On April 10 the science world released an incredible image, the first picture of a black hole. It was such a simple picture that has far reaching ramifications. But for me it was mainly just epically awesome. For more about the photo check out this article from NASA. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/news/2019/4/19/how-scientists-captured-the-first-image-of-a-black-hole/ Black holes are fascinating to me….
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Alternative ways to summarize a text
Summary essays are boring. They are tedious regurgitations of what students have read. Unfortunately, they are also an easy way to measure reading comprehension for many of my students, so as my students were wrapping up their readings of WWII literature circle novels I started to dread the upcoming summary activity. Then I decided to…
Episode 30: Reflections on EdCamp JoCo
Listen to “Episode 30: Reflections on EdCampJOCO and the importance of looking ahead” on Spreaker.
Don’t waste time on gotchas
Yesterday, I had a student *gasp* who probably had their cell phone with them. I think it was hidden in the front pocket of his hooded sweatshirt. We have a no cell phone policy at school and have tried to enforce this in all classes. The way the student was sitting and the way he…
Podcast Behind the Scenes
This week I thought I’d let you in on a peak behind the scenes of my podcast, The Kansas Moonshot Podcast. It’s been an adventure to say the least. This biggest learning curve was figuring out how to set up interviews and record over long distances along with trying to organize schedules with educators who…
Episode 21: Steven Kimmi and Gayathri Ramkumar share about Summit Learning
In this episode I had the opportunity to interview Steven Kimmi, Principal and Gayathri Ramkumar, Math teacher at Tescott schools. They share their experiences with Summit Learning. For more information check out: usd240.org Follow Steven Kimmi on Twitter: @principalkimmi For more information about this podcast check out: https://mrstockrocks.com Follow me on Twitter: @teachlikeaninja Email me:…
Starting the day of on the right foot
Redesign Update: I’m still processing all the changes we’ve made this year through our redesign efforts. It’s been a chaotic, exhausting, exhilarating, whirlwind of a year. My hope is to spend then next few weeks sharing a some of the changes we’ve made and how they are impacting student success. This week I’d love to…
Preparing for a state of awe
Last year people around the country prepared for a massive solar eclipse. One that would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. People booked hotels in the line of totality over a year in advance. They planned watch parties and scouted out the best seats to watch this celestial event. We learned about eclipse glasses…
Teach students to advocate for themselves
I’ve responded to 8 parent emails over the past hour, responded to 5 more before I left school today, and have been fielding questions about student grades for the past two weeks. It’s that time of year. The semester is winding down and parents are wanted to ensure their child is going to pass my…