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Google Spreadsheet Magic Part 1: Super Grouper
Google is amazing. I started using google drive this school year. I quickly fell in love with shared google docs, and knew students’ lives would be changed forever. It didn’t take long before I asked...
View ArticleGoogle Spreadsheet Magic Part 2: Big Brother
Welcome to the second part of my Google spreadsheet series. This spreadsheet is designed to kick butt. It is a quick written response system. Many LMS, learning management systems, allow for students...
View ArticleNext Generation Schools Symposium
This conference was great. Next Generation School Symposium, NGSS, centered around new ideas and ways of teaching, it offered several innovative sessions. On that note, I struggled to decide which ones...
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WCSS 2014
This year I had a wonderful time at the Wisconsin Council for Social Studies. I am a current board member of WCSS and found it interesting to be on the planning side of the conference. Attending...
View ArticleGoogle Spreadsheet Magic Part 3: Fast Formative
Fast Formative: Fast Formative is a powerful tool that allows you to assess students quickly and easily. Simply setup the tool once and you are good to go for the year. Share the link to the Google...
View ArticleISACS 2013 – The multiplayer classroom.
Attending a conference outside your content, sorry WCSS and NCSS, is a powerful learning experience. Attending this conference I learned so many diverse thoughts that help shape me as an educator. I...
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Group Roles – Everyone is Important.
I was on Twitter today, and I came across the idea of group roles. Thinking more about it all day, this is what I came up with. Seven roles that clearly define what is expected of the student to lead...
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The Role of the Mini Game?
As many of you know, I have created a year-long, gamified storyline for my World History course. Students entered the Realm months ago. Since then, we have been fighting battles in Egypt, taking...
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Legocraft: Building the Past…
Eruption at Thera This year, I was fortunate enough to attend the National Council of Social Studies conference in St. Louis. The theme was appropriately dubbed “The Gate Way” to the west. It should...
View ArticleMy First PLAYDATE!
On Saturday, January 18th, I attend and “presented” at my first PLAYDATE. Downers Grove 58, #playdateDG58, held their second playdate. I would say it was a huge success. Here is a brief background on...
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ISTE2014 Building your Network.
ISTE 2014 was an amazing conference and one I will not soon forget. It was my first time to ISTE. It is the worlds largest educational conference with tens of thousands of people in attendance. I was...
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Trading on the Silk Road
As a passionate teacher of World History I find simulations to be one of the most powerful teaching tools. We all have heard the old saying about teaching a man to fish. Shaping an experience in...
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Beyond The Bubble… Alternative Test Ideas.
A few years back at the National Council for Social Studies, or NCSS, I heard a session from these guys at Standford University. Their presentation topic was about redesigning our tests. It was aptly...
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Legocraft: Building the Past…
Eruption at Thera This year, I was fortunate enough to attend the National Council of Social Studies conference in St. Louis. The theme was appropriately dubbed “The Gate Way” to the west. It should...
View ArticleMy First PLAYDATE!
On Saturday, January 18th, I attend and “presented” at my first PLAYDATE. Downers Grove 58, #playdateDG58, held their second playdate. I would say it was a huge success. Here is a brief background on...
View ArticleNext Generation Schools Symposium
This conference was great. Next Generation School Symposium, NGSS, centered around new ideas and ways of teaching, it offered several innovative sessions. On that note, I struggled to decide which ones...
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#GAFE Magic Part 5: Postmaster Plus Mail Merge for All
Postmaster Plus: This is one of the coolest spreadsheet tools to help streamline your efficiency. For this tool you to work you will need to install Yet Another Mail Merge Add-on into your Google...
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The Great (Live) Debate – Athens vs Sparta
As a teacher of middle school students, one thing I have noticed is that they love to engage in arguments. As a history teacher, I offer the standard assessments for the students such as papers, and...
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Super Grouper 3.0
The super grouper is another spreadsheet project completed in collaboration with my good teaching partner and friend Jason Strains, @jsteach84. Together we come up with all sorts of cool spreadsheet...
View ArticleSBG Spreadsheet Collaboration! Gamified!
Ok, so over the years I have had tons of conversations with educators about the topic of Standard Based Grading or SBG. The topic intrigues me and something I decided I would forge ahead with this...
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