MakerEd Teachers – Share With Us @ ISTE 2014

At the upcoming 2014 ISTE Conference in Atlanta, the Independent School Special Interest Group (SIG-IS) is organizing one of the many playgrounds that will be at the conference. Our playground, Maker Playground and Agile Learning Spaces will be held on the last day of the conference, Tuesday, July 1st from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.  This playground will be set up to: To provide a hands-on, interactive maker’s environment for attendees to explore To create a prototype agile learning space that demonstrates “new” classroom ideas To demonstrate some of the new digital fabrication tools in used in schools to fuel innovation To provide a […]

An Truly Amazing Day

It is the first day of spring. The last Thursday before our week-long spring break. This winter has been exceptionally harsh. Bitter cold that doesn’t seem to like it is ever going to give up. Snow that seems like it will never melt, although I am starting to see my front lawn. Yet the day is full of energy, excitement, and discovery. A day when one is thoroughly exhausted as they leave the building, more than the winter has sapped from its relentless assault. Why? Today was as busy and chaotic due to the shift in mindset which has occurred […]

Illinois Educators – Action Needed

Last evening, I received an email from the Computer Science Teacher’s Association listserv with a call for action. The contents of the email are listed below. I urge all Illinois educators to take a moment, review, and consider support this initiative. The reason that I feel so strongly about this is that for many years, I taught computer science courses in a high school. Due to the way the school decided to assign these credits towards graduation requirements, any computer science elective, including AP Computer Science was a free elective, not counting towards any departmental credit for either Illinois requirements or towards […]