The Nerdy Teacher

Safe with Griffin 2 #EdTech

2013-05-22T12:00:00.000-04:00

Here are some more great cases for iPads for those looking to keep their iPads safe at home and in the classroom as well as a excellent option for storage and syncing iOS devices. NEW: Use the code THENERDYTEACHER for 20% off their purchase! This code is valid until 6/21. Slim Folio The Slim Folio ($39.99) is the perfect case for those of you looking for a sleek way to protect the iPad. The

Safe with Griffin #EdTech

2013-05-20T14:28:00.000-04:00

I'm happy to share with all of you a review of some great cases from Griffin. Below you will find my thoughts on some great products Griffin sent to me to review and share with my readers. Here is what I thought. NEW: Use the code THENERDYTEACHER for 20% off their purchase! This code is valid until 6/21. Survivor Case for iPad I've always been curious about the heavy duty iPad cases. I

This is what standardized tests fail to assess #EdChat #PBLChat

2013-05-13T11:28:00.003-04:00

Since I made the switch to Project Based Learning, I am always amazed at the different projects I receive from my talented students. These projects manage to show me a depth of understanding that a multiple choice test could never reproduce. Recently, students were asked to create their own project and rubric for The Great Gatsby. I received some really good projects, but this one struck me as

Chemistry Class and a @LivescribeK12 Sky Pen #EdChat #SciChat

2013-05-01T07:14:00.000-04:00

Here is a post from Jessica Haggerty (@gpschemistry) who is a Chemistry teacher at Grosse Pointe South High School. I gave her a Sky Pen and was curious how it would work in her classroom. Here are her thoughts. I use the Livscribe Sky Pen almost daily in my chemistry classroom. Especially during units heavy in problem solving, it is extraordinarily helpful for students who were absent for

I Will Not Let An Exam Result Decide My Fate by @SuliBreaks #Edchat

2013-04-24T07:10:00.001-04:00

I'm very happy that I found this on Twitter yesterday. This was a great spoken word poem that I shared with my students. They were very impressed by Suli Breaks. It lead to a great discussion that is worth having with students. Take a moment and watch the video and share it with your staff and students to start a conversation.

Gripcase Review - It's Awesome for Kids #edchat

2013-04-19T12:00:00.000-04:00

One of my biggest fears I have when I set my iPad down in the house is whether or not my son is going to pick it up and make a run for it. Now, I love using the iPad with Leo, but I worry that he is going to drop it throw it or do any of those other things that 2 year olds do with anything in their hands. I'm not much of case guy, but I knew I needed something to protect the iPad, but no be too

Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 Desktop Scanner #Evernote

2013-04-18T12:00:00.000-04:00

I was very lucky to get my hands on a Fujitsu ScanSnap Desktop Scanner a few weeks ago and I have been using it at home. I had heard about this scanner from other Evernote users and Ambassadors over the past few months, but had not thought much about it. As tax season was coming around, I really started to get a clutter of paperwork piling up around my home office. I wanted to quickly scan a ton

I Am Not The Enemy #edchat

2013-04-16T16:19:00.000-04:00

I am not the enemy. I am the person that gets up every day excited about sharing the beauty of literature. I am the person that shows students the power of the written word and beauty of the spoken word. I am the person that values each and every student in my class. I am not the enemy. I am the person that sits with a student revising an essay until they get it right. I am the person who

Mini Display App - Check it out! #edchat #Apps

2013-04-13T12:16:00.004-04:00

Recently, I purchased a new Mac and mounted it on my wall to be super fancy. I also had an older Ipad my wife and son were not using very much. I thought it would be cool to mount them on the wall to give me a couple of extra screens while working on my Mac. I could keep Twitter and Email up on these screens and work on school stuff on the big screen. Here is a picture of what I set up. I

Sometimes You Just Have To Let The Students Have A #GoodTime #EdChat

2013-04-10T17:11:00.002-04:00

My first and second hour had been working so hard in my class and others the past few weeks and I noticed they were burnt out. It is so frustrating to see kids who care so much about school be beaten down by the stress of school and teenage life. We are in the home stretch and morale seems to be down across the board, so I thought it would be a good idea to remind the students and staff that it

Markup - An App Review #EngChat #EdChat

2013-04-10T12:00:00.000-04:00

One of the things that has always made my life difficult is grading essays. Well, that is what I get for loving literature and deciding to teach it. :-P I have always been on the lookout for ways to cut down on the amount of paper that I have to take home, but essays always seemed to beat me. I have used Turnitin.com for paper collecting, but need a desktop to grade the essays because they do not

Farewell #ProjectPLN

2013-04-08T12:00:00.000-04:00

"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts," As You Like It Act 2, scene 7, 139–142 When I think about the morning I decided to text Kelly and tell her about this awesome idea I had to bring together people from our PLN to share their thoughts and ideas, I always smile. It was a

The #EduTour13 Announcement!

