Elementary Education

Matthew Lynch published in Elementary Education

18 September Bulletin Boards To Start the Year Off Right

Introduction:

September marks the beginning of a new school year, and one way to set the stage for an exceptional academic experience is by creating eye-catching, engaging bulletin boards. These visual displays not only beautify the classroom but also provide a fun and interactive learning environment. In this article, we’ll explore 18 September bulletin board ideas that will help start the year off right.

1. Welcome Back!

Create a personalized welcome board featuring students’ names and photographs to make them feel valued, included, and excited about the new school year.

2. Fall Frenzy

Embrace the changing season with a colorful fall-themed board that highlights autumn leaves, acorns, apples, and other seasonal symbols.

3. Classroom Schedule

Display your class’s daily schedule or a calendar of upcoming events to help students stay organized and informed about important dates.

4. All About Me

Encourage students to share personal information through an ‘All About Me’ board where they can showcase their hobbies, interests, families, and goals for the year.

5. Birthdays Celebrations

Recognize each student’s special day by dedicating a birthday bulletin board that displays everyone’s birth dates in chronological order.

6. Setting Goals

Inspire students to set personal and academic goals for the year with a goal-setting bulletin board where they can track their progress.

7. Reading Corner

Spark students’ interest in reading by creating a cozy reading corner that features book covers of popular titles and positive quotes about reading.

8. Student Work Showcase

Celebrate and display outstanding student work to stimulate pride in their accomplishments and motivate others to excel throughout the year.

9. Classroom Rules & Expectations

Outline your classroom rules and expectations clearly with a visually appealing bulletin board focused on good behavior and respectful attitudes.

10. World Around Us

Introduce geography by creating an interactive world map where students can pinpoint various countries and learn about diverse cultures.

11. Science is Fun

Highlight scientific discoveries, experiments, and phenomena on a science-themed bulletin board that encourages critical thinking and curiosity.

12. Math Madness

Design a math bulletin board that showcases various mathematical concepts, problem-solving techniques, and formulas through engaging visuals.

13. History Happenings

Bring pivotal historical moments, events, and figures to life with a history-themed board that encourages further exploration into the past.

14. Learning Through Art

Emphasize the importance of creativity and self-expression through an art-themed bulletin board featuring famous artworks and crafts by students.

15. Tech-Savvy Classroom

Showcase the vital role of technology in today’s world with a tech-savvy board that displays cutting-edge educational tools like smartphones and tablets.

16. Character Counts

Reinforce positive character traits such as kindness, integrity, and perseverance through a character education-focused bulletin board.

17. Celebrating Diversity

Promote an inclusive environment by creating a bulletin board that recognizes diversity within the classroom, which may include ethnicity, religion, physical abilities, or learning styles.

18. Acts of Kindness

Encourage students to recognize their peers’ acts of kindness by providing them with a space to acknowledge good deeds and create a supportive classroom community.

Conclusion:

September bulletin boards are an effective way to start the academic year on a high note, fostering enthusiasm for learning and promoting unity among students. By implementing these 18 creative ideas in your classroom, you can create an environment of inspiration and inclusivity that encourages personal growth and academic success throughout the school year.

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Matthew Lynch published in Elementary Education

I Teach First Grade, and Here’s How I Plan to Teach Phonics With a Mask On

As a first-grade teacher in the era of COVID-19, adapting to new ways of teaching has been essential. One of the significant challenges I’ve encountered is teaching phonics while wearing a mask. The process of learning phonics relies on children being able to see and mimic the mouth movements that produce various sounds. With this in mind, I have devised a few strategies for effectively teaching phonics while keeping both myself and my students safe.

1. Utilize Transparent Masks or Face Shields

To aid in student understanding of letter-sound relationships, investing in transparent masks or face shields is crucial. These options allow students to see my mouth movements while still providing protection during the lesson. This way, students can make the necessary connections between sounds and mouth movements, which will better equip them for their journey to reading fluency.

2. Incorporate Visual Aids

During each lesson, I plan to use large visual aids showcasing proper mouth positioning for specific letter sounds. Detailed illustrations provide clear demonstrations of tongue positioning and lip movement, which are crucial for developing accurate phonetic pronunciation skills.

3. Implement Video Demonstrations

Alongside in-person instruction, utilizing short video demonstrations displaying precise pronunciation can reinforce the concepts being taught. As technology plays an increasingly prominent role in education, video resources can engage visual learners and offer additional opportunities for practice outside of instructional time.

4. Utilize Gestures and Finger Tracing

Hand motions like tracing the sound’s shape or prompting touch cues can give students another way to connect with phonemes. Combining these methods with traditional sound pronunciation techniques can support students in developing muscle memory that supports learning phonics.

