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5 Tips for the New Facebook Timeline for Personal Profiles
How to edit your Facebook Timeline to look more like you want. You can customize your clunky personal FAcebook page and you should.
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How to Create a QR to an iBook - Snapguide
Here's a snapguide for how to create a QR code to an ibook. This would let you put a link in a slide or on a page that would immediately take one to an ibook. (You can do this for kindle books too but would just use the URL as you can't buy inside the Kindle app on the ipad because Amazon and Apple couldn't come to terms on Apple's cut. You can just go to the Amazon webpage for the kindle and when it opens in safari, a person can buy and download from there.)
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A GeekyMomma's Blog: Can You Explain This?
Lee Kolbert demonstrates how to use Skitch to explain things. Excellent post. I love and use skitch because it integrates with Evernote, my personal notebook app. (Everyone should have a designated notebook app if you're using a tablet.)
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 04/30/2013
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 04/27/2013
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The Australian - Top 50 2013 education | The Australian
The top 50 people to watch in education in Australia. I enjoy looking at these lists and also following those who are thought leaders / educators. (I don't really follow politicians in the movements.) We have a lot to learn from each other.
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Why online education is mostly a fantasy
NOTE: The linked article is NSFW - it has a word of profanity where the author quotes Good Will Hunting. But the points are right. Some teachers worry they will be outdated or not needed with the online education movement. This article has some great points that I agree with. I do think online learning is part of our future but perhaps not the savior some make it out to be. "The online education utopians ignore the fact that free learning has existed for decades in the form of the public library and despite that availability, every kid within bicycling distance to his local branch didn’t turn into a self taught entrepreneur. Suggesting that online courses are the cure-all for our educational needs is like saying all you have to do to teach kids in the ghetto is give away textbooks on the corner. Recent studies have shown there is a significant gap between the completion rates of online students compared to classroom based students. When you consider that online learning is often promoted as a cost effective solution for at-risk learners who don’t have the financial resources for face-to-face instruction, it becomes clear that the online movement is offering a product that makes it easier to drop out to students who are already more prone to quitting in the first place."
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The real problem in education: the ‘opportunity gap’
"But even by reasonable standards, the nation’s educational outcomes are not in much better shape than they were in 1983. Whether we’re looking at overall scores or at achievement gaps, the trend lines for NAEP, the so-called Nation’s Report Card, generally show a post-reform picture that looks pretty much like the pre-reform picture – with positive trend lines but apparent slowing after 1990. There is no way to tease those data into showing that test-based accountability reform is accomplishing its key learning goals."
Friday, April 26, 2013
An Easy Guide to Gaining Followers and Being Followed on Twitter
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| Twitter (Photo credits: www.mysecuritysign.com) |
I follow people who:
- Talk with me about interesting things.
I most often follow people on the spot who have interesting conversations with me that make me a better person. Replying to people or modifying the tweet (MT) instead of just retweeting are two quick ways to gain followers from most people. - Demonstrate by their words that they are the exceptional kind of person I'd like to be around.
You become like those you are around. (How to build your circle of the wise.) Let' me give you an example. Look at the conversation below.
Kimberly @khurdhorst is my kind of teacher. She showed by her tweet that she loves a child. She has no benefit from tweeting that except just letting out a little piece of who she is. We need educators on Twitter like Kimberly who show their unashamed love of their students and the greatest profession. She's my my of educator. I followed her immediately just for that one tweet. - Demonstrate a common interest in things I care about.
It may be silly but sometimes I do a litmus test to find people who are just funny and cool. They are games, but I've found the best educators and people to follow. I may tweet a line from one of my favorite movies and follow the people that reply. It may be those who reply to a tweet I wrote that meant a lot to me. It may be those who cared enough to tweet encouragement if I was having a rough day. - People who are born encouragers.
