All Episodes

Helping students to build communication skills whether in person, hybrid or virtual learning. Methods and tools to promote SEL and build classroom community.

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Check out some tools like Gimkit, Whiteboard Chat, Padlet and more for interactive, anywhere learning! 

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Check out @Buncee Tract Learning, @WeVideo and @Flipgrid for some great ways to build community and SEL! 

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Summer learning continues with virtual events. Thinking about the new school year, here are five (or so) ideas to explore for back to school. Focus on SEL and building relationships and preparing for the future.

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Don’t miss out on the Campfire Convos Voxer group led by Sean Gaillard @SMgaillard and & @LainieRowell. Join in the Changemaker 2021 conference from July 14-28. Sunday nights with #BookCampPD via Meredith Johnson and a book study focus each month!…

Did you attend ISTE Live? Have you been to the Model Schools Conference? Hear about some of the focus areas of these events. 

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Check out some summer reads, what is on  your to be read list? I just finished Culturally Responsive Teaching, Discomfort By Design and I am re-reading True Story Lessons That One Kid Taught Us.  I shared a list of books to explore, some learning…

Are you taking a break? Focusing on self-care? Or looking for PD?  You can find that in our ThriveinEDU community and our weekly shows!  What are you working on this summer? 

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There is a need for students to learn more about computer science. Check out some resources to learn to code and have some fun trying them out this summer.  Blackbird Code, Code.org, Hopscotch, Girls Who Code, Rex Academy, 

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This episode is…

Learning or taking a break this summer?  We can do both. Decide what is best for you and find something that works with your time and finding balance. Rely on your PLN, join the communities in ISTE, Microsoft, ambassador programs, read a book, check…

Some ideas of ways to take a break and learn at the same time

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Explore ISTE, ThriveinEDU Community, Mandy Froehlich blog 

Ideas for boosting student engagement, benefits, tools to promote SEL

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Need some new ideas? Explore these using Edpuzzle, Screencastify, Game based learning tools, Buncee and Wakelet.  Learn more in the episode!
 Also check out my books!  All for special prices, great educator and student stories and quotes!

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Everyone needs to focus on self-care, even a 5 minute break! Here are a few ideas to explore. Maybe an activity, a group, some music or an app like JabuMind.  Whatever works for you to help with being intentional about taking the breaks we need. 

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Ideas for promoting home to school connections and family engagement.

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Check out Spaces EDU for digital portfolios and more! 

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How to prepare for another shift? Here are some ideas and thinks to consider. 

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The importance of knowing how to pronounce names. Have you ever had your name mispronounced? Or have you mispronounced someone else’s name? Why pronunciation matters.

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Benefits of digital portfolios and some tools for having students create them. @Buncee @Kidblog @Padlet @Spaces_EDU
Join in my ThriveinEDU Clubhouse conversations to share ideas.
Books bit.ly/pothbooks

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Looking for an AI course to try with your students? Or for yourself? Explore the options through AI World School. Learn more here and reach out if you have any questions. 

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Tools for anywhere learning, some students to use to create with, some for more active learning and more. A few: Canva, PearDeck, Screencastify. Tune in! 

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Are you on Clubhouse? Need an invite?  Here are some of the things that I learned this past week on Clubhouse. Join in my rooms on Saturdays and Sundays, also Monday and Wednesday nights.

Want to bring some AI into your classroom? Here are some ways to get started. Join me on Clubhouse for more discussions about AI and other emerging technologies! 
Check out Google AI Experiments, AI World School

Increase in use of AI in the world and in our classrooms. What are resources to explore and how can we get started? Check out Quick Draw, Auto Draw, Teachable Machine, and Will Robots Take My Job

Here are some hacks and 5 tools to explore!  Hope to see you on Clubhouse, join in my rooms on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. 

A few weeks in, Clubhouse has become a favorite space to connect and learn. Join in my rooms on Saturdays and Sundays and twice during the week, for ThriveinEDU chat.
 In this episode, I share some ideas from educators who joined in. Tools to check…

Have you heard about Clubhouse?  It is an iOs app and it has been a hot topic over the past few weeks. Learn what it is and how to get started! 

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This episode is sponsored by
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Wondering how to become more connected? Looking for a space to become part of a PLN? Here are some ideas. Also recommend joining my FB Thrive in EDU group https://www.facebook.com/groups/THRIVEinEDU 
Check out some chats: FormativeChat, PLN365,…

Hybrid teaching is not easy and some days I feel like I could have done so much better.  I’ve decided to try some new ideas, break from the traditional methods and explore different tools that can help to connect us more in learning.

