Cool Cat Teacher Blog is at coolcatteacher.com

Create, Engage and Assess through mobile devices. | Interactive Lessons | Mobile Learning | Apps for Education | iPads in the Classroom | Keep your classroom syncronized between ipads with this very cool app. I want to play more with nearpod. If you have 1:1 ipad programs you should test this app. tags: education news ipadchat Posted from Diigo . The rest of my favorite links are here .

edshelf | Reviews & recommendations of tools for education Another interesting site for recommendations of apps, etc. Edshelf has some very interesting collections. They have collections for school counselors, for creating things, etc. I'm joining and looking into this site for finding cool things. If you like apps, try this site. tags: education news apps ipadchat ClassBadges | Home As I look to gamify my classroom, I'm heading to Class badges to do this. If you want to gamify your classroom, look to this website. (Hey, yes, you could, dare I say it, align with standards!)  tags: education news badges motivation gamification Posted from Diig...

Prom will be here tomorrow. It is a circus. No, literally, the theme is “A Night Under the Big Top,” a vintage circus theme that has turned out quite nicel even if I say so myself. But as I read the Psalms this morning, I was so taken by this phrase in Psalm 110:3a “Your troops will be willing…” Well, sometimes, I've noticed that there is one job that when I ask for it to be done that no one wants to. The troops aren't willing. Since I've asked, only one student in the six times I've asked it, has been willing to take out the trash. I've seen them toy with the trash and move it around a bit in the auditorium, but only one picked up the bags and actually hauled it out. Why is that? Is it because it is beneath them? Is it because it isn't as fun as putting Christmas lights on the stage or as neat as suspending acrobats from the ceiling? Little do they realize that if the trash wasn't out, they wouldn't be able to see those acrobats, lights, ...

mention | Your Media Monitoring Application Mention gives you 3 alerts for free. Everyone should be following mention of their name and brand names (or school name) it is important. If you want more than 3, you'll have to pay. I use Google Alerts to track flat classroom and cool cat teacher - sad Google Alerts is gone, but here's an alternative. tags: education Google tumblr news social media brand management Looking for a Google Alerts Alternative? Try This Aurgghh! So Google alerts is dead too. I thought it was just misbehaving. It might have gone on spring break never to unbreak. Oh dear. Here are some alternatives from mashable. tags: education news google ...

How to Get Your Kindle Highlights into Evernote | Michael Hyatt Very cool way to get your Kindle notes into evernote. I'm going to try this! tags: education kindle news app evernote Penn-Finn Learnings 2013: A Journey of Inquiry | Edutopia I love this trip that is happening in Finland, especially the transparency. I'm going to be "hanging out" with some of those in Finland in the hangout on Wednesday. You can look at what they are doing and how they are traveling and sharing. I think more information-gathering trips should be this transparent. "Doctoral learners from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education will spend a "week in the schools" -- the schools of Helsinki, that is -- looking at a variety of research areas thro...

Elementary STEM Lab Teacher, Kevin Jarrett Recently, elementary STEM lab teacher Kevin Jarrett  (@ kjarrett ) and researcher Dr. Jeremy Irvin (@ dr_jeremy_ervin ) spent some time sharing the story of the transformation of an elementary computer lab into a STEM lab at Kevin's school on my podcast .. They are using the curriculum " Engineering is Elementary ." What he's doing is powerful and important and I wish every school would follow this model. Look at the blog where Kevin documents learning with his students and communicates needs and objectives with parents. Blogging to share Learning and Lead Take time to review his NCS Stemlab blog where he shares engineering, math, science, and technology with parents and mobilizes everyone to action. (He says he posts what he needs and almost immediately receives it on his desk the next day.) How you can listen to the show Listen to the show "Creative Approaches to Teaching STEM at the Elementary Scho...

Common Core Curriculum Resources - List | Diigo Darren Burris, a math teacher at Boston Collegiate Charter School, has a list of 186 items for Common Core Resources on his Diigo list. He's someone you'll want to follow on Diigo. tags: education math commoncore news bestpractices edu_trends Teach Plus: The Quantified Student Fascinating article from a teacher thriving in the standardized testing environment. Fascinating. "Last year, working with the same cohort of students (by then fifth graders), I tried to find more learning opportunities that focused on data. We used math websites like TenMarks that enable students to learn about their own learning even as they practice new skills. We analyzed information graphics and dove into ways of presenting n...

