Category: Technology

  • What Our Curriculum Needs

    Over the last few weeks, I have had the opportunity to dig deep into the ISTE Standards for Students (aka MITECS here in the Mitten) and the ISTE Standards for Educators. While everyone is recognizing that technology is becoming ubiquitous in our society, we still aren’t emphasizing the skills necessary to leverage the technology in…

  • Change – Do Something Great

    It’s been a little while since my last post. I have been extremely busy. Between ISTE and hosting the Lake Michigan Tech Conference, much has been happening. Much has been happening in my local district as well. Change is an inevitable part of the educational process, in fact, we hope for change from day one…

  • MACUL 18 Recap

    As the month of March winds down, I am wrestling with a lot of big thoughts in my heads about grading, grades, school culture, design thinking, and school climate. I am really wrestling with it. I can’t quite get it down coherently at this time. So, instead, you get some resources from an event that…

  • Hacking Google Slides – METS VirtuRally Presentation

    I am on the steering committee of an amazing, grassroots organization in the state of Michigan. The Michigan Educational Technology Specialist (METS) Group is comprised of over 600 Technology Integration Specialists and technology using teachers. The group hosts three major events for members throughout the year. In the fall, the METS Group hosts a Fall…

  • Goal for 2018 – Don’t Be the Sea, Change

    While I am not one to set resolutions that the start of the year, I was able to travel to Eleuthera in the Bahamas over our winter break. We visited a beautiful place towards the north end of the island called Queen’s Bath, a formation that has been carved out thousands of years that has…

  • STREAM? Why not STREAMMSSFLPE?

    Full disclosure. I am a former social studies teacher. I have also taught math and engineering. I dabble in computer science with my students as well. I recently was invited to a webinar that was focused on STREAM education. Many are familiar with STEM and STEAM. But STREAM was new to me. The second part…

  • The Use of Data and Algorithms in Education

    Whoa! That title is likely a little misleading! This is a reflection on a podcast that I recently listened to that discussed how we use math, data, and algorithms to make decisions that are inequitable and further seclude people in our society. It also relates to a book that I am reading about Building Equity…

  • Tips for Managing a 1:1 Classroom

    As we gear up to start a new year, your district may have new devices for your classrooms. Maybe you have new carts of devices, a classroom set of devices, or maybe your district went fully 1:1 with devices. If you have carts, you have an out. You can’t use the cart all of the…

  • Hosting and Running A Conference – A Reflection

      I had the opportunity to work with a dedicated team of professionals to bring an educational technology conference to our local corner of Michigan. This first-year event was planned in the beginning of March, leaving us just four and a half months to bring it all together. It was an experience was something that…

  • Offline Coding Challenge

    At the end of the school year, I was asked to help at an “Amazing Race” style challenge for our 4th and 5th-grade students. Specifically, I was asked to do something that was coding related in a 15 minute time window with two teams. My mind began to race as I explored and thought about…