Cool Cat Teacher Blog is at coolcatteacher.com

What has teachers talking? From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter When looking at the top posts of the over 3,500 blog posts here, a theme jumps forward for February 2016 . Hope, stress, encouragement, growth, and trying to improve education. I see struggle and persistence all over the pieces that you are sharing this month. Yes, teaching is hard. But teaching is worth it, my dear friends. Some of us are looking at where we’re going to teach next year. Others are just trying to make it through this year. Testing is approaching. But we can’t lose sight of having a relationship with our students and loving ourselves . If I haven’t told you lately, dear teacher, I admire you. Those of you who work hard to encourage your students. Those of you who put in extra hours. Your work does matter. I had a friend who was talking to an accreditation leader in the state of Georgia this  past week. He asked his friend (the accreditation lead...

Level Up a Little Bit Every Day From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Sometimes as you teach others, you end up changing yourself. It is happening so much lately to me. Here’s a peek. Game based keyboarding.  My keyboarding classroom is completely game based using ClassCraft (thanks, Shawn Young ) and the kids run to class. They love it. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I’m thrilled (they are too.) I just heard so many experts like Michael Mater a, Lee Sheldon , Kae Novak , and Lucas Gillispie talk about what they are doing that I had to test it out. Gamification is not just points and badges “chocolate on broccoli” as Kae Novak calls it. Gamification is a full-on change in approach to how you “do class.” I’m sending tremendous results in my eighth graders in their accuracy, speed, excitement to come to class and more. You never know what will happen when you delve into turning your whole classroom into a game (and a...

Nurturing an Innovator's Mindset with George Couros From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Risk taking is not a bad word. If we want to help students read, write, and learn anything – we have to learn to take risks. But how can we understand what risks are worth taking? How can principals, teachers, and students learn how to take acceptable risks? From routine busting to reflection, George Couros, author of the Innovator’s Mindset helps us understand the risks and rewards of great teaching. [ Listen on the web ] [ Listen on iTunes ] George Couros is joining me for a series of shows on Every Classroom Matters where we talk about the eight characteristics of the Innovator’s Mindset   (George’s new book.) This is part 3 of the series. See the full series here .  Listen to the Innovator’s Mindset Series Show Notes: Innovative Teachers Take These Risks, Not Those What risks are acceptable in schools? What does George think a...

Simple Steps to Ignite a Love of Reading and Writing From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Teaching kids to love reading is a challenge. Pam Allyn , the author of 23 books, is a literacy expert who helps schools, parents, and teachers help kids love reading . On today’s show, she shares two important ways to help struggling students become lifelong readers. This is an excellent listen for teachers, curriculum directors, and parents. Share this one! [ Listen on the web ] [ Listen on iTunes ] Thank you Flocabulary, today’s sponsor. Listeners, Get a Free 75-Day Trial for Your School! A teacher in my school came running into the teacher’s lounge thanking me for getting her started with Flocabulary . She’s using hip hop to teach parts of speech and complex sentences. I’ve used it to teach goal setting. Flocabulary is a fantastic tool for teaching literacy, science, math, history, and just about any topic. With test prep season coming u...

Powerful Pedagogies for Every Teaching Professional From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Star Trek script writer and professional game author Lee Sheldon has designed his entire college course as a game. His book The Multiplayer Classroom: Designing Coursework as a Game is a favorite of many game based learning experts . Quizzes and tests are fighting evil. Students earn experience points for coming to class. Student study groups are called guilds. You’ve got to hear it to believe it! (And you don’t need any technology.) In fact, Lee welcomes his students to class with this comment: “Hello everyone, welcome to class. You all have an ‘F.’ But you can level up.” [ Listen on the web ] [ Listen on iTunes ] Thank you JTouch by InFocus, Today’s Sponsor My Interactive White Board (IWB) is gone, and I’m never going back. In today’s show, I’ll tell you how I’m using the Jtouch Interactive Display Board in my classroom. It is much ...

Leadership and Support of the New Teaching Professional From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter The first year is the toughest. Pretty much every teacher will tell you that. It is when the students will try you. The first year is often when colleagues are the most unsupportive. You don’t know everybody’s names. You aren’t aware of their agendas, so sometimes you step into a problem without realizing it. The biggest problem about the first year? There’s an enormous gap between what you learned about teaching and what teaching is really like. Having a great administrator that first year can be a lifeline . 1. Help New Teachers Find a Good Mentor My mom and sister were my mentors my first year. They were veteran teachers and knew what they were doing. Their words could save me hours of headache and heartbreak. They helped me organize my classroom and gave me feedback as I struggled. Some schools have formal mentor programs where the mentor...

Start the School Week of With What Matters: Kids From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Mondays are hard for (almost) everyone. What if we started the week with reminding students how much they and their work matters? Let’s challenge every teacher we know to begin celebrating Mattering Mondays . We know that we need students to be more engaged . We also know that when students feel like they matter and they are doing work that matters that they are more engaged . What if the learners and teachers knew that Mondays would be not drudgery but a reminder of how important they are to the world ? Why do we need #matteringmonday in schools? I’m all in on Mattering. My problem is that it is easy to do something one time and forget. I DON’T WANT TO FORGET MATTERING I want to do it all the time. Don’t you? So, every Monday, I will intentionally level up mattering in my classroom. While kids matter every single day, Monday is my day to intentional...