Beyond Integration

We continue our summer series with some stop-motion action. Get ready for a wild ride into the world of stop-motion videos, where ordinary objects come to life and imagination knows no limits. It's like playing director with your favorite toys, creating a mini-movie masterpiece right at your fingertips.  Check out Education App Store for the apps discussed in this podcast. ⁠ Lego Movie Maker ⁠ Stop Motion Studio ⁠ I Can Animate Check out Common Sense Media Parent Guides to: Lego Super Hero Movie Maker ⁠ Stop Motion Studio ⁠ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

image of cogs turning inside a circle representing a man's brain.   "Things are simple. Situations are clear. Hurdles are easy. It's our mind which makes it complex and complicated." - Anonymous . From advertisements to social media algorithms, the study of thinking plays an important role in our 21st century society. Research around thinking and how students process their thoughts or how they hold attention, store and retrieve memories, then select appropriate responses and actions (University of Cambridge, 2023). When considering how we can differentiate or vary the information processing part of learning, four thought perspectives emerge. The Differential Perspective . Even though children may possess intelligence and the ability to think, they don't always think the same way or in the same "logic". This "difference" in how they think and their logic of thinking forms the basis for this view. Based on the responses to a number of tasks and t...

 *This is a blog in the series on differentiation in the classroom. See below for the other blogs in the series.      Differentiating Content     Differentiating content centers around what we teach and how students interact with what we teach to learn. Based on a common research term called   triangulation of data , teachers can offer quality content to help students master the standards. It means not just looking at test scores, but also looking at academic strengths, readiness data, and student interests to offer different students in the same class the same opportunity to master the same standard through different content or different forms of content.  What Can This Look Like? There are a number of ways content can be differed. A teacher may offer reading stories from multiple backgrounds that emphasize the same learning standard material. A teacher may offer the content at varying levels of rigor, a second teacher may offer visual stimuli ...

  Let's celebrate the power of technology in education by participating in Digital Learning Day on March 15, 2023 . This day highlights the potential of technology to transform teaching and learning, and the impact it can have on student success. By embracing digital learning, we can provide students with engaging and personalized learning experiences, and prepare them for the digital future. This day is also for you - to be recognized and celebrated for the effective use of digital tools in your classroom. Here's how you can get involved: Plan a lesson incorporating technology. Try something new that you have heard about but just have not had the chance to try yet. If you are not sure where to start, partner with your Technology & Learning Coach, a fellow colleague, or brainstorm with your students. They will have a variety of ideas to share. Showcase Day - Provide an opportunity for your class to showcase their digital skills. Our students come to us with many talents a...

 *This is a blog in the series on differentiation in the classroom. See below for the other blogs in the series.      In a recent post, Student Engagement Is a Thing, Isn't It? , engaging students was examined and a number of research-driven methodologies were described. One growing path of research in the early 2000s focused on the idea of reaching students equitably through differentiation within instruction.  What is Differentiated Instruction (DI)?      Differentiated instruction is a framework, not an instructional strategy, where different aspects of the curriculum are adjusted to help the student learn the content and show achievement. Differentiation speaks to the idea of equity for the learner. This framework is often connected to the tenets of universal design for learning (UDL). The UDL framework holds that content should be presented in multiple ways, processed in multiple ways, and presented in multiple ways. Differentiated instructio...

As an educator, you know how important it is to keep your students engaged and motivated in their learning. One way to do this is by incorporating interactive and multimedia resources into your lessons. Discovery Education Studio is a fantastic resource for educators looking to bring more excitement and variety to their classrooms. Studio offers 3 different types of activities to build. However, you can also search for ready-made activities that are available for educators. One way that Discovery Education Studio increases student engagement is by providing a wide range of multimedia resources that can make learning more interactive and engaging. For example, instead of simply reading a textbook or listening to a lecture, students can watch educational videos, interact with simulations and games, or explore images and other visual aids. These resources can help to hold students' attention and make learning more interesting and enjoyable. Another way that Discovery Education Studio ...

  Since its release in January 2022, we've seen numerous ways that WeVideo Classroom Editor has shown ways that it can support intrinsic motivation in our students. As we are looking to move beyond compliance to engagement in our classrooms, consider these 6 Intrinsic Motivators to Power up Your Teaching as written by Mike Anderson. Below, you’ll see a summary of the 6 Motivators, but you can access the entire article here . With access to the new WeVideo Classroom, teachers can utilize this tool, along with best practices, to power up student motivation. Autonomy We often hear students should have voice and choice, but I’d venture to include “informed” choices. These informed choices come about by students being aware of how they learn best, thus making the decision to demonstrate their learning in a way that works best for them. This could include product creation through the use of multimedia tools such as WeVideo. Belonging Simply grouping students is not enough to foster ...