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K-12 Online Content Project - Spring CUE 2023 slides

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Check out this slide deck created by Mrs. Matasovic that features a variety of different resources and programs.

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Matasovic found a company that will give all Carr teachers a free laptop cover! If you are interested, fill out the form with what color you would like. We will place the order with them.

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Access Google Forms with a personal Google account or Google Workspace account (for business use).

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FULL LESSON PLANS on how to incorporate students to use a form of media to show their understanding of content. Types include: political cartooning, engineering for good, science documentary, perspectives, podcasting, call for change, if schools could dance.

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AI generated lessons.

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Generate lessons with AI

Plan and deliver interactive lessons on any topic - with help from AI

I am teacher of 15 years who, until recently, has delved no more deeply into tech in the classroom, and here I am encouraging colleagues to come on in and see Curipod in action and leading CPD sessions. To top it off, I'm spending my evenings playing on my iPad to see how many new lessons I can create, and what new features have been added that week. The time saved, and the improvement in my lesson materials, is tangible.
- Read the full case study with Aileen Wallace

Curious?

Join our online workshop to find out how Curipod can work for you and your students!

Book your spot

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Join the growing movement of teachers using Curipod to make interactive lessons filled with creativity, reflection and critical thinking

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Learn more about upcoming lesson design institutes.

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New AI and Mastery Learning available.
Focus on skills that are needed to demonstrate success. It is self pace and helps identify gaps. Includes PSAT. Praise the process not just the outcome.

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1.Ownership of Learning
2.How we learn best
3.Creating and Inclusive Environment
4.Teaching and Learning Approaches
5.Spark Curiosity and Agency

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Rethinking Learning - Define Your WHY Through Stories

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The Levels of Engagement design was created by Barbara Bray using some of the original content by Bray and Kathleen McClaskey with graphics by Sylvia Duckworth. Updated content and design is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
The original Continuum of Engagement focused on the teacher's role in engaging students. After reading more about engagement with the "Flow" theory and the differences between engagement and empowerment, I believed it needed to be clearer that engagement is about how much any learner is engaged in a task or activity and the balance between the challenge before them and the skills they have to meet that challenge. Empowerment is what the learner or someone else can do to encourage engagement. The levels are more about how the learner is engaged in learning, not about the teacher or the learning environment. Yet, teachers are learners, too and they can create experiences and environments that are compassionate, creative and innovative. This idea of levels of engagement can pertain to any of us who are defining who we are as a learner.

Defining Engagement

Engagement is the affective side of learning and has been found to be a robust predictor of learner performance and behavior in the classroom. (Martin-Kniep, 2012) Engagement refers to the degree of attention, curiosity, interest, optimism, and passion that learners show when they are learning. So this may mean "engagement" is about how much we learn in the classroom or anywhere we learn. I needed to explore this more so checked out the 2016 Gallup Poll.

Measuring hope and engagement, the Gallup Student Poll helps educators gauge school success beyond test scores and grades. With nearly 5 million since 2009, the 2016 survey helps educators provide a more positive school culture - one that builds engagement, creates hope for the future, fosters talent and prepares students to meaningfully participate in the economy. Gallup Student Poll measures are linked to desirable learning outcomes, including self-reported grades, the perception of school success and self-reported absenteeism.

Download the 2016 snapshot report to learn more about how to empower hope and engagement in school. From the results, it is apparent in the Gallup Study that engagement decreased over the years in school. Yet, learning can happen anywhere and at any time especially now with content available at our fingertips. Some questions for you to consider when discussing engagement:

Do we only measure learning that happens in a school?

Are teachers or a school responsible for engaging the learners?

Can teachers empower learners to want to be more engaged in learning?

Have you noticed some learners more engaged than others?

Could it be who the learners are that impacts their level of engagement?

How does the environment impact the learning?

What might keep some learners from being engaged in the learning process?

How much does the system have to do with stopping curiosity, creativity, and engagement?

What can we do to transform the system so learners are more curious, creative, and engaged in learning?

Flow Theory

When learners have a voice and choice in what and how they are learning especially if it is about something they are passionate about or interested in, they jump in and can get lost in the task or project. This is called "flow." When learners are in the flow, you can notice, see and hear the engagement. Sometimes flow is quiet.
[Source: Adapted from Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow:
The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper and Row]
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is best known as the architect of the theory of flow. Flow is when a person is fully immersed in what they are doing and there is a balance between the challenge of the task and the skill of the learner. Flow cannot occur if the task is too easy or too difficult. Csíkszentmihályi published the graph above that depicts the relationship between the challenges of a task and skills. Flow only occurs when the activity is a higher-than-average challenge and requires above-average skills. Both skill level and challenge level must be matched and high; if skill and challenge are low and matched, then apathy results. (Csíkszentmihályi, 1990)

In Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Invention and Discover (2013), Csíkszentmihályi explains why creativity is so fascinating that when we are involved in it, we feel that we are living more fully than during the rest of our lives. The examples and stories in the book help the reader understand how we change when we are immersed in an activity we are passionate about.

