WHO I WAS Student teaching was probably the most stressful event of my life. Not moving from Rhode Island, a state with a population of 1 million-plus, to South Dakota, where cows outnumber people . Not navigating my way through college courses AGAIN, after a five-year gap of unfulfilled, stale dreams at the family business. Teaching. This past spring, when I entered the classroom in the Providence school where I would be teaching a senior section of British literature, I did not know what I was getting into. Sure, I knew the bones of teaching -- the stuff gleaned from classes over the past two years in RIC’s MAT program. I had read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein before, and I had almost-kind of finished 1984 when I was a senior in high school. I knew that social justice would have to be “factored in” when it came to designing my lessons, units, questions… I had the formula, right? But what I didn’t know, is how physically, mentally, and spiritually exhausted I wa
The digital tool I decided to write about is Padlet , which, according to their website, is "the easiest way to create and collaborate in the world." In essence, Padlet is an online virtual bulletin board that allows you to display information, visually and/or with words, for any subject. In some ways its versatility reminds me of how Tumblr was popular years ago -- you can upload pictures, link in videos and music, and even use it to casually blog short responses if you want. In the classroom, you can use it create more dynamic lessons and assignments that invite students to participate in a community versus just individually. Here's one example of a Padlet that displays ways you can use it in class. Logging into and creating a Padlet account is simple. You can use either your Google account or Microsoft account to set it up. While the free version only allows you to create three boards, the paid "Pro" version is $8.25 a month if you choo
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