Point A to Point B

  • 21st Century Classroom

    As part of a class I am taking at Canisius College right now, we had to create a presentation on building a 21st century classroom. Here is my project, done in VoiceThread. Its about 15 minutes long – enjoy it if you like!

  • Touch This – Tactile Learning and Technology

    A few weeks back when the iPad became available for pre-order, I investigated and decided not to order since my current OS does not support it. Getting the iPad would send me into that unforgiving and expensive upgrade loop where I would have to get a new OS, and hence a new computer, etc. just…

  • Teaching and Connecting with Students

    For our staff development day on Friday March 19th, I had the opportunity to present to the faculty alongside Mr. Jachlewski, our Assistant Principal, on the topic of teaching and connecting with students. The idea for the topic (and the day overall) was generated by Mrs. Keipper, our Principal, after viewing the video Did You…

  • Why are organizing and brainstorming tools hard to integrate?

    The research is pretty clear. Organizing and brainstorming tools provide students with support to structure their thoughts and learning. I’m thinking specifically about Inspiration software since that is something we have had for years. It continues to be one of the most useful and least used tools we have. I count myself number one in…

  • Communicating with Prezi

    Prezi is a web 2.0 presentation tool that allow for much more control of how material can be presented visually. The easy-to-use interface lets you create interesting dynamic content very quickly. Courtesy of Twitter, I just learned of this short slide show demonstrating how Prezi can be used in the classroom: http://www.ideastoinspire.co.uk/prezi.htm My initial reaction…

  • The Research Process: Simple Wikipedia

    February begins a big push for research projects at school. 6th grade students learn about the Middle Ages, while 5th graders are researching a famous person. With all the great new tools for research and inquiry, I sometimes long for the days of index cards, an encyclopedia, and a few books. (not really…don’t worry) When…

  • Resistance IS Futile!

    A little over two years ago I wrote a post titled, Is Google Big Brother, right after attending the NYS educational technology conference, NYSCATE. Basically I was concerned about how a for-profit company may use personal data in ways we are unaware of. Now, looking at my Google Dashboard to check out the Google services…

  • This One Got My Attention…the XO-3

    Soak in this image for a few moments… and now this one… This is the next-generation concept design from the One Laptop Per Child team. This device does not exist yet, but the XO-3 as it is called simply looks awesome. I’m not sure what is the most appealing part – the slim design? The…

  • Where in the World is Santa?

    Forget about simply imagining where Santa is on his busy night delivering presents. Thanks to the folks at NORAD, in partnership with Google, you can track Santa in Google Maps and/or Google Earth. NORAD has been tracking Santa for over 50 years now. Check out this article at CNN on how the government’s primary missile…

  • On Conferences and Thanksgiving

    On a certain Thursday in November, the tradition goes that one must stuff oneself with as much food as possible and spend the next three days going through withdrawal and recovering from such a fun endeavor. The weekend immediately prior to that day, in New York, one goes through a very similar experience at the…