The topic of metacognition can seem quite abstract -- a complex concept for students to embrace. But it is worth the effort to develop a metacognitive mindset in setting goals for learning and in monitoring progress toward achieving those goals. For teachers empowering students to think about their thinking with the aim of improving learning, it can be truly inspiring when they see the resulting changes in students' motivation, resilience, and learning gains.

A 2014 study by Veenman and colleagues suggests that metacognition, or "cognition about cognition," may account for some 40 percent of the variation in learning achievement across a range of outcomes. One of the major benefits of guiding students to become more metacognitive is in the context of goal setting and the impact on their motivation when they take charge of learning goals.

Let's consider a common scenario.

Learning With -- and Without -- Metacognition

A student of average motivation (he understands the importance of academic performance and wants to do well in school) has set a goal to get a good grade on an upcoming test. In preparation, he spends 30 minutes the night before the test reading the textbook. He is disappointed when he scores poorly on the test. The student might interpret his low test results to mean that he lacks the ability to learn the material, and consequently begin to disengage from the subject. Discouragement and declining motivation could set in.

Instead, let's say his teacher uses the test results (the student in our example was not the only one who did poorly) as the foundation of a lesson on metacognitive and cognitive strategies to improve study habits. The teacher suggests that, instead of just reading the textbook the night before the exam, the students will spend class time brainstorming strategies for more effective test preparation. From this discussion, the student in question begins to incorporate these new practices into his study habits:

• Reading key material before the classroom lesson and discussion on the topic
• Reflecting on his thinking as he reviews his notes to identify what information is clear and what might be confusing
• Creating index cards with concepts that he wants to retain for additional review
• Checking his understanding as he reads, and rereading to clarify
• Reviewing the index cards in different locations -- at home, in the school library, and with friends in a study group -- to tap into "location memory"
• Noticing how his understanding of what he read the night before evolves during a classroom discussion
• Asking for clarification from the teacher
• Thoroughly reviewing his class notes, index cards, and the textbook again the night before a test
• "Rehearsing" his developing knowledge by explaining key concepts to himself or to a peer (in effect, thinking from the perspective of a teacher as well as a student).

As a result of thinking more consciously about his learning and setting, and more effectively working toward a learning goal, the student will be much more likely to achieve or even exceed his aims. That success in turn fuels motivation to continue employing metacognition and honing the use of metacognitive and cognitive strategies that will serve him well in school and beyond.

Goal Setting and the Brain

When teachers help students connect to classroom goals in a way that has personal meaning for them, there is a much greater chance that they will be motivated to engage in the sometimes hard work required in learning. As we noted in a previous post, the prefrontal cortex has been identified as the seat of metacognition, but this area of the brain relays input to another region in the basal forebrain (at the front and lower part of the brain) called the nucleus accumbens. This region is known as the brain’s "reward circuit," part of a pathway that stimulates the production of the neurotransmitter dopamine in response to rewarding experiences -- such as celebrating success in achieving a learning goal. Dopamine is involved in many brain functions and is known for its role in important aspects of learning, including motivation, memory, and attention.

In our graduate studies and live events, a central concept is never question ability, always improve strategy. By communicating that learning ability can be improved, teachers can emphasize how monitoring their thinking during learning will help students to:

• Set learning goals
• Choose the most effective learning strategies
• Reflect on what they know and what they need to find out
• Adjust strategies accordingly
• Learn from experience.

See original text: http://bit.ly/1LtdCtW

La mente humana es una mente que aprende. Cada nuevo aprendizaje supone la creación de una nueva conexión entre neuronas. La neurociencia nos brinda los conocimientos del funcionamiento de la mente, al tiempo que la educación debe valerse de los conocimientos de la neurociencia.

Solo de este modo podremos hablar de una educación adaptada a la biología de las personas, de un aprendizaje impulsado por el conocimiento de sus mecanismos. No podemos nutrir la mente de nuestros niños sin conocer cuáles son los mecanismos que están detrás de esa nutrición mental. Conocer las bases biológicas del aprendizaje nos supone la capacidad de potenciarlo a través de la neurociencia y la educación con trucos para potenciar el aprendizaje.

La neurociencia: el funcionamiento de la mente humana

La neurociencia es la disciplina que nos aporta los conocimientos necesarios para comprender los entresijos responsables del funcionamiento de la mente humana. Millones de neuronas se activan y se conectan en una compleja red de conexiones sinápticas, y de este modo interactúan dando lugar a nuestras dispares conductas y aprendizajes.

La neurociencia nos proporciona una valiosa información sobre el funcionamiento de nuestro cerebro. Gracias a sus aportes podemos saber cómo la mente guarda la información, la procesa y elabora para crear un concepto consciente. Gracias a la neurociencia podemos conocer los procesos biológicos que subyacen tanto a la conducta como al aprendizaje.

Es imprescindible que el proceso educativo tenga en cuenta el funcionamiento de la mente. La neurociencia sirve a la educación en cuanto que le proporciona las claves de cómo las personas perciben, interpretan y elaboran la información construyendo el aprendizaje.

Cómo aprende nuestra mente

El cerebro está compuesto por millones de células nerviosas: las neuronas. Éstas interactúan a través de las conexiones sinápticas que permiten transmitir y procesar la información en pocos segundos. Cada cosa que aprendemos precisa una nueva conexión. Cada nueva conexión es un nuevo camino de paso de la información, un nuevo camino de procesamiento e interpretación.

Es por ello que aprender no siempre es fácil, supone un esfuerzo mental. Es más sencillo seguir los caminos ya elaborados que transitar por donde nunca antes lo hemos hecho creando así un nuevo camino. Cuanto más aprendemos y más conexiones establecen nuestras neuronas, más ágil es nuestra mente, y disponemos de una visión de la realidad más amplia y más rica. Veamos una analogía con una red de carreteras. Con una sola autopista podemos llegar a un destino. Pero con muchas autopistas y carreteras, incluso caminos, podemos llegar a muchos destinos e incluso llegar al mismo por distintos caminos, puede que más rápidos. Todos sabemos que crear una red de carreteras no es sencillo, requiere esfuerzo y tiempo, pero entendemos que es algo necesario.

¿Cómo podemos favorecer el aprendizaje de los niños?

Aún queda mucho camino por recorrer en el avance de la neurociencia. Aun así los actuales conocimientos que nos proporciona esta disciplina nos permiten descifrar algunos factores básicos para que se produzca el aprendizaje porque favorecen y potencian la creación de nuevas conexiones entre neuronas.

1. La emoción tiene un papel crucial en la creación de aprendizajes. Los principales procesos mentales responsables del aprendizaje: percepción, atención, memoria, etc. están estrechamente vinculados a la emoción. El estado emocional determina el funcionamiento del cerebro. Ejemplos de esto son: cómo podemos recordar con facilidad una canción que nos trae recuerdos agradables, o como cuando estamos tristes nos cuesta concentrarnos. El estado emocional del niño va a determinar la construcción de aprendizajes. Si el estado de ánimo es positivo, la mente esta predispuesta a crear un aprendizaje.
2. La atención se favorece con la información estructura. El cerebro presta más atención a aquella información que es presentada mediante recursos que le permitan visualizar el orden y las conexiones. Los esquemas, mapas de contenidos, gráficos, favorecerán el aprendizaje, ya que son técnicas que captan su atención y preparan el cerebro para el aprendizaje.
3. El aprendizaje se agiliza cuando se relaciona con conocimientos previos. En estos casos no se produce una conexión partiendo de cero, partimos de otras conexiones, de un camino para crear otros.
4. La creación de nuevas conexiones y por lo tanto el aprendizaje se ven potenciadas por la actividad de las conexiones existentes. Si mantenemos la mente activa y ágil es más fácil crear nuevos aprendizajes.

Trucos para facilitar la creación de los aprendizajes

La neurociencia nos permite conocer los sustratos biológicos del aprendizaje y de este modo nos permite potenciar los mismos.

• Acompaña el aprendizaje de emociones positivas. Presta atención al clima de las situaciones de aprendizaje, trata de proporcionar un clima seguro y positivo.
• No obvies el estado emocional del niño. Las emociones influyen en la creación de aprendizajes, cuando el estado de ánimo sea negativo no es el mejor momento para aprender.
• Practica la educación emocional para dotarle de una rica inteligencia emocional. La capacidad para regular sus estados emocionales y ser dueños de los mismos, les va a permitir controlar sus procesos de aprendizaje.
• Emplea recursos para presentar la información de forma atractiva para favorecer el funcionamiento mental.
• Asocia el aprendizaje a experiencias positivas de bienestar.

Texto original: http://bit.ly/1He0mFw

La Premio Nobel de la Paz Malala Yousafzai dijo hoy que el gasto militar de ocho días a nivel global es suficiente para cubrir la enseñanza primaria y secundaria de todos los niños del mundo durante 12 años.

"Los libros son una mejor inversión que las balas", dijo la joven paquistaní ante delegados de unos 40 países en una cumbre sobre educación en Oslo, la capital noruega.

La suma de 39,000 millones de dólares al año "puede parecer una cifra enorme, pero en realidad no lo es", agregó la joven activista, quien aseguró que equivale al gasto militar mundial durante ocho días.

"El tema no es que no haya suficiente dinero, sino la falta de compromiso de los líderes en invertir en educación", dijo Malala.

La visita a Oslo ha sido la primera que la joven de 17 años realiza a la capital noruega desde que en diciembre pasado recogiese el Nobel.

Hace tres años, Malala recibió un disparo en la cabeza cuando los talibanes abrieron fuego contra el autobús en el que viajaba junto a otras escolares. La joven defiende la educación de menores en general y de las niñas en particular.

