Art, Technology, Pedagogy
Ask any teacher about teaching about a controversial topic, and most will tell you to avoid it at any cost. School administrators hate controversy and will often discourage teachers from discussing hot topics in their classrooms at all. Teachers routinely get fired or reprimanded for opening discussion in their classroom about ideas that some may […]
Getting people to support your idea can be a difficult process. Having that support, however, is key to getting your project off the ground. But once it’s off the ground, you need it to fly. That’s why you can’t just sell your idea to other people, and get their support — you have to inspire […]
As I started this program, I learned that we would be creating an e-portfolio. This made sense to me, since the EDLD program at Lamar is an online program, and keeping all my work online would make it easier to share and collaborate with others.
I still remember the first time I heard a racist joke and understood that it was a racist joke. I was visiting a cousin who was a teacher. He was talking about some of his students to other family members and laughing about their names. He would list each name using an exaggerated voice sort […]
Here are some books I highly recommend. Many of these books were required reading for the Digital Learning & Leading program through Lamar, but some are books I found relevant for designing learning environments, influencing others, encouraging creativity, collaborative workspace design, and more. Rebecca's bookshelf: teaching-and-learning How to Be an Explorer of the World: Portable […]
Personalized learning sounds great. Every student is unique, so wouldn’t it be better if schools could use technology to teach each student what they need, rather than teaching one lesson for all? This just makes sense, right? We all want to help our students succeed. Except, that’s not what personalized learning is, in many cases. […]
As an art teacher and professional muralist, I get a lot of requests to paint murals in my schools. I absolutely love painting murals, especially when I can involve students in the process. Buy some paint, give me a wall, and I am totally happy to turn your boring wall into a work of art. Sadly, […]
Recently, Susan Dynarski wrote an op-ed in the New York Times about why she bans laptops in her lectures and meetings. Her writing inspired very strong responses on both sides of the issue, and it makes sense. Anyone who has ever tried to teach a room full of students with technology has fought this battle. […]
Artwork by Maya Hayuk BHAG — My big, hairy, audacious goal is that Cindy Avitia High School will take the tools they’re already using (Google Classroom, Google Drive, Google Slides, etc…) to create a learning environment that empowers students by putting them in charge of their own learning. AUDIENCE — Cindy Avitia High School […]
“I don’t even get why the kids have devices.” “Yeah, maybe they’re useful for some things, but we made it all the way through school without having them, so I’m sure these kids will be perfectly capable of doing work without them.” “If I had a dollar for every time a kid was supposed to […]
