Cafe

Career analyst Dan Pink examines the puzzle of motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don't: Traditional rewards aren't always as effective as we think. Listen for illuminating stories -- and maybe, a way forward.

The Definition: The flipped classroom inverts traditional teaching methods, delivering instruction online outside of class and moving homework into the classroom. Increasingly common in the last few years and made more popular by Khan Academy, the flipped classroom concept is a perfect match for the SMRT curriculum. ESL students in particular can benefit from watching grammar lectures before school starts and having�extra class time for active learning and skill building. Want more information? Try the Teacher's Guide to Flipped Classrooms by Edudemic. �This technology education blog has compiled a comprehensive list of flipped class resources with teacher support, examples and videos.

From the online counterpart to magazine Mental Floss comes an article about four subtle linguistic trends in the English language that have emerged over the past 50 years or so.

Is the beloved paper dictionary doomed to extinction? In this infectiously exuberant talk, leading lexicographer Erin McKean looks at the many ways today's print dictionary is poised for transformation. An oldie but a goodie from TED.

Jack C. Richards discusses top down and bottom up processing and how they affect listening comprehension.

Read Theory is a website offering free online reading exercises to students of all levels, from beginner to GRE, focusing on comprehension and critical thinking. The program encourages students to continue reading and moving up levels with badges and contests. It also allows teachers to sign up an entire class at once and track students' progress and activity on the site.

Storybird is a website that allows students to make and read short stories accompanied by beautiful illustrations. The site is easy to use and the great artwork stimulates students' creativity and story-telling skills. Completed stories are easy to share with peers and other classes on any device.

In this quick two-minute interview Jim Scrivener gives his best tips on classroom management and the one thing he thinks all teachers could do to improve their classes.

Social bookmarking can help you save time by accessing your bookmarks from any computer and sharing great professional development resources with your personal learning network. This article provides an intro to social bookmarking and some links to the most useful tools out there for teachers.

"Technology is changing not only how people write, but also how they learn to write." This free ebook discusses necessary changes in pedagogy and introduces approaches and experiences of real teachers teaching writing with technology.

This post explains how and why educators should begin to form personal learning networks. It also discusses some easy ways to start the process and includes links to some great resources.

Teaching can be stressful and teacher burn out rates are higher than ever. This article from Cambridge offers some reasons for teacher stress as well as some helpful coping strategies.

The tech and instructional sides of education are distinct and unique, but when they work together, they are an unstoppable combo.

Article by Claudia Glab-Link

Mike Fisher- July 31, 2014, 3:00pm ET. "How do you assign and assess digital work?"

Use the cards provided or make your own.

News in levels, with readings and audio.