Technology and Instruction to Engage, Empower, and Excite

Those of you that like to have 78 tabs open in a browser at a time, this one's for you!  I have long been singing the praises of this Chrome extension, so if you've ignored me before, hear me now. OneTab is a super simple way to organize all of your tabs...into...One. Tab.  If you are like me and access a variety of different websites on a daily basis, or if you need to gather a bunch of sites for a lesson on a certain day, OneTab would be a great addition to your toolbar.  This Chrome extension also saves up to 95% of your memory since it decreases the amount of open tabs.  Your computer will run more efficiently!  To add it, go to the Chrome Web Store and search "OneTab" then "Add to Chrome".  If you see the green flag in the upper left corner, it's already added.  Use it!   Once added, you will see the small icon in your Chrome toolbar.  OneTab will open every time you open Chrome.  If you accidentally close OneTab, the sites yo...

Cornell Notes. DOTS Chart. Graphic Organizers. Sketch Notes. What do they all have in common? These instructional tools would all be considered  structured   records of learning. Not only do these tools provide an intentional framework to engage students in their thinking process,  but they also provide a visible record of the learning as it occurs. You may consider these the same as note-taking strategies, and they are, but the key difference is that teachers must embed processing time into the lesson delivery and set the expectation for students to revisit and interact with their initial notes multiple times. These multiple interactions could include annotation, revision, summarization and reflection.  See below for a short summary of 4 popular "structured records of learning."  After reading the blog, please comment in the space provided. Let us know your favorite "record of learning" techniques, plus we want your feedback for future blogs! Cornell Notes The ...

Those of you that access WebEx Meetings on your iPad know how nice it is that all of the previous rooms you've visited are listed right there for you.  While using Meetings on your Mac is slightly different, there is still a simple way to quickly access whichever meeting room you need without the link. To join someone's personal meeting room, all you need is their username.  This is their first and last name with no space, but it does get tricky for those that don't go by their given name (ex. Bill Goodson is "williamgoodson" and Theresa Jones is "theresamjones").  From our IHMS directory, you'll just need the last portion of the teacher's link: Type that teacher's name/meeting info into the "Join a meeting" portion of the Meetings app and click Join.   As you become more familiar with the meeting information that you need for our staff, you will not need to find a link to said room.  You just need to type in the name.  This works t...

Learners are  empowered when they can read, write, think, and speak intelligently about a subject. Engagement with academic vocabulary helps deepen their understanding of your content.  Basics of Vocabulary Instruction How can you embed a focus on academic vocabulary into your daily practice? Let's start with some basic reminders about academic vocabulary.  This Tier Two Word List is a great place to start, and any Marzano Vocabulary instruction book will have extensive lists of Tier Three words (Marzano, Pickering, 2005). Ideally, teachers, schools, and districts work together to choose the Tier 2 words they want to target.  Empower All Learners All students thrive when they can access the necessary vocabulary associated with a topic, so imagine how significant this is for supporting our ELLs and learners with Dyslexia, IEPs, or general reading and comprehension deficits. The three phases of teaching vocabulary for language learners are Activate, Connect, and ...