Catlin Tucker

AUGUST 2, 2020

A few weeks ago, I published a blog titled “ 8 Ideas Designed to Engage Students In Active Learning Online.” 2 Virtual Jigsaw Activity with Google Slides. Either assign students a particular slide (by writing their names at the bottom of each slide) or allow students to select the slide they want to work on.

Students 546

Students Math Writing Discussions 546

eSchool News

APRIL 3, 2023

. – Starting tomorrow, Turnitin – a leading provider of academic integrity solutions globally – will activate its AI writing detection capabilities. The technology identifies the use of AI writing tools including ChatGPT, with 98 percent confidence, enabling educators to analyze and review the authenticity of academic work.

Writing 298

Writing Academic Integrity Education Feedback 298

Catlin Tucker

NOVEMBER 13, 2020

As I’ve said in previous blog posts, teaching in a concurrent classroom is the most challenging teaching assignment I can imagine. I encourage teachers to use a welcome task consistently and vary the types of activities they ask students to complete. What’s working? What are they struggling with?

Evaluation 546

Evaluation Feedback Writing Assignments 546

Catlin Tucker

SEPTEMBER 8, 2021

Booklist Assignment. The Booklist Assignment is designed to help students select a book they’ll enjoy. Reading and Response Assignment. As you build a reading culture, you can assign the “Reading and Response” as classwork, homework, or a combination of the two. Response to Reading Choice Board.

Culture 499

Culture Reading Assignments Blended Learning 499

Catlin Tucker

APRIL 27, 2021

This approach to designing a choice board for peer feedback gives students agency and choice while providing the necessary scaffolding to make this activity accessible. Assignment Checklist. These are often the same things that teachers outline in the initial description of the assignment, task, or project.

Feedback 546

Feedback Peer Review Assignments Online Learning 546

eSchool News

APRIL 25, 2025

Albuquerque Public Schools is focusing on grant writing and lesson planning. With Gemini’s help, the district won four grants totaling $100,000, all by using Gemini to aid in grant research and writing. What are you using AI for in your school/classroom?

Education 201

Education Quizzes Coaching Special Education 201

Catlin Tucker

JUNE 18, 2023

However, I often hear the question, “Can I use the flipped classroom if I don’t assign homework?” Some teachers do not assign homework. Despite these potential pitfalls, flipped instruction retains its value even when videos are not assigned for homework. This encourages brainstorming and prediction.

Lecturing 433

Lecturing Knowledge Assignments Writing 433

Catlin Tucker

AUGUST 10, 2021

When I began my doctoral program, one of my first assignments was to create a vision board. It required that I have complete clarity about my goals and what I actively wanted to work toward. Giving students the agency to decide how they want to create their vision board is critical to making this activity meaningful.

Assignments 413

Assignments Motivation Writing Achievement 413

Catlin Tucker

MARCH 25, 2024

A playlist is a sequence of learning activities designed to move students toward a desired result. Writing Assignments: Writing tasks, whether creative stories, essays, or research papers, require students to think critically, organize their thoughts, write a draft, and revise based on feedback.

Teachers 481

Teachers Art Feedback Writing 481

Catlin Tucker

SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

There are a series of stations–or learning activities–and students rotate through them. instruction, scaffolds, practice, assignments). Tips for using the station rotation model in a concurrent classroom: “Rotate” or transition groups of students from activity to activity on a set schedule. Differentiate learning (e.g.,

Blended Learning 545

Blended Learning Teaching Learning Students 545

Catlin Tucker

JUNE 16, 2024

Application activities also enhance retention and mastery of information, making it more likely that students will retain and effectively use what they have learned in the future. These skills will serve them long after they leave school.

History 382

History Art Essay Physical Education 382

Catlin Tucker

DECEMBER 31, 2020

When I was in college, I started writing a holiday newsletter to include with my Christmas cards. As I began to write, I realized that 2020 for me was a year of extremes. Do they feel the work assigned is interesting, engaging, and relevant? What has been your favorite activity, assignment, or routine?

Learning 544

Learning Blended Learning Assignments Feedback 544

Ask a Tech Teacher

APRIL 30, 2024

Explore the benefits and drawbacks of AI in essay writing, including its impact on student learning. Unveil the evolving future of writing education with AI through these suggestions from the Ask a Tech Teacher team. AI and Writing Essays: Pros and Cons, How Will Students Learn to Write if an AI Writes It for Them?

