Differentiated Instruction with the Jedi Academy

Structured Program Assists Students in Completing Online Work As more classrooms are becoming 1-to-1 with students and technology, two high school teachers chose to differentiate through tiering processes with the Canvas LMS system.  The beginning of the year was the first time students at our school experienced Canvas LMS.  The first few units were done […]

Flocabulary

Online Music Videos Help Keep Students Engaged in the Classroom Flocabulary is a website that can be found at www.flocabulary.com and the free videos can be accessed from any classroom or home.  Flocabulary music videos are aligned with the Common Core State Standards and can be incorporated in multiple subjects such as reading, math, language arts, science, […]

Social Media in the Classroom

Social Media Connects Students with Others at All Times After becoming a connected educator myself, I began to understand the possibilities of connecting my students through social media. After checking our Responsible Use Policy and lengthy discussions with district administration, I began slowly incorporating social media, specifically Twitter, into my lessons. We started slowly, with positive […]

Game Based Learning in Science Classes

In-Class Games Help Students Apply Key Concepts In my high school science classes I attempt to keep lecture time down per each one hour class.  The remainder of the time is spent applying the class concepts to various content related problems.  I break students into groups every class for collaborative learning.  In an effort to […]

Interactive Notebooks In Middle School Language Arts

Interactive Notebooks Help Students Organize and Synthesize Information The purpose of the interactive notebook is to enable students to be creative, independent thinkers and writers. Interactive notebooks are used for class notes as well as for other activities where the student will be asked to express his/her own ideas and process the information presented in class. The purpose behind […]

Smartboard Technology in the Classroom

Using a Smartboard in the Classroom This Best Practice utilizes a Smart Board Projector to aid in classroom instruction. Using all the features of this technology provide great benefit to the teacher as well as the student in classroom teaching effectiveness. Issues this Best Practice Addresses: Working with whiteboards (or even chalkboards) present certain problems […]

Streamlined Fitness Infusion Heart Rate Technology PE Program

Instruction Used to Increase Heart Rate We developed a streamlined pattern skill development curriculum in order to improve our heart rate time on task with our heart rate technology in our daily physical education classes. With refined instruction we are able to provide students with 60-75% or In Zone or Above heart rate during our […]

iLit Reading Instruction

Student Personalized Learning Support Helps Students Who Struggle With Reading Pearson’s iLit core reading program for struggling readers is designed to meet the national crisis of students who simply cannot read at the appropriate grade level and who, by the time they reach high school, are dropping out, checking out, or acting out. iLit engages […]

Digital 8-step TEAM Data Wall

Google Spreadsheet Helps Teachers to Analyze Students Standard-Based Data The 8-Step Process steps 1 & 4 require a school to do “test score disaggregation & assessment”. After being in our third year of implementation we have developed an efficient tool to meet that requirement. Our digital “8-step TEAM data wall” is LIVE with Google Docs. […]

Blogging in the Classroom—A remedy for Disinterested Writing Students

Blogging Serves as a Way to Practice Communication Skills My students participate in weekly blogging activities. These activities are designed to have students practice writing paragraphs in proper form, help them learn to keyboard, and to assist students in learning modern communication skills. Students are given writing prompt they must answer with a five sentence […]

iPads Help Level the Playing Field

Technology is integrated into the curriculum through the use of iPads. Students utilize the iPads through skill building and practice, creating projects, and researching classroom topics as well individualized projects. The iPads also help in the differentiation for all learners. Issues this Best Practice Addresses: Through the use of iPads students are allowed different creative […]