On Wednesday, I will head over to an elementary site in my district to give a one-hour session on Project-Based Learning (PBL). I am thrilled for the invitation and the opportunity to initiate conversations on how technology can support teachers in taking student learning to new levels. Within a 60-minute limit, my goal is to [...]

For California public schools and their 2012-13 budgets, so much depends on  November, when voters will have the opportunity to step up and support our schools by approving the governor’s proposed budget. Given the tsunami of teacher bashing still sweeping the country, I hope every district in the state – and nation – will make [...]

Writing in its many forms is the signature means of communication in the 21st century. ” (National Writing Project) I was not taught how to teach writing as part of my teacher credential program.  It is through my 16-year affiliation with the National Writing Project that I have joined conversations, learned strategies, and shared best [...]

Lucky me! In the last school year, I received an Advancing Networks Uses Grant (ANU), a wonderful grant that allowed me to showcase how technology is changing classroom practice  in my district. I titled my ANU proposal Teach 21, and promised to document 21 classroom examples that would make visible effective integration of technology across [...]

I was introduced to James Paul Gee‘s research on gaming in education several years ago at a National Writing Project Annual Meeting workshop. NWP colleague and mentor Peter Kittle referenced Gee’s work with the comment (something like) “As educators, we really need to be thinking about when kids are reading and writing when they don’t [...]

The great films have not been made yet. The ones who will make them are out there, though, riding a skateboard.” – Robert Altman Why would a classroom teacher at any grade level or in any subject area consider adding one more activity into an already jam-packed curriculum? This is a question I ask myself [...]