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‘Connecting with your students is where it starts.’
Narrated by Greg Cunningham
Dr. John Brown’s Journey Within the Vast World of Instruction, [Podcast]
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College and Career Readiness through Blended Learning
college career readiness
Roadmap to Recovery II
by Gary Kaplan
Helping Teachers Implement Acceleration
We all know that the coming year will be the most challenging in memory because of the effects of the covid shutdown. Learning loss, or unfinished learning, has disrupted attainment of grade-level skills, aggravated achievement gaps and delayed college plans. Commissioner Riley has said that the pandemic has made the challenge of serving students with varied academic needs “significantly more pronounced and widespread.”
Another New Beginning – the start of school
It is exciting. It is exhausting. It is a time of transition for everyone.
by Eileen Wedegartner, Blended Learning Specialist
It’s that bittersweet time of year again, the start of school. We pack away our summer gear, bags loaded with suntan lotion, flip-flips, towels and sand, and trade them in for book bags stuffed with new notebooks. Schools have been freshly cleaned and waxed and everything has a glimmer of hope. It’s that glorious time when every desk is shining, every pencil is sharp, and every Expo marker works.
What is College Readiness?
by Eileen Wedegartner, Blended Learning Specialist
It goes beyond quantitative data points
Measuring “college readiness” is quite the conundrum. Some say it is about test scores, class rank, SAT and GPA. But I think it goes beyond those quantitative data points. While they are all important indicators of skill, there are other measures that cannot be captured in scores but are inherent in “readiness.” These qualities or capacities include executive function, time management in general, prioritizing work and planning for due dates.
Thank You… Renewed Commitment
Dear Friend of JFYNetWorks,
You may remember a young man named Joey whom we have featured before. Joey was a pleasant, affable high school student with a winning smile and a low opinion of himself. “I want to go to college,” he said, “but I’m not sure I can do it. There’s too much to learn. How am I ever going to make it?” We have recounted how we helped Joey work his way through our College Readiness course by showing him the periodic reports that documented how much he had achieved and how much closer he was to the goal. Our blended learning specialist, Melissa, even counted the number of software modules he had to complete and checked them off as he did them. By the end of the year, he had learned enough to pass the college placement test. In the fall, he was admitted to community college without having to take any remedial courses. We’ll never forget his charmingly modest expression of triumph to Melissa: “I got this, Miss.”
Be Amazing in 2018, Blended Curriculum: Building Skills & Confidence
Blended Learning – AIMS
Blended Learning is the fusion of online and teacher-led instruction. It selects and organizes content from the vast resources of the internet and places customized instructional units in the skilled hands of the classroom teacher and at the fingertips of the student. Blended Learning is the pedagogical tool that makes student-centered instruction possible. Our data-driven, outcomes-based methodology includes ongoing training and support for teachers. We call it AIMS – Assess, Instruct, Measure and Support. Learn more here.
Does Homework Have to be Boring?
by Joan Reissman, Blended Learning Specialist
The value of homework is the subject of longstanding debate among educators. In simpler times, homework required no more than rote repetition of concepts taught in class. That’s no longer enough. Today’s teachers don’t want reinforcement to be merely repetitious. They want homework to drive deeper understanding of concepts. They use techniques that reinforce daily lessons while promoting deeper understanding through application and differentiated instruction. For example, one study of teachers who assigned technology-based homework linked their students’ improved performance on final exams to the way the teachers structured the homework ccording to the principles of cognitive intervention (Butler, Marsh, Slavinsky et al., Educ Psychol Rev (2014) 26: 331).
The Choice of Presence
by Eileen Wedegartner, Blended Learning SPECIALIST
Go into any classroom in any town and you’ll immediately get a taste of the teacher who presides there. You’ll see some of the latest research in education, famous quotations, pictures of important persons, findings in the teacher’s field of study. You’ll see school mission statements, school protocols, emergency evacuation procedures, teacher expectations and student work.
Active Reading, Active Thinking
Distinctions sharp and shaded
by Eileen Wedegartner, Blended Learning SPECIALIST
I’m sitting in an ELL classroom. Students are reading articles in our online curriculum and working through the meanings of unfamiliar words. The teacher in this class has stressed the techniques of active reading: note-taking and annotating a text as you read, asking questions, summarizing and making connections. The students are practicing these techniques as I observe.
Labor Shortage Continues. 99% of Jobs Go to College Graduates
Labor Shortage Continues
99% of Jobs Go to College Graduates
by Gary Kaplan, JFYNetWorks Executive Director
“There are no jobs for high school diplomas.”
The May jobs report reiterates a theme we have been hearing with increasing urgency: the shortage of skilled labor. The current 4.3% unemployment rate is a 16-year low. That means there are very few unattached workers available at a time when job openings are near all-time highs. For employers who can’t find qualified workers it means foregoing opportunities for expansion. For the economy at large it means slower growth. But it’s not just a quantitative problem, it’s also qualitative: there aren’t enough workers with the specific skills employers need. The wide range and varied dimensions of the skills shortage are indicated by a survey of Saturday’s newspaper reports.
