This is an update to a popular article from last year, to prepare you for the new school year. I think you’ll find it an interesting alternative to traditional teaching strategies:

It’s no secret many parents are frustrated with public schools. Are kids learning to think or just to pass tests? Are they spending classroom time wisely or just doing what’s always been done? Are we developing lifelong learners or simply kids who can’t wait to graduate?

If this describes you, you’re not alone in your concerns, but there’s hope. Consider a pedagogy that transcends rote memorization and the stock drills often found in today’s classrooms, one that expects critical thinking and teaches how to learn anything — not just school subjects. It’s called a “Growth Mindset”. In a 2016 Edsurge article by Rupa Gupta, former Redesign Administrator at Burnett Middle School in San Jose, Calif., she summarized the issue like this:

“In a recent national survey, 97 percent of teachers agreed that all students can and should have a growth mindset, and that same number said fostering a growth mindset is an important part of a teacher’s job. Yet only 50 percent said they have adequate solutions and strategies to shift mindset.”

So nearly everyone agrees this type of cerebral approach is important to real learning but few know how to make it happen.

Fast forward ten years. Here’s an article from Stanford discussing why it works and why you should try it. Their summation :

“Research has shown that when students have a growth mindset, they are more likely to challenge themselves, believe that they can achieve more, and become stronger, more resilient and creative problem solvers. Educators can have an enormous impact on the mindset of their students.”

Let’s review the basics:

What is Growth Mindset?

Let me back up a moment and define “Growth Mindset” more clearly. Most people believe basic human qualities like intelligence and talent are fixed traits: nature supersedes nurture. Kids are born with the characteristics that will mold their future. They are good at math or they aren’t. They can throw a football well or not. As kids grow, they figure out what they can and can’t do and adjust learning and life as needed to these truths. They come to believe that understanding and adapting to this process equates to success.

In a Growth Mindset, people believe ability can be developed through dedication and hard work. The cerebral and physical traits they were born with are just the starting point. Students are responsible for setting the patterns and strategies that allow them to succeed, by evaluating what they can do at any given point and making a plan for learning everything else.

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It sounds easy, but to a five or six year old, holding the mouse, clicking that left button, dragging and dropping while holding a finger down is darn difficult. Here’s a list (click for updates):

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Today’s tip: Fix Double-space between Paragraphs

Q: Space between paragraphs is the default, but I don’t like that. What do I do?

A: I don’t like that either. I’m sure as many people start a paragraph with a tab indent as a double space between paragraphs. To fix this, select the document you want to fix and then:

• In Word: Go to Page Layout>Paragraph>Spacing. Set ‘before’ and ‘after’ to 0–not 10.
• In Google Docs: Go to Format>Line Spacing. Set ‘before’ and ‘after’ to 0.

To make this the default, set the spacing up as you’d like it to be then click the ‘Default’ button at the bottom of the dialog box.

In Google Docs: Set up the page as you want it and then go to Styles drop-down menu>Options>Save current.

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Technology has been changing learning for over a decade. The Ask a Tech Teacher team has insights into what that means in the teaching of English:

How Is Technology Changing the Way English Is Taught?

Technology has always been crucial when it comes to the field of education, but it has never before had such an impact on the way in which English is taught and learned than it has today. Virtual classrooms, instant feedback, and AI tools are all helping teachers to deliver more effective lessons while simultaneously supporting students in their learning journeys.

Online classes have been around for a while, but the Covid-19 pandemic really brought their potential to the fore. As internet use has become more accessible across the globe and Wi-Fi is now more reliable, the latest technology is rapidly changing the way English is taught in countries all over the world. From artificial intelligence to mobile apps and online learning spaces, cutting-edge tech is making an enormous difference for educators and learners alike.

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Building a high school grad worthy of being anointed ‘USNA midshipman’ isn’t easy, but nothing worth your effort is. As President John F. Kennedy said:

A young man who does not have what it takes to perform military service is not likely to have what it takes to make a living.

Still, many who are completely capable of qualifying will claim they can’t do it, using the most mundane overused excuses. Read these top five, and then say, Bring it on!

1  I wasn’t smart enough

C students rule the world. John McCain finished almost last in his class. Smart isn’t the barometer for success in the world. Hard work, persistence, getting along with others, problem solving certainly makes any plan work better.

