(Source: semi-crunchy-family, via classroomcollective)
A teacher is a designer of learning experiences. This blog provides resources for teaching all subjects through creativity and art.
Remind 101
Did I miss the memo on this Tumblr? Have any of you used/heard of this before?
Remind 101 is a free & ad free program/app that will text message a reminder or note to your students or student’s parents. This is absolutely astonishing. I can foresee many of you educators using this program. Especially at the high school level. If you’ve used this before or think you’re going to use it let me know, I’d love to hear your thoughts & ideas.
You can also access the program via the web here: https://www.remind101.com/#
(via englishteachingtoolbox)
Every topic, every bit of learning has content that can be Googled, and we don’t want teachers wasting precious enquiry time lecturing that content. We want students, instead, to be using class time to collaborate and debate around the questions that are Not Googleable, the rich higher order thinking to which neither the textbook nor the teacher know the answers.
(via classroomcollective)
DIY Playful Bookbinding and Paper Works by Paula Beardell Krieg
I recommend checking out Paula’s wonderful site for more DIY guides and examples of basic bookbinding/paper arts :)
548
Collecting Student Work Using Dropbox
The post covers three free services you could use. Here’s one (click through for the others):
Ever wish you could email files to your Dropbox? @ralphholzmann did to, so he wrote a web application that does just that. After connecting the app to your dropbox account, the app provides you with a unique email address. Simply ask the kids to add that email address to their contact lists and they can quickly and easily email anything to your Dropbox account.
Features of send to dropbox:
- Incredibly simple to use. Just attach the app to your Dropbox account and you’re set
- Students just have to attach the file they want to send to you and it magically appears in your Dropbox folder, accessible from ANY of your devices
- Ability to specify the folder that the files are saved to. Folders can contain the From address, subject or the date
- Will also automatically unzip archived files for you
- Can be used from an iPad or other tablet device
Downsides of send to dropbox:
- The only one I can think of is that not all of our students have an email address
Connect your Dropbox at http://sendtodropbox.com
How to get enough space to save all your teacher stuff, lessons, etc!
Three things! Download them and you will have a free 14 gigabytes and possibly more if you get others to sign up.
Dropbox - 2gb+ (up to 18 gbs possible free)
Google Drive - 5 gb
SkyDrive - 7 gb
I’m thinking that this will be extremely useful this school year! I’m saving different things in each program to ensure I can keep it all organized never lose anything!
(Source: revolutionizeed)
The Mathematics of Beauty
The Fibonacci Sequence is a sequence of numbers where each number is the sum of the previous two—i.e., 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34…and so on to infinity. The ratio of one number to the next is approximately 1.61803, which is called “phi”, or the Golden Ratio. It’s not a magical mathematical equation of the universe, but it definitely reflects natural, aesthetically beautiful patterns. The ratio been used as the ideal proportion standard by artists and architects throughout history, and it’s also found in nature because it’s one of the most efficient way to pack things together. The human body can mostly be divided up in terms of the golden ratio, with one nose, two eyes, three segments to each limb, five fingers on each hand, and our measurements and proportions also reflect the ratio, especially the proportions of the human face—the width of the nose, position of the eyes, length of the chin. Our attraction to another person increases if their body and features are symmetrical and proportional, since we perceive them to be healthier, and so the Golden Ratio appears to be connected with humans ideals of beauty. It’s worth noting, however, that although the ratio can create a beautiful face, it can’t create a beautiful mind.
(Source: fishy)
What good classroom management looks like. If there’s one thing you should know about managing a classroom, it’s that you’ve got to have at least three things at the ready: your respect for your students (that you actively show them), their respect of you (which partly comes from respecting them), and a willingness to drop the almighty hammer on them (KABOOM).
But what they don’t tell you before you start teaching is that if you can get the first two in line (mutual respect) then the kids will actually want you to drop the hammer, and will look to you for it. They will be waiting patiently for you to step in when a classmate of theirs is out of line because at the end of the day kids want to learn. In fact, if there’s a student in the room who is preventing every one else from learning and you don’t do any hammer dropping, they will quietly resent you at best, or hate you at worst.
Knowing when to drop the hammer and when not to takes practice, but it’s got to be in your tool-belt. Don’t be afraid. Make it rain.
Great ideas for using paper towel rolls in the art classroom.
(Source: ilovecharts)
a little lamb: 12 Questioning Strategies that Minimize Classroom Management Problems.
Teachers know from their training and experience that questioning plays an important role in today’s instruction. Modern lessons are fast-paced and interactive, with teachers asking a lot of questions. Questions account for [about] 80 percent of classroom talk and that some teachers ask more than…
