• ISTE Standards for Coaches

    The Ultimate STEM Challenge

    The Plan Last year my school decided to adopt the Code.org curriculum K-5 to help equip our students with basic coding skills. This year, our technology teacher has teamed up with classroom teachers to teach the plugged and unplugged lessons in this awesome and free curriculum. To support them in this endeavor as the digital learning coach on campus, I worked with staff to develop curriculum that incorporates more Computer Science (CS) skills. Therefore, I had the fun idea to plan and lead a school-wide STEM challenge that focused on coding. I thought it would provide support to staff as they learn more about CS themselves, and give the students…

  • Teaching, Learning and Assessments

    How to Harness the Power of Global Collaboration

    Back in 3rd grade, I had a pen pal. I remember the thrill of getting a letter in the mail and tearing it open to find some girly stationery, most likely covered in stickers and written in gel pen (you guys know what I’m talking about, right?). Third-graders today have no need to hand-write a letter and wait the subsequent weeks to hear back. With the increase in technology and accessibility to devices, students can now participate in a digital world and communicate with others in a plethora of ways (i.e. “liking” a Facebook picture, retweeting someone on Twitter, archiving their style and interests on Pinterest). I think we should…

  • Teaching, Learning and Assessments

    Computational Thinking and Play

    I had an “Ah-ha!” moment this week. You know, one of those moments when you connect the dots or it feels like a light bulb had just been switched on in your brain. Previously when I heard the term computational thinking it was usually in the same conversation as computer science. So I had believed that computational thinking was part of the computer programming process. However, after learning more about ISTE student standard 5 this week, I found out that the two are frequently used together but are two separate things. At a glance: Computational Thinking (CT)- The term was originally coined by Jeanette Wing in 2006 who describes CT…

  • Teaching, Learning and Assessments

    Using STEM to Encourage Innovative Designers

    The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) highlights in standard 4 the importance of encouraging students to be innovative designers. Laura McLaughlin (2017) commented that by encouraging students to think through problems and come up with creative solutions, we are helping foster adults who will be open-minded, flexible, self-directed problem solvers who can make a difference in their own communities and the world.   One way to give your students opportunities to be innovative designers is to do STEM challenges in your classroom. What is STEM?  The acronym stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. STEM instruction is a unique approach to learning that allows students to work through a…

  • Teaching, Learning and Assessments

    Training Our Students To Be Internet Search Masters

    You’ve probably encountered something similar in your classroom. Just imagine…. You’ve just shared with your students a research project you’re really excited about. Perhaps it’s geared towards exploring a current event in the news, learning more about animals in the Amazon, or letting students loose online to explore their own inquiry question for Genius Hour. You’ve explained expectations and have just given them the green light to start searching the web. However, to your dismay, as you wander the room you watch students typing full sentences into their search bar. Hands quickly fly into their air as they become click happy selecting websites, advertisements, etc. They struggle to summarize and…

  • Teaching, Learning and Assessments

    Empowering Learners through Self-Reflection

    Teachers today are faced with the task of preparing their students for an ever-changing world. This can feel overwhelming when we cannot accurately predict the jobs that will be available when they hit the workforce 10 years down the road. Therefore, some people argue that on top of the normal educational goals of learning how to read, write, and calculate a math problem, we must also teach our students to be flexible, critical thinkers, to persevere when stuck, collaborate, and create. By focusing on cultivating these abilities in our students we can raise up a generation of empowered learners. The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) believes in student…

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