Blog
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How To Make a 3D Printed Stamp
Do you want to learn how to bring digital files to life with 3D printing? You don’t need any prior experience to get started. You don’t even need to have your own 3D printer! Watch this teaser to see a close up of the finished product. Video Tutorial Step 1: Use Canva to design your stamp Create a 2D visual of your stamp using Canva, a free and beginner-friendly graphic design platform. You can include text and image in your stamp. Pro Tip: If you’re making a round stamp, click on Effects and use the Curve function to curve the text. Note: You can use the digital stamp for online…
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How to Use Padlet in 10 Ways For Teaching
Padlet has become a classroom favourite for teachers and students. Its rise came with the shift to online learning and the increasing need for teachers to engage and keep students accountable in their learning. What is Padlet? Padlet is a digital canvas that allows teachers and students to share their ideas and collaborate with others. It is student-friendly and, unlike other collaborative edtech platforms, it doesn’t permit students to edit or delete another student’s post. Padlet also filters profanity (yay!). Is Padlet free? Padlet has a free version that allows you to have access to 3 padlets. You can get an additional padlet if you register with this referral link.…
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5 Reasons why teachers love the Bitmoji Classroom (Featuring the Founder of Facebook group “Bitmoji Craze for Educators”, Dr. Allatesha Cain)
The Bitmoji. They are personalised emojis that look like you. Bitmojis have been around for a while, yet, recently in the teaching community, the Bitmoji craze has absolutely blown up! Teachers love Bitmoji! Some teachers even pay out of pocket for Bitmoji stickers to reward their students! Teachers from around the world are using Bitmoji and sharing their creative uses with others online.
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How to use 3 Types of Learner Interactions in Online Learning
In February 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the UAE region, amongst many areas, causing nation-wide school closures. Teachers began flooding online to research, collaborate, train-up and gear-up to fight for quality distance education delivery that each and every student has a right to. Edtech companies were supporting teachers by waiving fees to their services. Telecom companies were working rigorously to ensure their severs don’t burn, due to the wave of teachers and students hopping on to video-conferencing apps. Flashback to last year when I had the pleasure of team teaching with a brilliant individual who taught me about See Think Wonder. I would describe this teaching strategy as the cool…
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Engaging educational activities for students learning remotely #COVID-19
Since the beginning of school closures world-wide, I have witnessed the collegiality and raw strength of the online teaching community. Like many others, I have spent more time on Twitter this week than ever before. Teachers from around the world are sharing resource ideas and extending an arm and a leg to help others during today’s global crisis. How do we engage students? If students are involved in an asynchronous mode of remote learning, they will not have the presence of a teacher explicitly directing them to complete tasks. Students will need to self-regulate and motivate themselves. To solve this problem, educational technology (edtech) companies gamify learning experiences by using:…
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40+ Tools for Distance Learning (A response to COVID-19)
All UAE schools are closed for a month as a preventative response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The first two weeks will be Spring break, followed by two weeks of distance learning. Some other countries around the world have temporarily shut down schools including China, Japan, Iran and Korea. The spread of a virus behaves like an exponential function and will likely affect the education of students over the next few months. How do you implement distance learning? Distance learning involves students learning remotely, most commonly through the use of online learning platforms. Amidst global economic uncertainty, as an educator there are factors you can control such as equipping yourself with…
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7 Student-Centred Learning Strategies in Maths
Recently, I have been experimenting with student-centred teaching and learning strategies in Maths class. Student-centred learning is an approach to education that places the learner in an active role in the classroom. The teacher then becomes the facilitator of learning. I have found that this model of teaching requires a much higher degree of classroom management than traditional methods, however, ripples with immense benefits to the learning culture of the class. There are immediate signs of increased student engagement and autonomy. It is well worth the efforts in planning and implementation. Its success is influenced by the teacher knowing each learner’s needs, managing the classroom effectively and expecting the most…
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16 Tips for Beginning Teachers
Recently, I was asked to speak with a class of Mathematics students who were finishing their teaching degree at a local university. These students were about to embark upon their first year of teaching. I thought to myself, “What would I share?“. What could I tell these bright-eyed individuals that might make a difference to their practice? What would have resonated with me back when I was sitting in their seats? It was the short, sweet & raw advice that I remembered (No filter!). So here are my top tips for beginning teachers!
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Maths City Project
After I finish teaching a topic, I like to give my students an opportunity to create a piece of work that combines ideas and concepts learnt in the topic. I have especially enjoyed this small project with my younger students. Not only will your students work collaboratively with others, but you will end up with a magnificent classroom display that enhances your learning space to become more positive and welcoming. After seeing my classroom display, other teachers have asked for me to run the project with their class, hence, I’ve decided to upload all the resources I’ve used so that any teacher can pick up these instructions and hit the…
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How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegre
Disclaimer: I draw connections between Dale Carnegre’s book and teaching. This piece is also a reflection on how the book helps me to understand my own environment. Behavioural psychology is fascinating to us all. What makes each person tick? Why are some people more successful than others? How do I become more influential?
