Latest posts
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…But Why are we Interviewing a Comma?
In 2008, American rock band Vampire Weekend shook the world by asking one simple question…” Who gives a F$%K about an Oxford Comma?” and my brain immediately thought two things: I do… What does the Oxford Comma feel about this song? I cannot be the only person who asks hard-hitting questions like this. I definitely…
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The Taboo Lecture!?!?!?!
Some of ya’ll may remember the game, but not the amazing commercial. As someone who’s obsessed with communication and language, one of my classroom staples has always been the physical game Taboo! The premise is simple. Get your teammates to guess a word or concept, but you cannot say any of the words on the…
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Stop the Scroll! How to Hijack Social Media Hooks to Level Up Bellringers and Exit Tickets!
We are in the middle of our 2nd day back from Spring Break, and getting the kids to re-engage is a struggle. How do we take them from 9 days of freedom and lock them back into the rigors and routines of a school day? If my students spent any part of their break as…
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Does the Unessay Help or Hinder Teachers on the Hunt for their White Whale? (Part 2)
On Monday, we explored the concept of the unessay. In short, the unessay is an assignment concept forwarded by Daniel Paul O’Donnell in 2012. O’Donnell used unessays to question the overall role that formalized academic essays had played in education throughout the history of the system. Specifically, he argued that traditional essays are a “static…
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Exploring the Pedagogical Prowess and Peril of the Unessay. (Part 1)
Since the dawn of the assigned essay, educators throughout time have been chasing their white whale. An essay assignment that students cannot find a way to cheat on, regardless of how the assignment is constructed. From students copying encyclopedia pages at their local library, to copy/pasting in full Wikipedia pages and forgetting to remove the…
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Is Your Friday Looking a Little Freaky? Give Your Students an Un-Quiz!
So, the vibes at school are very weird today. Students know that after today, they only have four days until break. The weather is supposed to be stormy this morning, beautiful this afternoon, and stormy again after dinner. There’s also a lot of buzz surrounding our Girls’ Basketball team making it to the next round…
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Weird Wednesday: 3 Weird Unit or Lesson Hooks You Can Use Today!
If you’ve ever met me in person, you know I’m a strange guy. I’m also authentically strange. The me you see online, in public, presenting at a conference…that’s me baby! My weirdness is probably biological (the woman dyed her hair vibrant colors until the day she died). My academic weirdness stems to a core memory…
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Getting Social: Engage Your Students with Ready-to-Use Mock Social Media Templates
I’ve made it no secret that I’m a huge Ditch That Textbook fanboy. Heck, I’m wearing my Ditch… hoodie today! One of my favorite tools that I’ve ever taken from Matt’s massive collection of templates is the Mock Social Media templates! During ISTE last summer, I was joking around with the illustrious Lunch Lady (aka…
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Make Thinking Visible: Your New Favorite Learning Toolkit
We’ve all been there. You just finished explaining a concept, laying out a brilliant plan, or sharing an exciting new idea. You pause, look out at your audience (whether that’s a classroom of students, your kids at the dinner table, or your team at work), and you get… blank stares. It’s frustrating! We spend so…
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Vibe Coding for Educators: Part Two Released TODAY!
Quick update today (Don’t worry, I’ve got meatier posts ready for Wednesday/Friday). Videos 4-6 of the Canva unit have been published to my YouTube channel this morning! You can learn to create: an interactive story map, math manipulatives, and a calming timer for your own classroom! Videos 4-6 of the Gemini unit should be up…