A Principal's Reflections

AUGUST 5, 2013

'Cross-posted at the Huffington Post. NJ Spotlight is a fantastic resource for me. They are unbiased in their approach to educate citizens on numerous topics, with education being one of them. I recently came across an opinion piece titled Putting New Jersey''s High School Diplomas to the Test. The article focused on NJ''s relentless push to increase standardized testing and institute end of course exams that students would have to pass in order to graduate.

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Policies Outcomes Study Training 281

The Web20Classroom

AUGUST 15, 2013

'Watch this video. Did you really watch the video or are you just keeping reading? Come on, watch it. I promise you will like it. (This is my favorite You Tube video by the way.) Now ask yourself some questions. 1) Do you have guts? This guy is my hero. He felt something inside his soul. The music made him want to move. He didn''t care what others would think.

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Educational Technology Guy

AUGUST 16, 2013

'ClassDojo is a free online system that helps teachers promote positive behavior in their classroom by letting them track and share student progress and positive behaviors and areas of concern. It''s easy to use and many teachers who use it have seen positive outcomes from using it with their students. They had launched an iOS app this past September, and an Android app after that, to help teachers be able to use their tool while moving around the room, and even access it when not in the classro

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Android Mobility Smartphone Laptops 172

Mobile Musings

AUGUST 30, 2013

'I’m very wary of Obama’s recent suggestion to tie federal student aid to a rating system for universities. I think we’ve seen what unintended bad results can result from this kind of thing in K-12. Read more of my thoughts here at Information Week. Chime in with your thoughts.

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Data EdTech System 100

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Baker's B.Y.O.D.

AUGUST 9, 2013

'I am so awed, overwhelmed, and overjoyed with presenting at Edmodocon 2013 and meeting phenomenal, inspiring educators. Let me just say, I am BEAMING and get GOOSEBUMPS every time I talk about it with my home PLN. It was just. yeah. No words, just beaming smiles and goosebumps. Mind has been blown and Baker can''t talk--as Liz and anyone else who has worked with me can attest, this is a miracle !

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Edmodo Digital Citizenship BYOD Conference 119

Comfortably 2.0

AUGUST 25, 2013

'I have been thinking about some "new" items I could add to my original Digital Citizenship Kit that I created last year. Like I said in that blog post, I love using props when teaching. After some great conversations with the good wife @jenbadura on what I should include, I have come up with some new items to include in the survival kit. Yes, you can use this with your students!

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Digital Citizenship 111

The Web20Classroom

AUGUST 1, 2013

'This is the eighth post in my Summer Learning Series. These are short posts with tools, tips and resources for you to try something new this summer or something you can take to the classroom in the Fall. First was Collaborative Learning With Edmodo and then we followed up with Learning With Hashtags. Then we looked at TED Talks. We moved on to Twitter chats.

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Learning Smartphone Edmodo eBook 234

Educational Technology Guy

AUGUST 16, 2013

'California: January 17 Atlanta: March 28 Boston: May 2 Chicago: May 9 Save the Date for Tech Forum 2014 Mark your calendars! Tech & Learning is bringing its groundbreaking Tech Forum event back to Atlanta, Boston and Chicago for the winter/spring 2014 tour -- and we''re kicking it all off in January with the newly added Tech Forum California, our return to the west coast due to popular demand!

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Conference EdTech Twitter Technology 150

EdTechSandyK

AUGUST 30, 2013

'The Background Photo Used Under a Creative Commons License In the Spring of 2013, my school district committed to issuing an iPad to every classroom teacher. The purposes for this initiative were to give teachers an additional tool for teaching and learning and to familiarize teachers with mobile devices in anticipation of more iPads being purchased for classroom use and a grades 6-12 BYOD program coming in the next school year.

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iPad Training Educreations Mobility 110

Baker's B.Y.O.D.

AUGUST 30, 2013

'Guest post #7 is from Lotta Neumann, a teacher of Swedish and English language and language arts at Falkenbergs gymnasieskola in Falkenberg, Sweden , instructing 16-19 year old students. The school has been 1:1 since 2010, and Lotta is fortunate enough to be able to work with the finding and implementation of digital resources and best practices. Lotta has been using Edmodo since May 2012, and really appreciates "the global teachers'' lounge" that Edmodo creates.

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Edmodo Digital Citizenship Common Core Blended Learning 115

Speaker: Andrew Cohen, Founder & CEO of Brainscape

The instructor’s PPT slides are brilliant. You’ve splurged on the expensive interactive courseware. Student engagement is stellar. So… why are half of your students still forgetting everything they learned in just a matter of weeks? It's likely a matter of cognitive science! With so much material to "teach" these days, we often forget to incorporate key proven principles into our curricula — namely active recall, metacognition, spaced repetition, and interleaving practice.

