In about half the world–mostly where people live under socialism, communism, dictators, or autocracies–law and order is decided for the people. In the 1700’s, when the brand new United States of America–newly liberated from a British government that chose who governed, dictated religious choices, and decided economic winners and losers–wrote a Constitution based on government by the people. Called ‘the Grand Experiment’, the founders empowered ordinary citizens–such as farmers, shopkeepers, laborers, and seamstresses–to elect the individuals empowered to protect America’s shores, our freedoms, and our way of life.

Over two hundred fifty years after that mandate, it is still unclear whether it will work. In the 1850’s, Abraham Lincoln warned:

“Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”

A hundred years after that, Gore Vidal bemoaned:

“Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half.”

Winston Churchill called democracy

“…the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.… “

In short, it is messy.

Still, every four years, Americans must make critical choices that shape our democracy. Citizens are expected to research their options and vote for qualified candidates to fulfill the country’s goals. Thomas Jefferson called education a “…vital requisite for our survival as a free people.”

This year, on Tuesday, November 3rd, we will elect every one of 435 members of the House of Representatives, one-third of the one hundred Senators, judges, and local officials. I’ve curated a list of websites to provide students with the background knowledge on the election process that will prepare them for the day they’ll be asked to cast their vote and decide the future. The first few explain elections in general and the next teach the process through gamification.

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Three holidays are fast-approaching–Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. If you’re a teacher, that means lots of tie-ins to make lessons festive while remaining relevant.

Here are ideas for Halloween projects, lesson plans, websites, and apps (check here for updated links):

Websites and Apps

1. 30-day Halloween fitness challenge
2. Build a Jack-o-lantern (in Google Slides)
3. Carve-a-Pumpkin from Parents magazine – Resolute Digital, LLC (app)
4. Enchanted Learning
5. Halloween games, puzzles–clean, easy to understand website and few ads!
6. Halloween Kahoot Games (video for teachers)
7. Halloween Science
8. Halloween Voice Transformer (app)
9. Make A Zombie – Skunk Brothers GmbH (app)
10. Meddybemps Spooky
11. Pumpkin Patch Games
12. WordSearch Halloween – AFKSoft (app)

Projects

1. ASCII Art–Computer Art for Everyone (a pumpkin–see inset)
2. Lesson Plan: Halloween letter for grades 2-5
3. Make a Holiday Card
4. A Holiday Card
5. A Holiday flier

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It’s hard to run an inquiry-based classroom. Don’t go into this teaching style thinking all you do is ask questions and observe answers. You have to listen with all of your senses, pause and respond to what you heard (not what you wanted to hear), keep your eye on the Big Ideas while stepping in when needed, aside when required. You aren’t a Teacher, rather a guide. You and the class find your way from question to knowledge together.

Because everyone learns differently.

You don’t use a textbook. Sure, it’s a map, showing how to get from here to there, but that’s the problem. It dictates how to get ‘there’. For an inquiry-based classroom, you may know where you’re going, but not quite how you’ll get there and that’s a good thing. You are no longer your mother’s teacher who stood in front of rows of students and pointed to the blackboard. You operate well outside your teaching comfort zone as you try out the flipped classroom and the gamification of education and are thrilled with the results.

And then there’s the issue of assessment. What your students have accomplished can’t neatly be summed up by a multiple choice test. When you review what you thought would assess learning (back when you designed the unit), none measure the organic conversations the class had about deep subjects, the risk-taking they engaged in to arrive at answers, the authentic knowledge transfer that popped up independently of your class time. You realize you must open your mind to learning that occurred that you never taught–never saw coming in the weeks you stood amongst your students guiding their education.

Let me digress. I visited the Soviet Union (back when it was a nation) and dropped in on a classroom where students were inculcated with how things must be done. It was a polite, respectful, ordered experience, but without cerebral energy, replete of enthusiasm for the joy of learning, and lacking the wow factor of students independently figuring out how to do something. Seeing the end of that powerful nation, I arrived at different conclusions than the politicians and the economists. I saw a nation starved for creativity. Without that ethereal trait, learning didn’t transfer. Without transfer, life required increasingly more scaffolding and prompting until it collapsed in on itself like a hollowed out orange.

