Presentation to Education Pioneers Chicago Fellows

Tomorrow morning I'm speaking to the 2013 Chicago Fellows through Education Pioneers. I'm really excited to speak to future leaders in both the professional and educational fields. In preparing for my presentation, I am reminded of a quote from Mark Twain.

“There are only two types of speakers in the world. 1. The nervous and 2. Liars.”

My topic is educational technology and I'm going to specifically talk about my experiences last year integrating Twitter in and outside of the classroom. We did some really nifty things during the presidential election in fall.

I'm going to wrap up with a discussion of the future of educational technology. The impact of social media on the classroom and student achievement is a major focus of my doctoral research. Though social media in education is viable and has enormous potential, I expect the focus of the technology movement within education to continue moving towards flipped classrooms and online classrooms.

I'm excited to pick the brains of my audience members!

What I Am Reading - July/August

My first class in the doctoral program was a general survey class called The Superintendency. In addition to the assigned textbooks, we broke up into groups and chose an additional "Book Club" kind of book. I've been reading:

This book expands on some earlier texts about improving education by looking at various case studies from around the world. There is some great insight into some of the other programs.

What this book really needs is a much healthier dose of critical lens when examining the case studies. Much of the data for comparison's sake stems from PISA test information. Maybe I'll post about PISA one day, but as educators know, PISA is not a test with universal participation.

Overall, it's been an interesting read. I'd recommend it.

Click Here to Purchase The Global Fourth Way*

*I'm not in the affiliate program of Amazon.

You are what you learn...a little bit about me.

Hi everyone (my parents and maybe one stranger)!

I am a high school social studies teacher from Chicagoland. I've decided to use this blog to chronicle the next few years of my professional life. I just began a doctoral program to receive my Ed.D in administration. I am planning on trying out some really cool things in my classroom this year as I try out some great things I have been learning about from my peers, my classes and other learning opportunities.

Besides my passion for student learning, my wife and I also love the theatre. We regularly have competing reviews from the Broadway musicals we see in Chicago.

Here are some of the goals I have for the upcoming year:
1. Implement the 20% Project in my American Government classes.
2. Develop more time for my students to free-write in their classes.
3. Narrow potential topics for my eventual dissertation.
4. Reformat my online classroom management system via Haiku.

Wish me luck - See you in the comments!