How should teachers define learning?
Learning results from active experiences and social interactions and it must be meaningful, writes Beth Holland, a Johns Hopkins University doctoral candidate. In this blog post, she shares how teachers can use blended learning, personalized learning and differentiated instruction to support these goals.
Full Story: Edutopia online
How to gradually introduce STEM concepts
Educators at elementary schools in an Ohio district are gradually introducing science, technology, engineering and math concepts, including coding, to students, writes academic technology specialist Kristen Fudale. In this commentary, she shares two learning stages that the schools adopted: problem-solving and integrating STEM and coding lessons across the curriculum.
Full Story: eSchool News
Teacher makes flexible seating out of used furniture
Alabama sixth-grade teacher Tara Singley has redesigned her classroom to improve student engagement by offering flexible seating arrangements. Singley and her husband fixed up used furniture to create options for the classroom, including stools, a podium, tables, a couch and a church pew.
Full Story: The Dothan Eagle (Ala.)
Are makerspaces useful beyond STEM classes?
Makerspaces have well-known uses in science, technology, engineering and math classes, but many educators say they also can be used in other subject areas. Trisha Roffey, a teacher for learning services innovation with Edmonton Catholic Schools, says makerspaces can help students develop different ways of looking at problems and can “create a petri dish of the real world.”
Full Story: T.H.E. Journal
Is DeVos stalled on school choice?
US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has not been an effective advocate for one of her pet causes, school choice, says Frederick Hess, director of education policy studies at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. However, Nathan Bailey, an Education Department spokesman, says DeVos wants the push for school choice to come from the local level.
Full Story: The Washington Post (tiered subscription model)
Audrey Altmann is an editorial assistant at SmartBrief.
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