STEM

If teachers want to use social media wisely in the classroom—either by teaching about it, or teaching with it—they’ll need to seriously think about why and how they’re doing so, and help their students do the same.

Certain buzz words and topics come and go in the arena of education. Currently, the word to know is STEM, the acronym for science, technology, engineering, and math.

Here are some apps that can get kids excited about coding from a young age.

Two years ago, my principal rolled an iPad cart into my classroom. I'd been challenged to design and implement a 1:1 iPad program that would enhance the highly structured academic curriculum already in place. I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as I set out on this technology adventure, but I quickly realized that trail-blazing wasn't all glitter and rainbows.

Anyone who is familiar with teenagers knows that when one volunteers information about their school day to his parents—it’s big. Huge. That’s thanks to the phenomenon of Pokémon Go. The day after the official launch, my soon-to-be-in-grade-nine son, Alex, unexpectedly texted me from his summer transition program because his teacher had just announced that there would be a Pokémon Go Club starting the next day. I knew we wouldn’t even have to go through the “What did you do today? / Nothing…” dinner conversation that night!

When students look at the globe and see so much blue, it seems as though there’s an abundance of water. But that's just not true.

High-speed Internet access is not universal. But teaching with it—and without—highlights the never-changing qualities of good teaching. Some students at Timothy Davis’ school live in homes that sometimes seem “primitive,” their principal says. They’re not connected to high-speed Internet.

There is a growing community of educators who have adopted Minecraft as a powerful engagement tool in mainstream subjects like math, science, social studies, and even language arts.