Category: Classroom

Are You Ready to Go Bold School?

“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 […]

Group Work: How to Make it Work For Everyone

Cooperative learning, collaborative strategies, group rotations—whatever we decide to call it, the research behind group work in the classroom makes a strong case for embracing collaborative learning. As beneficial as it is, however, group work can […]

Adding EdTech to Your Classroom? 3 Non-Negotiable “Old School” Components to Include in Every Lesson

Educational technology: it’s the hottest movement out there in education, and has been for some time. In fact, there seems to be a rather non-discriminating admiration for anything edtech among many teachers today. You can’t open […]

Leading In And From the Classroom

The role of a creative leader is not to have all the ideas; it’s to create a culture where everyone can have ideas and feel they’re valued. ~Sir Ken Robinson I am a middle child and […]

Ultimate Project Based Learning – How Student Teamwork Built a World Championship Car

Every year for the past twenty the Saint Thomas Academy Experimental Vehicle Team (STA EVT) has built a new vehicle from the ground up to give our students the best engineering experience a high-schooler can get. […]

EdTech Comfort Zones – From G Suite to Office 365

What is your preferred platform for regular digital work? What makes it your favorite? I learned how to use Microsoft Word and Appleworks (yes, I’m old) in high school. I continued to use those tools for […]

A Teacher by Any Other Name – The Instructional Shift of Blended Learning

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 […]

The Rise of the Fidget Spinner: What, Where, When, and How

Anyone outside of the education realm, or who does not regularly interact with children, might assume that a fidget spinner is some sort of spaceship contraption or an obscure item found on the shelves of a […]

When We Put the Focus on Grades—Are We Missing the Mark?

When I think back on my own fond memories from early elementary school, I am flooded with thoughts of show and tell, hatching and raising baby chicks, four-square on the playground, and pretend cooking in my […]

The Student-Teacher Relationship Matters More Than You Might Think

Quality instruction isn’t the only factor that determines students’ academic achievement. Students’ sense of belonging to the school community is also significant to student achievement. A growing body of research shows the sense of belonging or “connectedness” […]

Fidget Spinners: Educational Panacea or Classroom Distraction?

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock this past year, you’ve probably encountered kids (and even adults) playing around with the hottest new toy craze, fidget spinners. These little hand-held toys contain a ball bearing at […]

A Pythagoras Investigation Using GeoGebra

GeoGebra is an awesome mathematical tool! It even allowed me to discover something new. Well, at least new to me! For an insight to my ‘new discovery’, take a peek at the dynamic image (gif) above. […]

A Mom, Two Kids, and a Water-Testing Kit [Review]

This week, my kids and I were very excited to try out our new water-testing kit. The older two (ages seven and five) love science, AND they drink a great deal of water, so this was […]

Utilize Your Students and Surveys to Measure Your Teaching Effectiveness

A teacher’s stakeholders’ satisfaction with their course is an important measure of instructional effectiveness that is too often overlooked or outright ignored. Of course, it’s absurd to hope to satisfy every young adult’s needs and wants […]

Appreciating What, Where and How Boys Read [Infographic]

Unfortunately for many boys, what gets in their way of reading for pleasure are very well-intentioned adults who try to steer them in the “right” direction. That’s why the greatest gift we can give boys this […]

Let GeoGebra Transform Your Math Teaching

Ask a random sample of 50 people between the ages of 10 and 30 how well they understood mathematics at school and I think you’ll agree that mathematics education has some improving to do in the […]

Teaching “Invisible Man” While the Apocalypse Occurs Down South

Today after yoga class, Stephanie, the beautiful woman who once cherished my infant son while I used the gym told me she had six relatives die in the hurricane. I stare into her high-cheek boned face […]

5 Tips for Student-Led GeoGebra Tasks

Most of the GeoGebra articles on the Learn Implement Share site demonstrate the power of GeoGebra for junior high school mathematics. The focus on GeoGebra for junior high mathematics is, in part, because there is a strong […]

5 Reasons Teachers Should Love Podcasts—and 5 Shows to Try in The Classroom

Savvy do-it-yourselfers and self-educators know there’s an instructional YouTube video for everything. Want to learn how to make great Spanish rice? There’s a video for that. Several, actually. Speak Dutch? Sure. Replace the brake pads on […]

9 Magnetic Building Toys for STEM Play and Making

Magnetic building toys are among the most popular STEM construction options for a number of simple reasons. They are robust and affordable. There are no batteries required—magnets are always ‘on’! Plus, they straddle a number of important engineering concepts […]