Posts by John Hardison
An EdChat Soundtrack: 60 Songs to Keep Your Class Jammin’
Pretend this: every day of your teaching career there is a gigantic boombox (Yes, I was raised in the '80s) hovering just above your head. It includes a very intuitive and accurate D.J. who constantly selects just the right song at the right time.
Do You Know Me? The Voice of a Disgruntled Student in a Boring Class
“Ignited by the opportunity for creative expression and fueled by talent-based, intrinsic motivation, students will relentlessly pursue higher truths and knowledge to create lives replete with challenges, service, integrity, happiness, fulfillment, and success.” We can call this standard TSBR-US1 (“This Should Be Reality-Universal Standard #1). It may not be too common in many classes, but I promise it will go right to the core of all students’ learning spirits.
A Bunch of B.S.: The Antidote for #EdTech Negativity
It was his third bit of advice, one that was also forever engrained in me through two amazing parents, that I have pledged to honor all my life. My professor said, “John, it really is this simple: you can be positive…or you can be negative. You know what each energy earns you. It’s your choice.”
Introducing Our Widbook E-book
So, without further delay (but please imagine a thematic drumroll here), I present you with our Widbook e-book…a study guide for Washington Irving’s famous short story.
The Perimeter, the Players, and the Offering: An Interactive Learning Structure
My conversations with the students as I circulated the classroom revealed this truth. I looked over my fifty-plus learning structures to see which one fit best, and I discovered the need for a totally new structure, one that accommodated the literature and standards, the current students, and our classroom. So, out of necessity, “The Perimeter, the Players, and the Offering” was born.
A Slight #Engchat Re-Purposing of Widbook (Part 1)
After a solid understanding has been established, I strive to follow up with a limitless, free-thinking session that centers on one essential question: “How can this technological tool be repurposed as an educational instrument?”
No Confusion with InfuseLearning
In fact, there is no confusion with InfuseLearning. It simply works.
An EdTech Giving with Steve Jobs
Wearing beltless Levis, a long-sleeved, black shirt, and white kicks, Steve Jobs walked the perimeter of an endless rectangular table attended by students of all ages, races, cultures, and religions. With each stop near an excited kid, he handed out MacBooks, iPads, iPods, and iPhones from a limitless bag embroidered with the famous Apple logo and cheerfully held by the “Woz.”
Come Along on My Blended Journey
No one ever said blended learning was easy. Especially from the teacher’s viewpoint. Without a doubt, facilitating an educational environment based on many types of brick-and-mortar delivery models and online content made available by a digital learning platform is the most effective and well-rounded approach to teaching. But again, there is a learning curve.
You May Be a 21st Century Educator If…
Words like “flipped,” “blended,” “asynchronous,” “differentiated,” and “MOOC” are not words to describe how you feel after inhaling a chili hotdog just before riding a roller coaster called the “Vomit Van.” Instead, these words are part of your ever-increasing #edtech vocabulary.