What follows in this post is my personal beliefs about reading. I have done some research about what encourages reading and whether certain reading programs are effective catalysts of students reading. But primarily my thoughts on reading come from my observations and interactions with students and my own children over the last two decades. What I have discovered is that everyone is a reader. It…
This post is not so much about suggesting or telling about an educational approach. Rather this is about my wanting to remember to include reflection more into my coaching and teaching. As we careen towards the end of the school year, so many activities seem to pop up that I often don’t take the time for reflection. I have written about percolating time, https://edtechease.comindex.php/blog/percolating-time, that…
Two of the schools that EdTech EASE works with include hatching chicks as part of their elementary science curriculum. This made me curious as to why this process was included in their curriculums. For both schools, this is part of a larger science curriculum. As part of their science curriculum, the first and second graders in these schools study life cycles in nature. Students learn…
Learning should not be regulated to just the classroom. I am not the only one who feels this way, just check Instagram and Facebook posts.Learning spills out into the hallways and beyond in many schools. In the schools I visit, I often observe that the hallways, multipurpose room, and even the kitchen are often transformed into learning spaces. Using a hallway floor as a backdrop,…
During the last few weeks I have been an observer in the process of a school science fair. When I first heard about this endeavor, I started thinking about, is there a place in this digital world for an old school science fair? Let’s start with what I observed of this process. Students did preliminary research regarding their science concept, followed by performing the experiment….
Had a conversation with a parent last week. She was telling me how she and her husband had just watched Apollo 13 with their 5th grade daughter over the weekend. After reassuring their daughter that the astronauts were going to be fine, they all got really engrossed with the film. The 5th grader asked some great questions that they stopped the movie to look up…
Want to get better at something? Then practice it! Been feeling a bit frustrated that some educators and parents seem to think that students will improve in reading just because we are assessing their reading skills. No. Some think that students will improve their individual reading skills because they are reading short passages in an anthology once or twice a week. No. Just like all…
So let’s be honest, I have always loved Legos! When I say that I am loving Legos again, it is because I have started writing some new Lego Challenges for the schools that I am working with. I am also curating some fun new ones from Pinterest. I will share some of my new ones when I finish creating this batch. No sense in not…
Several years ago, I was conferencing with a teacher. She said that she did not have enough time to do all the activities she had for her unit. In fact she had a wonderful new activity she wanted to add to to the unit plan. I stopped her and asked, “What is your Objective?” She then told me what the objective was for that unit…
I have been working on a workshop presentation, Digital Citizenship, How Am I Supposed To Teach This? As I work through the segment as to why you should teach Digital Citizenship, I have found myself saying that teaching Digital Citizenship should not be done as add-on lessons but rather integrated into the curriculum. In fact it should and can be integrated into all areas of the curriculum….
