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
October 2017: Sharing your ideas with video and audio
Sharing your successful practices with others is an important part of the role of a educator. Traditionally you have probably shared your ideas, tips, tricks, and findings in-person with your grade level team, your district team, and with face-to-face audiences at regional and national conferences. However, with the current crop of digital apps and tools,
September 2017: Put the “make” in your makerspace
When my son was in high school, our high school had really old technology. There were no CD/DVD players, just videotape machines. So, when his friends were done creating their great multimedia projects on DVD using their home computers, they would come to our house to move the project from DVD to videotape. We had
August 2017: Augmented reality in the classroom
Last year, I wrote a blog post dealing with the use of virtual reality resources to support the instructional process. I started the article with an explanation of the difference between virtual reality and augmented reality, which I feel is important to include again since, this time, the post will be about the use of
June 2017: Promoting inventiveness in the classroom
We are all familiar with invention—the process of creating something new and useful. But what about the creativity factors that play a large role in this process? The form of creativity leading to invention is called inventiveness. How can you lead your teachers or colleagues to promote inventiveness in the classroom? The Belin-Blank Center for
June 2016: Make the Web work for you
Want to make the Web work for you? Then IFTTT is the tool you must use! IFTTT, If This Than That, is an online tool and mobile app, IF, that allows you to connect two online-connected services you already use and link them together to automatically precipitate an event or complete a task. This linking is called a
September 2015: HOTS for Bloom’s, part 3
The two previous posts (1 & 2) in this three-part series provided some background in how to recognize and teach critical thinking skills and, using Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy as a guide, embed the higher-order thinking skills into teaching and learning. The two posts also highlighted some tech-enhanced activities. In this post, I will be providing
August 2015: HOTS for Bloom’s, part 2
The previous post in this three-part series provided some background in how to recognize and teach critical thinking skills and, using Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy as a guide, embed the higher-order thinking skills into teaching and learning. This time and in part three, I will provide some activities and the iOS apps and tools to support