I first followed +Jerry Blumengarten @cybraryman1 because he tweeted me encouragement as I ran. He was so kind. Then, when I followed him, he'd dm me to ask me if I was ok or encourage me when I needed a push. There are people who notice others and care about the person. - People who are bridge builders
There are those who tweet great things but also take time to reply and encourage a lot of people. Often these people are like +Tom Whitby @tomwhitbyand +Brad Currie @bcurrie5 who run fantastic chats and link people together. (Steven Anderson @web20classroom too and so many others! If they run a chat, I'm going to follow them - that is how important the bridge builders are.) They are important because they link all kinds of people and work hard at promoting important conversations. - Exceptional people with exceptional ideas
I do follow some people who do not follow me back. I create a whitelist in my Social Bro app and I will follow them. Michael Hyatt @michaelhyatt, author of Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World is one of those people. I listen to his podcast each morning and am going back and listening to old ones. His existence in the world makes my existence in the world better. They don't have to follow me back. - Friends
There are so many cool people in the world with interesting stories. Oh, to have a pad of paper and a line of people so as to hear all of them! If I sit down and talk to you for a bit at a conference and if you tweet me that we had a great conversation - you've just cemented that relationship. I follow you and we can now continue conversing. Sometimes when I'm talking with a person, I'll get their handle right then and tweet them so we can do that. - Educators, especially teachers, principals, superintendents, librarians, curriculum directors, and IT or parents who advocate for good education wherever their child is in school. I also love to follow homeschooling parents b/c they are teachers too!
But, that said, if you don't put this stuff in your bio and you put something random about how you like to skydive and eat coffee beans whole, I'm not going to know that about you. I often use my follower management tool, Social Bro, to search for those who have the word "teacher" in their profile. I hunger to look at my beautiful tweet stream and see the random beauty of educators from around the world talking. I have no desire to make myself look important by only following 145 people - I have private lists to drill down to that level.
I unfollow people who:
- Haven't tweeted in 30 days.
It doesn't matter if you're popular. If you haven't tweeted in 30 days then you're not engaged on Twitter and likely may end up taken over by a spammer. - Have no rhyme or reason to what they tweet.
Thousands of retweets? A bunch of junk? If I see that you're just indiscriminately tweeting junk, I kind of feel like you're the old aunt who auto forwards everything in their inbox without reading. Her mail goes in my spam and your Twitter account will be unfollowed. - Are consistently mean, demeaning, and use Twitter to belittle others.
There are those who make a career out of insulting people. I have no time for them in my life - I work with teenagers, that is hard enough. - Spam me with dm without admitting it.
If you get a virus and dm me - contact me and let me know it was a virus, or I'll unfollow you. If you indiscriminately dm me asking me to do things for you all the time - you don't care, you just want * want * want - I'm unfollowing. If I want someone in my life who just wants to take from me all the time - I'll go home and talk to my teenagers. (I do love teenagers, but if you've had them, your empty pockets and full calendar understand.) - Consistently steal my tweets verbatim without credit.
Yes, there are unimaginative people who just copy the tweets of others - verbatim, even in the same order. When I saw it happening, I started using the sharedby tool which pops a frame at the top of the tweet giving me credit anyway. It isn't that it is such a huge deal but when it is companies and people making money off Twitter who just want to take all those hours I spend researching and just copy it without credit, that is bad netiquette. - Don't converse.
I use a great tool that social media genius Jure Klepic @jkcallas (a friend of Angela Maiers) recommended when I talked to him at Microsoft. Social bro helps me manage Twitter followers. I go in once a week and see who is following me that I'm not following back (I can't do this daily - it is too many people) and look at them. I look at those I'm following who just never talk back to me. I'll look at what they've been tweeting lately: is it about education? Do those tweets make me a better person? If they don't converse with me and don't meet this criteria, I'll unfollow. - Who try to game the system.
These are Twitter scum in my book. I don't care how interesting you are. If you follow as many as you can and unfollow just after they follow you back hoping that not everyone will unfollow you - you're gaming the system and that wasn't what Twitter is supposed to be. I will unfollow you AND blacklist you in socialbro (which means I'll never see your name again.) - People who are users.
I'm just a teacher who has been blessed with many great friends online. There are "important" thought leaders who won't follow me, won't converse with me, and completely ignore me when I reach out to ask a question. They have NO teachers in their list of people they follow except those who look like cookie cutter copies of themselves. However, these people will often email me asking me to promote their book or retweet something or do this or that for them. They want to use my followers but don't care a rip about me at all when I need help or have a question.
I love people who love average everyday teachers and if they are going ignore me because I'm just a teacher then how will they feel about other teachers? Call it "I'm taking my tweets and flying to the roost" but truthfully I know I'm nothing and these people won't miss me or even care. I can add them to a list and read their stuff to stay abreast but many of them don't even use popular educational hashtags to make it easier to see what they are talking about. I'd rather talk with real educators who I love because the greatest teachers have a lot of love... and humility. Those are the kinds of people I'd like to be around. I like cooperative collaborators in my stream.
