So we leave for ISTE 19 in only four days from today and I kind of feel like a little kid waiting for Christmas to come. I might even make one of those paper ring things that kids make to countdown to Christmas. The ISTE conference is where I go to find "my people, my [...]
I Hate the Term “Blended Learning”
A more learner-centered learning approach blends the best of the traditional classroom with more modern, digital learning environment tools and tactics. To be honest, I hate the term blended learning. Let me explain why: In today’s world of education, blended learning gets thrown around for any type of new education involving technology. To be honest, I hate [...]
I Want a Learner-Centered Classroom
So in the world of education, we typically have two "centric" types of classrooms. We have teacher-centered classrooms and we have student-centered classrooms. The modern push is for student-centered classrooms. But let's talk about that for a minute. So a teacher-centered classroom is usually described as a teacher in the front of the classroom, lecturing, [...]
The Ultimate #ISTE18 Twitter Guide
If you are attending #ISTE18 or #NotAtISTE18 one of the best ways to experience more sessions, gain my knowledge and find out about all of the amazing things educators are doing around the world is viewing the ISTE Conference through Twitter. While standing in line, waiting for a session to start or waiting to beat [...]
OETC 2018 Resources
So I am slightly confused, I am looking out my window and I see no snow falling for the clouds and the weather channel says it should be sunny and in the 40s and 50s all week. But then I look on my calendar and on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday it says it is time [...]
Classroom Management with Hapara Highlights
Last week, I talked about the constant battle of should it be blocked or is it a classroom management issue. So this week, I would like to talk about one of the classroom management tools that is out there, and all of our teachers have access. Hapara Dashboard and Highlights is a program that works [...]
Three of My Favorite EdTech Tools
There are so many things in the world of EdTech, new shiny things, things with bells and whistles. So how do you know what works, what should you invest your time and money into? Well here are my favorite EdTech tools that I have been using in my job and in our classrooms. My favorite [...]
Block it or Improve Classroom Management?
On a weekly basis, I get an email that says something like, "Can you please block Minecraft, because my students are playing it instead of doing their work." I want to be helpful and support our teachers, but I always have the question of should I block or do we need new strategies for classroom [...]
Results – Can VR Help Close the Achievement Gap
So recently, I published a blog post about the thought of using virtual reality to help close the achievement gap. Part of that belief was the idea that the achievement gap is created in part by a lack of experiences. So can VR give students those experiences virtually to help close that portion of the [...]
ISTE 2017 & Resources #ISTE17
So my favorite time of year is just around the corner. No not Christmas, not the Fourth of July, not even summer vacation. But it is time for the 2017 ISTE Conference!!! Yes, remember I am a tech geek! So ISTE is the largest educational technology conference in the world. The conference starts on Saturday [...]