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Eclectic Technology
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Tech tools that assist all students to be independent learners & teachers to become better teachers
Curated by
Beth Dichter
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Common Core, love it or hate it, if you're teaching in the United States there is a good chance that you'll have to work with it. If that describes you, take a look at these five tools that can help you create lessons aligned to Common Core standards.
Beth Dichter's insight:
Are you looking for tools to help you align your lessons to Common Core standards? Richard Byrne provides five sites you might want to check out for resources and more. Learn more about: * Teaching Objects * Alchemy Smart Binder * Common Curriculum * OpenEd * Mastery Connect Take a few minutes to peruse his post. Each of these sites provides different options to consider. 
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"Emphasizing students need to learn proper grammar can sometimes feel like we are talking about 20th century skills because, in this day and age, we seem to focus on STEM, the 4 Cs and 21st century technology skills. I appreciate the importance of all these topics.. but being able to communicate effectively through writing is truly a basic life skill every person in this world needs. Being able to utilize good grammar is absolutely essential..."
Beth Dichter's insight:
NoRedInk has made many changes to their website and if you have not looked at it recently you may want to travel over and check it out. The site is to help students learn writing and grammar skills. Now you can: * Create assignments and quizzes without doing any grading * Target Common Core skills using your students’ interests * Provide students with unlimited help whenever they need it * Track growth using our color-coded heat maps To help students stay engage they "generate questions from each student’s favorite celebrities, hobbies, TV shows, and friends." When it is time for an assessment of student work they will "drag in commas, click words to capitalize them, throw out unwanted punctuation, and edit the text directly" resulting in a more authentic assesment. And as we are asked to personalize instruction this site will help in the areas it covers. To go directly to NoRedInk click on this link: https://www.noredink.com/
Jennifer Hurley-Coughlin's curator insight,
September 10, 2013 3:43 PM
We used this site last year a lot and were really hoping for new strands. The kids love the personalization.
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Beth Dichter's insight:
This infographic discusses how audio books may increase students reading scores. The infographic is split into a number of sections: * The Problem in National * The Benefits of Spoken, Sophisticated Language * How Audio Books Help A few of the statistics in this post are below. * Students who don't read by 3rd grade are 4 times more likely not to graduate from high school. * Only 32% of 4th grade students are proficient readers. Many infographics that we find provide evidence but neglect to provide the resources to help us assess the evidence. This infographic provides links to over 20 resources that were used in its' creation. In addition, the website that posted the infographic, Tales2Go, provides audio books for students and provides access to additional resources on their website (http://www.tales2go.com/). Audio books available through Tales2Go are primarily for students in grades K - 5.
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"The Common Core Standards represent a shift in the traditional instruction of English-Language Arts in the average American public school K-12 classroom. While there are several differences in the new standards, one of the most interesting (in addition to the expectation of technology integration) is the trend from literary to non-fiction texts."
Beth Dichter's insight:
This could be used as a great anchor chart for students to see when when reading text and preparing to respond to the text. Although the title says 20 questions I count 21 questions on this visual, questions that are require critical thinking skills, questions that may be used with a variety of texts (as required by Common Core). The questions are in three categories (information below quoted from the article): * Within the text - summaries, sequence of events, conflict/resolution, etc * Beyond the text - Inferencing, implicit ideas, evaluation, etc. * About the text - Author purpose, author style, characterization, etc. The post also relates the areas to Bloom's Taxonomy. You might also look at the question relative to Depth of Knowledge.
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"With text no longer relegated exclusively to the pages between the cover of a book or a magazine, the shift from paper to digital texts has brought on a whole new form of literacy. This upheaval in how we read brings with it new opportunities for learning as well as new challenges. Experts refer to this phenomenon as transliteracy. In a study published in the peer-reviewed journal First Monday, Dr. Sue Thomas and colleagues defined transliteracy as 'the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks'."