5. Encourage Peer Feedback

Allowing students to work together to correct pronunciation issues helps develop both listening and speaking skills vital for phonemic awareness. Assign partners or small groups, making sure they can practice the sounds together, observing each other’s mouth movements, and providing advice. This collaboration enhances the learning environment while promoting a sense of community.

6. Adapt Activities to Accommodate Social Distancing

As social distancing guidelines change the way classrooms are set up, adapting activities that promote both learning and safety is essential. For example, assign each student their own designated space to practice their sounds and utilize tools like portable whiteboards or individual sheets to share their work for feedback or assessment.

In conclusion, teaching phonics with a mask on may be challenging but not impossible. By combining innovative adjustments like transparent masks, visual aids, gestures, and utilizing technology, first-grade teachers can continue to foster students’ growth in phonics effectively. With creativity and adaptability, we can persevere despite the barriers presented by COVID-19 and ensure our students flourish in their literacy skills.

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Matthew Lynch published in Elementary Education, High School

23 Hacks to Encourage Students Not to Make Inappropriate Comments to Peers

Are you looking for hacks to encourage students not to make inappropriate comments to peers? If so, keep reading.

1. Give the learner the chance to work with a peer who will be a model for communicating appropriately.

2. Do not force the learner to interact with other students with whom they are not entirely comfortable.

3. Minimize stimuli that contribute to the learner’s derogatory remarks, unacceptable gestures, arguing, calling names, cursing, etc.

4. Make sure the learner knows the logical consequences of their unacceptable behavior(e.g., peers will choose not to interact with him/her, exclusion from learning activities, etc.).

5. Minimize the emphasis on competition. Repeated failure may result in anger and frustration that may take the form of unacceptable remarks.

6. Teach the learner problem-solving skills: (a) find the problem, (b) find goals and objectives, (c) create strategies, (d) create a plan for action, and (e) carry out the plan.

7. Praise the learner for communicating appropriately based on the duration of time the learner can be successful. As the learner shows success, slowly increase the duration of time required for reinforcement.

8. Take the learner away from the learning experience until they can demonstrate appropriate behavior.

9. Stop the learner from becoming overstimulated by a learning experience(i.e., monitor or supervise learner behavior to limit overexcitement).

10. Make sure the learner knows that unacceptable remarks will not be tolerated at school.

11. Separate the learner from the learner(s) who is the primary stimulus or focus of the unacceptable remarks.

12. Convey your feelings in a socially acceptable manner.

13. Utilize language that is pleasant and calming when speaking with the learner to avoid stimulating the learner to make unacceptable remarks.

14. Require that the learner find alternative, appropriate behaviors after an instance of unacceptable remarks (e.g., walking away from the peer, seeking teacher intervention, etc.).

15. Teach the learner positive ways to interact with other students.

16. Teach the learner to think before acting (e.g., they should ask themselves, “What is happening?” “What am I doing?” “What should I do?” “What will be best for me?”).

17. Assess the appropriateness of the social situation concerning the learner’s capacity and ability to function successfully.

18. Always treat the learner with the utmost respect. Converse with the learner objectively and professionally at all times.

19. Make sure the learner will have adult supervision (e.g., lunch, break time, etc.).

20. Minimize learning activities that might threaten the learner (e.g., announcing test scores aloud, making learners read aloud in class, overly praising the success of high achievers, etc.).

21. Talk with the learner to explain(a) what the learner is doing wrong (e.g., arguing, menacing, calling names, etc.) and (b) what the learner should be doing (e.g., following the rules, staying on-task, paying attention to their duties, etc.).

22. Consider using an adaptive behavior management app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.

23. Click here to learn about six bonus strategies for challenging problem behaviors and mastering classroom management.

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Matthew Lynch published in Assessment, Elementary Education, High School, Higher Education, International Education,

Have Weighted Grades Outlived Their Usefulness?

The foundational rationale for weighted grades is that the practice provides an incentive for learners to challenge themselves academically. By placing greater value on grades earned in more challenging classes, weighted grades remove a potential disincentive posed by tougher classes—i.e., learners worrying that a lower grade in a tougher class might adversely affect their GPA class rank. Advocates argue that weighted grades deservedly reward learners who take tougher classes, identify higher levels of educational accomplishment, and provide a more fair or balanced system of grading in schools with several educational tracks.

Even with all of its benefits, weighted grades do have many drawbacks, often pointed out by critics.

