ACE It: Three Checkpoints for Better Assignments
Use Articulate, Connect, and Extend checkpoints to make student thinking visible, review assignments with SOLO Taxonomy, and plan feedback and revision.
Use Articulate, Connect, and Extend checkpoints to make student thinking visible, review assignments with SOLO Taxonomy, and plan feedback and revision.
Dr. Glenda Horner’s advice—“Don’t try to do too much”—brought back years of lessons about professional learning. Here’s how I connected her emphasis on conversation, relationships, and reflection to ACE/SOLO, and more.
Visual Challenges for Science includes 15 illustrated questions for grades six through eight. You can use them on a classroom display, let students work through them in a browser, or print the posters for discussion.
Explore the Science Learning Center (SLC). It's a new spot that will centralize a lot of exciting activities that I have planned. Totally free, CC BY SA.
Digital accessibility is a Texas sized topic with an impact on every learner. Join us live for the free presentation.
Introducing a website that may be useful to preservice/inservice, history/SS teachers in Texas
Dig into DrawSplat.org, an amazing collection of tools and solutions usable in K 12 classrooms.
Explora modismos y refranes con actividades multilingües, interactivas y listas para clase.
Discover how Expeditione turns curiosity, questions, and classroom exploration into student led learning adventures.
Gen AI, as you know, can produce polished steps faster than most of us can find the answer key. For students, this can make learning something new even trickier. Try the ACE framework.
Teachers spend enough of their own money on classrooms without paying full price when they do not have to...I put together a website with 156 teacher discount programs listed.
Looking for a way to engage students with literature? Consider PlotPoint, a literature learning, multi lingual arcade featuring 100 titles.
Explore critical thinking online breakouts (CTOBs) through the study of select Bible as Literature passages.
Explore Ancient Egypt through immersive 3D scenes, evidence, and inquiry.
Suggestions for selecting a district assessment system.
These free Lab Safety Certification activities (available in seven different languages) may give students a chance to practice those decisions before they begin laboratory work. And, as a bonus, you get five posters.
You may have read Randi Weingarten’s retreat from blending educational technology tools into student learning earlier this year.
Richardson ISD limits screen time for students.
The science CTOBs for grades 6, 7, and 8 are free, browser based activities. Each grade includes a featured breakout, a related STEM challenge, a picture word bank, Skills and TEKS support, teacher supports, and a passwo
In my previous blog entry , I wondered, "What would an instructional model look like that had the components in a classroom that couldn't rely on technology except that which had been approved by the State? More importan
Katy ISD’s AI limits raise bigger questions about access, equity, and instruction.
Students need a chance to test an idea, compare evidence, and explain why one fact matters while another one does not. That is where Critical Thinking Online Breakouts, or CTOBs, fit nicely
In today’s classroom, digital math tools can make first contact with mathematical concepts a supported first step for learners. In this blog, I share some math resources for PreKinder and Kinder that you may not be familiar with.
This morning, I'll be spending some time chatting with the hosts of Children at Risk KPFT radio program about some important questions. They were kind enough to share some of the questions ahead of time. Listen in.
Reading reverse poems is too much fun. Getting AI to craft them, well, it appeals to my sense of irony and humor. Beauty First Do not tell me We should begin With the
AI walked into Texas cla
I love what my colleague, Peggy R. did with her PEZ Dispenser blog entry. It dropped a few minutes ago and you have to check it out! Go Read the Blog Entry Now
A student leans over a printed grid with colored pencils scattered everywhere. She is trying to decide where the water cycle should go. Evaporation on the left wall? Clouds on the
I'd like to take a moment to thank Denis Wisner for his kind words in this LinkedIn post
Ever wanted a huge, gigantic link sprawled across a website when you're facilitating a class or workshop? I have. The problem is that these types of websites have disappeared. Ther
DrawSplat's Rubric Builder offers a no Gen AI way to create and print classroom rubrics from editable criteria and performance levels.
"What kind of tool do you need as a college student?" I asked my niece attending college. She replied: "I've been trying to use Quizizz to study content for my class. It's not work
Looking for a little bit more robust chart maker? Give DrawSplat Tools: Chart Studio a try:
Wish you had a FREE, multilingual, amazing Animated GIF Maker tool? I know I wish I had a great Animated GIF creator tool. Ther
One of my most popular
If you've missed this fount of ideas and info, then you are missing out! Be sure to explores Stephen's Web, and drop a few dollars
Mermaid Diagram Studio gives educators a DrawSplat workspace for writing, previewing, and copying Mermaid diagrams without juggling separate editors.
Concept Map Studio is a DrawSplat tool for creating, editing, embedding, and exporting concept maps and classroom graphic organizers.
