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Showing posts from November, 2018

Embedding Technology

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 How do we authentically embed technology into our teaching of science? We have been lucky enough to have chrome books then our classrooms for the last four years. At the beginning, it felt awkward to try to integrate it into her lessons. I remember presenting the same material in roughly the same ways and then giving a kid a Google challenge at the end.  As the years have progressed, it has gotten easier and easier to integrate the students use a chrome books into the classroom. Now instead of showings students in animation we can’t send them to the animation and have them answer kadyn questions after interacting with it on their own. In my classroom, the transformation has been dramatic. It is the middle of November, and my students have only used two pieces of paper. Last year as a school, we went from 850,000 copies to only 500,000 copies by the end of the school year. This year the number will be half of that. But is it authentic?  I think it has been authentic. Stud...

Television Sick

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I remember the feeling. Mom and dad were gone before the sun was up. My brother and sister were dropped off at the daycare. I was alone. By the light of TV, I pulled the Nintendo out of moving boxes and ran the wires to the back of the TV. Mario Brothers. I was alone in this world. Just me and my 8-bit friends. Nine hours and four worlds later, I prepared for my parents return home. I packed the Nintendo back into its box. The silenced in the room revealed the buzzing in my head. My breathing light, I felt sick throughout my body. I was screensick.  I see it in my life now. I crawl out of bed and cuddle in front of a TV screen. The little one sneaks downstairs and switches it to Netflix. The older one slumbers down and grabs his Chromebook. In her bed, my wife picks up her phone "to check for messages". Her fingers flick through her daily Facebook scroll and illuminates her face in a darkened room.  We're plugged in. We are connected. We are worlds apart. ...