How to Transform the American High School

Dr. Sarah Fine on episode 484

Dr. Sarah Fine, co-author of  In Search of Deeper Learning, The Quest to Remake the American High School talks about her research into remarkable high school experiences. Scroll down to download the transcript for this episode.

Listen to Dr. Sarah Fine

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• Stream by clicking here.
• How to Transform the American High School_1160 – Verbatim Transcript

 

Dr. Sarah Fine, Bio as Submitted

Dr. Sarah Fine is an educator, ethnographer, and the co-author of In Search of Deeper Learning: The Quest to Remake the American High School. She currently directs the High Tech High Graduate School of Education’s Teaching Apprenticeship Program and also serves as a Lecturer in Education Studies at the University of California San Diego. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times, Education Week, and a range of academic journals.

 

Twitter: @sarahmfine

 

 

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: This episode includes an affiliate link. This means that if you choose to buy I will be paid a commission on the affiliate program. However, this is at no additional cost to you.  Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” This company has no impact on the editorial content of the show.

How to Give Effective Feedback that Works

Teachers spend hours giving effective feedback only to have students not respond or use it to improve. In this case, one could argue that the teacher isn’t giving effective feedback because it is not being used to learn. Twelve-year English teacher turned principal Jordan Catapano helps us have more effective feedback that actually works to improve learning.

Learn About More Effective Feedback

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• Stream by clicking here.

Jordan Catapano – Bio As Submitted

Jordan Catapano taught English for twelve years in a Chicago suburban high school, where he is now an Assistant Principal. In addition to being National Board Certificated and head of his school’s Instructional Development Committee, he also has worked with the Illinois Association of Teachers of English and has experience as a school board member for a private school. You can follow him on Twitter at @BuffEnglish.

 

Twitter: @BuffEnglish

Digital Equity: How to Understand The Problems Facing #Edtech

Nicol Howard on episode 482

Dr. Nicol R. Howard champions digital equity issues for children. What are those issues? How can we help? Today we take a dive into digital equity and the issues we should all consider — and it is not just those with poverty who may not have access. Hear the surprising thing realized at the end of the show.

• Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher
• Stream by clicking here.

Related Resources

Closing the Gap: Digital Equity Strategies for Teacher Prep Programs,

Pre-order — Closing the Gap: Digital Equity Strategies for the K-12 Classroom

Standing in the Gap: Empowering New Teachers Through Connected Resources

Journal pubs:

Howard, N.R. (2018). EdTech Leaders’ Beliefs: How are K-5 teachers supported with the integration of computer science in K-5 classrooms?. Technology, Knowledge and Learning. doi:10.1007/s10758-018-9371-2

Howard, N.R. & Ifenthaler, D. (2018). Integrating STEM Opportunities for Young Learners. Technology, Knowledge and Learning, 23(2), 1-3. doi: 10.1007/s10758-018-9364-1

Nicol Howard, Ph.D. – Bio As Submitted

Nicol R. Howard, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the School of Education at the University of Redlands. She has served as an educator in various capacities over the past 19 years. She has taught at the high school level (9th – 12th grades and Special Education), grades K through 5, and she was a Program Specialist in Personalized and Blended Learning. Nicol has also taught in the College of Educational Studies at Chapman University.

Nicol is the outgoing co-chair for ISTE’s Digital Equity Network, and she is the past chair for the American Educational Research Association’s Technology, Instruction, Cognition, and Learning SIG. Her research foci are equitable uses of technology in K16 classrooms, STEM Education opportunities and achievement, and teacher education concerns. Her writing has appeared in the Corwin Connected Educators Series Standing in the Gap: Empowering New Teachers Through Connected Resources, Urban Education Journal, International Journal of Educational Technology, EduCause, Edutopia, and eCampus News.

Blog: https://www.nicolhoward.com

Twitter: @nicolrhoward

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: This episode includes some affiliate links. This means that if you choose to buy I will be paid a commission on the affiliate program. However, this is at no additional cost to you.  Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” This company has no impact on the editorial content of the show.

‘Last Minute’ Marks

OK, so we’re not expecting your child to suddenly surpass all expected grades in the literal last minute before entering an exam… but, students CAN gain ‘last minute marks’ in the final days before their exams- with the right input!

Boost Grades

By signing your child up to one of our ‘Grade Booster Classes,’ there is the opportunity and potential for your child to acquire some extra marks in their exam- and any extra marks increases the chances of improving your child’s overall grade!