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The 21st Century Principal

AUGUST 6, 2013

'“Teachers who are willing to experiment and take risks on behalf of kids are in a much better position, regardless of their age, to meet their students where they are, and my experience is that students appreciate the effort.” Ron Nash, From Seatwork to Feetwork: Engaging Students in Their Own Learning A new school year is upon us, and the decisions we are making now as educational leaders and classroom teachers will determine whether our students are engaged learners, or are passive learners.

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Classroom Student Engagement Tools Meeting 110

A Principal's Reflections

AUGUST 26, 2013

'The annual Edscape Conference will once again be held at New Milford High School in New Milford, NJ on Saturday October 19, 2013. Hundreds of educators from over ten different states and Canada descended upon my school last year to learn together and network in an effort to move their respective school cultures down an innovative path. Edscape evolved out of the need to provide educators with relevant, meaningful professional development focusing on digital learning and innovation that was in d

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Conference Strategy Digital Learning Student Engagement 222

The Web20Classroom

AUGUST 5, 2013

'This is the ninth post in my Summer Learning Series. These are short posts with tools, tips and resources for you to try something new this summer or something you can take to the classroom in the Fall. First was Collaborative Learning With Edmodo and then we followed up with Learning With Hashtags. Then we looked at TED Talks. We moved on to Twitter chats.

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Facebook Edmodo Twitter Learning 227

Philly Teacher

AUGUST 15, 2013

'Overflow crowd from the August 15, 2013 SRC meeting. As I reflected on the events of today, I began to think of my journey as a teacher here in Philadelphia. I began to think of all of the red flags that have gone up over the last ten years before getting to this point. Here is a run-down: 2001. The State takes over the School District of Philadelphia and puts in an appointed board to run the District called the School Reform Commission (SRC), which is made up of appointees chosen mostly by the

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Education Meeting Elementary Classroom 106

This white paper examines and proposes revisions to the "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" introduced by Arthur Chickering and Zelda Gamson in 1987 for today's technology-driven world.

Technology

EdTechSandyK

AUGUST 24, 2013

'Why do we do it? Show up day after day to work with young people and other educators? It''s a job that takes a great deal of stamina and energy. We''re always "on". Because we are imperfect humans working with dozens of other imperfect humans, there are challenges. Why do we do it? Because we are wired for it. Because it fills us up like no other endeavor can.

Education 87

Education Policies Twitter 87

Baker's B.Y.O.D.

AUGUST 12, 2013

'Our first EdmodoCon Guest Post is brought to us by Laura Monge from Rancho Palos Verde, California. Laura is starting her 27th year of teaching and is obviously excited by all this crazy tech stuff. Looking forward to going paperless, Laura will be piloting a BYOD 1:1 iPad 4/5 combo classroom this year. Like what you see? Laura will be presenting at CUE in Napa in October!

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Edmodo BYOD iPhone iPad 88

The 21st Century Principal

AUGUST 31, 2013

'How can teachers use digital and media to support academic achievement in all subjects and content areas? The answer to that question is essentially what Renee Hobbs tackles in her book Digital and Media Literacy: Connecting Culture and Classroom. Hobbs begins answering the question of supporting academic achievement with digital and media by outlining the rationale for engaging these two in 21st century instruction.

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Digital Citizenship Learning Technology Accessibility 109

A Principal's Reflections

AUGUST 11, 2013

'Ever since becoming connected in March 2009 I have relied on two primary mobile devices. The first was a trio of Blackberry smart phones, which many of my connected friends have busted my chops about even up to recently. I relied on this type of smart phone for years as it was provided to me at work. Even though the number of apps was, and still is, very limited, the ability to connect to the Internet was good enough for me.

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Android Sony Tablets iPhone 177

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The Web20Classroom

AUGUST 13, 2013

'Over the past 6 weeks I''ve highlighted a few of my favorite tools, tips, tricks and resources. We covered a lot. Here is a recap of all 10 posts: 1) Collaborative Learning With Edmodo - Here we took a look at what Edmodo is and how you can use it to create a collaborative online space in your classroom. There are some resources there to get you started.

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Edmodo Learning Twitter Video 216

The Innovative Educator

AUGUST 25, 2013

'A version of this post originally appeared in Partners in Learning 1:1 Hot Topics Chatting with friends, playing games, cheating, cruising YouTube. These are just some of the behaviors educators fear will become a reality in technology-rich classrooms.unless they incorporate updated classroom management practices. Innovative educators use techniques that keep students’ attention despite the irresistible draw of the Internet.

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BYOD Laptops Tablets Education 87

MSEDTechie

AUGUST 20, 2013

'Do you ever wonder how a toddler can pick up a cell phone, or another mobile device, and easily navigate the device without ever having to be instructed on how to use it? Or how students can multi-task with technology by texting, social media surfing, and watching television all at the same time? Our children are digital natives , and we are digital immigrants.

