Mar 15
Updated 3/15/20 at 3:15 pm PDTSchool Closure PlanningWeek 1Week 2Week 3Week 4Week 5Week 6Week 7Week 8Week 9Week 10Week 11Week 12Week 13 My school district was being proactive. Seeing how the spread of COVID-19 was causing many schools around us to shut down, we started to meet to discuss what we would do in the case …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2020/03/15/school-closure-planning/
Feb 20
In my last post, I reflected on my course gamification efforts so far this year. In this post, I will share my game-based learning (GBL) plans. Ever Since I started gamifying my classes I knew that the real power of engagement wasn’t in making my normal course more game-like only, but in having kids play …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2020/02/20/game-based-learning-planning-gbl/
Feb 19
To make learning in school more playful and game-like, I’ve been working with Gamification for years. By gamifying my courses I continue to teach what I have always taught but more like a game than a school course. Running my class like a game makes it more exciting than just learning Science (or learning how …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2020/02/19/gamification-update/
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/
Apr 07
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/
Nov 15
The week before school started I managed to prepare enough to get through the first week with no problem! That was quite the relief. I did have to put in some hours late into each day and over the three-day Labor Day weekend, but I’m used to doing that. Had I been able to prepare …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2018/11/15/great-year/
Jul 11
I just read this article on Mindshift, Will New Standards Improve Elementary Science Education, and it made me think of something we teachers talk about often, the natural curiosity that kids come to school with when they first enter school. Something about the way traditional schooling is done to children strips that natural curiosity. In …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2018/07/11/ngss-and-enjoying-science/
May 28
Updated on 8-1-19. There are a lot of amazing teachers out there leading the way in Game-Based-Learning (GBL) and Gamification. I’m sharing some of the ones whose blogs I read regularly and follow using Feedly. I list them here in no particular order and recommend anyone who is interested in learning more about GBL or …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2018/05/28/gbl-and-gamification-people-to-follow/
Mar 02
I’ve been looking for ways to engage ALL my students. It’s been quite a hunt with limited success at best. I’ve learned that you can engage all of your students some of the time or some of your students all of the time (pretty much) but the 100% total engagement has been elusive. And I …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2018/03/02/100-total-engagement/
Oct 24
This post was originally published on the CORELaborate blog! I have heard it before and I agree, school can be considered a game. Think about it. Those kids who do the best have the game all figured out. You show up, do what the teachers tell you to do, be quiet, pretend to listen (or …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2017/10/24/playing-the-game-of-school/
I'm a Curipod Ambassador! :)
I've presented at NCCE
2016, 2017, 2019, 2022,
2023, 2024, and 2025!
I presented at WSTA 2015!