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Here are the skills fifth graders can learn in Photoshop if you’ve prepared them with basic computer skills:

• Photoshop artwork–already live
• Photoshop actions–already live
• Photoshop basics
• Photoshop filter and rendering tools
• Photoshop starters–auto-correct with the auto-correction tools–those quick fixes that make a photo look cleaner (coming up)
• Photoshop crop tool–with the lasso and the magic wand
• Photoshop clone tool– within a picture and to another picture
• Photoshop–change the background (put yourself in front of the Eiffel Tower or on top of Hoover Dam)
• Photoshop tools–add custom shapes
• Photoshop–start with Word (a little dated but still useful)

Get started

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How do schools detect AI in student writing? It’s easier than it used to be. So what can students do to ensure their writing is assisted by AI, not written by it? The Ask a Tech Teacher team explains:

How can schools detect your AI writing?

If a teacher questions whether you used AI, a detector score may be only part of the concern. They may also ask about a source you cited or why your essay sounds different from your classroom work. Knowing what schools look for can help you review an assignment before you submit it.

This guide explains those checks and walks through a practical editing process: assess the draft, rebuild weak arguments from your notes, then work on wording and grammar. Writing tools can help with specific tasks along the way. Check your teacher’s rules first, since permission to correct spelling does not necessarily include permission to rewrite whole paragraphs. (more…)

In 169 Tech Tips, you get an overview of pedagogy—the tech topics most important to your teaching—as well as practical strategies to address class tech situations, how to scaffold these to learning, and the subtext to daily tech-infused education.

Today’s tip: Encourage the use of audio notes

Every opportunity, encourage students to use the audio mike (instead of the keyboard) to record their ideas, thoughts, and notes. Why? It will suit some students perfectly and differentiate for needs you may not even be aware of. Of course, if everyone used audio notes, the class would get quite noisy.

Prefer video of lessons? Try these:

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Understanding how to use the internet has become a cornerstone issue for students. No longer do they research projects solely in the library. Now, there is a vast landscape of resources available on the internet.

But with options come responsibility for their use. As soon as children begin to visit the online world, they need the knowledge to do that safely, securely, responsibly. You can find grade-specific lesson plans in our K-8 curricula. This for K we post free, as a sample. Use the lines in front of the steps to check off completed work:

Overview/Big Ideas

Students learn how to live in the digital world of internet websites, copy-righted images, and virtual friends who may be something different.

Essential Questions

• What is a ‘digital citizen’?
• How is being a citizen of the internet the same/different than my home town?
• What are the implications of digital citizenship in today’s world?

Objectives and Steps

The objectives of this lesson are:

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In an era when students spend hours each day staring at glowing screens, the simple act of making something with their hands offers a powerful antidote to digital overload. Hands-on crafts provide a restorative, screen-free break that reduces stress, sharpens focus, and reawakens creativity by engaging the senses in ways no device can match. Looking for the why and how? Ask a Tech Teacher has both for you. Read on:

Why Hands-On Crafts Are the Ultimate Screen-Free Break for Students

Take a quick look at any student’s desk today. You will almost certainly spot a screen—or three. Between school-issued Chromebooks, research tabs, online portals, and digital textbooks, screens have completely taken over learning. Edtech has brought plenty of perks, sure. But let’s be real: staring at a flat sheet of glowing glass for six hours straight is downright exhausting.

By the time study time rolls around, eyes are dry, shoulders are hunched, and brains feel completely fried. And what’s the go-to move when it’s finally time for a break? Most students pick up a phone, open TikTok or YouTube, or jump straight into a video game.

It feels like taking a breather, but here’s the problem: your brain isn’t actually getting a rest.

To feel genuinely refreshed, students need a break that switches gears entirely. That is where basic, hands-on crafting comes in. Stepping away to make something real with your hands isn’t just a fun pastime—it’s the single best way to clear out the mental cobwebs and reset your focus. (more…)

Assistive devices for special needs students have improved dramatically over the last decade. Ask a Tech Teacher has a summary of the current status:

• Why the right technology matters
• AAC Communication devices
• Table mounts and access tools
• Visual schedules and timers
• Sensory regulation tools

The Essential Learning Devices and Technology for Special Education Classrooms

Every student deserves meaningful opportunities to participate in classroom learning, regardless of their communication, mobility, sensory or developmental needs. The right assistive technology can help you adapt lessons, support independence and give students more ways to express themselves. However, choosing suitable equipment requires balancing individual student needs with school budgets. You also need to identify reliable special education classroom assistive technology suppliers to ensure product quality and long-term usability.

Why the Right Learning Technology Matters in Special Education

Choosing assistive technology for a special education classroom can be challenging when you need to match affordable equipment to individual abilities and choose suppliers that offer reliable products and support. (more…)

Ask a Tech Teacher has a passel of online resources to introduce, teach, and reinforce digital citizenship. Here’s our long list–click here for updates if you arrive at this page late: (more…)