Tic-Tac-Toeing with Choice Boards in Any Classroom

Want to ignite student interest in the your classroom?

Offer choice boards, also known as Bingo, Tic-Tac-Toe, or Think-Tac-Toe boards for product assignments. 

The bottom line is that even though you, as teacher, create the choices, students feel empowered when they MAKE the choices.

Give this strategy a try and watch your students soar with excitement!

Read more and see an example at our ISTE Connects post.

Games Are Essential Classroom Tools

As designers/instructors of a graduate course in differentiating instruction + technology, we ask our students about the role of games in instruction.

We are frequently surprised at the responses, ranging from "I do not allow my students to play games" to "I use games everyday."

You may want to check out the article we wrote for the ISTE 2010 conference in Denver which speaks about games and game-like instruction: Games Are Essential Classroom Tools.

Gaming in the Classroom

On Wednesday, March 31st, we will be conducting a webinar for BrainPOP Educators called "Classroom Games? Why not?" The webinar takes place at 4:30 PM Eastern time.

If you follow this link, you'll see a description: http://s4.brainpop.com/educators/webinars/   Please join us! Register today!

You can also read and comment on our recent post at ISTE Connects about gaming and its value in the classroom. Click here to access.

Can Video Games Teach Kids?

In our session today, "Play Is Important for Deep Learning" in the Webinar Series "Listening for Understanding," we talked about digital games for learning. 

We asked the broad question, "what if digital gaming IS the curriculum?" And we shared a resource that answers the question.

Check out Quest to Learn (Q2L), the first-ever school we know of that builds its entire curriculum on games-based learning. Located in New York City, the school is "not a school whose curriculum is made up of the play of commercial videogames, but rather a school that uses the underlying design principles of games to create highly immersive, game-like learning experiences. Games and other forms of digital media serve another useful purpose at Quest: they serve to model the complexity and promise of “systems.” Understanding and accounting for this complexity is a fundamental literacy of the 21st century."

You can learn more about this exciting school via its website.  By the way, Quest is recuiting teachers for the next  school year! 

You can tune in to future webinars in the series at http://www.michiganeducatorsplc.com/

MEMSPA 2009 Annual Conference

This Thursday, December 3rd, we will present at the MEMSPA (Michigan Elementary and Middle School Principals Association) State Conference on "Using Tech to Differentiate by Interest in Middle School."

Technology, Differentiated Instruction, and the Middle School Learner

The Michigan Department of Education, in conjunction with MACUL, asked if we would be willing to continue the conversation that we initiated with technology and curriculum directors via our keynote address on differentiating instruction + technology at the Michigan Technology and Curriculum Director Meeting, October 6. Today is the first of two webinars that we will be presenting as follow-ups to our conversation.


"EdTech Specialists is conducting a series of FREE Webinars entitled: “Listening for Understanding." With a “funding cliff” approaching Michigan schools, the time has come to listen to the ideas of others, brainstorm options that will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of student learning, and, as State Superintendent Mike Flanagan has stated: “ReImagine” education in Michigan. To jump start your conversations, EdTech Specialists has lined up an impressive group of individuals who will share their views, programs, strategies, and experiences that have helped to assist their districts and others with innovative options for delivering instruction."

Technology, Differentiated Instruction, and the Middle School Learner
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/165681217

Description:
Some educators believe that differentiated instruction belongs in the elementary classroom but is not appropriate or effective for middle school students. Dr. Grace Smith and Dr. Stephanie Throne, authors of the forthcoming text, Differentiating Instruction with Technology in Middle School Classrooms (and Differentiating Instruction with Technology in K-5 Classrooms), will share how differentiated instruction, powered by technology, can serve to reach the physical, emotional and social needs unique to the middle school learner. Drs. Smith and Throne will suggest a variety of different tech tools and strategies that educators can use to differentiate instruction in the middle school classroom and personalize learning for today’s diverse students.

Forest Hills School District

Yesterday, we spent some time with teachers from the Forest Hills School District in Ohio. We surprised them by participating in their professional development session in Elluminate entitled, "The Power of Two: Differentiated Instruction + Technology," which is a phrase from our first book!"