Beth Dichter's insight:
When we think about reading today and the diverse platforms for reading we should be thinking of transliteracy. As schools gear up for Common Core assessments we need to be more aware of the fact that our students are reading (and writing) across many platform. There is also the knowledge that when reading online students may be clicking on hyperlinks that lead to other resources and begin to get lost. Learn about some great tools that may be used to help students stay more focused and organized. This post lists five tools, providing explanations for each of them. The tools discussed are: * Instapaper * GoodReader * Skitch * Diigo * Readablity
faith ward's curator insight,
February 24, 2015 11:40 AM
Great link to research article about a study published in the peer-reviewed journal First Monday. Dr. Sue Thomas and colleagues defined transliteracy as “the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks." Interesting read.
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109 Common Core Resources For Teachers By Category
Beth Dichter's insight:
TeachThought asked readers to take a survey and many requested resources for Common Core. This is their first post that provides a wide range of resource for English, Math and Science. Each section is split into three sections: Articles, Journals and Videos...so if you are looking for some resources that have been vetted this might be a good place to begin.
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"I really like Driving Questions. In fact, I like them so much more then Essential Questions. You might ask why? I think it just might be my affection for the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. You may remember that in the revision the different levels were changed into action."
Beth Dichter's insight:
In this post Gorman explains why he likes driving questions and how they differ from essential questions. He states "they allow students to work together in the amazing process of divergent thinking." Gorman also notes that it is difficult to create good driving questions (and one might say the same can be true with essential questions). The image above looks at questions asked in "educationese" and how one might translate that to a driving question. In addition he provides links to quite a few resources that include: * A resource that looks at concepts of the driving question * A variety of resources on Project Based Learning, including how to craft a driving question (which also includes a video) * Practice with driving questions
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Welcome to a series that is must read for any PBL or STEM educator. It will include information to reflect and build upon as you consider both PBL and STEM. Best of all, it will finish with over ...
Beth Dichter's insight:
This is the final post in a series of five that explored STEM, PBL, and the Common Core and it focuses on resources for Project Based Learning units. "By searching through STEM subjects in these sites’ databases or directories you can come up with a PBL unit to use, remix, or possible implement a lesson from." An extensive list of resources is provided with short descriptions so you have a sense of what you may find.
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The fourth in a series of five posts on STEM, PBL and the Common Core. Each has a different focus. The previous three posts are also available on this page.
Beth Dichter's insight:
Formative assessments, formative learning, the two go hand in hand. This post explores 23 resources that can be used in STEM classes and for Project Based Learning, Read the post and find resources that will help look at formative assessments in many areas including: * Activities * Simulations * Games * Reflections * Journals * Peer review * Videos * Peer and Teacher interaction * Readings * Critical and Creative brainstorming and thinking
Ante Lauc's curator insight,
June 1, 2013 4:43 AM
I prefer love and freedom and look everything through these criterias.
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From
edudemic
Steps to mastering the Common Core presented in an infographic that provides a lighter viewpoint. The gist of what we need to know: * Learn – Knowing the path in front of you is half the journey * Reflect – Ninjas continually focus on their strengths as well as opportunities for improvement * Leap – Immerse yourself in the CCSS by integrating the language of the standards into your classroom * Collaborate – Ninjas never attack a problem alone, and neither should you * Execute – Use your new educational arsenal to fulfill your destiny as a Core Ninja. To see the infographic click through to the post.
Beth Dichter's insight:
Check out the five degrees to becoming anexpert on the Common Core in this infographic!
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Common Core State Standards are calling for more focus on students reading charts and graphics, but new research shows engaging graphics can reduce students' understanding of chart data.
Beth Dichter's insight:
"The common core calls for students to comprehend and connect information from visual elements, including charts, maps, and multimedia, in addition to understanding stories and informational texts." One question that comes up is how do we best teach students how to create and read graphs. This article presents information that "visually appealing graphics" may not be the best way for students to learn. By "visually appealing" they are describing graphs that use symbols, as in stacks of fruits or shoes, to represent the numbers as opposed to a bar graph. Additional detail is provided in the article. Do you teach graphing to students in early elementary school? Reading this post may lead you to change your teaching methods (relative to graphing).
