#Whatsup Wildcats - Classroom Edition

Organized. Productive.  Creative.  Collaborative.  We want our students to possess all of these qualities because we know that they will help them succeed in and out of the classroom. But realistically, are students properly equipped with these qualities to survive and "do school" in a digital world? While traditional instructional practices will always have a place in the classroom, we must acknowledge that our students also need to possess the qualities listed above in a digital setting.  This year, our Advisory program decided to provide simple, effective lessons to teach digital tips and tricks to freshmen students. Yes, it was time to GET DIGITAL!   (Cue Olivia Newton-John) Let's Get Digital is designed to teach students how to utilize various digital resources available on their Chromebooks and mobile devices. It also provides tips and tricks to help them be organized, productive, creative, and collaborative.  ...

I'm excited to be co-authoring this post with my BFF and partner in crime, Steve Wick . Check out his blog, Know Your Why! for some awesome instructional ideas and resources. If you need any information or support for anything EdTech, he is your guy! We are in our second year of 1 to 1 with Chromebooks, and we have been amazed by the incredible engagement we’ve witnessed as teachers have enhanced and transformed their instructional practices. Our classrooms are full of students engaged in a variety of activities enhanced with a variety of digital resources. Teachers are facilitating and our students are collaborating, communicating, creating, and thinking critically on a daily basis. We’ve enjoyed visiting classrooms and observing, but we needed something more. We wanted to encourage teachers to come together and share how they are engaging students. We believe that one of the most rewarding professional development activities is when teachers find time to talk to eac...

Educators talk a lot about student artifacts and how we can show evidence of student thinking and learning. Student artifacts are powerful because they not only show off what our students are doing, but they can also demonstrate student growth and developed skills. We often forget that teacher artifacts can have the same power and importance. What is a teacher artifact, you ask? Well, I would say that it is an artifact that demonstrates how teachers think and how they are growing in the profession in order to support their students. They are achievements of what we are actively doing in the classroom to provide a safe, welcoming, and student-centered environment.  While there are many artifacts created by individual teachers and groups of educators teaching similar content, it can be rare to find an artifact that demonstrates the learning, growth, and passion of all teachers in one building. Well, my friends, our staff created a pretty awesome artifact of learning and ...