Pencils to 3D-Printers: A New Kind of Language Arts Class
“The printers have been ordered. Fingers crossed. Here we go…..” This was the email I received two weeks ago from my principal who is working with me to develop a whole new kind of Language Arts class. The plan
Eeny, Meeny, Mino, Moe: Which 3D Printer Should We Own?
A couple weeks ago, I wrote about the start of my journey to create a Language Arts and ELD class that leveraged 3D printing as a means to initiate a more purposeful curriculum for reading and writing. I will be
5 Nonfiction Articles + Novels Series: Middle School Edition (Jan.)
Mutually Beneficial Animal Relationships (Photos) Written by: Huffington Post Staff Published On: The Huffington Post “The ostrich isn’t very good at smelling, while the zebra can smell pretty well. The zebra though, doesn’t have good eyesight, but the ostrich does.
Making, Writing, & Leaving My Wheelhouse: How This Relates to ELD Students (UPDATED)
I first began blogging to reflect on what I was learning during my summer with the Writing Project. After each day, I returned home, head spinning, needing to simply process. Finally, my husband said, “Why don’t you try starting one
5 Non-Fiction Articles to Pair with High School Literature (December)
1. Dumb Kids’ Class Written by: Mark Bowden Published on: The Atlantic “My bet is that when a comprehensive inventory is made of my generation, it will be found that not one person from a smart kids’ class
5 Nonfiction + Novels Series: The Middle School Edition for Dec. 2015
My newest post is the first in a series in which I’m collaborating with Talks with Teachers podcaster and blogger, Brian Sztabnik. Brian not only moderates the #aplitchat on Twitter but also writes the 5 Nonfiction + Novels series for
Celebrating the Refugees Already in Our Classrooms: Memories and Advice From a Student
In June 2001, a family of four escaped from the slaughter of Nepal and made their way across the world to safety. They arrived, not in boats dragged up on shore, but in the arms of families who helped them
The Invisible Strategies of Teaching: #whatpeopledontsee
hen you walk onto a middle school campus and even into the rooms themselves, it can look like chaos. After all, middle schoolers are wired to be active and wired to be loud. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t learning
Who Was I In Middle School? A Reflection + Free Downloadable
t times, seeing the diversity in my own students, I’ve wondered who I was when I was in middle school and what really drove my tween’s brain. So I created a Tip 10 list of memories to help me reflect
Boy Talk at Recess: Pokemon, Light Sabers, and Things That Go Boom!
y most recent post for The Huffington Post just went live. It chronicles my embarrassment when my 9-year-old son chose his classroom’s parent-led art session to voice his recent interest in bloody talk. It also chronicles my son’s frustration at
DIY Project Based Learning for ELA and History
’m excited to announce that my new book, DIY Project Based Learning for ELA and History has arrived and is now available for purchase. The point of the book was to break down the process of PBL into day-by-day chunks
How to Host a Twitter Chat with your School Community
very year schools sit and brainstorm ways to communicate and engage its families. How will we reach out to parents? How will we gather information about their needs or give them a little insight in what we do as educators? A
Lessons Students Can Learn From Mick Fanning vs. The Great White Shark
hat’s with shark videos? First it was the uniqueness of Left Shark in the Katy Perry halftime show. From him we learned to dance to your own groove, even in front of millions of people And now we have the
Using Ant-Man In The Classroom
just watched Ant-Man with my 9 year-old, and we both walked away with a cinematic smile on our faces. For him, it was a movie of laughs and of just the right level of suspense. It didn’t have the darkness
The Full Interview with Dr. Spiros Michalakis
s part of my recent superhero PBL unit, I brought in Dr. Spiros Michalakis to talk to my students about research for their science-fiction based narratives. Spiros is a Quantum Physicist who consulted on the new Marvel movie, Ant-man. Sure,
Visual of my Edutopia post: “The Power of I Don’t Know”
recently wrote an post for Edutopia called “The Power of I Don’t Know.” It focuses on our need as teachers to release being the information authority in the room and instead to hand over the reins to the students themselves.
Training Judges for a Speech Tournament: A Reflection on How Students (Even Adults) Learn
e just finished hosting our first quarter speech tournament on Friday night. Our league, to our knowledge, is one of the largest middle school leagues in the country, and the coaches meet frequently to ensure that our tournaments run as
What is the Purpose of School?: Understanding Purpose Helps with Student Motivation (updated)
start my school year with a little blog post about what students think school is all about. It begins a year-long conversation about purpose that I then refer to throughout the school year. “What is the purpose of the digital
Organizing Google Drive For Your New School Year
I have drunk the Google Drive Kool-Aid. I used it daily last year, and I am now a convert. However, as a result of my recent condition that I’m calling Googlenthusiasm, my inbox and Drive are now ready for a
Having Any Nightmares About the Start of School Yet?
I posted the following on Facebook earlier today and got such a fun response, I just had to put it out there in a bigger way: Had my first start-of-year-stress-dream last night. My collaborative tables had been replaced with
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