En la conferencia, la primera ministra noruega Erna Solberg anunció que Chile, Indonesia, Malawi y Noruega han lanzado una iniciativa junto con la Unesco para mejorar la financiación de la educación, que ha ido bajando desde 2010.

Las recomendaciones de la comisión, que estará dirigida por el ex primer ministro británico Gordon Brown, se presentarán en 2016.

La educación universal primaria es uno de los denominados Objetivos del Milenio, adoptados en el año 2000. Malala pidió que la enseñanza secundaria gratuita también se incluya en esos objetivos.

Brown recordó que unos 59 millones de niños en el mundo no asisten a la escuela primaria y que otros 65 no reciben educación secundaria. Además, señaló, 500 millones de niñas no acabarán la escuela.

Texto original: http://bit.ly/1JT1u8g

We all use strategies throughout our day to remember the variety of facts and ideas we need to retain. It is valuable for teachers, therapists, and parents to understand the memory process in order to become better equipped to help our students understand and use strategies.

Think about how you remember something:

• When you want to remember a phone number, do you repeat it to yourself several times until you get the whole number dialed?
• When you get to the grocery story and want to remember four items, do you hold up four fingers to cue yourself to remember?
• When someone asks you about a wedding you went to a few years ago, how do you call up the memory? Some people may first think of the food. Others may recall the bride's dress. Still others may recall the décor. Once you have a hook into the memory, each recall seems to trigger additional aspects of the event.
• What do you do to remember an important phone call you must make as you're driving home? You know that when you enter the house the dog will be barking and your children will each have something urgent to tell you. You don't have any paper to write a note. Some people may sing a little song or chant: "call so-and-so, call so-and-so." Others may visualize an association so that when they walk into the den to put down their package, that action will trigger a reminder to make the call.

We all use strategies throughout our day to remember the variety of facts and ideas we need to retain. Strategy use forms a critical part of our learning experience. Strategies help us organize information into patterns and encourage purposeful learning. Our brains are selective. Brains tend to remember information that forms a memorable pattern.

It is valuable for us, as teachers, therapists, and parents, to have a basic understanding of how we remember information so we better appreciate the need for strategies. As we understand the purpose, we become better equipped to help our students understand and use strategies.

The memory process

Memory is a highly complex process involving multiple components working simultaneously. Our description of isolated components is only a representation because in reality our brains process information in an integrated fashion.

Everything begins as sensory input from our environment. Using our sensory systems, we see, taste, hear, or feel a sensation or stimuli. We have a mechanism to filter out and discard irrelevant or unnecessary data, such as the feel of the carpet as we walk or the sound of the air conditioner. This same filtering mechanism organizes relevant data into meaningful patterns. In figure 1, the funnel and the filter represent these processes: sensory input and sensory memory.

Figure 1 Memory process schema

Information "grabbed," or made meaningful, moves on to short-term memory. Our brains are programmed to pay attention to the unusual - something different. Incorporating novelty such as humor, movement, or music, into strategies helps the information attract our attention.

The use of strategies plays a very critical role in structuring input to help it move into long-term memory in a meaningful and memorable format. To establish a more durable memory, we need to prevent incoming information from being "dumped." We accomplish this by associating it meaningfully with knowledge that already exists.

If the information is important and is rehearsed, it moves to another part of the brain to be coded and then is eventually stored in long-term memory. In figure 1, a file cabinet represents long-term memory. The entire memory is not filed intact in a location, rather, the specific components of the experience are each stored as individual files.

In thinking about how memory works, it is critical to realize that each individual has a different way of processing and remembering. There is more than one way to store a given memory, just as there are often multiple routes to drive to a destination. One person may choose to go to the grocery store by route A whereas another person may prefer route B. Either is appropriate. Similarly with memory: One person may prefer to remember a list by singing it whereas another person may prefer to visualize an association. There is no one correct way.

This article presents a variety of strategy suggestions. We need to pay attention to our student's reactions to the strategies and help each child select and use strategies that are comfortable and most closely match his or her preferred learning style.

The RIP toolbox for memory

This toolbox contains the three key strategies to help memory: repetition, imagery, andpatterns (RIP). Many students believe that just reading something is enough. Often, that is not sufficient. We remember something best when it is organized and rehearsed.

Imagine if we as teachers, therapists, and parents reinforced students for their use of concrete strategies in organizing their information. Pediatrician, Dr. Mel Levine suggests: I thought that before a test, kids ought to be asked to hand in a memory plan. The same way a pilot would hand in a flight plan. In other words, how are you going to go about getting stuff into and out of your memory? And students ought to be graded on the plan as much as they are on their test (Levine and Meltzer, 1998).

The following two strategies are general reminders to encourage students to use a process when working to remember information. Each strategy is represented by a word or phrase wherein each letter represents one of the steps.

The RIP Toolbox for Memory

Select the strategy you feel is appropriate for your students. Teach each step, one at a time. Be sure they understand each step and its meaning before moving on to the next. Then show the steps in sequence and explain how to use the mnemonic or keyword to help recall the steps.

An important criterion to keep in mind is, "don't pack and stack." This means to progress slowly and not stack too many new things on top of each other. Provide each student with time to process and consolidate one thing before moving on.

Several years ago, a FarSide cartoon was published showing a classroom situation. The student raised his hand and asked to be excused because his "brain was full." This highlights an important caution to remember in using strategies: go slowly. Too many strategies at once may confuse the student rather than help.

Repetition: The R in RIP

Fig. 2 - Novelty and multi-sensory learning

In figure 2, a child is jumping on a small trampoline, reviewing associations. He is also tossing the ball with each item.

Repetition and rehearsal of information enhance a process called consolidation, the process by which memories are moved from temporary storage in the hippocampus (a small structure within the brain) to more permanent storage in the cortex (the outer layer of the brain) (Richards, 2003, p. 24).

Multiple repetitions of the information provides rehearsal, but doing so may bore students. When bored, the brain can go into a pattern similar to the "screen saver" mode on your computer monitor. The student may not pay attention to what he is repeating. Therefore, using strategies with humor, movement, songs, and other forms of novelty are critical in enhancing the value of the repetition.

As an example, consider the task of learning five state capitals. Following are several different activities to use in memorizing the associations. (Richards, 2003, p. 191).

• Practice saying the capital and the state together, as in "Sacramento, California; Columbus, Ohio" etc. This helps create the association between the two words.
• Develop silly mnemonics to help remember which capital goes with the state. For Ohio, sketch a picture of a person saying, "oh, hi, oh Columbus." This associates the word "Columbus" with the word "Ohio."
• Practice matching flash cards of capitals to state names, and states to capitals.
• Perform a motor activity such as jumping on a small trampoline or playing catch while saying the city in response to hearing the state, or vice versa (see figure 2).
• Create a rap or jingle that repeats each state and its capital

Imagery: The I in RIP

There are many kinds of imagery, and all forms are valuable to the memory process. When thinking about imagery, most people think of the visual image. However, images can also be a motor image, sometimes called "muscle memory," or an auditory image.

Visual images

A visual picture can cue a strategy or represent a concept. For example, suppose your student needs to remember that our First Amendment rights are free speech, religion, the press, and the right of assembly. Since it is the First Amendment and one rhymes with sun, use a sun as a visual cue. Draw a happy sun with legs and arms, singing. Place the word RAPS in a talk bubble, as shown in figure 3. RAPS is a mnemonic to remember the freedoms of Religion, Assembly, Press, and Speech. (Richards, 2003, p. 198).

Fig. 3 - A mnemonic for the 4 freedoms granted by the First Amendment

Because brains remember information that forms a memorable pattern, visual organizers are extremely useful. There are many different types of visual organizers. Some are descriptive: the main idea of a chapter section is placed in the center. Lines extend, with each representing a major concept. The representations may use pictures, icons, or keywords. The example organizer below was developed in preplanning a paragraph on dogs (Richards, 2001, p. 34).

Fig. 4 - Visual organizer to identify some characteristics of "dog"

There are many uses for visual organizers. They can emphasize cause-and-effect, the sequence of an event or episode, or create a summary of what was read. Visual organizers are also useful in planning for a paragraph or report and in studying for a test.

Categorization is a critical skill for students because it forms the basis for critical thinking and inferential comprehension when reading. A Venn diagram is a valuable organizer that visually emphasizes comparisons and contrasts. A Venn diagram comparing characteristics of mammals and reptiles was presented in the article The Writing Road.

Other uses for Venn diagrams include comparing two characters in a story or two different events in history. Two overlapping circles are drawn and characteristics of one item or event are listed in the left side of the circle if they differ from the other item. The characteristics of the second item are listed in the right side of the circle if they differ from the first item. Characteristics that are common to both items are placed in the middle. Figure five shows an example of a Venn diagram that comparing and contrasting volcanoesto revolutions. This information was assembled by having students brainstorm what they knew about each item.

Initially, it may appear that the concepts of a volcano and a revolution are different. Actually, there are many similarities. Suppose your student has studied volcanoes and understands the characteristics. She may then compare this knowledge to characteristics of a revolution. Doing so forms a pattern comparing new ideas to ideas already learned. Thus, your student elaborates her understanding of each concept as she connects knowledge about volcanoes to another eruption, a revolution (Richards, 2003, p. 50).

Fig. 5 - Venn diagram of volcanoes and revolutions

Motor images

Neurons that fire together, wire together.

To understand a motor image, think about struggling to remember a phone number. You may move your fingers in the pattern of the phone number as if dialing it and find that this helps you recall the number.

Repetition and practice trigger neurons (brain cells). When a set of neurons fire together, they develop a "habit" of firing together again. Habits as well as academic learning occur this way. Use multisensory strategies so your child simultaneously sees, hears, and touches or moves with the information.

