When I was a kid I used to play baseball, and when I say used to play baseball I mean I was the kid they put in left field because they knew nobody would hit it there. I was the kid they taught to bunt, because that would give me the best odds of getting…
Tag: education
Five Minute Friday Tech Tip: Flipgrid from the Student Side
Kicking off my first ever Five Minute Friday Tech Tip: This one is all about using Flipgrid from the student perspective.
What stories do the numbers tell?
I love statistics. I love numbers. I love all of the interesting stories numbers can tell, and I love trying to interpret what causes peaks and values in any data set. I have spreadsheets full of student data that I’ve started analyzing for my new students, everything from previous reading scores and math scores to…
How do we redesign education?
Last summer my school applied for and was selected as one of 14 schools in the state of Kansas with the mission to redesign what school means in the 21st century. We were given permission to reflect on and change anything we felt would truly make the greatest impact on our students. After conversations with…
Teach Students the Why
This weekend I spent a lot of time reflecting on what the students know and what they don’t know yet. On Friday they took a quiz and, along with a couple of assignments, I realized that I did not do an adequate job preparing them to read a non-fiction text. This was especially troubling, because…
Our Flight to Tibet
Last night I was in the middle of a great Twitter chat with the #xplap crew about immersive engagement and planning out today’s lesson at the same time when I got an idea. Why was I talking about immersive engagement and not creating an immersive lesson at the same time? It seemed a little hypocritical,…
My response to #gratitudesnaps
It’s easy to get caught up in the minutiae of life and miss the bigger picture.
You're more than "just" a teacher…
If you know me at all, you would know that I don’t use profanity, ever since I was a little kid and got my mouth washed out with soap. I’m not a saint, I’ve said plenty of things in my head that shouldn’t be repeated, especially when the copier goes down, and I forgot my…
My first attempt at Facebook for the classroom
Social media is an ingrained part of most of our lives. Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, it’s hard to keep up. Adding to the challenge, as a middle school teacher I have to balance the effectiveness of social media for students, colleagues and parents. Each group has their preferred social media outlets. Last year I started…
The ISTE Make It Happen Award
A few days ago I had the honor of receiving ISTE’s Make It Happen award at the MACE conference. I was nominated for my effective use of technology both in the classroom (creating awesome Youtube videos, encouraging a wide range of tech tools, implementing engaging writing strategies using technology, etc.) and outside of the classroom…