Fostering relationships is key to working with students. I do not think many people would debate that. The next part is finding engagement and relevancy. Engagement is one of the hardest things to measure in all education. Students can look engaged and not be engaged in anything but their own…
Recently, I finished the book A New Culture of Learning by Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown that was published in 2011. The book was a fascinating, albeit slightly out of date, reflection on how teaching and learning have changed over the last twenty years, especially examining the impact of…
If you are at all like me, you have sat through a student presentation that left much to be desired. When sitting down to apply a grade to the student’s work, they score surprising well on the rubric. The student managed to stumble through a presentation, barely grasping the concepts,…
Over the last few weeks, I have had the opportunity to dig deep into the ISTE Standards for Students (aka MITECS here in the Mitten) and the ISTE Standards for Educators. While everyone is recognizing that technology is becoming ubiquitous in our society, we still aren’t emphasizing the skills necessary…
It is has been a while since I posted. Wanted to get back into it during the busiest time of the year! In the last few weeks, I have been reflecting on a couple of books and a training that I went through almost five years ago. I was fortunate…
It’s been a little while since my last post. I have been extremely busy. Between ISTE and hosting the Lake Michigan Tech Conference, much has been happening. Much has been happening in my local district as well. Change is an inevitable part of the educational process, in fact, we hope…
At the 2018 MACUL Conference, I joined a conversation around the topic of grading in the classroom, and one thing that popped up in the conversation was the idea of compliance-based grading. This was a topic that I have heard and dealt…
In late April, I had the chance to attend part of Idea Week, a collaboration between the IDEA Center, on the campus of Notre Dame, and the larger Michiana region. The event brings in many national leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs to share their insight with the students of Notre Dame…
As the month of March winds down, I am wrestling with a lot of big thoughts in my heads about grading, grades, school culture, design thinking, and school climate. I am really wrestling with it. I can’t quite get it down coherently at this time. So, instead, you get some…
I am on the steering committee of an amazing, grassroots organization in the state of Michigan. The Michigan Educational Technology Specialist (METS) Group is comprised of over 600 Technology Integration Specialists and technology using teachers. The group hosts three major events for members throughout the year. In the fall, the…
