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 have greatly enjoyed Matt Miller’s Ditch Series of Books. On Friday, the 3rd in the series was released Don’t Ditch that Tech. It focuses on using technology to assist in differentiation in the classroom. Matt collaborated with Nate and Angie Ridgeway on this book. I finished the book very quickly. But is not the kind of book you will read once and put away. It will be a guide that I will continue to come back as I consider lesson design and implementation of technology. I appreciate that Matt, Nate, and Angie practice what they preach in this book. In a book about differentiation, they don’t attempt to present a one size fits all model. The book itself understands that teachers have different resources and that each lesson differs in what it asks the teacher and learner to be responsible for. The book identifies different models of technology implementation in schools. These range from situations in which schools have carts or labs which house the technology to be used to Bring