[ View the story "140 Character Conversations: Dear Teacher, Dear Student," on Storify ] 140 Character Conversations: Dear Teacher, Dear Student, On Twitter recently, I had a series of conversations between a fictional teacher and his/her student. They got such an incredible response, that I've taken those conversations and captured them here. Hope you allow these 140 character conversations cause you to start thinking. Storified by Vicki Davis · Mon, Mar 25 2013 03:25:18 Launching a mini letter series on Twitter between a student and teacher. Stay tuned and add your own.Vicki Davis If you decide to write a fictional series like this on Twitter, disclose it. Or others will think that you are writing something based on your classroom RIGHT NOW. Always be transparent. Conversations  It took a while to learn these things, but teaching starts with a relationship between two people who care. They won't come to the classroom caring about you at all, so you ha...

Do you solve problems or sit by and whine? The difference is profound. Whiners are like ambulances that never stop. Zipping through neighborhoods of critically ill people - they just whine - pointing out the problem, upsetting the pets, causing everyone to be sleepless - but never doing anything about it. Give me people of action. Give me people who actually put on the brakes, stop the ambulance, triage the problem and take action steps to isolate, remediate, and medicate so there is hope for recovery. Every time you hear an ambulance - ask yourself if you're the siren or the solver who stops to do something. Be the solution, not the waaambulance. Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad

“We look before and after, And pine for what is not: Our sincerest laughter with some pain is fraught: Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.” To a Skylark , by Percy Bysshe Shelley I received a message of concern on Tumblr yesterday. This person rightly detected that my writings these days is a twinge of melancholy. Not melancholy of the depression kind but the melancholy born of circumstances that are hard and situations that cannot be explained. So, I thought I would share some thoughts and why I'm still writing anyway. Should I write amidst tragedy? A colleague at school has been struggling with her daughter's sudden illness and subsequent amputation of her legs. It has hit us all so deeply, the entire school has been praying and in heartache. Tragic. Heart ache. In the throes of this, our beloved editor of our local newspaper unexpectedly died of a heart attack. Last week he was singing with the Chamber of Commerce chorale ...

IFTTT / Send everything I tag collaborative writing to a notebook in evernote. by coolcatteacher If you use Diigo but are researching a certain topic for a book or term paper and also use Evernote, I recommend setting up an ifttt.com recipe similar to this one I'm using for my collaborative writing book. Everything tagged "collaborative writing" goes automatically to my collaborative writing book. You could use this for a course. You could take everything on Diigo tagged with the course number into a notebook (or into a Google spreadsheet, for that matter.) There are many other sources of information you can use to collect information on a topic in one place.  tags: education news productivity automation. diigo edu_newapp techintegrator How Teens Do...

How Teachers Are Using Technology at Home and in Their Classrooms | Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project Take time to read this PEW research about teachers and how they are using technology in their classrooms. It is shocking that 73% say they or their students use cell phones to complete assignments. I wish they had separated out this number to know exactly how many let their STUDENTS use their cell phones. To me, this number shows the tide has turned.  Some of the highlights of the research: "Mobile technology has become central to the learning process, with 73% of AP and NWP teachers saying that they and/or their students use their cell phones in the classroom or to complete assignments More than four in ten teachers report the use of e-readers (45%) and tablet computers (43%) in their classrooms or to complete assignments 62% say their school does a “good job” supporting teachers’ efforts to bring digital tools...

Download the Power Rangers Empower curriculum. Enter the sweepstakes to have the Power Rangers come to your school. Last week when I kept Children’s church, the children said they didn’t want to play “Mother May I” but could they play Power Rangers. Each 4 year old was a ranger and had a job and role to do. Interestingly, when I was approached by a potential advertiser that uses PowerRangers to promote healthy living and habits, I was already primed and keen because I know that children are already play and pretend to be Rangers. This curriculum is perfect for younger children and should be one you email to your elementary teacher friends. You could adapt for other ages as well. As a person who has struggled with maintaining a healthy weight, this topic is near to my heart. We HAVE to create engaging, powerful health content to use with children and after reviewing this material, it is a GREAT start (and it is free.) The emPOWER program takes the “teamwork, confi...

