Celebrate Pi Day

Teachers around the world celebrate Pi Day each March 14.  Although the concept of Pi is typically taught beginning late elementary school, this doesn’t prevent students of any age from participating in and enjoying Pi Day events Although younger students don’t understand the concept of Pi, they do know some information about circles. Using circles … read more »

Gamify Learning with Symbaloo Lesson Plans

Are you incorporating game-based learning activities into your classroom? Perhaps you are familiar with Symbaloo to use as a bookmarking tool, but did you know that Symbaloo has a new lesson planning site that turns activities into a game-like simulation? You can find the TeachersFirst review of Symbaloo Lesson Plans here, or go directly to … read more »

Are Digital Natives Digital Citizens, Too?

In this season of intense political activity, now might be a good time to think about digital citizenship. We cannot assume that our students who are digital natives have the skills to be good digital citizens of the virtual world in which they live every day. Many schools have some sort of cybersafety curriculum, perhaps … read more »

Are you a Digitally Literate Teacher?

One of my favorite quotes is from futurist guru Alvin Toffler. In Future Shock, incredibly first published in 1970, Toffler is often credited with saying, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.” It first originated with Herbert Gerjuoy, whom … read more »

What’s the Buzz: Instructional Scaffolding for Technology Integrated Lessons

Instructional scaffolding is a support structure that good teachers use all of the time.  We design lessons in a number of ways to encourage students as they try to attain the lesson’s goals. Scaffolding lessons requires additional effort during the planning phase.  The extra preparation affords you the opportunity to take on the role of facilitator during … read more »