Kindness grows in a classroom environment through modeling, open discussions and cultivating relationships. It is not simply taught but absorbed by students through continual exposure. It needs to be immersed in their everyday life through moments. As a Kindergarten teacher I am always looking for new ways to help children practice kindness and cultivate positive […]
Over the past 13 years, I have had the unique honor of serving as a full-time educator in elementary, middle, and high schools from “high-performing” suburban to turnaround urban, charter to non-charter, gifted to SpEd, ELL and Newcomer. In these roles I have learned from students in STEM, technology, math, language arts, science, and social […]
May 11, 2019 is the official Scratch Day and we want to celebrate by giving away our Scratch course for FREE for a limited time! So, best not to wait, go tell your friends and sign up below to receive details about this offer! If you are already a member of our community, you are […]
I came out of high school knowing two things I wanted for my life, two goals that were going to be the ‘I’ve made it’ medals. I wanted to be a teacher and a mom. That’s it. Nothing crazy or lofty. The naive goal setter I was at eighteen didn’t know making these goals a […]
Hello teaching world! About a month ago, I was shocked when I was asked to write a post for Brian to share with fellow educators through his blog. I have followed Brian for many years and he has been an inspiration to my mindset in the classroom. Now my mind was running all over the […]
By Jeff Hennigar, @MrHennigar This past December, I agreed to take part in a project that would become the most community-involved in-school project that I’ve been a part of. A colleague from Brilliant Labs, Sarah Ryan, suggested I work with her on a project in conjunction with the Neil Squire Society; an organization that works […]
I’ve known Maggie for quite sometime via social media and was grateful to get to listen to her give a wicked Ignite Talk recently in the Toronto area. She spoke from the heart about “those” kids (my use of quotations is intentional, as was her talk, in that we both aren’t fans of labels). Maggie […]
Hello, world! Happy Sunday! I’ve said it before and I’m saying it again. We are better together. We need to lift each other up, not put each other down. We need to listen to understand, not to respond. We need collaboration not competition. We are on the same team. Together we are better. Never feel […]
By: Monica Bega, @MonicaBega ¨I don’t like _____.¨ How many times do you hear that in your classroom? Chances are you hear it more often than you realize. So how do you change that response to different activities? How do you keep students engaged and learning? Through student choice and voice! You´re probably thinking that […]
By: Jessica Reed, MA,@KYgirlinAlabama When I think of how collaborative teaching has changed over the course of the last 10 years, one consistent idea for collaborative teaching is how teachers collaborate with one another. Collaboration could take place between special education teachers and general education teachers or it could look like general education teacher (cross-curriculum) […]
My name is David Jones and I am a primary school teacher in Victoria, Australia and I run a student-led coding club. I want to share with you how Minecraft has helped me change student outcomes in the club, and beyond for the better in the hope that it will motivate you, my fellow educators, […]
“It’s the game The New York Times called a ‘Sensation,’ and Cosmopolitan said ‘will be the best dollar you’ve spent.’ Heads Up! is the fun and hilarious game from Ellen DeGeneres that she plays on her show, and you can play with your friends!” (source) You know the game. You’ve played it too. Well. Why […]
![The all-new [ FREE ] BrainPad Arcade!](http://brianaspinall.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Screen-Shot-2019-04-04-at-11.15.17-AM.png)
Do you want one? I’ve giving one away to a lucky member of the BREAKER community! If you are receiving this via email, congratulations, you are already entered! If you are reading this on the blog, join our community below for your chance to win a BrainPad Arcade! (At the time of this writing, you […]
First of all, I am humbled to be writing a blog post for the one and only Brian Aspinall. Mr. Aspinall leaves me speechless with his never-ending enthusiasm for creating the best possible environments and experiences for children and educators everywhere. He sets the standard high for all of us and his passion for bettering […]
Here is an amazing example of why we need to teach coding! @GradeSlam now offers THOUGHT to SPEECH technology! Check out this video! # @GradeSlam Mind – If you can think it, you can see it. From GradeSlam: Personalized learning has never been so easy. At GradeSlam we have developed the latest and greatest in […]
By Kendall Johnson, @MsKJEdu 2011. That’s when I first created my class blog. They had been around for many years already, but I had very little knowledge about them at the time, and I certainly didn’t spend much time reading about what other teachers were doing in their classrooms. I was still very isolated back […]
Twitter is my PLN! Really! I have been active on Twitter since 2011 adding a seperate teacher account in 2013. I have presented to teachers on Twitter 101: How to Get Started with friend and fellow teacher @MrHennigar. I have always enjoyed sharing what is happening in my classroom and seeing what is happening in […]
Hello, world! We are on a mission to put more technology in kids hands, but doing so requires money. Let me introduce you to Bonfire! Think of this as a Kickstarter for clothes! We have pulled our favourite quotes from Block Breaker and are offering limited edition swag. So, join us on this adventure and […]
As most of you know – if you’re here on my blog! – I am a firm believer in educational technologies that disrupt old and outmoded ways of doing things in the classroom. Students learn in a whole bunch of different ways, and the present and future of education isn’t always well equipped to deal […]
I love twitter. As a regular user of twitter for professional development, I love meeting new start ups and people from all over the world. This week I bumped into “The Family Learning App” (@CanadaLearning) – a nifty new tool that encourages parents to engage with their children’s learning at home. As many of you […]
This is a guest post by Joe Archer. Click here to view Joe’s blog. Well… Lakewood Elementary School’s 2nd Annual Hour of Code Event has concluded, the hard work and effort was well worth it, but the learning outcomes from this event were much more inspiring and enjoyable for me watching unfold! Check out the […]
5 Stages of the Design Thinking Process Empathize: To gain an understanding of your audience and the problem to be solved. Define: Once data has been collected, clear goals should be established Ideate: Team members actively work together to generate a list of possible outcomes and solutions. Prototype: Members of the team will begin to […]
Hello World! Happy #CSEdWeek! With so many awesome activities floating around the interweb space I thought I would create my own project between travels. In this activity we will simulate different natural disasters (Earthquake, Tornado, Hurricane, etc) using Brainpad. Brainpad is a new STEAM tool on the market that I have written about here and […]
Coding is everywhere! Follow along with a girl and her dog as they explore computational thinking in their everyday activities. Colourful illustrations and easy to access text help readers recognize that many of their daily explorations – cooking, playing, and even being outdoors – provide opportunities to explore and problem solve. Readers will be entertained by the antics of the girl and her dog, and parallels can be drawn between their daily work and that of computational thinkers. A great text for anyone wanting to introduce, and learn more, about computational thinking in the world around us.