What if we go back to school the way it was from 2 years ago? What would you want that to look like? What would you take from the hybrid and virtual experience? Sharing my idea for Wednesdays.

There are lots of things to look forward to but also some challenges, struggles, that we are all processing. Here are some ideas to start with! Buncee, Blooket, Jamboard, Wakelet, Zigazoo

What are your takeaways? The wins? The positives you found this year?

Looking back over 2020 and what we have learned about our work as educators. What challenges have we faced as we transition through in-person, to virtual to hybrid? What worries you about your work? Sharing my experiences and what I have learned this…

Tools that are beneficial regardless of where learning is taking place. Check out Buncee, Formative, Nearpod, Blooket, Bingo Baker, Gimkit, Quizizz, Quizlet Live! 

There are definitely challenges when it comes to hybrid teaching and I’ve been working through a few. However, there are a lot of positives too. Being able to see  some of the students and work together has been a definite plus!

What are the challenges, benefits, frustrations of what we are experiencing as educators and students?  Some of my experiences and ideas/hacks for making it work! 

Check out the Teacher Wellness posts from Edutopia
 Definitely recommend the app JabuMind!  Check it out today, more to come about JabuMind!

I learned about Zigazoo a few weeks ago and have had fun exploring the videos created by kids! Zigazoo looks and feels like popular social media tools such as Instagram and TikTok, which means  that students feel more comfortable with the user…

Ideas for meeting SEL needs virtually.

Ideas for promoting collaboration whether in the classroom or virtually. Check out some of the tools mentioned.  Also join my ThriveinEDU Facebook Community! 

Ideas for storytelling in the digital age. 

Navigating the fake news, building digcit skills
Check out Flipgrid/Wonderopolis
Adobe Photoshop: https://landing.adobe.com/en/na/products/creative-cloud/69308-real-or-photoshop/index.html
Fake or photo: https://area.autodesk.com/fakeorfoto

Looking for new ideas or versatile tools to have students create and explore? Check out this episode and also, join my ThriveinEDU Facebook community!  

PBL, collaboration, giving feedback and more! Wonderopolis, Thrively, Padlet, Wakelet, Trello, Anchor, Synth and Flipgrid

What are your challenges your successes your experiences in these first few weeks of the new school year? Here are some of mine and how I’m working on them

How is your experience?

Why do we need mentors? Self-care and wellness, provide more for our students

Preparing for the start of the year, 

10 ideas to find balance, or do something each day for self-care

Navigating in the Digital World: Creating our Space for this School Year
ChartYourNewCourse

Ideas to help us reflect, for our students to become more reflective and build SEL skills. PBL and more!

Ideas for starting the year, things I have learned about the value of sharing our story, and the power of connecting as we embrace the unknown this school year.

Please join in my weekly show on Learning Revolution.com under SHOWS, ThriveinEDU on Wednesdays at 4pm Eastern. I have a different guest or guests each week. The show is live and is also recorded. Upcoming Tisha Richmond, LaVonna Roth, Justin Aglio,…

Join in my weekly show on LearningRevolution.com.  A recent guest was my good friend, Jennifer Casa-Todd. We discussed the importance of digcit and empowering students as digital leaders. Check out her book Social LEADia and her upcoming book!.

Here…

Ideas for focusing on preparing for the unknown. 
 Also to join in my weekly show on www.learningrevolution.com on Wednesdays, 4:00 pm EST   A different guest and topic each week!

What are some things that we can work on now, that will benefit us in  the new school year, regardless of where learning takes place

What have we learned and what can we do better?  Planning for the Unknown

Take time to breathe, focus on  what is most important: Relationships

Make time to ask students for feedback and use their input  to  guide your next steps for summer learning and planning  ahead. 

Reflecting on lessons learned and plans  moving forward, focused on discussion after my recent blog post.  Getting Through

Finding the words to say and the actions to take can be a challenge, I’m working through and making sure I connect, looking to learn and grow.

5 fun  tools to create with AR/VR 

Reflections on progress, plans for the future, new ideas and fun activities

Check out the  EALA: Educating All Learners Alliance, a project focused on providing resources and  support for special education.

Check in on family and friends, make sure your students are doing okay. Every moment matters. 

Sharing ideas and considerations for wellness and helping each other during the pandemic and every day.