Others just want to use me for a retweet and beg incessantly for me to promote their product, book, or whatever but have never engaged in conversation, never talked in the community. They are users and will be lucky to even get a follow.
I won't follow you if:
- Your profile says nothing about you.
I have no idea if you're legit or not. - Your avatar is still a new egg.
You haven't taken the time to put yourself out there. I want to make sure people are real. - You don't follow anyone at all.
- Your twitter stream shows you're here to be followed not to converse.
Desperate divas get no dates. If you want to be followed, be helpful, be giving, think of others first. Being followed is a by product of being kind and helpful -- or being a celebrity. Celebrities won't read this post anyway. Life is full of enough people full of themselves - I fund such an attitude repugnant. - You're a celebrity.
Exception: Jimmy Fallon. @jimmyfallon The dude is hilarious. His Twitter games are fun to play.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 04/25/2013
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Here's the iTunes podcast for Every Classroom matters, the new show I"m hosing on BAM radio network. I'll have one post a week go live from here on out as I interview the best, most exciting teachers I know. Let me know if you want to nominate someone. IF you listen and like the show, it would help me out if you would rate it on the store. Thank you.
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15+ Tips & Tricks to Use Evernote Like a Pro
Excellent tips for using Evernote - I use all of these tips except the transcription and signature features. Evernote is so useful. I also like to embed documents in my notes which make repetitive tasks much easier.
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Jure Klepic: Social Media Influence Is Much More Than This Forbes List Shows
Jure Klepic nails it in his critique of the Forbes 2013 list of Social Media influencers. If you're clueless about social media, don't make a list. Jure says "It seems that today everyone thinks they can write and preach about influence, even though they have no clue as to what influence is. In order to rank people on the ability to influence we need to understand influence, not just define it. When people just try to define influence they come away with something as useless as what is used in this post. The real definition of influence is quite simple -- influence is the power to sway. But understanding influence is far more than just knowing this definition. Understanding influence in contemporary online world means understanding contemporary notions of identity and identity construction. Identity, ideas of person and self are cultural constructs; they are ideas and values that are part of our culture. So the real question here should not be who will make the next Forbes list, but how can the author of an article about influence omit the names of so many of the brightest and best thought leaders in the field? "
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Encouraging Global Connections and Digital Citizenship
I had a great conversation with Theresa Allen, IT director in Illinois who has facilitated global connections from Kindergarten through 8th grade. She talks about the "Hello Little world Skypers" project and other projects she does with her students and how you can facilitate change.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 04/24/2013
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Gearing Up for Common Core in Math
Great conversation with Darren Burris about Common Core math in the classroom and how to adjust your curriculum. Another Every Classroom Matters show.
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USA TODAY: Latest World and US News - USATODAY.com
The free tool, called Your Privacy Type, requires you to take a brief quiz. Microsoft uses your answers to categorize how much you may, or may not, be concerned about online privacy. The supporting website supplies guidance on how to more proactively gain some measure of privacy.
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USA TODAY: Latest World and US News - USATODAY.com
This might be a good time to talk about poverty as superstars are living on just a little. I don't know how they count this because the heating and air on their homes would exceed $1.50 a day. $1.50 a day is the global figure that defines extreme poverty. "Ben Affleck, Josh Groban, Sophia Bush and Debi Mazar are among the celebs who have committed to take the 2013 Live Below the Line challenge issue by The Global Poverty Project. They will live on $1.50 of food and drink a day (no Starbucks for him!) April 29-May 3 to raise awareness about extreme poverty."
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White House Science Fair - The Washington Post
Photo =gallery from the science fair at the White House. Science teachers should peruse these. I wish every student had to do a science fair project and we'd elevate project based activities to the "status" of doing well on an SAT or other test. I think these require a lot more higher order thinking and problem solving. "President Obama hosts the White House Science Fair to celebrate the student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions from across the country. He met students in the East Garden of the White House, and they explained their science projects and experiments to him. Marvin Joseph / The Washington Post"
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Comedy Central to Host Comedy Festival on Twitter - NYTimes.com
Next week, you can attend a 5 day comedy show. The hashtag is #comedyfest and it is being cohosted with Comedy Central and Twitter. Here's the New York times article on this event. Will be a neat follow for your personal life.
