🐉 New deep thinking activity: Wicked Hydra

Plus: free "Learn Like a YouTuber" webinar

Author

Matt Miller
August 13, 2024

🔎 Find all of our best stuff

We have some new newsletter subscribers here from Texas, Missouri, the Northern Mariana Islands and beyond over the last few weeks. Welcome!

Now that many of us are in back to school mode, here’s where you can find all of our best stuff to start planning lessons:

Also, you can install our mobile app to access our newsletters any time — and get notifications of new ones!

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Inside:

  • 📺 FREE webinar: Learn Like a YouTuber with ScreenPal

  • 👀 DTT Digest: FigJam, multitasking, podcast, meet the teacher

  • 💡 The Big Idea: EduProtocols activities for ELA (and beyond)

  • 🗄 Template: Interactive resource room template

  • 😄 Smile of the day: What teaching REALLY is

  • 👋 How we can help

📺 FREE webinar: Learn Like a YouTuber with ScreenPal

This message is sponsored by ScreenPal.

Join me for this FREE webinar!

Date: FRIDAY Aug. 16, 2024

Time: 1pm U.S. EDT / noon CDT / 11am MDT / 10am PDT

If you’re still searching for an alternative to Flipgrid/Microsoft Flip, this webinar will talk about one of my favorite alternatives — and YouTube-style lesson ideas that promote deep learning AND make students feel like an influencer. 😎

Register here! (Video replay will be provided if you can’t make it.)

👀 DTT Digest

4 teaching resources worth checking out today

💡 THE BIG IDEA 💡

📖 EduProtocols activities for the ELA classroom (and beyond)

Screenshots via EduProtocols TikTok video

Have you heard of EduProtocols? They’re the creation of educators Jon Corippo and Marlena Hebern.

The definition:

  • “versatile …

  • … student-centered (not teacher-centered) …

  • … lesson frames (content changes but activity doesn’t) …

  • … designed to maximize student engagement and achievement.”

English teacher Jacob Carr puts a new spin on EduProtocols in his new book, EduProtocol Field Guide: ELA Edition.

In the book, he details one of his favorite EduProtocols activities, the Wicked Hydra.

In his new guest post today, Jacob outlines the steps for Wicked Hydra:

  1. Start with a thought-provoking question or image.

  2. Divide students into groups with a large piece of paper.

  3. Students brainstorm questions about the prompt.

  4. Students rotate to other groups’ papers, adding more questions.

  5. Each student picks a question he/she can answer.

  6. Students share their answers with the class.

Jacob shares more details on each step, some examples, and more about EduProtocols in his guest post — Transform Your Classroom with EduProtocols (ELA edition).

🗄️ TEMPLATE 🗄️

🚪 Interactive Resource Room Template

These were wildly popular while remote teaching during the pandemic!

These interactive resource rooms (aka “Bitmoji classrooms”) give students access to tons of resources in one spot. Plus, they’re fun and give them a little touch of the classroom — and you as the teacher!

Copy the template. Add clipart or images. Then link those images to online resources they might need.

Embed the interactive resource room on a class webpage — or go to File > Share > Publish to web to generate a link to share with students.

😄 Smile of the day

Teaching isn’t really just “teaching” …

h/t Rebecca Cofield via Teacher Memes Facebook group

👋 How we can help

There are even more ways I can support you in the important work you do in education:

  1. Read one of my six books about meaningful teaching with tech.

  2. Take one of our online courses about practical and popular topics in education.

  3. Bring me to your school, district or event to speak. I love working with educators!

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