Levels of Engagement

Compliant

In the Compliant level, learners may appear to be bored or anxious. Some may just give up on learning and follow whatever the teacher or school requires them to do. They may be good "students" who know how to "do" school. Their grades may be good but they are not empowered to do more than they have to do for a grade. There are others that have a fixed mindset and just give up because they were not empowered to learn or do not have a voice in what and how they learn. The school system might be focusing on test scores, worksheets, and homework that are probably not relevant or meaningful for the disengaged learner. The teacher may feel they are the only one responsible and accountable for all the learning in their classroom. Sometimes learners who are compliant have other issues at home that keep them from being engaged in learning.

Commit

At the Commit level, learners are starting to take on more responsibility for their learning. The teacher is building relationships with the learners by guiding the process for them to understand how they learn best. At this level, the teacher may still be laying the groundwork for learning and determining prior knowledge but learners may be demonstrating that they are more involved in what and how they learn. The commit level is where the learners find their voice to help become better learners. When they understand why they may be anxious about learning something, they discuss this with the teacher to help them through their anxiety. Learners are also reaching out to others to help them build the skills they will need to perform a task. They commit even more to want to learn when they have time to explore what interests them. This level is where learning is personal and the student finds out more about themselves and who they are as a learner. This is also the level where the teacher realizes that some children need more time or may have other issues keeping them from learning. The teacher-student relationship is so crucial at this level for all learners to help find their voice.

Connect

In the Connect level, learners realize now that learning is social. They can expand on what they learned at the commit level by connecting with others who are at the same level or have the same interests. They are more in control of their learning but realize they can learn much more if they collaborate with others who can work together to build on their ideas. At this level, the learners are doing more of the talking than the teacher. This is where learners enjoy learning from each other and even teaching their peers. Learners are more engaged at this level when connected to real-world problems that are relevant to them. Today, learners connect with smart devices before and after school. Teachers and schools can make this level more effective if these smart devices are allowed during school hours. This is where "trust" and "letting go" of control can be so important. Our learners are using these devices and need to know the appropriate use so they can connect globally in an effective and safe way. This is the level where you notice it is getting a little noisier in some parts of the classroom.

Flow

At the Flow level, many call it "messy learning" because it may seem chaotic to some people. Learners are curious, creative, and innovative. There is no one way to capture what it might look like. A few learners might be in the hall, another on a smartphone contacting a mentor, two sitting together animated on the floor in the back of the room, a small group brainstorming in the corner, and someone presenting evidence of learning to others for critical feedback. Some learners are working quietly immersed in the task at hand where others are reaching out to others to collaborate on solving a problem. This is when learners have the skills to pursue their interests and are curious by seeking what they are passionate about. They want to challenge themselves to investigate and solve solutions to real-world problems where they can make a difference. You can hear it in their voices and actions. They want to share what they learn. The teacher is more of a mentor and coach as they guide the process. This level is when learners self-advocate for what they need or want to learn and when they have agency.

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What I did notice about the engagement is that sometimes we are in the flow because of the activity or task at hand. Other times we may not be engaged because of the activity. We may be at different levels at home or at school or in other learning environments. The engagement level can be high in a makerspace and low in a classroom depending on the activities.

Several teachers have said to me that when their kids are in the flow, "they never want to go back to the traditional way of teaching." Some questions for you to think about and reflect on:

Have you experienced flow?
How much flow did you experience in school?
Where are you in the Levels of Engagement?
What about your learners in your classroom?
Do you notice different levels of engagement with different activities?

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Resources

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990) Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York. Harper & Row.

Martin-Kniep, G. (2012) 27. Neuroscience of engagement and SCARF: why they matter to school.
https://lciltd.org/WebsitePublications/HandbookNeuroleadership_EngagementArticleGMK.pdf

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Thank You to Sylvia Duckworth @sylviaduckworth from Toronto, Canada for designing the graphics for the Levels of Engagement. Please make sure you visit http://sylviaduckworth.com A few relevant websites about moving to learner agency: for all the graphics she created and to ask her for permission to use any of her graphics.
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About the author

Barbara Bray is a story weaver capturing stories from inspirational people about insightful journeys to discover their purpose. As a creative learning strategist, speaker, coach, and disruptor, Barbara has been trying to transform teaching and learning for over 30 years. Her journey as a teacher, coach, columnist, database developer, and grant writer led to her becoming the owner/founder of Computer Strategies, LLC with its divisions, My eCoach and Rethinking Learning. From 2013 to 2017, Barbara was the past co-founder of Personalize Learning, LLC, and co-authored Make Learning Personal and How to Personalize Learning. In 2017, Barbara became the host of the Rethinking Learning Podcast where she has conversations with inspirational educators, thought leaders, and influencers! At the same time, Barbara started the #rethink_learning Twitter chat. Through all the stories and her journey, Barbara is the author of "Define Your WHY" which is all about owning your story so you live and learn on purpose.

