Teaching with Technology

Using educational technology to enhance the learning environment and increase student engagement!

Hacking Educational Technology: Tools and Strategies to Engage Students in Learning

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Hello, friends! I’m coming to you during my last full week of teaching face-to-face summer classes, and the beach is calling my name! I’m coming for you, Gulf of Mexico! It’s time to officially share some super exciting news with you – I’m writing a book!! My new book will be published by EdTechTeam in 2018 and will focus on how teachers can use educational technology tools to enhance and transform the learning environment to engage students! I am incredibly excited to get started and am asking for your help!

Before I dive into writing my book, I wanted to check with you about some of the content and direction for my book. Basically, what do you want to learn?

The results of this survey have been so fantastic (if you haven’t completed it, please take a second and do so!) and have really helped me shape the basis for my book.

In addition to tools and strategies concerning QR Codes, Augmented Reality, and Game-Based Learning (plus much more!), I’ll also be including specifics on using GSuite for Education. Since Google has basically taken over the field of technology in education, I would be remiss if I excluded these great tools! I’d really love your input on the direction I take my section on Google tools. I don’t plan to focus on specific tutorials of how to use Google Docs, Drive, etc., because that information is already “out there.” I’ll be diving deeper into how these tools can be used in various transformative ways in the classroom! Tell me what you think by completing this quick survey!

I am PUMPED to share more information with you about transforming your classroom using educational technology tools, and I would love any feedback you can provide! My goal is to write this book as a “go-to” handbook for teachers that provides great tools, useful and practical implementation ideas, as well as additional digital resources to help you continue to learn more about creating an awesome learning environment for your students!

Be sure to join this mailing list to be among the first to receive updates, sneak peeks, and freebies from my new book!

As always, thanks for reading 🙂

 

Sutori + Nearpod = Awesome!

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One of the many great things about teaching dual credit classes during summer school is that all of my students are extremely excited to learn! Classroom management is a breeze with these classes … we’re talking 100% engagement all the time (unless we get off track – which we sometimes do) One of the not-so-awesome parts about teaching summer school is dealing with the roof maintenance … directly over my classroom … during the entire day. Yes, I know. I’m complaining a bit, but it’s difficult to lecture when loud thuds and banging noises are coming from my ceiling and causing my projector to shake. Thank goodness for Nearpod and Sutori!

One of the MANY perks of Nearpod is that it helps me be more mobile in the classroom during lectures and other activities. I can use my phone or iPad to advance the presentation and insert formative assessment questions during the lecture. It’s fabulous! Check out a few more of my favorite Nearpod features here.

Sutori (formerly HSTRY) is a great tool students can use to create interactive timelines. These timelines can include images, videos, text, quizzes, and other great features which can transform a dull presentation into fabulous displays. Teachers can also create groups with Sutori and invite students to these groups with a code. When students have joined the group, teachers can view their project progress.

Neat, right?!

So, how does Nearpod work with Sutori to ease the burden of roof maintenance, you ask?

My students recently completed a Roman Emperor timeline project using Sutori and were about to present their timelines to the class. We realized quickly that day, that we were just not going to be able to hold class in my classroom. How, would we present?

I created a new Nearpod lesson and, since all of my students were in a group on Sutori, I quickly copied and pasted the link to their timeline into my Nearpod lesson. WHAAT?! All of my students were able to view their classmates’ timelines on their computer! No whiteboard needed!

Now, since I added the presentations as websites in my Nearpod lesson, I had my students copy and paste the link from the presentation popup into a new tab (this was not totally necessary, but prevents the issue of losing the page if the tab closes).

Could I have used Google Classroom to share the timelines? Sure. Could I have used Google Docs to accomplish this task? You bet.

However, Nearpod and Sutori worked perfectly together!

I’ve had my students use Nearpod previously to present Google Presentations … and it was fabulous! They loved being able to add interactive elements to their presentations and control what their classmates saw on their screens. However, having students create teacher accounts – especially free accounts that limited their access to features – required them to jump through hurdles, like including a description of their presentation and the appropriate grade levels for their work, was not ideal. I hope Nearpod creates a student account option in the future – how awesome would that be?!

How do you use Sutori?

Thanks for reading 🙂

Reflections from my flipped, blended, and gamified classroom – 2017

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It’s summer!! Kind of 🙂 Welcome my year-end reflections from my flipped, blended, and gamified classroom!

