The unthinkable happened. Our faculty provided expertise for a recent In-service. Incentive to turn the reigns over to in-house professionals result from either our successful embrace of the PLC model or because the budget is frozen. Whatever the reason, the opportunity to explore the Ed Camp model of professional collaboration is a turning point in […]
Technology
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, School Improvement, Social Studies, Technology
The Absent Educator in a 1:1 iGen Classroom
Every once in a while, I have to take a sick day as a result of my own human frailty. A foot surgery scheduled for April was suddenly bumped up to last week, leaving me three days to prepare. As an educator, I hate missing school and I despise writing sub plans. Even with the […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Social Studies, Technology
Week 5/6: iPad Rollout- Differentiation
Living in Vermont means making amends for educational productivity when a perfect snowstorm blankets the state. Students and teachers embrace the cold powder while it lasts. We ski, we snowboard, we play hard. No wonder Vermont supplies a proportionate number of Olympians. At school we gained one actual snow day and then a week of […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Instruction & Curriculum, Technology
Google Conference Shows Power of Tech in Education
Technology can greatly enhance instruction by encouraging meaningful collaboration, creation, and developing 21st-century skills. This was the main message of last weekend’s conference in Roseville, Calif. (near Sacramento). Known as a “GAFE” Summit (Google Apps for Education), this two-day event provided inspiration and technical know-how for integrating the use of Chromebooks and other Google technologies […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Technology
Week 4, 1:1 iPad Rollout – Digital Learning Day
Did you know about Digital Learning Day nationwide? I stepped up my enthusiasm for digital learning by telling students to SMASH APPS! and tweeted class totals (#dlday). Smashing immediately connotes images of destruction but according to my Twitter community it simply means using more than one app to create something digital. My students had opportunities […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Social Studies, Technology
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 […]
Posted inFeatured, Opinion, Technology
Dropbox – The Teacher's Tech Friend
Stay late at work? Always wish there was a bit more time to put together lesson plans at school? Try to take those plans home to hopefully finish them, only to realize you left the portable USB thumb drive back in the classroom? Worse yet, have you ever lost a boat load of plans after your […]
Posted inFeatured, Technology
This Year, Try Some Virtual Gifts!
I love putting up the Christmas tree each year with my family. We pull out ornaments the kids have created in years past. Gifts they made in preschool and beyond with fingerprints, handprints, or footprints reflecting a moment in time. They are a small sample of their physical self; growing each year. With the age […]