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Edmodo is a free resource that can be used by teachers, students, and parents. Teachers can share ideas, assignment, etc. It is social learning for classrooms. Teachers can collaborate with other teachers.

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Pay less for domain names. Bulk pricing and private domain name registration options. Transfer domain names risk-free.

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Number Sense and Rekenrek Clarification (Teaching with Grace)

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One of the most important concepts that we can teach in Kindergarten is Number Sense. It is a very, very important building block for children's math skills int he future. Because of this I built a cl

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A blog can be used to communicate ideas and share insights into best practices. Students and Teacher can share what learning is happening in the classroom. They can add pictures and tell a story that can be shared with many individuals. (its an archive) Parents included.

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As education evolves and starts to embrace rapid developments in technology, we're starting to see new teaching methods being introduced to the classroom that take advantage of this digital revolution.

One form of digital communication being increasingly exploited for learning purposes is blogging. It's a platform that has been widely used by individuals and businesses for a long time now, and its educational potential is increasingly being acknowledged.
If you're thinking of setting up a blog for your class, here's your guide to getting started.
What do I mean by "classroom blog"?

There are several possible ways of utilizing the power of blogging in a classroom context. These are the main ones:

Teacher communications - using a blog to communicate school or class news with students and their parents.

Teacher blogging about their subject - to encourage debate among students (perhaps even encouraging students to engage actively with the content by leaving comments with their opinions).

Student blogging - either a shared blog to which each student can contribute under their own user profile, or each student has their own blog for sharing their thoughts about a particular subject or subjects.

Which will best suit the needs of your classroom?

Benefits of blogging in education

Before getting into the nitty gritty of how to set up a blog, let's take a quick look at some of the advantages of blogging in an educational setting.

Blogging allows students to express their opinion

Blogging helps students articulate their views and build a readership, which can be a very motivating experience for them. Sharing ideas on the internet can also put them in touch with like-minded individuals and with those who may challenge their ideas, which means that they may be required to defend their opinions (which is valuable preparation for the academic rigour of university).

It's great experience for future university and job applications

Blogging demonstrates enthusiasm for the subject, and a willingness to share ideas with others, as well as developing enthusiasm for communicating ideas in a way that will prove useful beyond the classroom. It also teaches students about the importance of 'responsible journalism' such as backing up ideas with concrete evidence, citing research and so on.

Blogging about a subject is more engaging than simply reading a textbook

If students are to write about a subject on a public platform like a blog, they need to be completely familiar with the subject and comfortable expressing an opinion about it. This encourages a deeper understanding and greater engagement with the subject. Unlike when they write an essay that only the teacher will read, blogging gives their work an indefinite life beyond the classroom and invites others to engage with it.

Starting a classroom blog

So, you've decided that your class would benefit from blogging. But how do you go about setting one up? The good news is that it's never been quicker or easier to get blogging, and thanks to the plethora of different blogging platforms out there, you need virtually no technical knowledge to do it.

Using a personal blogging site

There are numerous free blogging options that can easily be used by schools. They are usually free because they place small adverts at the bottom of your posts; if you want to get rid of these, there's usually an option to pay to upgrade to ad free. Some of the best free blogging platforms (which are free unless stated otherwise) include:

These platforms, and others like them, guide you through the process of setting up a blog in a user-friendly way, making the whole thing straightforward and stress-free.

Educational blogging services

These sites are similar to those above, but are tailored specifically towards the education sector.

Self-hosting (more advanced)

There are other blogging platforms - one of the most popular being WordPress.org - that involve ' self-hosting ' - and if you don't know what that is, it's probably not the best option for you. Self-hosting gives you greater flexibility over the content of the blog, but it's much more technical and not recommended unless you're very comfortable with finding your way around the back end of a website (or you don't mind sending every single post and edit to your IT department to take care of for you!). If you're an IT class learning about technical things such as coding, this might be a good educational experience in itself, but with so many much easier options, it isn't going to be the ideal choice for most.

For more information about self-hosting a blog, read my step-by-step tutorial here.

Things to decide before you set up your classroom blog

To give your blog the best possible start, these are the questions you should be deciding right at the outset.

Who will your audience be?

This is the most fundamental question, so address it first. Will your audience be the parents of the students in your class? The school community? Anyone interested in the subject? Other teachers? Only when you know for whom you're writing can your blog find its voice.

What will you call the blog?

Thinking of a name for your blog can be more challenging than it sounds, because popular names are likely to be taken already (and you'll need a unique one for your domain name - the address people type into their web browser to read your blog). If you only really intend your blog to be read within your school community, you could pick a name that means something within your school, such as the name of the school and class. If you want your blog to have a wider readership than just people in your school, you may want to pick a name with more general appeal, perhaps focusing on the subject itself rather than the name of your school or class.