The 2016-2017 school year was kind of transformative for me as a teacher. This was my ninth year teaching, and I felt like I really embraced who I want to be as a teacher – a quirky blend of Professor Dumbledore, Mr. Feeny, and Ms. Frizzle. I want to be a positive role model for my students while encouraging and inspiring them to become the awesome humans they are meant to be! I embraced the craziness of “Petty Wap,” my Government concept-rapping alter-ego. I tried more new strategies in my classroom to make it a more engaging learning environment. I let go of the reins a little bit (little by little, friends) and let me students take more control of their learning. All in all, it was a great year!

Now, to the reflection from specific aspects of my classroom:

My In-Class Flip
I decided to flip my classroom a few years ago, and tried the “traditional” flip at first. My goal was to free up face-to-face time for more activities that allowed my students to apply their knowledge of content in new ways. However, the lack of reliable Internet access in my area had the real potential to help create a classroom of “haves” and “have nots,” and that was DEFINITELY not the path I wanted to take. So, I adopted an in-class flip version of flipped learning. My students view instructional videos as an opening activity 2-3 times per week, and use that information in their class activities. We do TONS of formative assessment in my classroom for many reasons, namely because I don’t feel like assessment should ever be a surprise. Great tools like EDpuzzle, Kahoot, Quizizz, and Quizlet Live make formative assessment efficient and fun! This year, we tried a unit-long HyperDoc for our last section, and my students really liked it! They loved being able to work at their own pace … which freaked me out a tad, I won’t lie! However, it was a positive experience AND test scores were up from last year. I surveyed my students to see their response, and it was OVERWHELMINGLY positive!

Mission: American Government 
My students LOVE the gamified component of my class! When I heard about Gamification a few years ago, I was struck with two main reactions – 1. this is too much work, and 2. I have no idea about gamification concepts. Fortunately, I put my doubt away and jumped on the bandwagon! I shared earlier this month that I completely dropped the ball when it came to awarding badges for tests … total teacher fail! However, my students seemed to be more concerned with how much XP they had earned and what level they were on. This tells me, the “gamification” of their coursework was a motivator! I LOVE it!

My Blended Dual Credit Classes 
In addition to my flipped Government classes, I also teach a variety of dual credit classes. My goal with these classes is to create a blended environment in which course information is delivered in an engaging and inclusive learning environment. Discussion boards are HUGE in my dual credit classes … I love assigning and reading discussion boards, because I get to “hear” each voice in my classroom. It’s fantastic! Great tools like Nearpod, Google Earth, Schoology, Google Classroom, and other features of GSuite for Education make my blended learning environment awesome!

Next Year …
I tweeted a few days ago that I’m beginning to develop a vision for my classroom next year. I’m thinking of using a Google Site to house all of my unit HyperDocs as well as a jumping off point for our year-long passion project. Just typing these rough thoughts about next year is making me so excited to get started!!!

While this year may have been great, I never want to stop getting better. I hope I’m never “done” with making changes and improvements in my classroom. I just want to keep GOING!

Thanks for reading 🙂

5 Great Augmented Reality Apps for the Classroom – Guest Post

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Hello, friends! I’m extremely interested in leveraging the power of Augmented Reality in the classroom, after learning about it at RCET earlier this year. I hope you enjoy this guest post about great Augmented Reality apps for your classroom by Steven Wesley!

Technology is predominant in every aspect of our lives. Can you imagine living without the TV, computer, tablet, smartphone, eReader, and all other devices you own? Can you imagine our children’s future without technology?

Some teachers think that technology is harmful to the development of their students. They believe it leads to an unhealthy addiction. That might be true if you don’t control the way your students use it. However, technology can also become a blessing under proper guidance. When it’s in the hands of a good teacher, it will make the lessons way more appealing, and it will contribute towards the development of tech-savvy generations.

You might be wondering: how does a teacher implement technology in the classroom? You need the right tools and apps, so they will encourage your students to learn more. One of the most amusing types of technology to introduce in the educational process is augmented reality. In the simplest explanation, this technology integrates digital information with the real environment, in real time.

Augmented Reality – the Right Type of Technology for the Classroom

There is a difference between virtual and augmented reality. Virtual reality creates a completely new, artificial environment. Augmented technology, on the other hand, places overlays of new information on top of the existing environment. Just think of the extreme hit Pokemon Go and everything will be clear.

This technology is great for the classroom because it’s fun, but also because it doesn’t cost a lot of money. There’s no need for investing in expensive glasses and special projectors. All you need is a tablet or smartphone, which you’re already using for educational purposes.                          