Critics of weighted grades tend to make the following arguments:

Weighted grades discourage learners from taking certain classes that may be educationally valuable, but that may not present a numerical advantage when calculating GPA and class rank. For example, art and music classes are rarely weighted, so learners may not contemplate art and music classes out of fear that such classes will adversely affect their GPA and class ranking.

Weighted grades are not academically significant unless the grades are based on a single set of learning standards that are assessed consistently from class to class. Unless schools can authenticate that a grade of A in one class represents greater educational accomplishment than an A earned in another class, the utilization of weighted grades can be misleading. For instance, it’s potential that a class labeled “college prep” may be more challenging than a class labeled “honors.”

Weighted grades may act as disincentives, rather than incentives, for learners. While weighted grades may make challenging classes seem less “risky” to learners, it’s also potential that learners, once enrolled in the class, usually won’t work as hard because a lower mark is worth as much as a higher mark in another class. Also, learners enrolled in lower-level classes know that the grading system is assigning their efforts less value. Even if a learner works hard and earns a good grade in a college-prep class, that effort will still be given a lower value than grades earned by learners in higher-level classes.

Weighted grades can devalue certain classes and reinforce cultural divisions within a school. Because both educators and learners know that lower-level classes are given a lower value, the practice of weighting grades reinforces the status associated with higher-level classes and the stigma associated with lower-level classes—for both educators and learners. Consequently, educators may not want to teach lower-level classes, and learners may feel embarrassed or ashamed to take them.

Weighted grades create opportunities for learners to manipulate the grading process. In this view, weighted grades focus learners on superficial outcomes—classmate competitionand higher scores, instead rather then more substantive outcomes, such as mastering new skills, exploring new concepts, learning from failure, or loving the learning process.

What do you think? Have weighted grades outlived their usefulness?

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Matthew Lynch published in Ask An Expert, Assistive Technology, Career Readiness, Child Development Tech, Classroom Management,

The Edvocate Podcast, Episode 7: How Digital Age Teachers Can Win Over Parents

Education is a collaborative process, as it takes many stakeholders working in unison to help students succeed academically. One of the most integral parts of this collaborative team is parents, as teachers know all so well. So, if you are a teacher struggling to increase parental engagement, how do you fix this issue? In this episode, we will discuss 7 ways that digital age teachers win over parents.

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Matthew Lynch published in Ask An Expert, Assessment, Assistive Technology, Black Boys in Crisis, Child Development Tech,

The Edvocate Podcast, Episode 6: 8 Ways That Digital Age Teachers Avoid Burning Out

Being a teacher is a tough job. So much so, many new teachers end up leaving the field within their first three years. To ensure that the next generation of students have qualified teachers, we must nip this phenomenon in the bud. In this episode, we will discuss 8 ways that digital age teachers avoid burning out.

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Matthew Lynch published in Ask An Expert, Assistive Technology, Black Boys in Crisis, Bullying, Child Development,

The Edvocate Podcast, Episode 4: How to Create a Culturally Responsive Classroom

Building a culturally responsive classroom is hard. To help you along your journey, here is your guide to exploring and respecting the cultural backgrounds of your students while also using diversity as an asset. If you you listen to this episode of the podcast, and take my advice, you will have a culturally responsive classroom in no time.

References

Culturally responsive teaching is a theory of instruction that was developed by Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings and has been written about by many other scholars since then. To read more of her work on culturally responsive teaching and other topics, click here to visit her Amazon.com page.

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Matthew Lynch published in Ask An Expert, Assessment, Assistive Technology, Child Development, Child Development Tech,

Announcing the Winners of the 2018 Tech Edvocate Awards

Every day, technology innovations transform the way people learn and how educators teach. In the last few years, the edtech field has attracted a lot of talented people, all with excellent knowledge bases and ideas. Though the edtech industry has been around for a few decades now, the last few years, in particular, have seen a surge in investment from both school districts and investors.

The education market is currently worth around $5 trillion globally, and it is forecasted that edtech investment alone will reach $252 billion by the year 2020. This growing investment into edtech start-ups has created some exciting changes in the world of education. Naturally, with increasing capital, the number of edtech companies, products, and thought leaders is also growing. In that spirit of change and innovation, we present the Tech Edvocate Awards.

After 4 months of hard work, we’ve narrowed down the year’s top edtech companies, products, people and more. We solicited nominees from readers in June/July and held online voting from June 1, 2018 – August 21, 2018. The nominee’s performance during the online voting period was used to gauge their popularity, but in no way signaled that they would become a finalist or walk away with an award. The finalists and winners were ultimately selected by a panel comprised of two edtech thought leaders, two PreK-12 teachers, one college professor, two K-12 administrators, one college administrator and two PreK-12 parents.  Here are our winners and finalists for 2018. Winners and finalists can access their award seals by clicking here.