What will you blog about?

Perhaps the most obvious use of a classroom blog is to write about the subject you're teaching. This is a great way of supporting what you've been covering in classes. For example, an English class might blog personal interpretations of a particular poem you've been discussing in class. A philosophy class might blog about a particular philosophical debate. Your English class might decide to do a 'Word a Day' post explaining the origin of a particular word, with a different person responsible for writing the post each day. The only limit to what you can blog about is your imagination, and brainstorming topic ideas would be a great group task in class.

Who will blog?

As the teacher, are you going to be the only one posting on the blog? Will only the best student-written post get published each week? Or is each student going to have the opportunity to post on it as a matter of routine? If the latter, many blogging platforms allow you to set up user accounts and profiles for each contributor, so that posts are marked with the author's name. You will probably want to be able to moderate posts and comments before they're published, so bear that in mind, too.

How often will it be updated?

Maintaining a blog takes commitment, and it's therefore a good idea to decide how often you will update it - perhaps a minimum number of posts per week. Will students take it in turns to write posts, and if so, how often? You could even come up with a sort of 'content calendar' to detail who writes what, and when.

Some blogging tips for teachers and students

Finally, here are some suggestions for making your new blog a success.

Link out to external resources

It's always a good idea to link out to other sites that have useful information that may be helpful for the reader. For instance, if you mention a particular piece of research, link to it. There's usually a box you can tick when you add a link to have it open in a new window, which is a good idea because it keeps readers on your site as well as enabling them to access useful related content from other sites.

Track visits

Most blogging platforms have statistics that allow you to see how many people have been reading each of your posts, and even more detailed information such as how readers are finding your content and where in the world they're based. These statistics are a useful guide, telling you which posts are most popular. If your goal is to gain a sizeable readership for your blog, from within the school community and beyond, this information tells you what kind of things your audience most enjoys, so you can provide them with similar types of content in the future.

Promote your blog

If you're hoping that a blog will give your students a readership beyond the limited confines of your classroom, make sure you let other people know about it. This could be done by asking for the link to be included in school newsletters and on the school's social media accounts. Make it easy for people to subscribe to your new posts by including a sign-up box so that people receive emails each time a new post is published.

Anything I've missed? Any questions? Leave a comment and I'll get it answered as soon as possible.

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Blogging In The Classroom - How To Start A Blog (2017 Guide)

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As education evolves and starts to embrace rapid developments in technology, we're starting to see new teaching methods being introduced to the classroom that take advantage of this digital revolution. One form of digital communication being increasingly exploited for learning purposes is blogging.

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A class website is great way to showcase your classroom. It is fun and inviting and a great way to communicate with parents. It allows students to take pride in their classroom community.

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This is a wonderful tool for students to engage in problem solving and reasoning around estimation. All grade levels can participate in this fun and exciting way to see math. All students can participate and enter the learning. Pictures and videos are used to "hook" the learner!

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ESTIMATION 180 is a place for both students and teachers to enjoy making sense of math and develop their number sense together.

Pick from over 200 visual estimation tasks that invite all your students to be part of rich math conversations and learning.

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How do I get started? 1 USE THE FREE MATH LESSONS Estimation 180 Tasks 3-Act Tasks 2 SUBSCRIBE Email Newsletter Podcast

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In a flipped classrrom students "gain control of the learning process through studying course material outside of the class, using readings, pre-recorded video lectures, or research assignments. During class time, instructors facilitate the learning process.

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What is "flipping"?

Flipping the classroom is a " pedagogy-first" approach to teaching. In this approach in-class time is "re-purposed" for inquiry, application, and assessment in order to better meet the needs of individual learners. Students gain control of the learning process through studying course material outside of class, using readings, pre-recorded video lectures (using technology such as Panopto), or research assignments. During class time, instructors facilitate the learning process by helping students work through course material individually and in groups.

There are numerous ways to flip your class. In fact "every teacher who has chosen to flip does so differently," says Bergmann and Sams (2012). Below are resources on how to get started and strategies and examples to help you determine what kind of flip is best for your courses.

Before you 'flip': What you need to know

Also known as "inverting" a classroom, this approach seeks to preserve the value of lecture (expertise and custom delivery), while freeing up precious in-person class time for active learning strategies. The main goal in flipping a class is to cultivate deeper, richer learning experiences for students when the instructor is present to coach and guide them. Emphasis is on higher-order thinking skills and application to complex problems.

Common activities include:

Selected resources:

Quick start guides

Flipping practices: Strategies for engaging students

On flipping with group-based and peer instruction:

Examples of flipped classrooms:

How and Why I Flipped My Classroom, Michelle Pacansky-Brock (2009), a PowerPoint presentation of a flipped art history course in a community college.

