Assessment Design Checklist 1.0
Often deciding what to teach and how is haphazard and can feel like you’re flying by the seat of your pants. I must confess, I have pondered to myself on more than one occasion, “man, what am I going to teach them tomorrow?” No design with the end goal in mind was present in my […]
Read MoreONLINE DISCUSSION AND BUDDHISM: FLIPGRID & FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS
AP World History has just gone through a significant redesign this year that has removed a lot of content and asks students to go deeper in matters related to global modern history. While Many teachers are understandably frustrated, as I have been at times in the last few months, I am taking this as an […]
Read MoreEducational Inception: A Metacognitive Self-Assessment on my Classroom Assessments in light of Assessment Theory
We are in the throes of the busiest time of the school year. My finals have been submitted to administration, I am wrapping up the last bit of content review, and preparing for the big show: finals, the ultimate assessment. Every assessment has assumptions about learning. Moreover, teachers make assumptions about the students to whom […]
Read MorePersonalized Learning: A Wicked Problem Solved?
Personalized Learning is a wicked problem. That is, it is a problem so complex that it is nearly unsolvable. Personalized Learning, the educational philosophy wherein student learn and proceed through their content at their own pace according to their own interests and needs, is just one of these problems. My team and I, organized through […]
Read MoreA PASSION FOR CREATIVE HISTORY TEACHING
Starting out as a teacher, I went right back to that which I had become accustomed. Throughout college, professors would assign reading and then in class would tell us about the text in two hour lectures. I loved it. I enjoyed reading. I enjoyed talking about history. And so did most of the other students […]
Read More10 COMPLEXITIES OF PERSONALIZED LEARNING
Personalized Learning is complex, so much so that it indeed is a wicked problem that seems to be impossible to solve. There are many layers of complexity and considerations from various stakeholders in the education of students—from parents to principals. Three central questions that drive further exploration of personalized learning are the following. 1. Why […]
Read MoreKilling Confirmation Bias in Ed Tech and Personalized Learning
Like most in this social media and smartphone age, I get a lot of my information—either news or stories—through Facebook and Twitter. Indeed, I don’t read the paper nor do I even go to a news website. Instead, I follow news agencies and “talking head” political analysts on social media. I must make a public […]
Read MoreINQUIRY BASED LEARNING AND THE HIGH SCHOOL HISTORY CLASSROOM
The now iconic scene of the monotone economics teacher played by Ben Stein in Farris Bueller’s Day Off hilariously encapsulated the collective experience High Schoolers endured in a Social Science classroom—perhaps any class. The premise of the film strikes a chord with many students: school is boring, and we’d rather feign sickness than attend. As […]
Read MoreASSESSING CREATIVITY: A REFLECTION ON GRADING MAKER PROJECTS
“How am I going to grade this?” That was the first thought that came to mind once the creative and fun designs lay on my desk. This was the first time I used a Design and Making activity in my AP World History class. I was so excited and eager to design and implement this […]
Read MoreDESIGN AND MAKING IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES: AN MAET AND CEP811 REFLECTION
The Social Sciences, and history in general, are notorious for boredom. Two cliches are often represented in the history classroom: the boring old teacher whom no doubt was related to the teacher from Ferris Buller’s Day Off or some athletics coach. Indeed, History is right behind Math in courses student’s seem to love or despise, […]
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