It’s even better if each student in your class has a tablet or smartphone. If not, you can introduce augmented reality through your device. Of course, you need an app to make that possible.

Let’s take a look at how 5 following augmented reality apps perform in the classroom:

Elements 4D

Chemistry becomes more fun than ever thanks to these beautifully designed wooden blocks that show the elements, and an app that adds a layer of new information on them. Each face of each block introduces a different chemical symbol. When you install the app and point the device at the block, you’ll see more information about the element.

That’s fun, but it’s not all. The app lets you combine two elements, so you can turn this into a game. The students can throw the blocks, and you’ll point the device at them to see what happens. If nothing happens, the students will realize that those two elements don’t combine in nature. When they do combine, however, the app will bring the elements to life and show a reaction that’s magical, but too dangerous to do in the school lab.

Arloon Geometry

Every educator understands why geometry is hard to teach: you’re usually drawing 3D shapes on a two-dimensional surface, such as the whiteboard or a piece of paper. Thus, it’s difficult for the students to form a realistic image of all those shapes. You do have plastic models for some forms, but they are too limited.

Arloon Geometry solves that issue. Alicia Glover, a tutor at BestDissertation.com, explains how this technology helped her students understand geometrical figures: “The app shows the shape from all sides. It’s just comes to life and the student forms an adequate spatial vision. The best part? Calculations! Arloon makes it really easy to show how the students should calculate volumes and areas of different shapes.” 

Augment

This app does exactly what you need: it’s a bridge between the physical and virtual worlds. It’s great for presenting complex concepts in a visually intriguing way. You can create interactive handouts that your students can scan with the app. They will immediately see a supplementary learning model that looks realistic through the screen.

Professor Mauro Figueiredo from the Universidade do Algarve (Portugal) introduced the app in the educational process, so that the students can turn their 2D drawings into 3D models. This experience proves that augmented reality is attractive not only for children, but for university students as well. This technology can improve the overall educational system.

Google Sky Map

If your students have troubles imagining geometrical shapes, then think: how hard is it for them to imagine the Universe? They look at the stars and don’t understand what they see. With this augmented reality app, you can share the sky with the students. You can organize an entire field trip around that activity.

All you need is an Android device with this app. Point it at the sky and you’ll identify planets, stars, nebulae, and other awesome things.

Aurasma

Aurasma is a classic augmented reality app. You point the device at a usual object, image, or a physical location, and the app brings it to life with 3D scenes, videos, and animations. For example, you can tag a specific page of the textbook and give hints to your students, so they will find it. Then, they will use the layer of information you added.

Ann Eliot, a teacher who tried different augmented reality apps in her classroom, says Aurasma delivered the best experience. She found an interesting way to introduce this technology in the classroom: “For instance, I had each student pick a character from Shakespeare’s plays and bring in a poster describing that character. They also created an aura featuring video of a friend interviewing them as their chosen character. The posters then triggered these auras for the class to watch. My students went above and beyond with their character research to create a video their classmates would enjoy.”

Do you see how inspiring technology can be? Augmented reality, in particular, has tons of potential in education. Teachers can use it to bring complex concepts to life and trigger the interest of visual learners. Hopefully, you’ll try some of the suggested apps to see how that works.

About Steven Wesley … 

Steven Wesley is an ESL teacher, ed tech enthusiast, and education blogger. He is interested in educational, technological and political issues and believes in the mighty power of the pen to change the modern world. Follow him on Twitter.

I’d love to hear how you use Augmented Reality in your classroom!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Gamification – Confessions

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I. Am. DRAGGING. Please tell me I’m not the only teacher who feels like they’re in the last tenth of a mile in a 5k? You, know … when you’re running and you just have to hit that goal and you won’t stop to walk or take a breath because that’d be cheating? Yup, that’s where I am in the year. We’re reviewing for EOC testing which I, like basically every other teacher who has taught EVER, hates with a fiery passion. It’s not that I hate assessments … I actually like assessing my students, and do so frequently. I want to improve my instruction. I want to know what they know and what they need to work on. However, I just hate the idea of assessing all of my students exactly the same way in a high-stakes environment. Boo.