Leaving lectures behind, Jimmy Ryals (September 2011), on a flipped Physics classroom using the SCALE-UP model at North Carolina State University.

More in-depth discussions of flipping practices:

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Flipping the classroom is a " pedagogy-first" approach to teaching. In this approach in-class time is "re-purposed" for inquiry, application, and assessment in order to better meet the needs of individual learners. Students gain control of the learning process through studying course material outside of class, using readings, pre-recorded video lectures (using technology such as Panopto), or research assignments.

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Google Docs can be used by teacher teams to create and design lessons. Teachers can work at the same time and add all their great ideas and resources. In addition, teachers can add comments to communicate thinking. Everything is saved automatically which makes it easy for teacher teams to share.

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Flippity is a series of web apps that can easily turn a google spreadsheet into a set of online flashcards or Quiz Show. There are cards for helping a teacher create random groups, or mix and match activities

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Flippity.net: Flashcards and Other Resources for Educators and Learners

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Create an interactive virtual breakout activity.

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Now, for some reason the IPG (Instructional Planning Guide) in my district says to start 4th grade with arrays, factors, and multiples. A specialist explained the logic to me once, but I'm still not sure I fully understand. Place value seems like a more natural place to begin...but... I don't always get to make those decisions, so we are starting with arrays.

Did you notice that I said arrays, factors, and multiples and not multiplication/division concepts? Well, that's because THAT unit comes later. Makes perfect sense, right?

I know...it confuses me too.

So, as any good teacher would do. I tweak. I start by finding out what they already know about multiplication. Novel idea, huh?

We started our unit with a quick brainstorm of multiplication and I was very impressed with my results. Here is the list my students came up with:

12 x 12 = 144 - Those are called facts.

Anything times 0 equals 0.

Anything times 1 equals itself.

3x4=12 is just like 4x3=12. We call that a fact family.

You can draw a picture of multiplication by using circles and sticks.

It is repeated addition.

You can draw it by putting 4 dots down one said, and three dots across and then fill it in. (She knew about an array, but didn't know what it was called.)

It is like skip counting.

Sorry for the blurry phone picture.

I must say...well done 3rd grade teachers...WELL DONE!

That is a pretty good list for the first weeks of 4th grade. We spent the next two days talking more and more about arrays. You know...building up our math vocabulary, learning the difference between rows and columns, and finding arrays all over the classroom.

Then, we made our Multiplication Posters to show off what we know. First, I showed them my example. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture, but it was really nice. I promise.

I wrote in my best handwriting, used different colored headings for each quadrant, organized my array by color (i.e. red row, blue row, etc.), and made my equal groups using all the same kind of stickers.

Then, I let them go. Not one turned out just like mine.

Naturally, many of the arrays were a hodge-podge of colors.

All and all though, the posters turned out pretty great. It was a great review for kids on multiplication.

I used this same concept in the past, but only with drawings. I loved the addition of stickers and food. It made it is WAY more entertaining. Unfortunately, I don't know who to credit with this marvelous idea, so if it was you, please let me know.

I also found another great idea from Mr. B's Beach Brains. Um... edible arrays?! Yes, please.

And so...our edible multiplication posters were born. My kiddos had a blast putting together the posters and they make a really nice display in the classroom. Very colorful and fun!

What activities do you do to review multiplication concepts?

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Now, for some reason the IPG (Instructional Planning Guide) in my district says to start 4th grade with arrays, factors, and multiples. A specialist explained the logic to me once, but I'm still not sure I fully understand. Place value seems like a more natural place to begin...but...

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Flipgrid allows students the opportunity to use 21st century skills to communicate thinking in a variety of ways. It allows for creativity in communication.

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We express ourselves in different ways. On Flip, you can use our simple and fun built-in camera to record your thoughts, add effects and share within your Flip group as video, audio only or text in your web browser or mobile app.

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Flip is a video discussion and sharing app, free from Microsoft.

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Flip (formerly Flipgrid) is a video discussion and video sharing app, free from Microsoft, built for classrooms and beyond. Learn more.

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4/26/2018

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LESSON for GED 628 classroom setting.pdf

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With over 330 million active users, Twitter is here to stay. And for good reason - it's an extremely effective method for communicating with your user base. However, it's more than just a "build it and they shall come" platform.

We often get asked, "What's the best way to increase engagement on Twitter?" In this post, we'll share some tips and tricks we've learned along the way to help you with just that.

Mastering the Twitter Count: You Don't Need 280 Characters

In your Twitter bio use the full 160 characters allotted. It'll not only help Twitter users to find you, but also learn more about you. Make sure your bio is fully optimized and includes hashtags.

