Archive for Category: "Teacher StratEdgy"
May 2, 2013 8:14 am
Project Based Failing: The Goal is NOT Student-Centered
Over the past five years, I have spent a great deal of time shifting 20% of my class from being teacher-centered to student-centered. That was a fail.
March 8, 2012 11:59 am
What is UDL?
UDL or Universal Design for Learning is a concept based in architecture. It might seem strange that a post about educating students comes from this area, but it will make sense. By using Universal Design, architects plan, from the beginning, a space that allows access to persons with all abilities. The same can be said for Universal Design for Learning. By planning our instruction from the beginning to be accessible for all students, we will be able to reach more [...]
February 9, 2012 5:46 pm
Google Docs for Communicating
Google Docs continues to be my number one tool for communicating and collaborating with any number of people involved in my students’ education. As a special education teacher I am constantly in contact with parents, related service providers, and other professionals like doctors and private therapists. Google Docs allows me quite a few opportunities to easily keep all parties informed and in the loop. Documents – probably the simplest way for sharing documents with my team members. The most common [...]
January 10, 2012 8:21 pm
iAm Video Project
Who are you? What do you care about? Who do you care about? What/who do love/like? What do you aspire to be? What does your digital footprint look like? Each semester I ask my broadcast technology students to create a final video project that is unlike anything they have produced so far. Yet, I ask them to implement all the skills, techniques and processes that they have already learned to successfully complete the assignment. I always wait to tell the [...]
January 3, 2012 8:58 pm
#EduWin Isn’t Just for Educators!
Everyday, educators are sharing their positive teaching and learning experiences with each other via the WhatIsYourEduWin.com website and the #EduWin hashtag on Twitter. You may be wondering… what is an #EduWin? An #EduWin can happen any time someone takes education forward. It is a way to celebrate all the fabulous things that are taking place in the world of education every day! So far, educators from all over the globe are sharing a daily #EduWin, and it is inspiring to [...]
November 15, 2011 10:09 pm
5 Opportunities to Get iPods & iPads Into Your Classroom
Educators often question how they can acquire iPods and iPads to use in their own classrooms, especially when so many districts are experiencing serious budget crunches. Many feel that that it just isn’t possible because their districts don’t have the money or don’t believe mobile technology is worth investing in. I know how you feel; I have been there. And here’s my advice: stop waiting for the district, and start taking your own steps to make the change in your [...]
October 31, 2011 8:00 am
Non-Technical Innovations for Techie Teachers
I do quite a bit of consulting work related to educational technology. Most of it involves leading workshops to help teachers apply today’s web and mobile technologies to their classrooms. Most teachers are eager to incorporate technology into their instruction, however I am always wary of teachers implementing technology for the sake of technology without enhancing classroom learning. To discourage this, I usually start my session by asking participants to think of a classroom innovation that does NOT involve technology. [...]
October 21, 2011 10:00 am
The iPad 2 and Apple TV … Ed Tech Industry Killer?
What would you rather get for your classroom, an iPad 2 and Apple TV or an Interactive Whiteboard? Are your teachers asking for Interactive Whiteboards? Hold on to that discussion and don’t answer until you know all of the possibilities! I think we now have the ability to put together a very highly effective digital classroom with the combination of iPad 2′s, a digital projector, and an Apple TV. All of this can be done at a fraction of the [...]
August 9, 2011 9:46 am
Support Teachers by Giving Them EdReach
When we talked about creating EdReach, we talked about how we can support emerging innovators with relevant content. We talked about how poorly teacher colleges prepare new teachers with technology- that EdReach could help new teachers starting new jobs that have little technology support. We talked about EdReach being a place where teachers could drop by every day, and find some new tool, strategy, or relevant news item. Getting that content to those teachers is a challenge. Many of them [...]
August 4, 2011 9:00 am
What if making videos made your students smarter?
