Eclectic Technology

If your learners are fans of Star Wars, then these posters may find a place in your classroom. You will find not only the image above (which is on Growth Mindset), but also an image of The Dark Side, otherwise knows as a Fixed Mindset.

In addition, there is a poster 8 Mathematical Processes of Jedi Masters, as well as one on Standards Based Gradings (an assessment tool). To go directly to a page that allows you to download the images click here.

If you are looking for some maps that will have students scratch their heads and consider come concepts in a new light this post will provide you with 22 choices. The one above intrigued me. It shows a map of the world, and has a circle that shows where more people live than the rest of the world. I suspect this image would bring up many questions, and that many would be interdisciplinary. Click through to the post to find many other great maps and charts.

How can we engage eLearners? How about using storytelling techniques. Stories engage us and they will also engage students. This post explores this, providing an infographic as well as discussing the power of stories before moving on to explore ways to bring storytelling into eLearning. 

There are six components that are discussed:

1. Know your audience.

2. Use a structure.

3. Appeal to emotions.

4. Intensify the story with visuals.

5. Make the stories relevant to the course.

6. Pay attention to detail.

As always additional resources are linked to in most of the six components with more at the end of the post. The components shared in this post also apply to teaching in a face2fact classroom, or  blended classroom. As you work on new lessons this year consider using these components to help design the lesson.

There are days when it is difficult to move forward, when frustration has taken over enthusiasm and we may question ourselves. This post is a lesson in inspiration (at least for me) and provides great quotes and images that lead one to think again about how to handle the difficult situations we find ourselves in, be in the classroom or out of the classroom.

The post provides 8 suggestions, and each is followed by a quote and/or visual. Each is also followed by a question.

What are the suggestions? Three are listed below.

* Decide to Level Up. And the question is....What is one new thing I can learn today?

* Take Time to Read. And the question is...What is the last book I read?

* Seek inspiration. And the question is....Where do I struggle to be inspired? How can I inject vitamin B there?

Allow yourself the time to read through this post and re-energize  your spirit. May your day be awesome!

Perhaps with school starting up again, I am more aware of the number of posts that look at metacognition, and how our brains learn. This post from SH!FT provides the acronym B.R.A.I.N. B.A.S.E.D to help you remember key components of designing a course. Although the post is designed for eLearning the same concepts are also important in a face-2-face environment.

Let's look at the B in brain. It stands for the "brain's time clock." How long can students engage in active learning vs. passive learning? How long can a student online stay engaged (or a student in your classroom)? For each letter there is an explanation and in most cases links to additional resources.

The number of students participating in online courses continues to grow and for those that currently teach with students in their physical classroom, there are shifts towards blended learning, with part of the day online and part of the day with more direct instruction. This post looks at ways to keep students' attention online, but the same components are also important in the face2face classroom.

What is it that help students pay attention?

* Problem solving

* Comparisons

* Visuals

* Questions

* Emotions

* Stories

* Contrast

* Controversy

* Brevity

* Lists

Each of these areas is described in more depth when you click through to the post and in many cases you will find links to additional resources.

You may already be using some of these strategies, but try combining two or more to see how students react. Many of the strategies promote authentic learning opportunities, which promote high engagement. All are valuable to understand and to use in the classroom, but it online or face2face.