I laugh every time I see strident objections to Gen AI. The reason is that until students understand the problem with shortcuts, they won't see the benefit of the long way to learn
There are so many amazing podcasts available to listen to these days, it's hard to keep track of them. One that I'm adding to my podcatcher is the Children At Risk one. Sure, a par
Earlier today, I had the chance to speak on radio with Owala Maima and Dr. Chris Kulesza. They asked a lot of great questions, but alas, my segment was super short for the topic (i
Given the concerns
So excited to generate these with AI in response...they were a great test of C
Here's a little story via Claude about AI in education. How much of it rings true for educators in Texas? None of the characters are real.
Someone on Mastodon asked for donkey coloring pages featuring the donkeys from the image shared.
If your campus or district collects course registrations via Google Forms, you've probably run into this problem: one person selects multiple courses, and they all land in a single
Now that I've re created some of my favorite Projects from ChatGPT and BoodleBox on Claude AI, I started poking around in the settings a bit more, stumbling on skills. I am only at
Welcome! Rather than write a unique blog entry every day for what happens a
As I get ready to attend the TCEA 2025 Conventio
Welcome to my resources page for this session. You'll find everything (slides, supporting documents, infographics) below. If you are curious about my other sessions at TCEA 2
Welcome to my resources page for this session. You'll find everything (slides, supporting documents, infographics) below. If you are curious about my other sessions at TCEA 2
Welcome to my resources page for this session. You'll find everything (slides, supporting documents, infographics) below. If you are curious about my other sessions at TCEA 2
Welcome to my resources page for this session. You'll find everything (slides, supporting documents, infographics) below. If you are curious about my other sessions at TCEA 2
[The Importance of Cursive Handwriting Over Typ
Welcome! This is an artifact created for TCEA 26 Convention and Exposition event (see info below). Want to learn how to make your own Field Notes? See you at Convention! The news
This is about the same for many who push Gen AI
The image above is an attempt to assign th
Why not retool universities into a solution that meets the needs of the American workforce? Teach humanities, logic, philosophy, and critical thinking in the morning with Gen AI li
I read this from the AI School Librarian and just had to share it and g
In This Issue: Stop lecturing at your students and start learning with them. Transitioning to active learning can be daunting, but this issue provides the exact toolkit you nee
I loved Dr. Philippa Hardman’s article on “How Your Learners \Actually\ Learn with AI
Limiting cellphone use during instructional time, and in some cases, throughout the whole school day, has improved student engagement in class and resulted in [fewer disciplinary
Do you change your mind in the face of fresh evidence? I'd like to say I do, but more often than not, it's easier to ignore new evidence than try to discard old ideas and work on a
Curious to see what ChatGPT might do with a diagram or concept map I adapted a few years ago, I submitted the original adaptation to ChatGPT:
Thanks to this referral from Stephen Downes, I learned of OpenAI's New AI Foundations Course
Focus: Making the jigsaw strategy work in practice Welcome back! I am playing with customizing instructions for generating newsletters or blogs from existing content. Lots
This piece by Matt Crosslin via Stephen Downes caught my eye: Education is ofte
A quick summary of an article on the topic; link appears at the end. VIVA Overview VIVA is a simple thinking and communication framework—Verify, Illustrate, Validate, Apply—that
How are you learning new things, or go deeper on one topic? This is the focus Zach Kinzler brings to a video he posted on LinkedIn
Dr Phillippa Hardman shares some fascinating ways
There's word going around t
I had a lot of fun writing this blog entry, Embodied Learning in a Gen AI Age
Wow, looking forward to this! I
Cued up in my podcast fee
In This Issue: Critic
In this Issue: Ex
Limited Time Offer: Ge
Studying fakes and forgeries shifts our focus "from 'Is it true?' to 'Who created this? Who bene
What a fun project this was to work on! I got to share my affinity for BoodleBox AI while developing the TCEA AI in Education Journey for Individuals. I just have to share it with
Note: I thought you might like to see this linkshare.
The AI revolution in education
At the Sun City Ed Tech Co
Dr. Michelle Kassorla sha
🤖 INTRODUCING YOUR NEW AI INSTRUCTIONAL COACH Imagine having an expert at your fingertips who knows all the highest impact teaching strategies and can help you apply them to your
Texas Library Law Bot is a custom AI assistant Miguel created to help Texas school librarians start navigating HB 900, SB 13, and related library law questions.
This study looks interesting… …educators need to prompt AI carefully and use their own professional judgement when deciding if AI outputs match their students’ needs. “The gr
Love this… Struggle, friction and mental effortare crucial to the cognitive work of [
Today, no advancement in technology (save for cell phones, which are now facing [widespread, war
When I see arguments like this one, it's so easy to think, "This is an old problem garbed in a fresh set of clothes." That is, the problem of becoming critical thinkers and learner
Someone on Facebook
HERA (Historical Evidence & Reasoning Assistant) guides students and educators through a three phase approach to historical analysis, transforming passive content consumption i
If you're a Texas educato
Students write in blue books with robot watching I found [this account of a reimagined approach
What fun to read this…against the backdrop of pushing Gen AI in K 12 for student use. When we know better, do we really do better? To help sell this policy, I presented in the fi
I wrote this back in 2022, and ran across Minetest on my computer again. So amazing! Check it out if you are looking for something similar to Minecraft.
