ICYMI: Most read by educators

Teaching science comes into focus under NGSS

Educators in 19 states and Washington, D.C., are engaged in a multi-year process of fully implementing the Next Generation Science Standards. Oregon kindergarten teacher Jennifer Callahan says the standards help place science on equal footing with math and reading for early learners and focus on learning through hands-on experimentation.

Educators should do more to foster students’ inventiveness, asserts educational technologist Kathy Schrock. During the recent International Society for Technology in Education conference, she shared multiple tools and strategies to support student creativity, including mapping tools and social media.

Many states have changed their academic standards in response to the Common Core State Standards, but that has not necessarily led to improved performance, says Dan Hamlin, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. In this Q&A, Hamlin discusses his research on the Common Core backlash among states as well as the disconnect between improved standards and improved student test scores.

One of the keys to establishing an effective learning environment is ensuring that students feel heard, asserts Beth Pandolpho, a high-school English teacher in New Jersey. In this blog post, she offers several ways to get students talking and offers tips to help teachers show students they are listening.

A flexible classroom setup can help change the learning environment, David Andrade, a K-12 education strategist at CDW•G, says. Andrade offers several tips, including installing large tables as spaces for science, technology, engineering and math students to collaborate and create.