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(and prevent problems online) From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Welcome to episode 296 of the Every Classroom Matters podcast . In this episode, Shannon Mclintock -Miller and I discuss current best practices about digital citizenship and online safety for kids. If you’ve ever taught kids who have their own smartphones, you know how quickly social media problems can escalate at school. Understandably, schools that don’t open lines of honest communication with students and parents are the most at risk from turmoil from the online behavior of students. In today’s podcast, Shannon and I talk about what schools can do to prevent problems and make them less severe when they happen. Listen to the Audio BAM Radio Network | iTunes In this episode, you’ll learn: The essential skill every child needs so they can be safe. Why every school should include digital citizenship in their curriculum. How to start conversations about digital...

(and captivate your bored students) From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Welcome to episode 295 of the Every Classroom Matters podcast . In this episode, Leanna Prater and I discuss how to use play in the classroom to teach. I’m also unveiling a new listening guide for you to use with this show. If you’ve taught for very long, you’ve struggled with the “bored student.” These students might have ADHD or just aren’t engaged through typical classroom experiences. Today’s podcast will give you practical advice for teaching with play.  With tips for using play with science, math, writing, and even teacher professional development, play can be part of teaching throughout schools. Listen to the Audio BAM Radio Network | iTunes In this episode, you’ll learn: Four powerful ways to teach your students with play. Several examples of technology and hands-on tools to create a playful learning environment. History, writing, math, and ...

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter The gifts that change your life are the ones you didn’t know you wanted in the first place. I can tell the kids who get this kind of gift. They are different. Let me tell you how. This post is written as part of Cathy Rubin’s Global Search for Education . The question is “what one gift do you wish parents would give your students this year?” By definition, this is supposed to be a physical gift, because of course love and support and good character are all things we hope parents will give their kids every year.  Four perfect examples of students who have gotten this type of gift were in my classroom today. It should be noted that today is a holiday. We are not officially “in school” right now. But these four students chose to go to school today. BY CHOICE! These four students are part of my digital filmmaking class. Right now, they are finishing the screenplay to shoot in January. While their...

How Words often Kill the Best Intentions From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter We have too many standards. Many of you will agree, they are too long. In fact, some teachers I know spend more time aligning standards than creating lesson plans. With this in mind, we must ask, are these well-intentioned standards keeping us from focusing on the main thing? Along these lines, a  recent conversation on my podcast with Dr. Douglas Reeves has me thinking. Doug says, We have too many standards. The idea that we can wave our magic wand and assess them all is ridiculous. I’m an advocate of power standards… we should prioritize and assess the half dozen or so that are the most important to get students to the next level. Have you ever wondered why educators love Twitter so much? Maybe it is because it puts everyone on a word diet of 140 characters. What if standards could only be 140 characters long? As I’ve said when Common Core began , Mo...

How to Become a Master at Student Motivation From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Student self-motivation is, perhaps, the Holy Grail of teaching.  In fact, the hardest days of teaching are when your students don’t care. In those circumstances, we start to wonder if we should care either. For example, have you heard some teachers complaining when student motivation is missing: “My students never study.” “My students just don’t care.” “They don’t want to be here.” Sadly, I’ve said these things before too. When you hear these words, if your students act like they don’t care — THEY DON’T!!! Take these words as alarm bells to act. Get Bloomz When apathy happens, it is incredibly important that YOU care whether they care. Unleashing student motivation is far simpler and far more expensive than you might think. Simple, because you have to care. Expensive, because it costs you your heart. Along these lines, Larry Ferlazzo shares fo...

Who Will Be the People to Bridge Racial and Cultural Distrust? From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter   Someone thought Dad was a poor dirt farmer. Here’s how they tell the story. You see, my father is a farmer in South Georgia. In the past, he’s been involved in various political campaigns in both political parties. One time it was during harvest and Daddy came to hear a candidate speak at the courthouse straight out of the field. Dad hadn’t listened to the candidate before, and neither had many people from our area. As the candidate was introduced, Daddy walked up near the back of the crowd. Daddy was “filthy dirty” as we say in south Georgia. It is likely, knowing Dad, that his shirt was untucked. Probably the only nongrimy part of his body was the whites of his eyes. Dad, the “Dirt Farmer” Meets the Politician As the story goes, as Dad walked up, the candidate leaned over to one of the local members of his election campaign and sa...

Some of the Things I Enjoy From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter If you’ve ever struggled to buy presents like I do, you probably ask people what they like to buy. Therefore, I am always looking at the blogs and newsletters of the edtech gurus and leaders I love to see what they love ALREADY. To help you with your buying, here are some things on my “enjoy” list and how I use them. I hope it gives you ideas. Cool Gifts, Ideas, and Books 1. An Amazon Alexa Device. I love my Amazon Dot. It uses Amazon Alexa. Alexa is the best voice recognition I’ve found. So, I’ve taught my whole family to add things to the shopping list. “Alexa add milk to the shopping list.” We also listen to music and podcasts using Alexa. “Alexa, play Every Classroom Matters podcast.” In selecting the right one for our family, I had to do a lot of research. In summary, there are actually four types of devices that come with Alexa voice recognition: Amazon Echo...

Answer the question "Why does my child have to do this homework?" From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter If you ever assign homework, you have likely dealt with the “Why does my child have to do this homework?” question from parents. In my experience, these complaints are often from parents who have different expectations about learning and the role of home and school than you do. Furthermore, parents now question teachers about homework more than ever claiming that valuable family time is being lost. Without a doubt, we need to be prepared to answer their questions. Today we hear compelling evidence from the authors of Hacking Homework: 10 Strategies That Inspire Learning Outside the Classroom   about how to consider our homework practices. Listen to this show on BAM Radio Network | iTunes In this show,   Teachers Starr Sackstein and Connie Hamilton will connect research to the real-life classroom. Let’s rethink homew...

Practical Advice from Research to Classroom From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Too many times the research is completely disconnected from the classroom. But in today’s show, we talk about some very practical issues for teachers. First of all, we talk about the characteristics that make effective formative assessment. This includes some important tips for adjusting your instruction based upon formative assessment. Secondly, we also discussed standards and why in most cases they don’t work. Today’s guest, Dr. Douglas Reeves, bridges the research with the everyday classroom in a helpful way. Listen to this show on  BAM Radio Network | iTunes   So, if you want to be a better teacher tomorrow, these tips and ideas are practical ways that will work to make you a better teacher. I especially love the way he says to start class. Formative assessment and a better understanding of the role of standards will help us all improve. Of co...

Spotlight on Practical Everyday Teaching Problems From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter As a teacher, there are times many of us will substitute for our peers. Substitutes are fantastic professionals who do a tremendous service for schools. If you have some great substitute teachers, treat them well. But there are things you can do to help good substitute teachers be even better. Listen to this show on: BAM Radio Network | iTunes   Some teachers just leave short notes. Remarkably, one of the best things I’ve done in a long time is to create my own substitute teacher manual . In addition to giving me peace of mind, it also helps my substitute do a better job of meeting the needs of students in my classroom. Furthermore, a great substitute teacher manual also helps kids make progress by helping the substitute see the big picture and more. Get the Bloomz App Let’s talk about how. In today’s show I talk with Simon Youd, a teacher who ...