Calling All Math Teachers—Upcoming Free Webinar on April 30th on Standards of Mathematical Practice!

Curious about the role of Standards of Mathematical Practice (SMPs) in Smarter Balanced Performance Assessments? Looking for more information about mathematics classroom practices on the ground? Look no further—and register for this free, 2-hour webinar led by Cathy Carroll of WestEd’s STEM program as she walks you through an overview of SMPs. The webinar will take place live on April 20, 2014, at 4 p.m. PST. Click here to register!

Can’t make it? Don’t worry—the webinar will be archived on the WestEd website for viewing anytime!

Successful School Turnarounds Partly Linked to Summertime Professional Development

Prof. Marsh

A recent study led by USC professors Katharine O. Strunk and Julie A. Marsh took an in-depth look at the school turnarounds implemented between 2010-2013 under the Public School Choice resolution. Using both qualitative data—interviews, case studies, observations—and quantitative data—test scores and suspensions statistics—they discovered that school turnarounds can indeed have a measurable, positive impact if the conditions are right.

Prof. Strunk 

One of the most important factors that the study’s authors believe contributed to schools that made successful turnarounds included paid summertime professional development for teachers to help equip them going forward into the new school year!

For more information about the study and a closer look at the findings, check out this report by Holly Yettick on the Education Week blog!

TEDx Talk -- How Blogging Can Engage Students and Personalize Learning

Blogging can be a fantastic way to help students delve deeper into subjects and ideas that interest them. Education technology expert Greg Nadeau explains that when students write and manage a learning-centered blog that they write for their family members and other trusted adults in their lives, they develop the kinds of skills that prepare them for careers and for college, and they deepen and broaden the learning they do in more traditional environments.

To learn more about the benefits of a lifelong learning blog and how to help students get started, take a look at this TEDx talk by education technology expert Greg Nadeau:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG2WRlfghQ4

Fantastic FREE resources aligned with CCSS!

Hey teachers, are you looking for classroom-ready digital resources aligned to Common Core? Resources for all grade levels? For all subject areas—not just ELA and Math? Resources that are easy to search? And thousands of them, so you can be sure to find things that will work for *your* students?

Then you should take a look at PBS Learning Media! Not only are the resources organized according to subject, grade level, and standard, but you also can browse a number of different themes and collections. There are video and audio clips, interactive materials, complete lesson plans, and ideas for integrating digital sources into your existing units and lesson plans.

The site requires you to sign up for a free account after you’ve looked at the first three resources, and you’ll need to get acquainted with the way the site is organized, but there are also versions that have been optimized for tablet and smartphone viewing, and it’s easy to use once you’ve spent a little time looking around.

For more information, check out the website at PBSLearningMedia.org. And for a review of the site and the materials it offers by fellow teachers and education bloggers, you might want to head over to the  Graphite blog to see what they have to say!