Need to Energize Your Class? Just Add Wax and Be Still
"Need to Energize Your Class? Just Add Wax and Be Still" (Originally published at GettingSmart.com on 11/6/12.)There are many ways to mix things up in a classroom and inject enthusiasm. From blended learning to project-based learning to time-tested traditional...
Rise Above Classroom Walls on the Wings of a Bird
"Rise Above Classroom Walls on the Wings of a Bird" (Originally published at GettingSmart.com on 10/29/12.)Ronald Reagan once said, “There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves...
8 Examples of Classroom Musical Magic
(The Studio 113 Microphone and John Hardison) "8 Examples of Classroom Musical Magic" (Originally published at GettingSmart.com on 10/14/12)I believe it was J.K. Rowling's Albus Dumbledore who said, "Ah, music. A magic behind all we do here!" This quotation comes to...
8 Project-Based Learning Videos by Students
(Originally published at Gettingsmart.com on September 28, 2012)I recently wrote about co-authoring and signing project/passion-based learning contracts with my American Literature students. Well, just a few days have passed since viewing the final presentation, and I...
Want Engaged Learners? Sign PBL Contracts
(Originally published at gettingsmart.com)There was a time when my sole purpose for living and breathing, my ultimate dream, was to sign a contract — a contract to play professional baseball. I simply wanted the opportunity to work hard in order to create a better me...
5 Apps to Lower Teacher Anxiety & Raise Student Voices
Originally published at gettingsmart.com on August 30th, 2012.The art of teaching sure has changed since I nervously stepped into my first class of thirty-two, energetic students fourteen years ago. I remember feeling pressure from the prescribed...
“11 Steps to Gamify Your Next Lesson”
"11 Steps to Gamify Your Next Lesson"(Originally published at gettingsmart.com)With so many educators today discussing the possibilities and promises of online learning, one key aspect of education often forgotten in the quest to tear down these learning walls is the...
Life Is Writing: Two Apps for the Reluctant Writer
"Life Is Writing: Two Apps for the Reluctant Writer" (originally published at Gettingsmart.com)I can’t even begin to quantify how many times I have been blessed with the challenge of working with a reluctant writer. During 14 years in the Language Arts classroom, I...
“The Talent & the Agent: My Desired Class”
"The Talent & the Agent: My Desired Class" (originally published at gettingsmart.com)The students and the teacher, the audience and the speaker, the players and the coach, the learners and the sage: I could go on forever with the many ascribed labels attached to...