Did you ride a bicycle when younger? Did you learn to ride your bicycle by reading a book about it? No, you needed to actually practice riding. With enough repetition, you retained a motor image of the procedure. Would you be able to now get on a bicycle and ride with relative ease? Most people will answer yes to this question. Why is that? Our muscles remember information or procedures that were practiced many times. Muscle memory is a powerful learning tool!

As an example, students may use motor images of the direction of the letters b and d by using a hand pattern or "Fonzie fists" (named after the character Fonzie in "Happy Days"). Have your child hold his hands facing his body and make a fist with each thumb sticking straight up (figure 6). The left-hand is similar to a b and the right hand is similar to d. Your child can recall the sequence by saying the alphabet "a, b, c, d" (Richards, 2001, p. 86).

Fig. 6 - Hands forming the shape of the letters b and d - a motor image

Practicing letter form or spelling words is enhanced by using air writing, another technique to create a motor image for the student (Richards, 1999, p. 163). Air writing (figure 7) involves writing the letters in the air (creating a motor image) while also imagining seeing the letters (creating a visual image). The student should simultaneously say the letter as she writes it in the air (creating an auditory image).

Fig. 7 - Student writing letter o in air while visualizing the shape of the letter and saying the name of the letter*

Other motor image examples for spelling words are also easy to incorporate into a homework session: fist tapping and arm tapping. In fisting, the student taps each syllable of the word to be spelled using the side of her fists. She then spells the word syllable by syllable, this time tapping their fist to each sound within the syllable as she spells it. In arm tapping, the student follows the same procedure of first identifying each syllable and then identifying every sound within each syllable. This time the student uses two fingers of one hand to tap on the forearm of the other hand. These simple strategies involve muscle memory while also helping the student proceed systematically. These two aspects create a very powerful memory enhancer.

Patterns: The P in RIP

The brain seeks meaning through patterns. As we receive information from our senses, we need prior knowledge and a system for organizing the information so we may assign meaning to it. When information comes in, our brain searches around for existing knowledge. If the new information is something that activates a previously used neural network, then there's a match. This is referred to as pattern recognition and is of tremendous value in enhancing memory.

The strategies discussed above all help create patterns. Additionally, the use of music and rhyming creates a pattern or organization for the information. Using music to review concepts can be very powerful. Music also supports relaxation, creativity, and motivation. Students can create their own songs or raps, or they may use existing songs to review concepts and facts. Some songs that relate to specific time periods in history are "The Ballad of David Crockett," lyrics by Tom Blackburn; "The Battle Of New Orleans," lyrics by Johnny Horton; or "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again," lyrics by Patrick S. Gilmore.

It is also fun to change the words to a common song. In the example below, the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" is used to sing about the importance of paying attention to a period at the end of a sentence (Richards, 2003, p. 186).

Stop, stop, stop the words
With a little dot.
Use a period at the end,
So they'll know to stop.

Songs that reinforce academic concepts are also available commercially, such as Science Explosion, Sing The Science Standards and Best of Schoolhouse Rock.

Humor and silliness are valuable to use along with other strategies because our brains prefer to remember unusual information. A short sentence or a sequence of letters can be used to aid in the memory, with or without pictures or actual items. Remember, it is critical that your student understands and knows the information prior to using these mnemonics, the purpose of which is to serve as a trigger to bring up information. Following are examples of useful mnemonics.

Demystification

Henry Winkler has written several books describing his experiences as a student. This series of children's novels are called Hank Zipzer: The Mostly True Confessions of the World's Best Underachiever. The books are available on audio tape, and students who struggle gain much by listening to the tapes. Hearing someone else, especially a famous person, describe frustrations with learning helps to validate students' own experiences. The books also describe lead character Hank Zipzer's many strengths and gifts. Students who struggle with reading benefit much more from listening to books such as this than from reading them.

Hank doesn't need to hit his head. He needs someone to explain to him how memory works and why he is struggling. He needs demystification. For example, someone might say to him, "Your memory is like a closet with a sticking door. It's hard for you to remember things in school because the door keeps getting stuck. We have to figure out how to make the door open more easily!"

The way to help Hank, and other students facing a similar challenge, open the door to his closet is by using the tools in the RIP Toolbox.

Another book for students that describes learning challenges and the confusing mix of gifts and struggles is Eli, The Boy Who Hated to Write: Understanding Dysgraphia. In the conclusion, Eli ponders,

Maybe I'm not so different after all. I realize that everyone was different in his or her own way. I finally understand what it meant when people tell me, 'We have all kinds of minds.' We're not all the same.
I begin to agree. Yep, it is good to have all kinds of minds - because we really are all different. It keeps life interesting.

Texto original: http://bit.ly/1H3OpYi

Trying to pin down what makes an effective school leader can be a little like trying to eat soup with a fork, but a group of academics has come up with what looks like a pretty good list.

I reported earlier this month on a study by experts at the Institute of Education (IoE) in London into the turnaround of schools in one of the city’s poorest boroughs, from the worst performing in England to among the best in the world.

Not surprisingly, the researchers identified the quality of leadership as one of the key factors driving the transformation, in line with many previous studies into school improvement, such as Kenneth Leithwood and Karen Seashore-Louis’ influential 2011Linking Leadership to Student Learning.

But the IoE academics – professors David Woods and Chris Husbands and Dr Chris Brown – went further. Through a study of reports by school inspectors, they came up with a set of characteristics shared by successful school leaders that I thought was worth sharing.

1. They have consistent, high expectations and are very ambitious for the success of their pupils.
2. They constantly demonstrate that disadvantage need not be a barrier to achievement.
3. They focus relentlessly on improving teaching and learning with very effective professional development of all staff.
4. They are expert at assessment and the tracking of pupil progress with appropriate support and intervention based upon a detailed knowledge of individual pupils.
5. They are highly inclusive, having complete regard for the progress and personal development of every pupil.
6. They develop individual students through promoting rich opportunities for learning both within and out of the classroom.
7. They cultivate a range of partnerships particularly with parents, business and the community to support pupil learning and progress.
8. They are robust and rigorous in terms of self-evaluation and data analysis with clear strategies for improvement.

Although this list was drawn up with particular reference to schools in difficult circumstances, they appear to readily translate into different contexts. What is particularly heartening is that there is also considerable overlap with qualities of leadership identified by one of England’s most respected school principals.

Sir David Carter is chief executive of the Cabot Learning Federation, a group of 11 schools based in and around Bristol. Many of the schools joined the federation after they were identified as in need of improvement, and Sir David was knighted earlier this year for services to education.

When I interviewed him last month for an article on superheads – principals skilled in turning around struggling schools – he spoke about the need to work relentlessly on behalf of pupils (3), having a clear and consistent vision (1) and working closely with the community the school serves (7).

He also adds other qualities, some perhaps implicit in the IoE list, but all crucial to the successful school leadership. Among these was the ability to balance strategic and operational roles, and the ability to manage change and understand how it works.

Another is talent spotting. Sir David invests a huge amount of time in making the right appointments and in getting people in the right roles.

Effective principals also need to have a high level of emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills. Often, the power of school leaders is vested in their capacity to persuade and influence, rather than to direct. “You have to take people with you, you can’t be bullish,” Sir David says. “You have got to build collaboration and get people to work together.”

Finally, Sir David identifies a sense of moral purpose. While this may be of most significance in disadvantaged areas, the desire to get the best for all children is something every principal should possess. “I don’t know many who don’t have that,” Sir David adds.

Of course, every school leader will have a different list. Many will echo these characteristics, many will emphasise different aspects and some will add their own characteristics. But this list – plus Sir David’s additions – seems to offer a set of core qualities.

The next question – and one to which I hope to return in a future article – is whether it is reasonable to expect to find them all in one person, and whether the increasingly onerous requirements of the job are off-putting for people who are eminently suitable to lead our schools.

See original text: http://onforb.es/1dt42rC

1. Setting Directions

2. Developing People

3. Redesigning the Organization

Successful educational leaders develop their districts and schools as effective organizations that support and sustain the performance of administrators and teachers, as well as students. Specific practices typically associated with this set of basics include strengthening district and school cultures, modifying organizational structures and building collaborative processes. Such practices assume that the purpose behind the redesign of organizational cultures and structures is to facilitate the work of organizational members and that the malleability of structures should match the changing nature of the school’s improvement agenda.

Source: http://www.wallacefoundation.org/pages/default.aspx

Estas tres herramientas pueden ser un tesoro invaluable para que los niños del mundo gocen de su derecho a la educación.

El día del niño no sólo es una fiesta en el que celebramos a los pequeños, también es un recordatorio de que los niños del mundo no siempre pueden ejercer sus derechos. La tecnología puede significar un gran aporte en este terreno. En términos de educación, por ejemplo, las herramientas adecuadas pueden generar impactos positivos en la manera en que los niños aprenden en nuestros días.

Existen muchas ventajas en el e-learning para niños. No sólo se trata de aplicaciones que pretenden ser sumamente accesibles, también quieren construir conocimiento significativo y valioso para los pequeños. En un mundo cada día más digitaizado, el aprendizaje en línea se convierte en significativo porque ayuda a los infantes a relacionar la información que aprenden con su entorno, es decir con las herramientas digitales que encuentran a su alrededor.

Aquí te presentamos tres excelentes opciones para hacer accesible el conocimiento de calidad para los niños. Impulsar los derechos de los infantes es tarea de todos, y quizá con alguna de estas herramientas podremos acercalos a la educación que merecen.