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Texas Legislators Seek to Pare Standardized Tests - NYTimes.com
Texas is going to cut down testing. This is a wise move for many reasons. Some states are cutting out teachers and the same time increasing spending on test taking. Such decisions harm learning no matter what test you take. "“Testing companies are in the business of making a profit, but let’s not confuse their mission — their mission is to create as many tests as they can and then grade them at as little cost as possible,” the chairman of the Senate Education Committee, Dan Patrick, Republican of Houston, said Tuesday at a hearing on a comprehensive education bill that would reduce the number of high-stakes tests students must pass to graduate."
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
9 Fine Reasons to Keep a Journal (and how to help kids do it too)
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| A Gratitude Journal can improve your well being more than winning a million dollars in the lottery. Why not start one today? (Photo credit: limevelyn) |
- Narrative journal. Observations on life. God's blessings. Questions I'm seeking to answer.
- Joy Journal. I aim to write 20 things a day I'm thankful for. Research studies have shown that keeping a 5 minute a day gratitude journal will "increase your long term well being" more than winning a million dollars in the lottery. I started my joy journal this spring break as my eye was bandaged from skin cancer surgery. (See 11 ways to be positive when spring break isn't all you planned.)
1. Add meaning to the moments.
2. Process emotions.
“What would H. think of this terrible little notebook to which I come back and back? Are these jottings morbid? ...But what am I to do? I must have some drug, and reading isn’t a strong enough drug now.”
3. Capture thoughts.
4. Gain clarity.
5. Leave a Legacy.
6. Remember.
7. Develop your voice
8. To Create.
9. To Release.
How can teachers encourage journaling and respect privacy?
Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 04/23/2013
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LA Class 2013: Teaching An Old Student New Tricks?
Do you want to know what a student thinks about genius learning? Read Melina's thoughts about this practice in 12th grad english. ""What are the projects on?"-you might ask. The topic and the project is completely up to us to decide. If we are interested in how to make a good documentary or how to play an instrument, teaching ourselves and researching that topic can be our project. This new way of learning is very peculiar to me, but also very intriguing. For so long I have been told what to know and taught how to know it, but never once did I really felt in control of my learning. It felt like the knowledge went into my brain, stayed their until after my exams, and then was thrown away like a smooth stone into a lake, out of my reach forever. But when you are passionate about something and can lear"
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My Own Genius Hour: This is why...
Here are some genius hour topics from Joy Kirr and her students. She's one of the 4 authors of the genius manifesto and I'm talking to them today. I love the simple genius plans of these students Joy contemplated about on this day. One is investigating the quesiton "what makes us human?" and the other wants to perform random acts of kindness after surveying others and finding the types of random acts of kindness they had enjoyed in their lives, if any.
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21st Century Learning. 21st Century Leadership. - Integrating Technology: My Journey
I'm interviewing Gallit Zvi from British Columbia, Canada today on Every Classroom matters (should post in about a week) about genius hour and I was intrigued by this post on her blog about how her school "looks." While some of these points have inspired questions (they can cook for their family in lieu of copying spelling sentences, for example) others have me wishing we could do the same thing (entrepreneur fair where students have a sales idea, craft a business plan and make and sell products.) It is worth a peek inside this fascinating classroom and school which uses genius hour among other things.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 04/21/2013
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Faith, Trust and Chalk Dust: Spring is in the air
I love how this teacher used both sides of the brain to engage her students in test review. They painted, wrote and reviewed. Here here!
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Big Data News Roundup: Correlation vs. Causation - Forbes
The discussions about "big data" are receiving pushback who believe the conclusions are erroneous. Note that this is tied up in learning analytics as well. "Cuzzillo is joined by a growing chorus of critics that challenge some of the breathless pronouncements of big data enthusiasts. Specifically, it looks like the backlash theme-of-the-month is correlation vs. causation, possibly in reaction to the success of Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth Cukier’s recent big data book in which they argued for dispensing “with a reliance on causation in favor of correlation”"
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Google Glass Has One Year To Change Your Behavior or Fail - Forbes
One year? I'm not sure how we're going to change in one year when no one can get the Google glasses yet. How will these be used in the classroom?
