DraftEDU: With the Number 1 Pick Hack Learning Selects

Listen to “87: #DraftEDU - With the Number 1 Pick Hack Learning Selects” on Spreaker.

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I live in Cleveland, and for Cleveland Browns fans, NFL draft time is the best time of the year, because it is the “season of hope.”

Shortly after the Super Bowl, we begin discussing the draft and the potential next “great” player who might land in the #Cle and save one of the worst franchises in all of sports.

This year, with the Browns having the Number 1 and Number 12 picks overall, the draft chatter has been louder than ever. This omnipresent discussion got me thinking about what I’m calling, DraftEDU.

If you could pick your “players” — those players being blogs, EdTech tools, and rapport-building strategies — and you had picks in the Top 3 for each category, which would you select? Which of these would forever change the future of your franchise?

For #DraftEDU 2017, I’ve selected three positions of need and have target my Top 3 in each area.

Now, drafting is not a legitimate science. There’s always guesswork and opinion involved. So, check out my picks, and let me know the ones I didn’t pick that you would select and which you’d add to your own draft.

Top 3 Blogs for Educators

1 - Cult of Pedagogy — Cult is the blog where “Teachers nerds unite,” says Cult of Pedagogy creator Jennifer Gonzalez. Cult brings you insights on education technology, books, and best practices, presented in gracefully-written posts and podcasts. Plus, Gonzalez writes with an engaging style that few other bloggers have.

2 - Edutopia — The George Lucas Foundation’s informative site provides a vast library of articles and resources from great educators, like Lisa Dabbs, who shares The Power of the Morning Meeting — one example of the kind of unique content you can find at Edutopia.org.

3 - We Are Teachers — Separated by Topics and Grades, We Are Teachers gives new meaning to “teacher life.”

Top 3 EdTech Tools for Teachers

1 - Voxer — I’ve been touting this walkie-talkie app for years. Voxer gives all students a voice.

2 - Twitter — The ultimate social channel for connecting with your Personal Learning Network (PLN), Twitter is constantly updating its features, making microbloging the easiest way to connect with students in and out of class.

3 - SurveyMonkey — Arguably the best formative assessment tool available, SurveyMonkey empowers teachers to quickly and easily create surveys and polls that make assessment easy and fun. Beware, though, if you use SurveyMonkey, your kids might just ask you to give them a quiz.

Top 3 Rapport-Building Strategies

1 - Celebrity Couple Nickname Game — Remember Brangelina? That’s former married celebs Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Hacking Engagement author James Sturtevant combines his students names in a similar fashion in his Celebrity Nickname Game — a fabulous rapport builder and great way to remember your students.

2 - Greet Kids at the Door — In his article 10 Reasons to Greet Kids at the Door, Virginia school principal Reed Gillespie says that this excellent rapport-builder is a simple way to have brief conversations with all students. For some, this may be the only meaningful conversation they have in a given day.

3 - Give students choice — Ask, “How would you like to learn this?” In many cases, you’ll find that the paths students choose to learn are not too far from how you’d enjoy teaching your lesson. Give kids choice, and they’ll feel better about your teaching methods and about you as a person.

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How to Be Engaging While Teaching College

Listen to “51-Please Apply the You…Y’all…We Template Tomorrow…Starring Norman Eng” on Spreaker.

Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it will seem like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl, and an hour seems like a minute. That’s relativity. Albert Einstein

Please don’t touch!

This wonderful quote is the embodiment of engagement. As teachers, we need to be more like the beautiful companion (obviously not in terms of physical attraction) and less like the stove.

And that’s why I’m simply thrilled to bring you my interview with Norman Eng.

Norman’s outstanding new book Teaching College is a must read for educators who want to avoid being Einstein’s hot stove.

Now, don’t panic! Norman’s book is about engaging students at all levels and he has serious credibility.

While Norman is currently an adjunct Education professor in the New York City University System, he spent many years instructing at the K12 level.

In fact, he believes college professors could learn a lot about engagement from K12 teachers! Isn’t that a delicious switch?

But the heart of the Hacking Engagement podcast episode above is our conversation about, and how to apply, a marvelous lesson template.

Magdalene Lampert’s You…Y’all…We template is an ultra engaging way to teach anything! I learned about it from Norman, applied to the next day’s lesson, and struck engagement gold! Listen and get inspired!

Let’s break this down with the Hack Learning problem-solving model.

The Problem

Teachers need an engaging template they can apply to various lessons.

The Solution

Apply the You…Y’all…We template.

What You Can Do Tomorrow

Issue an engaging hook students work on individually (YOU). Here are some examples:

You’re introducing variables in Algebra…so you prompt:

Describe when you solved a mystery.

How did you do it?
What were some serious obstacles?