E-learning for kids

Se trata de una fundación sin fines de lucro que desde 2004 trata de llevar contenidos de calidad en plataformas probadas a los niños del mundo. Enfocado a pequeños de entre 5 y 12 años, cuenta con cursos interactivos de ciencias, lengua, matemáticas, habilidades del ambiente, etc. La mayoría de los cursos están en inglés, pero algunos de ellos ya han sido traducidos al español.

Adicionalmente, E-learning for kids aspira a crear una comunidad de enseñanza y aprendizaje en línea. Es decir, pone en contacto a los padres de familia con los expertos detrás de los cursos para construir puentes con el único fin de hacer que la educación en línea para los niños sea lo más exitosa posible.

Sus vistosos cursos, diseñados por expertos en cada una de las ramas que abarca, permitirán que los infantes aprendan de la manera más lúdica posible.

Educaplay

La educación en línea para niños no pretende prescindir de los maestros y del contacto con otros seres humanos. Más aún, le interesa potenciarlo con herramientas digitales que permitan un mejor contacto entre maestros y alumnos y un proceso de aprendizaje más efectivo.

Con eso en mente, Educaplay es una plataforma interactiva para que los maestros de todo el mundo puedan generar, compartir y mejorar cursos o herramientas en línea con el fin de formar de mejor manera a sus niños. Abierta a nueve idiomas diferentes (incluido el español) y dividida en áreas temáticas como Mapa, Adivinanza, Completar, Crucigrama, Diálogo, Dictado, Ordenar letras, Ordenar palabras, Relacionar, Sopa, Test y Colección; esta plataforma está interesada en recoger la experiencia docente y apoyarla. De manera que los maestros del mundo podrán evaluar y ejercitar actividades con sus alumnos con alguna de las opciones que esta plataforma gratuita ofrece.

Por si fuera poco, es posible compartir y acceder a contenidos de otros maestros. Lo que se traduce en una forma de echar un vistazo a los que los maestros del mundo hacen y cómo esto podría ayudarnos a mejorar nuestras propias prácticas educativas.

Móviles

No podemos pasar por alto el inmenso sector de móviles en el terreno de la educación infantil. Tanto las tablets como los smartphones pueden ser portales al conocimiento, siempre y cuando les perdamos el miedo e impulsemos a nuestros niños para que los usen responsablemente. Aquí te recomendamos algunas apps que pueden convertir los ratos de ocio en aprendizaje significativo.

¿Recuerdas cómo aprendiste tus primeras matemáticas, los nombres de los colores y las formas? Seguro en tus primeros días en la escuela los libros de actividades te ayudaron a comenzar tu camino por el mundo del aprendizaje. Los iCuadernos son la versión electrónica y actualizada de esos viejos libros. Disponibles para iOS y Android, estos cuadernos hacen del aprendizaje interactivo un reto, como si de un juego se tratara, e incluye un tutor electrónico que ayudará a los niños en todo su proceso.

Una de las tareas más importantes y más difíciles en la educación actual es acercar a los niños a la ciencia. BioMio pretende alcanzar este objetivo con ilustraciones de calidad y ambientes exuberantes. En lugar de los aburridos libros de texto, los niños aprenderán y se sensibilizarán respecto a la vida en nuestro planeta con una herramienta que les enseñará no sólo que la ciencia es importante, sino también muy divertida y estimulante. Disponible en Android y iOS.

Durante años, los videojuegos han mostrado su increíble capacidad para interesar a los niños y para dejarles mensajes perdurables. Una aplicación construida como un juego estratégico puede ejercitar el pensamiento lógico de los niños y estimular su memoria. Thinkrolls ayuda a los pequeños a construir su propio pensamiento estratégico de manera sencilla y divertida. Con un diseño excepcional y dos niveles de dificultad, esta app hará que los pequeños jugadores desarrollen sus mentes. También disponibla tanto para Android, como para iOS.

Como seres humanos tenemos una responsabilidad con nuestros niños. No sólo tenemos la obligación de garantizar que cada uno de los nuevos seres accedan a todo el conocimiento que quieran, también debemos velar por sus derechos. Hace falta mucho para lograr esos objetivos y no es mala idea aprovechar todos los aliados tecnológicos que podamos conseguir.

Texto original: http://bit.ly/1P6om7k

Cada vez más universidades desarrollan cursos de formación docente para mejorar la calidad de sus profesores, porque está claro que para enseñar hay que tener buenos conocimientos y ser muy inteligente, pero es obvio que el saber mucho no significa saber enseñar, sino que incluso puede dar lugar a lo contrario.

A veces, cuanto más experto se es de una materia, menos entiendes las dificultades por las que pasa alguien que esta aprendiendo, alguien que es “nuevo en el tema”, es decir, se dan por hechos conocimientos que quizás ese alumno no tiene. Por tanto, sin la base no aprende lo que se está enseñando en ese momento, lo que supone una pérdida de tiempo, ya que no llega a percibir esos conocimientos que se le está intentando enseñar.

Otro detalle a tener en cuenta cuando vas a comenzar a dar clases es recorrer el aula con la mirada, ocupar el espacio.

El feedback ha de ser continuo, por ello cada vez más universidades españolas están implantando servicios para sus docentes, principalmente cursos o seminarios, para ayudarles a mejorar en la enseñanza. De hecho, la Agencia Nacional de Evaluación y Acreditación (ANECA) exige planes de formación a las universidades que certifica.

Si bien es cierto, que en estos cursos de formación hay muchos asépticos, muchos profesores que se resisten a participar, pero por lo general, si suelen acudir los docentes, ya que no basta ser un bien investigador para ser un buen profesor, como de muchas encuestas se desprende.

Texto original: http://bit.ly/1qSaVMS

El Consulado de México en El Paso dio a conocer los requisitos para los maestros que quieran participar en un intercambio con EU para compartir experiencias sobre la enseñanza y mejorar las técnicas para el aprendizaje de los estudiantes.

El Programa de Intercambio de maestros México-EU 2015 busca fortalecer la identidad de estudiantes de origen mexicano que radican en este país y reforzar el conocimiento de la historia, cultura, valores y tradiciones en ellos.

Además de que los maestros seleccionados podrán compartir experiencias en el quehacer educativo que les permitan tener un mejor desempeño a la hora de la enseñanza.

Los maestros mexicanos deben ser de nacionalidad mexicana, contar con pasaporte vigente hasta el 31 de diciembre y no tener antecedentes penales.

Deben de contar con licenciatura en educación preescolar, primaria, secundaria o cualquier nivel educativo, ser docente activo y tener experiencia al frente del grupo.

Los seleccionados deben también de ser bilingües.

Para los  de este lado, deben de ser ciudadanos de EU y no contar con antecedentes penales, contar con experiencia en educación en EU, dominar el español, experiencia al frente de grupos y la disponibilidad de ausentarse por lo menos una semana durante el ciclo escolar.

Los interesados en enviar solicitudes y aplicar deben de ingresar a la página electrónica www.ime.gob.mx, en donde encontraran las bases completas de la convocatoria, así como la fecha límite para el envío de solicitudes.

Leer original aquí

La educación del siglo XXI se ha diferenciado en dos enfoques: la educación selectiva, aquella que mantiene el espíritu del siglo pasado de una escuela tradicional y formal. El segundo enfoque, el que más me gusta, es la educación inclusiva. Para poder entender mejor realizo un trabajo de comparación que espero te sea útil y para que decidas cuál enfoque te gusta más.

1. Contenidos vs. Habilidades

• La educación selectiva se centra en que el alumno aprenda la mayor cantidad de contenidos; es decir, se trata de una educación cuantitativa más que cualitativa. Por su parte, la educación inclusiva se preocupa más por exprimir al máximo su capacidades y habilidades tanto técnicas como sociales.

2. Saber enciclopédico y académico vs. Saber, saber hacer, saber ser y saber convivir

• La educación selectiva es aquella que selecciona a sus alumnos en función de su capacidad de aprender y eso hace que se priorice el saber enciclopédico; es decir, el saber que se puede denominar como codificado, el saber del currículum. Por su parte, la educación inclusiva no busca solamente que el alumno sepa, sino que vaya más allá. Lo que pretende es que el saber del alumno sea también un saber fundamentado en hacer, en ser como formación integral y en convivir como formación social.

3. Alumnos homogéneos vs. Alumnos heterogéneos

• La Educación selectiva agrupa al alumnado en función de sus similitudes, mientras que la educación inclusiva parte de la idea de que las personas con diferencias deben interactuar, y mientras más mejor.

4. Diversidad como problema vs. Diversidad como oportunidad

• La educación selectiva entiende la diversidad como un problema, un contratiempo porque atenta contra la homogeneidad. Por el contrario, la educación inclusiva ve en la diversidad una oportunidad para hacer del conflicto algo positivo y constructivo.

5. Aprendizaje como sufrimiento vs. Aprendizaje como gozo

• La educación selectiva presupone que para aprender es necesario sufrir, identifica el esfuerzo con el sufrimiento. Por su parte, la educación inclusiva entiende el aprendizaje con gozo porque en él no prima ni la competencia ni la presión por los resultados. De lo que se trata es de disfrutar aprendiendo.

6. Competición vs. Cooperación

• La educación selectiva es una educación competitiva porque se centra más en el resultado que en el proceso. En este sentido, la filosofía de la educación inclusiva es radicalmente opuesta porque en lugar de competir, lo que busca es la cooperación; busca el aprendizaje desde la ayuda mutua, la solidaridad y la generosidad.

7. Inteligencia intelectual vs. Inteligencia emocional

• La educación selectiva es una educación de conceptos más que de emociones, y en el aula sólo priman los contenidos de carácter académico. No sucede así en la educación inclusiva, donde hay cabida para aprender y enseñar emociones como la empatía, la resilencia y la asertividad.

