Thursday night I'm up late preparing the materials for tomorrows lessons, reviewing the lesson plans, tweaking all the Classcraft levels and requests, answering all emails, and now fine tuning the assignments in Google Classroom so they are accurate. I'm also trying to upload the simulations and presentations I make in...
It didn't get easier today, not by a long shot. It is already an accomplishment simply to arrive at school on time and sign in. I have never failed to do this, so that's something. My commute from home is so short that I can't complain, I don't waste time...
"Mr. Joseph, I cried this morning." Why? "I didn't want to get up and go to school." That's funny, I had a nightmare last night that I had to wake up and go to school and then I woke up and it was real. How have I been teaching for...
And then winter break was over. Adjust my wake up time by about 5 hours. The first day is complete and I have to congratulate myself just for getting through it. I gave a new unit pre-test to each of my classes... "A test on the first day? But we...
Looking at the partial solar eclipse in Los Angeles through safety glasses allowed me to see some of the Sun’s corona which I will never forget. As a classroom science teacher, I was not fully able to seize the teachable moments to the extent I envisioned. The eclipse was predicted...
Our first day of school just ended, it is quite a challenge just getting the students in, taking roll and hoping to make a positive impression. I prepared and displayed seating chart so students had a place prepared for them (unless the classes were oversized which most were). I had...
This week I spent two days at the fabulous Windward School in Los Angeles for their third Design and Maker Class Colloquium. It was great to reconnect with and/or meet awesome teachers. This event seems a bit under the radar as it's pretty small, but Windward goes all out to...
The highlight of my summer professional development was spending a week at Space Camp for Educators at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. The schedule was jam packed with great activities and lesson ideas on top of all the goose-bump inducing history on display. The best aspect...
It's so awesome to have been admitted into the Exploratorium Teacher Institute this summer. We just wrapped up the first week and it was so full of experiences and stimuli, going to try and share some of what it is about. If you've never heard of the Exploratorium, you need...
VR: Why it's important Trying to explain VR is a bit like trying to describe the taste of food- it has to be experienced. Since we know that people learn best from experiences, it follows that experiences in VR can be very educational. How that ends up happening may...
Now that my Fulbright adventure in India is over (at least physically), I'm dedicating myself to finishing out the school year strong, digging deep into the NGSS for next year, and of course awesome Professional Development during the summer. I've been invited to the Exploratorium Teacher Institute in San Francisco...
Just arrived here at Agonda beach in Goa with the goal of updating this blog (about 10 entries to do going backwards from this one), then completing the required Fulbright survey (34 questions eek!), writing the 15 page report on the Fulbright DAT experience itself (not something I want to...
Was great to see my friends in Delhi and hang out at another Manzil class. This picture was from months ago when it was actually cold enough in the morning in Delhi that I had a wool scarf for the motorcycle tour. And warm chai is extra awesome when it's...
Was invited to a home cooked meal by Rashmi Ashtikar , who teaches at Bal Bharati Public School in New Delhi. She was a Fulbright Teacher Exchange participant in 2010 and spent six months working at Richfield High School in Minnesota. She invited me to her house for dinner and...