You’re beginning a unit on Cather in the Rye in English…so you prompt:

Describe what you miss most about being a little kid.

How is being older frustrating?
Would you like to go back for one day?

You’re delving into plate tectonics in Earth Science…so you prompt:

Describe the heaviest thing you’ve moved.

How did you do it?
What were some serious obstacles?

You’re introducing flexibility in your Health and PE class…so you prompt:

Describe a law or a school policy that needs to be eliminated, or updated.

Why does it need to change?
What will happen if it doesn’t?

2. After a few minutes, invite students to discuss their responses in small groups (Y’ALL).

3. After a few minutes, conduct a class discussion, or debriefing (WE).

4. Now that the pump has been primed, dive into the lecture, the reading, and the lesson activity.

This constitutes active learning plus profound engagement. Please apply this template to tomorrow’s lesson!

Want to learn 50 Tips & Tools to Engage Teachers and Learners Daily? Click the image below.

5 Unusual Ways to Bring Technology to Your Classroom

Technology makes students more engaged. That’s not just a statement; it’s a fact that can be supported with research. A study from 2016 indicates that the iPad improved the literacy of students in kindergarten. It’s effective for all ages, too. Another study, focused on medical school students, shows that those who used iPads scored 23% higher on exams.

Education technology is huge and it’s here to stay. However, it’s also a challenge for modern educators. You have to be very careful with the apps and tools you choose and the way you introduce them in the classroom. The last thing you need is to make technology boring to your students.

We’ll share 5 simple, but unusual ways for you to introduce technology in the classroom.

1 - Bring Robots in the Classroom

Robots are becoming part of our lives. We all loved The Jetsons as kids. Can you imagine how would it be to make that cartoon almost reality for your students? Teachers are increasingly using robots to present a number of concepts from science, language, and math. The students, naturally, love this method. However, most teachers are not entirely ready to introduce it.

Vex Robotics, Lego, and SoftBank Robotics make it easy for you. Of course, you’ll need a considerable budget to get a robot for the classroom and go through training, but the good news is that most schools are willing to provide these resources for such a cause. The NAO humanoid robot from SoftBank Robotics, in particular, is a realistic character that moves, listens, speaks, sees, connects, and even thinks and feels. This is the kind of artificial intelligence that’s making your students ready for the future.

2 - Introduce Augmented Reality

When you and your students use a device to scan or view an image, it will trigger a subsequent action – another image, video, games, 3D animations, QR codes, or whatever else you want to show. This method is called augmented reality, and it’s a huge trend in education.

Learn more

Aurasma is the most popular app teachers use for that purpose. You can use it in many different situations:

During your school’s art show
Making geography lessons more realistic
Leading the students to math videos when they scan a math problem
Giving your students virtual tours through museums, and much more

3 - Explore Virtual Reality, Too

Virtual reality is a different concept from AR. It’s not related to objects from the real surroundings. This is an entirely computer-generated simulation of a 3D environment, which you can interact with in a realistic way. Your students will need special equipment, such as gloves with sensors or a helmet with a screen inside.

If your school provides such equipment, it would be a shame not to use its potential. If that’s not the case, you can suggest the board to get super-cheap headsets that are compatible with iOS and Android, and cost less than $10 per piece.

Virtual reality is great for astronomy lessons. Your teaching will become much clearer and more fun if your students are seeing how the solar system works. Imagine how cool it would be for them to see the stars, move the planets, and track the progress of comets. You can also use virtual reality to explore the ocean or different places all over the world without leaving the classroom, or take your students through a time traveling experience.

4 - Connect Your Class with the World through Video Conferences

Are you teaching your students about different cultures and societies? Why don’t you use technology to connect them with classes from the countries in question? If, for example, you’re exploring the social or political culture of France or you’re teaching French, you can connect with a classroom from that country. Your students will definitely enjoy the experience.

Learn more

You can also connect your students with college professors and recognized experts from different areas of study. They can act as guest lecturers, who will boost the engagement in the class. You can use LinkedIn or Edutopia to form connections with educators.

5 - 3D Printing Projects for More Fun in the Classroom

3D printing is not new to engineers and designers. They use it to quickly build prototyping tools. For students, however, it is a new and intriguing technology. They can make anything they want, and that’s enough to get them interested.

They can build models of the atom, reconstruct ancient cities, or create art projects thanks to this technology. If you’re teaching a lesson about the wheel, for example, they can build a well-functioning wheel. 3D technology is useful and interesting for students of all ages. The best part is that it’s really simple to master, even for the non-tech teacher.

Are you ready to give technology a chance? Your students will be thrilled if you use any or all of the above-listed methods.

Please share your experiences with these 5 unusual EdTech tools and strategies in comments below or on our Facebook page.