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"Infographics are interesting–a mash of (hopefully) easily-consumed visuals (so, symbols, shapes, and images) and added relevant character-based data (so, numbers, words, and brief sentences). The learning application for them is clear, with many academic standards–including the Common Core standards–requiring teachers to use a variety of media forms, charts, and other data for both information reading as well as general fluency."
Beth Dichter's insight:
The use of infographics seems to be increasing and this post presents 46 tools that you may use to create an infographic, or better yet, have your students create an infographic. The tools are arranged alphabetically with a link to each as well as a short description. Some have costs involved but others are open source and freely available.
Donna Browne's curator insight,
May 8, 2013 2:23 PM
A list and links to the ever increasing number of tools that we can use to create infographics. |
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Beth Dichter's insight:
This infographic looks at eight instructional practices that will help students meet Common Core standards and provides a look at how to do this in elementary, middle and high school settings. Check it out and see the recommendations for the following areas: * Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them * Reason abstractly and quantitatively * Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others * Model with mathematics * Use appropriate tools strategically * Attend to precision * Look for and make use of structure * Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning For more detailed information click through to the infographic.
Christine Bushong's curator insight,
November 11, 2013 10:27 AM
Beth Dichter's insight:
This infographic looks at eight instructional practices that will help students meet Common Core standards and provides a look at how to do this in elementary, middle and high school settings. Check it out and see the recommendations for the following areas: * Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them * Reason abstractly and quantitatively * Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others * Model with mathematics * Use appropriate tools strategically * Attend to precision * Look for and make use of structure * Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning For more detailed information click through to the infographic.
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This is one of those blog posts intended to help me shape my own thoughts – and asks you, "How close I am to the real world of teaching and learning?
Beth Dichter's insight:
Today the words personalized learning are often heard when discussing education. How is personalized learning different from individualized learning? Is one "better" than the other? David Warlick provides a great table that compares the two in the following areas: * Definition * Literacy becomes a ... * Teacher's role * Student role * Standards * Outcomes * It's essence The final question he raises is "What do you think?" If you have ideas about this please share them in the comment section...and take a minute to look at the table in the original post.
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Beth Dichter's insight:
Quandary, a free online game for players ages 8 - 14, won the Game of the Year Honors at the 2013 Games for Change Confernce. This game provides players an opportunity to help shape a new society "while learning how to recognize ethical issues and deal with challenging situations in their own lives." The websites goes on to state "Players develop skills such as critical thinking, perspective-taking and decision-making. Quandary provides a framework for how to approach ethical decision-making without telling players what to think." Why use Quandary with your students? This game is designed to help students learn skills in: * Problem solving * Communication * Information literacy * Global awarenes * Collaboration * Creative thinking There is a teachers page available which provides additional resources including a Game Guide, a sample lesson plan, an opinion tracker as well information on how the learning outcomes match to standards in both the Common Core and the Partnership for the 21st Century.
davidconover's curator insight,
August 30, 2013 8:04 AM
I look forward to sharing this game with my students. I wonder what their comments will be. 
Amélie Silvert's curator insight,
August 30, 2013 11:10 AM
Defining moral dilemnas, finding solutions and discussing. Collaborative work. Why not give it a try?
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"I don't know about you, but I love TED talks. (TED = Technology, Entertainment, Design.) Although I have known about and preached Universal Design for Learning (UDL) since I began this blog, I could have never explain it as well as Todd Rose did in his TED Talk, "The Myth of Average". Thank you, Todd, for providing this concept so beautifully. (This is 18 minutes, but worth every one!)"
