Education Technology

This "what makes a good teacher" created by a group of high school students.

treat students with respect
be enthusiastic
know your stuff
be available for extra help
use multimedia resources and multiple resources for students
connect with students/ form relationships
interact with students- outside school activities, talk about their personal lives
real life connections to materials/class
just talk to students and get to know them in first few days
if using PowerPoint, use less words and have slides available for download
don't lecture for whole class, mix things up
use games for review
let students use a note card for test or some kind of reference
realistic homework - if you assign too much, students won't do it, or won't be able to
science classes - problems and projects and labs
give students multiple days to complete homework - allows for issues in schedule, sports, etc.
don't give all class rules at once - overwhelms students - just touch on main points
use web resources - class site or blog, and review materials students can access at home
let students do work on board and explain how to do it instead of teacher always doing it
projects - one big one per marking period with some class time for them
let students pick project groups - easier for meeting outside of school
be flexible - reschedule test if lots of tests on same day or other things going on

Do you want to know what works in education...ask your students

Students Weigh In On Characteristics of Effective Teachers

Teaching and learning - it's what we do and what we hope the students do. Here are some tips to help improve teaching and learning:

1. Help students combat fear of academic failure.
Encourage them. They can do it. Support them. Let them know that it is ok to be wrong or fail, as long as you learn from that and move on. Connect class concepts to their lives. Success here = success in life.

2. Determine grades on academics, not behavior. Behavior should be a separate issue from academic performance. Some of the academics skills they should be assessed on: Recall, comprehend, apply, analyze, synthesize, evaluate

3. Ask questions of "How", "Why", "What if"
Deep, critical thinking questions, vs. rote memorization or multiple choice tests.

4. Don't feel compelled to cover everything in the textbook. The textbook is NOT a curriculum.
Use other resources too.

5. Use State and Local Standards to promote what your students need to know and do.
Science: fundemental concepts and principles of scientific inquiry and problem solving. They need a functional literacy in the subject matter, along with other essential skills.

6. Build on their prior knowledge and experiences. Respect their opinions. What experiences do they have that can be applied to this topic. Make the topic relevant to them or something they already know about.
Science: ask students what they think will happen BEFORE a demo or lab and then discuss it afterwards.

7. Emphasize reading in every class. Reading for literature, for information, and to perform a task. Writing in every class is also important. 
10 Important Skills Students need for the Future

DEN SCICon - great learning experience and resources - also discusses how failure in science is part of process.

What I use with Physics classes instead of textbook