You are frustrated with the testing emphasis in education, and you really resent politicians and non-educators trying to tell teachers what to do in their classrooms. You are especially upset over the shift away from creative, artistic pursuits in the classroom as drill-and-kill math and reading replace the arts. So what can you do to make a difference? Don’t despair, my friend! The Office of … Continue reading A Novel and Most Excellent Cause
It’s Day One of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and my 8th graders wrote for a full hour in class, tap-tap-tapping away on the first chapters of their novels. They wrote in a Google Doc, which they shared with me, so when I should have been working on my own novel, I was taking peeks at theirs. Wow! Some great stuff. Here are just … Continue reading Call me NaNo…
Convincing my students to work with new technology is a snap — if the laptops are on their desks, they are usually happy and productive. But recently I presented the wonders of technology to a tougher audience: older folks in a retirement community. Although they came willingly to my presentation, which was part of a series on keeping their brains active, I heard a bit … Continue reading The power of positive technology
I’m feeling like Marty McFly this summer, jumping from the futuristic world of 24/7 technology at the ISTE conference, to the distinctly old-school peace and quiet of our total no-tech Sierra summer cabin… and then back to the future again at the Google Apps for Education Summit. I kicked off my summer by co-teaching a flipped-class workshop, then flew down to San Diego for ISTE (International Society … Continue reading “…where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”
One more reason to love project-based learning: as the weather gets warmer and the kids’ minds wander to summer, my students stay focused, working hard to complete projects that are due at the end of the semester. Of course one reason they continue to work so hard in spite of rampant spring fever is that their semester grade depends on their performance on these … Continue reading PBL conquers spring fever
Kids today are born with a mouse in their hand, right? They navigate websites intuitively, clicking their way around the Internet with their eyes closed. Their teachers are stuck in the binder-paper-and-#2-pencil routine, while the students go home to blogs, wikis and websites. Our students are the digital natives, while we are the immigrants, relying on pre-teens to show us how to tweet and upload… … Continue reading The Myth of the Digital Native
Our frenzied novel writing was repeatedly interrupted on November 30 as students let out yelps of joy when they met their word count goals. Even I disturbed the quiet when I took a writing break, loaded my novel into the NaNoWriMo word validator, and saw “WINNER!” flash across my screen. “I made it!” I yelled, jumping out of my chair and bowing to my students … Continue reading “A, B, C or D? Really?!?”
The bell rings, my classroom door flies open, and Tony comes hurtling through. “Can we write today, Mrs. Bradley? Please, please tell me we’re gonna write today!” He glances at the white board, sees “writing” on the agenda, and throws his hands up in celebration. “Yes!” In 20 years of teaching, I have never seen students this eager to write. Sure, I have had success … Continue reading “Pleeeeze, can we write today?”
Today is the perfect day to take a drive down to San Francisco: the sky is blue, the air is crisp, and a tiny bit of snow (the first in 30 years) dusted the City this morning. But while my friends and colleagues rally today in San Francisco (and across the country) for our fellow workers in Wisconsin, I am at home, working. I would … Continue reading Rallying from the kitchen table
Laura Bradley 