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E d Te c h S h o w D a i l y M o n d a y, J u n e 2 9 , 2 0 1 5 1 4 HELPING THE RELUCTANT WRITER WITH PEG WRITING What do you do for the kid in your class (or the one sitting at your dining room table) who stares up at the clock looking for inspiration that doesn't seem to be coming? How does that student get to write that first true sentence? There are several strategies you can pull out of your bag of tricks to help a student transform into a capable, fluent writer. Break the task down. What is the most important thing you want to write about? The second most important thing? And so on. Students can use one of the dozens of graphic organizers in PEG Writing to brainstorm, organize their thoughts and break down the task of writ- ing so that it is less intimidating. A picture is worth a thousand words. For some students, a picture prompt may better serve as inspiration than a written prompt would. With a picture, the student can describe details in and/or absent from the scene according to their task. Either way, the door is opened for the student to write. Teachers can create custom prompts in PEG Writing and attach images and other stimulus material that can motivate the student in ways that a traditional prompt would not. Encourage students to write about what they know and to use details effectively to describe a process or scene. The prompt "What I Did on My Summer Vacation" may not engage the reluctant writer because it is too broad. The result may be some- thing like, "We went to the beach and had fun. The End." However, "What Happened When My Sister Touched the Starfish" allows the student to provide rich descriptions of memorable events. The more specific the prompt, the easier it may be to discuss details. Focus on the writing, not on the spelling or the grammar. Yes, the tech- nical details of writing are important, and the writer will have to deal with them eventually. But you may see greater improve- ments if you turn off PEG Writing's spelling and grammar feedback and allow students to focus on trait development first. This approach can lead to bigger jumps in their scores than a focus on conventions. Seeing improvement in their scores may encourage even more writing from reluctant writers. In the end, nothing helps the reluc- tant writer like continuing to write. Teachers can use PEG Writing to create different types of writing assignments, provide feedback and suggestions for improvement, and differentiate instruc- tion to appeal to reluctant and eager writ- ers alike. PROJECT BASED LEARNING: THE GOAL IS YOUR SUCCESS Educators are continuously seeking bet- ter ways for students to understand math and science (STEM). Aviation has a pro- found use of these subjects when build- ing flight plans. By creating a curriculum that embraces geometry, trigonometry, physics, meteorology, geography, topog- raphy and astronomy, students learn to solve complex problems using multiple math and science disciplines. edustation STEM Lab and edustation Flight Simulators deliver a unique STEM learn- ing platform that is engaging and fun for girls, boys and teachers. In addition to math and science skills, it incorporates researching aviators and writing a paper to support creative writing. The results are impressive. How? edustation K12 Manual. Starting a Flying Club in elementary, middle and high schools is a great way to introduce kids to the application of math and science. Incorporating its STEM Lab curriculum into the school's STEM pro- gram advances knowledge and embraces the Common Core and Next Gen Science Standards. The edustation K12 Manual comes with each simulator and is designed to teach the non- aviator teacher the basics of flying so there is no need for the teacher to have experience in avia- tion. The lessons are cou- pled with missions in the flight simulator, so the skill development is progressive. The K12 manual contains lessons with teacher notes for topics to explore. The edustation STEM Lab curriculum is in BETA and with regular updates. The complete curriculum will include a video tutorial for each lesson plan. Using video lesson plans trains the teachers so that the con- tent is presented in a uni- form manner that is excit- ing for the students. The goal is to support the stu- dent's math and science curriculum with Project Based Learning. Looking for money? www.edustationEd.com now has a web link to provide schools with Grant Funding partners who are interested in supporting STEM teaching activities. For more information, call 203.527.5747. TABPILOT: MANAGING STUDENT DEVICES IN THE CLASSROOM The TabPilot Tablet Manager provides tablet management functions for both IT administrators in need of mobile device management and teachers seeking class- room management and control of tablets in their rooms. TabPilot is a cloud-based system that allows teachers to manage apps, licenses, security and permissions. TabPilot also allows teachers to lock student screens, monitor student devices and restrict stu- dents to a single application. TabPilot is currently available for use on Android devices. TabPilot will work in a blended setting of Android tablets from various manufacturers. Managing student Android tablets can be done from anywhere in the world. With TabPilot, teachers can enable and disable Android applications, install applications to students' Android tablets, enable and disable Web links and send content. "What is great about the TabPilot management system is that tablets can be managed from anywhere," Doug Pennekamp, CEO of Education 2000 and a trusted TabPilot partner, said. "Teachers don't have to be in the same room or put all the devices in a configurator. If a teacher is absent for school and needs a substitute to take care of their classroom, they can be assured that the students are not access- ing things on their devices that they should not be accessing." Managing classroom devices is part of a teachers' responsibil- ity in the classroom. This responsibility can be time consuming and stressful. "Teachers have a lot of responsibili- ty in the classroom and have added even more responsibilities with adding devices in the classroom," Pennekamp said. "Teachers have to make sure devices are charged, resolve connectivity issues and get students to the digital activity. Along with these responsibilities, teachers also have to continue to manage students, cre- ate lesson plans, do assessments and have parent conferences. All of these things are more than just classroom management, but education efficiency. "By improving education efficiency, I believe education effectiveness also improves," Pennekamp said. "TabPilot helps to achieve effectiveness in the classroom by ensuring that students are on task." TabPilot is working on expanding to function with iOS devices. TabPilot for the iOS platform is currently being tested and implemented on a limited release with the TabPilot Early Experience Program. For schools interested in testing TabPilot on their student iOS devices, please contact Education 2000. For more information, visit www.edu2000plus.com. HELP YOUR STUDENTS UNDERSTAND COMPLEX TEXTS WITH INSTANT FEEDBACK By Steve Siden, Customer Success, Actively Learn You know that time of day. The last students have left, and there's a pile of papers to grade stacked on your desk giving you the stink eye. Who knows, maybe you give it back. You know your students crave instant feedback, and you'd love to be able to give it to them. In this Internet era, instant gratifica- tion and immediate feedback is often a reality. Those who say Millennials are looking for "constant praise" might not be considering the complete picture. Jeff Lawson, CEO of Twilio, says, "they want to always be learning, always be grow- ing, and they're looking for that constant feedback. It's not that they're looking for constant praise, but rather they want to keep score." Even in schools with small class sizes, the regular collection, grading and returning of papers adds days to the feedback loop for students to learn how they can improve. Wouldn't it be nice to stand over the shoulder of every student as they read, able to support them when they struggle? Wouldn't it be nice if students could support each other when you aren't there? These are a few of the reasons why we built Actively Learn. It is our goal to get students to think more, write more and collaborate more while they read. To do so, teachers bring whatever texts they want, add questions, notes and media into the text, and then assign it to a group of students. When reading, stu- dents can highlight text, take notes, have discussions in the margins, answer questions, define words and ask for more support, right in the text! At Actively Learn, we want all students to find joy and purpose in reading, across the curriculum. And guess what? You can grade and leave feedback for students in real time. Who knows, maybe you'll never stare at a stack of reading quizzes again. Come visit us at booth #1136 to dis- cuss how we'll foster a world of thinking people together. For more information, visit www.actively learn.com, email info@activelylearn.com or stop by booth #1136 at ISTE.