On Sundays, I get weekly reports from our digital content providers about our students', teachers', and schools' progress. Despite some obstacles, we've had several teachers jump in to start using IXL, ThinkThroughMath, and ThinkCERCA. Bringing in digital content to the classroom is no easy thing, especially when you think about what may go wrong, so I applaud the risk-taking! I'd encourage everyone to check out the digital tools that you have access to and to start thinking about how you might use them next year.
Cool Tools
Newsela has done a lot this school year to update their tool with new content and new capabilities. Most recently, Newsela announced the release of Time Machine, an archive of historical accounts of significant events. These articles still feature different Lexile ranges and are tied to reading standards. Newsela also recently released text sets, some of which partner these historic articles with current events.
Professional Learning
One of the key grappling points with blended and student-centered learning is how much personalization is too much. In Bursting the 'Personalization' Bubble: An Alternative Vision for Our Public Schools, the author advocates for a renewed use of cognitive science in designing new instructional practices.
In What a Decade of Education Research Tells Us About Technology in the Hands of Underserved Students, the author reports on her review of literature that basically concludes, "overall, students who are black, Hispanic, or low-income are more likely to use computers for drill-and-practice, whereas students who are white or high-income are more likely to use computers for simulations or authentic applications." The author goes on to suggest five uses of technology to help fix this inequity.
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