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Levels of Engagement: Balancing Challenges and Skills - Rethinking Learning

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The Levels of Engagement explain how engagement is how a learner balances challenges and the skills needed to move from being compliant to flow.

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Human read audio books.Student can access high interest novels based on lexile level. Includes textbooks read aloud by professionals.

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So many tips on how to use tech to work efficiently. Website is divided into topics: emails, meetings, reports, and so much more.

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1. Unsubscribe! You do not need the dopamine hit from bulk deleting 50 emails each day. Mass unsubscribe in Gmail by selecting all the messages and hitting the report spam button.

2. Use Labels/Filters. Set up a label that tags all email from your school domain and quickly see all messages send from staff. If your school had a separate domain for students, set a filter for those as well. Then when you start your day, you can find messages from staff or students quickly. Set a VIP label for district office people so those are noticeable and curated for you.

Bonus Label Ideas: To Do, Keepsies, Projects, Receipts, Vendors

1. Snooze! Avoid using your unreads as a to do list with the snooze button. Respond to the sender, then hit snooze and send it back to you later

2. Tasks! Same concept, different method. Respond to the sender, then mark the message as a task and set a due date. (Google only, or get an add on in O365)

3. Templates! What messages do you send frequently? Make a template. I have one for PO requests. How about weekly attendance submissions?

This handy tool can help you automate and personalize emails.

We all love hearing our own name, right? Rather than a generic "hello everyone" email to your staff, send emails directed to your individual recipients. "Hi, Donna..." works so much better.

Send emails home to families with students' unique email passwords, locker numbers, appointment times, etc.

A solid digital material organizational strategy can improve email productivity. Here's Jamie's story on how she managed the hundreds of emails from parents during the beginning of the pandemic, and the strategies still in place.
https://share.getcloudapp.com/YEuemxbA

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Unsubscribe! You do not need the dopamine hit from bulk deleting 50 emails each day. Mass unsubscribe in Gmail by selecting all the messages and hitting the report spam button. Use Labels/Filters. Set up a label that tags all email from your school domain and quickly see all messages send from staff.

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Check out this slide deck for a WEALTH of knowledge and resources for meeting the needs of newcomers.

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CUE23 :: NEWCOMERS :: @efraintovarjr :: California Newcomer Network

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35 FUN team building games and activities.

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Roni Habib is an expert in helping educators, leaders, and parents become happier, more resilient, more connected to their purpose, and more playful. The founder of EQ Schools, he leads workshops and speaks in schools nationally and abroad.

Roni taught many different subjects for 15 years, ranging from Calculus to History, to Positive Psychology. He started his teaching career at Fenway High School in Boston, and spent most of teaching career at Gunn High School in Palo Alto, where he also became a part of the school leadership team.

Early in his career, Roni struggled with the high stresses and demands of teaching even losing touch with why he wanted to be a teacher in the first place. It was so painful that he finally discovered the power of integrating mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and positive psychology in his own life as well as in his classroom and felt called to share this new approach with the world.

In the first three years of establishing EQ Schools, Roni has taught and inspired thousands of Teachers, Principals, Superintendents, and Parents through his TEDx talk, workshops, conferences, and online offerings

Prior to earning his Masters of Education and teaching credential at Harvard University, he lived in Israel and Belgium. Most important though, is that Roni has a huge heart and loves helping people.

"I do what I do for two main reasons:

1. I believe that every person in the world deserve to gain skills that allow them to be happier, more resilient, and to believe in themselves so they can live the life they dream of having.

2. I believe that schools are meant to be safe, joyful and fun places where relationships and wellbeing are prioritized, passions are cultivated, and vulnerability celebrated."

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Roni Habib is an expert in helping educators, leaders, and parents become happier, more resilient, more connected to their purpose, and more playful. The founder of EQ Schools, he leads workshops and speaks in schools nationally and abroad. Roni taught many different subjects for 15 years, ranging from Calculus to History, to Positive Psychology.

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Learn more about the importance of building relationships.

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CUE Session 2022 - Relationships Above All.pdf

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Learn more about Universal Design For Learning.

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

Reenvisioning the UDL Guidelines

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

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

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