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.
Apr 09
What does on-task look like in a 21st century classroom? How do you get your students engaged in learning? I think about the types of learning that take place in my classroom a lot because I don’t know if the things I’m doing actually help my students learn. Is it enough to abolish grades so …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/04/09/what-is-on-task/
Mar 23
Yesterday was a pretty darn cool day. From 8am to 2:30pm I was able to sit in comfy chair at Northwest Kiwanis Camp house that we rent to work on PLC stuff near gorgeous Beausite Lake here in Chimacum, WA. I met and worked all day with our middle and high school Math and Science …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/03/23/can-i-be-excited-now/
Mar 17
Okay, so in a ten and a half hour average work day I go to the restroom three times. I try to make sure I go by 7:30am before the kids get to my room when the bell rings at 7:40am (unless there’s a morning meeting when I have to skip my morning restroom break). …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/03/17/just-saying/
Mar 09
Going grade-less has opened me up to giving students feedback that will help them move their learning in the right direction. I no longer spend my time trying to find a percentage or letter or mark to reduce their work. I read it and tell them what is working and what they still need. My …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/03/09/giving-feedback/
Mar 03
Last week our 8th grade Bacteria Labs went all wrong. Student teams went all around the school swabbing different places to see where they would find the most bacteria. What happened was something I didn’t expect, not one single petri dish showed any growth. No bacteria, no mold, nothing. We discussed possible sources of error …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/03/03/lab-saved/
Feb 25
Back in November I was reflecting on whether or not inquiry can be, or should be, structured. Overall my conclusion was that yes, it can and should, at times, be structured by the teacher. Even with my 8th graders I find that if I don’t structure the activity, project, or lab they don’t take it …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/02/25/when-is-structure-needed/
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/02/25/quick-inquiry-field-trip/
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/02/10/we-are-the-change-we-need/
Feb 06
I’m looking for help from my incredible PLN. My district’s tech committee has been meeting this year and we’re looking to revamp our technology vision and mission. One thing that has come up at these tech meetings is that before we can decide what direction to take with tech we need to define how we …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/02/06/what-does-good-teaching-look-like/
Jan 31
My students are using two fantastic apps for uploading photos and pictures from their iPads to put on their blogs. If a student gets a photo on their iPad or draws a picture here are two apps for them to upload: The Photobucket app is fantastic! It’s free and creating accounts are free. Students just …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/01/31/uploading-photos-with-the-ipad/
I'm a Curipod Ambassador! :)
I've presented at NCCE
2016, 2017, 2019, 2022,
2023, 2024, and 2025!
I presented at WSTA 2015!
