I wish I could use this girl’s real name, because it’s better than anything I could make up. Let’s call her “Wander.” She’s much smarter than the failing grade she’s getting, but she is very lackadaisical about doing her homework, and equally so in the classroom. I make them copy most of the warm ups ...

I don't wish to abandon technology. I love pencils and pens. A ream of paper weighs a lot less than a ream of clay tablets. It's nice to be able to read after sunset. Trudging off to an outhouse is not much fun in winter. Even a red corncob serves as a piece of technology in the right circumstances. (See above.) I obviously use the internet. I ...

Holding an even more hallowed place in my classroom than the Raffle King, is The Timer. “How much time do you think you need for the warm up? Six questions, five you have to copy… six minutes?” “Seven.” “Five.” In my class, almost every activity, except the reading/discussion, is timed. In the upper ...

I'm glad that I read Joanne Jacob's blog about clickers.  I can just see myself seeing them for the first time as I substitute.  Of course, the price of clickers might prevent a lot of schools from using them, especially in these troubled economic times.  Still, it pays to know what tech gadgets are being used in schools.  ...

I spent an hour or two Saturday shucking basil seeds--after the flower petals drop off, the pods dry up, holding a few seeds each. Summer was receding. The seeds will be planted just before spring, and again, we'll have basil. While I expect to have a few more goes at spring, collecting seeds this time of year reminds me nothing is guaranteed. I ...

I have been following some of the dialogue that began with dy/dan’s Dan Meyer’s comment on Wes Fryer’s blog entry at Speed of Creativity. Most of the discussion has revolved around appropriateness of Web 2.0 tools, specifically the photo-animating web application Animoto. Dan showed his concern (disdain?) for the use of ...

(Sung — way off key, and sort of warbley — to the tune of “Oh Christmas Tree.”) I guess we need to talk about the King. On Wednesdays, after we go over the vocabulary homework, and discuss the words, I give them a vocabulary pretest. If they ace it (100%), they are exempt from the vocabulary portion [...]

Sometimes I wonder what we're setting ourselves up for, using amazing technology in the classroom. I mean, it's almost impossible to get a computer lab if you don't plan many weeks in advance. I have one class period with 9 kids. One has never shown up yet, so 8 kids. And two of those are habitual truants. Makes for a very small class. ...

Service Learning: Community CaféThe Community Café is a table-service soup kitchen that has served more than 15,000 meals to needy residents since December 2006. Kristen Allcorn founded the Café as part of a high school community service project.Project Based Learning: Digital-age projects give students room to follow their own ...