Tweets, on the other hand, are a different story. When you're tweeting you don't need to use the full 280 characters. You can get away with just 65. We purposely keep our tweets short, and in doing so have actually increased engagement. Earlier this year, we took a look at our top 20 tweets, based on engagements, over a 90-day period (hashtags and links excluded). These top 20 tweets averaged 65 characters in length. Here's an example of one of our top performing tweets from that time frame, which comes in at 42 characters total (with spaces):

Alternatively, the average character count of our bottom 20 tweets (not counting replies) was 80. What's a 15 character count difference mean in engagement rate? For this batch of tweets, the top 20 saw a 1.35% higher engagement rate when compared to the bottom 20.
(We're keeping in mind that lower engagement is not fully dependent on character count, but a lot of variables, such as topic, included media, time of day you're posting, etc. But that's a post for another time!)
Analytics Matter: Know Your Audience, What Tweets Work and When to Post Them

Leverage Twitter tools and Twitter Analytics to get more from your account. With tools like Hootsuite, Buffer and TweetDeck you can schedule tweets to go out at specific times-a huge timesaver and a great feature for those who don't live, eat and breathe Twitter. These same tools also make it easier to manage multiple lists and follow trends in real-time, all from one screen.

Twitter's robust Analytics dashboard shows you your top tweets, mentions, and followers by month, plus offers tips for growing your engagement. It even shows you your followers' demographics and most popular interests, so you can tweet about the categories they're most likely to respond to. It also features an events calendar, so you can plan tweets in advance around popular topics.

These tools were all created to make Twitter easier to use and more beneficial for your business. So use them! You'll be able to work smarter, not harder, to grow your Twitter audience.

Promote Yourself: Make Your Twitter Handle Stand Out

Advertise your Twitter handle in email signatures, on your website, blog, and Facebook page. For example, you could include the following hyperlinked message in your email signature: "Follow us on Twitter @(your handle)". You can also use the AddThis Twitter Follow Button to promote your Twitter account to your website visitors, like how we do on the AddThis blog:

Find similar, like-minded users and follow them. A good place to find a full listing of top Twitter users is Twitaholic. Many of the top users are celebrities (Katy Perry, Justin Beiber, etc.). However, further down on the list you'll find organizations and companies like the NFL and NASA.

Retweet interesting posts and engage in conversations with individuals who have built a following. If you're a food business, someone like Andrew Zimmern would be a great person to tweet at, as he regularly responds to fans. With his more than 800 thousand followers, a tweet from him would definitely raise your profile.

Embed tweets into websites and blogs to drive engagement. Just click on the more button (three dots ...) below the tweet you want to embed and select "Embed Tweet." Then, copy and paste the supplied HTML where you want it on your website. You can even use this feature to embed a tweet and reply together.

Add hashtags (#) to your tweets. These give your posts a keyword so others can find it easier. When you begin typing a hashtag, Twitter will offer suggestions. If it's relevant, use it to increase your tweet's reach, but make sure it's relevant-brands like DiGiorno have gotten into trouble for jumping on a hashtag and unintentionally posting an offensive tweet.

Twitter users like tweets that are informative, timely, useful and/or funny. Old Spice is an example of a brand that uses humor well, both in their tweets and engagements with other users. They have a distinctive, irreverent voice that remains consistent throughout their Twitter activity, which you can see in the example below.

Because of the character limits and the way people use Twitter, it can be tricky getting it right. Like everything else, your tweets and engagements will evolve and get better over time, and your followers will continue to grow because of it.
Got any Twitter tips of your own that you can share? We'd love to see them, and so would our users. Let us know in the comments below.

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Tips & Tricks for Twitter Best Practices to Increase Engagement

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With over 330 million active users, Twitter is here to stay. And for good reason - it's an extremely effective method for communicating with your user base. However, it's more than just a "build it and they shall come" platform. We often get asked, "What's the best way to increase engagement on Twitter?"

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Pinterest is a wonderful resource to find ideas related to mathematics. For example, looking for multiple strategies in mathematics. Pinterest offers a wealth of creative ideas for teaching, sharing, and displaying these multiple strategies. In addition, teachers can get ideas to make tools rather than buying them, as seen below with rekenreks.

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Twitter is an amazing resource that we use as a district. We use to share and celebrate educational experiences. We use hashtags to find topics, engage in book chats, and connect to educational networks.

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Hilda, Ray, Jennifer, and Nicole Instructional Technology Plan Collaboration.pdf

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Here is our district technology plan that was authored by our Educational Technology Specialists.

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2017 BCSD Educational Technology Plan1 (1).pdf