Lesson Learned! Next Generation Science Standards

As we move to implement Common Core State Standards across multiple content areas, what is the next step in our Science classrooms? This article addresses new developments along the road to the Next Generation Science Standards:

http://smartblogs.com/education/2012/11/27/lesson-learned-next-generation-standards-build-challenges-encountered-1990s-douglas-f-haller-ed-m/

Next Generation Science Standards: http://www.nextgenscience.org/

Learnist

http://learni.st/
Learnist is like Pinterest for education.

Here's a brief overview from teacher blogger Hauna Zaich on Edutopia: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/learnist-in-the-classroom-hauna-zaich


A Pinterest-Like Tool for Educators

This summer I discovered the website Learnist. It's like a Pinterest for education, as it allows users to collect web resources and add them to "Learnboards" to educate an audience about a particular subject. (Here’s an in-depth summary from Grockit, the company behind Learnist.) Once I created my account, I was hooked. Learnist became a great way for me to organize my collection of websites and online resources, and I found that the Learnist bookmarklet -- which allows users to add a URL without traveling back to the site -- made developing my Learnboards effortless.

I gathered infographics for my mass media unit, study guides for documentaries, articles to demonstrate themes from 1984, and TED Talks to model speaking skills to sixth graders. By using the re-add function, I even drew from the robust educational resources shared by other professionals who use Learnist.

Now, I hope to start uploading my own curriculum in order to inspire and support others in the teaching community and fully represent the depth of my units. Learnist lets me share resources technologically, freely and easily. And it enables me to represent myself as a lifelong learner to my peers and to my students.

How to Prevent Cheating

"How to Prevent Cheating", by C.M. Rubin

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/c-m-rubin/education-cheating_b_2156034.html

This is a great interview with Denise Pope, a Stanford University professor who researches cheating and cheating prevention. She cites specific steps we can all take to help students make the right choices while deepening their overall educational experience. This is relevant to ongoing discussions we've been having in our departments about how best to address cheating.

Edutopia's Understanding Common Core

From Edutopia, here is a webpage with a plethora of Common Core State Standards resources of every variety:

Resources for Understanding the Common Core State Standards

http://www.edutopia.org/common-core-state-standards-resources 

Double Blocked Algebra

Good news for math support classes at GHS: This article, from Education Next, cites new research showing that double blocks of Algebra not only boost students' success in math, but also across the curriculum.

http://educationnext.org/increasing-instructional-time-for-algebra-boosts-student-performance-and-graduation-rates/

Off the Clock: Giving Students More Time to Demonstrate Learning

Why should students have to fail before they are given the basic accommodation of extra time, asks one teacher.

LINK HERE