Learning LEGO EV3 Robots & Kids

  The first time you deploy anything in the classroom, much less something involving lots of small moving parts, I can guarantee that things won’t go as planned but if you planned well you’ll be able to see all the areas you need to fix/change the next time you do the lesson/unit. I’ve been waiting over a year to give

Reflecting on My Photography Editing Deficit (Taking Lots of Photos at School)

On March 2nd I shot over 150 images and videos on two cameras & my iPhone covering two student assemblies for the Jump for the Heart initiative. On the prior Wednesday, February 28th, I shot over 270 images covering a rugby demo/promo event. The Friday before that, February 23rd, I shot over 270 images covering my school’s Black History Assembly.

What Happens When You Read for Pleasure

Dealing with Broken Tech-Ed Stuff (Again)

As I’ve said before, nothing tests the reliability and toughness of equipment (and people) like being subjected to the daily use by 4- to 11-year-olds. It gives new (literal) meaning to the words “wear and tear.”

We’re Back… Second Half of the School Year Adjustments

Back when the Washington Redskins were winning Super Bowls (circa 1991), one was always wise to be aware of coach Joe Gibbs’ incredible halftime readjustments where they’d take what they learned in the first half and crush the opposing team in the second half. Now that the first half of the school year has passed I wish that I could

Thoughts from the “Mountain” – My Kingdom for A Single Grade Level

Thoughts from the “Mountain” – My Kingdom for A Single Grade Level Is it a bad sign that after 18-years as a teacher in an ongoing series of “Specialist” positions that I’m thinking about the virtues of having a single grade level (aka, my own class)? It must be this cold/sore throat that I’m attempting to fight off… in my

Consumer-Grade Technology Won’t Cut It In the Classroom

Nothing will shake out the bugs and defects in anything quite like exposure to the energy and intensity of elementary students. I’ve seen nicely manufactured kid-friendly robots happily fail to drive forward after only two-weeks of exposure to elementary students. And we’re not talking about driving them off tables or running them into walls or any other forms of robot/technology

2017-18 STEAMLab WK07: Art – Drawing Self-Portraits

2017-18 STEAMLab WK07: Art – Drawing Self-Portraits This week we finished creating self-portraits using a simplified facial drawing techniques that I found on YouTube. This is the video that I shared with students last week, going through the video step by step as students attempted to draw their version of what I later called “generic white guy.” Turned out that

Video Wednesdays – Education: I’m Not the Test

I found this in my social feed.. powerful words… “why I hate school but love education… We will not let exam result determine our fate…”