Course 4 Final Project – Looking Ahead to Course 5

Brainstorming ideas for my potential COETAIL final project was certainly more challenging that I had at first anticipated.  Finding a project that is manageable, realistic, and at the same time challenging enough to provide a real opportunity for professional growth was quite a challenge! Generating the Idea In planning for the COETAIL final project, I …

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Digital Distractions – the Myth of Multitasking.

It seems like hardly a month goes by without at least one of my students asking if they can listen to music while they are working on a task in class.  My answer is always the same: “No”. And then invariably come the protests (mostly mild, thankfully). The protests are almost always the same: Don’t …

A Vision for the Role of AI and VR in the Classroom of Tomorrow.

As I stated in the beginning of my previous post, there is no doubt in my mind that our current model for schools, classrooms, and education is well past its prime.  It is increasingly at odds with the goal of producing students who are well equipped to thrive in a modern society that demands creative, …

Flipped Instruction – All or Nothing?

The longer I spend in the classroom, the more convinced I am that what has been termed the “Industrial Revolution Model” (or, alternatively, the “Factory Model”) of education is woefully inadequate, if our goal as a society is to produce students who exemplify 21st century skills.  In the past 5-6 years, I have been reading …

Keeping Focus on What is Important in Student-Centered Learning

I initially approached this post from a perspective of trying to tease out the nuances of problem-based, project-based, and challenge-based learning.  My first plan was to comment on the differences between them, and provide examples of each that I have incorporated in my own practice. However, I did find myself questioning some of the examples …

Initial Thoughts on Two Common Technology Integration Models – SAMR and TPACK.

As an IB DP Chemistry teacher, models are an important part of what I teach.  In fact, one of the very first lessons in the course that I teach focuses on how our understanding of atomic structure has changed and developed over time. As new data arrive, we need to re-examine our existing models to …