Cool Cat Teacher Blog is at coolcatteacher.com

Day 46 of 80 Days of Excellence From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Set your goals and select habits to go with those goals. For to make a change or accomplish anything, you need steady progress. And sustained growth comes from repetition. And something that repeats consistently is a habit. But changing habits is so hard! And accomplishing goals is as well. I track my habits on a one-pager that also has my goals listed at the top.  (shown above) And while I usually start off with one or two habits that are easy to build, sometimes the others take time. But I’ll say this. By having a habit “streak tracker” where I look at it daily and reading my goals daily, I have to do some hard searching and examining. For example, my top goal is working out 20 minutes a day six days a week. That is a start. I have to get back to working out every day. I’ll improve from there. And while I started off not doing it so much, I’m getting it done m...

Lynn Fuini-Hetten on episode 259 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Strategic planning for your school or district can take a variety of forms. In today’s show, learn how one successful district has tackled this process and how they are getting buy in from teachers on the vision during the second year of implementation. Check out Jennifer Gonzalez’ 2018 Teacher’s Guide to Technology for more than 200 tools with special tips, videos, and screenshots to get you started. Listen Now Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher Stream by clicking here . *** Enhanced Transcript Creating a Vision for Your School and Getting Buy In from Stakeholders Link to show: www.coolcatteacher/e259 Date: February 22, 2018 Vicki: Today, we’re talking to Lynn Fuini-Hetten @ lfuinihetten , Assistant Superintendent from the Salisbury Township in Pennsylvania. Her district has done a lot of work with one-to...

Day 45 of 80 Days of Excellence From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Out beyond complacency and comfort lies a land of opportunity. It requires that you no longer comform to the comfortable. You can’t “phone it in.” You have to work. You have to dream. You can’t settle. Everyone wants success – well, most do anyway. And most people say the same thing. Everybody is shooting for grandiose goals and their speech often turns to braggadocio about what they’re GOING to do. Get out of the way, all that hot air can burn you. But most people would rather talk than walk. They’d rather complain and make excuses than make plans and cooperate with others aiming towards a vision. We’re afraid to dream. We’re afraid because we might be disappointed. But the saddest among us not only don’t dream, they lie helpless in a cage of their own making that keeps them imprisoned in a world of their own design. Before you can win a ballgame in the phys...

Heidi Sloan on episode 258 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Heidi Sloan is the Iditarod teacher for this year. It starts on March 3 – 18. Get free lesson plans, connect with a musher and get your kids excited. Check out Jennifer Gonzalez’ 2018 Teacher’s Guide to Technology for more than 200 tools with special tips, videos, and screenshots to get you started. Listen Now Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher Stream by clicking here . *** Enhanced Transcript Iditarod Teacher: How to Connect and Learn from the Iditarod Race Link to show: www.coolcatteacher.com/e258 Date: February 21, 2018 Vicki: Today we’re talking with Heidi Sloan, a Virginia 5th grade teacher who has the privilege of reporting on the Iditarod this year, February 19-22, 2018. So Heidi, tell us about this opportunity and what you’re going to be doing. Heidi: The Iditarod is a dog sled race across Alaska commemo...

Day 44 of 80 Days of Excellence From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Westwood Schools Alumnus, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Hilliard, (soon to be a Colonel in the Army) spoke to our students today. As he talked about success and failure, he said something incredible, “If your head is up when you stumble and you’re looking forward, then you will see an open door.” Lt. Colonel Robert Hilliard, US Army This is a man who knows struggle. From leading troops who disarmed IED’s in Northern Baghdad to helping construct hospitals to help with the Ebola Crisis in Africa, Lt. Col. Hilliard is one of those who handles stress and difficult things for a living. I admire him very much. But I think this point is an important one. Keep your head up. Why we shouldn’t hang our heads Life is tough. You will fail. You will get knocked down. You will have problems. I will too. Problems, failures, and struggle are part of the human condition. No one is exem...

Tom Mullaney on episode 257 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Google Jamboard is a fun interactive app. There’s hardware too, but don’t be worried. The free app has lots to play with. You just download it on Google Play or iTunes and use it with your touch Chromebook or iPad after listening to Tom Mullaney share how it works. Enjoy this fun, free tool. Check out Jennifer Gonzalez’ 2018 Teacher’s Guide to Technology for more than 200 tools with special tips, videos, and screenshots to get you started. Listen Now Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher Stream by clicking here . *** Enhanced Transcript Google Jamboard Link to show: www.coolcatteacher.com/e257 Date: February 20, 2018 Vicki: Today we’re talking with Tom Mullaney @tommullaney . He is in the San Francisco Unified School District as a Learning Integration Designer, and he does it with digital technology. Now Tom, you...

Day 43 of 80 Days of Excellence From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Garrett Grubbs , the Youth Minister at Sherwood Baptist Church, said something in a recent sermon that has me rethinking about almost everything in my life. Before you jump off the page, this quote has non-religious applications as well if you’ll read on for a moment. Now, Pastor Garrett was talking about prayer when he said this, but it can apply to so many things. He said something like, “You need to ask yourself if you’re wearing a bib or an apron when you pray.” So, in other words, are you looking to get something (be fed and wear the bib) or to serve God (wear the apron.) But this “big and apron” metaphor applies to everything. Let’s put this in another context. Your Job.  When you’re approaching your job, are you wearing a bib or an apron? Are you coming to your job for what you can get out of it? Money. Prestige. Power. Or are you looking at your job for...