I am anticipating that this post may be among the most unpopular posts I will write as a blogger. My position on this topic certainly did not win me the “most popular guy” award when I was a secondary teacher. I remember when Barry Goldwater ran for President; there was a saying that “He would rather be right than be President”. That was a testament to the man’s core beliefs. That seems to be a dying quality given the examples of politicians today. The point however is that sometimes…

I am not a digital native by any means. I am 52 years old and have been teaching for 27 years. I am the teacher people assume is scared to touch a computer for fear of contracting a virus.  I am the teacher they assume has dust gathering on the classroom computers like moss on a stone.I am the teacher they assume says playfully, "I have to get my grandson, nephew, niece, to open my email." I am the teacher people assume still uses the overhead. I am none of these, and young or old,…

Critical thinking has always been tied to the search for answers. In the past, this search involved speaking to respected leaders and reading authoritative books. Now of course, we type in a few key words into our favorite search engine and hope to find the answers. For students, this is often a haphazard affair. It is important, however that they understand how to critically search for good information. I developed a search guide for students to address this issue after I was inspired by…

The 2012 observance of the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust will focus on the theme “Children and the Holocaust”. The United Nations will remember the one-and-a-half million Jewish children who perished in the Holocaust, together with the thousands of Roma and Sinti children, the disabled and others, who suffered and died at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators. Some children managed to survive in hiding, others fled to safe havens before…

There are certain education conferences that people look forward to attending each and every year. Certainly the big national conferences with thousands of attendees and hundreds of vendors are the conferences most familiar to educators. The state organizations usually draw big crowds of educators as well. At one time this is how educators networked and saw the newest of the new, and the best of the best. All of that is represented at big education conferences.

With the introduction…

Today I had so much to do I barely had time to stop for lunch. The day started with a long list and then I started to get emails requesting technology help and teaching opportunities.  Without a list, I would have been sunk. I just cannot keep all the information that I need inside my skull. Physical notes are fine, but with the tools Google provides me, I don't even bother.…

"The 2012 observance of the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust will focus on the theme “Children and the Holocaust”. The United Nations will remember the one-and-a-half million Jewish children who perished in the Holocaust,…

The world-wide web  was once a static platform.  Interactivity was minimal.

Now, web 2.0  is for the prosumer, and is an active-oriented, creative and…

There is a flurry of competition in the arena of free online education. Major universities have put classes online for free. There are dozens free books, movies and courses available from…

The success of any project is largely due to how well it has been thought out.  In drivers ed. one of the few things I remember is the instructor telling me "to plan your route ahead of time, so that you are not making flash decisions while in a moving vehicle surrounded by other moving vehicles doing unpredictable things."  Seemed like very sound advice to a nervous new driver, and a new teacher. 

Planning my route when it comes to curriculum is something that I have had…

Are your students active readers? Do they consistently “Stop & Think” to reflect and comprehend what they’re reading?

“Follow Your Thinking Tracks” is a great strategy for students to record their thinking while reading. Not only does it help students monitor their understanding of text, but it provides a post-reading opportunity for students to share and reflect on their “road map” of recorded…

As teachers, we search a lot. We go online for a more useful lesson plan, a good picture to go along with our powerpoint or even a quick fact check before a lesson. Even though we're all pretty good at finding what we need, it always seems to take a bit longer than it should to find what we want. It doesn't have to be terribly difficult to get good things fast. Here are my recommendations for getting your hands on quality online material.



Useful lesson plans-…

I started my day off with this tweet:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>I started my day off with this tweet: </p><div class="separator" style="clear:both;text-align:center;"><a href="http://mrsbeck25.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/wpid-photo-jan-16-2012-1009-pm.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-bottom:1em;margin-right:1em;"><img src="http://mrsbeck25.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/wpid-photo-jan-16-2012-1009-pm.jpg" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="484" height="121"></a></div><div…