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How Pearson Cheats on State Tests | Diane Ravitch's blog
Diane Ravitch calls it. Read her blog post on this major ethical issue. I think we need an independent testing company. Isn't there a conflict of interest here when a company creates textbooks and the test? "I am an 8th grade teacher in Xxxx, NY. On Day 1 of the NYS ELA 8 Exam, I discovered what I believe to be a huge ethical flaw in the State test. The state test included a passage on why leaves change color that is included in the Pearson-generated NYS ELA 8 text. I taught it in my class just last week. In a test with 6 passages and questions to complete in 90 minutes, it was a huge advantage to students fortunate enough to use a Pearson text and not that of a rival publisher. It may very well have an impact on student test scores. This has not yet received any attention in the press. Could you help me bring this to the attention of the public?"
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School principals and the rhetoric of ‘instructional leadership’
Great article by Larry Cuban on the Washington Post that you should forward to principals. "Yet studies of principal behavior in schools makes clear that spending time in classrooms to observe, monitor, and evaluate classroom lessons do not necessarily lead to better teaching or higher student achievement on standardized tests. Where there is a correlation between principals’ influence on teachers and student performance, it occurs when principals create and sustain an academic ethos in the school, organize instruction across the school, and align school lessons to district standards and standardized test items. There is hardly any positive association between principals walking in and out of classrooms a half-dozen times a day and conferring briefly with teaches about those five-minute visits.The reality of daily principal actions conflicts with the theory."
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New standardized tests feature plugs for commercial products
Disgusting. Via the Washington Post So many things going wrong. "Talk about corporate-based school reform. New high-stakes standardized tests aligned with the Common Core State Standards are featuring plugs for commercial products. And the companies didn’t have to pay a penny. Yes, New York state students who this past week took Pearson-designed exams were just treated to plugs for LEGO, Mug Root Beer and more products from at least half a dozen companies, according to the New York Post."
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Gifted Exam Scoring Flaws Are Uncovered - WSJ.com
Tests are important. They should be accurate. Not only should they be audited, but I think that districts should have a pre-look at tests and strike questions that aren't taught to kids. It isn't fair to the kids to be tested on material they aren't taught. "Thousands of students were incorrectly told they weren't eligible for the city's gifted-and-talented public-school program due to errors by the testing company, city officials said Friday. The errors affected 4,735 children, or 13.2% of test takers, who are now eligible for gifted programs, including 2,037 students who are newly eligible for elite schools that accept students from across the city who scored in the 97th percentile or above. Test maker Pearson PSON.LN +0.09% PLC discovered the errors after two parents last week took their concerns about the scoring to Department of Education officials. The British-based company found it made an error on the students' ages and two errors in calculating their scores."
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 04/20/2013
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Habit Mastery: Creating the New Normal : zenhabits
Leo Babauta gives great advice on forming new habits. As you think about the habits that need to change in your life, read this thought provoking post. "Here’s the process: Start small. What’s the smallest increment you can do? Do this for at least 3 days, preferably 4-5. Get started. Starting the change each day is the most important thing. Want to run? Just get out the door. Want to meditate? Just get on the cushion. Enjoy the change. Don’t look at this as a sacrifice. It’s fun, it’s learning, it’s a challenge. Stick to the change. Notice your urge to quit. Don’t act on it. Keep going. Adjust again. When the change becomes normal, make another small adjustment. This is the process of creating a new normal. It’s beautiful and simple."
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Top Blogging Mistakes - Platform Tip #3 - Michael Hyatt - YouTube
I enjoy Michael Hyatt's podcast. He has great content. This is good advice on why you're making mistakes on your blog. (I think I need to listen to tip #3 and shorten my posts. ;-)
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Free Technology for Teachers: Check Out The Great New Features in Socrative
Socrative has even more cool features. Richard Byrne gives an overview on on of my favorite blogs, Free Tech for Teachers. "Socrative's new image option could be great for asking mathematics questions that are diagram based. The image option could also be great for world languages teachers to post a picture of an object that students have to identify in the language that they're learning. And the new automatic grading option could save you a ton of time that you can then invest in something else. "
Friday, April 19, 2013
7 Key Ingredients in the successful 21st Century Classroom
- a STEM Lab.
If you want to make it STEAM - Science Technology Engineering, Arts, and Math, then go right ahead! You've still got STEM and you can't have technology without the arts. Some are getting rid of their "computer" labs (which I think is a huge mistake). The argument is that every teacher should integrate technology. The problem is that every teacher doesn't, can't, won't or isn't.
