Educator, Learner

It’s that time of year again: summer. Conferences are picking up and I like seeing where everyone is headed. So, I give you, my summer travel/life schedule. Kaskaskia Community College, Centralia, IL: 5/22 – 23 Clintondale HS, Detroit, MI: 6/7 FlipCon13, Stillwater, MN: 6/17 – 20 ISTE 2013, San Antonio, TX: 6/23 – 26 Lincoln,… more

I’m a big fan of minimalism. So, when I saw a minimalist book cover assignment in the DS106 Assignment Bank, I knew it had to happen. I recently finished reading A Clockwork Orange, and it was more powerful than I anticipated. The book is also very dense with Burgess’ made up dialect for Alex and… more

People say life gets more complicated as you get bigger. Well, I’m at 42, and I couldn’t disagree more. I might not be as quick or nimble as the 19′s, but I sure am a heck of a lot more agile than the 52′s or even the 48′s. Admittedly, I don’t get out more than… more

I mentioned last night that I’m going to work along with UMW’s summer DS106 section beginning next Monday. In order to get ready, I’m cracking my GIF knuckles and getting my workflow down so I can spend more brain power on problem solving rather than just doing the work. I went through the DS106 Assignment… more

I’m thinking a lot about teaching lately. Maybe because it’s because I’ve been out of the classroom for over three months, or because I’m planning on taking a class at MSU this fall on technology in education (more on that in another post). Anyways, I got thinking about where I began as a teacher, where… more

I saw a post this afternoon about a new section of #ds106 starting for a five-week summer course. I’ve dabbled in the Daily Creates from time to time, which included my very first-ever animated GIF, and I’ve enjoyed those a lot. I’ve decided that I’m going to jump in these next five weeks as an… more

I was able to join some fantastic educators today last Friday for a Flipped Learning workshop hosted by the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals. I was part of a group from TechSmith, while Dan Spencer, Laura Bell, Jonathan Palmer, Missy McCarthy, Delia Bush, David Fouch, and Greg Green were panelists for the workshop. I’ve… more

I had a minor site reorganization, and I wanted to make sure everyone who relies on the chat archive each week knows how to find it. There are a couple different ways: 1. This blog – The page hasn’t been updated in a long time, but there is a link the archives under the Flipclass… more

If you live in Indiana, and if you have children (or have friends with children), you may have noticed some headlines yesterday: ISTEP computer glitches boot out 27,000 students Testing company’s problems worsen in third year of contract. Some educators question student results Several Schools Suspend ISTEP+ For Day After Glitch Slows Online Tests IPS… more

Following Wednesday’s Senate vote, I wrote both of my Senators, one of which voted in favor of the amendment, one against. You can read the letters below. To Dan Coats, voted against the amendment Dear Senator Coats, I am writing to express my deep disappointment in your vote on the Manchin-Toomey amendement defeated in the… more