Data Is Your Friend

Teaching is a very tough job.  You have 24, or more, students in a class 5-6 times a day.  There is a lot going on in the class and it is very easy to get overwhelmed when you are trying to help every student be successful.  Many teachers make this even tougher on themselves by…

The True Power of my PLN

I created my Twitter account in November of 2009 to connect with my own students and share out news articles or resources about science topics.  The major byproduct of this was the connections that I started to make with other teachers, whether they were teaching in neighboring districts or even across the country and world.…

Teachers: Do No Harm

Recently I was watching an episode of Scrubs, one of my all-time favorite shows, and they were reciting the hippocratic oath: DO NO HARM.  This is a great oath to follow even for us as educators.  It should be one of the primary oaths we operate by as we are here to help ALL students…

Production – Not Reproduction

While wandering around the Art Institute of Chicago this last weekend, I ran into a quote by an artist that spoke to me as an educator.  The artist was alive in the early 1900’s but spoke about the use of technology as a tool of production, and not just as a way to reproduce what…

Embrace the Teachable Moment

On the 15th anniversary of 9/11, it is still very easy for me to remember where I was and what I was doing on that day.  I remember waking up to the sounds of my AOL instant messenger beeping like crazy, back in the days when AIM and ICQ were the main forms of communication between…

My ISTE 2016 Takeaways

ISTE 2016 was held in Denver last week and this was my third time attending ISTE, first time presenting there.  As usual there was a ton of sessions and my favorites this year were the poster sessions as you get to talk more with the people sharing their information than you do during a regular…

We Don’t Use Wooden Clubs!

One of my favorites hobbies is golfing.  I started golfing in high school and still go out and play 18 holes when I get the chance.  I come from a family of golfers as my dad and grandpa both played.  When my grandpa started golfing he had to use wooden clubs, because that was the…

Google Innovator Academy – Here I Come!

Last Friday I received an email that was the best email I have received in quite a while.  I got the acceptance email from the Google Innovator Academy and I will be taking part in the Boulder Cohort this June, right after ISTE.  This was my 4th time applying which just goes to show that…

We Have To Go Beyond SAMR

One mistake that I would like correct in my work as a technology integrationist, was using only SAMR when talking with teachers a couple of years ago.  I had time with teachers in my building, not a lot of time but a couple of hours, and I decided to introduce SAMR to them.  We were…