2  I wasn’t cut out

How do you know, at the age of 16, what you’re cut out for? Most people never work in the field they majored in during college. I didn’t. Whatever you pick, odds are you’ll do something else.

Nevertheless, read this post on the initial cut for Midshipman applicants,  Am I a Midshipman? and Life the USNA Way. (more…)

Hello! Ask a Tech Teacher is a group of tech ed professionals who work together to offer you tech tips, advice, pedagogic discussion, lesson plans, and anything else we can think of to help you integrate tech into your classroom. Our primary focus is to provide technology-in-education-related information for educators–teachers, administrators, homeschoolers, and parents.

Here’s how to get started on our blog (or click this link):

Read our varied columns

They include:

• Tech tips
• Dear Otto–questions from educators on tech questions
• Pedagogy that impacts tech in ed
• Reviews of books, apps, web tools, websites, tech ed products used in your classroom
• Subscriber Specials–monthly discounts (or FREE) on tech ed products
• Humorous life of a tech teacher

Find tech ed resources you need

Here’s where to look:

• Free Lesson Plans–on software programs, core tech principles, subject-specific topics
• Website reviews–on products you want to use in your classroom
• K-12 Digital Tools–for your digital devices
• Structured Learning--where all the Ask a Tech Teacher crew’s tech ed books are published; there’s an insane number of topics and formats. Some free, most fee

Subscribe to our newsletter

It’s mostly weekly and always free. (more…)

I get thousands of visitors a day–over six million since I started. The most common reason why you-all drop by is resources. I have lots of them–lesson plans, tips and tricks–but one area I have not enough depth is the experiences of fellow teachers:

• your personal teaching
• your informed take on tech ed topics
• education pedagogy

If you’re interested in guest posting on this blog or start your own column, email me at askatechteacher at gmail dot com (comments often don’t work) and I’ll be in touch. It’s a challenging time but one we-all can get through if we talk to each other.

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Today’s tip: 5 Cures for Technophobia

1. Just Use it--Be that teacher in your school who always tries whatever new gimmick the Tech Geeks come up with. Do it in private  before kids enter or faculty drops by. Boot up the computer, test drive the Google Apps trick someone emailed you. It doesn’t matter if it takes you a half hour or half minute to figure out what all those terms mean, or if it doesn’t work the first five times. It doesn’t even matter if it never works–because next time it will. Or the next time. You get better at tech by doing, not by watching others. I promise you, it works.
2. Train Yourself–Spend ten minutes exploring the tool before using it with students. If you don’t have time, try it with the students. Model Common Core and 21st Century learning skills for them, like critical thinking, close reading, and problem solving. Let them see that adults use the same skills students learn.
3. Don’t worry if you make a mistake--Lots of experts do. They are searching for answers, being risk-takers, ignoring the fear of failure. Be that person, too. Try to find answers with the knowledge you have. You’ll either succeed or find what doesn’t work, and in that way inform yourself about the answer. Exactly as we teach kids.
4. Use Keyboard shortcuts–Put a list by the computer. It won’t take students long to remember them because kids love a faster way to an end. They’re quicker and less stressful than finding the button that does… [fill in the blank]. To push Ctrl+Z and have lost typing reappear (after accidentally deleting it) is a WOW. From that point, you’ve got them. Just keep sprinkling around the keyboard shortcuts.
5. Revel in your geekiness--Use your tech. Teach it to others. Listen to conversations about techie topics. Wear a flash drive as jewelry. Straighten your shoulders and punch your chin up when someone calls you a geek. You are proud of it. Don’t be surprised people treat you with awe, like your brain grew two sizes, like Sheldon should be your best friend or a Tardis your home. Just nod and say nothing. You are a geek. You’re enigmatic. You’re confident and sure of yourself.  You answer questions that bamboozle everyone else (at least, you know where to look).

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9-11 Day has become Patriot Day here in America, but it doesn’t change its purpose: to show how much we love our country.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvsN0Id4LEg?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&wmode=transparent]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwcWVs4Eejg?si=nfBd6Unur6CmgiUH&start=35]

If you aren’t familiar with this terrorist attack, here’s a 2-minute overview:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uOn7xLYPbc?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&wmode=transparent]

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