We run these classes intensively, and they are designed to reinforce confidence in key areas of a particular subject. Grade Booster Classes take place in just one day- for 6 hours (3 x 2-hour blocks.) What’s unique about these sessions is that they happen on the weekend before the exam. For example, our English Grade Booster takes place on the 5th^th May- days away from the exam taking place on the 9th^rd May!

This is an excellent opportunity for your teenager to increase their knowledge and understanding, right before they walk into the exam hall. Your teen will leave our Booster Classes with fresh revision material in their minds- ready to apply it that very same week. Additionally, our classes increase your teen’s knowledge and understanding under the guidance of an experienced school teacher, who will also revise exam-style questions with your teen.

Grade Boundaries

Sometimes, it’s the ‘small things’ that can make a BIG difference in an exam: the grade boundaries (the difference between each grade) is usually relatively slim, so we cover exam techniques that equip your child to try and pick up vital extra marks.

Do not feel that your child’s grade is ‘set in stone’ before they’ve even sat down for the exam! Whilst ‘predicted grades’ or ‘results from prelims’ are helpful indicators for where your child is at, some ‘last minute boosting’ might be all they need to achieve higher marks. Our experts will specifically offer your teen guidance on how to attain as many marks as possible.

Balancing Tasks

Also, it’s a great time to do this as- until this point- it’s likely that your teen’s been juggling the demands of many different subjects. They may not find the time, on their own, to devote to one subject intensively… whereas we can enable that to happen! By attending our Grade Booster Classes on one day only, your child can feel assured that they will have the opportunity to go through everything in detail. This will help them feel more confident about balancing and prioritising revision.

It’s much easier to be motivated when working in a purposeful, focussed environment, with like-minded peers. To reach the top grades, your child really needs to maximise their revision, right up until the very end!

Signing up to our Grade Booster Classes is an excellent way to allow this to happen and acquire those ‘last minute marks!’

Read More Here: ‘Last Minute’ Marks

https://glasgow.scholartutoring.co.uk/revision-course/grade-booster/last-minute-marks/

How to Get Motivated This Monday Morning

Pat Hensley on episode 481 of the 10-minute teacher

Preventing burnout, finding the right colleagues, communication, the struggle with perfection… these topics are just some of the encouragements that 30-year special education teacher-turned-college-professor Pat Hensley has for teachers everywhere. Also author of The Successful Teacher’s Handbook, this South Carolina teacher has a message of hope and encouragement from her experience in education that will help all of us get motivated this Monday!

• Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher
• Stream by clicking here.

Pat Hensley – Bio as Submitted

Pat taught students with special needs in public school for over thirty years. Now she teaches at the university level to preservice teachers and teachers getting their master’s degree in special education. She was nationally board certified in 2002 and in 2006 was Mauldin High School’s Teacher of the Year and a Greenville County School District Teacher of the Year Top 10 Finalist.

Blog: http://successfulteaching.net

Twitter: @looneyhiker

Book: The Successful Teacher’s Handbook

How to Empower Students With Timely Knowledge Using “The Week”

The Week is a valuable current events resource with timely information that helps students build their knowledge of current events. As I’ve reviewed The Week, I believe this is a valuable resource for teachers to use because the week surveys a variety of news sources that students can access and read. Each week comes with a lesson guide to help you plan and select appropriate topics of conversation.

This blog post is sponsored by The Week. All opinions are my own.

As we work to integrate nonfiction texts into student reading, it is helpful to use reliable online tools for this purpose. Additionally, we need to build information literacy by exposing students to a variety of news sources. In my opinion, The Week does this very well.

If you haven’t heard of the week, it is structured like a “Presidential Briefing.” Instead of reporters going to “cover” events, they instead survey and read through many sources of news and summarize the most important into a simple-to-read 42-page document. Instead of one point of view, the news articles include multiple points of view so students can compare and evaluate sources and discuss a variety of opinions. If you want to look deeper into The Week, get the facts in the free Teachers’ Reference Guide.

Unique Features That Make Current Events Relevant

Several features of The Week that I think are particularly useful for building information literacy include:

• The Main Three News Stories of the Week – The three stories getting the most coverage and a variety of articles to read on the topic along with a summary.
• The controversy of the week – The top issue is shared along with multiple viewpoints.
• How they see us – Commentary on how the international news organizations view US news.
• Pick of the week’s cartoons – Open up a conversation on current events in a novel way from the best cartoons across a variety of news sources.
• learn about other features…

How Do I Subscribe to The Week?

The Week subscription for schools comes to your classroom in both print and digital at $1.09 per copy (this is 78% off the single copy price.)

You can order several weeks or more of this valuable current events resource.

The Week includes multiple perspectives on today’s news articles from a variety of news sources.

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored blog post.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”