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Social Media Mobility Android Tablets 83

Baker's B.Y.O.D.

AUGUST 15, 2013

'Our third guest post comes from Megan Valois, a high school History/English teacher in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Megan is the guest moderator on the Canadian Ed Chat (#cdnedchat) on Twitter who enjoys expanding her PLN and learning about new tech tools to improve her teaching and class experience. Here is Megan''s recap of EdmodoCon 2013. On Tuesday, I participated in a virtual conference - a professional learning opportunity - called #Edmodocon.

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Edmodo BYOD Differentiated Instruction Digital Citizenship 87

Speaker: Chris Paxton McMillin, President of D3 Training Solutions

There are plenty of great authoring tools for developing eLearning, but the one you select could directly impact your course's outcomes. Depending upon your learners’ needs and your organization’s performance goals, you could be overlooking considerations that impact the both effectiveness of your courses and how long it takes to finish them. From general capabilities to specific workflow structures, some aspects are critical when it comes to learning objectives and deadlines.

Comparison

EdTechSandyK

AUGUST 21, 2013

'Photo Used Under a Creative Commons License I classify myself as a realist who leans toward the optimistic. As an example of how that works itself out in my thoughts on things, I am fairly certain that no large scale transformative change is going to take place in American education in the next decade. The current political and social climate won''t allow it.

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Examples Policies Conference Study 83

The 21st Century Principal

AUGUST 21, 2013

'Sometimes there is nothing to add to the wisdom offered by others. I have been reading The Heart Is Noble: Changing the World from the Inside Out by Ogyen Trinley Dorje. In this book he offers this advice to us about our livelihoods or jobs. I think this wisdom can go a long way to helping us keep ourselves centered and focus on what really matters.

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Education Course 83

The Web20Classroom

AUGUST 8, 2013

'This is the tenth and final post in my Summer Learning Series. These are short posts with tools, tips and resources for you to try something new this summer or something you can take to the classroom in the Fall. First was Collaborative Learning With Edmodo and then we followed up with Learning With Hashtags. Then we looked at TED Talks. We moved on to Twitter chats.

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Edmodo Learning Android Twitter 193

The Innovative Educator

AUGUST 14, 2013

'The start of the school year is the perfect time to start connecting with parents and families. When families come in to enroll their children, here are some numbers you can give them to stay connected, have a voice, and have some fun all year long. Twitter Anyone (in the U.S.) can receive tweets on their phone even if they haven’t signed up for Twitter.

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Twitter Elementary Examples Education 82

Speaker: Amanda Davis, Chief Experience Officer and Liam O'Malley, VP of Association Solutions

The "new normal" is now a little less new, a little more normal. Does that mean your current LMS strategy is in need of a refresh? Is your organization or association leaning into the always-evolving eLearning environment to ensure you have the tools and content to remain relevant through all this change? There are many complex decision-making processes within your learning & development strategy and LMS lifecycle management, including: Selection.

LMS

Saving Socrates

AUGUST 11, 2013

'I apologize to my weekly readers, I took a break for a couple weeks since I started my new job as an administrator and my brother''s recent wedding. I do plan on updating this blog more regularly when the new school year starts up again. With the school year just a mere few weeks away, I thought it was appropriate to discuss the notion that school is not camp.

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Groups Elementary Learning Study 77

Baker's B.Y.O.D.

AUGUST 14, 2013

'Our 2nd guest blog post in the series is by Nira Dale , a 9th grade English teacher in Florence, Alabama, and a very active member of the Language Arts community on Edmodo. You can follow Mrs. Dale''s educational adventures on her very impressive blog : Mrs. Dale is a whiz with implementing tech tools in her classroom. Take a look at what she learned during EdmodoCon 2013.

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Edmodo Digital Citizenship Common Core Video 79

EdTechSandyK

AUGUST 18, 2013

'Photo Used With Permission Under a Creative Commons License As I write this I realize it''s been a month since my last post. That''s because like most of you (in the United States anyway) I am getting ready for another school year. Although I''m no longer in the classroom, this is still my busiest time of year. The edtech team I am on is trying to plan and deliver quality staff development, help new employees get acquainted with district systems, answer questions from everyone coming back from

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Meeting Libraries EdTech Policies 79

The 21st Century Principal

AUGUST 8, 2013

'Most of us have repeatedly been reminded by the media and politicians about how bad the state of education is in our country. They''ve blamed teachers. They''ve blamed teacher-education programs. They''ve blamed administrators. Usually, those who make those inferences base them on test scores, which we all know is only a small piece of what we''re really about as teachers.

Education 82

Education Video 82

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