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Showing posts from July, 2020

101. The Transformative Power of AI

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Folks, let’s face it. Our classrooms are going to look a little different this year. AI, specifically ChatGPT, is going to change the way we design learning experiences and assess student mastery. I’ll be honest, when I first explored the ChatGPT platform I was terrified. As I have dug deeper into the technology and its capabilities, I realized that while it does pose significant challenges — it also presents us with some pretty amazing opportunities. In this series, we will explore what AI is capable of, its implications in the classroom, and how it can benefit both teachers and students. Let’s start by examining where we have been, where we are currently, and looking forward to where we are going. Whether this is a trip you wanted to go on or not, the AI train has left the station and it is time for all of us to jump on board. From Card Catalogs to Artificial Intelligence I belong to the micro-generation called Xennial. Xennials are considered to be a “bridge” between Generation X a...
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#30. Modern Classrooms - A Practical Guide

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I am excited to share a new professional development opportunity with you! I have spent the summer scouring the internet for an easy to implement framework that works in F2F and remote learning environments. I think I have found it in a free online training offered by the educators at The Modern Classrooms Project! According to their mission statement, The Modern Classrooms Project "equips and empowers educators to create blended, self-paced, mastery-based classrooms in which all students truly learn". ( https://modernclassrooms.org/who-we-are ) The project originated at a Title I school in Washington DC. The teachers who founded the program, Kareem Farah @Kareemfarah23 and Robert Barnett @barnett_tweets, were faced with numerous challenges, including chronic absenteeism and differing skill levels in the same classroom. They developed The Modern Classroom Project to meet the needs of every student. Here is a sneak peek at their approach: https://modernclassroo...
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#29. Retrieve Note Taking & Other Forms Engagement in a Flipped Classroom

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Retrieval practice has been a complete game-changer for me as an educator. Retrieval practice is a learning strategy that focuses on the students retrieving information that they have previously been exposed to. It focuses on getting information out of our students' heads. In the past, I have been so focused on covering every single topic in my class that I didn't have time for anything else. Now that I have incorporated retrieval practice into my class my students are learning more, even if that means I am "teaching" them less. If retrieval practice is new to you, I highly suggest you check out this article by The Cult of Pedagogy.  Retrieve-Taking in the Flipped Classroom Retrieval practice is research-based, effective and pairs perfectly with the flipped classroom. You probably already use retrieval practice in some form in your classroom. Some popular examples include brain dumps, mini quizzes, and even popular tech tools like Quizlet or GimKit. All of the...
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#28. The Flipped Classroom - An Accessible Option

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As I mentioned in my last post, I don't know what school will look like next year yet. I do know that I need to be ready and able to flip the switch and transition to remote learning with little notice.  I have been exploring strategies that offer me more flexibility to meet my students needs wherever we meet.   As part of my exploration, I attended a webinar hosted by Mandy Rice of Teach on a Mission .  She asked a question that really resonated with me; if I could move all direct instruction outside of my class, what would I use my class time for?  This made me think long and hard about how I currently utilize my time with my students, especially if we are on a hybrid or remote schedule. If I only "see" them once or twice a week, what do I want to use our time together for? Do I want to spend that time lecturing or do I want to have discussions, demonstrations, provide feedback and build our classroom community?   Enter the flipped class...
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