A STEM lab not only focuses on the technology but the Engineering, Math, and Science and critical thinking technology-app infused decision making required in our Higher Order thinking world. The best example is the interview with my friend Kevin Jarrett who removed his elementary computer lab and put in a STEM Lab. I'm all in, Kevin, you've convinced me.
It stresses me out to think what I'm doing to myself but I'm in the process of proposing that I no longer be called the computer lab but the STEAM lab. I'm willing to do what it takes to rewrite my curriculum. If I believe it, I've got to do it. I'll never settle for the same thing I taught last year but only to do the right thing for my students. It will still include genius projects and Flat Classroom, that is for sure.
See Turning Elementary Computer Labs into STEM Labs an interview with Kevin Jarrett, elementary STEM lab teacher - Genius Hour.
Twenty per cent personal interest projects (some call this genius hour) are VITAL. Students spend 20% of their time on a personal interest project that they propose and teachers coach. I first saw this when I spoke in Evansville, Indiana. They require their seniors to do a personal interest project taking at least 100 hours. (See the video from Dantae Thrash below, the Evansville student who blew me away.)
In Flattening Classrooms (p115-116,125), we wrote about the EAST Initiative in Arkansas where students work together to solve a problem in their school or community using technology. This is another great example with some research behind it showing that the students in this program improved their math and science scores and also their attendance. Harnessing their passion made them WANT to come to school. (Imagine that.)
In my classroom, we use Trello to manage our genius hour work, goals and accomplishments. (I wouldn't survive without this handy tool.) The students propose and vote up courses and lessons they want me to teach. I've taught lessons on Pinterest, Tumblr, Twitter this week but even more exciting, the students get together and share what they've learned. They attend the classes if it is related to what they are doing in their project.
We now have "consultants." One student who is excellent at writing for Tumblr (http://breakups16.tumblr.com) is our "Tumblr Consultant." The students who manage the oceans instagram are Instagram consultants. I did genius hour last year but this year shows me it keeps getting better. But what stuns me is how much CONTENT we're covering. I have always built in four weeks of digital literacy/ social media marketing and awareness and photography. We're covering all of this and more.
See the Genius Hour Wiki and Angela Maier's The Passion-Driven Classroom and my students and me talking about our Passion Based Classroom.
My most exciting take away from this year is this: students propose and vote up what they want me to teach them as it relates to their genius hour projects. I call class and those who come want to and others work on their projects. This is FANTASTIC and should be part of every STEM lab. There are so many amazing things.
- Flat Online Connections and Collaborations.
Meaningful online connections with other students in the world as the classrooms "flattens" and connects and teaches things that kids can't learn in a book. Connections are vital to being well educated but sadly many schools block these or don't understand.
One person I know had a principal come in and call her work in global collaboration "fluff" and told her to get back to teaching wordprocessing! Misguided. Mistaken. Word processing is a skill but how long does it take to teach?
See my book Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds and the interview with some elementary teachers who are connecting on "How Teachers and Students are Connecting Globally" on BAM Radio. - A network engineered to support 1:1 or better.
I met with my principal this week and he's all in for BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology.) We're taking down the network this summer and (with board approval) hope to rework the whole network with a new set of ratios in place. We are engineering to support 1.5 devices per person in the high/ middle school and 1 device per person in the elementary school.
We're moving ahead to encourage and foster and environment where students can take notes on their phones or their paper notebooks. This will take some time, but it is the right way to go. It isn't just about technology and infrastructure but also classroom practices and that is always a challenge.
See Building a Robust and Safe BYOD Program from District Administrator Magazine and Miguel Guhlin's shared Evernote notebook on BYOD. - A Connected, Passionate Educator
You should connect yourself to the world. Innovation starts in me. Kids say "bring it" when they are talking sports to mean you bring all you've got, because I'm here to play and bring all I have. Passion starts with me saying "bring it." I'm going to bring all my passions, interests, and ingenuity and I expect you to do the same.
I'm going to engage with a PLN (personal learning network) and help my students build one of their own. I'm going to make friends around the world to help me advance my professional practice and help you learn the digital literacies to do the same. I'm going to help you find your passions, your purpose, and reach your potential. I won't stop. I won't give up on you even when you give up on yourself. I'm here to change the world starting with myself and my students and I won't stop until I drop full of exhaustion and sleep well earned from a life well lived.