8. Éxito basado en resultados vs. Éxito basado en procesos

• La educación selectiva tiene como prioridad el logro de metas, el éxito se mide por el número de alumnos que alcanzan una meta y eso hace que muchos alumnos se sientan derrotados a la mitad del camino. En una línea radicalmente diferente está la educación inclusiva que no mide el éxito por el resultado, sino que prioriza lo que ha aprendido el alumno durante el proceso de un determinado aprendizaje.

9. Individual vs. Social

• La educación selectiva es individual porque es competitiva. Por su parte, la educación inclusiva, al centrarse en la convivencia, lo que busca es establecer relaciones para el fomento de una convivencia donde el conflicto escolar se vive también como una oportunidad y en la que todos tienen cabida.

10. Excluyente vs. Inclusivo

• La Educación inclusiva excluye porque rechaza y descarta, porque parte de la idea de que hay alumnos que sirven para estudiar y alumnos que no porque no quieren, no sirven o no pueden. Para la educación exclusiva la solución de un conflicto pasa por eliminar y homogeneizar. Por su parte, la educación inclusiva parte del principio de igualdad, y se focaliza en el alumno e incide en su diagnóstico.

Se dice que la educación inclusiva es más que un método, es una forma de vivir. Una idea que resume a la perfección la idea de una escuela en la que cabemos todos, la idea de una escuela hecha desde la oportunidad, desde la igualdad, que pone énfasis en los procesos, que es una escuela más del ser que del hacer, que se preocupa también por lo emocional. Esta es la escuela en la que quiero trabajar. Esta es la escuela que ojalá seamos capaces de construir entre todos.

Texto original: http://goo.gl/lo3kef

El Congreso de Nuevo León aprobó reformas a la Ley Estatal de Educación, en las que se limita a un máximo de 30 alumnos en aulas escolares de nivel básico.

El legislador local, Rubén González Cabrieles, presentó al pleno la iniciativa de reformas que tuvo el respaldo unánime de los integrantes de la LXXIV Legislatura local, en aras de mejorar la calidad educativa.

“Hoy tenemos una votación histórica, de trascendencia, porque a nivel nacional ningún estado tiene reglamentado el número de niños que como máximo deben de ocupar una aula”, señaló el coordinador de la fracción de Nueva Alianza en el Congreso de Nuevo León.

“Esto es para que tengamos una mejor calidad educativa, todos vemos en la instituciones privadas que los grupos son muy reducidos, lo que permite facilitar la atención de los niños y los maestros tengan el mayor tiempo y estar cerca de sus necesidades”, añadió González Cabrieles.

Durante la misma sesión, se aprobaron por unanimidad reformas a la Ley de Infraestructura Física Educativa y Deportiva del Estado de Nuevo León, con el objetivo de garantizar agua potable en planteles escolares e instalaciones deportivas.

El diputado por el Partido del Trabajo (PT), Sergio Arellano, presentó ante el pleno el expediente 9427/LXXIII que incluyó cambios en los Artículos 2 y 18 a la Ley de Infraestructura Física Educativa y Deportiva de Nuevo León.

“Tienen como finalidad garantizar infraestructura necesaria para que los estudiantes y personas que gustan del deporte tengan acceso al agua potable”, indicó.

Texto original: https://goo.gl/2Oi3h0

The opening months of school are a time of optimism and new beginnings. Each school year's start rejuvenates educators and students. Yet these feelings can quickly turn sour if we do not encourage students to find meaning in what we ask them to do. There are ways to engage learners into lessons and units. Here are three practices that, when incorporated by teachers, offer entry points for students to invest in their learning.

Practice One: Be Real

Communicating authentic purpose to students is critical if we want their attention. Beyond the school walls, there is much that captures peoples' notice -- games, social media, entertainment, events, and friends. All of these often out-match the potential value of school curriculum. Keeping learning real requires three easy steps:

1. Connect skills and concepts to students' interests.

Curriculum is often taught as non-concrete concepts that are steeped in academic abstractions (just like this sentence). Learning happens when we connect concepts with practical applications, such as the effects of centripetal force from a tight turn on a skateboard, bike, or car. Understanding also happens through reflection on and revision of creative writing, or prototypes that demonstrate the targeted skills and concepts.

2. Engage students in professional dialogue with experts in the field.

Parents, friends, and colleagues either have expertise or know "the right people" who can talk with (not to) your students. Professional dialogue is authentic practice that provides context for the subject-based skills. Often, a guest will say something that the teacher has already said many times, yet now the students embrace the idea because it came from that outside person. Professional dialogue is not the guest talking at the learners. Instead, the conversation is a give-and-take. Students recognize when they are included as contributors.

3. Challenge students to solve a problem, design for a need, or explore their own questions.

Give students real-world challenges to solve. The experiences may be a single activity, a collection of lessons, or an entire unit. Discovery in science, math, games, and other areas happens through trial and error. Opportunities to apply concepts in practical ways are important to learning. Reflecting on successes and mistakes is where growth occurs, sparking new ideas and innovations. The process takes time in the short term, but if sustained learning is key, then the long journey to the destination outcomes is worth the effort. Otherwise, students see the work as a checklist to be completed and forgotten.

Practice Two: Launch Events That Matter

Relevance matters. As in the professional arena, students need to know why the content is worth taking the trip to accomplish the tasks. When starting a unit, launching an event can help students make an emotional connection to the major themes and concepts to be explored. Some examples include:

Creative PSA

Show The Sneeze. The dialogue after watching this Australian public service video can raise interest in the study of germs and infectious diseases.

Personalizing History

As an invisible theater exercise, the Teaching Channel's Making the Declaration of Independence Come Alive can help students recognize the value of historical events and ideas by making personal or contemporary connections. (Spoiler alert: students make the analogy of the Declaration of Independence to a break-up letter.)

Guest Professional

Invite someone to ask your students for help on some real-world task. A travel agent needs persuasive media on regional travel sites (geography), or an organization director needs an awareness campaign about cancer to raise donations. Many guest opportunities can be found in your own networks.Three Degrees of Connection is a professional development activity for staff to identify experts among their networks. The future guest may be someone that you or a colleague knows.

Practice Three: Keep the End in Mind

Driving in heavy rain or a snowstorm is especially difficult behind a semi truck. The spray sweeps up a wall of mist that limits vision of what's beyond. Yet if we get past the truck, our vision of the road is clearer. Students need a clear view of the roadmap that they're expected to follow. Inform them of the outcomes for each lesson and unit at the beginning, making sure that they understand what you intend to teach them. Essential Questions (as discussed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe) and driving questions are like road signs, providing reminders of how the current content connects to the final destination. Key assessments for learning, like exit cards, revision work, and journal entries, are mile markers that we use to let students know their progress and distance left to travel.

If You Engage Learners, They Will Take Over

Each new school year is a crossroads of many travel options. Students drive their learning when we share the maps, empowering them to chart their way to the various unit destinations. Provide them a clear view to a purposeful outcome that has meaning to them, and they will want the wheel. They will invest the time and practice needed to become confident drivers. When they want control, our best option is to give them the keys. There's always the extra set of brakes available to us -- but we should tap them only when needed.

See original text: http://goo.gl/5IeuKg

De acuerdo con los datos comparativos de la nueva prueba Planea y la prueba Enlace, los estudiantes en México mejoraron sus resultados un 13 por ciento en lenguaje y comunicación y un retroceso de 0.5 por ciento en matemáticas, dieron a conocer autoridades educativas.

Por entidades federativas, Puebla obtuvo los mejores resultados en lenguaje y comunicación. En el caso de matemáticas 11 entidades mejoraron su situación, pero el DF, Campeche, Tabasco, Edomex, Nayarit son los estados que obtuvieron los peores resultados.

En el caso de los resultados de las universidades autónomas, en 2014 y 2015 aparecen con los mejores resultados en lenguaje y comunicación. En el caso de matemáticas en 2014 y 2015 aparecen de nueva cuenta con los mejores resultados.

Rodolfo Tuirán, subsecretario de Educación Media Superior, señaló que se necesitan acelerar el proceso de integración de maestros de educación básica a nuevas tecnologías.

Eduardo Backhoff Escudero, Consejero del Instituto Nacional de Evaluación Educativa, señaló que tiene entre sus propósitos informar a sociedad sobre estado que guarda la educación de México, educaciónbásica y mediasuperior. También busca aportar información a autoridades educativas para el monitoreo, planeación, programación y operación del sistema educativo.

Agregó que Planea aporta información a autoridades educativas para el monitoreo, planeación, programación y operación del sistema educativo. Además ofrece información pertinente, oportuna y contextualizada a escuelas y docentes, que ayude a mejorar prácticas de enseñanza.

Planea se aplicó del 17 al 20 de marzo a 1 millón 037 mil 775 alumnos que cursan el último grado de educación media superior.

La prueba fue aplicada en 14 mil 548 instituciones educativas públicas, autónomas y privadas de todo el país, con una cobertura de 99% escuelas, 90% alumnos.

Los resultados de Planea 2015 constituyen línea base a partir de la cual se podrán hacer comparaciones en aplicaciones sucesivas.

Texto original: http://goo.gl/5BxBqS

La educación es un derecho básico de niños, adolescentes y adultos, y hay mucho que hacer en el país. Las inversiones en el área regresan multiplicadas en mejor rentabilidad, salud y productividad. Se puede pensar al mismo tiempo en cómo mantener la enseñanza atractiva y estimulante en la Era de la Información.

