Teaching Toward Tomorrow
Jennie Magiera is the digital-learning coordinator for the Academy for Urban School Leadership, a network of 29 Chicago Public Schools. She previously taught math to 4th and 5th graders. As an Apple Distinguished Educator, Google Certified Teacher, and Chicago Public School’s 2012 Tech Innovator of the Year, Jennie has been working to redefine education through effective technology use. You can follow her on Twitter at @MsMagiera and at TeachingLikeIt’s2999. This blog is no longer being updated.
Science
Opinion
Inspiring Women Series: June Lin, Robot Whisperer
When I was little, I wanted to grow up and play with robots. June Lin of Wonder Workshop is living that dream. She helps design and develop the adorable robot duo Dash & Dot, who make coding tangible for the smallest learners. In this third interview of my Inspiring Women Series, June talks about her robot friends and her journey here.
Professional Development
Opinion
Inspiring Women Series: Rafranz Davis, Passion-Based Educator
In this second installment of the Inspiring Women Series, I chat with Rafranz Davis, an instructional technology specialist from Dallas and author of the book, The Missing Voices in Edtech: Bringing Diversity into Edtech. She speaks nationally on passion-based learning and as an advocate for diversity in her field. Today we explore more about this challenge and how Rafranz is helping educators address it.
Reading & Literacy
Opinion
Inspiring Women Series: Axie Oh, Young Adult Writer
Yesterday we observed International Women's Day and throughout March we celebrate Women's History Month. As such, this month's posts will showcase women who inspire me and I believe can inspire our students. First up is Axie Oh, Axie is an aspiring young adult writer who was recently named a finalist for the New Visions Award in recognition of her novel, The Amaterasu Project.
Student Well-Being
Opinion
The White House Film Fest: Inspiring Student Voice Through Video
The White House asked K-12 students to "tell a story about paying it forward, about community service, or what making a difference looks like in your eyes." Once again, my students were inspired to share a message, create something meaningful and amplify their voices through social media.
Student Well-Being
Opinion
Creating Upstanders for the Present While Exploring Our History
Every February classrooms across the nation observe Black History Month. While teachers have have a plethora of resources for reflecting on the past, many are wondering how to empower their students to take on issues of social justice in the present. Sara Ahmed is the co-author of the amazing book, Upstanders: How to Engage Middle School Hearts and Minds with Inquiry. In the video interview, Sara describes this idea as well as others for building student agency and inquiry. These are great ideas for supercharging your classroom not only throughout February but all year long!
Professional Development
Opinion
From Egg to Twitterati: Turning Around the Tweet-less Conference
Twitter can be an amazing tool for connecting educators and facilitating professional learning. Utilizing this platform at face-to-face events like conferences can be particularly powerful. This post explores why this is and what to do when Twitter isn't getting traction with participants.
Teaching
Opinion
10 Classroom Ideas to Try in 2015
Now that we're back to school, what are some ways you can shake things up in the new year? Here are 10 ideas to try out in your classroom, no matter how big or small your learners may be.
Professional Development
Opinion
2015 Ed-Tech Conference Preview
Looking to fill 2015 with edtech learning? Here is a list of great conferences and events to attend in North America in the first half of 2015.
IT Infrastructure & Management
Opinion
Last Minute Gift Ideas for the High-Tech Teacher!
Trying to find some last minute gifts for the high tech teacher in your life? Or wondering what to do with all of those gift cards you've been getting this holiday season? Here are some ideas sure to make your holiday bright!
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Undiluted Student Agency: Going Beyond Genius Hour
On a trip to New Zealand, Jennie Magiera learned what undiluted student agency looks like, and what school can be if every hour is "Genius Hour."
Teaching
Opinion
Start Up Spotlight: Hapara
In this third of the Start Up Spotlight series, I chat with Jan Zawadzki and Jack West of Hapara. Hapara is an amazing system to, as they say, "make learning visible." It turbo-charges the power of Google Apps for Education to empower both teachers and students to seamlessly manage workflow, student support and instruction. From sending supportive messages to students to seeing each students' screen in realtime to managing and distributing Drive files, Blogger posts, and Google Sites, Hapara has a myriad of tools to create a truly paperless and poweful classroom environment. In this video interview the CEO and founder Jan and classroom teacher-turned Hapara leader Jack share the origin story of the start up, how they leverage teacher thinking and their philosphy for supporting educators around the world.
Student Well-Being
Opinion
My TEDxTalk: Sorry, Sir Robinson ... I Think I Killed Creativity
On September 20, 2014, I was fortunate to give a TEDxTalk. The title was "Power to the Pupil" but in retrospect, I wish I'd named it "Sorry Sir Robinson... I think I killed creativity". This talk is about what to do once you become inspired to embrace student agency, creativity and exploration in the classroom... but you realize that your students have already become rubric zombies. It's about wondering - what do I do now? Am I too late?
IT Infrastructure & Management
Opinion
Start Up Spotlight: iPevo
In this week's Start Up Spotlight, I chat with Alex Yang from iPevo, a company creating innovative peripherals for classrooms. From a $69 doc cam that can fit in your pocket, to a system that turns any flat surface into an interactive whiteboard, iPevo is dreaming up and building low-case alternatives to many pricey classroom technology staples. In this interview, Alex tells me how iPevo got started, their makerspace culture and how teachers are driving their products.
Classroom Technology
Opinion
Start Up Spotlight: ClassKick
This series, Start Up Spotlight, will feature video interviews with these developers, stories behind how they got started and sneak peaks into future iteration of their products. First off, we have Andrew Rowland and Peter Do, the co-founders of Classkick. This free iPad app allows teachers to easily create open response questions, push them out to students and then view student responses and annotations via a real-time dashboard. Check out this post to see the video interview and learn more!