Scientific studies support many different ways of working with students to enhance learning. In one recent study that was published in Science Magazine, Louis Deslauriers and his colleagues found that learning focused around problem solving, discussion and group work had a higher level of engagement and more than twice the learning and comprehension compared to lecture-based instruction.
As many of you know, graphic organizers are great tools in visual learning and thinking. They help students frame ideas around a way of thinking, answer questions, solve problems, think critically and more. That’s why we wanted to highlight the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory’s Pathways to School Improvement web page on graphic organizersfor this week’s featured Inspired Site! Here you’ll discover different types of graphic organizers and the ways you can integrate these tools into your lesson plans.
Webspiration Classroom™ service is a great tool for taking notes. Students can quickly jot down ideas during a class lecture, while reading a book, when researching for a paper or more. Taking notes in Webspiration Classroom can help students remember key points and help keep you organized.
In this Quick Lesson Idea you’ll learn how to help your students:
Constructivist theory or constructivism is a learning model that empowers students to learn through their own classroom-guided experiences and reflect upon those experiences. Let’s talk more about this learning model today, and how visual thinking and learning tools can support this type of learning.
This week’s featured Inspired Site highlights a Kidspiration® and Webspiration Classroom™ service user guide from the Frederick County Public Schools in Maryland. This site has step-by-step, visual instructions to help you get started with these two tools. It even points out the great resources we have on our web site, including the Atomic Learning videos, the Kidspiration Getting Started guide and the Kidspiration Help Center. All of these resources combined will help you dive into using Kidspiration with your students in the classroom.
Critical thinking is one of those terms that is bantered around quite often when talking about the skills students need for the 21st century and to excel in academic pursuits, life and work. Yet, it’s probably one of the toughest set of skills to define, model and teach. Critical Thinking includes good problem solving skills, the ability to evaluate facts, analyze information with a critical eye, and synthesize that information and data. Then, critical thinking is the ability to express ideas and opinions in an organized, articulate and supported manner. These are all concepts that must be taught in many different ways and at various levels of depth in order for students to internalize these skills. In this post, I would like to look at critical thinking from one perspective and start to explore how visual thinking techniques can help students develop critical thinking skills.
Check out this week’s featured Inspired Site, which includes countless literacy templates by Technology Assisting Literacy Knowledge (TALK) at the Fayette County Schools in Kentucky. When you go to the school’s page for lesson plans around literacy, you’ll find lesson plan ideas ranging from Edgar Allen Poe to Julius Caesar, endangered animals, Native Americans, current events and more. These in-depth lesson plan descriptions include useful web links, PowerPoint templates and – best of all – Inspiration templates. This site is truly a valuable resource while teaching literacy in your classroom with Inspiration.
As we welcome the beginning of summer this month, we have countless lesson plans and ideas for you to use in Inspiration®, InspireData® and Kidspiration® with your students! Teach your students about safe driving, environmental awareness, globalization and more, while later celebrating Father’s Day and Juneteenth.
This week’s featured Inspired Site by Fairfax County Schools in Virginia, highlights technology lessons for fourth graders using Inspiration®. This site provides lessons and suggestions that you can use to meet the Virginia Standards of Learning.
QUICK LESSON: Improve the Student-Teacher Work Flow With Webspiration Classroom
For classrooms that engage in a back-and-forth student-teacher work flow for assignment distribution, draft review, revisions and grading, here’s an idea on how to streamline that process using Webspiration Classroom™ service. The web-based tools that Webspiration Classroom offers can help cut back on the amount of loose-leaf papers that students and teachers need to haul to-and-from the classroom. It can also create new ways for teachers to easily provide students feedback on assignments quickly and efficiently, guiding students throughout their learning process. So, keep reading to improve the student-teacher work flow process in your classroom!
In this Quick Lesson, you will: