3 ways coaches can refine their practice this school year

When teachers and leaders have effective coaching, student outcomes inevitably improve. According to Rebecca Frazier, author of Coach Happy, coached teachers outperform non-coached teachers in 22 areas of instructional practice by four to five times. 

Effective coaches must possess the ability to actively listen, decipher teachers’ needs, and build capacity based on the strengths of teachers. All of these skills take a huge amount of cognitive load for a coach and require intentional practice.

While some of these skills might be a little rusty after a summer off, the beginning of the school year is the perfect time to focus on coaching practices. Below are three ways for coaches to get started.…Read More

3 ways to highlight productive urgency while avoiding teacher burnout

When I came to Union Hill School about seven years ago, we were not performing at the level we wanted to in terms of state assessments. With some hard work and a sense of urgency, we made a lot of progress in those first few years, but then the pandemic struck.

I told my teachers at the beginning, “We’re back at square one,” and today we can still feel the lost ground due to the last couple years. With a renewed sense of urgency, however, we’ve managed to keep our students on track and growing amid the disruptions and setbacks.

Here’s how we create a sense of productive urgency without burning our teachers out.…Read More

Reaching the 4Cs with 3D and virtual reality

Key points:

I thought I was ahead of the times when I acquired virtual reality headsets and other
mixed reality technology via a grant award in late 2019. The pandemic shutdowns halted my plans to use the acquired virtual reality headsets for virtual field trips and other STEM investigations. Returning to in-person learning just six months later, the prospect of utilizing this tech for meaningful integration seemed more daunting and less appealing.

Feedback from my students revealed that they had already consumed hours of 360° views while gaming on their home computers and were well versed in digital travel because teachers frequently used video tours as engagement tools during the pandemic. …Read More

RedCritter Launches CritterCoin, the First EdTech Solution to Leverage NFTs

Lewisville, Tex. (July, 2022) RedCritter, the powerhouse K–20 technology innovator, today introduced CritterCoin, a free Houses System with Rewards Store for implementing Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) in schools and classrooms.

Available free of charge for students and teachers, CritterCoin was launched in early 2022 to help teachers tap into the power of positive encouragement for learners of all ages—without interrupting the flow of teaching or creating additional paperwork. CritterCoin’s powerful motivational rewards for students include digital coins and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). A popular new type of digital collectible, NFTs are typically digital artworks of varying rarity, stored permanently on public blockchains such as Avalanche or Ethereum.

“We’re proud to be the first to offer digital collectible coins and NFTs to incentivize positive behavior,” said Mike Beaty, CEO of RedCritter. “Over the past decade, RedCritter has developed 24 edtech patents to serve the needs of our community of educators. Our mission with CritterCoin is to use these exciting new technologies to give those educators a free and easy way to encourage positive classroom behavior and school values.”…Read More

How I use technology to keep PE relevant in the 21st century

The days of rolling the ball out and playing sports in PE are changing. With the advancement of technology and shift towards collaborative work in the classroom, physical education teachers are finding more and more ways to keep PE relevant in the collaborative and technology-filled 21st century.

Project-based learning

Project-based learning is a type of instruction that emphasizes collaborative work, real world connections and a deeper understanding of content. Students are placed in groups and given a goal or project to complete. In their teams they assign roles, and divide work. Students are expected to research their project, plan out their learning, deal with any issues that arise, and present their findings. …Read More

How Minecraft and agriculture lead to an esports competition

Our world is changing around us in so many ways, and the climate crisis is proving to be one of the paramount challenges of the 21st century. As temperatures rise, our food systems across the globe feel the impacts of this man-made phenomenon. This heightens the pressing need to mitigate our carbon emissions, as well as adapt to climate impacts. We need to foster sustainability across all spheres, especially in the preservation and resilience of our agricultural systems.

Despite the fact that we all consume food every day, there is a disconnect between the needs of modern agriculture and challenges many farmers face due to climate change. So few of us truly know where our food comes from and teachers do not always have tools for raising awareness and educating on this important topic. This is why NASEF Farmcraft was developed. 

Farmcraft is a global esports competition hosted by the nonprofit NASEF and the U.S. Department of State. It is aimed at students grades 3-12 and participation is free for students from all over the world. This year we had participants from 68 countries! Teams register with the support of an educator or other adult sponsor and take part in a wide variety of activities that teach about the connections between modern agriculture, climate change, and biodiversity. …Read More

Promethean Works With Merlyn Mind To Increase Classroom Productivity and Support Innovative Teaching

SEATTLE /PRNewswire/ —  Promethean®, a leading global education technology company, today announced it has entered into a US-based exclusive distribution agreement with  Merlyn Mind, Inc. With the new agreement, Promethean will distribute Symphony Classroom, the artificial intelligence (AI) solution that brings the Merlyn digital assistant to teachers powered by voice-activated AI. With the alliance, customers will be able to purchase Symphony Classroom directly through Promethean’s network of resellers.  

Symphony Classroom delivers the Merlyn digital assistant custom-built for the unique needs of education — enabling teachers to use voice commands or a remote to control their laptops, interactive displays, internet browsers, apps, and more. Powered by Symphony Classroom’s EdgeAI® technology that provides lightning-fast responsiveness, Merlyn frees teachers to move around the classroom so they can interact with students, simplifies everyday classroom tasks, and improves overall efficiency and productivity.

“Promethean’s  ActivPanel is the interactive display of choice for millions of teachers who rely on technology to drive student engagement and spark their imagination,” said Vin Riera, chief executive officer at Promethean. “By adding Symphony Classroom to our portfolio, we will make it easier for educators to teach untethered, supporting a student-centered environment that increases participation.”…Read More

ISTELive 22 wrap-up!

In this episode of Innovations in Education, host Kevin Hogan explores:

  • How esports and gamification have advanced classroom instruction and homework
  • Has AR/VR finally come of age?
  • Will empathy for students AND teachers remain once normality returns?

3 ways to address teacher burnout

A teacher’s job is to educate the young people who will shape our future world. What profession could be more important?

Yet a recent survey by Merrimack College shows that 44 percent of teachers indicate they are very likely or fairly likely to leave the profession within the next two years. Another 2022 survey by the National Education Association found that 90 percent of teachers think teacher burnout is a very serious or somewhat serious issue.

Teachers have faced many challenges before, but the last three years have presented a steady stream of challenges, from a global pandemic to heart-wrenching events happening around our world and close to home. In order to proactively prevent further teacher burnout and demonstrate that we value our nation’s teachers, this is the time to ensure we are surrounding teachers with support at all levels–from within the classroom to our greater communities.…Read More

How age-appropriate tech inspires preschoolers (and their teachers)

At Brooklyn Preschool of Science, I’ve been using robots to make computational learning fun in my 4-year-old rooms for years.

When I decided to add computational learning to the 3-year-old group, I didn’t want teachers to always be the ones handling the robots. I wanted the kids to have the ability to control the robots on their own, even though 3-year-olds don’t have the same fine motor capabilities that my older students do.

Here’s how I use robots and other kid-friendly technology to give all my students an outlet for free exploration.…Read More