A Better Way: BetterLessons
There is growing recognition among education theorists that it's time for bold thinking and big ideas. And, encouragingly, this belief is not confined to think tanks and ivory towers. Teachers are leading the charge—teachers like Boston's Alex Grodd.
A few years ago, Grodd was a frustrated 6th-grade instructor. He was tired of creating lessons from scratch the night before delivering them to his class. And he was discouraged that he had no way to share his most effective lesson plans with other teachers in his district.
Technology can play a really powerful role in helping teachers deliver differentiated instruction that targets their students' unique learning needs and styles.
He thought he should be able to go to a website to find lessons for his class, quality lessons used and rated by other teachers. But he didn't have such a site. So he created one: BetterLesson.com. "I started BetterLesson to throw a wrench in this cycle, which was taking a serious toll on my instruction and morale," says Grodd.
BetterLesson is a sort of Facebook for teachers. It enables them to create profiles, join groups and networks. They can share curricula, collaborate with other educators, access instructional content and get recognition for effective lessons.
Engaging Students through Interactivity
What really sets BetterLessons apart is the teacher-specific design, where teachers can upload their full curriculum, including supplies, texts, and related lessons. Digital files can also be exchanged, including video, audio, and images. Members have rating charts that show how many people have downloaded each lesson plan, and what they thought of those lessons.
"I think technology can play a powerful role in scaling effective content and practices to teachers and students across the globe," says Grodd. "Technology can play a really powerful role in helping teachers deliver differentiated instruction that targets their students' unique learning needs and styles."