I teach 5th and 6th grade STEM in the lovely Pacific Northwest in a small, rural town called Chimacum. My goal is to help students discover that all learning is life-long and that 21st century tools can be used for work as well as fun.
Feb 21
I was able to start a Minecraft Esports Club for my 6th graders even though I know nothing about what I’m doing and I’m learning as I go along and I’m learning by trying and failing. Why would I also try live streaming when I don’t know anything about that, either? To offer students the …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2020/02/21/broadcasting-esports-games/
Feb 20
In my last post, I reflected on my course gamification efforts so far this year. In this post, I will share my game-based learning (GBL) plans. Ever Since I started gamifying my classes I knew that the real power of engagement wasn’t in making my normal course more game-like only, but in having kids play …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2020/02/20/game-based-learning-planning-gbl/
Feb 19
To make learning in school more playful and game-like, I’ve been working with Gamification for years. By gamifying my courses I continue to teach what I have always taught but more like a game than a school course. Running my class like a game makes it more exciting than just learning Science (or learning how …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2020/02/19/gamification-update/
Feb 18
The Pacific Education Institute (PEI) has an amazing website full of fantastic resources. Just mousing over the Our Work menu item displays various resources for any Science, STEM, or Elementary teacher looking for environmental ideas for their curriculum. And if you are a grant writer or considering writing grants to get materials or equipment for …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2020/02/18/amazing-environmental-performance-tasks/
Feb 17
The STEM Teaching Tools website has some great briefs that I’ve seen at several NGSS workshops I’ve attended in the past bunch of years. I’ve even shared some in workshops I co-facilitate because they’re so cool so I thought I’d share the resource here. Clicking on the PD Modules link in the menu shows some …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2020/02/17/helpful-stem-tools/
Feb 16
In my last post on Esports with Minecraft, I shared resources that helped me get a Minecraft Esports Club started for my 6th graders. I got as far as having everything I needed to get started in that post, and now I’m going to show what happened after that. In that post I shared a …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2020/02/16/esports-with-minecraft-getting-started/
Feb 16
Yesterday I wrote a post about a game that some of my 6th-grade students played with kids in Surrey, England, Friday, Feb 21, 2020. In this post, I’m going to share how I got this going for my school. I’m going to assume that if you’re reading this you know what esports are. If you …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2020/02/16/esports-with-minecraft/
Feb 15
We’ll be live-streaming a game on Friday, Feb 21, 2020, starting around 7:30 am on Mr. Gonzalez’s Twitch account. Tune in if you can, otherwise we’ll share the broadcast on Mr. G’s Youtube Channel. [Note: Click on any image to see it full size.] Within the red circle in the above map is an area …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2020/02/15/esports-and-minecraft-bring-kids-in-the-uk-together-with-kids-in-chimacum-wa/
Dec 16
Quest-Based Learning or QBL is one aspect of Gamification. As you read this post you might wonder, “do I need to gamify my course or use technology to offer choices, multiple pathways, or differentiate?” The answer to that would be a resounding no! Nothing here is new but added to a gamified classroom, the strategies …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2019/12/16/quest-based-learning-qbl/
Dec 05
On October 15, 1997, the Cassini Orbiter was launched from Cape Canaveral. Cassini explored and collected data on Saturn, including gathering data on Saturn’s moons. Cassini found 20 moons that had never been discovered before, according to Carnegie Science, bringing Saturn’s moon total to 82 moons! The NASA Spacecraft ended its 20-year mission by crashing …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2019/12/05/naming-saturns-newly-discovered-moons/
I'm a Curipod Ambassador! :)
I've presented at NCCE
2016, 2017, 2019, 2022,
2023, 2024, and 2025!
I presented at WSTA 2015!
