Teaching Tips |

At-Home Learning: Using Google Effectively

With so many homebound students, and so many trying distance learning for the first time it can be a real challenge. However, there are tools and tricks you can use to make the whole things easier. Most people I know use Gmail just fine, but actually all the programs in the Google Suite are powerful…

Back to School: Setting Goals

Goals, or #squadgoals as my students would say, are important and never more so than at the beginning of the year. There are plenty of posts about SMART Goals in Reading and Math, but we often don’t think of setting goals in an arts classroom. It’s just as vital for your students’ success and here’s…

Ingenuity’s Arts Education Conference Resources – 4/5/19

I will be speaking at Ingenuity’s Arts Education Conference on April 5th on the topic of “Personalization in the Arts Classroom.” The session will rely heavily on tech and using apps from the Google Suite (like Google Classroom). I wanted to post a brief overview of the presentation as well as the handouts, links, and…

Art Assessment Materials (2.1.19 PD)

On February 1st, CPS Arts held a city-wide PD day at the Chicago Cultural Center, I was lucky enough to talk about how I use integrated assessment as parts of my lessons. I wanted to share the resources I used during the presentation with anyone who is interested. Assessment shouldn’t be a distraction from how…

Transforming Public Spaces for Education #freethehallways

Flexible learning environments are becoming more and more popular in schools across the country. Teachers and students alike are agreeing that our physical space impacts the way we learn. However, in a school the classroom only represents a portion of the physical space that students spend their time in. Our hallways, stairwells, and lobbies take up…

Google Expeditions

Google brought the world into our school as part of the Google Expedition AR program. Each class took an augmented reality field trip to an exotic location like the International Space Station, or Ancient Rome. Students were able to learn and interact as they physically walked around experiencing these locations in augmented reality (AR). An amazing…

A&GC: What is an Action Research Project?

Action Research is something most teachers have done in one form or another, just without the title. A multi-step process that has you as the educator select a focus, develop a theory, implement while gathering research, and then analyse the results. I’ll be undertaking an Action Research Project (ARP) as the capstone project of my…

Winter Concert: A new approach to old ideas

With another year in the books I wanted to take a look at what I felt was one of the most successful Winter Concert / Holidays Shows I’ve ever put together. A thematic show is something that a lot of music teachers struggle with, since there are only so many options year after year….

The Power of Positive Relationships (a personal journey)

“You can catch more flies with honey” a friend used to tell me. How does an old adage like this apply to your classroom? I’ve had a great deal of behavior struggles with my students this year, and I want to share my experience of what worked and what didn’t. I’ve found a few methods…

Beyond What: The Why & How

I tend to focus on a lot of practice and tangible activities. Functional thoughts and ideas that you can take directly into the classroom and implement immediately. Sometimes as an educator you need to take a step backwards and look at your lesson from a philosophical standpoint thought and think beyond simply ‘what’ you are working on,…