August, 2014

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This Year be an EduHero!

Teacher Reboot Camp

'A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. – Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Our world is full of hero potential waiting to be motivated, supported, and skilled. Teachers hold the key to unleashing that potential, yet many are wounded heroes themselves. According to Teachers Count, the average teacher impacts 3000 students within a lifetime.

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The Limitations of Being a Disconnected Nomad

A Principal's Reflections

'It seems like just yesterday that I was a disconnected nomad working hard to maintain the status quo and conform to a rigid system commonly known as education. You see, prior to 2009 I was adamantly opposed to even the thought of using social media for both personal and professional reasons. As a building level leader burdened by endless responsibilities, I could not fathom wasting even a precious minute in what I saw as a perpetual time sap.

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Fostering Creativity In The Learning Process

The Web20Classroom

'Several months ago I was having a conversation with a colleague about creativity in learning. We debated back and forth about what creativity looked like and could you really teach creativity. All this stemmed from a comment I made about me not being creative. Sure, I’ve written books, I talk in front of teachers a lot and create professional development to deliver.

Learning 275
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Geddit - web based student response system

Educational Technology Guy

'Geddit is a free, web based student response system, available on any device, that allows teachers to quickly gauge student understanding. Students use the app and indicate their level of understanding on a 1-5 scale. This formative assessment lets teachers know if they can move on or not. Feedback is private and real time. You can also use multiple choice and short answer assessments.

System 247
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Quickly Create Personalized Learning Experiences that Work

How can we actively engage learners 24/7, on their level and according to their interests, while respecting their learning styles? It’s not impossible. In this guide: Explore how to transform traditional, one-way videos into two-way interactive learning experiences Understand different types of artificial intelligence (AI), including - Generative vs.

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#Flipclass Workflow

Baker's B.Y.O.D.

'With the start of the new school year looming, a favorite topic of discussion among #flipclass teachers is workflow. Rookies want to know how to make flipping work with class procedures, and veterans are always tweaking what they do. Edmodo, Curriculet, and Google Drive are essential to productive workflow in my class. Essentially, this is what I do: Organize students into classes on Edmodo with all resources, agendas, links to edtech tools, assignments, and quizzes are completed in Edmodo.

Edmodo 134
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Leading in a time of…

Pair-a-dimes for Your Thoughts

'Anyone who regularly reads my blog would know that in the last year there are two key elements of leadership that I have been struggling with. The more current one involves the teacher dispute going on in BC and my sense of frustration and feelings of helplessness as I watch a good educational system suffer in ways that will take some time to recover from.

Moodle 123

More Trending

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Become the Storyteller-in-Chief

A Principal's Reflections

'The new school year has begun for many educators across the country with others soon to follow after Labor Day. With the new year comes a renewed focus on a variety of initiatives that are aimed at enhancing learning and improving student achievement. Administrators and teachers alike will work to establish a shared vision and subsequent plan of action for meaningful change that will hopefully lead to cultural transformation.

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8 Education Books For The Digital Age: The Connected Educator Series #CorwinCE

The Web20Classroom

'From The Shameless Promotion Department, I am proud today that I become a published author. My book, The Relevant Educator ships today. Below is a post (thanks to the most awesome Mark Barnes) about the entire Connected Educator Series from Corwin. Ask any of the thousands of teachers who regularly use Twitter, Pinterest, or Facebook about connected education, and you may get an earful about using digital tools as a means to connect with educators and students worldwide.

Edcamps 262
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Chromebox and Chromebase - definite contenders for desktop replacements

Educational Technology Guy

'I''m currently testing out the LG Chromebase and Asus Chromebox for potential use in our district (and for me at home). So far, I''m very impressed. They setup and work like a Chromebook , have very fast performance but offer the experience of a desktop with large screens and full keyboards and mice. The specs are in the links below. I''m thinking about the Asus Chromebox as a desktop replacement for student desktops.

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#Flipclass Workflow: Differentiated Instruction

Baker's B.Y.O.D.

'Chatting this morning with Stacy Dawes on Voxer in the #ELA Flip group, we were discussing ways in which we can differentiate and diversify our instruction for students, especially those who are ESL/ELL immersed in mainstream classes. Thinking about how to use technology to differentiate instruction in the flipped ELA classroom, we came up with the following ideas: In your main Edmodo class, create small groups in which the students are leveled, then post tailored assignments to each of the sma

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Can Brain Science Actually Help Make Your Training & Teaching Stick?

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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A Plan to Destroy Public Education in NC with Five Easy Steps

The 21st Century Principal

'If I wanted to design an education budget that gives the “appearance” of supporting teachers and educators, what would that budget look like? What if my long term goals are to get the state out of the education business and turn that entire enterprise over to the private sector? How can I continue to “starve” public education to achieve this goal? Here’s what I might do.

