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.
Nov 11
I came across this service, HeyGen, and I just had to try it. This video is all avatar and NOT me! I typed the script being read by a HeyGen voice so it’s not my voice though that avatar does a good job of being ME! You could also record yourself speaking and then it’s …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2023/11/11/a-video-of-me-without-me/
Sep 17
It’s my 33rd year teaching and the first two weeks are in the books! The first two weeks of my 33rd year were excellent and I not only enjoyed them but they filled me with excitement for this school year! I get to teach both Math and Science again this year. The last time I …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2023/09/17/another-great-start/
Aug 29
I put together a few resources to help educators get started with some AI tools that I’ve tried out this summer that also are vetted by other educators. I’ve been reading what other teachers are doing on X (formerly Twitter) and I’ve joined a few Facebook groups for some of the tools I’ve been hearing …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2023/08/29/ai-for-educators-how-to-get-started/
Jul 10
It’s safe to say that I’ve been obsessed with AI this summer. Going into my fifth week of summer break when I’m not out hiking or eating with my wife or hanging out with our daughter and her boyfriend I’ve been reading and taking online courses. While not all my summer learning has been AI …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2023/07/10/summer-learning-dominated-by-ai/
Jun 26
I received my first grant for $500 in 1992, my second year teaching, to connect my South Central Los Angeles 5th graders from Main Street Elementary to the Internet and to use my AOL account to share and exchange video footage of my students with a school in Vassalboro, Maine. I received a $3,000 grant …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2023/06/26/the-end-of-a-24-year-grant-streak/
Jun 25
After COVID it was nice to start the school year like almost normal. Kids were in full classes of 24 or 25 giving us 75 students (14 5th graders and 61 6th graders) in three classes and they were coming to school all day, every day. I was teaching only Science, another teacher taught ELA …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2023/06/25/2022-2023-school-year-exhausting-confusing-rewarding/
Jun 25
The end of the year was fast approaching and it was time for me to help my kids conclude our Environmental Stewardship Project. I have been doing this project in one form or another since 1997 when I started working at my current school and saw that our town creek ran right by the campus, …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2023/06/25/final-project-ai-did-help/
Jun 24
As a kid I was a huge fan of science fiction. I remember going to the theater to watch Star Wars A New Hope when it first came out and at home I watched Star Trek The Original Series (TOS) and Battlestar Galactica (1978 version) and thoroughly enjoyed envisioning what the future could be. Of …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2023/06/24/using-ai-like-we-use-computers-star-trek-inspired/
Mar 26
The Northwest Council for Computer Education (NCCE) puts on the best EdTech conference in the Pacific Northwest! The amazing sessions, workshops, and speakers are as high quality as the International Society for Technology Education (ISTE)! Educators from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and all over come to Washington state to attend NCCE’s annual conferences. I’ve been …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2023/03/26/best-edtech-conference-in-the-pacific-northwest/
Mar 08
The amazing Cassondra Smith, EdTech Coordinator from Battle Ground Public Schools here in WA state, has a podcast for teachers who want to learn more about EdTech and integrating technology. For her most recent podcast she invited my presenting partner Tammie Schrader and me to talk about gamification and game-based learning (GBL)! Click on the …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2023/03/08/intro-to-gamification-and-game-based-learning-gbl-podcast/
I'm a Curipod Ambassador! :)
I've presented at NCCE
2016, 2017, 2019, 2022,
2023, 2024, and 2025!
I presented at WSTA 2015!
