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#STUVoice – 2015 East County TechFest Keynote
My daughter, a high school junior, recently keynoted an ed tech fest. Because I feel odd talking up my progeny, I’m going to copy/paste a write-up shared in her district Superintendent’s newsletter: “she shared her school experiences with technology and challenged the teachers in the theater to provide a wide array of technology-driven opportunities. She
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Engaged Learning Does NOT Look Like This
I came across this posting on a school’s Facebook page the other day. Am I the only one who is sad by this photo, and the accompanying caption? I don’t see a single engaged student in this photo. On the contrary, I see a lot of body language that denotes the complete opposite of engagement.
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The Times They Are A-Changing, But Not in That Classroom
Come mothers and fathers, Throughout the land And don’t criticize What you can’t understand Your sons and your daughters Are beyond your command Your old road is rapidly agin’ Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand For the times they are a-changin’ – Bob Dylan My daughter is dual
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Text to Speech Makes Reading a Snap
Have students who struggle reading? The iPad can help with that. Text to speech is built in to iOS 8. Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Speech
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Failure + Learning = A+
Photo from: http://eatingacademy.com/ There is a saying amongst the Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineers: “If a test works you get an A, if it fails and you learn, you get an A+” Do we teach students that failure + learning equals an A+, or do they stop at failure?
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NASA Embodies the 4Cs
I mentioned in my last post that I am at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena today as a kick off #NASASocial event for the Orion launch. The Orion launch marks the start of our journey to Mars; the next step for humans to explore the solar system. I had the privilege of asking
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Inside a Student’s Mind: Google Docs Isn’t Enough. Let Students Help You Learn
On Saturday, my daughter and I will be featured speakers at the San Diego Computer Using Educator’s Tech Fair. I’ll write an in-depth discussion of our presentation afterwards, but for now, I am posting the link to our presentation for those who would like a copy. http://app.emaze.com/962692/cue?utm_source=systememail&utm_campaign=sharepresentationnonuser&utm_medium=view-link#1 (Sorry – working on my iPad so I
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#NoHW
I was lucky to catch the #SSDChat tonight, which was all about homework. I will admit – I don’t find much use for homework at all. I find it only serves to reinforce the good, and further alienate the struggling. I bring this up here because I am worried that the push for digital learning
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Stop Drinking From a Firehose
So I’m sitting in a District Leadership professional development session and the presenter asks the audience to share with each other what his/her district is doing to inspire teachers to embrace and integrate the Common Core State Standards in their teaching. Each district administrator shares a common theme: Professional development, professional development, professional development. The
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Make It Work: Project BYOD Runway in the Classroom!
This post was originally published on my old blog (September, 2013). I think the content is still worthy of conversation: As we move towards a BYOD program in our district, one of the questions that comes up is, “How can I ask students to do something if they all have different tools for the job?”
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An Open Letter to Students Returning to School
I think sometimes we have to remember that the world is moving forward around us, regardless of whether or not we keep up with it inside our walls. Education needs to be relevant, current, engaging, and forward thinking!
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Change, Change, Change
The shift to Common Core has not only caused a change in curriculum and instructional strategies, but it’s also impacted every department in our school district. Funding has changed; assessments have changed; technology needs have changed; report cards have changed… and the list goes on and on. As we navigate these changes, I am looking
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Laura K Spencer, Ed.D. 