Tech Tips
December 2017: Volume 5- Number 42
Happy Holidays!
Christmas Photo Frame Editor
Christmas Piano
Christmas Coloring
A Project Based Learning Activity That Can Work in Any Classroom
Excerpt:
What was the last project or school assignment you did that left you with a feeling of accomplishment?
The responses all fell into two categories:
- Students were accomplished when they received a grade higher than what they expected to receive and/or if the class was known as difficult and challenging.
- Projects where they had choice in what they were creating and solving (there weren’t that many with this response). Most of them said this happened outside of school.
I wondered how I could do project-based learning in my class where students would be challenged, engaged, and also inspired to do great work they would be proud of (instead of only work that would get them a grade)…
Tech and Early Childhood
Excerpt:
In one study Paciga reviewed, Courtney Blackwell of Northwestern University compared outcomes among kindergartners in a 1:1 classroom to those in a classroom where students shared an iPad. Students who were sharing a tablet with a partner scored higher on an early literacy assessment than those who had their own device in the classroom.
“One device per child may not be the best thing,” Paciga said, adding that it’s when children talk with each other about what they are thinking that their understanding increases. Following the session, she added that when children have “social and linguistic support, it helps to solidify the learning.”
The Magic of Validation
Excerpt:
"Validation is the act of recognizing and affirming the feelings or perspective of another person. It’s acknowledging that these thoughts and feelings are true for that person. It’s a very simple, astoundingly fast way to make progress in a conversation: It eases tension, builds trust, and gets you and the other person to a solution more quickly.
The only problem with validation is that at first, it’s really hard to do. We’re so used to defending our own position, to staying sort of clenched in our own stance, that shifting to a place where we try to see things from another point of view can feel unnatural, almost painful at first. But once you’ve given it a real try, you’re going to see some of your most difficult conversations get a whole lot better."
"In schools, where our business requires constant interaction with other people, conflicts and misunderstandings are always available to us. And they cause all kinds of problems: They disrupt instructional time, interfere with student understanding, escalate into major power struggles that lead to serious disciplinary action, and that’s just the students. Among the adults in the building, unresolved disagreements create all kinds of inter-staff drama, lead to poor job satisfaction, and can ultimately end in teachers leaving their jobs.
Things go differently with validation. When people practice validating each other’s feelings and opinions at the first sign of trouble, conflicts rarely escalate. Instead, they become conversations. They become opportunities to learn from each other."
SCS Instructional Technology Information
Contact me if you have any questions or would like help using these tools.
Email: vturner@scsmustangs.org
Website: http://www.strongnet.org/InstructionalTechnology
Phone: 440-572-7067
Twitter: @vturner8