Kaulbach's Modern World

Long ago, my husband and I found each other because we love stories that celebrate the individual, who has lost something of value. Striving against the odds, against the enemy the hero discovers powers along the way, creates alliances and return from an unordinary place, reflective and changed. What was lost is found with so much more. Why can't education be this sort of revelation? For anyone who loves some or all of this story frame, we presented an open invitation to our game construct at the Tri-Association in Costa Rica. We whittled it down from a passion project into a presentation for any educator of any content in any subject area.  A Hero's Journey, Promoting Global Game Collaboration  involves a simple notion; students gain contextual knowledge within the construct of a story. The game becomes an incentive or reward for classroom learning. Unlocking levels of classroom content through a series of puzzles and locks.   The backstory is the hero's ...

No man is an island, Entire of itself, Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main...                                   (John Donne) Celebrating our third month abroad today and it feels as if a lifetime has passed. We have a new appreciation for the geography of Santo Domingo, protected by its cliffs, its bay and its height above water since the visit with  Hurricane Matthew (September 28).   Living abroad reminds me daily of how insignificant I am, and a  hurricane speeds up that feeling like the double fast foward button on a remote. Days before it struck, we were partying on the Malacon and planning Marc's trip for a conference in Guadalajara, Mexico.  At the time, I embraced the independence but that week brought me closer to my reliance on the communities of Santo Domingo.  I reacted like everyone else and  stocked up on groceries. Here in Sa...

We are starting with the power of student voice not teacher voice. And a slide show of students put to a poignant hip hop song - all my life I've been struggling. Where do we go from here? Straight to the top. This is definitely something I'm not doing enough of in class. I give students a chance for voice but is it empowering? Not yet. This music is sooooo empowering This is so awesome. Why not start a day with just a bit more happiness? Here I am at @hightechhigh and we are starting the day with a teacher band

Did you know that  it was Digital Learning Day nationwide?  PBS offered a fantastic opportunity to connect educators.  I stepped up my enthusiasm for digital learning by telling students to SMASH APPS! and tweeted class totals (#dlday).  Smashing immediately connotes images of destruction but according to my twitter community it simply means using more than one app to create something digital.  My students had opportunities to using sketching apps with text apps, work flow apps with platform apps and as an added incentive, would be allowed to use class time for gaming or bonus points on past assessment scores. Guess which incentive won out? Our school launched our Follow Your Dreams project during DLD week. Every week a senior or alumni of has the opportunity to present their work towards a dream, TED Talk style in our library media center.  During a 20 minute advisory time students voluntarily choose to attend a variety of club activities, conferences ...

Like most teachers in New England I start the school year off sprinting and then lose energy at the same time the students do, right after high school playoffs and Halloween.  Our first report cards are sent home at this time and I only mention this because it is also timed well with our third annual haunted high. Kids scare the pants off each other and scream a little too loudly. It seems that they are not so much as frightened as they are releasing steam. Are they screaming at teachers? Screaming at low grades? Or is is teen angst, Nirvana style? What is important is that this tradition continues because it is engaging. Jumping off such enthusiasm is hard and "where to go from here" is constantly on my mind.  In my 20 year career I have seldom had an easy year. Every new administration has pushed for reforms that add hours to my work day. I am one of those educators who follows the rules and works as much as can be expected.  This push to prepare for the Common Core ...

I'm tying up loose ends, teaching this zombi apocalypse unit and I have to say... it was fun. The game of keeping up points along with intentional studies petered out.  Next year, I should hold a culminating event, a zombie prom or a zombie run but sometimes life get's in the way.  Right now students are invested in their performances in Shrek, The Musical, deer hunting season and the upcoming November holiday. My quick assessment of success in teaching this unit: Students have developed a habit of paying attention to news events.  The impact of disaster became very real for some of our students following news events and the typhoon in the Philippines.  The idea of disaster preparedness was no longer focused on killing zombies but saving lives.  Two of my students fulfilled the unit requirement to bring attention to a global issue by putting up flyers about the typhoon.  These students also overheard both teachers and students in a meteorology course refer...

Link to published article   At TER While it can't be said for all professions everyone I know remembers a teacher who changed their world in a positive way. It was a teacher who helped me love learning and who made me think I was going to fantastic when I grew up. For most people that teacher was someone they encountered in their youth but for me it happened to be my daughter's kindergarten teacher. She is organized, enthusiastic, creative and kind. She had a reputation of being a stable force in education because of her forty one years of experience yet was one of the first to embrace 21st century digital technologies.  I was questioning my own educational practices when I first met her and was struck by this thought:  while every child in kindergarten was excited to learn the same can't be said for every student in my high school classroom. Curiosity got the best of me so I studied my daughter's experiences. I took notes on how this teacher hooked students on math a...

My Wall of Discussion at    Padlet Outline of Presentation Introduction- What is Haiku?   (Peter) management structure for 24 hour access engaged from anywhere in the world (teacher & student) Why we use discussion boards in a learning platform Problems of Democracy Haiku- add responses to discussion posts assignment list Assessment-  AP US History Assessment retakes Usage Statistics Data Wiki Projects Common Core  RH.11-12.4  Craft & Structure  WHST.11-12.6  Production & Distribution of writing. selecting a topic- collaborating and writing-  RH.11-12.7  Integration of Knowledge & Ideas Assessment Rubrics- Zombies & Asynchronous learning Video Discussion- NAFTA, Peer Editing (no picture!) student input- the Pen Pal Project -Possibilities video chats while gaming (Google Chats)  twitter publish   ie- theeducatorsroom.com Overview- I am a social constructivist. I beli...

published links: E Literacy Changes Everything                   gaming                   gaming dialogue The majority of homework in elementary schools and high schools tends to be practice or preparation leaving less than 30% for integration, interpretation opportunities ( Brozo, 2010 ). The Common Core  is shifting assessment from a focus on skills and gains of knowledge to information analysis, critical evaluation, and expression of new understanding (CCSSI; www.corestandards.org). This means our standard practices in education are not necessarily preparing students for the Common Core.  Instead of causing great alarm this lead me to reexamine isolated practices in our literacy program that could be improved to promote information analysis and new understanding.   Review of our fall diagnostic testing allowed me to isolate inference questions as a common miscue.  5...