BLOG – Page 3 – Jonathan Keck

INQUIRY BASED LEARNING AND THE HIGH SCHOOL HISTORY CLASSROOM

The now iconic scene of the monotone economics teacher played by Ben Stein in Farris Bueller’s Day Off hilariously encapsulated the collective experience High Schoolers endured in a Social Science classroom—perhaps any class. The premise of the film strikes a chord with many students: school is boring, and we’d rather feign sickness than attend. As […]

FLIPGRID AND DYSGRAPHIA MODIFICATION

Flipgrid fever has struck many teachers. One need only check the hashtags #flipgridfever to catch a glimpse of the excitement. In the age of Snapchat, memes, and gifs, students can often feel disengaged with old-school handouts. Flipgrid is an app used on Microsoft, Apple, and Google products that allow teachers to create digital classrooms for […]

ASSESSING CREATIVITY: A REFLECTION ON GRADING MAKER PROJECTS

“How am I going to grade this?” That was the first thought that came to mind once the creative and fun designs lay on my desk. This was the first time I used a Design and Making activity in my AP World History class. I was so excited and eager to design and implement this […]

DESIGN AND MAKING IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES: AN MAET AND CEP811 REFLECTION

The Social Sciences, and history in general, are notorious for boredom. Two cliches are often represented in the history classroom: the boring old teacher whom no doubt was related to the teacher from Ferris Buller’s Day Off or some athletics coach. Indeed, History is right behind Math in courses student’s seem to love or despise, […]

THE EDTECH JOURNEY SO FAR: MAET and CEP810

This year has been a blur. It has been a banner year of transformation and challenge, and the year isn’t even over. In March of 2018, I started a trajectory of new thinking inspired by several PD experiences. I attended my first EdTech conference, a small gathering called Cue in Palm Springs. I also served […]

COOKING WITH TPACK

Few technological tools were designed specifically for education. Indeed, most tools were created for entertainment or the business world. The task of the teacher is to use the tools available to them to help improve student learning. The teacher in today’s classroom needs to be creative in repurposing existing technologies to instruct better and enhance […]

6 REASONS WHY SOCIAL SCIENCE CLASSES NEED TO “MAKE”

Making is deep in our DNA. Indeed, is not the process of making, playing, and improving something how we naturally learn? My first encounter with a hammer and nails, a rope and make-shift pulley system came to us while creating a fort high in an olive tree grove next to our house. Through trial and […]

Vetting “Fake News” with Flipboard and Flipgrid

21st-century technology demands a 21st-century approach to teaching and learning. The ways things worked in the past will no longer work. It is not so much that students have changed (as the disgruntled teacher down the hall complains. Our society has transformed thanks to the internet and compact computing devices, like smartphones. How we consume […]

USING PHOTOSHOP TO CREATE A FUN SYLLABUS: PART 3

Over the last several weeks, I’ve set out to learn some basics of Photoshop (Check out Part 1 and Part 2 Here). I’m no graphic artist, nor do I desire to make a career shift from education. Instead, I see this—and Adobe’s suite of tools in general—as incredibly useful technologies that can be effectively utilized […]

(Re)Creating A Flexible Learning Classroom Environment

Starting out as a High School teacher, I went right to where I was comfortable. I had spent years delivering speeches and lectures. I knew how to lecture well. I created elaborate supportive keynotes rich in media, and lectured every day, in every class, for years. My classroom reflected it. It was designed like a […]