eSchool News | support page 20

Tips for using social media with educators

Social media is an essential marketing tool for educational publishers. But the changing algorithms, rise and fall of new platforms, and overall nature of social media make some developers hesitant. In their edWebinar, “Social Media Marketing 2.0: Educators Love Social Media,” several education marketing insiders offered their perspectives on using social media with educators.

First, because educators continue to flock to social media, it should be part of every marketing plan, along with email and media relations. It may consist of organic messages as well targeted social media ad campaigns. The key is to know when using social media with educators should be the prime channel, and when it’s going to support other efforts.

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5 new strategies to integrate digital content into classroom instruction

For the past decade of my career, I’ve worked to empower and inspire educators in their use of digital content and technology. From teaching educators in graduate level courses and delivering school level professional development to producing digital learning content and designing educational products and services, my career has had one common purpose: to learn how to best support educators’ use of digital content.

This work has been informed by hours interviewing, surveying, observing, and conversing with educators in all roles, grade-levels, and subject areas. Throughout this process, I have observed time and again that when we give educators practical strategies to use digital content, they are more effective at teaching with that content and engaging students in the learning process.

Following are five new strategies educators at any level can use to more effectively use digital content to jumpstart classroom learning.…Read More

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7 strategies to navigate a tech upgrade

Several school district officials have told us they want to embrace our philosophy of empowering students and teachers through technology innovation, but lack the right infrastructure to support this vision. After our district completed a three-year, district-wide technology refresh cycle, we wanted to share our top takeaways to help our peers get more educational benefits from your network infrastructure.

Lesson #1: Organizational structure matters

Like many districts, in the past our IT department delivered products and services as a separate entity from our curriculum and instructional development staff. Now we’re all organized under the same leadership and our joint team is headed by a chief learning officer.…Read More

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Rigor and joy: SEL and academics go hand-in-hand

Demographics

McMinnville School District serves 6,800 students across 9 schools

Biggest challenge

We are a Title 1 school in rural Oregon with over 60 percent of our students experiencing poverty and our best estimate tells us that 36 percent have also experienced some sort of childhood trauma. These obstacles create barriers for our students coming to school ready to learn and thrive both academically and social emotionally. Our teaching staff was struggling with knowing how to meet both of these needs simultaneously, focusing on both SEL and academics. In our field, there is a false dichotomy that educators should focus on either SEL or academics, hence the unending pendulum swing in education. The truth is our kids need and deserve both simultaneously. We needed to foster a growth culture that fostered high expectations and support for the whole child.

Solutions

The transformational growth that we took on in our building could not have happened without growth mindset. The foundational belief that intelligence is malleable and that each child’s “true potential is unknown and unknowable.” (Dweck, 2006). We began this work by starting with the adults. We examined our own tendencies toward growth mindset messages and fixed mindset messages. We recognized that our systems often reflect past practice and can sometimes be obstacles to growth. We challenged one another to ask deep, difficult questions and foster each other’s learning as we tried new things. We sought to understand growth mindset not as a fad in education, but as ethical responsibility to understand and teach in ways that support brain development for our students.…Read More

4 strategies to close the digital equity gap

According to Davis, Fuller, Jackson, Pittman, and Sweet (2007), the definition of digital equity is “equal access and opportunity to digital tools, resources, and services to support an increase in digital knowledge, awareness, and skills.” With that in mind, school leaders are working to strategically close the digital equity gap.

In a recent edWebinar, Sarah Thomas, educator and founder of the EduMatch movement; Nicol Howard, assistant professor in the School of Education at University of Redlands (CA); and Regina Schaffer, technology specialist at Middletown Township School District (NJ), embrace this definition and explain that school districts need to consider four critical components in their drive to close the digital equity gap that is widespread in K-12 districts and classrooms.

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6 ways to connect with ELL parents

There’s no secret formula for parent engagement. And when English isn’t their first language, the obstacles seem more daunting. Connecting with ELL parents can help educators better support students—and there are some strategies to help.

According to Rick Castaneda, a training specialist at Rosetta Stone, the key is to develop a multi-step approach that gives parents several different opportunities to connect with the school and their children’s teachers while also making sure that the parent, no matter their language, feels like a key part of the decision-making process.

In his edWebinar, “Involve Parents for Greater English Learner Success,” Castaneda discussed six key areas of parental involvement, based on the work of Johns Hopkins professor Joyce L. Epstein, PhD, and how each one helps build a stronger relationship.…Read More

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‘I teach because’: 7 educators on why they teach

Has anyone ever asked you why you teach? What did you say? Maybe you said, “I teach because I love seeing aha moments,” or, “I teach because I want to support kids who might not have support anywhere else.”

Whatever your reason, our hats are off to you. Teaching is without a doubt one of the most demanding professions today. Not only are teachers tasked with imparting knowledge to students, they’re also responsible for keeping students safe, calming anxieties, and doling out doses of comfort and love.

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week this week, we asked teachers to share with us why they teach. What motivates them? What made them want to become an educator? What keeps them in the classroom and in school?…Read More

3 things edtech can’t do

We’re swimming in a world of technologies that have huge implications for the future of schooling. Computers live in teachers and students’ pockets, the Internet makes information and media ubiquitous commodities, apps offer to aid with all our daily routines, and artificial intelligence unlocks new possibilities for differentiated instruction.

Yet even with these technologies flooding into schools and classrooms, computers won’t be replacing teachers any time soon, and that’s why now, more than ever, teachers should be given the critical support they’re asking for in the classroom. To illustrate this point, consider these three things educational technology can’t do.

1. Technology can’t … provide higher-order feedback

Software is great for generating immediate, automated feedback on students’ mastery of basic knowledge and skills. But higher-order feedback falls outside its purview.…Read More

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Transform your staff lounge to support teacher wellbeing

[Editor’s Note: This article was first published on the Move This World blog.]

According to a study done by the University of Missouri, 93% of teachers are experiencing high levels of work-related stress. Mindfulness has already been proven to boost the emotional climate of the classroom by supporting teacher wellbeing; however, many schools still struggle with incorporating mindful practices for staff into school culture. What can schools do to begin prioritizing mindfulness as a daily routine for staff? Peace corners could be a place to start.

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5 things you don’t know about K-12 virtual learning

Online learning has come a long way since its early champions saw it as a supplement to classroom learning. Skeptics initially questioned the viability of the new model, wondering if it would provide the right levels of support, curriculum, and engagement needed to ensure student success. And while online learning has more than proven itself to be both an alternative to and complementary offering for traditional classroom instruction, some misconceptions still persist.

For example, because virtual instructors aren’t physically present in a classroom, their qualifications and expertise can come into question. The subject matter itself—often thought of as “boring” or “unengaging”—is another area where myths persist. And finally, online skeptics are still talking about issues like lack of teacher support and low student success rates.

Dispelling the myths about virtual learning

To help dispel these myths and provide some insider knowledge on how online education really works, here’s a five-point list of things that you may not have known about virtual learning.…Read More

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