I Go From Project Idea to Project Launch (PBL with a DT Feel)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/ I’ve just completed a pretty darn nice 2 weeks off for the holidays. Tomorrow I head back to 2 days of PD before the students come back to me on Wednesday. I’ve been spending the last couple of hours fine tuning my first design project of the year. This is my first year of […]
Still Ripping Educators Off
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/171347960792965587/ I started (this current round of…) getting upset about this (continuing) problem of educators being ripped off for supplies, a couple of weeks ago. I was talking about it with a fellow educator and he reminded me of a time when a teacher went to the vendor floor at a conference. She commented on […]
In Which We Are Introduced to My New School
https://goo.gl/xAkChH On August 10 I will be starting a new school year with new students at a new school. But what does that really mean? Every year we get new students. Every year is a new school year. The only really new thing is the school I will be working at – Meridian School in Round […]
I’m Not a Techie
Technology Cow via http://goo.gl/XR2MYi In 1976 I went to the University of South Carolina to be a dual Math and Computer Science major. I got my math degree but gave up on computers after spending hours at the card punch machine at late hours on the university’s one computer (that also had to do research and […]
If You Borrow It, Tell Someone
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kittiesmademedoit/ Those are words of advice given to me by my Father. Actually it was more like, “Hey, I don’t mind if you want to use my tools but put them back – in the same spot – when you are finished.” Isn’t that really the point of attribution? You are borrowing someone else’s words […]
It’s Time For a Project
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dullhunk/ It’s that time of year again for many (most?) of us in the K-12 world of the United States to deal with standardized testing. And there are many teachers who have been waiting until “that test is over” to start a pbl project. There are some of you who can’t see past the […]
What is Essential For Successful PBL?
http://earthmosaic.org/index.html This year the Buck Institute for Education (BIE.org), of which I am on the National Faculty, is re-examining the “Essential Elements” for PBL. As I was thinking about it I remembered that I have posted about these elements a few times, over the years, and I came across this post from July […]
Make That Desert Project More PBL’y
http://goo.gl/XqZSjZ Friend of mine had their son bring home a “project” to make a cell membrane. I sighed. But then I thought about how the teacher could have done something with the same material. And it hit me – science teachers need to see how to take that internet or youtube project and make it […]
Take Time to be Thankful (even in a crappy year)
Via Smithsonian There is so much going right in my world that I shouldn’t dwell on the downer stuff – but the holidays push me towards that abyss. And no one would fault me for whining and complaining. But I’m going to try and take a different tack. Tomorrow will be the first Thanksgiving that […]
Google Apps – Someone Needs To Be In Charge
https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/ Labor Day weekend. Time to take a break from our first week with students. Time to relax, have a cook out, watch some football. And, time to organize my folders for the semester planning sessions that are about to roll into full swing this week. Our school district uses Google Apps and, therefore, we […]