I look at many things in edtech land and education in general and I am constantly puzzled by what people perceive as being good. That may sound pretentious and it may very well be. In my defense, I’m far more critical of my own work. I realize more and more that it’s because I compare […]
I had two future teachers in my class last night complaining about a syllabus that it wasn’t scary enough for 9th graders, that they needed to have more fear put into them. The whole “don’t smile until Christmas” thing came up as well. It’s a popular mindset among teachers. I tried the tough guy route […]
the other half being blue and red laser beams of course. As part of my continuing retrospective . . . . Being a big GI Joe fan growing up I made these file cards for my students. I moved to a more student-centered model later and built an Appleworks database1 so they could put in […]
Something simple and silly I did back in the day to emphasize the strength of the leadership of the Continental Army. Trying to make visual connections and keep people interested through humor. I’m reminiscing some about my days teaching 6th grade and as I find things that I still like1 I plan to post them. […]
Here’s a 10 minute video describing how one of our great elementary school teachers is using iPods to help with elementary literacy and reading fluency. The video needs some work1 but the idea is sound and interesting2. It’s a bit of a HEF ad but they’re a good group that helps fund projects like this […]
Here are two options our new filtering system currently gives when you try to access a blocked site1. Option One Misspelling aside, this warning is not pleasant. It assumes what I’m doing is bad and that I am acting with bad intent. Apparently I need a scary warning. I am being treated like a deviant. […]
Via This American Life I bring you “Phone Call to the 14th Century” (at the 26:34 mark).1 Basic idea for those of you who have yet to listen- it’s a game show based on calling a hut in the 14th century and imparting as much key wisdom as you can in one minute. Such a […]
It’s all in the processing. Ask students to make sense out of what appears to be nonsense. Take the Ask A Ninja “What is podcasting?” episode. Does it seem like gibberish? For sure. Is there a very definite underlying logic? Without question and that logic can be explained. That’s the type of thing I’d start […]
I’ve been interested in using this Garfield Minus Garfield site for a while. Here are a few ways I might use it. Instant creative writing prompt- Write a love poem to a wolverine. Or write a love poem from the perspective of a wolverine. Or simply write a love poem using the word “wolverine” at […]
I’m not a fan of the presentation style but what Phil Zimbardo is saying is interesting and relevant to what we do in teaching and education. I’d start about the 1:40 mark- so that’s only 5 minutes of invested time if you watch it. —-My summary—- People end up biased in their perceptions and break […]