7 Image Editing Tools to Create Awesome Visual Content | Inspiring Generosity Some more interesting ways to edit pictures online. tags: news photography Facebook Covers | Myspace Layouts | Twitter Backgrounds | Blogger Templates | Layouts for hi5, YouTube, Friendster - Pimp-My-Profile.com - Pimp-My-Profile.com This is an interesting website with cover generators and other tools for you to use to create pictures for your profile. tags: education news photography My wish is for every child to have 1 to 1... - Meme Generator Captionator I've been turning tweets that have had the most shares and favorites into photos for two reasons: 1) to test photo makers and 2)...

Can you spot a hero? We work beside them. They are every where but often blind to the fact that they make such a difference. Heroic people rarely stand at the front of a hall hearing applause. They are watching reruns at night along rocking a colicky baby. They are in a hospital room reading a book to a sick friend. They are all over schools. Heroes in the schoolhouse. The teachers You. Yes, you. You are misunderstood. Yet you show up to work every day with a smile on your face. You have love in your heart. You have a burning desire to improve the lives of children. Hero. The janitor You. Yes, you. The quiet janitor who mops up the mess in the halls.  Your meticulous, thankless job probably saves hundreds of illnesses a year. Maybe even a few lives. Hero. School Secretary You. Yes, you. You are kind even when you're tired. You sort life changing messages from the distractions. You buffer administrators and teachers so they can do their ...

Education World: Top Educator Blogs for 2013 Cool. Lots of great blogs her. Some are new to me, but I'm going to be adding them to my (NEW) RSS reader.  tags: education news blogging GRAMMY in the Schools | Make your future be music Just in. Nominate your favorite music teacher for this award!!! "The GRAMMY Foundation® and The Recording Academy® are partnering to present the first-ever Music Educator Award, to recognize music educators for their contributions to our musical landscape. Whether singing in the shower, playing in their college marching band, or performing on the GRAMMY® stage, musicians of all levels have had music teachers that have made a difference in their lives, and this award will acknowledge that contribution.  The award is open to current U.S. music teachers fr...

Free group video calls on Skype for Educators Teachers can apply for FREE group video calling to use it in the classroom. Many were moving to Google Hangouts because you can use 10 at a time, but now you can do it on skype if you're an educator. APPLY NOW, while you can. tags: skype news teaching tumblr flatclass Posted from Diigo . The rest of my favorite links are here .

Free group video calls on Skype for Educators Teachers can apply for FREE group video calling to use it in the classroom. Many were moving to Google Hangouts because you can use 10 at a time, but now you can do it on skype if you're an educator. APPLY NOW, while you can. tags: skype news teaching tumblr flatclass Whiteboard Products : United States : Reusable Dry Erase Sheets I have some sample "Magic erase sheets" in my classroom and LOVE THEM. You can stick them to ANY wall. They make them gridded or plain and they stick everywhere. I've been using dry erase boards but the problem was they wouldn't stick. So, now, I can use these and stick them anywhere. I love them. I'd get a box of sheets and use them in the classroom. Very cool. ...

Image via CrunchBase Image via CrunchBase Feedly has been highly recommended by many of the tech experts I listen to (like Sarah Lane from TWIT TV) for some time. So, the choice for me is simple (although I'm still not happy about it.) Due to Google's shortsighted removal of the Google Reader service (showing that the bloggers and content producers of the world don't really matter to them) we all have choices to make. Transition to feedly NOW. As outlined in this article by Feedly (after they wisely upgraded their servers yesterday) , if you set up your Feedly account NOW, and link your Google Reader, it will automatically transition when Google pulls the plug. Why is Google Reader a mistake for Google? Now, for those who are wondering why this is unwise, let me tell you why. 1 - They are breeding distrust upon the content producers on the web by constantly pulling key products like iGoogle and now, Google Reader They are pulling things that ...

Google Reader is dying, but we have five worthy alternatives | iPhone Atlas - CNET Reviews Alternatives to Google reader. I just need to find one that has the features to integrate with Mr. Reader and Diigo and do all that I do with it. Oh dear. Very frustrated. tags: education news apps google Say Farewell To Google Reader | Fast Company This is horrible news to most bloggers I know as many of us use Google reader and the apps that go with it like Mr. Reader and Feedly to pull information out of the web. RSS is one of the most useful features of Web 2 and I'm really unhappy w/ Google. iGoogle was a mistake, this a travesty. Google needs to read outliers and the mavens who use tools. I'll be researching new rss tools. This is ridiculous. ""While the product has a loya...