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
Teachers Raising Funds for their Classrooms
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
Upping My Game
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
Classcraft Finally Beat Rezzly
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
20% Time Reflections
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
A Student’s History of Animation
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/
Jul 08
A Student in Drag
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-student-in-drag/
Jul 08
A Student’s FBI Dream
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-fbi-dream/
Jul 08
Goodbye to Chimacum Middle School
This September Chimacum School District will consist of a grades K through 2 primary school, a grades 3 through 6 elementary school, and a grades 7 through 12 jr and sr high school. In order to accommodate fewer students the middle school was consolidated into the elementary and the high school. I wrote about the …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2019/07/08/goodbye-to-chimacum-middle-school/
Apr 07
A Student Comment Has Me Thinking
Ever since our district made the decision to reconfigure our main campus from a grades 3-5 Elementary, a grades 6-8 Middle School, and a grades 9-12 High School to a grades 3-6 Elementary and a grades 7-12 Jr/Sr High School I have been thinking a lot about next year. The reconfiguration forces me to choose …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2019/04/07/a-student-comment-has-me-thinking/