Around this time of year I post a gift recommendation each Friday as part of a “Gifts for the Gifted” series. The title is a bit misleading, as it might imply that the gifts are only for children who have been endowed with the label, and that is certainly not true. Just as with any … Read more
In one of the sessions I attended during this weekend’s Tech Field Day SA, Cori Coburn-Shiflett spoke about using technology games in the classroom. As she pointed out, even sites and apps that were not designed for education can be used for learning. AR Basketball is a good example. Even though I posted about this … Read more
If you have the Dash and Dot robots, you have probably received a few e-mails from Wonder Workshop describing the upcoming Robotics Competition. I highly recommend that you consider entering a team (deadline for signing up is 11/1/15)! This set of 7 missions looks like fun and a great opportunity for collaboration and problem … Read more
Hopscotch has been a favorite programming app of my students ever since they tried it for the Hour of Code a couple of years ago. One of my 5th graders chose to use Hopscotch to create his entire Genius Hour presentation last year. Hopscotch is now offering a new curriculum for educators and I had … Read more
This will be my 25th year of teaching. Add this to the years I attended school as a student and you will get 42 “first days.” 42 days of team-building activities and ice-breakers. During those 42 years, I estimate that I’ve played “Getting-to-Know-You” Bingo about 25 times. 24 of those times were not initiated by me. … Read more
My students adore Vi Hart videos. I think the kids understand maybe 1/2 of what she is saying, but she makes math fun and stimulates their curiosity. “Parable of the Polygons” is an interactive website that was created by Vi Hart and Nicky Case. Having watched several Vi Hart videos, I expected the site to do … Read more