7 Educational Technology Trends to Look Forward to in 2015

Click here to read on kajeet about the Top 7 Ed Tech Trends to look forward to in 2015.

1. Common Core Computerized Testing
2. Blended Learning Becomes More Prevalent
3. Flipped Learning Technology Improves
4. Assistive Technology Use Increases
5. Mobile Learning Apps Improve
6. 1:1 Programs Expand
7. Awareness of Digital Divide Increases

Quotable Quote

You may be whatever you resolve to be. Determine to be something in the world and you will be something. "I cannot,” never accomplished anything; "I will try,” has wrought wonders.

—J. Hawes 

The 8 Minutes that Matter Most

Check out this excellent article on Edutopia by AP Literature teacher, Brian Sztabnik.

John Irving, the author of The Cider House Rules, begins with his last sentence:

I write the last line, and then I write the line before that. I find myself writing backwards for a while, until I have a solid sense of how that ending sounds and feels. You have to know what your voice sounds like at the end of the story, because it tells you how to sound when you begin.

That is the crux of lesson planning right there -- endings and beginnings. If we fail to engage students at the start, we may never get them back. If we don't know the end result, we risk moving haphazardly from one activity to the next. Every moment in a lesson plan should tell.
The eight minutes that matter most are the beginning and endings. If a lesson does not start off strong by activating prior knowledge, creating anticipation, or establishing goals, student interest wanes, and you have to do some heavy lifting to get them back. If it fails to check for understanding, you will never know if the lesson's goal was attained.

Click below to read more of this article and to learn about eight ways to make those eight minutes magical.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/8-minutes-that-matter-most-brian-sztabnik

What Problems is the Common Core Trying to Solve? Everything You Need to Know About Common Core

Educators need to prepare how they will respond when the community, parents, and students ask, "What problem is Common Core trying to solve?"  Libby Nelson has condensed the most important questions about Common Core into easy-to-read explanations in her "Everything You Need to Know About Common Core."

You can read all of the cards at:

http://www.vox.com/cards/commoncore/what-is-the-common-core#E7241536

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What problems is the Common Core trying to solve?

Two big, complex problems. First, American students are middle-of-the-road at best on academic skills when compared to other countries on international tests. Policymakers and business leaders hope that tougher standards will help the US catch up globally.

Second, under the old system, it was hard to compare students in different states. Until now, each state set its own standards for what students should understand at each grade level, and each state had a different definition for what it meant to be "proficient" in math and reading.

The US Education Department's statisticians found a lot of variation when they mapped state standards onto scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. That test is called the "Nation's Report Card" — a standardized test students take nationally every few years. They also found that even students who met state goals might not actually be doing all that well, since the national exam set the bar higher than states did. In the federal government's eyes, all states had standards that were too low, and there was too much variation on how low they were.

Most education systems don't work that way, and it makes it difficult for states to collaborate to improve education nationally. The Common Core is supposed to solve this by holding students in the majority of states to the same, higher standards.

Who Created the Common Core? Everything You Need to Know About Common Core

Educators need to prepare how they will respond when the community, parents, and students ask, "What exactly is Common Core?"  Libby Nelson has condensed the most important questions about Common Core into easy-to-read explanations in her "Everything You Need to Know About Common Core."

You can read all of the cards at:

http://www.vox.com/cards/commoncore/what-is-the-common-core#E7241536

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Who created the Common Core?

Two nonprofit groups led the effort to write the new standards, and others contributed. One, the Council of Chief State School Officers, represents the top K-12 education officials from all US states and territories. The other is the National Governors Association. Achieve, a nonprofit education reform group, also helped. The groups brought in the two major teachers' unions, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, as well as other national organizations that represent teachers of math and English.

Writing the standards took about 18 months, beginning with a report from the three main groups involved in late 2008. A draft was released for public comment, and a committee of experts also provided comments. The standards were finalized in June 2010 with a report explaining the groups' reasoning.

What is Common Core? Everything You Need to Know About Common Core

Educators need to prepare how they will respond when the community, parents, and students ask, "What exactly is Common Core?"  Libby Nelson has condensed the most important questions about Common Core into easy-to-read explanations in her "Everything You Need to Know About Common Core."

You can read all of the cards at:

http://www.vox.com/cards/commoncore/what-is-the-common-core#E7241536

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What is the Common Core?

The Common Core State Standards are a new set of academic standards adopted by 43 states. The standards are meant to prepare students for college and careers and to make the US more competitive academically. They're benchmarks for what students should know and be able to do in math and language arts from kindergarten through senior year of high school.

The Common Core includes a lot of those benchmarks at each grade level, but there are a few unifying themes. Language arts standards focus on basing arguments on evidence. Students will write fewer personal narratives and more opinions. They'll also be asked to read more nonfiction. In math, the standards focus on fewer concepts, but in more depth.

States used to set their own academic standards, and they could vary widely in rigor. The goal of common standards is to make sure all public school students are prepared for college and for jobs when they graduate from high school, regardless of where they live. Writing assignments are more about evidence-based arguments and less on personal narratives like, "What I did on my summer vacation." Math standards focus on fewer topics in more depth that are meant to progress logically from grade to grade.

Two state groups, the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers, created the Common Core standards in 2009 and 2010. But they're in the news now because states are beginning to use the Common Core as the basis for state tests. As the standards move from theory to reality, they're becoming better-known and, often, more controversial among parents and legislators. The Common Core standards are more challenging than what most states used to use, and kids aren't doing as well on these tests.

We Are Creating the Future

Happy New Year!  What a wonderful time of year!  Like the beginning of the school year or the beginning of a new phase of life, the start of a brand new year offers us hope, expectations, and the opportunity to start fresh.

Looking to the future fills us with hope and optimism.  It also highlights the importance of our roles as educators, leaders, creators of the future.  We truly do have a huge responsibility in creating the future for our students, for our country, for our planet.  Every single thing we do affects what students learn, how they treat one another, how they feel about their schools, community, and nation.  Most importantly, what we do affects how students see themselves.

My hope is that you really understand the vital role you play in creating the future for students, this community, our nation, for democracy, for mankind.   We are important, influential people, and what we do matters.  I encourage you to consider your role in creating the future.  What will you do on Monday, next week, through January, throughout the school year that will impact the lives of us all?

I invite you to set goals that matter, goals that will continue to impact lives even when you are gone.  Write down your goals and consider them frequently and regularly.  Remember, we never meet any goals that we don't set.  I believe that somehow, if we all set goals that matter and then work to achieve those goals, we can positively impact students and the future.  If we did this, there really isn't anything we couldn't accomplish.  

My Goals That Matter:
Lead by example.  Be the person that I want the employees of TCS to be.
Be thankful for everyone and everything with which I have been blessed.
Really listen to everyone who takes the time to talk to me.
Read, read, read.  (The more we know, the more we can share and support others' learning.)
KNOW what is going on in the world.  I will not allow the news media to think for me.
Be innovative.  (This is a top quality I look for in employees.)
Appreciate the efforts of everyone - students, parents, teachers, classified staff.
Be accepting and non-judgmental.

Let's accomplish important things this year.  Students need you.  Colleagues need you.  The future depends on what we do and what we don't do.  Seriously.
Beth