EdReach note: This is a guest post by Ann-Caryn Cleveland, founder of Currix.com, a marketplace for educational content. You can follow her on Twitter @anncaryn . Having students create videos is a great way to enhance student learning. Creating a video allows a student to think strategically about a topic and deepens analytical skills. Yet, there is a problem. Just creating a video mashup, utilizing fancy tools like Animoto, isn’t enough. It’s not about the video, it’s about the process of [...]
August 2, 2011 8:35 am
Using Popplet.com to Visualize School Projects
I’m always on the lookout for new ways to create, design, and visualize. The presentation tool Prezi.com has always been a unique way to create whiz-bang visuals for professional development conferences or workshops, and has a nice way of drawing the viewers in. Voicethread.com is also one of those unique tools that educators have latched on to for lots of different authentic purposes. I’ve been ready for something new. And now comes Popplet.com. Popplet is like a cross between Prezi, [...]
July 24, 2011 1:22 pm
Celebrating Failure: It’s About the People, Not the Technology
What happens when you throw a bunch of Apple Distinguished Educators (ADEs) in the middle of the Arizona desert for a week of sharing and learning? Some pretty amazing things! It was an absolute honor to be able to attend the ADE Summer Institute with such a phenomenal group of educators. The week-long institute was an opportunity for me to share, learn, and grow in ways I had never imagined. While I left the Institute with loads of valuable ideas [...]
July 21, 2011 12:00 pm
Formative Assessment – The Greatest Bang For Our Educational Buck?
This week I had the privilege of attending Learning Forward’s 2011 Summer Conference. I attended some great sessions, and took in a few great keynotes from Ian Jukes and Mary Cullinane. The session that really got me excited and thinking deeply was Dylan Wiliam’s session: Embedding Formative Assessment With Teacher Learning Communities. I am almost ashamed to say it, I was unfamiliar with Dylan’s work, and if you are unfamiliar with his work I implore you to familiarize yourself with [...]
July 7, 2011 12:00 pm
Using Blog Badges To Motivate Students
Need a new idea for the upcoming school year? How about trying blogging and blog badges. Two years ago while teaching 4/5 gifted and talented all my students were blogging. It was a journey and a wonderful experience. Each student had their own blog, which can be found on the sidebar of my old classroom blog. The students were extremely proud of their blogs and especially enjoyed receiving visitors and comments from students all across the country. Ok, so you get the picture: [...]
June 20, 2011 8:00 am
I let my students grade me.
At the end of the year I ask my students to complete a course evaluation. They typically enjoy this because I tell them that this is their opportunity to give me a grade for my performance as a teacher. I take this survey seriously and try to make adjustments the following year based on the feedback that I get. In typical high school fashion some students leave suggestions that are completely ridiculous (“let us mess around more”), impossible (“let’s have [...]
May 12, 2011 12:00 pm
Help Students and Parents Fight The Summer Reading Slump
Summer is just around the corner, and as teachers and administrators wrap up the year they will give their annual inspirational ‘win one for the gipper’ speeches; in an effort to encourage their students to read over the summer. Ironically I just sat down this week to type up a letter to be distributed to my tier 2 and tier 3 reading intervention students, doing this very thing. I’d like to share some resources, ideas, and tips that teachers [...]
April 30, 2011 11:38 am
New Teacher – New Strategy #5: Desktop Background Learning
One of the least effective or most under utilized tool available to educators to learn with is the “Computer Desktop Background”. While I am all about customizing the background with pictures of family, favorite sports teams, and vacation hot spots, it can be that and more! I am always trying to train myself for new tricks, tips, and functions of tools that are new to me. One of the best ways to do that is to take advantage of our [...]
March 9, 2011 8:00 am
New Teacher – New Strategy #4: Archiving from SMeech
The more teachers work online the more they come across great resources. The problem is that they might find great resources that fit their colleague’s needs instead. What do they do to share with their fellow teachers? The traditional form of sharing is … drum roll please … email it! What does that mean? Help and collaboration with a colleague but it also means more email in our in box. Wouldn’t it be great to get those emails when you [...]
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