I had been teaching for two years when my colleague and future husband was named to the 1998 Olympic team to Nagano Japan. It was a classic story. A full time teacher takes a year off from the daily grind of education, transfers that intensity, focus, dedication and stamina into skiing and wins the one […]
Whitney Kaulbach
I teach High school and middle school students World History, AP World History, Reading Instruction, and Literacy Specialist.
Week 3 of Rollout 1:1 iPads: Cede Control
The transition to a 1:1 digital classroom is a means for lessons designed around seamless cooperation between students and teachers to set common goals and outcomes. This week was a lesson in letting go of total classroom control. I spent the weekend rereading, How to Give Effective Feedback to Your Students, by Susan Brookhart. I […]
Week 2- Rollout 1:1 iPads- Introducing Aggregators
Last week’s article, “Teaching in the 1:1 Digital Classroom”, focused on accommodating Luddites and iPad enthusiasts and this week is dedicated to keeping routines. I need transitions towards technology to be smooth or learning will be set aside for entertainment value only. Notability is my go to workflow application for editing and downloading class notes. […]
Pioneering 1:1 iPads Meets Resistance?
It is risky business, changing everything you teach and control in order to move towards a tech heavy classroom. I am one week into a 1:1 iPad rollout for all of the juniors and seniors at our rural high school. We are the last assigned group in our school wide transition to 1:1 iPads that […]
When All Else Frustrates, We Still Have Vacation
I would be remiss if I did not gleefully gloat about the one thing the teaching profession offers in comparison to similarly ranked careers. Of course I’m referring to vacation time. I absolutely love having vacations during holidays. My equally elated spouse insists on taking in new ventures, enjoying each full minute of an unstructured […]
Student Motivation Starts With Zombies!
Incentives inspire learning because incentives drive choices. I learn this every time I buy a Starbucks coffee and receive a free app or song download. My app  can guide me by GPS to any coffee shop where I use free wifi and earn stars that eventually gain me a free coffee. This has me wondering […]
A 41 Year Classroom Veteran Shares her Secrets
While the same can’t be said for all professions, everyone I know remembers a teacher who positively changed their world. As a teacher myself, I was re-inspired  to love  learning and to believe that I could become even more as an educator by my daughter’s kindergarten teacher. I had been questioning my own educational practices […]
The Veterans of Education Matter
Last night I was flipping through old photo albums, reminiscing about my first years in teaching which seem so sunny and bright. I know that I have gained efficiency, patience and organization since I first began. Â Yet forced changes in education have me questioning my confidence and expertise. Change insinuates that everything I have been […]