Beth Dichter's insight:
This post discusses Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a tool that is helpful to know about since the Common Core requires that we need to ""provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them." In addition it provides access to a TEDTalk by Todd Rose, where he discusses "The Myth of Average", a talk that will make you re-think how you view your students (and ask yourself "What is average when it comes to my students?"). In addition Glenda Hampton Anderson provides an excellent overview of UDL, perfect for someone new to these concepts or as a review. Many links are included which provide access to some of the best sites for materials on Universal Design for Learning.
Brad Reitzel's curator insight,
July 4, 2014 10:31 AM
Our #alcpqp group is loving TED talks. Here is one about Universal Design that will help us all get acquainted!
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Beth Dichter's insight:
This infographic looks at assessments, providing an overview of the educational asessment landscape. The sections cover: * An overview of assessment * Assessment measurement * Assessment types * Question types * Delivery methods * Scoring methods * The evolution of assessment Please note that this infographic was pubished by McGraw Hill Education/CTB.
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Students today are hyper connected to information, but do they know how to research? Nope.
Beth Dichter's insight:
Do your students know how to research, to evaluate websites? The Common Core states that college and career ready students should be able to (quoted from the standards): * Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism. * Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. In this post Caitlin Tucker provides a link to a Google form to use with students to demonstrate "their ability to analyze the credibility of resources." She also includes a "silent screencast" that shows the process of making a copy of the form for you to use.
Jaime Parker's curator insight,
July 10, 2013 2:22 PM
I have a friend who teaches English courses at the college level and this is her biggest complaint. She says that the students simply do not know how to research. They don't know how to use databases or how to evaluate websites which seems so crazy to me. I'm not sure why these skills aren't being taught or integrated into every content area. Perhaps too much time is being spent preparing students for standardized testing.
Mayra.Loves.Books's curator insight,
July 10, 2013 7:07 PM
What to expect when librarians are being cut everywhere or stretched so thin to covel 4 schools in one week?
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"In the Digital Classroom, teachers have many opportunities to design flexible and engaging student-driven learning experiences that allow them to create. Adopting this style of teaching and learning can be overwhelming, especially when being expected to embrace new technology and also implement the Common Core Standards at the same time."
Beth Dichter's insight:
If you are looking for some apps that help address Common Core Standards this post will help you out. Below are the apps listed with a short description of how you might use them...but more information is available when you click through to the post. * Popplet + Common Core Mastery - Have students write a script that address content and Common Core standards * ThingLink Mobile - Take an image and tag it with video and text and share * Pixntell - Select your images, add narration and a video will be created which you may share...special effects also available * Educreations - An app that turns your iPad into a recordable whiteboard. Have students create tutorials, presentations and more * ShowMe - Another app that allows you to record voice while using your iPad as a whiteboard Students love to create, and these apps are tools that allow students to be creative and address Common Core standards.
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Beth Dichter's insight:
Newsela is a free website that provides news for students. It is geared to students in grades 4 - 12 and will help students build close reading and critical thinking skills in non-fiction reading comprehension. Each article has a quiz (aligned to Common Core) allowing you to quickly see if your students are on track. And last there are great teacher tools. You may assign articles, review student quizzes and track Common Core mastery.
Jackie Keith's curator insight,
June 19, 2013 8:31 AM
Students can use it without registering by clicking "No Thanks" and can select different Lexile versions of the same article. 
Chrissy Z's curator insight,
September 22, 2017 12:47 PM
Reading comprehension for students who are English Learners
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"When asked why he became a scientist, Nobel Laureate Isidor Rabi attributed his success to his mother. Every day, she would ask him the same question about his school day: “Did you ask a good question today?” “Asking good questions – made me become a scientist!” Rabi said. Questions are critical, and how to manage and navigate a good question requires practice. “Coming up with the right question involves vigorously thinking through the problem, investigating it from various angles, turning closed questions into open-ended ones and prioritizing which are the most important questions to get at the heart of the matter...”
