Vicki A. Davis's Blog, page 139
February 10, 2016
Teaching Languages: Great Tools, Tips and Techniques
Every Classroom Matters episode 216
From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis
Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter
Carla Arena is an accomplished language teacher from Brazil. As an expert on teaching languages, she shares her tips and tricks for engaging learners in the language classroom. Do you struggle with learners of different ability levels? How about when kids sit in class not understanding and don’t ask questions? Even worse, kids who struggle but choose to disrupt — how do you han...
February 8, 2016
Innovator’s Mindset: Teaching Students to be Problem Finders
Every Classroom Matters Episode 215
From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis
Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter
Why are we giving kids problems to solve? Why don’t we help them learn to find their own problems? George Couros left an Innovation Day wondering if the kids tried to solve new problems or if they just copied what they saw other kids do. Did the kids see problems and did they see themselves as solvers of those problems?
George Couros is beginning a series of shows...
February 5, 2016
Merging Classrooms: How I Shared My Students with a Class in Egypt
Every Classroom Matters episode 214
From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis
Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter
Talking about ISIS and Arab Spring online with kids from the US and Egypt. Did teacher Adam Jones really do that? Yes he did. He merged his classroom with a colleague in Egypt with incredible results. Listen now.
Essential Questions: Merging Classrooms: How I Shared My Students with a Class in Egypt How can you merge your classroom with another one located somewhere else? How...100+ Great Google Classroom Resources for Educators
The easy tool educators are using every day
From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis
Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter
Google Classroom allows teachers to easily manage student work and teaching with Google Docs, Google Forms, Google Spreadsheets and anything Google. This handy tool has opened up the doors of blended learning and collaborative classrooms like never before.Teachers wanting to implement Google Classroom can use these resources to get started, level up their learning, or be...
February 3, 2016
Edusketching: A Tool to Help Students Understand Complex Concepts
Every Classroom Matters Episode 213
From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis
Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter
Your recall of information is up to 55% greater with the use of a picture linked to the content, according to edusketch expert and National Board Certified Teacher, Wendy Pillars. Wendy coined the term edusketchand authored the book Visual NoteTaking for Educators: A Teacher’s Guide to Student Creativity.
OK, busy teachers, this is something you can do with a marker and a piece...
February 2, 2016
Teacher PD Is Still Broken, These 3 Steps Can Fix It
Every Classroom Matters episode 212
From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis
Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter
Many teachers feel like teacher professional development is a waste. Dan Brown shares the three research-based ways to make teacher PD better. What is more hypocritical than a lecture on differentiated instruction or project based learning? But there is teacher professional development that DOES impact learning in the classroom. Let’s do that. Listen Now.
The best of teaching s...
Top Blog Posts of January 2016
The Cool Cat Teacher Blog
From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis
Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter
Wow! January 2016 was an epic month here with a reach of over 200,000 views between this blog, my blogspot blog, and vickidavis.me. Add to it a great month for Every Classroom Matters and all of you who share and reshare on Facebook and Twitter and you’re looking at more than a million educators reached through the network built around this blog.
The numbers are staggering, but in the end...
February 1, 2016
You Matter: Before You Help Students, You Must Help Yourself
Every Classroom Matters episode 211
From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis
Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter
Stress caused me to lose half my hair and gain weight. Stress put Angela in the hospital three times in a year. As much as we love caring for children, we’ve learned very hard lessons that mattering starts with loving yourself enough to take care of yourself. From going offline to exercise to just taking a deep breath, it is time to get real about how you’re treating yourself....
January 29, 2016
What Is Competency-Based Learning, Why Does It Matter?
Every Classroom Matters episode 210
From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis
Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter
New Hampshire and educator John Martin are at the forefront of the competency-based learning movement. In today’s show, we’ll give you an overview of competency-based learning including some of the benefits and the problems. Whatever your school situation, by having teachers agree upon standard competencies that students master, schools can be more certain of what students know...
Reconnecting Your Students to the Lessons of Nature
Every Classroom Matters episode 209
From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis
Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter
We need to take kids out into nature! Far too many children are growing up not seeing the beauty of nature and not learning to respect the danger. We are going to inherit the future where the only thing valued by this generation is made of concrete, rebar, and steel. The lone wildflower that springs up in the sidewalk will just be seen as a weed. We need our kids fording strea...
