What is a ghost's favorite pair of pants?  This is the riddle I asked my 6th grade math class on a recent 3-part, Google Classroom assignment about dividing mixed numbers. The first part of this assignment was to model dividing fractions using Google Drawings. After that, they began attempting to solve the riddle. However the only way they could figure out the answer to the riddle was to successfully complete a quiz with Google Forms. With every answer, right or wrong, students were given a message. The message was either, "Try again," or a letter of the alphabet. The students were directed to record the letters of the alphabet they got after submitting their answers to each question, and they were directed to show their work and thinking on the problems they solved. Once students successfully answered all eight questions, they then had to open a Google Doc, unscramble the letters they received from the Google Form quiz to answer the riddle, and insert an image of the...

As the 2016-2017 school year quickly approaches like the annual tidal wave it is, I think about how last year I started running my first blended learning classroom, with what felt like, without a surfboard. For the longest time I felt like I was getting tossed around in the waves, not knowing which way was up. I made mistakes last year in my 6th grade math and science blended learning classes, but this year will be different because I have a whole year of mistakes to reflect back on. So here are my mistakes, and how I intend to correct them for this year, in no particular order. Mistake #1: Putting the cart before the horse When I found out I got the go-ahead to run a blended learning classroom, the first in my district, I was thrilled. However, I immediately started putting the cart before the horse. I started envisioning this perfect blended learning classroom running smoothly with three stations: independent, collaborative, and direct instruction. I thought of having engaged s...

The past few months I have been incorporating Google Classroom more and more into my science classes. Students are becoming very familiar with Google Docs, and they are starting to wake up from worksheet induced comas and starting to think again. When I first presented them with Google Classroom and Google Docs, they seemed dazed and confused at what I was showing them and what I was expecting from them. What I was showing them were the tools to create, collaborate, communicate, and apply critical thinking beyond a textbook and beyond the standard worksheet. What I was expecting from them was to learn in a meaningful, authentic, personalized way. It was a rude awakening for many. While a few students are still wanting to "sleep in" a bit more, most are already awake and are energized to learn. Students are telling me, "I really like doing these (tasks)," "This doesn't even feel like school," and "Have you looked at my work yet? I'm real...

With my blended learning classroom running very well and Google Classroom taking off in my class, I keep thinking about what's next. There is still so much out there to learn and to improve upon, but I keep coming back to sharing as the next thing. I have been very fortunate to have had the support of my administration in my blended learning venture, that I feel compelled to stop thinking about my classroom and start thinking about my school, my district. What I have learned from this year, I feel I need to share with my colleagues. However I do not want to push anything on them. I simply want to share my experiences and engage in discussions with them and work together as we move forward. But so much of the discussions need to begin with questions, from them and me. At the most recent inservice, my director of technology and I had the opportunity to share our knowledge about blended learning and my failures and successes from this past year with the faculty. What came out o...

Quick rundown of new ideas I have implemented in my teaching and shared with my colleagues after attending PETE&C 2016: Kahoot, Classcraft, Aurasma, Google Chrome, and Chromebooks. Plus, a more refined focus on blended learning, Google Classroom, Google Docs, Google Slides, and not to mention building my PLN more. I'd say PETE&C was worth it. Kahoot, the engaging formative assessment tool that students and teachers love, went over extremely well with my students as they used their Chromebooks to answer. Every day since using it, at least one student has asked me about when the next time we will be using it. Classcraft, the classroom-based role-playing game, took off among the students, too. They were extremely excited to setup their avatars and start playing. They also showed me they knew a lot more than I did on the subject matter of XP (experience points), HP (health points), and AP (action points). I think I might have them design a Kahoot formative assessment on ...