Have you ever wished you had a way to keep ALL students engaged and making progress, but not known how? Have you struggled to reach your lowest students or watched your highest students grow bored? I have! And it bothers me. What can be done? Differentiate!! Trust me, it's worthwhile! There are so many tools … Continue reading Leading the Way: Presenting at #GREAT17
This was my first time considering the benefits and challenges of a tech integrationist job. For this project in my Master of Educational Technology program, we were asked to help a colleague with a problem of practice. My colleague was NOT in my content area; she teaches biology! Now I see the benefit of having … Continue reading What’s it like to be a tech integrationist?
...student choice! For our Research 101 assignment through the MSU Master's of Educational Technology program, we reviewed literature and conducted our own experiment (through a survey since we are in Galway, Ireland!) to measure student motivation. There are SO many factors that affect student motivation, all of which involve some degree of subjectivity. This … Continue reading An easy way to motivate students?
Our special interest group included teachers from pre-k to high school, so our wiki has a wide range of resources for teachers of all ages to help girls stay interested in STEM as they grow older! There are plenty of multi-media resources, including Youtube channels made by teenage girls who help other girls become interested … Continue reading Girls in STEM: Poster Session 2016
The Maker Movement fascinates me, but I have yet to really implement it in my classroom. When first learning about this, I listened to a TED talk by Dale Dougherty, author of MAKE magazine and the Maker Faire founder, who says that everybody is a Maker. The Maker Ed movement is a unique way for students to … Continue reading Maker Ed + Math = ???
Sometimes we fail...but maybe we should call failure an "unexpected outcome" to make it seem less negative. How can teachers help students realize that learning from their mistakes is an essential (and good) part of learning? There are no good answers (this is a wicked problem!) but in our presentation we recommend: grading reform mindset … Continue reading Failure: A wicked problem
Can I summarize all I’ve learned this month in my Master's program and want to bring back to my classroom in a blog post? I doubt it. The list of ideas and new tech tools may be useful is way too long for that! But I'll try to summarize. My ideas about how I can better … Continue reading 1 incredible month = 114 class hours = 3 important takeaways
Somehow I’ve graduated college, taught for four years, and am only now puzzling over what my true passion is and where my curiosity lies. I suppose I’ve never had to give it direct thought before, and certainly not condense all of that into something presentable. I’m glad I was asked to think about it. I distinctly remember … Continue reading PQ + CQ > IQ …what makes me me
What happens when dozens of passionate educators come together? Lots of sharing of knowledge! Our master's program hosted the GREAT16 conference (Global Resources in Education and Technology) on 7/14/2016 in Galway, Ireland. Resources are here, if you're interested! Photo credit for both: Brianna English, I'm a participant (left) and poster presenter (right) at GREAT16. Everything this … Continue reading Sharing Internationally…a great GREAT16 conference!
I’ve recently (re)discovered the beauty of TED talks, including the playlist of “Talks from Inspirational Teachers”. I’ll admit that I’m a nerd, and also someone who is enjoys inspirational messages! As a teacher, I also love hearing things that can help my students learn better. So...Ramsey Musallam’s TED talk “Three Rules to Spark Learning” was … Continue reading Questioning…and “Hanging Out” with an author!
Bethany Blackwood 