Posts on “ professional development ”

Attention all New York City based Game Based Learning teacher enthusiasts! We wanted to pass along information about a great professional development opportunity.  This Thursday, May 9th, The Tribeca Film Institute along with the NYC Department of Education and the Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment,  is presenting  Gaming, Education and the Moving Image - part of the Moving Image Blueprint Professional Development workshop series.  BrainPOP is excited to join the Institute of Play, Quest to Learn, and PETLab to present sessions exploring the intersection of play, education, and the moving image.  Hope to see you there!  

On Saturday March 23rd, BrainPOP and Learning Games Network hosted a select group of educators for a one day professional development workshop designed to make game based learning a reality in the classroom. From game play to game design, we explored the various ways games can help engage students to build crucial academic and 21st century skills. The day began with an inspirational keynote from designer Nick Fortugno, CCO of Playmatics and creator of Ayiti, the Cost of Life,  a game featured on GameUp. Nick inspired us to think beyond games as assessment tools, and consider the fundamental characteristics of engagement, risk taking, exploration and curiosity that emerge when we play a great game.  Next we explored all of the free games that tie into curriculum offered on GameUp. Teachers were thrilled to discover the breadth of games and appreciated the teacher support and CCSS alignment.  We collectively played an exemplary online math game, Lure of the Labyrinth: Employee Lounge, by Thinkport and partners, and discussed our observations. Through taking risks and building conceptual understanding of algebra through playing the game, we acknowledged many of the takeaway points from the keynote.               In the afternoon… Read the Rest»

Wednesday, November 7th at 3:00 PM ET- The Mixer and More In September, BrainPOP introduced the Mixer, designed to help you remix and create your own BrainPOP-style quizzes. Join us as we show you how to get started with this new tool and begin creating customized assessments that are tailored specifically to your students’ needs. We’ll also discuss the new ways BrainPOP Educators has simplified your search for relevant teaching resources and made your planning process easier.

Wednesday, November 7th at 4:00 PM ET- edWeb.net Presents- Transgressive Play: How Games Invite Kids to Break the Rules and Why Its Great for Learning Are you interested in implementing games in the classroom? Join edWeb.net on November 7th for their community’s next webinar when instructional technology specialist and game designer Marjee Chmiel will be exploring transgressive play, what it means for educational games, and its implications for practicing educators. Transgressive play includes breaking rules, competition, searching for game exploits, and exploring taboos. With over 97% of school-age children having had played a video game “yesterday”, kids bring certain expectations and habits of play to educational games. Often, educational game design fails to anticipate these habits and expectations, making it harder for teachers to achieve desired educational outcomes. Marjee will show how transgression can help promote learning. She also will share examples from games that maximize learning via transgressive play elements as well as classroom management strategies for implementing games for learning. Join her on November 7th to learn how and why transgressive play is great for learning. To Participate in the Live Session – Login at www.instantpresenter.com/edweb3 at the scheduled time. – There is no pre-registration for this event. – This webinar… Read the Rest»

Wednesday, October 24th at 3:00 PM ET- The App-solute Best Advice with Mike Amante Overwhelmed by lists describing “the best” educational apps for iOS? Need advice and guidance for what to use . . . tomorrow? Have no fear, BrainPOP is here! This week we are thrilled to welcome Apple Distinguished Educator, Google Certified teacher, and New York based technology integrationist mastermind Mike Amante for a inspiring hour exploring educational trends in mobility, the best apps for iOS, and useful advice about best pedagogical practice.

Wednesday, October 10th at 4:30 PM ET- Using Games in a Blended Lesson Want to make your mark as a blended educator? Look no further than the fast-evolving world of using Digital Games Based Learning in the classroom. As the availability of good curriculum-based games improves, teachers across the country are innovating rapidly in how they blend games based learning into their lesson plans. Using game-driven problem solving, certificates, exciting tournament formats and after-school clubs, teachers are finding new ways to amplify this powerful mode of study, motivating students across a wide range of abilities and supporting them as they tackle difficult problems. Join Toby Rowland, CEO of Mangahigh.com, the K12 online math site, as he explores some of the classroom activity in this exciting field, and get ideas for your own program of games based learning.

Wednesday, October 3rd at 3:30 PM ET- BrainPOP 101: The Basics Get to know the ins and outs of BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. in this hour-long webinar. Learn how to use these resources for more effective planning, and hear best practices for integrating our content into your classroom. We’ll also touch on some of our newest features, as well as the tools and resources you’ll find on BrainPOP Educators.

Wednesday, September 26th at 4:30 PM ET- Play Seriously With GameUp Join our own Allisyn Levy, Senior Director of Educator Experience, for an in-depth tour of BrainPOP’s GameUp, our free online games portal. Allisyn will highlight the ways this curated collection of top educational games can be powerful learning tools. She’ll show you how to successfully bring them into your classroom to inspire inquiry, cultivate critical reasoning, and encourage creative, interactive problem solving.

Wednesday, September 19th at 4:00 PM ET- Assessment with BrainPOP and Acuity We welcome Laura Agrusti of McGraw Hill/CTB as she joins Andrew Gardner, Senior Manager of BrainPOP Educators, for an overview of our collaboration with CTB. They’ll discuss how to use the results of Acuity assessments to differentiate instruction and assign targeted BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. movies and quizzes. You’ll see how to gain a better understanding of students’ individual needs through the use of Acuity resources.

Wednesday, September 12th at 3:30 PM ET- BrainPOP’s Newest Features! We’re thrilled to show you a breadth of new features and teaching tools designed to make your BrainPOP experience even better than before. This webinar spotlights all of them, including all the latest on BrainPOP Educators. You don’t want to miss it!