"The Sidekick & The Superhero: Using Google Drive for Peer-Assessment" (Originally published at GettingSmart.com on 12/26/12.)“More efficient than an overworked teacher! More reliable than a carry-home satchel of ungraded papers! Able to simultaneously curate...
"5 Teaching Habits to Tame Time"(First published here on GettingSmart on 10.30.2014)Something kicks my posterior way too often. It’s a frenemy of mine, you see. Yep, that’s right. FREN-E-MY. Think of polar opposites. Some days are swing and duck, while others are...
(Originally published on gettingsmart.com on September 23, 2013.)As someone who seeks to make truly blended learning as seamless and ubiquitous as possible, I am constantly on the search for smartphone apps that will help students show mastery of knowledge no matter...
(Originally published on gettingsmart.com on September 23, 2013.)Just like many educators, I am always working towards improvement, and my incessant quests for enhanced teaching and professional practices usually stem from a desire for one thing: quality feedback for...
(Originally published on gettingsmart.com on September 10, 2013.)After the first four weeks of school, one truth is clear. The majority of my students are not very fond of writing. As a Language Arts teacher and one who writes for enjoyment, I find this alarming. I...
(Originally published on gettingsmart.com on August 29th, 2013.)I can honestly remember sitting in a high school Language Arts classroom as a sophomore in 1990 and thinking, “Man, there has to be a better way of learning than this.” But I was that pimple-faced,...
(First published on gettingsmart.com on June 20, 2013.)For a teacher, the summer affords so many opportunities for growth. Aside from the pure blessings of family vacations, recuperative time, and challenging, outdoor projects, June and July offer me a chance to...
(Originally published on GettingSmart.com on May 10, 2013.)One aspect of education that will never change is the incessant introduction and demise of buzz words. These days educators are discussing flipped classrooms, flattened classrooms, MOOC’s, infographics,...
(Originally published on GettingSmart.com on April 25, 2013.)There was once a time when contemplating tearing down my classroom walls fancied me wearing a yellow safety helmet and operating a wrecking-ball wielding crane machine. Surely after knocking down windowless...