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Links

Tech tools for efficiency & pizzazz:

• Remind.com Text parents and students reminders about due dates, homework, etc.
• Kahoot! Make quick formatives, quizzes- guaranteed high-engagement.
• Pear Deck Get the quiet kids "talking", Exhibit A.  Ask a question, kids see peers' answers on teacher's projector.  Great for modeling students' topic sentences.
• Padlet Get the quiet kids "talking", Exhibit B.  Ask a question, kids see everyone's answers on their screen.​

Flippity-do-da:

• Edpuzzle insert questions into videos
• Voicethread add your voice to slide shows  so students can drive
• Screencastify for anything on a screen; free
• Snagit for anything on a screen; one-time purchase
• Vocaroo for recording audio

Video for teachers and students:

• ​Animoto Short on text, big on images or video clips.
• PowToon Easier than GoAnimate, more challenging than Slides.
• GoAnimate Robust animation.
• Stupeflix Ridiculously easy video creation; can compile existing clips from the internet
• WeVideo Student-friendly video editing.

Tools for the small stuff:

• Vocabulary.com  Plug your vocab list into this website, and let kids learn
• Quill.org  For self-directed grammar lessons.
• Vocaroo For recording audio.  Podcast, anyone?

Websites:

• Buck Institute for Education A leader in PBL.
• New Tech Network Another leader in PBL.
• Bay Area Writing Project (BAWP) My very favorite PD source for writing, taught by innovative teachers around the Bay Area.

Reading

Have time for a book?

• Rigorous PBL by Design, by Michael McDowell.  Teaching PBL in a way that emphasizes effective learning and the Standards.
• Creative Schools, by Sir Ken Robinson.  Taking a holistic approach to reach the whole child, in every child.
• Inside Information, by Nell. K. Duke.  Practical PBL strategies for younger grades.
• Visible Learning, by John Hattie. A comprehensive study of what is the most effective in classrooms. 

Blog posts, articles, and talks:

• Three Ingredients for Authentic PBL, by Michael McDowell. Formative to my current thinking around PBL.​
• Balancing Approaches for PBL Success, by Andrew Larson.  An honest reflection on striking balance after nine years of teaching PBL.
• But What About Literature?, by Alix Horton.  Thoughtful blog post about using PBL to teach literature.
• Do Schools Kill Creativity? TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson

Academic papers:

• Prompting secondary students' use of criteria, feedback specificity and feedback levels during an investigative task, by John Hattie. Reveals the value of guiding how students provide feedback to one another for more meaningful interaction.  (I tried this... it works!)
• A review of research on project-based learning, by John W. Thomas.  Includes comprehensive research on the benefits and challenges of PBL, from as far back as the early '90s- turns out, the struggles aren't new.
• Redefining learning through technology: an interview with Alan November, by Margaret Trybus.  Alan November discusses how technology should be used, and where its future lies, in the classroom.  It's a few pages of TPACK, without ever using the acronym.  (Not linked here due to copyright.  Citation: Trybus, M., & November, A. (2013). Redefining Education through Technology: An Interview with Alan November. Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 80(2), 7-12 )

LESSONS

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ASSESSMENT