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Free this Week! Learn about Social Emotional Learning and the Impact on Kids From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Social Emotional Learning is so important. The free online conference going on now  put together by Jason and Ceilia Hilkey with experts like Alfie Kohn, Tony Wagner and many more experts on this topic is a must-listen and share. Register now for the free conference My interview will air on Friday about Using Projects to teach Compassion AND Technology to share how compassion-based engineering works in the classroom.  Teachers, administrators, homeschoolers, and parents will find inspiration. Please join me for the Education: Next Generation Online Conference ! This is a FREE global online event from May 23-27, 2016, bringing together the voices of over 25 experts and thought leaders in parenting and education. The conference is hosted by Jason and Cecilia Hilkey, educators and creators of Happily Family. ...

A Tip for Parents and Teachers From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter He was dyslexic. I’m not sure if there is such a thing is “very” dyslexic. If there was, he was. I had a trick that worked with my older children. But would it work for him? The “trick” was simple. On a long trip, I would start reading the Chronicles of Narnia . I would put as much excitement and energy my reading as I could. Usually, I would read for thirty minutes to an hour each day on the book. I would wait until the kids were fascinated by the book. I could tell. For example, when we would stop for gas, the moment we were back in the car, they’d beg for me to read again. It was almost cruel to stop reading right there. But that is what I did. I would yawn, stretch my arms, and say, “You know what? I’m really tired.” I would hear howls from the backseat. They wanted to know what happened next. So, I would turn around and say, “Read it for yourself. I won’t...

End the School Year Like a Pirate with Dave Burgess From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Your legacy moment as a teacher is the last day of school. In today’s high-energy show Dave Burgess will get us all motivated to end the school year well. Don’t wind down, you’ve got to wind up at the end of the school year! @burgessdave #tlap Powered By the Tweet This Plugin Tweet This Listen to this show on: BAM Radio Network | iTunes | Stitcher Learn about Student Trips with Rustic Pathways Show Notes: Some epic (but easy) ideas for ending the school year. Great ideas for teachers who are burning out and tired that will get your students excited and end the school year on an up note. The kind of stuff every teacher should be trying at the end of the school year. Dave Burgess @ burgessdave is a teacher and highly sought after professional development speaker, well known for his creative, entertaining, and outrageously energetic st...

Living an Epic Life Full of Meaning From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Examine your relationships. You may find a secret stash of energy waiting to be unleashed. The People Who Drain Our Energy Some people are vampires . When they come around, you taste dread. Inevitably, they will suck your blood. Well, not literally, they won’t suck your blood. But certainly they’ll absorb your will to live . You are less energized when you leave their presence. Supposedly Picasso was a vampire . The sculptor Constatin Brancusi literally “unfriended” Picasso. He said being around Picasso was exhausting. Picasso took everyone else’s life drained them of it and put it into his paintings. The first step to having more energy is to start noticing how interactions with others make us feel. Are we being sucked dry? If we aren’t aware of how people affect our energy, we can find ourselves drained all the time. We need stamina. We can’t alwa...

8 Ideas for Fun STEM Learning with Kids From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter STEM lessons can be fun. Whether it is origami jumping frogs or making a boat out of cement, Mandy Casto has eight high-energy ideas for making STEM fun. She also shares her favorite ways to find new ideas and about the success of school-wide “STEM Time” for the students each week. Learn about Wonder Workshop Robotics Clubs Listen to this show on: BAM Radio Network | iTunes | Stitcher Last year I judged a robotics competition for Wonder Workshop. I was amazed at the incredible things students could do with Dash and Dot. This would make a great summer activity at home for kids or check out their robotics clubs. Today’s Sponsor is  Wonder Workshop:  The Wonder Workshop robotics club is a great way to get students excited about STEM. If you sign up to start a club before July 10, you may be eligible for a $10,000 grant to get your club started. (T...

21st Century Skills Made Simple From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Grant Smith helps teachers learn to code. Surprisingly, he says that teachers have less to learn about teaching coding than programmers do! Today’s episode will help you learn how you can teach coding too. Download a FREE Coding Kit from DK Randomhouse From simple sites to the tips and tricks to get you started, now is the time to learn to code. Listen to this show on: BAM Radio Network | iTunes | Stitcher DK.com  has created a free Computer Coding Kit to get you started. It includes a poster, coding cards, and tips as you begin your coding journey. You can also go there and hear the bonus segment with Grant Smith, 3 Mistakes Teachers Make When They Try to Teach Coding .   Show Notes: Why just taking students to the websites for coding is not enough. What the research says about the teacher’s role in coding instruction. The use of coding journals i...

Living an Examined Life of Loveliness From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Tracy left me a comment on the  36 Edtech Tools blog post  I posted this week. She asked about the seven questions I ask myself every day. So, I’ll share them with you. There are more than 7 questions below. The ones with the stars are my must-answers. If I’m too busy, then the others get deleted. These are  my questions. You need to create  your questions based on your values and what you want out of life. My life is better in every way with this routine.  Title Some recent titles of journal entries. I keep several types of journals but this is my memory journal. Each day gets a title. My journaling app,  Day One , makes the titles bold. Instead of writing “I’m stressed and exhausted” I wax a bit romantic and might write “My epic battle over exhaustion just as the day of victory approaches.” Sometimes I am silly or dumb. It ...