Es posible unir diferentes públicos de estudiantes con el uso de internet – las clases a distancia son una realidad y deben ocupar cada vez más espacio, principalmente en zonas donde el traslado es costoso o complejo, como en las grandes ciudades o pequeñas poblaciones que no disponen de instituciones de enseñanza cerca. Con tablets y smartphones, los alumnos pueden bajar diversos libros en solamente un aparato y tener acceso a contenido multimedia tanto en las escuelas como en casa. Ese aspecto hace la clase más atractiva y vuelve flexibles los horarios de estudios. Bases de datos eficientes pueden ayudar directores a integrar el trabajo de sus equipos, identificando las deficiencias de cada grupo o alumno. Hoy, la tecnología puede llenar brechas olvidadas por décadas de deficiencia en la gestión educacional.

Un proceso educativo que dispone de todas las ventajas que la tecnología actual ofrece, forma estudiantes “conectados”. Pero con eso no quiero decir que ellos estarán compartiendo fotos y actividades cotidianas con sus amigos en las redes sociales. La conectividad sucede en el momento en que ese alumno o alumna tiene en el clic del mouse o en la pantalla de la tablet el acceso a la información de todo el mundo, permitiéndole confrontar versiones y aprendiendo la importancia de sacar sus propias conclusiones. Cuanto más elementos en las manos, mejor podemos encontrar las discrepancias y puntos comunes.

Las formas de mejorar el proceso educacional son muchas. Aunque proyectamos siempre el deseo de un futuro mejor, las herramientas para ese tiempo que se acerca ya existen. Es necesario llevarlas a nuestros profesores y alumnos.

Ricardo Cernic es vice-presidente de Digital Learning Solutions de Latino América y Director General de Cengage Learning Brasil.

Un total de 19 estudiantes de la Universidad Tecnológica de Puebla (UTP) ganaron becas del Programa MEXPROTEC para realizar estancias de estudios de un año en institutos y universidades tecnológicas en Francia.

Los estudiantes poblanos concursaron con representantes de diferentes partes del país y lograron demostrar que cuentan con un alto conocimiento general las áreas de ingeniería y dominio del idioma francés a través de la certificación DELF B2.

Tras ganar las becas, el próximo 27 de julio, la Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP) a nivel federal abanderará a los 19 estudiantes poblanos en una ceremonia en la que serán reconocidos 200 jóvenes de todo el país.

Jaime Barrales Vivero, estudiante de Mecatrónica y uno de los ganadores de una de las becas internacionales, expresó su alegría al conocer que apareció en la lista de los mexicanos que realizarán estancias de estudios en Francia.

“Es una oportunidad de crecimiento que representó muchos sacrificios a lo largo de un año pero estoy seguro que dejará beneficios para toda la vida”, destacó.

El responsable del Programa de Movilidad Estudiantil de la UTP, Olivier Chauveau, explicó que la universidad poblana se ubicó entre los primeros lugares del país por el número de becas ganadas.

“La UTP se ubica entre las tres instituciones del país con más becas. Los 19 alumnos de la UTP que ganaron una de las becas, tuvieron que pasar por tres filtros, entre los que se encuentran, conocimientos en su rama de ingeniería y el dominio del idioma Francés. La beca a la que han sido acreedores los 19 estudiantes de la UTP consiste en viaje redondo, colegiaturas, manutención de 700 euros mensuales, seguro de vida y capacitación bilingüe, todo esto durante un año”, detalló.

Texto original: http://bit.ly/1HgD1UA

Llegó la hora de la verdad. Los exámenes finales están a la vuelta de la esquina y en las próximas semanas te juegas gran parte del curso.

Sin embargo, para asegurarte que obtienes los mejores resultados, la forma de afrontar estos exámenes debe ser diferente a cómo afrontas los exámenes parciales o los trabajos y proyectos que se suceden durante el curso.

A continuación te ofrecemos 6 consejos para que salgas victorioso en esta difícil batalla.

#1 Planificar

Los exámenes finales vienen condensados en pocas semanas. Una vez que empiezas, es difícil encontrar el tiempo necesario para prepararse. Por tanto, es crucial que tengamos un horario de estudio planificado previamente, teniendo en cuenta el tiempo que tenemos disponible así como las asignaturas que tenemos que estudiar.

#2 No Especular

No te pongas a pensar en la nota mínima que debes sacar para hacer media con el resto de exámenes del curso y así aprobar con un 5. Cuando sales “a empatar”, tienes muchas posibilidades de perder y que tus cuentas no salgan. Por ello, te recomendamos que pongas toda la carne en el asador y que vayas a por la máxima nota. El curso depende de ello.

#3 Repasar

No te estudies únicamente los últimos temas. Los exámenes finales suelen incluir preguntas relacionadas con toda la asignatura en su conjunto para así evaluar la comprensión global del alumno.

Por tanto, es importante que repases los primeros temas. No es necesario que te lo estudies todo de nuevo pero sí que realices una lectura comprensiva para ir avanzado. Esto es especialmente importante en asignaturas como matemáticas o físicas en la que es necesario dominar las bases para poder avanzar.

#4 Reducir

Si tienes que volver a estudiar temas anteriores, además de los nuevos, te preguntarás de dónde vas a sacar el tiempo. La clave está en reducir. Sí, has oído bien, reducir. Pero, espera, esto no consiste en eliminar temas y párrafos aleatoriamente. Consiste en reducir el volumen de lo que debes estudiar sin que por ello tu nivel de conocimiento se vea perjudicado.

La clave para ello son los mapas mentales. El truco está en incluir únicamente palabras clave y relacionarlas de manera lógica para que, con simplemente mirarlas, tu cerebro sea capaz de desarrollar el resto. Por tanto, a partir de cada nodo o palabra clave, tu cerebro debería de ser capaz de desarrollar un párrafo con sentido.

¿Quieres poner esta técnica en práctica? La herramienta de creación de mapas mentales de GoConqr te permite crear mapas mentales personalizados con elementos visuales de manera sencilla.

#5 Practicar

Desgraciadamente, cuando se trata de los exámenes finales, no es suficiente con saberse el temario. El tipo de examen puede jugar un papel fundamental en tus resultados. Por tanto, debes conocer qué formato y estructura seguirá cada uno de tus exámenes para así adaptar tu estudio a estas circunstancias.

Por ejemplo, no es lo mismo un examen en el que has de desarrollar preguntas que uno tipo test.
Además de estudiar de manera diferente, deberás practicar con modelos de exámenes y controlar el tiempo. Esto es especialmente relevante si el examen es tipo test.

#6 Leer

En muchas ocasiones, los nervios nos juegan una mala pasada y leemos mal el enunciado de las preguntas, lo que nos lleva a contestar erróneamente.

Esta situación, que puede quedarse en una anécdota graciosa en los exámenes parciales, puede causarnos muchos quebraderos de cabeza en los exámenes finales. De hecho, leer mal el enunciado puede marcar la diferencia entre aprobar o no una asignatura y lo peor de todo es que, probablemente, ¡te sabías la respuesta correcta!

Por tanto, te recomendamos que te tomes unos minutos al principio del examen para leer detenidamente todas las preguntas.
También suele dar muy buenos resultados si, antes de empezar a responder, tomas apuntes. De esta forma tendrás la estructura de tu respuesta clara y evitarás ponerte nervioso por la posibilidad de olvidar datos clave.

Texto original: http://bit.ly/1JQHoLt

Las rúbricas son herramientas de evaluación que, a modo de tabla, permiten valorar de forma detallada las tareas realizadas por los alumnos y los conocimientos y competencias adquiridos.

Frente a las calificaciones tradicionales, que evalúan los trabajos de forma numérica y como un todo, las rúbricas constituyen una completa alternativa donde el profesor desgrana y define los objetivos de aprendizaje y los criterios que utilizará para valorarlos. Te ofrecemos varias claves y herramientas para elaborar y utilizar rúbricas de manera sencilla.

Los beneficios de las rúbricas

Las rúbricas son tablas o matrices de valoración que incluyen, en su eje vertical, los aspectos de la tarea u objetivos de aprendizaje que se van a valorar, y en su eje horizontal, los criterios específicos que se utilizarán para hacerlo.

Su utilización presenta numerosos beneficios, tanto para los alumnos como para los docentes. Estos son algunos de los más importantes:

1. Ayudan al profesor a definir los objetivos de aprendizaje y competencias que quiere alcanzar y desarrollar con una determinada tarea.
2. Permiten a los alumnos valorar la importancia y relevancia de los contenidos y objetivos de las tareas.
3. Orientan a los alumnos acerca del desarrollo de una tarea determinada y las metas que deben conseguir.
4. Fomentan el aprendizaje y la autoevaluación.
5. Incrementan la objetividad del proceso evaluador.
6. Facilitan al docente la evaluación por competencias.

¿Cómo crear una rúbrica?

1. Determina los objetivos o metas de aprendizaje que deben alcanzar los alumnos y las competencias básicas que buscas desarrollar.
2. Identifica los elementos o aspectos que debes valorar a la hora de evaluar en qué medida los han logrado o desarrollado.
3. Define las escalas de calificación y los criterios que se ajustan a ellas.
4. Revisa la rúbrica y comprueba si tiene el impacto educativo deseado

Cuatro herramientas para crear rúbricas:

Gracias a las TIC, crear y usar rúbricas en el aula resulta mucho más cómodo, rápido y sencillo. Te presentamos cuatro herramientas para diseñarlas:

• RubiStar. Permite crear y consultar rúbricas de otros usuarios. Guía al usuario durante todo el proceso de creación y sugiere distintos indicadores en función del tema o el tipo de actividad que se va a evaluar.
• Rubrics4Teachers. Además de las herramientas necesarias para elaborar rubricas, ofrece un amplio repositorio que puede servir de inspiración al docente. Las rubricas aparecen clasificadas por asignaturas y tipos de tarea.
• TeAchnology. Ofrece distintos generadores de rúbricas en función de los aspectos y materias que se desee evaluar. También permite personalizar y adaptar plantillas de rúbricas ya creadas.
• RubricMaker. Facilita la elaboración de rúbricas clasificadas por niveles educativos y temas. Su uso es muy sencillo e intuitivo.