Beth Dichter's insight:
How do we as educators, and our students ask the "right questions" and have our students stay on the question (and learn how they can ask pertinent questions)? How do we do this as more technology is embedded in our schools? With the Common Core using the Depth of Knowledge as guide, the need for students (and teachers) to understand that we need to move students to Level 3 - strategic thinking and Level 4 - extended thinking, the ability to have students learn how to ask deeper questions is critical.
Ante Lauc's comment,
June 5, 2013 4:06 AM
Did you ask a good question? How many parents motivate their children with this question?
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"PBS LearningMedia, a free destination for instant access to tens of thousands of classroom-ready, digital public media resources including videos, games, audio clips, photos, and lesson plans, provides core subject area resources. Included in this resource library are resources that address media literacy skills underlying the basic tenants of Common Core State Standards."
Beth Dichter's insight:
The Common Core standards state: "To be ready for college, workforce training, and life in a technological society, students need the ability to gather, comprehend, evaluate, synthesize, and report on information and ideas, to conduct original research in order to answer questions or solve problems, and to analyze and create a high volume and extensive range of print and nonprint texts in media forms old and new." This post shares a few of the many resources available at PBS LearningMedia (at no cost). The focus here is on strengthening media literacy. Clicking through to PBS will provide you with access to over 30,000 resources.
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In 2008, Fran Simmons, an English teacher at NewDorpHigh School in New York—at that time one of the lowest-performing secondary institutions in the nation— devised a simple test for her students in an effort to keep district officials from pulling the plug. First, she asked her freshman class to read Of Mice and Men. Then, using information from the novel, she asked them to answer the following prompt in a single sentence: “Although George …” She was looking for a sentence like: Although George worked very hard, he could not attain the American Dream. What Simmons received was alarming in the truest sense of the word. Some students wrote passable sentences, but many could not manage to finish the line. More than a few wrote the following: “Although George and Lenny were friends.”
Beth Dichter's insight:
This in-depth post explores the issue of language impacts our ability to think. After an introduction the post is split into three sections. The first section explores "the psycholingusitic case for writing education." It is noted that the Common Core states that students in grades 6-12 "should demonstrate increasing sophistication in all aspects of language use, from vocabulary and syntax to the development and organization of ideas, and they should address increasingly demanding content and sources.” What follows is a look at language, where we see that the language we learn impacts us in many ways, that some cultures have many words for a word like snow while others do not, that cultures whom have language that have "gendered objects" impacts how people view the objects. The second section explores "Can you teach better math and science be teaching writing?" Information is provided about New Dorp High School (in New York). The school implemented a program that included "writing-to-learn" across the curriculum (except for math) and discovered that major gains in writing were apparent by the second year. The third section "highlights ten features of writing education that can be used to enhance student learning across all subject areas, ultimately resulting in higher academic performance." The first two suggestions are below (all are quoted from the post). 1. Vocabulary Across The Disciplines: Emphasize that the concept of a word may change depending on the context in which it is used.
Ann Kenady's curator insight,
February 5, 2014 11:23 PM
This article gives compelling evidence that the ability to write effectively is closely linked to the ability to think coherently. The author writes, "Students’ inability to write was contributing to their inability to think, severely impeding intellectual growth across many subjects."
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Beth Dichter's insight:
This post explores what you should not do when implementing the Common Core...such as "expect that a packaged program will be the magic bullet" or "focus only on outcomes and not processes." Each of the 15 points include additional information. Many of us are questioning where we are going with the Common Core and this post may provide some insights into areas that may become dead ends.
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If you have not had the opportunity to check out ReadWorks.org then you might want to do so. They have just posted 76 science passages for students Grades K - 8 with the goal of teaching reading comprehension. Each passage comes with a quiz. You may read the passages online or you may download a PDF version (that includes a Teacher Guide and Answer. Be aware that "ReadWorks provides research-based units, lessons, and authentic, leveled non-fiction and literary passages directly to educators online, for free, to be shared broadly." You will find many more resources than this new set of science passages.