 

Best Lesson Planning App or Tool

Winner: ClassFlow

Finalists:

Profile Planner

ActivInspire

Nearpod

Best Assessment App or Tool

Winner: MobyMax

Finalists:

Google Classroom

Evo Social/Emotional by Aperture Education

Best Early Childhood Education App or Tool

Winner: HeadSprout

Finalists:

KIBO – The STEAM Robot Kit for Children 4 – 7

Canticos Los Pollitos (Little Chickies) App

Levar Burton Skybrary Family

MobyMax

Best Literacy App or Tool

Winner: Lexia Core5 Reading

Finalists:

PBS Parents Play and Learn

EssayJack

Microsoft Learning Tools

Raz-Plus

Speare.com

MobyMax

Best Math App or Tool

Winner: MATHia

Finalists:

ABCmouse Mastering Math

Matific

ExploreLearning Reflex

MobyMax

Best STEM/STEAM Education App or Tool

Winner: Vernier Go Direct® Sensors with Graphical Analysis™ 4 @VernierST

Finalists:

KOOV Educator Kit by Sony

FlinnSTEM Powered by IMSA Fusion

WhiteBox Learning

DigitalEd

robots4STEM

Science A-Z

littleBits

ExploreLearning Gizmos

MobyMax

Best Language Learning App or Tool

Winner: Sprig Learning

Finalists:

Languagenut

Voces Digital

 

Best Virtual or Augmented Reality App or Tool

Winner: HoloLAB Champions

Finalists:

DiscoveryVR

Gamar

 

Best Personalized/Adaptive Learning App or Tool

Winner: Nearpod

Finalists:

ABCmouse Mastering Math

AVer CP3Series Interactive Flat Panel

Amplifire

Lexia PowerUp Literacy

StudySmarter

MATHia

Curriculum Associates i-Ready Mathematics and Reading

MobyMax

Best Coding App or Tool

Winner: CoderZ by Intelitek

Finalists:

CodeMonkey

Tynker

 

Best Gamification App or Tool

Winner: Kahoot!

Finalists:

Classcraft

Play Brighter

 

Best Learning Management System

Winner: NEO LMS

Finalists:

Odysseyware

Edsby

 

Best Blended/Flipped Learning App or Tool

Winner: FlinnPREP

Finalists:

ClassFlow

Odysseyware ClassPace

Learnlight

MobyMax

 

Best Assistive Technology App or Tool

Winner: Robots4Autism

Finalists:

Learning Ally

 

Best Parent-Teacher/School Communication App or Tool

Winner: Bloomz

Finalists:

Base Education

Edsby

RYCOR

 

Best Collaboration App or Tool

Winner: Boxlight MimioSpace

Finalists:

Newline Interactive

ADVANCEfeedback by Insight ADVANCE

Project Pals, Inc.

Epson iProjection App

Snowflake MultiTeach® (NUITEQ®)

Best Tutoring/Test Prep App or Tool

Winner: GradeSlam

Finalists:

Learnamic

FlinnPREP

www.winwardacademy.com

StudyLock

Varsity Tutors

 

Best Classroom/Behavior Management App or Tool

Winner: NetSupport School

Finalists:

PBIS Rewards

Impero Education Pro V7

MobyMax

Best Classroom Audio-Visual App or Tool

Winner: ActivPanel

Finalists:

Newline Interacitve

Epson BrightLink 710Ui Interactive Laser Display

Boxlight MimioFrame

 

Best Higher Education Solution

Winner: Study.com

Finalists:

TeamDynamix

CampusLogic

Perceivant

 

Best Learning Analytics/Data Mining App or Tool

Winner: Otus

Finalists:

Edsby

Tableau Software

Best Professional Development App or Tool

Winner: ADVANCEfeedback by Insight ADVANCE

Finalists:

Edthena

 

Best Student Information System (SIS) App or Tool

Winner: Alma

Finalists:

SynergySIS

 

Best Global EdTech Leader

Winner: Dr. Edward Tse

Finalists:

Angela Maiers

Nathaniel A. Davis

 

Best Global EdTech Company

Winner: MobyMax

Finalists:

Promethean

RoboKind

ClassLink

Epson America

GradeSlam

 

Best Global EdTech Startup

Winner: Learnamic

Finalists:

Orange Neurosciences

Yewno

Otus

 

Best K-12 School Leader

Winner: Dr. Adam Hartley, Fenton Area Public Schools, Genesee County, Michigan

Finalists:

