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From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Discussion forums and threaded conversation are a basic digital literacy . I teach these using Reddit and the Wikispaces discussion forum. When students and teachers know how to communicate effectively in discussion forums , they make themselves able to join forums correctly. Often, when people join discussion forums who don’t know how to use them, they make mistakes that get them shunned or even worse – flamed – by more expert users. Discussion forums have been around a long time but I have found few schools who teach them.  Sites like Reddit and most technical support sites use this threaded discussion format. But it is easy to teach using wikispaces. Here’s the video I use  to teach my students how to use discussion forums properly. In this video, you’ll notice a little trick of mine — add humor at the end. I’ll know they have seen it if they say something or laugh. If they haven’t, it is ea...

The two types of calendars every collaborative project needs From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Want to see students excited? Want to see them run to class? I’ll never forget the time we skyped with  Govinda and his students in Nepal. The fifth graders had an optional meeting at 7 am where they could come to school to meet the other kids half a world away. Every student came early! The room was bustling and full at 7 am! Kids came early to school so they could meet other kids! Learners love to meet learners in other classrooms, but how can you make it simple ? Here’s a trick I’ve learned from experience. I’ve found that two types of calendars– the project calendar and the classtimes calendar — are essential for managing global projects. I like to connect my students with experts and other classrooms. An easy way to do this is to share the classtimes calendar and let the expert pick a time when you’re in class. It makes things easi...

How to reach every learner every day from a teacher who is doing it From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Physics can be taught with a total project based learning approach and have high test scores . Teacher Ben Owens demonstrates this every day. High poverty and high needs students don’t stop him. He expects 100% engagement from every student every day (and gets it.) Listen Now Even more exciting is how the girls in his class enjoy physics. (Some of them recently won a “punkin’ chunkin’ contest” in his local Appalachian mountain community.) Hear the @engineerteacher tell his fantastic story of learning, engagement and high achievement. Essential Questions: Riveting Ways to Engage Girls in STEM, Achieve High Test Scores How project based learning and physics compliment each other. How Ben Owens works to reach every student with difficult math and physics concepts. How Ben helps girls get more excited about math (It is not what you...

Design Your Classroom for Maximum Learning From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Blended learning happens when you mix the face to face classroom with online learning. While flipped classroom is a form of blended learning, it is not the only one. Today, researcher Thomas Arnett breaks down the eight types of blended learning and explains how they are being used to improve student outcomes. Listen now. If you know how to use online tools, they can help you become a better teacher. Videos, online websites, and data analysis don’t replace teachers , they help them. Many people misuse the term, so make sure that curriculum and course designers understand the terminology around blended learning so you’re all speaking the same language. Essential Questions: How Blended Learning Is Changing Teaching, Teachers, and Classrooms What is blended learning? What are some of the benefits and drawbacks of each of the eight methods of blended learn...

Every Classroom Matters episode 216 From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Carla Arena is an accomplished language teacher from Brazil. As an expert on teaching languages, she shares her tips and tricks for engaging learners in the language classroom. Do you struggle with learners of different ability levels? How about when kids sit in class not understanding and don’t ask questions? Even worse, kids who struggle but choose to disrupt — how do you handle this? Carla has great advice for helping language teachers with all of these struggles. Listen now. Carla had so many great quotations, that I’m sharing those at the bottom for those of you who like to print out great quotes or share them on social media. I’ll be pinning them to my Pinterest boards for teachers, too.  Community is key for the frustrated teacher. @carlaarena #edchat Powered By the Tweet This Plugin Tweet This Essential Questions: Teaching Languages: Great ...

Every Classroom Matters Episode 215 From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Why are we giving kids problems to solve? Why don’t we help them learn to find their own problems? George Couros left an Innovation Day wondering if the kids tried to solve new problems or if they just copied what they saw other kids do. Did the kids see problems and did they see themselves as solvers of those problems? Listen now. George Couros is beginning a series of shows on Every Classroom Matters where we talk about the eight characteristics of the Innovator’s Mindset   (George’s new book.) This is part 2 of the series.  Show Notes: Teaching Problem Finding Along with Problem Solving You can focus on  curriculum and still have students finding problems. How George had students take the curriculum and align their own work to standards. The problem with being an  entertaining teacher. How a shift in mindset from giving students pro...

Every Classroom Matters episode 214 From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Talking about ISIS and Arab Spring online with kids from the US and Egypt. Did teacher Adam Jones really do that? Yes he did. He merged his classroom with a colleague in Egypt with incredible results. Listen now. Essential Questions: Merging Classrooms: How I Shared My Students with a Class in Egypt How can you merge your classroom with another one located somewhere else? How do you facilitate conversations on controversial topics in a professional way? What are some guidelines for facilitating global competency and awareness? Educator Resources from this Episode @ adamjonesed  – Adam Jones’ twitter handle @GlobalProctor  – Adam Jones’ student twitter handle Join the Every Classroom Matters Awesome Educators Network on Facebook Leave Us a Rating and Review You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or elsewhere , get the RSS feed , or listen v...