Innovative Education in Vermont
Exploring innovative, personalized, student-centered school change
Twitter’s not just a great way to build your PLN as an educator, it’s also a powerful tool to connect students with the world around them in very unique ways. But how can you make those connections authentic learning experiences? Let’s look at making the most of twitter in your classroom.
By now, almost everyone’s familiar with QR codes, the distinctive-looking black-and-white graphics which, when scanned, take the scanner to a url. No? Not sounding familiar? Then how about: If you have a phone, iPad or tablet with a QR-scanning app installed (we like Barcode Generator/Reader for Android, and Scan for iOS) open it up and center …
Continue reading “5 off-beat ways to use QR codes in the classroom”
One of the big challenges in the math and science classroom is to make abstract concepts real for your students. Whether we’re talking about how changes in the intercept of a line will affect its placement on a graph or how batteries push electricity through a circuit, a lot of imagination is required to make the …
Continue reading “Science and Math simulations for your class”
Why get started? I can’t deny it – I’m a big fan of robotics in education. When I was still teaching, I helped start a robotics team at my high school, which participated in regional and national competitions. The student learning and engagement that took place in this extra curricular activity was absolutely amazing – …
Flip the way you deliver content and engage students, but don’t stop there: flipping your space, your community and faculty meetings can be just as useful.
Turn formative testing into a learning opportunity Wonder what words, when using free association, are conjured from folks when they hear the word TEST? Pulled quickly from my psyche are: anxiety, study, judgment, memorize, prep, control My guess is these are some common possibilities, but the word LEARN probably wouldn’t make most peoples’ list.
It’s the End of Reading As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) Something new and different for us today: we tried podcasting! And we’re disagreeing with NPR. I know! But listen: a couple weeks ago NPR ran a story covering this Common Sense Media study ostensibly showing that Kids These Days are reading much …
Continue reading “About that NPR piece on kids’ reading habits…”
Emily Howe joined the Tarrant Institute this past summer as our first ever pre-service teacher intern. She was instrumental in pulling off Code Camp, and actively assists in our research. For her first blog post, Howe answered the question: Describe a situation in which you feel instruction could’ve benefited from the appropriate integration of technology. …
Continue reading “Meet Emily Howe, pre-service educator and technology fan”
I really like to use timelines when teaching the history of scientific discovery. I think that it allows students to see the progression of scientific ideas, and how discoveries build on top of each other. I also would require students to include other historical events that were going on at the time, so that they …
Continue reading “History of a Scientific Discovery – Timeline Construction”
Hi there! My name is Mark Olofson, and I am a new research fellow here at TIIE. I worked for a number of years as a science educator, and I’m going to use this space to share some of the things I learned in the field related to using technological tools to teach science. I’m …