Yvonne Mackey-Boyd, River Roads Lutheran School, St. Louis, MO

Shawn Wigg, Director of Mathematics, Duval County Public Schools

Best Higher Education Leader

Winner: Nichole Pinkard, Professor, Depaul University, Chicago, IL

Finalists:         

Anant Agarwal, edx, Cambridge, MA

 

Best School District Technology Coordinator/Director

Winner: Dan Warren, Director of Technology Operation, Central Stores, and Printing Services at Des Moines Public Schools

Finalists:

John Martin, Inter-Lakes School District, Meredith, NH

 

Best K-12 Teacher

Winner: Crystal Avila, Socorro High School, El Paso Texas

Finalists:

Cathy Haskett Morrison, Peel District School Board, Canada

 

Best College/University Professor

Winner: David J. Malan, Harvard University

Finalists:

Nicole Kraft, Ohio State University

 

Best EdTech PR Firm

Winner: PR With Pananche

Finalists:

J Harrison Public Relations Group

Nickel Communications

 

Conclusion

As you can see, there is no shortage of award winners in edtech. With these innovative edtech companies, products and people in mind, it becomes clear that the landscape of education is vast and technology is carving a new path for present and future educators. Well, that does it for the 2nd Annual Tech Edvocate Awards. We will be back, bigger and better in 2019.

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Matthew Lynch published in Adult Education, EdTech & Innovation, Education Leadership, Elementary Education, Personalized Learning

Teacher Leaders In the 21st Century

 

As we find ourselves standing on the fault lines of shifting paradigms in education question about how we lead and will be lead seem to surface with between each mini quake and aftershock. The reoccurring rumbles to develop a mindset and culture that embraces failing, thinking outside the box, and risk taking, feel shaky when they originate from a group specifically selected because of their lack of failure, ability to maneuver within the box, and their skill to mitigate risk. New pedagogies require that we follow differently as much as that we be led differently.

 

In a building or culture cultivating 21st-century teaching strong leadership will be more dependent upon open communication and honest feedback from trusted voices in the fray, lynch pins, teacher-leaders that are applying design thinking in real time, managing innovation in action, and proving the value of deep learning daily. One of the unexpected consequences of a personalized learning culture is that for the first time there are multiple paths to access the demonstrable power of teacher-leaders. Academia has grappled with how to harness the magic of master level classroom craftsmen for more than a decade now, moving them into administration, linking them to mentorships, and persuading them to present their work in various ways. While each of these routes has offered opportunity none has offered a way to capitalize effectively on the skill set that makes those classroom maestros as valuable as they are. However, in a 21st-century learning environment where the leadership is multi-directional teacher-leaders can become a celebrated conduit for what works, and testing ground for new best practices.

In a world obsessed with leadership skills and a profession built upon a limited hierarchy it can be easy to not recognize the necessarily complex infrastructure of successful schools. Educational institutions are what economist refer to as weak link systems1. A structure more dependent on the best performance of the weakest link. (ie: soccer teams rather than basketball teams, where the best player is dependent upon the skill of the lesser known players for success.)

As we explore the multitude of roles and aspects of leading a school or district in a digital age, where change is a constant theme and innovations and risks are goals then identifying, accessing and amplify those lynchpins is essential. As a district administrator explained it, “Personalized learning is a healthy virus we want to spread as systemically and infectiously as possible…” Leadership within this kind of educational system is then no longer a title it is a distributive model2.

 

 

Following that analogy through a slight modification of Malcolm Gladwell’s The Law of the Few,2 which theorizes that The success of any kind of academic epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of teacher-leaders with a particular and rare set of pedagogical gifts:

Marine: These are the first into any new challenge, idea, or program. They are the risk takers, the ones that can and will fall in the valiant effort to try new learning.

Maven:  Especially valuable in the digital age these are information specialists that know what apps and extensions are new, where to find the best list research on STEM projects and when AI will be ready for the classroom

Media Moguls: 87% of teachers are on some kind of social media, these are the ones on all kinds of social media. To go back to the epidemic analogy these are they carriers.

McGyvers: With an inherent understanding of how to hold extract the useful elements of any lesson and modify or even redefine them with digital wonderment.

The odds are good that you have these people sitting in hard chairs reading an email from you almost daily. These qualities are not in their personnel record, Finding them and allowing them to bring a whole new skill set

 

1:  http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17465493-the-numbers-game

2: http://www.gettingsmart.com/2017/04/preparing-to-lead-in-a-project-based-world/

3: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2612.The_Tipping_Point?ac=1&from_search=true

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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