A Whole ‘Lotta Shaking Goin’ On
I recently happened across this piece I wrote in 2002 for a writing class, in fact my Northern Nevada Writing Project class, about my experiences during the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake and its aftermath. (Side note - Corbett Harrison who is co- genius behind...
Tales Out of School
In my travels I've recently heard some interesting, if not disheartening tales. Several teachers I met shared being at a school board meeting where a school board member told about visiting middle and high schools and being appalled at seeing students using smart...
Who Gets Noticed? Telling? Or Not So Much? You Decide
A few weeks ago I noted to a local education reporter here that their Twitter follows included basically zero (or only VERY few) educators - almost all politicians and other media people and neo-reformers (Rhee, Broad, Students First, etc.). To their credit they not...
Beginning of the Year Classroom Learning Ideas
Over the years I've posted about lessons and activities I've used successfully to start off the year. Here are some of them in case they help: 1) "Getting To Know You" is how I started my year with my students that not only was successful and getting them to know each...
HackEd ISTE 2013
Just spent the day at what used to be called EduBloggerCon (and a few other iterations over the years). As always great folks having conversations about where education could / should be going. Now I'm actually sitting in the Bloggers' Cafe at the end of the...
A Professional Learning Community/Network Example
Or: "Why many educators find Twitter and other social networks indispensable." I'm currently attending the NSTA STEM Forum and Expo in St. Louis. Last night while taking a class on using telescopes in the classroom, not far from my house in Nevada I got an email...
A sign of the times?
When I visited an elementary school today I saw this on the door to the computer lab: Learning is messy!
STEM-ing the Tide of Education Reform
NOTE: This post was originally published at the Voices from the learning revolution blog. “Everybody in this room understands that our nation’s success depends on strengthening America’s role as the world’s engine of discovery and innovation. And that leadership...
A “Crushing” STEM Experience
Today was one of those great days when I get to work in classrooms ... 3 fourth grade classes ... 2 of them in the same school I visited, and 1 class 2,000 miles away. First I helped set up a "Mystery Skype" call with a class in Illinois so they could basically play...
RECON – Recruiting citizen scientists to explore the outer solar system!
I've been busy of late. This week is the NSTA conference, but last week I was included in a team being trained to be part of a project funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF) called RECON - Research and Education Cooperative Occultation Network. Each...