As a science educator, I watched with great interest Elon Musk’s plan at a space science conference in Mexico to travel and start to colonize Mars as soon as six years from now. I was a young student myself in the 1960s when President Kennedy set
One of the challenges with writing about technology is it is ever changing. Just as we feel we have begun to learn it, master it, or just understand it, something changes. This can be daunting for many educators who have so many other considerations to
Schools and districts all over the country are facing growing pressure to integrate technology into the classroom in a meaningful way. There is a growing consensus that students must leave school technology literate if they are going to be successful in an increasingly digital world. Many
Often teachers look for tools to help reach those students who are struggling. There are many different tools available out there to help reach all students at their level. Two websites that I have found to be helpful in reaching all students are SpellingCity and
Teacher Case Study—8th Grade It was already mid-September and I was sorry I ever told my principal that I wanted a change and a challenge in my teaching assignment. After teaching sixth-grade English for years, I was assigned two classes of eighth graders who seemed destined
A big part of our efforts at QISA last year was the research, discussion, and writing of (insert shameless plug :) Aspire High: Imagining Tomorrow’s School Today. Russ, Kris, Gavin, and I had numerous back and forth conversations about what a school that genuinely meets the
Interactive word walls can transform spaces in your classroom. They provide a way for students to engage with content in an authentic matter and promote a sense of curiosity among your students. As a classroom teacher I used #ScannableTech in many different ways and wrote
One of the best reasons to adopt technology is because it can provide students a much more active, meaningful, and self-directed educational experience in your classroom. As a bonus, it can make your job much, much easier. In my workshops with educators, I often call
The problem with writing about technology is that by the time I pick some specific form of technology, tell you how to implement it with students in your classroom, and ways it will make your students better 21st century learners, that technology might already be
We have a created a monster. This was my conclusion after wandering another vendor floor at a recent education conference. A corporate monster that offers us solutions to issues that we didn’t even know that we had. It offers solutions for engagement, organization, literacy, numeracy,