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 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/
Oct 08
Just recently I had the pleasure of being interviewed once again by Larry Ferlazzo for his amazing BAM Radio Network show, Classroom Q and A. Larry also shared a written commentary I wrote for his EdWeek column that goes with the show on Grading. My commentary focused on gamifying the grading process to make it …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2019/10/08/talking-about-grading-with-larry-ferlazzo/
Sep 09
Struggling with Reading Back in May of 2012, I wrote a blog post sharing my struggles with reading. Although I read and read well and always did well in school, I don’t read much. Reading is often very tedious for me so it’s easier to read snippets or short passages, which is why I start …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2019/09/09/gaming-vs-reading/
Aug 21
I share as much as I can here about getting money for your classroom because it’s so doable. It takes work, but it’s doable. Recently, I wrote about Getting Even More Money and I took the points I shared there for a fantastic EdWeek Column by Larry Ferlazzo, Response: Show Me the Money! Ways Teachers …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2019/08/21/teachers-raising-funds-for-their-classrooms/
Jul 18
I’ve been thinking about how to up my class game. After making the decision to use Classcraft as the only LMS and gamification engine this coming school year, I’ve been thinking about what to do to make Science more immersive and game-like. Classcraft adds a flavor of fantasy and with daily random events, adds excitement …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2019/07/18/upping-my-game/
Jul 09
I started gamifying my Science classes in the 2012-13 school year. I came up with my own custom badges to keep track of what students were learning and I used Moodle to push out assignments, or quests, with my students. It was more difficult than I thought and didn’t work very well. By the 2013-14 …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2019/07/09/classcraft-finally-beat-rezzly/
Jul 08
Ever since I heard about 20% Time projects, Genius Hour, and Passion Projects I wanted to provide those opportunities to my students. The idea behind giving students class time to work on topics that truly interest them aligns with my views of education and schooling. While I do believe that kids should be exposed to …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2019/07/08/20-time-reflections/
Jul 08
This past school year I implemented a 20% Time/Genius Hour year-long project with my 8th graders. I’ll be sharing my reflections in a later post but for now I need to share three amazing presentations that came from the project. Students worked on their projects every Friday and their one requirement was to share the …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2019/07/08/a-students-history-of-animation/
I'm a Curipod Ambassador! :)
I've presented at NCCE
2016, 2017, 2019, 2022,
2023 and 2024!
I presented at WSTA 2015!
