Zach Groshell Education, motivation, PD, Play, Student

Can a Class Teddy Bear Raise Achievement?

A few months ago I attended a fantastic session on how teachers can do their own Action Research at an AISA conference. In the session, I decided that I wanted to see if teaching my 2nd grade students specific strategies for what to do when they get stuck would help raise their achievement. To make … Continue reading Can a Class Teddy Bear Raise Achievement?

Zach Groshell Education, Math, motivation

Easiest Elementary School Hack for Increasing Motivation

I love making learning happen through fun, inquiry-based experiences. However, as we all know, there are some things that students just have to memorize (math facts, letter sounds and vocabulary words to name a few). Try as we might to make them fun, they still take some grit. Introducing the Master’s Charts When a student … Continue reading Easiest Elementary School Hack for Increasing Motivation

Zach Groshell bilingual, differentiation, Education, Language, technology

The CODA Perspective on Teaching and Learning

I am the child of a Deaf mother, emphasis on the capital D. CODA has been a term used by some to refer to a "Child Of a Deaf Adult", aka me. American Sign Language is one of my two home languages - and the one that I spend restless night practicing to the ceiling. … Continue reading The CODA Perspective on Teaching and Learning

Zach Groshell Education, Math, Play, technology

Count By Songs Are Changing How Students Learn to Multiply

Learning Different Strategies Every year, I teach my students a number of different strategies for how to solve multiplication problems and they come up with and show me a few more. These include: Drawing a Picture Repeated Addition Making an Array And Count Bys By far the favorite strategy for my students year after year … Continue reading Count By Songs Are Changing How Students Learn to Multiply

Zach Groshell Education, Play, Student

How to Gamify Your Class by Turning it into the “Survivor” Reality Show

I'm a big fan of the reality show, Survivor, which has a group of adults competing in a variety of challenges on an isolated beach. The drama of every episode ending with a vote and an eliminated contestant intrigued me to the point of wanting to bring it to the classroom. It was so successful … Continue reading How to Gamify Your Class by Turning it into the “Survivor” Reality Show

Zach Groshell Creativity, Education, iPad, Learning, technology

5 Fun Idea Generators to Get Kids Writing

Before 1:1, I used to take lists of writing prompts or story starters that I found online and cut them out into small strips for the students. It was time consuming, and when they were all used up, I had to go find some more. Nowadays, I rely mostly on online random generators to create … Continue reading 5 Fun Idea Generators to Get Kids Writing

Zach Groshell Education

Happy Holidays from Education Rickshaw!

Stephanie and Zach would like to wish all of you out there a Happy Hanukkah and a Merry Christmas. The interest that you have shown in our site has enriched our lives over the past few months, and we look forward to learning and growing more with you in the coming year.    

Zach Groshell Education

Teacher Dreams of Featuring in Recruitment Video, Succeeds

When I was a young lad, I secretly made a list of three dreams that I wanted to accomplish before 30: 1. To marry a beautiful woman √ 2. To dunk a basketball without having to use Flubber infused tacs, or even Flubber spray × 3. To be featured in a recruitment video for an international school √ … Continue reading Teacher Dreams of Featuring in Recruitment Video, Succeeds