Forgive Me For Saying This, But…
http://goo.gl/pEKBVE I’m a wimp. There, I said it. But I’m not very proud of it. Let me explain… I am careful with what I say. It seems like I have ALWAYS been careful with what I say. I know there are people who can relate times when I have said some outrageous things – but […]
Fix Those Problems (Math Teaching 101)
http://wronghands1.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/math-problem.jpg First, and foremost, I am a student of instruction. My resume says I have taught math from 6th grade to college algebra; I taught middle school science; I taught introduction to engineering design and digital electronics at the high school level. And, I facilitate teachers in using project based and problem based instruction (PBL). […]
If You Had Asked Me About TCEA 2014
Carolyn Foote at TCEA14 (@technolibrary) This is not a “bash the conference” post. It’s not designed to be negative at all. So as I progress please keep that in mind. This is my 4th or 5th TCEA conference that I have attended and it has gotten B I G! This morning I arrived about 30 […]
Am I Ready to Scrap Three Letters – P, B, & L ?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/prettywarstl/ Let’s face it. PBL is now THE buzz-word in education. But anyone who has “taught with PBL as their primary mode of instruction” (sticking finger down throat) realizes that this thing we call PBL is just GOOD TEACHING PRACTICES. PERIOD. Or is it ??? I was in grad school in 1992 and was being […]
It’s Always the Right Time to Write
http://www.flickr.com/commons School starts up on Monday and I’ve started thinking about all of the January hurdles that are approaching. There’s “Benchmark Week” when all of our core classes will be taking benchmarks that are designed to see where we are in our progression towards the state mandated testing. It also gives our students a feel […]
Tabs I Have Open (1-2-14)
New Year resolutions can take many forms and, as I said in my recent post, I just want to get myself healthier so I can take care of myself, my family, my friends, and my teachers. But a goal I have decided to set for 2014 is to be less worried about what I put […]
If You Could Only Pick One (New Year’s Resolution)
http://goo.gl/H8nyX2 I just read a post by an educator, Tom Whitby, who I have known for about 6 years and have only met once. His post was entitled Year End Resolution Failure and, as the name implies, looked at why we so often fail at meeting our New Year’s Resolutions. His premise was that we […]
7 Things I Learned This Year
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gin_soak/ For the last three weeks I’ve seen too many lists of things. The best of this and the worst of that. What I should be doing and what I shouldn’t be doing. What I should buy and what things are a waste of money. Everybody is an expert about something, it seems. About […]
It’s Great to Have Awesome Instructional Technology Specialists
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joealterio/ This week I was sitting in on our ELA teachers as they were working with the Heart of Texas Writing Project. A discussion came up about publishing student work. There was the usual talk about creating a newspaper or a magazine. But I instantly thought of online opportunities for sharing student work. That’s because […]
When Is Your Teaching Practice “Good Enough?”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/savvysmilinginlove/ I struggled with my own teaching when I was at Manor New Tech High School (MNTHS). It never seemed that I was doing enough to have my projects sparkle with students eagerly learning. There were other teachers, there, who I thought I’d never be as good as when it came to project management. The […]