This is, in part, a continuation of Friday’s post on the gamification of the classroom. In this post, by Ben Bertoli, the teacher explains how he turned his 6th grade class into a role-playing game. I love his ideas on allowing the students to create their own characters and to participate in “Random Encounter Friday”. … Read more
In my post that featured a TED talk on Classroom Game Design, I mentioned the interest that I have in trying to use the interest that my students have in gaming to engage them in the classroom. Rather than having them play video games in the classroom, I am considering making the classroom, itself, into … Read more
One of our 1st grade teachers, Mrs. Cunningham, is piloting an unusual classroom at Fox Run Elementary this year. Much of the furniture is on wheels – including tables (instead of desks) and dry erase boards. She has just posted an awesome video on her blog showing the amazing ways this has transformed her room. From … Read more
My colleague, P.E. coach Sean Stepan, brought this to my attention the other day. Coincidentally, this has been on my mind lately – particularly as I am currently in the middle of testing very squirmy Kindergarten students for Gifted and Talented. I had been talking to several people lately about the need to rethink the … Read more
Last year, a friend of mine told me about Google’s 20% Policy, and I immediately thought of its applications for the classroom. It was among many of my ideas that I had for the new school year that just didn’t come to fruition. And now, I find that a teacher named AJ Juliani had the … Read more
I read this article on Larry Ferlazzo’s blog, and experienced the same reaction he apparently did when he first realized he was missing a key piece to student’s reflections in the classroom. I have been trying to incorporate more self-reflection into the school day, and now I see that I’ve forgotten a vital part of … Read more