Tag: Reflection

2022-2023 School Year – Exhausting, Confusing, Rewarding

Photo of Mr. Gonzalez's 22-23 homeroom class posing for a class selfie with fake mustaches for spirit week mustache day.

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 …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2023/06/25/2022-2023-school-year-exhausting-confusing-rewarding/

Reflecting on 21-22

As part of our Ocean Guardian School’s Environmental Stewardship Project, I give students a pre and post project survey. In addition to questions about their perceived understanding of the topics we cover before and after the project, I also ask questions about the project and what they liked best and least. It helps inform any …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2022/07/11/reflecting-on-21-22/

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 …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2019/07/08/20-time-reflections/

My Fave 11 of 2011

It’s that time of year again. Where people look back and reflect on their top posts. I was reading Pernille Ripp’s top blog post and she made a great point. Instead of listing the posts that got the most hits list the ones that mean the most to you! I love it. And actually I …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2012/01/02/my-fave-11-of-2011/

Freedom!

Recently I gave all my 6th graders a reflection survey to have them share with me their thoughts on what they’ve learned from some of the projects we’ve completed. I also asked them to share with me their thoughts on how well they have been working independently and in their teams. I always end the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/12/04/freedom/

Reform Symposium Presentation on Student Blogging!

Saturday, July 30 at 1:30pm PDT (UTC -7) I had the great honor to be able to share something I’ve been enjoying doing for years, having my students blog! Educators from all over the world convened at this year’s Reform Symposium, RSCON3, and my presentation was Student Blogging for Reflection, as e-Portfolio, and as Formative …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/07/23/rscon3_presentation/

Lessons I’ve learned from my Student’s Blogs

This is a post that I wrote when Joe Bower, who teaches middle school aged children in Alberta, Canada, asked me if I would write a guest post on his blog (see it here – Joe has an incredible blog where he writes often about changing education for the better). I jumped at the chance …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/01/21/lessons-ive-learned-from-my-students-blogs/

WA STEM Grant Proposal

My awesome PLC has accepted the challenge of social networking. I shared the WA STEM grant idea and they all jumped on board. So I wrote a proposal and sent it in! I sure hope we get the grant because I think it’s a great project for us to work on. (If you want to …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2010/12/18/wa-stem-grant-proposal/

iPad App Reviews

My iPad Review for the IEAR

After writing my iPads in Science blog article I received a comment from Scott Meech from the I Educational Apps Review (IEAR) website. He asked me to cross post my article on the IEAR website. How cool! So I copied my article, with slight re-editing, and now it’s posted on the IEAR site! Check it …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2010/08/01/ipad-app-reviews/

Do Grades Help or Hinder Learning?

As our 2nd trimester comes to an end and I prepare final grades I’m left wondering if grades and marks like grades help or hinder learning. I began to wonder about grades and homework after reading some articles written by Alfie Kohn. After reading, Changing the Homework Default I bought Kohn’s book, The Homework Myth …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2010/03/06/do-grades-help-or-hinder-learning/