Education 111
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The Conversation We Need To Have With Leadership

Teacher Reboot Camp

'This post is part of Scott McLeod’s Leadership Day 2014. PD should give your Ts a GEM: it should “Grow You”, “Engage You”, and “Mean something to you” — GNichols (@Think_teach) August 6, 2014. Mission: Value Your Time. This year, many of us will spend hours in school meetings feeling demotivated, bored, unappreciated, and stressed.

Edcamps 385
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Our Work Defines Our Legacy

A Principal's Reflections

'This post is my contribution to Leadership Day 2014. Legacy is such a deep and meaningful word in my opinion. The term can best be described as how someone is remembered and the specific contributions he or she made while they were alive. When I think of legacy, important thought leaders, activists, musicians, and athletes come to mind such as Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Henry Ford, John Dewey, Princess Diana, Joe DiMaggio, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

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#Edchat Is Now On @RemindHQ

The Web20Classroom

'In an effort to make sure all those that take part in #edchat each week have the most up-to-date information on chat times, topics and special events, we have teamed up with Remind to get you that info lickidy-split! Don''t know what Remind is? Remind is a reminder and texting service for classrooms. As a teacher you set up a class and invite your students and parents to join.

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Reimagining Chickering & Gamson's Principles Post-Pandemic: Technology's Central Role in Modern Edu

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.

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Your Kid's Future Depends On Their Online Behavior Now

EdTechSandyK

'Photo by Paul Hocksenar Used Under a Creative Commons License Whether you are a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, pastor, educator, or any other adult who has a vested interest in or cares about a child, teen, or young adult, I hope your care extends to what the young people in your life are doing online. Do you understand how much of their future could be depending on the things they are posting right now on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Vine, or pick-whatever-social-media-tool is po

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How to Use an iPad for Academic Use

Baker's B.Y.O.D.

'One of my students, Matt D., created a presentation on how to use an iPad for academic use based on his experiences last year. We are a BYOD district, but still being rooted in paper, our paperless skills are still emerging. Part of the delay is that it takes time to figure out an effective workflow with new technology. Well, Matt has taken the guess work out of using an iPad in a BYOD classroom.

iPad 102
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Scratch Jr, Programming for Prereaders

My Paperless Classroom

'I was really excited for the release of the Scratch Jr app. Its parent langauge is Scratch, an amazing programming interface that opened the world for programming to a whole new group of young programmers. I have used scratch with my students from grade 4 up and I have seen other teachers who use scratch with students as young as first grade. Last year as I was figuring out how to bring meaningful computer programming to my pre-reading students, I really wanted to find tools that worked on the

iPad 108
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3 Principles for Creating a Culture of Creativity in Schools to Unleash Technological Innovation

The 21st Century Principal

'"While in school, we are often educated into believing that we must succeed that mistakes should be avoided. But to be successful, we need to learn how to fail and how to respond to failure. What we call failure is really a learning process." Bill Capodagli and Lynn Jackson, Innovate the Pixar Way: Business Lessons from the World''s Most Creative Playground In today''s standardized, testing, and accountability climate, there are major penalties imposed on those who fail.

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Behind the Bell: The Underlying Impact of Tardiness in K-12 Schools

Managing a K-12 campus with constant pressure to meet performance metrics is challenging. And tardiness can significantly limit a school from reaching these goals. Learn more about why chronic lateness matters, and key strategies to address the following impacts: Data errors caused by manual processes Low attendance and graduation rates that affect a school’s reputation Classroom disruption, which leads to poor academic performance High staff attrition and “The Teacher Exodus” Unmet LCAP goals t

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Amazing Students Do Amazing Things

A Principal's Reflections

'Earlier this year I shared the amazing work of New Milford High School student Sarah Almeda in a post titled Students Yearn For Creativity, Not Tests. Wherever I now speak across the country and soon the world I share the incredible project Sarah created. Her passion for the arts and creativity serve as an catalyst for her learning. She has capitalized on the concept of student voice, taken ownership of her learning, and become an inspiration for me and countless other educators and students ac

iPhone 236
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Reminders For School Leaders-#LeadershipDay14

The Web20Classroom

'Today is Leadership Day 2014. Started by Scott McLeod, the day encourages all of us to blog about leadership and leading change in schools. This is my 6th year I''ve contributed to the day. By the end there will be 100''s of posts you''ll be able to read, reflect on and share. Definitely check out the list and add your post as well. When I was in the classroom I always looked forward to back-to-school.

