Millions of people around the world are celebrating Ramadan right now. This holiday, which depends on the phases of the moon for its date each year is the centerpiece of Moon’s Ramdan by Natasha Khan Kazi about the moon and the way its phases are seen equally around the world. Each page of the story … More Moon’s Ramadan
This morning as I listened to the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast with two of my favorite teacher encouragers, Vicki Davis and Steve Dembo, it finally sunk into my thick head that sometimes the best tool to jumpstart a lesson isn’t a new tool at all. I must admit that my tried and true tools for looking at old … More Smart Tech Tools for the New Year Don’t Have to Be New
Makerspace is a current buzzword, it’s true, but making itself is not a fad. Human’s ability to work with their hands and make things has been a defining characteristic. The modern makerspace is actually a return to the sanity of Piaget and John Dewey after several decades of spreadsheet driven insanity. People who sit in offices … More Why Makerspace Isn’t “Just Another Thing”
For many years, the technology policy at my school was the “walled garden”. The very phrase brought to mind lonely, sad Collin Craven shut away by himself in The Secret Garden. Our children were to be locked away. It was too dangerous to allow them to be in the digital world. Don’t misunderstand, students need to … More Sharing Your Class With the World
My teaching focus as media specialist is usually on student creations of a digital or physical nature. As part of my preparation for MACUL17, I have been focusing on creation of a different sort. How do we create digital citizens how can leave a positive footprint? In the past, much of the teaching about digital … More Making a Difference
One of the things I love best about Hour of Code is the opportunity it gives for students to shine. This is especially true of students who are not seen as academically strong by their peers. Many students come to school already behind their peers in reading and other academic subjects due to their situation outside … More Code: The Great Equalizer
Code.org Of course, Code Studio level 1 is the easiest way to introduce kindergarten and first-grade students to code. I love it, but during Computer Science Education Week, it often has performance issues because of the huge amount of traffic that is generated. While it is wonderful, I always have a fallback plan in case it goes down … More Hour of Code Options for Elementary Students
If you had told my ten-year-0ld self that as an adult, I would send most of my career teaching people how to do things on computers, I would have laughed in your face. You see, at ten, I was a bookworm who would rather read than socialize and computers occupied entire floors of research universities and … More Setting Students Up for Future Success by Using Hour of Code
Thank you, Vicki Davis and the Mad About Mattering team. You reframed my thinking about teaching digital citizenship. For too long, we have been teaching students what not to do, coming from a place of fear and negativity. I want students to recognize all the positive things they can do in the world, and that … More Helping Students Do What Matters
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