Education Commons^™

Using Minecraft To Integrate Common Core Activities Across Elementary School Curriculum, William A J Couling

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Minecraft, an open world sandbox game rich with educational possibility, has been a growing sensation among elementary age children across the US. Though there has been some experimentation in a number of schools across the United States, there has been no mass movement to embracing Minecraft as a virtual learning environment. With advances in the fields of Virtual Learning Environments and the new wave of educational thinking known as the “Maker Movement,” the modern educational field has an opportunity for radical new ways of teaching. Using an elementary school as a model in the Monterey Bay area, I surveyed a …

An Examination Of How One University Is Preparing Elementary And Middle Level Education Majors For Common Core Mathematics, Michelle Elizabeth Schwartze

Theses and Dissertations

In 2010 the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for mathematics and English Language Arts were introduced into K – 12 classrooms (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2015b). The standards for mathematics focus on having students demonstrate and explain understanding more than the standards have in the past (Burns, 2013). McCallum (2011) divides the eight Standards for Mathematical Practice into four main themes: reasoning and explaining, modeling and using tools, seeing structure and generalizing, and overarching habits of mind of a productive mathematical thinker. These four themes encompass what a mathematics classroom should look like when utilizing the CCSS for mathematics. …

Impact Of Instructional Coaches On Elementary Mathematical Achievement, Kayla Marie Hibbard

Online Theses and Dissertations

Since the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, school leaders have sought to improve student abilities in both math and reading. Although both subjects have made improvements in both delivery and assessment over the years, mathematics still troubles the nation as students continuously fall short of local, state and federal goals (Darling-Hammond, 1998, 2005; Franke et al., 2005; Johnson & Johnson, 2002).

Instructional coaches have become a norm for many districts across the U. S. as districts seek to draw knowledge and leadership from mastery level teachers as they help improve everyday teaching and student learning. …