Texto original: http://wp.me/p5iYnK-eBK

What Are Executive Functions?

Through explicit instruction and modeling, students can come to recognize the importance of taking charge of their executive functioning in their academic endeavors and later in their careers.

Executive functions can be defined as the awareness and directive capacities of the mind. By wielding these skills and abilities, students decide where to focus their attention and which tasks to undertake. As a general rule of thumb, when students of any age have difficulty completing developmentally appropriate academic tasks on their own, executive functioning may be at the root of the problem.

In the human brain, executive functions are primarily regulated by the prefrontal regions (just behind the forehead) of the frontal lobes. Neuroscientists and psychologists have made significant gains in understanding the brain's executive functioning over the past several decades.

An appropriate metaphor that often helps students and educators alike understand the role of executive functioning in thinking and behavior is to imagine an orchestra conductor. The conductor chooses what work the orchestra will perform, decides how to interpret that work, sets the tempo for the performance, and directs each section of musicians to contribute at the appropriate time. In the same way, executive functioning allows us to:

1. Activate awareness
2. Self-regulate by cueing, directing, and coordinating the various cognitive skills necessary for moment-to-moment functioning
3. Establish goals and make long-term plans
4. Maintain a self-image of being in charge of our learning and actions.

Students can and should be taught to develop their executive functioning as a path to self-directed learning and self-determined living.

Making Connections

We have found that educators today are more interested than ever in teaching students to wield powerful learning and thinking tools. In other blog posts and articles we have written with Edutopia and elsewhere, we have shared popular, practical strategies for increasing students' executive functioning by teaching them how and when to employ cognitive assets,metacognition, working memory, and selective attention. All of these learning tools come together under the umbrella of executive functioning.

Incorporating instruction on executive functions into content lessons emphasizes that:

1. Students are in charge of their learning
2. Honing their use of these skills and abilities will improve their performance in school and beyond.

Teaching students that they are the "conductors of their own brains" conveys the need to master a wide range of thinking and learning tools for use across core academic subjects, in their personal lives, and later in their college years and careers. Success in the 21st century demands self-directed learners and independent, creative thinkers.

Classroom Strategies to Support Executive Functioning

From elementary through high school and into adulthood, students will benefit from these opportunities to understand and develop their executive functioning:

1. Introduce the concept of executive functions and refer to these learning tools explicitly and often.

Define executive functioning, and lead discussions on how being aware of their thinking and taking control of their learning can help students achieve success in school and other aspects of their lives. A key message is that using executive functions often and effectively doesn't just happen -- we all have to work toward developing these abilities. Apply metaphors of executive functioning (the brain’s conductor or air traffic controller, for example), and invite students to share examples of how they can use executive functioning in their lessons and activities outside of school. How do adults use executive functioning in their jobs? How do the actions of characters in stories demonstrate executive functioning?

2. Provide student-centered opportunities to put executive functioning to work.

Include students in setting learning goals for lessons, and let them choose their own books for independent reading and subjects for classroom projects. Giving students choices enhances motivation by giving them a chance to think about subjects that interest them, and also underscores that they are in charge of their learning.

3. Be the "prefrontal cortex" for your class.

Articulate and model effective thinking practices. For example, clearly state your intent for a learning activity and demonstrate the steps of planning, carrying out, and assessing the outcomes of the activity. Identify up front any thorny problems and tough spots in new lesson content, and talk through possible strategies for identifying and overcoming any learning difficulties that arise. Use cues to remind students when activating their executive functions might be useful.

4. Catch students using executive functions effectively.

Congratulate students who recognize and correct mistakes to emphasize that mistakes are prime learning opportunities. Recognize not just the finished product, but also the hard work and the steps of planning and execution that students accomplished in completing a big project. Especially celebrate the successes of students who've struggled with taking charge of their learning in the past.

5. Clearly state classroom rules that support positive and productive learning interactions.

A well-organized environment with predictable rules allows students to more easily focus on the learning tasks at hand.

How do you approach teaching and encouraging students to develop their executive functioning in your classroom?

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One of the biggest complaints I hear about Common Core is the push toward informational texts. This is often accompanied by the complaint that we are no longer allowing students to read for the sake of reading. Just yesterday, a teacher said to me, "I wish we could read novels. With all these informational texts, kids are losing the love of reading."

Minutes later, I went to Facebook and noticed my friends sharing articles. I hopped on Twitter and noticed the same trend. They weren't just sharing the articles, either. They were geeking out on the ideas. We are naturally inclined to find information fascinating -- to the point that we have to share it out to the world. Nobody on Facebook is getting a grade for it. They're sharing an article because they found it relevant.

As a classroom teacher, I want to see that same level of excitement as students engage with informational texts. The following are eight strategies to make informational reading fun again.

1. Student Choice

When I first taught reading, I allowed students to choose novels during silent reading time. I made a huge deal out of the genres that were available. I asked students to develop a personal taste. However, I didn't allow students to select their own informational texts. This was odd, given the fact that every student had at least one interest that he or she was passionate about. If I had simply asked, "What information do you want to find?" rather than "What do you want to read?", I would have been able to help students fall in love with informational texts. Now, as a journalism teacher, I begin with student choice and the natural desire to find information.

2. Think More and Work Less

Often when a student gets frustrated with informational reading, it has less to do with reading and more to do with the work required. When students read one page and answer nine text-dependent questions, they get frustrated by the work. When teachers ask students to practice strategies mentally (such as thinking about clarifying questions rather than actually writing the questions), students spend more time reading. This, in turn, leads to reading endurance.

3. Keep the Strategies Flexible

Close reading isn't a bad thing. However, too often close reading becomes a lockstep procedure rather than a flexible strategy. Students focus on whether they are doing the process correctly instead of thinking about the information in the text. I've seen students stare at a poster worrying about what color they are supposed to use when highlighting a text rather than thinking about the accuracy of information and the bias of the source.

4. Personalized Practice

Informational reading becomes more fun when students feel like they are improving as readers. This is why I ask students to look at the standards to identify which areas they have mastered and which areas still require improvement. Before reading, students select two strategies that are strengths and one that is a weakness. Instead of the hurried, frantic race of a pacing guide, students are given the time to practice a reading strategy until they have mastered it.

5. Solve a Problem

Outside of the classroom, one of the most common motives for seeking out an informational text is the desire to solve a problem. Too often, though, students are simply answering text-dependent questions that do little more than test comprehension. What if we started informational reading with student inquiry? What if we allowed students to see informational texts as an integrated part of research? When this happens, informational texts become challenging and relevant to an actual context. That, in turn, makes the task of reading fun again.

6. Make Something

One of the best parts of teaching photojournalism is that students get a chance to use the information for making something new. This could be research for a podcast, facts for a video, or information for an article and editorial. Similarly, when I taught all subjects in a self-contained class, students often read informational texts as an integrated part of project-based learning. The reading remained fun because it was a vital part of what they were creating.

7. Embrace Technology

Too often, students are asked to read informational texts in a way that doesn't reflect the current context of our world. They highlight photocopied articles or take notes on textbook chapters. When teachers embrace technology, students can find more specific informational texts that fit their interests.

8. Don't Shy Away From the Conflict

Teachers do a disservice to students when they treat information as inherently neutral. Informational reading becomes fun when students see the conflict inherent in any informational text. They should be examining the bias of the language and analyzing the social, political, and economic forces at work in an author's argument. As they think critically about the conflict in a source, students see informational reading as the inherently dangerous act that it is.

There is no guarantee that every student will love every text. However, I have found that these eight strategies have helped students regain the inherent love of informational reading.

How do your students approach informational reading? Please tell us about it below in the comments section.

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Instructors, administrators, and school board members tend to all agree that critical thinking is a valuable skill for college students to develop. However, deciding to teach it in the classroom is often easier said than done. Instructors may wonder where to begin, how to motivate their students, and how to structure learning outcomes. To determine where to start, we asked our community to identify their top challenge with teaching critical thinking.

Addressing critical thinking

We asked our community of instructors to identify their very biggest challenge to teaching critical thinking among several common concerns.

The number one response, 30%, said their biggest challenge to teaching critical thinking in the classroom is simply creating original assignments that students may not have done before.

Twenty-five percent say the biggest challenge is demonstrating the benefit to their students, 16% say the biggest challenge is identifying relevant examples and tools to use to teach critical thinking, 15% say that measuring student success is their biggest critical thinking challenge, and 14% say finding the time to cover it in class.

Creating original assignments

According to authors Debra Jackson and Paul Newberry in their text Critical Thinking: A User’s Manual, 2nd Edition, arguments play a large role for teaching critical thinking in the college classroom. “Having information, especially in the Internet era, is not sufficient in your advanced courses. You must be able to use that information as never before by applying it in novel situations and critically appraising the results of others doing the same. That is, you must be able to recognize, analyze, evaluate, and construct arguments in a variety of disciplines.” (6)

Jackson and Newberry offer the following scenario for creating unique critical thinking lessons:

“Consider, for example, a debate between historians and a psychoanalyst over whether to accept an eyewitness report of an uprising of prisoners at the Auschwitz death camp in 1944. The historians argued that the woman’s testimony was useless because she remembered four chimneys exploding, but only one chimney had been destroyed. The psychoanalyst who had interviewed her disagreed.” (5)

What do you think your students would suggest as a solution? This concept is easily transferable to scenarios in many disciplines. How might your law students fight for the Dred Scott v. Sandford case? How would your English students critique Ben Franklin’s earliest writing if they were his editor?

