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Let Flexibility Lead To Alignment

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  In my previous school district, I was the only teacher teaching a physics course with set, district-wide learning outcomes. These same outcomes were also taught in physics classrooms at the other high school in our district. But at our school, I was one of the 2 physics teachers. The other teacher taught the AP-level physics courses. So, in many ways, I had opportunities to incorporate strategies I believed were best for learners and that I found worked best for them without being seen as out of alignment with anyone in our building. My amazing friend and one of my teaching philosophy goddesses, Katie Novak, stated the following misconception about alignment: All teachers must deliver instruction in the exact same way. True alignment, she says, is about shared goals, rigor, and outcomes. Thank you, Katie! Katie has taught me to truly believe that learner variability is the rule, not the exception. I encourage you to take 10 minutes to listen to Katie Novak explain it in the ...
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Getting Started with Pear Deck

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I’m excited to announce the release of a handbook I co-authored with Mary Alys Foutz called Getting Started with Pear Deck.

Get access the eBook by clicking here!


I have been using Pear Deck in my classroom since 2015. I’ve watched the tool grow dramatically in its functionality but also its easy to be integrated into the classroom from a teacher and student perspective. The new book is an amazing guide in terms of how to get started with Pear Deck and even introduce you to features that I didn’t know existed until we started work on the book.

But for those who are new to Pear Deck or have several other tech tools that they are using in their classroom, I want to share with you why I continue to come back to it as my number one classroom tech tool for learning.  That reason is the feedback I get from my learners. Since I began using it, Pear Deck has consistently been the number 1 thing my students say helps them learn in the classroom. So rather than me preaching about Pear Deck, here’s what my students have to say in their own words.



The book is divided into chapters that cover various aspects of Pear Deck. Lots of people know about Pear Deck as a presentation tool, but there is so much more to discover!

  • Collaborate as a class to create flashcards with multiple representations with Pear Deck Vocabulary
  • Encourage students to increase their digital citizenship with Google’s Be Internet Awesome curriculum, powered by Pear Deck
  • Search for answers to questions in the Knowledge Base
  • Find ready-to-use decks in The Orchard
  • Learn how to share your decks with colleagues and the world!
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