See chapter 3 "Connection" of Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds for a quick way to get started. I've also heard my friend Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach's book The Connected Educator is a great one and have it on my list to read. - A Worthy To Be List
We've been so busy with our to-do list in schools that we've forgotten what we want our students to be. They gave me a chance to invite someone to my school for PD in January and Angela Maiers came and shared this idea with me.
Now, each month, we focus on a Habitude. I like the term habitude because it is attitudes that we want to be habits. Curiosity. Perseverance. Imagination. Self-Awareness. Courage. Adaptability. Passion. and we are adding Integrity.
These habits are based upon the research of successful people. The most successful people have these traits but may or may not have mastered Algebra. If we leave our to-be list out of our teaching, we are filling up our plate with food without teaching kids how to use a spoon and fork. Some might call this character education but it is more. I think it should be school wide and result in a common vocabulary that can be reinforced by everyone.
See Classroom Habitudes (Revised edition) and Angela's list of resources for the new Habitudes. - The Flexibility to be a Teacherpreneur
This comes from administration. Are you allowed to innovate? Are you given flexibility to customize? Can you personalize to the interest and learning styles of your students?
This is the one thing that is crunching much of the love of teaching for many. Teacherpreneurship cannot be scripted any more than a fantastic first date. If you're new to a school this comes in baby-steps. You have to earn their trust like I did. It takes time.
Standards and scripting make sorry teachers less sorry, perhaps. But they make fantastic teachers want to quit.
You might not have a lot of flexibility but take what flexibility you have to do something. It takes time to flex your wings, earn the right, and learn how to be a successful teacherpreneur. If you look back at #1, you'll see that I'm proposing a change to my own curriculum and computer lab. It may or may not be accepted but they see me pushing myself and never settling.
If you don't innovate, you depreciate.
To learn more see page 44-50 of Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds see the CAST UDL Lesson Builders to learn how you can differentiate your lessons even amidst standards.
It isn't about WHAT you use but about WHAT you do with WHAT you have that is more important. The Flat Classroom was born when I had Pentium III computers in the computer lab and a very slow connection.
What we are missing in education is not the resources -- but the creativity to make the most of the resources we have.
Would love to hear the ingredients you feel are essential in the modern classroom in the comments or on your own blog posts. What do you think?
Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 04/19/2013
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Five Creative Uses for Google Alerts
Google alerts is how we monitor our school brand. We use "Westwood Schools" +Camilla - this way it shows us everything for our school name and in our city. You can deliver to a feed or to email (many like email.) This way it will search and find things and email you when it finds it on the web. Lifehacker has an article on the creative uses for Google Alerts that you should read if it is your job to protect your brand for your business, school, or your own personal brand.
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Lifehacker has revamped its website - you log in. You can blog, etc. Platforms are becoming more participatory as they try to get you to create content. Meanwhile, I CAN'T FIND ANYTHING ON MY FAVORITE SITE. "Welcome to our new home. It's called Kinja. It's not only a redesign to Lifehacker's front page, but an entirely new blogging platform that anyone—yes, even you—can blog on."
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Google glass News, Videos, Reviews and Gossip - Gizmodo
Don't try to sell your Google glasses! ;-) "The oppressive Google Glass terms state that: "…you may not resell, loan, transfer, or give your device to any other person. If you resell, loan, transfer, or give your device to any other person without Google's authorization, Google reserves the right to deactivate the device, and neither you nor the unauthorized person using the device will be entitled to any refund, product support, or product warranty.""
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock 04/18/2013
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A network about ending human trafficking. It is a project and students are joining in. If this is your passion (like mine) then you may want to look into this. Thanks to my friend Toni Olivieri-Barton for letting me know.
Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 04/18/2013
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High School Publishers’ Criteria for the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics
Last week a 20 page document was issued from the Common Core Math standards writers to make "more clearly visible" where materials faithfully reflect both the letter and spirit of the math standards... I read in this... just because it SAYS it is common core math aligned, doesn't mean it is. Read this before buying and tread with caution.
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Not sure where this blog will move, but if you're aligning with common core math, Darren Burris is your man. There are so many great resources on this website.
