Recent articles
The maker movement: A learning revolution
02/11/2019
Topics: Makerspaces, Project-based learning
The impulse to create is one of the most basic human drives. As far back as the Stone Age, we were using materials in our environment to fashion tools for solving the problems we encountered. And in the millions of years since then, we have never stopped creating. In fact…
Gamify any lesson, class or curriculum
02/07/2019
Topics: Gamification, Gaming
I'm not a gamer, never even owned a console. That's probably why I'd never been very interested in game-based learning and was not excited when I found myself…
No device needed to teach kids to code
01/29/2019
Topics: Coding & robotics, Computational Thinking
Leka DeGroot can relate to teachers who would like to bring coding to their classrooms but just can’t fathom fitting it in.
“Teachers often tell me, ‘It sounds great but I don’t have time, or I don’t have the skills,’ but you don’t have to be a computer scientist to teach coding,”…
5 myths of online student privacy
01/28/2019
Topics: Digital Citizenship
One of my greatest challenges as a technology integrator is helping teachers overcome their fears of letting students engage with the digital world around them. Students want to use the…
Blogging to meet CCSS and ISTE Standards
12/28/2018
Topics:
Technology enters our classrooms at a sometimes head-spinning pace. As educators, we want technology to inspire student learning and creativity. That's what led us — an instructional coach and English teacher at Kirkwood High School in Missouri — to design a rigorous learning experience…
Design an engaging virtual learning experience in 5 steps
12/28/2018
Topics:
What does an engaging learning experience look like? You probably know it when you see it. Most likely, you'll find teachers,…
Build an awesome class website with Google Apps
12/28/2018
Topics:
Let's face it: Teachers can use all the help we can get. To have the most impact, we need to form partnerships with those other educators who spend even more time with our students than we do — their parents.
Parents haven't always been welcome in schools as partners. In the past,…
Teach physics with Angry Birds
12/28/2018
Topics:
Many students think physics is too hard for them to grasp. And many physics teachers reinforce this notion by using a lot of linear instruction techniques, demanding that they take notes and memorize, and focusing on drill and practice for standardized tests.
To make matters worse,…
A book report your students will love
12/28/2018
Topics:
How many times have students written mundane, uninspired book reports that were handed in, read by the teacher and handed back to the student, never to be seen again? I wrote so many boring book reports as a kid that it nearly turned me off to reading altogether. That is, until my sixth…
Turn Twitter into a learning tool
12/28/2018
Topics:
Michele Haiken's eighth grade English language arts students are required to read an outside book every quarter. She who are eager to earn an " "A" " can read two outside books per quarter. For the students, that might mean a lot of extra reading and homework time, but for Haiken, a teacher…