As a sixth grade teacher, my students had nearly no student access to technology in the classroom for the first half of the school year. In January, students received 1:1 iPads through a pilot program in our district. Students and I were excited to begin our journey creating multimedia demonstrations of learning. This was new […]
This spring I came across a few educators who indicated they struggled to find meaningful ways to utilize technology in the classroom. I asked if I could spend some time in their classrooms to observe the instructional environment to guide our collaborative work toward impactful technology integration. The educators agreed and welcomed me into their […]
A few years ago, I often accompanied my son Dillon to his baseball pitching lessons. As an educator, I am always intrigued as to the strategies used by sports coaches, as they have similar goals to teachers in the classroom. Ultimately, we are looking for growth and improvement from those with whom we work. When […]
Whether the format be constructed response, research paper, essay, or digital discussion prompt, I have heard educators lament over students’ brief responses, casual style, and the influence of “texting” language. Students struggle to code switch toward communication in an academic register. How do we teach our learners to make this shift? The brain learns and […]
Educators, researchers, parents, and politicians often spew rhetoric regarding the negative aspects of technological devices on growing brains. It is said that smartphones and on-demand video streaming services have caused students to be unable to focus on tasks in the classroom, that their constant attention to devices distracts them from learning content, that constant access […]
Students and adults alike often struggle to begin the writing process. A blank page in a notebook, the blinking cursor at the top of a digital document… For some, these images increase anxiety and cause any creative juices to dissipate from the mind, rendering it a useless white space. And yet, in order to become […]
Our First Hour of Code Prior to my current work as an educational technology/integrated studies consultant for a county office of education, I was an elementary school leader who had begun my public teaching career as a multi-subject teacher in the elementary and middle school grades. As a teacher, I continually advocated for increased access […]
The YouTube Generation One of my favorite tools to teach students is screencastify, which allows users to record a video of either their screen with audio, or what I call a “video selfie” using the webcam. Whether I introduce this tool to 6 year olds or 16 year olds, it is inevitable that at least […]
Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic I sometimes hear people advocate for the need for the educational system to go “back to basics”, with a primary focus on reading, writing, and arithmetic. This verbiage often comes from non-educators, yet just as often I witness educators who consistently place importance on English language arts and mathematics content above […]
Academic conversations build an understanding of content and promote communication that prepares students for college and career. But how do we ensure that all students participate in our academic conversations, particularly our English Language Learners and students with special needs, who would often prefer to sit on the sidelines than speak up in class? We […]
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