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.
Mar 09
That seems to be a matter of opinion. Personal preference also plays a part in this. It also depends on what you need to accomplish. This is a subject of great debate so I wrote a post on my district’s tech blog, which I am cross posting here: I have discovered in my career that …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2013/03/09/what-is-the-best-device/
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2013/03/05/awesome-climate-change-infographic/
Feb 22
Our District Tech Committee, of what I am part, was tasked with developing a Tech Vision Statement to determine what our next steps with technology will be. Our school board members have been attending conferences where 1:1 iPad programs were shared and they want to know if that or something that can and should be …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2013/02/22/tech-vision/
Feb 21
My 6th grade Verizon Innovative App Challenge team got best in state in WA for their EcoApp idea in the middle school category! This means that they get to pitch their app idea before judges, via Skype I think, for best in the nation! The middle and high school winning teams for best in the …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2013/02/21/best-in-state/
Feb 16
One of my 8th graders showed me this thought piece she wrote (this is what she decided to call it since it made the most sense, I called it a story and she said that it wasn’t exactly a story). It was just the kind of piece that I thought would fit perfectly in this …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2013/02/16/inspiring-our-students/
Feb 13
While I don’t agree that standardized test scores should be used to inform more than what they inform, I do use the test scores to see what trends have been happening with my students. See, I’m not entirely opposed to using standardized test scores, just NOT to determine whether my students should advance or graduate …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2013/02/13/poverty-does-affect-achievement/
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2013/02/10/awesome-solar-system-infographic/
Feb 01
So I am continuing to survey my students. It’s our midterm and halfway through our school year so I wanted to check in and see how they’re all doing. After the positive exit slip experience I had last week I thought this week’s survey would be cool. It was cool but not so easy to …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2013/02/01/change-is-hard/
Jan 29
I was showing my classes this awesome video about the power of feedback. It’s about six minutes long and I think everyone should see it, kids of all ages. At one point in the video the educator mentions that in the expeditionary learning school kids critique each other’s work and redraft it unlike, “regular schools.” …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2013/01/29/getting-called-out/
Jan 29
We got an opportunity to go naturemapping so I volunteered our 8th graders since they’re all learning Life Science this year! An amazing AmeriCorps Volunteer, the one who taught my 8th graders last year about Rain Gardens, organized the whole trip for us! We were very fortunate indeed. We took over 70 kids on a …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2013/01/29/naturemapping-field-trip/
I'm a Curipod Ambassador! :)
I've presented at NCCE
2016, 2017, 2019, 2022,
2023, 2024, and 2025!
I presented at WSTA 2015!
