Latest posts
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Gamifying Playlist Creation: Introducing the Music League App
On Friday, I released the first wave of materials for my Vibe Coding for Educators course! On my YouTube channel, you can find the “What is Vibe Coding?” video in addition to the first three lessons in both the Canva and Google Gemini units. Each video gets you from the prompt through the first iteration…
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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 10 Adobe Express Templates To Use in Your Classroom (Plus a Thrice Album Review!)
Two quick announcements at the top: The podcast is bumped to next week; my editing software ate it, so now I’m trying out Adobe Podcast! As an appateaser, here’s the new logo/theme! On October 15th at 11E/10C I’ll be presenting at the Wakelet Appsmash Festival, showcasing the power of appsmashing wakelet with Edpuzzle! Horizon/West by…
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Igniting Student Creativity Using Adobe Express in the Classroom
I’m guilty, several times in my past, of creating an assignment for students and simply telling them to “be creative!” As someone who can engage in creative acts, I’ve known that I struggle when I do not have a deep connection with the prompt. I’ve also become overwhelmed with ideas and die a slow death…
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Beyond the Toy Box: How Action Figures Benefit Classroom Learning
A couple of weeks ago on the podcast, I reviewed Quinn Rollins’ Play Like a Pirate. I believe the first thing out of my mouth was “if I ever wrote a book, this would be it.” Rollins speaks to so many amazing ideas and things to incorporate, that I never thought of, but they are…
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How to Embrace “March Madness” in Your Classroom
I have always been a massive basketball fan. Living near Lawrence, Kansas nearly all of my life has always made the ever presence of the Jayhawks in March impossible to avoid! It always feels like the first four big days of the tournament head into our spring break. However, with us headed back to school…
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PlayDoh-Nomics and The #interACTIVE Classroom
So, I decided to start a podcast, and one recommendation I’ve gotten is to post the transcript of the podcast on my blog! So, if you didn’t check out episode 1, or you want to read my thoughts instead of listen to my dulcet tones, then here we go! So last week I gave my…
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Unlocking Creativity: The Role of Play in High School Education
As a high school student (1998-2002), I vividly remember the times when my creativity was stifled by the rigid structure of traditional education practices. The repetitive assignments and standardized tests left little room for imagination and innovation. If I wanted to get create unique essays or projects, I was penalized for “not taking the assignment…
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Why I Started Creating a Makerspace…And You Should Too
I have always been fascinated with the idea of hands-on learning and experiential education. This is why I’ve created games, simulations and a variety of other “creative” endeavors for my students to engage in. However, these are always things dictated by me, with little room for creativity by the students. So, as I’ve pivoted more…
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Why Blog? Why Now?
Its not everyday that you decide “well, its time for me to write something.” When I was in middle and high school, I was very excited for periods and/or classes of “creative writing.” It was fun flexing that muscle, getting lost in some sort of other world I was weaving. Then, out of nowhere I…