This quote caught my eye. What do you think? "Critical thinking, long considered an academic virtue, is now a societal necessity. In the past, it may have been seen as a metaskil
This rebuttal was written by Gen AI, specifically, a Boodle Box bot (a.k.a. custom GPT) called Logic Architect. I thought it was fun
Gen AI tools are changing rapidly. I can't keep up. As one of my colleague put it, no one can. He cites Carroll's Alice in Wonderland characters
Over the weekend, David Cutler's article, ChatGPT 5 Just Changed My Mind — AI Has No Place in My Classroom
We all want our students to achieve deep, lasting understanding. But what does that journey actually look like? And how can we use technology to guide them, not just distract them?
In this Issue 1: Discover how to prepare pre service teachers for the AI enhanced classrooms of tomorrow with evidence based frameworks and practical strategies. Learn how adm
As higher education professionals, our mandate is to prepare the next generation of educators for the realities of the classroom. In an era of rapid technological change and the ri
As a teacher, your time is your most precious resource. You're constantly asked to integrate new digital tools, but you need strategies that are both effective and manageable. You
As a K 12 administrator, you've likely overseen significant investments in educational technology. But the nagging question remains: Is it making a difference? Too often, expensive
SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY OFFER: Join TCEA in celebrating the launch of our Mastery Learning Series for just $29 from now through Aug. 1, 2025! That’s less than $3 per credit hour
SOLO Taxonomy describes the complexity of student understanding, from a missing or isolated idea to connected explanations and generalization. This 2025 introduction explains its role in technology supported learning; its event offers are historical.
SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY OFFER: Join TCEA in celebrating the launch of our Mastery Learning Series for just $29 from now through Aug. 1, 2025! That’s less than $3 per credit hour
Like some of you, I read Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed
As I may have mentioned, I get to facilitate a workshop or two at an upcoming event. One of the activities I'm going to try replaces a face to face sorting activity. You can read a
Welcome to the support page for my workshop session, Lassoing AI for Learning: High Impact Strategies That Work. The session description, slide deck, game cards, and other re
Dr Susan E. Ray makes some points
Note: This is a guest blog from my friend and colleague, Judy A., sharing about her experience with BoodleBox AI. Judy is a high school writing teacher at a local school. It has
On Linked In, Zach Kinzler has had a fascinating exchange about the ethics of GenAI
While much of my experiments on the desktop with GenAI have been disappointing (Gemma3:latest is one model that works well after a pause), I have found that models like tinyllama,
A new blog entry to share on visual learning with GenAI and diagrams…here is paragraph one: Are
BoodleBox launched a new Bot, Mike. I was still a little hazy on how an individual could apply a promotional code, or a school district coul
Give students a world of knowledge offline with Kiwix, a free app for K 12 schools to access Wikipedia, textbooks, and more without internet.
Another early start to the day with the Exhibit Hall. I had the opportunity to chat with Maria Christon, representing Abilene Christian University.
Want to create your own p
Need a way to teach critical thinking and problem solving? Learn to tackle problems and make decisions. This session, through the application of the Jigsaw Method (3 step), offers
Earlier today, I had the opportunity to visit with School AI's Mike Powell, Senior Partnership Manager (mike@schoolai.com; 816 288 7958). You can listen to our conversation or view
It's not every day you run into a number line inventor, but that was the case this morning at the Education Service Center, Region 9 Conference I attended. Slide A Round Math
STEAM is always a hot topic of interest for schools. That's why I was intrigued by STEAM 4 Schools table in the Exhibit Hall at the Education Service Center, Region 9 event. There,
This reflection examines critical thinking research and experiments with visuals for thinking with Gen AI. The central question is how people can keep responsibility for reasoning while using generated suggestions.
Just going to drop this here in case anyone is interested...
There's a need for bridging the gap between potential and practical implementation for educational research. Shouldn't we be doing more of that with what we already know about how
I ran across Bill Ferriter's post on LinkedIn, quoted below, and decided it needed a response. The Problem Educators using AI are setting up a situatio
Ouch. This quote highlighted by Ben Williamson in a LinkedIn post is worth checking out: … by accepting generative models’ normative rationality, the University reframes learning
Are you ready to take your science instruction to the next level? The Science Teachers Association of Texas (STAT) and TCEA are excited to introduce a brand new course. The course
When I was in second grade, on account of learning two languages, and having a terrible teacher who didn’t teach, I failed second grade. I ended up in summer school at Ft Clayton A
Later this month, I have the opportunity to share a little about AI with faculty and staff, perhaps even students, at a Texas university. Looking over my presentation, I feel like
Transform your math and science instruction. Insert Desmos calculators and PhET simulations into Quizizz activities.