Writing 187

Writing Essay Ethics Plagiarism 187

Catlin Tucker

NOVEMBER 29, 2020

Give students a fun “would you rather…” prompt or icebreaker activity to begin their time in the breakout room. Unlike text-based online spaces, which may be more challenging for younger learners or students who struggle to articulate their ideas in writing, FlipGrid allows students to share their ideas in a video recording.

Learning Spaces 545

Learning Spaces Student Engagement Learning Students 545

Catlin Tucker

OCTOBER 7, 2020

In a previous post, I described how blended learning models could make this challenging teaching assignment more manageable ; however, that post assumes that teachers are familiar with blended learning. Begin class with a review activity, writing prompt, feedback form, quick quiz, or formative assessment. Present-Pause-Discuss.

Blended Learning 546

Blended Learning Coaching Feedback Discussions 546

Catlin Tucker

APRIL 8, 2015

Below is a brief overview of the assignment. I’ve also included a link to a Google document with a detailed explanation of the assignment for any teacher interested in using it! Write an 8-12 sentence reflection about your book. Write a 4-6 sentence explanation of how this food goes with your book.

Reading 420

Reading Assignments English Writing 420

Catlin Tucker

APRIL 19, 2016

I use StudySync to extend learning online, differentiate my instruction for various skill levels, encourage active reading in the digital space, teach the Common Core Standards, and engage students in a range of activities to develop their reading and writing skills.

English 382

English Writing Assignments Reading 382

Catlin Tucker

MARCH 30, 2020

For teachers using StudySync in combination with Google Classroom, I’ve described three strategies that educators can use to capitalize on the activities in the StudySync First Read lesson plans to engage students in online discussions, collaborative research projects, and online vocabulary review. #1 StudySyncVocab.

Collaborative Research 370

Collaborative Research Students Knowledge Assignments 370

Teach Hub

APRIL 30, 2025

Start with Short and Purposeful Activities Short and intentional activities are your best friend when you’re just starting with outdoor teaching. Assign roles within each group to help students stay focused. After the activity, students can regroup in the classroom to share their findings and reflect on the experience.

Activities 78

Activities Teaching Learning Attention 78

Catlin Tucker

MAY 18, 2021

Blended learning is “active, engaged learning online combined with active, engaged learning offline to give students more control over time, place, pace, and/or path of their learning.” They are not passive consumers but rather active participants. After a challenging year, I worry about teacher engagement.

Blended Learning 521

Blended Learning Feedback Learning Beliefs 521

Ask a Tech Teacher

JANUARY 17, 2025

How to use Digital Quick Writes This video is from a series I taught for school districts. It is now available for free, here on Ask a Tech Teacher: summarized by NoteGPT Summary In this video, Jacqui Murray discusses the concept of quick writes as a dynamic and engaging way to teach writing in the classroom.

Writing 174

Writing Gamification Critical Thinking Learning Styles 174

Catlin Tucker

JUNE 29, 2015

The flipped classroom model is a blended learning strategy I use to present my vocabulary , writing, and grammar instruction online. Students watch videos at home where they can control the pace of their learning, then they come to class prepared to apply that information in collaborative student-centered activities.

Multiple Choice Questions 420

Multiple Choice Questions Students Assignments Blended Learning 420

Catlin Tucker

SEPTEMBER 22, 2019

There are few activities more calming than drawing. It’s tempting to give students a series of problems or a writing task to assess what they learned in a lesson. You can ask students to write out their “tell me how” explanation, type it in a Google Form, or record a short FlipGrid video explaining their approach.

Learning 420

Learning Assignments Students Knowledge 420

Catlin Tucker

APRIL 12, 2016

There are several different approaches to designing a choice board, but the goal is to allow students an opportunity to select the activities they will complete to practice a skill or demonstrate understanding. Elementary teachers, who are teaching all subjects, may combine reading, math and vocabulary activities on a single board.

Blended Learning 419

Blended Learning Activities Assignments Math 419

Faculty Focus

MAY 20, 2025

In a course that requires out-of-class reading, that conversation is highly reliant on students doing their part and completing the assigned reading.However, in recent semesters, students engaging in focused reading in which they annotate text is dwindling. It seems as if a quick scan of one of the assigned pages is the best effort.