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Privacy

The Thinking Stick

'Photo Credit: MSH* via Compfight cc. I need to start checking myself when this question comes up during presentations and trainings. At some point someone always asks about privacy. In many cases they don’t even know… I think anyway… that they are asking a privacy question. The questions usually are posed as: “If I put something in Google Drive is it safe?

Facebook 103
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Driving over Tukey's Bridge

Baker's B.Y.O.D.

'This summer I spent time with family and wrote content for titles that will appear in Curriculet''s premium store. One such title was the young adult novel Delirium by Lauren Oliver where love is considered a disease in a dystopian future. I greatly enjoyed working on creating questions, quizzes, and annotations for a young adult title, applying all that I''ve learned from teaching canonical texts like A Tale of Two Cities , Great Expectation s, Romeo & Juliet , Young Adult literature shoul

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The Battle of the Authoring Tools: A 10-Point Comparison for Picking the Right One

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.

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Primary Teachers: Learn Coding Fundamentals in an Hour

My Paperless Classroom

'If you have heard about the hour of code, I hope you saw this coming from the title. If you don''t know about the hour of code, it is time. Code.org wants to support everybody everywhere in learning to code. They are organizing all kinds of people to create tutorials that can be used in schools to get kids coding, even if it is just for a one hour guided activity.

Learning 104
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Teaching Is Impacting Lives Forever Not Raising Test Scores

The 21st Century Principal

'What the testing and accountability crowd does not get is the impact teachers have on lives. No bubble sheet can capture that, and you won''t find it in standards. Each of us has a teacher or teachers that have impacted our lives. In my own, there was fifth grade with Ms. Case and sixth grade with Ms. Williams. Ms. Case captured my imagination in reading with Old Yeller which she read to us lovingly everyday.

Video 105
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When tech teaches, what do teachers do?

The Innovative Educator

'When I talk to students these days they tell me that when they want to learn something they're interested in, it usually is not teachers or parents they turn to. It’s Google , YouTube, or to others they find online ( aka their PLN ) who engage in their activities of interest. These kids aren’t just playing on the computer either. They mean serious business.

Tablets 98
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Evernote and Postach.io, A Match Made In Tech Heaven

The Web20Classroom

'If I''ve said it once, I''ve said it quite a few times, blogging is an open reflection of learning and is a wonderful (and easy) way to share our learning. I have been blogging in this space for over 5 years now. I have over 500 posts and have shared a bunch. I couldn''t imagine my professional life without my blog. Recently, I''ve been wanting to share more and more.

Twitter 206
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The Roses and Thorns of an LMS Strategy: How to Flourish with the Right LMS

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.

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Robot Teachers at New International School

Kevin Corbett

'Abu Dhabi: Robot Teachers will soon be instructing students in basic math and other subjects at a private school in Abu Dhabi. Merryland International School in Mussafah has launched what it claims is the first robotic lab in a UAE school, with more than 30 cutting edge robots including humanoids with built-in intelligence. Humanoid AISOY Raspberry Pi robot will teach basic addition and subtraction while Nao, the 57-cm tall Evolution Humanoid robot from France, will help special needs children.

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Yes, you can get out of your comfort zone.

Baker's B.Y.O.D.

'While on vacation this week on Mount Desert Island in Maine, I had the opportunity to unplug and focus on family in a setting that has stunning scenery and vast opportunities for exploration. I also realized that there is a whole heck of a lot of the world that I''m missing when at home. We marveled at all the stars we could see every night from our rental house.

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Myths about Coding in Primary Grades

My Paperless Classroom

'1. I can''t teach coding because I don''t know how to code. 2. Coding has nothing to do with my subject area. I have never met a teacher who got into teaching because of what they didn''t know. Teachers have long been expected to be the expert in the room. I studied English, rhetoric, poetry, and literacy skill development in formal and informal environments to become the teacher I am today, and then I laugh because I am a K-5 technology teacher.

Tablets 102
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Breaking the Silence: Why It's the School Leader's Responsibility to Speak Out

The 21st Century Principal

'"The silence of thoughtful people creates a vacuum filled by extremists." Margaret Wheatley, Find Our Way; Leadership for an Uncertain Time In her book , Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time , Margaret Wheatley asks the question: "Why is silence moving like a fog across the planet? Why is it growing in us as individuals, even as we learn of more and more issues that concern us?

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Building the Foundation for a Modern K-12 Classroom

K-12 looks different these days. But one thing remains the same: you need a reliable learning platform that serves as the foundation for teaching and learning––for all students, in a variety of learning experiences. Discover how the Instructure Learning Platform supports today's K-12 classroom through: A central, consistent, connected hub of the digital learning environment.