This past year, 2019, has been an exciting year! The use of new technologies in the classroom have exploded. The number of new tools, apps, and sites to support the embedding of augmented and virtual reality in the classroom have become a hot topic of discussion. And the new devices and tools for coding have
November 2019: Teaching perspective to build empathy
Empathy is defined, as per the Teaching Tolerance site, as “the understanding of, or the ability to identify with, another person’s feelings or experiences”. This ability to put oneself in another’s shoes does help students build empathy and tolerance toward others. There are some great ideas online and in the Discovery Education Streaming resources to
October 2019: Virtual Field Trips
Face it, we all love field trips! Getting out of the school and visiting an historic site or attending a performance is fun for everyone! Well, maybe not for everyone. Having chaperoned fifteen, four-day trips to Washington, DC with eighth-graders, I can attest, while exciting and fun, it was also exhausting! With today’s budget constraints
September 2019: Classroom centers to support learning
I did my student teaching in a second grade classroom at the Knollwood Elementary School in Piscataway, NJ in the spring of 1979. I was big into learning centers and spent a lot of time with Imogene Forte’s bulletin board books. I traced and cut out images for many activities for centers in all the
August 2019: Best of the Katch
As I approach the end of my seventh year (and 84 posts) on Kathy’s Katch, I decided to look back and highlight some of my favorite posts. As you grab those last days of summer vacation, remember how far we have come with meaningful technology use in the classroom. A big thank you to Discovery
July 2019: Web-ulous tools, part 3
Every couple of years, I share my favorite online tools, like I did in November 2017 and March 2014. In this post, I am going to concentrate on tools to support Creative Commons image usage. I am not specifically going to cover the process of searching for CC images , but how to make sure
June 2019: Podcasts Revisited
I have the students in my Wilkes/Discovery Instructional Masters degree class create a podcast as an assignment. In her reflection on podcasts, one of my student, Meredith Lambert wrote: There is something different about the interaction between creator and consumer with podcasts then with written text. Because you’re hearing a person’s voice it makes it
May 2019: Extend your professional learning with online tools
We all have participated in formal professional development days at school. Even if the topic is carried over for several PD sessions, the trainings sometimes leave you with questions or needed follow-up to learn more about the topic. Fear not! You can continue to learn on your own using simple online tools and have access
April 2019: Using tech to promote global citizenship
The most quoted definition of a global citizen is a 1997 one promoted by Oxfam in the United Kingdom. It states a global citizen is someone who: is aware of the wider world and has a sense of their own role as a world citizen respects and values diversity has an understanding of how the
March 2019: Thinking processes and STEM
The hundreds of quality STEM-related videos and materials in the Discovery Education online collection make it easy to find content to use for your lessons and units. However, take time for students to develop a solid thinking process before starting your STEM unit. STEM, with its combined focus on science, technology, engineering and math, should