Teaching 'N Tech with Allan & Chad

In this episode, Allan and Chad are joined by Paul Donatelli, computer science educator from Canton City Schools. Paul details his unique experience transitioning from the field of engineering into education. His journey as a teacher includes both public and private schools, as well as work at the university level. The conversation goes deep into his science-based approach to skill mastery and mot...

In this episode, Allan and Chad chat with Matthew Mays, Digital Innovation Consultant from the Stark County ESC and SPARCC in North Canton, Ohio. With new AI tools and resources being introduced every day, we discuss a few tools he's excited about right now. The conversation includes suggestions for better prompting, creating with Gemini's Storybook feature, and designing images with Google's AI e...

Allan and Chad are back for a fourth season of Teaching "N Tech! In episode 1, Aaron DeHart stops by to talk about his journey as an educator. After starting his career in business, we discuss how the desire to work with kids and influence others changed his path completely. The conversation includes motivating reluctant readers, how the size of a school community impacts learning, and why making...

In this episode, Dr. Lynn Rudd joins the show to discuss one her favorites topics: disciplinary literacy. An expert in the area of literacy, she shares her experiences teaching in both K-12 and higher education. In addition, she provides insight on some of her favorites strategies. Topics of discussion include questioning techniques with students in the classroom, anticipation guides as a tool to...

In the first episode of season 3, Eric Curts joins the show to share some AI resources he finds useful in enhancing teaching and learning in the classroom. The discussion includes the origins of his blog Control Alt Achieve , and how it has become a go to resource for educators looking to develop the use of technology in learning. His catalog of resources covers just about anything you can imagine...

In the final episode of season 2, Allan and Chad take a deep dive into Ohio's new cell phone legislation. While many are referring to this as a "cell phone ban", the new laws actually gives schools quite a bit of latitude on how they will deal with distractions in the classroom from student cell phone use. In addition to looking at the actual language in the bill, there is discussion about current...

As we approach spring break, many teachers are just trying to survive and catch a well-deserved break. In this episode, Allan and Chad explore three different areas in which teachers can save time and up their productivity. Topics for optimizing teacher workload include Google Calendar, integrating tasks between Gmail and Calendar events, and utilizing Google Keep. Additionally, they share some AI...

In this installment of Tech You Can Try, Chad digs into the possibilities of creating quizzes with Conker, an AI tool from the creators of Mote. While other AI-related tools often have a range of uses, Conker focuses on quiz creation and includes different options to make checking for understanding more effective. If you are looking to add to your repertoire in the area of assessment, give Conker....

Continuing with the theme of AI tools, Chad introduces a new resource called Snorkl. This tool combines students diagraming their work on an interactive whiteboard while they record an explanation of their response. As they create their response, Snorkl's AI analyzes their explanation and provides feedback on areas of strength and improvement. In addition, teachers can view all student responses f...

Chad heads to Columbus, Ohio for OETC, a three-day event filled with great ideas. Educators from all over the state share ways to leverage technology to improve student learning. The discussion includes a preview of promising strategies that will be presented to improve learning outcomes. Topics include career exploration through social media, using AI for universal design, and leaning into AI to...

In this episode, Chad breaks down some promising new tools included in Magic School AI. From generating academic content to developing data tables, Magic School allows for the creation of content with the input of just a few words. While AI will never replace the human connection of teaching and learning, Magic School has over 60 tools that are designed to make teaching less time-consuming and mor...

In this episode of Teaching "n Tech, Jessica Friesner and Debbie Varga share their expertise in teaching language skills. Both fluent in English and Spanish, they discuss experiences of teaching English and Spanish speakers together in their Spanish classes, As bilingual educators, their perspective provides insight and strategies that can be helpful to any teacher who is working with students who...

Anyone who has taught writing will tell you that the amount of time between the student writing and teacher feedback being provided is a major hurdle. Class Companion is an AI Tool for teachers that creates assignments with prompts for short answers, essays, and outlines. As the students write, AI-generated responses are provided in real-time, so that they can refine their writing as they work wit...

Teachers continue to adapt and find ways to bridge gaps while teaching students who speak a different language. In this episode, Allan and Chad discuss promising practices that teachers are using successfully in classrooms with English learners. The discussion includes vocabulary instruction strategies, the use of multiple screens to make translation apps more effective, and the utilization of AI...

In this installment of Tech You Can Try, Chad discusses a promising new web tool called School AI. While there are plenty of new AI tools becoming available, School AI provides a unique experience. Teachers can launch customized spaces where students join through a unique code and interact with chatbots similar to Chat GPT. Even better, the chatbots are tailored for use in school settings. While s...

While math isn't usually the first content area that comes to mind when discussing group projects and student collaboration, McKinley High School's Quantitative Reasoning course provides a new approach to exploring mathematical concepts while giving opportunities for students to think critically and problem-solve through projects and group interactions. The situations that arise in these groups th...

In this edition of Tech You Can Try, we take a look at another generative AI tool called Diffit . Geared toward differentiating learning materials and resources, Diffit allows you to generate a variety of resources for students at a personalized reading level through searches, links, or pasted text. One of Diffit's best features is the ability to create graphic organizers that integrate nicely wit...

Most teachers realize that helping students learn to work together effectively is important for life after school. In this episode, Allan and Chad discuss planning for student collaboration through the lens of two group projects. The discussion includes planning activities for student success, using technology to meet learning objectives, deciding when to use more traditional methods, and clarifyi...

David Anderson joins the show to discuss ways he has found success in his career which spans over three decades in the Canton City School District. The conversation includes his role in implementing a microteaching cohort at McKinley High School to assess the effectiveness of teaching methods and describes a behavioral economics approach to evaluating students' reading comprehension and engagement...

Continuing our theme of AI tools that can be helpful for teachers, we discuss Brisk Teaching. This Chrome extension is easy and practical to use, giving teachers the power of AI at their fingertips. Features that teachers might find useful include AI feedback for student essays, help writing lesson plans and assessment items, reading level conversion of articles in Google Docs and internet sites,...

AI has generated quite a buzz in 2023! In this episode, we look at an AI feature that has been added to an already useful design tool, Canva. Canva's design capability is a great resource for teachers and offers a free education-level subscription. In addition, the new Magic Studio provides a variety of AI-based tools to help you get the most out of any design and save time, regardless of design s...

Canton McKinley's Aaron McCutchan drops by to discuss how he's found success in connecting with his students over the course of his career. This discussion includes intentional strategies to connect with students, ways to monitor students on technology while avoiding confrontation, and technology integrations to make instruction more functional and more fun. Music: The Right Direction by Shane Ive...

While AI and the use of chatbots have been a cause for concern among many teachers, there are a variety of ways that the Chatbot can be very useful for improving instruction and helping teachers personalize learning more efficiently. In this episode, Chad breaks down a few practical ideas for classroom teachers wanting to implement AI.

Getting the year off to a good start is critical for any classroom teacher. In this episode, Allan and Chad discuss promising ideas teachers are using to kick off the school year. Whether it's back-to-school projects, goal-setting ideas, or gathering data efficiently, this discussion is packed with ideas for starting strong. Music: The Right Direction by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.co...

In the first Tech You Can Try episode of season 2, Chad gives an overview of the new AI-powered tool in Google Classroom called Practice Sets. Teachers can develop groups of practice items for students, and AI is used to identify the topics and potential resources to provide the students with help as they are working. On the teacher dashboard, they receive insights as the students work detailing i...