The Nerdy Teacher by: Nicholas Provenzano
Email: [email protected]
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As a teacher, published author, and (from what I can tell) a social media wiz, Nicholas Provenzano is doing some wonderful work with his blog, The Nerdy Teacher. When I first looked at The Nerdy Teacher, one thing that immediately stuck out to me was his love of pop culture references. I LOVE when teachers are able to bridge the gap between pop culture, the lives of their students, and academia! By giving students something they will recognize, understand, and most importantly relate to, you are more likely to have students who are engaged and ready to learn whatever you throw at them. In the past, teachers may have been worried to bring up pop culture because they thought it could detract and distract from the educational material. More and more in the modern classroom, teachers are excited to bring pop culture into the classroom and find new ways to connect with their students. In my opinion, reading about classical conditioning is far less interesting than watching a clip from The Big Bang Theory.
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Nicholas Provenzano has a few passions in his life. He has a passion for education, as all educators should. He has a passion for epic projects, and he has a passion for maker spaces. Maker spaces are currently gaining traction in classrooms as a way to make your classroom more student centered and incorporate more STEM/STEAM activities into the curriculum. He is a teacher who sees the educational value in fun and offers productive fun in his classroom every chance he can. With the national educational focus of the moment being how to encourage science and math education, we as teachers need to be aware of ways we can introduce, encourage, and develop these skills so that our students are engaged and excited to learn.
Overall, I have greatly enjoyed exploring The Nerdy Teacher blog. I think it is fun, easy to relate to, relevant to current issues and ideas in education, and interesting. A wonderful resource for students and teachers alike.