Project-Based Learning

Terry Heick is Editor at Edudemic.com and Director of Curriculum at TeachThought.com. He also blogs for Edutopia, and spends his nights catering to the whims of his three children who know more than he does.

Google+ Parts

Google+, as you likely know, is Google's own foray into social media.

As much the digital overlap of Google Search, Docs, Calendar, and Gmail software as it is a response to Facebook, Google+ has strong potential application in formal learning environments. First, a look at what makes Google+ tick.

Shahzad Saeed is a student, open source enthusiast and author of the ebook Definitive Guide to Google Summer of Code. He also runs a blog providing guidance to student projects. You can follow him on twitter @shahzadsaeed.

Andrew Miller (@betamiller on Twitter) is a National Faculty member for the Buck Institute for Education, an organization specializing in 21st century project-based learning, as well as for ASCD, an organization providing expertise in a variety of professional development needs. He is also a regular blogger for Edutopia.

Project-Based Learning (PBL) naturally lends itself to differentiated instruction. By design, it is student-centered, student-driven and gives space for teachers to meet the needs of students in a variety of ways.

Adora Svitak (@adorasv on Twitter) is a student, author, teacher, World Food Programme youth representative, proud feminist, and advocate for youth voice and literacy. You can read her blog at http://www.adorasv.blogspot.com/.

What's the most powerful resource in your classroom? Is it the formidable stack of textbooks, the encyclopedia, the computer? As much of a reader and education technology enthusiast as I am, I believe this most powerful resource is something else entirely.

Eric Brunsell is Assistant Professor of Science Education @ UW-Oshkosh. He is the facilitator of Edutopia's STEM group, and a regular blogger for Edutopia. You can follow him on Twitter @brunsell.

We all know that the web is full of excellent web resources for science teachers and students. However, unless you live on the web, finding the best websites can become quite a challenge. This isn't a "Top Ten" list -- instead, it is a list of websites that I either use on a regular basis or just find interesting.

Heidi Grant Halvorson, PhD (@hghalvorson on Twitter) is a motivational psychologist and author of Nine Things Successful People Do Differently and Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals. Her personal blog is called The Science of Success.

One of the trickiest challenges any child faces (or any adult, for that matter) is figuring out how to get from wanting to do something -- like getting a better grade on his or her next quiz, or studying over the summer for college admissions tests -- to actually doing it.

Jim Berman (@ChefTalkJim on Twitter) is a Chef Instructor working with 10th, 11th and 12th graders at Delcastle Technical High School in Wilmington, Delaware. A member of FENI and the National Restaurant Association, he's a contributor to the Cooking Without Borders blog.

This blog is the first of three in a series on Career and Technical Education.

A Viable Alternative to "Success"

What shop class is not:

• A predetermined destination for students with discipline issues
• The alternative venue for teenage offenders opting to avoid prison
• A bandage for an oft-bleeding system

Andrew Marcinek is an instructional technologist at Burlington High School in Burlington, MA. He is also a regular blogger at Edutopia.org. Follow him on Twitter @andycinek.