Instructors 96

Instructors Assignments Participation Students 96

Catlin Tucker

OCTOBER 14, 2020

Students must select at least one activity from each column. produce a piece of writing, record a video explanation, create a flowchart or concept map, design a multimedia slide deck). They can use Google Classroom to create an assignment and “make a copy” for each student. texts, videos, audio recordings/podcasts).

Learning 546

Learning Assignments Universal Design Feedback 546

Catlin Tucker

MARCH 19, 2024

Such routines include students saying the word aloud, clapping out syllables, looking up and writing down the definition, and finding examples and non-examples of vocabulary terms. Writing a Vocabulary Haiku One of my favorite strategies for vocabulary development is having students construct a vocabulary haiku.

Writing 374

Writing Coaching Knowledge Activities 374

Ask a Tech Teacher

JUNE 9, 2022

If you’ve been tasked (or voluntold) to run this activity, here are six activities that will tech-infuse participants: Debate. This is an exercise as much for presenters as audience, and is graded on reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. demonstrate good command of writing and speaking conventions.

Activities 202

Activities Schools Writing Knowledge 202

Catlin Tucker

AUGUST 24, 2015

In the past, students received points for almost every activity they completed in class. During these activities, students should feel that it’s okay to struggle, or even fail. Each activity they do in class and at home is designed to continually build their skill sets. Don’t Grade Everything.

Grades 420

Grades Essay Assignments Skills 420

Catlin Tucker

OCTOBER 24, 2021

Students who generally struggle to read at grade level could engage with this assignment in ways equal to their classmates who read at or above grade level. Each time I return to an assignment, I add strategies, like polling, discussion boards, and partner work to make the experience more engaging.

Blended Learning 397

Blended Learning Multiple Choice Questions Learning Discussions 397

Faculty Focus

JUNE 13, 2024

Nothing has informed my teaching practice as much as serving as a writing tutor for high school and college students. It has been sobering to see, through their eyes, how unclear our assignments can sometimes be. Maybe the student skipped class or doesn’t have all the material handed out with the assignment.

Assignments 119

Assignments Essay Writing Questions 119

Edsurge

JULY 27, 2023

That has sparked a burst of activity by teachers at schools and colleges to change their assignments to make them harder to game with this new tech — and hopefully more human in the process. For instance, on a recent assignment, some of the homework that came in didn’t sound like typical student work he was used to.

Assignments 148

Assignments Instructors Writing History 148

Catlin Tucker

MARCH 28, 2021

I was not actively engaging with the text. In their new book, Teaching for Deeper Learning: Tools to Engage Students in Meaning Making , my friend, Jay McTighe , and his co-author, Harvey Silver , write about an active reading strategy that encourages students to engage with texts before, during, and after reading.

Activities 195

Activities Reading Learning Discussions 195

Catlin Tucker

AUGUST 18, 2015

Then they fold the index cards in half and write their names on the front so I can begin learning them. They move right from the 10 questions activity to an online quiz titled “What’s Your Learning Style?” Each group is assigned a different color icon (rocket, bicycle, unicorn). I run the quiz as a space race.

Syllabus 420

Syllabus Learning Styles Schools Quizzes 420

Catlin Tucker

JANUARY 25, 2019

If teachers are assigning homework, it would be more powerful to use that practice to encourage students to reflect on their progress and identify the gaps in their understanding of concepts and skills. For example, if they are writing a formal lab report, they might bring their procedures section.

Teachers 420

Teachers Essay Feedback Quizzes 420

Catlin Tucker

OCTOBER 29, 2021

In the early days of my transition to blended learning, I had one Chromebook, which I received after writing a Donor’s Choose project. It was exciting to see how the addition of a single device enabled my students to drive their learning and engage in meaningful student-centered learning activities. I was hooked!

Blended Learning 535

Blended Learning Critical Thinking Communication Participation 535

Faculty Focus

JUNE 13, 2024

Nothing has informed my teaching practice as much as serving as a writing tutor for high school and college students. It has been sobering to see, through their eyes, how unclear our assignments can sometimes be. Maybe the student skipped class or doesn’t have all the material handed out with the assignment.

Assignments 111

Assignments Essay Writing Questions 111