Explore unconventional ideas and how to bring  about positive changes in our classrooms, remotely and in person. Check out my book Unconventional Ways to Thrive in EDU.

What do you think needs to happen? What will our schools look like? Inspired by NPR article and my own thoughts.

Some thoughts  about school, classes, precautions, and things  to consider now as we prepare for our return to the classroom. 
Great article that I read earlier: NPR 9 things

Ideas

Innovation does not mean technology. Take some risks, try something new, ideas for students and families. 

Think about best ways to communicate, focus on transitions that may happen fast, as our closures did. Prepare for the return to school by taking some opportunities to try new ways to foster communication.

How can we find balance now? What should we do? Stay connected, make time for you, take breaks. Just some ideas for how to plan days and find some balance during this uncertain and chaotic time. 

Why we need to focus on connecting and how. 
I use Zoom and this is how I set it up and  why I am glad that I did. 

Looking  for tools for learning, here are ideas that families can enjoy too. Try Gimkit, Kahoot!, Quizizz, for games or Buncee and Flipgrid for storytelling, or explore with Nearpod for VR. 
Also look at explore.org for live cams around the  world,…

Just some thoughts to share about things to consider, what has worked, tips, and hopefully some ideas to try.

Chats, Audio, Video and Meetings
Bachchannel chat, Anchor, GoSynth, Padlet, Buncee, Zoom,  Google Meet, Google Hangouts

Pace yourself, we are all learning and adjusting. 
Find a tool like Buncee, where you can create a video, link resources, teach a lesson, have students create.  Use Nearpod for interactive lessons and Virtual Reality, have meetings using Zoom, Teams,…

Some ways to foster connections during remote learning. Access is important, make sure families and students have access to information and resources. Next, how will you communicate? We still need to have social interactions, leverage the technology…

Ideas to immerse students more in learning, global collaborations and explorations. 
See Buncee, Nearpod. Flipgrid, CoSpaces EDU, Merge EDU, Google Expeditions, Mystery Skype

Continuation from prior episode, with advice from students. Be creative. Be supportive.  Make connections. Take risks with learning. Encourage and Inspire. 

Reflect on your experience. Share your story, lean in and listen more and see the student, not the behavior. I recommend reading the book Lost at School. 

Share your story: Podcast, Blog, Periscope. Start with one and use it as a way to reflect and share your ideas. Your story needs to be told.

Some ideas for learning and growing with your PLN

Carl Hooker and Adam Phyall Session
Jaime Donally AR/VR
Claudio Zavala, Amy Storer, Brian Romero Smith and Marialice Curran – Creativity is my Jam
Laura Steinbrink – Train like a NAVY SEAL
Lori Gracey – The Future is Now (great title, like my book!)…

The BETT experience, part II: The Space, Technology and the People

An amazing opportunity to be with Buncee  at BETT in London.  Being able to share the possibilities for creating with Buncee and how Microsoft’s Immersive reader benefits learners  was an absolute honor. 

Here are some favorites: Buncee, Gimkit, Nearpod, Wakelet, Synth, Anchor, Voxer

Some of my takeaways from FETC  and conferences in general. 

How to share our experiences, learn and grow together

Follow up to a conversation. Importance of being a risk-taker, connecting, not being afraid to ask for help

Five ways that I find time for personal and professional  development.

Do you make resolutions? I think more about goals, being intentional about  changes I would like to make and reflecting. Relentless pursuit of growth.

Ideas for the new year after time to relax  and recharge. Focus on relationships, family engagement, learning spaces and more.

We had a Tweet and Talk (EduMatch) last night, and the discussion was the 2nd part of a talk on the future of education and work. A great panel and so I wanted to share what we discussed and some of my own thoughts for this episode.

Check out code.org and look to twitter for the #hourofcode hashtag!

Check out the Hour of Code and Code.org site
Also try Code Academy, Hopscotch, Brain Pop, MIT Scratch, Girls Who Code, Khan Academy

How we made more powerful connections during PBL: Edmodo, Flipgrid, Padlet, Synth, Buncee and Nearpod

I learned that I was not truly doing authentic PBL in my classes. Here are some resources and ways to provide a better and more authentic experience for students. 

Some ideas for creating more personalized learning experiences for students. Examples PBL, Blended Learning and  Station Rotations. 

Five ways to build collaborative skills in the Classroom,

SEL, check out the Casel.org site for information and materials for use in your classroom.

Here are five ways that I have tried to create more active learning in my classroom.