On Friday, I was so pleased to be able to return to one of my favorite days of the year, High-Interest Day at Brookfield Elementary School. This is a day where I have been able to bring the concepts of physics to k-5 graders. You may be asking yourself, "Elementary students doing physics?" YES! Not just experimenting, but understanding the concepts behind the physics of electricity and sound. This is a very special day I have had the opportunity to be involved in since 2017. So, how are we able to bring the concepts of electricity and sound traditionally taught to high school 11th and 12th graders to the elementary level? There are a few keys 1) make it a hands-on experience 2) remove the mathematical calculations and make it practical. In the past, I had the luck of bringing a handful of my physics students with me to guide the elementary students through the concepts that they had learned over the course of the year. But in my new role as a Teaching and Learning Speciali
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