Cain’s Corner Issue 4

This week, I share how one precalculus class integrated video to demonstrate understanding of math in the real world. Also included are a recommendation for Gimkit, a fun formative assessment tool, as well as some mobile apps to try this summer.

Cain’s Corner Issue 3

In this edition of Cain's Corner, I had fun sharing the learning taking place in Grade 2 and Grade 7. I also highlight some Gmail tips and a resource called Synth that might be particularly useful for gathering verbal feedback from learners.

Cain’s Corner

Recently I've been playing around in Pages, as part of my Apple Teacher Certification, and I created a newsletter that I share with faculty twice a month. My goals include celebrating technology integration across divisions, highlighting ideas that colleagues can explore with their students. As a faculty, we have a lot to learn from each...

Electronic Curfews?

Neuroscience has long told us that teenagers need more sleep. Sleepfoundation.org explains this phenomenon succinctly, noting that teens need 8-10 hours of sleep, and that it's hard for most teens to fall asleep before 11:00 p.m. This facet of adolescient development has often sparked lively discussions ranging from high school start times to the overscheduling...

Learning to Code via EarSketch (Part 2)

Learners have been hard at work the past 2 weeks, putting together songs in EarSketch that we will share in at least 2 ways. Each learner will upload his/her song to their School YouTube channel, and each learner will have his/her song presented in a "silent disco" in class on the final day of the...

Learning How to 3D Print

I'm a 3D printing newbie. But our next unit in Digital Media will couple 3D printing with design thinking, so I have an immediate need for learning how to use this technology. Plus, in learning how to utilize a 3D printer with my own students, I wonder how I might cascade this understanding to other...

Learning to Code via EarSketch (Part 1)

When I graduated from college ten years ago, I never pictured myself learning how to code. I definitely didn't picture teaching seventh and eighth graders how to code. But for the next few weeks in my seventh and eighth grade digital media class, we are doing just that - teaching and learning from each other...

Digital Media Day 1 and 2

This year, as part of my new role as Director of Instructional Technology, I have the really cool opportunity to teach a seventh/eighth grade elective, Digital Media. I've co-taught this class in the past, so I have a tiny bit of experience, but I know I'll be learning a lot right alongside the students. This...

What a Difference a Year Makes

I found this half-finished post in my drafts, from about a year ago when a bunch of us were bloggin' machines thanks to Chip's blogging challenge idea. The first half of this post was written last May. I don't know why I didn't finish and publish it then, but in a way, I'm glad it...

#Fuse17 Day 2

My favorite moment from Fuse today was when we were setting some norms around group life and teamwork: How do we know when things are going well? One of my teammates suggested we do a "Saved by the Bell high five": In reality it's a pretty terrible high five (Kelly Kapowski totally misses the target),...