Ok … enough griping and complaining for today! As I’ve shared before, I gamify my American Government classes. I experimented with gamification two years ago at this time in the school year because I was looking for a way to encourage and motivate them to finish the last tenth of a mile of their 5k, I mean school year 🙂

I had ZERO experience with gaming and concepts of gaming, unless you count Super Mario Brothers in the 90s …THAT was a video game, my friends! To supplement my lack of knowledge, I turned to my wonderful PLN via Twitter.

Last school year, I figured out my XP and badging system and how they were related … and how they weren’t. This year, I added more levels to the “game” and became much more generous with XP. The result? The students loved it!

However, I dropped the ball BIG TIME when it came to awarding badges for students who scored at least an 80% on the unit assessment on their first attempt. Like, I really think I’ve passed out two badges this year, and we’ve had a few more than two assessments. I will DEFINITELY pass out the badges for students before the end of the year, because I think that’s a big deal. I’m also thinking of having them post their badges on a leaderboard … more to come on that soon.

So … how have my students responded to their teachers’ badging blunder? They haven’t said A THING! They just want to know how much XP they have and when they’re going to level up! I have two students who are competing to see who can reach the final level first…it’s fabulous!

After EOCs are finished, I will award students who score Proficient or Advanced on the test the “Master” badge, indicating that they’ve “mastered” the game.

Check out my gamification plan and mhere.

Do you gamify your classroom? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading 🙂

3 Reasons Why You Need A Learning Management System

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*This is a sponsored post which means I was compensated to share these ideas with you. Thanks to itslearning for this opportunity!*

The implementation of educational technology tools has made my life as a teacher SO MUCH easier. When I think back to the beginning of my teaching career … which was only 9 years ago … I remember with disgust the many nights of lugging piles of tests and worksheets home to grade, randomly spilling coffee on papers, making math mistakes on scores, and misplacing work before it was entered in my gradebook. These problems are remedied by using a Learning Management System, like itslearning, along with Google Classroom, to assign, collect, and grade student work!

Below are my top three reasons that teachers need to utilize a Learning Management System:

Access assignments anywhere

Students AND teachers alike can benefit from being able to access assignments and activities anywhere. How often did you forget your homework in your desk or locker and begin to panic when you couldn’t complete your homework? As a student, I did this more times than I care to remember or admit … this becomes a non-issue with the use of technology and learning management systems! When we introduced Chromebooks in my building, one of the biggest praises students had for our 1:1 program was that they loved having access to everything they needed for their assignments on their Chromebooks. Learning Management Systems allow teachers and students to quickly access everything they need from virtually anywhere!

Provide quick and effective feedback

Kiss grading by hand GOODBYE! Learning Management Systems allow teachers to provide quick and effective feedback on assignments and assessments. Learning Management Systems not only allow teachers to quickly grade objective questions, but also provide teachers with the opportunity to quickly view and comment on each written or constructed response question. Learning Management Systems allow students to view their scores much quicker than waiting for their teacher to grade by hand which, if you’re like me, might take a while!!!!

Encourage all students to contribute to discussions

One of my favorite features of Learning Management Systems is the discussion board/forum option. I love being able to assign a thought-provoking questions and hear the thoughts of ALL of my students in this online environment. We’ve all had those classes where one or a few strong voices seems to dominate the discussion on every single topic. Whether the contribution is relevant or off topic, the fact that it dominates other students in the class is typically not what teachers are looking for. We want to hear the perspective of all of our students. We want to encourage them and make sure they know their opinion is valued. Online discussion boards can help! Require students to submit a specific number of comments and/or replies to ensure that all students are participating!

Learning Management Systems are great additions to your classroom. Give them a try!

Thanks for reading!

Economic Theories Mini HyperDoc

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We’re in EOC review season, folks! My least favorite time of the year! I’m quite sure that my students despise this time as well … not as much as their dear teacher … so I’m doing my best to jazz it up as much as possible. As I was planning out our review days, I was struggling to come up with a quick, effective way to teach economic systems. I typically teach economic systems toward the beginning of the course, but with the presidential election – it’s kind of a big deal, so I adjusted my schedule – it was pushed off to the end this year. Hopefully, this will help the info “stick” better for my students! I had planned to basically lecture – which I don’t do in my flipped Government class – to cover the economic systems quickly. I was mad at myself that I had allowed that to *almost* happen. So, last night at about 9:10 … I’m typically in bed by 9 … I thought to myself, “self, why don’t you make a HyperDoc for this lesson?”

