Latest posts
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Your Body Already Knows What You Think
I want you to try something. Think about a topic you have a strong opinion about. Something you feel clearly and specifically. Not something abstract, something real. A policy, a decision, a choice someone you know made, a position your school or district has taken that you either love or deeply disagree with. Now: stand…
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The Difference Between Tolerating a Perspective and Understanding One
I have spent the better part of my life constructing arguments. Since 1998, policy debate tournaments have been a large part of my life. Argument construction is my identity. Arguments are the air I breathe. Competitive debate does something to rewire the way you think about argumentation and the world that is genuinely difficult to…
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Year Zero: What Happens When a 20-Year Teacher Starts From Scratch?
I have been teaching for almost twenty years. That sentence used to feel like a credential. Lately, it has started to feel like a question. Not in a crisis-of-confidence way, I love this job as much as I ever have, maybe more! But in a genuinely curious way. What would I do differently if I…
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The Performative PD Problem: Why Professional Development Is Broken and What You Can Do About It
Let me tell you about three professional development experiences from my career. All different content, yet one common thread endures. My very first PD session as a first-year teacher was a video about working with special education students. It used language and terminology that had been considered outdated for years. Nobody in the room flagged…
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Knowt: The Study Tool That Said “Hold My Beer” to Quizlet
I haven’t written about specific tools very often. But know that when I do, it’s because something stopped me cold and I couldn’t not share it. I was at TCEA in February, doing what I always do at conferences between sessions: wandering the expo floor with the energy of a golden retriever who has just…
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We Blamed Google. Now We’re Blaming AI. We Need to Stop. A Case for Intentional Instructional Design in the Age of AI
I was a senior in high school in the fall of 2001. The internet’s influence was growing. Google was becoming more mainstream. And the adults in charge of education were absolutely losing their minds about it. The concern, stated with full sincerity by serious people in serious publications, was that students would simply Google everything,…
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The Funko Pop Summary: Where Biography Meets Box Art
Let me tell you something about my office. It is covered in Funko Pops. Floor to ceiling, shelf to shelf, every available surface. I have lost count of how many I own, but the number is somewhere north of embarrassing and south of intervention. My classroom alone has roughly thirty of them staring at my…
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Exciting Updates: App Arcade Changes, Vibe Coding Series Launch, and Fantasy Vocabulary League
Happy Monday! After returning home from TCEA, I dealt with not just 1 but all three of my kiddos getting sick with a crud being passed around their school. But don’t you fret! While they were taking some cold medicine-induced naps and getting better, my brain was stirring, and I was motivated to bottle up…
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My Top Takeaways from the TCEA Annual Convention!
This was my 2nd time attending the TCEA convention, and I’m pretty sure I will be back year after year after year. The event brought together educators, tech experts, and thought leaders who shared practical ideas and fresh perspectives to improve learning experiences. This first (of two) posts will cover some of my key takeaways…
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The plAIground in 2026: Check Out the NEW App Arcade (plus my TCEA 2026 Schedule!)
Oh, did I have some big plans to post over the holiday break! However, three things got in the way: sleep, playing with my kiddos, and the ever-looming seasonal depression! However, I’m back and feeling better than I have in a long time! So, in today’s post you’ll find three things: How I’m planning to…