Knowledge is the consequence of experience – Piaget. So – Choose your own adventure. Today was the first day of Constructing Modern Knowledge 2018, a teacher institute that I have had the pleasure of attending now for the fourth time. I love coming to Manchester and this institute, and this year we are in a…
Category: Technology
Posts about the kinds of technology I use, how ai use it, and how I wish I was more effecive
Trying Something New With Something Old
My seventh grade class is studying Romeo and Juliet, and we are reading the play aloud in class. This allows me to preview scenes, stop and start to think about what is happening, attitudes, emotions, word play, allusions…. but there is no homework involved with this. I want them to come away with an appreciation…
My year with iPads – part 3
Blogging and the Daily Edit Two on-going assignments in seventh grade are the independent reading blog and the Daily Edit. I have this crazy idea that if I wants kids to value reading and to find books that they like, I need to make room in my curriculum for independent reading. So every other Monday…
My year with iPads – part 2
With Romeo and Juliet, we went pretty iPad lite. I had introduced GoodReader, so I did email a PDF synopsis of each act as we went along. We read the play in class, and yes, I know we could use an e-text of the play, and I may do that, but the Folger Library edition…
My year with iPads – part 1
Forgive me if I’m feeling a bit defensive. This past academic year we piloted a 1:1 iPad program with the seventh grade, and it was generally successful. Actually, considering the scrutiny that we were under, the general lack of professional development, and the fact that we were not allowed to fail, we did spectacularly. I…
iPads and Seventh Graders
I have been away from here – and I am totally remiss in not spending some time catching up on what has been happening in my classroom. This year we have piloted a program with iPads in the hands of each seventh grader. First let me say that it is NOT the same a full…
Tinkering
I met the most interesting people at CMK11 this year. Tinkerers. Makers. People who weren’t afraid to get it wrong in the process of getting it right. It was fun to be in a room full of people just messing around with stuff. I enjoyed so many moments: Being in the midst of a computers/technology…
Starting With a Blank Page
When I left the project yesterday I was pretty sure that I had a clear picture of what I needed to do. All I had to figure out was how to populate the figure across the page. I was working with the program that I had created, and I was looking for a simpler way…
Day 3 at CMK11: Ways of Knowing
My daughter is looking at colleges. She’s someone who can choose where she wants to go to school, and yesterday’s work at CMK pointedly reminded me what she needs to think about. All three of our speakers yesterday had things to say that echo through our world of school. Lella Gandini, an early childhood educator…
Day 2: CMK 2011 – Inspiration and Renewed Enthusiasm
Well, our hotel is a happening place. When we arrived, a dance competition was just finishing up, and now we have the band Kiss in concert across the street at the arena (I wanna rock and roll all nite). I seriously feel in need of a jumpsuit. It seems like at least the road crew…
Day One: Constructing Modern Knowldege 2011
I’m in NH at a conference that I had the pleasure of attending last year. Constructing Modern Knowledge is a “minds on” conference where we are encouraged to put on our learner hat and take off our teacher hat. I have two paths that I want to follow over these four days; I want to…
Fair Use – did I get this right?
Okay – there are days that I THINK I understand copyright law in educational settings. A former student of mine asked if she could use images that she found using the Google image search if she labeled where they were from. The images would be used in a magazine she wants to produce with school…
Living on the Lip of Insanity 