Allow your students to respond to past and current events using the many skills and lessons they’ve learned in class. For insight on how college students feel about critical thinking, visit our blog post, “College Students on Critical Thinking in the Classroom.”

Reference: Jackson, Debra; Paul Newberry. 2016. Critical Thinking: A User’s Manual, 2nd Edition. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

What critical thinking assignments have you successfully integrated into your classroom? Share your ideas with our community of educators below.

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While some college students enjoy working with their peers, others may occasionally struggle to retain civility with their classmates. Regardless, it’s important to help them discover the best ways to build a dynamic group study or work session. Share these tips with your students for building a synergistic, diverse learning experience.

Creating synergy

According to author J. Dan Rothwell in his book, In Mixed Company: Communicating in Small Groups, 9th Edition:

“Groups often outperform individuals working alone, and sometimes they produce spectacularly superior results. This group genius is called synergy. Synergy occurs when group performance from joint action of members exceeds expectations based on perceived abilities and skills of individual members (Salazar, 1995). Thus, the whole is not necessarily equal to the sum of its parts. It may be greater than the sum of its individual parts.” (43)

Strong synergy is a vital component to successful peer-to-peer learning and group work.

When group members are highly motivated to achieve a common goal, such as grades, synergy is likely to occur. For example, if you’re studying for a test with a group, rather than assigning each member to summarize a chapter on their own, try working together to move through the material. Discuss with your group members what it is that you hope to achieve from working together and ensure that you’re all on a similar page.

Valuing diversity

If you have the opportunity to choose your group members, it also helps to build a diverse group. You’ll get more from your experience by working with peers with varied backgrounds and insights. Look for group members with diverse task-relevant skills, knowledge, abilities, beliefs, values, perspectives, and problem-solving strategies.

To build strong synergy, you need to have a wide variety of skills and abilities among your group. Rothwell goes on to explain, “In a simulation study comparing groups with deep diversity and those without, the groups with deep diversity were synergistic and outperformed even their best individual member. Groups without deep diversity performed much more poorly.” (47)

For more insight on working well with groups, visit our recent blog post, “Tips for Students: Seven Reasons to Value Group Work.”

Reference: Rothwell, J. Dan. 2016. In Mixed Company: Communicating in Small Groups, 9th Ed. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

What are some of the major benefits you see from students’ peer-to-peer collaboration? Share your ideas below.

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• Con el objetivo de impulsar la preparación de los jóvenes y adultos de Sinaloa, National Geographic Learning |Cengage Learning  y el ICATSIN unen esfuerzos en pro de la educación.

 
Culiacán, Sinaloa a 6 de marzo de 2015- El Instituto de Capacitación para el Trabajo del Estado de Sinaloa (ICATSIN) firmó  convenio de colaboración con National Geographic Learning | Cengage Learning, líder en el desarrollo de experiencias de aprendizaje de alto valor para convertirse este último en el socio que proveerá todo el contenido de los programas académicos.

El convenio lo signó el Lic. Audómar Ahumada Quintero, Director General ICATSIN y Daniel Staines Rodríguez, Strategic Accont Manager, en representación  del Ing. Enrique Fernández Calero, Director General de National Geographic Learning | Cengage Learning México, reflejando así el compromiso que ambos organismos tienen para mejorar la calidad de la capacitación de los jóvenes y adultos del Estado.

Se contemplan libros físicos y programas didácticos electrónicos e interactivos que Cengage Learning ofrece, con lo que se busca enriquecer la enseñanza y fomentar el aprendizaje basado en experiencias con una meta de 7,500 acciones de capacitación del idioma para los próximos tres años, anunció el Director General de ICATSIN.
El acuerdo comprende, en una primera etapa, la implementación por parte del ICATSIN del uso de las herramientas de aprendizaje del idioma desarrolladas por National Geographic Learning |Cengage Learning, tanto de temática general como para uso profesional específico, incluidas en los títulos WorldEnglish Split Edition (Stundet book & workbook), World English online video workbook y acceso a la biblioteca digital National Geographic Virtual Library.

El atractivo de esta metodología didáctica es el enfoque innovador con material educativo que facilitan el aprendizaje del inglés y la actualización de las tecnologías, dijo el director general de ICATSIN, Lic. Audómar Ahumada Quintero.

“El acompañar nuestros programas de capacitación con material de National Geographic Learning representa el logro de un objetivo planteado por ambas instituciones en favor de nuestros habitantes”.
Es precisamente el enfoque intercultural, y el enorme acervo de información al que tendrán acceso los estudiantes lo que hace tan atractiva esta alianza con lo cual ICATSIN busca llegar a las comunidades más apartadas del Estado, con costos accesibles y con los mejores materiales en espacios dignos, aclaró.

Daniel Staines Rodríguez, Strategic Account Manager, en representación del Ing.  Enrique Fernández  Calero, Director General de National Geographic Learning | Cengage Learning externó que en Cengage Learning están muy motivados para acercarse a las instituciones de capacitación para los adultos y jóvenes a fin de aportar un granito de arena en el desarrollo profesional de los habitantes de Sinaloa.

“Estamos trabajando en conjunto y haciendo sinergia con ICATSIN, traemos una solución que consta de un libro de texto, acompañado de una plataforma On Line con lo cual cada estudiante tendrá acceso a una base de datos de National Geográphic, donde está el acervo de toda su historia y para los docentes del Estado se les dará capacitación continua.”

Por su parte el Secretario de Desarrollo Económico,  Aarón Rivas Loaiza al clausurar el evento denotó la importancia que tiene este tipo de convenios, ya que con ello se podrá capacitar a quienes no tienen empleo, pero si una oportunidad para trabajar en el extranjero y requieren hablar inglés.

Por lo anterior dijo que se buscará que un primer grupo sea de personas que no pudieron ingresar a un programa laboral por no contar con conocimientos de este idioma.

National Geographic Learning | Cengage Learning y cuenta con acuerdos similares con el Instituto de Formación para el Trabajo del Estado de Jalisco (IDEFT), el Instituto de Capacitación para el Trabajo del Estado de Campeche.

Have you ever tried on a "one-size-fits-all" article of clothing? If you happen to be of average height and average weight, then perhaps this size worked for you. However, if you happen to be shorter, taller, weigh less, or weigh more than the average person, then the odds are that the one size that supposedly fits all does not work for you!

The same goes for one-size-fits-all lessons or practice. Think about this for a second. Do all of your students earn the same grade? I'm certain they don't! And yet, many teachers assign the same homework or same practice to all students regardless of individual students' level of readiness. Let's say that I create a practice geared toward proficiency -- maybe for students with a B. This practice might be useful for students with B's or C's. Clearly, this practice is too easy for students with an A and too difficult for students with a D. By assigning this "one size fits some" practice, I just ignored the needs of the advanced and struggling students.

By now, teachers start to think, "Wait a minute! I don't have time to create individual practice for all of my students! Who has time for that?" The truth is, no one has time for that! So the question is how do we develop and embrace a framework that supports creating homework or practice to meet the needs of all learners? In order to reach diverse learners, we need diverse teaching strategies. Student voice and choice lie at the foundation of a differentiated classroom. When voice and choice are honored, the one-size-fits-all model transforms into multiple pathways for student growth.

Here are a few steps to offer multiple pathways for student success.

The Framework: Tiering for Levels of Understanding

A good lesson design includes learning objectives that are visible to students. However, learning objectives alone will not guide students in terms of how they'll need to perform.

It's important to reveal these levels of understanding to students. Too often, students want to know how many points they need to get the next letter grade. These clearly-defined levels of understanding shift the focus from point chasing to knowledge seeking. Without gaining understanding, student learning plateaus or plummets.

The Practice: Tiering Practice for Levels of Understanding

Once you determine what students will need to do for each level of understanding, it's time to create practice that mirrors these levels. This can be accomplished through a variety of strategies, but regardless the method, it is imperative to honor student voice and choice.

Labeling Levels of Understanding

This is one of the simplest ways to tier practice. Levels of understanding can be labeled by clearly identifying ability levels as part of the heading for each section of practice. Students can choose where they need to start based on their own levels of understanding. Some may start with the Basic practice and work through Proficient. Others may start with Proficient and work their way through Advanced. This means that, while all students receive the same paper or practice, they simply choose where to start and end.

Learning Menus

Learning menus offer students voice and choice in how they learn while providing them with purposeful practice. This SlideShare, Multiple Pathways to Student Engagement, offers examples of how to create Think Tac Toe menus as well as additional learning menu styles aligned to levels of understanding.

Anchor Activities

These are practice activities available to students once their work is complete and extra time remains. You can create anchor activities at a designated station in your classroom where students can go for extra practice. In order to foster self-reflection, consider having students identify why they chose the practice they chose. Want to go digital? Consider creating digital playlists with hyperlinks for students to navigate their practice. Sites such as Symbaloo or EdShelf are great platforms for anchor activities.

The Assessments: Tiering for Formative and Summative Assessments

Assessments can be tiered for levels of understanding as well. Formative assessments should build from basic to advanced levels of understanding in order to guide instruction and practice. Summative assessments should embrace all levels of understanding so that both the teacher and student have a clear picture of student learning at the end of a unit of instruction.

These are just a few of many strategies to support diverse learners. The bottom line is that "one size" only fits some students. It is the responsibility of diverse teachers to offer diverse strategies in order to support diverse learners in the classroom.

See original text: http://goo.gl/Vk4FUx