“When the expertise and wisdom of the teacher is given equal weight in the blended learning equation, that is bold school” (Kieschnick, p.21). Recently, I had the honor of meeting and talking with Weston Kieschnick, senior fellow at the International Center for Leadership in Education, at the 2017 Model Schools Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. To…
What kind of power is in a title, and what if we redefined the role of the teacher? I’m currently reading the book Blended by Michael B. Horn and Heather Staker. Often when I read a book for professional learning, I skip around depending on the work in which I’m currently involved. Last week, I…
To expand on a popular saying: Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll pass a fishing test and then forget how because he wasn’t all that into fishing in the first place. Inspire a love for fishing, and he’ll fish for a lifetime. I…
What is the ideal blended learning environment? I have had a lot of noneducators talk to me about technology in the classroom. Most don’t have informed opinions (so I’m happy to share mine with them). Many ask me what the best device is for learning. Sadly, I’ve even had educators argue this point with me…
When I was seven-years-old we moved from the United States to Switzerland because of my father’s job. I was born in Brazil, but having left it just two years old, I didn’t really know anything other than the U.S. I didn’t even realize I was Italian, not American. From the moment we stepped off that…
In a flipped-classroom, blended learning environment with team-based learning it is important to consider the formation of students teams. For students who are first year undergraduate students, freshmen, it can be a much longer and more difficult task to form teams of their own. First year students do not tend to know other students well…
I am a student that will always have trouble with math. I remember having trouble understanding the basic concepts since I was little, when I had difficulty telling time after most of the kids in school had already grasped the idea and moved on to the next. In middle school, I even had to retake…
The beauty of writing poetry is that there is no concrete, one formulaic way in which to write it. Every piece marks a learning process, a play with words, a way to let your mind wander into a different setting, mood, world. A meditation. Behind my work, there are all different types of processes before…
The world of educational technology is a rapidly changing universe, complete with hundreds of “must-have” tools for every classroom and every teacher. I am a firm believer in the power of educational technology in the classroom. The right tools can elevate a student’s learning experience to levels unfathomable to teachers who were in the field…
Summer is a busy time for many. Vacations. Family time. Housework. Yardwork. Painting. Hobbies. Reading. School book studies??? Summer is an opportunity when many educators dedicate time to read, find new ideas to implement in their classrooms, and brainstorm strategies to use the in fall. Teachers want to read, share, and learn together. There is…
There is a growing need for today’s pre-service teachers to be equipped with skills and competencies for blended, online, and technology-rich teaching and learning environments. As teaching candidates progress through teacher education programs, they should be exploring, evaluating, and applying methods and tools for effective instruction in the dynamic learning environments that exist in today’s…
Do you sometimes find yourself and your students focused on one type of tool or another? Maybe you’re deep into a writing unit, and students have been immersed in their journals, pencils and paper writing. Or, maybe they’re so immersed in their Google Doc that they haven’t touched a pencil in days. Frankly, I don’t…
In a digital world of links, likes, tweets and pins, there are very few mechanisms for connecting our ever expanding digital world with the physical one around us. QR codes are one of the simplest and most well established ways to make this connection, and for students it can create a number of unique and fun learning opportunities, meshing the digital…
Overview Did you know that Google receives and processes over 4 million search queries per minute? That is a giant shed load of queries! It is also a giant shed load of data that Google collects and makes openly available to us with Google Trends. An impressively simple gateway to exploring data with your students, Google Trends is an amazing resource that really does not get…
I love to write about adapting technology to almost every area of the classroom and am a firm believer in its wonderful benefits across a wide range of subjects and situations. Having said that however, I am also keenly aware of the potential pitfall of trying to shoehorn technology into every single educational moment. An over-excitement with…
Dr. Madhav Chavan is a social activist, entrepreneur and the CEO of the educational non-profit, Pratham. He was also responsible for starting the Read India campaign, which aims to teach basic reading, writing and arithmetic to underprivileged children across India. With his diverse background and having studied and taught at universities across the United States and India, Dr. Chavan…
Overview Our brains absorb information in many, many different ways, where each of our senses offer a different interface to process information. In classrooms, this may be through text, video, interaction or any number of different mediums, but one channel that is often disregarded is audio. AudioBoom (formerly audioBoo) is a super simple tool that puts the focus…
Overview Coined “an innovative and interactive classroom tool to create, engage and assess“, Nearpod puts you in control of your students devices, helping them stay on track and engaged in the lesson. Using a desktop or mobile device, teachers can choose exactly what each student sees on their individual screen and can interact through quizzes, open-ended questions, drawing,…
Overview In an effort to ‘simplify’ our busy lives with technology, it’s all too easy to end up swamped in a stressful world of logins, passwords, emails and notifications. IFTTT (If This Then That) is a beautifully simple tool that can streamline a lot of your day to day tech-tasks by automating all sorts of digital interactions. Using…
Overview Managing classroom behaviour and devising fresh new ways to motivate students is a big part of the teaching skill set. ClassDojo is an excellent free tool that (with the help of some very cute and friendly monsters) can help teachers handle this often challenging aspect of classroom management. Using a simple points system, students (via their self-made…
End of content
End of content