2013-04-05T12:00:00.000-04:00

I am excited to announce that the #EduTour13 is happening! Back in December, I write a post about how I would love to drive across the country and talk to people about education and see what I can learn from them. The idea would not get out of my head, so I contacted some friends and I was able to put together a full trip with amazing sponsors! Best of all, my #EduBro will be along for the ride

Build Me An App! #DevCup #EdChat

2013-04-04T12:00:00.000-04:00

Evernote's DevCup is kicking off and the Evernote Ambassadors have been asked to share with all of the developers out there what they want in an app that would work with Evernote. Well, I am always up for issuing a challenge, so here it is. Build me an App! The Problem: I use Evernote for just about every aspect of my educational life. I use it for lesson planning, file storage and note-taking

Professional Learning in the Digital Age #EdChat

2013-04-02T11:00:00.000-04:00

While at #ASCD13 in Chicago, I was able to get my hands on a copy of Dr. Kristen Swanson's book Professional Learning in the Digital Age. I am really glad I did. The focus of the book is on User-Generated Learning. After defining UGL, Dr. Swanson covers Curation, Digital Footprints, Reflection and Contribution. It's not the fact that Dr. Swanson provides research to support her case, it is the

Mentoring Minds and the Common Core

2013-04-01T13:32:00.001-04:00

I have been sitting in a few meetings this year where people tried to digest the Common Core Standards. Many people feel like it is going to change the entire way that they teach and some just assume it will go away like all other mandates if you give it some time. I'm not sure the CCS is going away anytime soon and those teachers that are confused as to where to start need some guidance in

Storytelling Versus Lecturing #ASCD13 #EdChat

2013-03-18T11:40:00.001-04:00

I have always thought of myself as a storyteller. If you have ever had a conversation with me, there is a very good chance that I hijacked the meeting and have told a crazy story that may or may not be on topic. I have always believed that a good story can do more for a person than a lecture. Maybe that part of me comes from watching too many episodes of "Boy Meets World" or "Saved by the Bell"

#EdcampRogue Invades #ASCD13

2013-03-18T11:27:00.001-04:00

It was bound to happen. I'm actually surprised it took this long. Edcamp invaded a large national conference, and it was a huge it. A few enemy combatants were hanging out at #ASCD13 talking about the opening message of getting educators connected and thought that the conference was lacking something to bring educators together to not only connect, but to talk about topics near and dear to them

Sharing with #Evernote at Conferences #ASCD13

2013-03-18T11:11:00.001-04:00

For those of you who do not know, I am an avid tweeter. I love going to conferences and tweeting the day away sharing amazing resources with people around the world. That has worked nice, but I have always struggled with writing blog posts after conferences. All of my information has been spread out over a series of tweets and I do not write my blog posts until later. It is very hard to find the

Teachers Solicit Undercover Students to Crack the Code on Student Engagement #EdChat #NerdyCast #Hooked #Premiere

2013-03-04T17:43:00.001-05:00

Teachers Solicit Undercover Students to Crack the Code on Student Engagement We have been teasing it out for weeks and it is with great pride that I announce the premiere of Hooked! on #NerdyCast. Hooked is the radio show that Tim and I host on BAM! Radio that focuses on Student Engagement in all of its forms. Four our first show, we thought it would be a great idea to round up some

Using my @IdeaPaint on the desks #EdChat #EngChat

2013-03-01T11:16:00.001-05:00

I'm excited to share this lesson with all of you that had my students drawing on their desks! At the start of the second semester, I painted my desktops with IdeaPaint so my students could have an extra paperless space to take notes, draw diagrams and doodle. All of their drawings and notes can then be saved directly into Evernote and become a searchable part of their notes system. We are

Guest Post: What We Can't Tell You #edchat

2013-02-26T07:00:00.000-05:00

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Making Connections

2013-02-20T12:08:00.001-05:00

I had an awesome opportunity to talk to some great English teachers the other day. We talked about digital tools and we also talked about connecting with other teachers. One teacher asked me how can they connect with other teachers. They were on Twitter, but they found it hard to reach out to teachers and engage them in conversation. I gave them some tips and tricks and I thought I would share

Awesome Annotations with Livescribe #EngChat #EdChat

2013-02-18T23:35:00.001-05:00

A group of students were not happy with the current selection of books in our curriculum, so they started their own book club. I agreed to come on as a co-adviser because I love to read and I support students who love to read. The group will meet once a week and we will discuss part of a book the group has chosen. The first book the group chose is The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides. I love

#NerdyCast Hits The Big Time

2013-02-11T19:11:00.000-05:00

Tim and I have been teasing a huge announcement for the past couple of weeks. Well, here is the big announcement. #NerdyCast is moving to BAM Radio! The show will be focused on student engagement and we will have the best guests in the world on our show. We are excited to take #NerdyCast to the education world because we strongly feel that it is important to have good educational discussions and