTE: I wrote each of these lessons using PowerPoint, so I recommend playing them in PowerPoint. If you do not have PowerPoint, you may want to download the PowerPoint viewer so that you can play the lessons.

UPDATE: The Fraction Splat! Series (with 20 more downloadable lessons) is now available!
Other Posts and Resources Which May Be of Interest Tiled Area Questions The Maze Hundreds Chart
Introducing Cube Connectors
Provide Massive Space to Notice
Primary Tile Questions
3 Powerful Tile Strategies (and 40 new downloadable pages)
Please take a moment to subscribe to the blog so you'll be notified each time new resources are posted!

I would treasure hearing about your experiences using Splat! to promote number sense in your classroom!

All my best,
Steve

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Splat! - Steve Wyborney's Blog: I'm on a Learning Mission.

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Welcome to Splat! You are only moments away from a VERY POWERFUL, highly interactive number sense strategy that can be used at any grade level!

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What's up Phys Ed Fam! If you've watched many of my videos on social, you've probably noticed the different climbing elements around my gym. I get lots of questions about these and hope that this ...

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NSEA has curated a wide variety of resources for eudcators!

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MagicSchool.ai - AI for teachers - lesson planning and more!

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Join over a million teachers saving hours of time using the #1 AI Platform for Education, MagicSchool, to help lesson plan, differentiate, write assessments, write IEPs, communicate clearly, and more!

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1. Creating a calm testing environment

2. Ideas for lowering testing stress for teachers

3. Tips and Tricks for lowering stress for students