At a semi-recent PD day, I got the chance to try a Breakout Room scenario thanks to Tara McLauchlan. In a Breakout Room (or escape room), participants are immersed in a narrative that takes place in a single room and requires their escape. Escape is typically achieved by opening a heavily locked box. Elements have been placed about the…
I’ll try making this a quick one. My classes and I participated in the Microsoft Education Skype-a-thon by doing two “Mystery Skypes”. Mystery Skype is basically a global “Marco Polo” guessing game. Two teachers from anywhere in the world connect on the Skype-a-thon website. Each teacher knows where the other is located; their students, however, do not. The…
Once upon a time, I had a discussion with a colleague about how teachers integrate technology into their classrooms. We seemed to agree that if a teacher wants to fully harness the power of students in the classroom, they must be willing to adhere to a teaching style that promotes “higher-level thinking” or “deep learning” (hereafter referred to as just…
If you’re an educator, you know that the feeling of being overwhelmed comes from a plethora of directions. The province, curriculum, the school board, parents, experts, other teachers, students, and yourself. All these influences come crashing down on you – the axis of the wheel. “Teach this, grade this way, assess this way, engage this way,…
*Disclaimer* I’ll keep this post a concise as possible. I’ve been meaning to blog more, post more, share more; but I find that I get caught up in wanting to make grandiose, well-polished posts. I’ll try to just say what I mean and hash the discrepancies in the comments should the need arise. The Classroom Story. So…
Program: Adobe Illustrator (Vector). Tutorial by Andrei Marius on TutsPlus, found here. Reflection Typically I scour the web looking for interesting tutorials to learn and do myself, then subsequently share with my students. I look for an end-product that catches the eye, then make sure it has a well made tutorial that is at my students level of understanding. Both of…
Schmidt's Class 