Cha-ching! That’s exactly what I did. I grabbed my iPad, opened up my eBook version of The HyperDoc Handbook (affiliate), and flipped to the sample lesson templates. As I typically do when I create a HyperDoc, I smash together a few different templates and add or take out sections, I made my mini, or single lesson, HyperDoc using four basic parts: Explore, Explain, Apply, and Extend.

I probably could have added Reflect to that mix because of what my students did at the end of Apply… in fact, I’ll do that!

Check out my Economic Theories HyperDoc here, and feel free to use it in your classroom!

I typically create instructional videos for the Explain section, but since I was ready for bed, I opted for a different Explain section – a great, concise article that would give my students the information they needed. I considered creating an instructional video without embedding the video of me talking, but decided against it. When I assigned this to my students today, I told them about almost making a video without me in it to see what they thought about it. Their response was overwhelmingly against such a video! Message received, students 🙂

Have you jumped on the HyperDoc train, yet?

Thanks for reading 🙂

I Made A HyperDoc for an Entire Unit – What My Students Had to Say

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Do you ever read a book or article or blog post that really clicks? Like really clicks … and you start thinking, why did I not do this sooner? This is how I felt when I read The HyperDoc Handbook! I’ve been teaching in a 1:1 environment for almost 4 years, and feel as though, even though I’ve made great changes in my instruction, I’ve been lacking in changing the way my units are presented. The HyperDoc Handbook was EXACTLY the book I needed to make this leap!

I’ve gushed about HyperDocs before and have also shared HyperDocs that I’ve made for my students. However, I’ve been a tad skeptical about creating and using a HyperDoc for an entire unit. As I was originally inhaling The HyperDoc Handbook – the term inhaling is quite accurate given the way I read the book! – I continually thoughts about how this method for packaging and distributing assignments would work so well in my flipped classroom and would even help push my classroom to more of a flipped mastery learning environment. Well, friends, I took the plunge!

The result?

My students liked it! They really liked it! How do I know this? I actually surveyed my students.

This is not the first time I’ve asked my students for their feedback on a lesson, assignment, activity, etc., but this is the first time I’ve done so through a Google Form that could actually provide me with, you know, actual physical data 🙂

Here’s the Form I sent to my students … notice I didn’t ask for their name or their class period. I wanted my students to feel totally free to share their opinions with me 🙂

 

And … here’s the pie chart of the data. I’d say it was successful!

Only 2 of my 51 students said they didn’t like the HyperDoc format of this unit and wanted to go back to me assigning videos and assignments daily. Their reasoning was that they felt that they had too much freedom and, instead of working at a good pace, they procrastinated way too much.

After reviewing the data from all of my classes, I asked my students the next day if setting specific due dates for items in their HyperDoc (something I’m planning for next year) would be a good change, and I was almost blown out of my classroom with their resounding, “yes!”

Duly noted, students 🙂

On another note … my students were genuinely shocked that I asked them to share their opinion anonymously. I explained that the HyperDoc was something new that I wanted to try out and I wanted their honest feedback about it. The fact that they were surprised that I actually solicited feedback is sad! We should want feedback from our students! I’ll definitely make a point to ask for feedback from my classes on a regular basis in the future!

Next year, I plan to create a HyperDoc for each of my units and house them on a Google Site. As students finish their unit HyperDocs, they’ll be able to work continually on a year-long passion project (I’m working on a fun name for the project!). I mentioned this idea to my students and their response was overwhelmingly positive, with some even complaining that we weren’t going to start it this year!

Share your HyperDoc experiences in the comments!

Thanks for reading 🙂

 

 

Booksnaps from Ditch That Textbook

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Is it just me, or does anyone else feel as though they’re being tugged in a ton of different directions at the end of the year? I’m ready for summer. I’m not as motivated as I was at the beginning of the year. I’m not ready for the end of the year because I’ve made great relationships with my students. I’m not ready for the end of the year because I feel like I still have so much to teach. I’m not ready for the end of the year because I HATE standardized testing season and all that comes with it with a fiery passion. I’m tired. I’ve learned about so many new and awesome tools and strategies that I want to use them all right now. Am I doing anything right? If this sounds like you, then you need to start Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller right NOW and learn how to make booksnaps as you read it. Seriously – they’re FUN and serve as a great active reading tool 🙂

I’m going to be really honest … I didn’t read Ditch That Textbook as soon as I should have because I didn’t think the book was for me. There. I confessed. Sorry. And I really am SORRY that I didn’t read this book the second it came out! Why didn’t I think this book was for me? I only read the title … Ditch That Textbook … I already ditched my textbook. Why did I need to read this book?

IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT DITCHING A TEXTBOOK!! It’s about getting rid of the rigid, neat rows of desks, teacher at the chalkboard, sage on the stage school environment. I can’t even classify the environment I just described as a “learning” environment because is that really what we’re establishing when we create a classroom this way? It’s about freeing your classroom from “traditional” teaching strategies! Ditch That Textbook encourages teachers to jump out there and do something awesome for your students. I can’t tell you how many “ah-ha” moments I had when I was reading Ditch That Textbook (affiliate). I felt challenged and validated and encouraged and excited at the same time. I was a lean-mean highlighting machine! Then I thought, “hey Bethany! Why don’t you make some booksnaps for this fantastic book and share your thoughts visually with the world?”

Friends, that’s exactly what I did!

Check out my booksnaps from Ditch That Textbook and take my advice! Read this book! It will encourage you not to just get through the final weeks of school, but to continue to strive to build the best learning environment for your students! In addition to the many “ah-ha” moments I had about creating awesomeness for my students, I also had lots of “ah-ha” teacher moments. Especially when Matt talks about wanting to do it all – yep, that hit home!

Here come the booksnaps!

Is this what panics teachers most about integrating technology?


Oh my goodness … blogging is amazing! Reflect! Share! Just do it!

Have fun with your content! Break out of your comfort zone! Your students will most likely thank you for it!! Shed your shame, people!

OWN your PD! You can find awesome PD and build amazing relationships!! Jump on Twitter or Pinterest or Facebook, oh my!

Use social media to make connections with other educators around the world! Then, use those relationships to build awesome lessons with global collaboration!

Here’s a wonderful example of how Ditch That Textbook challenged me … new post on this, soon!

Holy moly. Yup … my perfectionist brain needed to hear this one 🙂

Really, though. Ditch That Textbook was EXACTLY what I needed to read … I just wish I had read it sooner! Also, how fun are these booksnaps?! If you’re interested in learning more about booksnaps and using them in your classroom, check out the amazing Tara Martin’s blog!

Thanks for reading this super long post 🙂

 

 

**This post contains affiliate links which means that if you click on a link and make a purchase, I may make a small commission. Thanks in advance! **

Passion Projects, HyperDocs, and the Flipped Classroom

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I’m still coming down from the awesomeness that was edcampSEMO on Saturday … other than the Pineapple Chart concept, another big takeaway was the use of Passion Projects in the classroom. The idea of implementing a Passion Project in my classroom has simultaneously intrigued and terrifies me! I think it’s the concept of totally relinquishing control over something in my classroom … my use of HyperDocs and the flipped classroom strategy has helped me with my control issues 🙂

My students are still working on their first unit HyperDoc, and I’m starting to gather some feedback, all of which has been POSITIVE! (More on this later!!) One issue I’m having, and I knew this would happen, is what do the students do when they finish WAY before everyone else? I’ve added extend activities … check out my HyperDoc here … and these students have decided to work more at their own pace, which is faster than their classmates. Of course, the activity that we’re doing to hit the apply and analyze sections of Bloom’s will be a whole class activity, so they can’t work on that. They’ve even completed the activity for the “create” level … to my specifications!

I know this is one of the perks (and scary parts) of moving toward a flipped mastery classroom, with more of a student-centered focus. I know this is something I need to get used to. I know. I know!

Here’s where the Passion Project idea comes into play.

Next year, I’m planning to create ALL of my units as HyperDocs for my students. At the beginning of the year, I’ll also introduce a year-long **optional** Passion Project to my students. When students complete their HyperDocs for the unit, they can use remaining class time (until the class is finished and ready to move on) to work on their Passion Project. I’ll also grant time after assessments and will designate other days throughout the year specifically for their projects. Each quarter,  students will show me the progress made on their Passino Projects and will earn 25 bonus points.

I introduced this idea to some of my classes today, and the response really got me excited! I heard things like, “what could I do for my Passion Project?” to “I can really do something that I just like, not that’s part of the class?!”

When I told my students their Passion Project would be over what they are passionate about, eyes lit up all over my classroom.
“Really? That’s so cool!”

I even gave them an example of my personal Passion Project – this blog!

I really think this is going to be great next year … and I’m thinking about launching a mini Passion Project toward the end of this school year.

Let me know about your experiences with Passion Projects!

Thanks for reading 🙂