blog post

  • Your iPhone is Not Your Friend

    I had to choose between two frames for new glasses. My wife wasn’t with me at the eye care center. She is a better judge on these matters, so I took out my flip phone to take a picture of my options and texted it to her for her opinion. The technician helping me…

  • iPhone, We Have a Problem (Day -12 Without a Smartphone)

    If possible, I would like to switch to a less robust, more basic cell phone for work. Specifically, not a smartphone. Do you have any suggestions? I sent this email to our cellular provider representative after 24 hours of not finding my school-issued iPhone X. My goal is to go back to a simpler…

  • SEL and Literacy: A Natural Combination

    In this post for The Stenhouse Blog, I write about literacy instruction also supporting the social and emotional development of students. These ideas are inspired by the blog’s upcoming book study choice, Engaging Literate Minds: Developing Children’s Social, Emotional, and Intellectual Lives, K–3, starting June 15. Read contributors’ posts throughout June and July, plus…

  • SEL and Literacy: A Natural Combination

    In this post for The Stenhouse Blog, I write about literacy instruction also supporting the social and emotional development of students. These ideas are inspired by the blog’s upcoming book study choice, Engaging Literate Minds: Developing Children’s Social, Emotional, and Intellectual Lives, K–3, starting June 15. Read contributors’ posts throughout June and July, plus…

  • Three Points for Technology Integration

    Technology is not a tool for learning. As I described in my first book for ASCD, it is a tool to help facilitate a learning experience. People can discover new information through the Internet, they have access to software for collecting ideas and receiving feedback on their work, and they can share new and…

  • Raising an iGen

    I wrote this post for my school blog yesterday and thought it might work here too. Have a nice weekend! -Matt In an article for The Atlantic, professor of psychology Jean Twenge offers some stark information about the effects of smartphones on our youngest generation. Referring to this group as “iGen”, these teens and preteens…

  • Think you’re doing digital portfolios? Think again.

    At the risk of sounding like a know-it-all, I have wanted to point out a misconception that some educators have regarding digital portfolios and what is facilitated in classrooms. This post comes from the idea that by merely publishing student work online for families and a wider audience to view, that students now have…

  • An Interview with Chalkup: Classroom Technology and Digital Portfolios

    I recently connected with Chalkup to talk about classroom technology and how I’ve seen digital portfolios win in classrooms. Big picture, what’s your philosophy on classroom technology? Classroom technology, especially mobile and cloud-based, is still in its infancy. It seems like these devices and apps have been around for a long time, but it really…