A little bit of this and that!

Hello! I just wanted to share a couple of the cool things that I've been doing lately. First I was very excited to be accepted to go for one day workshop that was going put by Edtechteachers and Google. It was held at the Google headquarters and was absolutely amazing!!!! I got to spend the day with 200 other edtech nerds and it was pure Nirvana. I went to an amazing workshop on Google Classroom and got to ask questions of the actual developers. I also went to a fabulous workshop on apps and extensions.

 

We aren't allowed to take many pictures but I was able to get some great ones that I then uploaded to my students' Google Classroom accounts and they were able to check in while I was there. The entire day was amazing and I really feel that teacher morale would go up if we got a barista located in the front office much like Google:)

Secondly, I just wrapped up the 2nd Annual Wilke Awards with my seventh graders. Click here to see how this project started last year. They used Zimmertwins to create movies where they created a claim about ancient Egypt and then they supported them with textual evidence. We viewed the movies with all the pomp and circumstance if the Oscars including a red carpet, statuettes, green screen photos and 20 bags of microwaved popcorn in a garbage bag;)

 

 

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Experience it and they will learn!

I've been trying this year to create more experiential exercises for my kids and ancient history really affords me that opportunity. My kids were about to study ancient Egypt and I knew this was going to be the perfect opportunity for my kids to experience the daily lives of ancient Egyptians. We set up the room to have eight different stations and the kiddos got to experience all levels of society from pharaoh down to slave. Each station had an activity but all activities were interrupted by the whim and fancy of the pharaoh.

We had artisans practicing their craft....

Egyptians and their families being exiled for crimes.

Peasants playing memory to learn more about their crops.

Scribes deciphering their clues.

Soldiers practicing archery and patrolling the border.

Slaves building monuments all throughout the kingdom.

The students had so much fun they've asked if I can make a similar simulation for Greec and Rome. I said if I had an extra16 hours to plan it I would!!!
If you're interested in doing this activity your class going over to Teachers Pay Teachers and check it out. Thanks!

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Humbled and Excited!

I am very lucky that when I started in my new district, last year, I quickly got to meet our amazing head of technology and our integration specialists.  They have been beyond supportive and recently they got me to apply to be a 2015 PBS Digital Innovator.

Well!  I was selected!!!!!!

How amazing is that?  Click here to see the other 99 amazing educators from all across the country that are kicking butt and using tech!!!