One of my favorite ways to get students talking in my classes was an AVID strategy called Philosophical Chairs. Philosophical Chairs is a student-centered format for classroom discussion that promotes analytical reading, respectful dialogue, and personal reflection. You could equate it to a debate, however, there is a much richer focus on text and mutual understanding.… Read More Getting Started with Virtual Philosophical Chairs
Guys – this has been a crazy year in education. Actually, crazy is an understatement. One word probably can’t even describe how many of our educators feel right now. Crazy, tiring, overwhelming, exhausting, heartbreaking, and so many more words can describe this year. However, I know that there are some AMAZING success stories out there… Read More Quick Survey: Distance Learning/Hybrid Success Stories
For those of you that have followed my blog for a while, you know that I am a huge fan of utilizing the flipped classroom strategy in classrooms. That being said, I worry that I haven’t talked enough about the tips and tricks to make a flipped classroom truly effective for students. Implementing a flipped… Read More 5 Tips to Create an Effective Flipped Classroom
A few years ago, I wrote a blog post and shared a survey called “The Teacher Transparency Challenge“. To this day, it is still one of my favorite things that I have ever done in my classroom. It was simple – I wanted to know how my students felt about my class and teaching. The… Read More Distance Learning Transparency Survey
Woot woot! Google recently launched new “Host Control” features for Google Meet! If you are quiet, you can hear the cheers of thousands of teachers around the world. While there are still many things that I wish Google Meet had the ability to do, these are excellent new features that are available to everyone. One… Read More Host Controls in Google Meet
Is distance learning hitting anyone like a ton of bricks? Or a truck? Or a truck with bricks? Okay, maybe it’s just me! Distance learning is a huge part of many educator’s lives at the moment. Everything has become virtual and, well, that can be a bit tricky and overwhelming at times. Yet, while we… Read More Live Virtual Events with StreamYard
Attendance in distance learning is…complicated, to say the least! However, I am hoping to provide a process that will make it more simple for you! Below, you will find three easy steps on how to utilize Zoom and Google Sheets to take attendance. Directions and GIF’s are listed below, however, I have also added a… Read More How to Quickly Take Attendance in Zoom
I have been seeing a TON of posts from educator friends over the last couple of weeks about products that would benefit them during distance learning. So, I decided to put together a list of items that I have personally used in either my home or work office. I hope that you find these items… Read More My Top Tech Picks for Your Distance Learning Office
As we continue on our distance learning journey, one of the greatest struggles I hear from teachers is the inability to write or draw on a whiteboard, particularly for subject areas like Math. Obviously, as a former math teacher, that definitely strikes home for me! Years ago, I flipped my classroom and it was one… Read More No Touchscreen? No Problem!
Dear Teachers, It is an understatement to say that this is one of the most unusual and unexpected times in education. I am going on my 14th year in education and I can truly say I have never seen anything like it. It is a physically, emotionally and mentally exhausting time for everyone going through… Read More A Letter to Teachers During Distance Learning