Karen Dikson is a creative writer at Best Essays, and a teacher from New Jersey. Her works have been published on Huffington Post and other educational resources. She loves to help her students achieve their most ambitious goals. Connect with Karen on Twitter.

How Kaizena Reimagines How Teachers Grade Student Work

Listen to “49-Engage as you Grade…Starring Kaizena” on Spreaker.

How Kaizena Reimagines How Teachers Grade Student Work

By James Sturtevant

Okay…here’s the way this went down! I was a college freshman and I had a long way to go in the writing department. I needed to cite more, I needed more supportive evidence, and my sources were meager and of low quality. Sound familiar?

When I got my paper back, I noticed the grade…which was a C, shoved the paper in my book bag, and went on with my existence. The next class, our professor urged us to read the comments she’d wrote on our papers.

I read a few, but then I got discouraged and quit. It seemed like she was yelling at me! I missed some great directives and advice.

Now, I teach 18-year-olds how to write research papers. I totally get the struggle of students not embracing advice on how to evolve as writers.

Click this Image and Engage Today

Karma is a beautiful thing! I was frustrated because I knew my students needed help. And then…I met a lovely little app called Kaizena. It detonated my paradigm on providing students with feedback. It transformed grading papers into a collaborative process!

Kaizena is voice grading. You highlight a portion of kid’s paper, hit record, and start enlightening.

There are a bevy of benefits to using your voice as opposed to your default red pen:

Your voice is far more emotive than a simple written comment
Your voice can be far more encouraging
Your voice can better communicate tone and emphasis
It’s easier to listen than it is to read, hence kids are more inclined to listen to your comments
Most educators can speak a lot faster than they can type or write
This method invites collaboration because students respond to comments

Best of all, Kaizena has the potential to make grading papers engaging for students and teachers.

Check out more cool Google Tools

Consider Kaizena, using the Hack Learning problem-solving formula:

The Problem

Students don’t read assessment comments.

The Hack

Use Kaizena and transform assessment into an engaging collaborative process.

What You Can Do Tomorrow

Sign-up for Kaizena
Generate a student invite code
Commandeer a student guinea pig to help you navigate the process
Designate a future writing prompt for your Kaizena maiden voyage

With Kaizena, students are far more likely to listen and then apply important directives they may have previously ignored.

James Sturtevant leaving feedback with Kaizena

Student writing could become a collaborative process.

Learn more about using Kaizena and other powerful Tips & Tools for engagement in James Sturtevant’s bestselling book, Hacking Engagement.

A version of this post first appeared at JamesAlanSturtevant.com.

Gaming the Writing Process

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the abundance of incoherent writing ideas taking up space in your brain? When I conference with writers, they often let me know that they’re experiencing this by sharing statements like…..

“This is hard.”

“I’m not even sure where to start.”

“I don’t know how to get what’s in my head down on paper.”

“I can’t organize my thoughts.”

“I can’t pick one idea.”

“I’m not sure which ideas are the best ideas.”

“I’m not sure which order I should use.”

“I have too many things to say.”

“I can’t get my ideas to connect.”

I find that placing graphic organizers in front of writers at moments like these can often do far more harm than good. Graphic organizers are flat and static.They also command immediate coherence, stifling the idea generation process or at the very least, forcing boundaries around it.

Gamestorming helps writers map and connect their thoughts in the same way that graphic organizers intend to, without rigid frames.

Consider this: What if you asked me to help you map out a story, and I handed you a graphic organizer and asked you to brainstorm each element of the plot? How would this effect the way you generated and organized your ideas? What would that process look like? How would it feel?

Now consider this: What if, instead of handing you a graphic organizer, I inspired you to think about real people, fantastical characters, profound dilemmas, and important messages that you want to share with the world, and what if I encouraged you to brainstorm many great possibilities for your story? How would that effect the number and quality of the ideas that you generated?

Rather than expecting you to tame those ideas and make them sit nicely inside the squares of a graphic organizer, what if I invited you to simply spill all of those beautiful but still incoherent ideas onto the table in front of you, like this:

What if you started clustering those ideas and learning more about the shape of your story from the content of each cluster?

How would this effect the number and quality of the ideas that you generate?

What would this process look like?

How would it feel?

Something else: See all of that white space in the photos above? It invites experimentation. Writers can mix and remix those sticky notes, and when they do, new ideas emerge. There is plenty of room for new ideas, too.

Here are a few other ways to game the writing process.

And this is one of our favorite games. You can grab the original from Canva.

Look inside Make Writing

Check Out Make Writing

If you’d like to read a chapter from the bestselling Hack Learning Series book, Make Writing, by Angela Stockman, download Hack Learning Anthology free at HackLearningFree.com.