Melanie Trecek King does a great job explaining these concepts. Learn more from Melanie Trecek K
Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to watch and listen to the Carnegie Learning AI in Education webinar
Transform ELL teaching with the Prism Framework for ELLs! Boost language, align with TEKS, and empower students. In this blog entry, you will see three possible projects aligned to
In one of his missives to followers, Steve Hargadon writes something my memory assigned to
Build critical thinking skills and empower students to become savvy information detectives in our digital jungle—one SIFT step at a time. “The illiterate of the 21st century wi
In response to this blog entry I wrote...
Every student learns differently. So, then, how can educators better meet the needs of diverse learners? How can I, as an educator, leverage my awareness of teaching, pedagogy, and
I am sensing a definite backlash against AI. There are moments in my use of AI that I realize that I've eliminated AI components from the digital tools I use. Consider the followin
Discover how AI powered differentiated learning can transform your classroom with these tips and solutions. Every student learns differently. So, then, how can educators better mee
This is a piece I wrote after prepping a presentation that didn't get shared at a recent Convention. You see, we prepare a list of presentations and submit them for review. Then, s
Read this article in full from ASCD. Great stuff to ponder.
What if middle school students could analyze history as interconnected ideas, not just facts? Social Studies offers the ideal platform for critical thinking. The [PRISM Framework
Someone jokingly shared this gummy bear view of genetics:
How do education consultants leverage AI for their business? How do schools do so and is there any comparison possible or worthwhile? These questions from [Isar Meitis, CEO of mu
I really wanted to join the AI Resistance Movement when I saw this beautifully designed masterpiece. After all, who wouldn't want to be like some kind of Martin Luther, nailing
Later this month (or maybe in a month or two, I forget), I need to do an AI Smackdown. Of course, what an AI Smackdown means for me is different than what it means for someone else
Jared Cooney shares these quotes with a point that is on target: AI in Education: "A child
PRISM offers five lenses for AI literacy: notice patterns, question reasoning, develop ideas, consider the situation, and test methods. This article applies those lenses to classroom examples while keeping human judgment central.
PRISM is a structured framework designed to guide students in critical thinking and analysis. It helps learners move from basic pattern recognition to sophisticated reasoning, alig
[Listen to this con
At the start of t
At the end of Day 3 of TCEA 2025 Convention and Exposition, while walking out of the Exhibit Hall, I ran into David Mendoza from a K 12 Texas school district. We had a great co
Are you a Retrieval Practice fanatic? You may have enjoyed my session on the topic: Digital Tools for Memory and Learning
"Fantastic!" When people asked me yesterday how my day went on Day 1 of TCEA 2025 Convention
At the TCEA 2025 Convention and Exposition, I had the opportunity to attend Diana Benner's and Peggy Reimers' session on Instructional Coaching. As you probably know, a lot of folk
Miguel and Heidi Have a listen to Heidi and I as we chat
Explore some of the top digital literacy resources from TCEA's TechNotes blog, including lesson plans, strategies, and more! Discover the latest in ed tech,…
Dr. Philippa Hardman is spot on with this analysis. I suspect we are all moving very quickly from generic AI (simple included models in tools like Google Workspace and Microsoft 36
An AI's rendition of Camazotz. In Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time," Camazotz is described as a dark, seemingly ordinary planet on the surface, but it…
Note: As I mention on this page, Explore my Custom MGpts, I've been hard at work at creating ChatGPT Custom
As I mention on this page, Explore my Custom MGpts, I've been hard at work at creating ChatGPT Custom GPTs that he
Over on Linked In, Paul Matthews shared a Pedagogy Playbook
Oh, bother. Can't they get the study right? Should you whip out a notebook or a laptop to take notes? The answer is not so simple. You will want to read the whole piece: "w
Applying the PRISM Framework to a variety of concepts and situations can be fun. Here's one tha
So, if you've \\\read my other PRISM framework posts\\\, you probably realized that I relied on AI to help me create stages o
PRISM uses questions and sentence stems to scaffold thinking through Patterns, Reasoning, Ideas, Situation, and Methods. This introduction connects the routine to SOLO Taxonomy, inquiry, and productive struggle.
Discover innovative ways to foster creativity and STEM skills as your students use sustainable building sets.
Turn your classroom videos into dynamic teaching tools with this practical guide to transforming video into lessons.
On \\\reading this post\\\, I had a laugh, albeit with a bit of that feeling you get that forces a ro
PRISM Framework sentence stems for examining what you believe, prompted by a BlueSky post from Paul Richwine on writing your beliefs down.