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Love the HLW Skypers which has been founded by some of my favorite educators: Anne Mirtschin, Theresa Allen, Karen Lirenmen. Love what they are doing. There is information about how Mystery Skype works as well.
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#047: The Lost Art of Note-Taking | Michael Hyatt
If you teach students about notetaking, this is one to listen to about modern notetaking. I love the tips and updates to the Cornell Notetaking system for evernote.
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#048: The 5 Characteristics of Weak Leaders [Podcast] | Michael Hyatt
Michael Hyatt has one of my favorite podcasts on Intentional leadership. This FANTASTIC podcast on leadership takes the weaknesses of General McLellan and talks about what makes a great leader... or not. This is a must listen for anyone in school leadership.
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Angela Maiers: When Students Say They Want to Change the World -- Listen to Them!
Some great things will be happening with the Quest2Matter. The top 100 will be featured in an upcoming book and the top 5 that are selected will attend the BAMMY's - follow this movement and involve your change makers at your school. It is just starting but I expect it will be a great thing for our students.
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Create timelines, share them on the web | Timetoast timelines
Timetoast is a very nice timeline maker. You can browse for timelines here as well.
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xtimeline - Explore and Create Free Timelines
Another simple timeline maker.
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This timeline maker that lets you add video, pictures, and text was highly recommended by the educational technology and mobile learning blog. It is a timeline maker with multimedia.Very cool.
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OurStory.com - Capture your stories, save them permanently.
This might be a neat approach to have children do with their familiy as they tell "our story." There are public and private ways to build stories. What a great way to document vacation or have students share about their summers.
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Timeglider: web-based timeline software
Another neat timeline maker.
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Move over Siri, Sherpa's in town | Mobile - CNET News
Sherpa is here. An android app is rolling out in the US on April 17 and then will come to iOS. It has been a top app in Spain and Latin America.
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Samsung probed for allegedly bashing rival HTC online | Mobile - CNET News
Sad to see organizations hire "student interns" to do their dirty work. Samsung hired students to praise Samsung smartphones and make fun of HTC. In Taiwan, they are calling this false advertising and I agree. There are those learning to game the social media system and sites like Facebook and Twitter need to wise up. Don't think education is immune, I've seen some strange stuff in those circles too.
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This is a tumblr blog from a student who is a very interesting person. She said people always come to her for relationship advice and so she's created a tumblr all about breakups, feeling good about yourself even if you're not in a relationship and -- she's taking questions about breakups like a dear Abby for teens. Surprisingly, she's getting many questions - some may be silly but I think it is going to make for some funny and entertaining content. With all of these, my students are required to note that no profanity is allowed.
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What Is a CAT/CT Scan Machine? - YouTube
One of my students is the daughter of a local pediatrician and wants to go into the field herself. She created her channel last year and is continuing to add videos this year. She has a video What is the CAT/CT Scan machine that has over 53,000 views! She scans her little brother while her Dad (a pediatrician) runs the video camera. Her desire was to create videos that will help children be less afraid of the doctor and the equipment used. I think it is kind of funny the expressions her little brother has. ;-)
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Two of my students are sharing photos and a love of the ocean with their passion project. This is their instagram that they set up this week. They already have 76 followers. Love what they are doing.
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A tumblr blog that 2 of my students are creating. featuring music that motivates. They embed tumblrs and youtube videos and also share onto Twitter. If you like music, you might want to follow them. You can also submit your playlist of your favorite songs for them to share.
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Students: We Need Your Help with the Quest2Matter - Choose 2 Matter
Some of my students are signing up to join the Quest2matter as part of their passion projects. Here's a link to the website and the signup. If your child wants to make a difference in the world, you may want to mention this as something they want to do. Very exciting. "The Quest2Matter is a five-week, student-focused initiative that seeks to inspire students to tackle problems that break their heart. This is an unprecedented opportunity to unlock the potential of students to think entrepreneurially and innovatively and use modern tools to solve problems that break their heart. To learn more about the Quest2Matter, read this post. We are looking to recruit 225 students, and teachers to help facilitate them for our DREAM TEAM! They will be helping us launch the Quest2Matter and its parent movement, Choose2Matter. See the general information and qualifications below, followed by the specific duties of each team. At the very bottom of this post, you’ll find a link to the sign-up form."
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A transformational practice that is in the second year in my own classroom. This is as transformational and essential as adding global collaboration to your classroom.
