Summer is a great time for learning. Tonight, many Texas educators will be talking about how writing is reinvented on #txeducat from 8-9 pm Central Daylight Savings Time but guess what - anyone can come!!  Last time we had the chat, I created a Twitter Chat tutorial video to teach how to participate in a Twitter chat, so watch the video, grab the book, and join us. Oh, and for some reason the price of the Kindle ebook dropped yesterday from $28 to $19.22 — it did this before and then went back up to $28 after 2 days. Thank you Tom Kilgore for the invitation. Last November, I was blown away with the  powerful insightful thoughts of the educators who join in the conversation. Anyone can join in-  just follow the #txeduchat hashtag when it is time to start to see the questions and join in the conversation!  (If you can’t participate tonight, I suggest making it a goal to try one of these over the summer, check out Jerry Blumengarten ‘s @cybraryman1 curated List of Twitter chats and find one.) The post Reinvent Your Learning -Learn to Twitter Chat with us at #txeduchat Sunday June 15 8-9 pm CDT appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Classroom 2.0 is a fantastic community for learning and sharing. They have webinars throughout the week and you should join their community. Recently, I shared the 9 ways writing is reinvented with show hosts Peggy George, Lorie Moffat and Tammy Moore and the lively community at Classroom 2.0 Live! Reinventing Writing has been published and this video is a great intro for the book. Visit the Show Archive to Watch & See Links Classroom 2.0 Live! Archive for Reinventing Writing Webinar YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG40HgKjkl0 Archive Page on Classroom 2.0 (This has Video, Audio, and a close captioned Blackboard Collaborate Recording) Reinventing Writing LiveBinder with all of the Links Shared in the Session (the audience was lively and shared tons of resources too and Peggy got them all!) Our special guest today will be the one and only Vicki Davis! We are so excited to have Vicki (@coolcatteacher) share some of her best advice about reinventing writing with a sneak preview of all of the amazing resources and information that will be coming out in her new book. She will share the highlights of what she does with her students to teach these 9 types of tools and to build community among writers with tons of best practices. Nine tools have changed writing, learning, and living forever. Her book, Reinventing Writing, is written for any teacher using or trying cloud documents with students. She will talk about how to select the right tool for teaching purposes, how to set it up quickly, and how to prevent common mistakes. This has never been easier, more convenient, and more important than right now.— Classroom 2.0 Live!Reinventing Writing Webinar hosted by Peggy George, Lorie Moffat and Tammy Moore Add Classroom 2.0 to your PLN The Network: http://www.classroom20.com/ Classroom 2.0 on Twitter @classroom20 Classroom 2.0 Live! on Twitter @liveclass20 Classroom 2.0 on iTunes U [Tutorial video about how to add them] My new book Reinventing Writing is here! Buy the Book now. The post Reinventing Writing Webinar on Classroom 2.0 [Video] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Today I’ve been at Kentucky Country Day School at the Teach Tech Learn Conference. More than 200 teachers from around Kentucky and few from outside the state have come together to learn best practices for promoting 21st century learning. I promised my new friends here that I’d share the slide presentations here on my blog so they’d be easy to find and hope that all of you who take the time will grab some links and ideas. (Flipping through the slides of presenters is one of my favorite ways to gain ideas and get links to best practices.) Also notice that the Reinventing Writing presentation includes video - the book trailer and a 1 hour keynote of that presentation are included in the slidedeck - you can always forward through that if you want to see the slides, but some of you wanted the presentation from YouTube. Also note that these are updated as I always add new things to every presentation I give. Connect Connect with me online and share your questions or best practices. Let’s talk: Twitter: @coolcatteacher Facebook: www.facebook.com/coolcatteacher Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/coolcatteacher Tumblr: vickidavis.me Instagram: @coolcatteacher Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/in/coolcatteacher Goodreads Author Page: http://www.goodreads.com/coolcatteacher  Google Plus https://plus.google.com/+VickiDavis/posts Enjoy your summer and hope to see some of you at #ISTE14 next week! I’m so excited! Learn 12 Habits of Top 21st Century Teachers: Keynote 12 Habits of the Effective 21st Century Teacher from Vicki Davis   Reinventing Writing Reinventing Writing shared at KDCTTL Conference June 2014 from Vicki Davis Differentiating Instruction with Technology Technology Driven Differentiated Instruction #KCDTTL from Vicki Davis Have a great summer and learn lots! The post Ideas for Summer Learning from #KCDTTL appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Want to know how to take notes electronically? Frustrated because students can never find their notes or pictures they take of the board? There is a solution but we have to move past the (awesome) Cornell notetaking system and other systems we’ve used in the past into 21st century notetaking. I use a system that I share in Chapter 4: Reinventing Notetaking of Reinventing Writing. Recently on SmartBrief I gave an overview  of PREPS and how it works. PREPS stands for Prepare, Record, Engage, Ponder, and Sync. Here’s the first part of the article on SmartBrief, you’ll want to go to their SmartBlog and read the rest. Students everywhere are taking pictures of the board. It is almost like a "get out of jail free" card when it comes to taking notes. Can they find them later? Do they ever look at them again? Do they review them for the test? Obviously, we need new note-taking systems to help students learn, recall and capture in this modern age. In light of the unique nature of electronic note taking, I’ve developed a system that I share in my new book "Reinventing Writing" that I call PREPS. In my opinion, there are two contenders for best notebook service: Evernote and One Note.I’ll mention them throughout this guide. 1. PREPARE Set up Prepare your notebook by setting up categories and notebooks. Plan ahead for a class or meeting by using a template in Kustom Note for Evernote or use one of the templates included with One Note. If you need help organizing, watch the Evernote Secret Weapon videos… Read more about PREPS on my guest post on SmartBrief "5 steps for electronic notetaking success" The post PREPS: 5 Steps for Electronic Notetaking Success #reinventingwriting appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

IT Integrator Susan Oxnevad uses Google Forms to train parents about the school’s iPad program. Even though she’s an advanced user, she also has practical advice for getting started. Chock full of Google goodness and best practices, this show is a "must listen" for schools using Google Apps for Education (GAFE) or Chromebooks. Listen to Susan Oxnevad Share about Google Docs Susan Oxnevad - Show Notes #77 - 12 Great Ways to Use Google Drive in Education Susan Oxnevad’s glogster linking to effective writing methods using Google Docs is widely shared among writing teachers around the world. Susan Oxnevad, an instructional technology facilitator in the Chicago area, is an expert at using Google Tools for K-12 learning. She explains how to use Google Forms to embed media and ask questions about that media. She is excited about the new research tool available in Google Docs or Google Presentations on a computer.  Using the horizontal menu, navigate to tools and then in the drop down menu to research.  This tool opens a menu on the right side that conveniently searches in Google for any term typed into the search bar. Susan is excited about using Google Templates in education to create Reusable Learning Objects.  She finds out about tools and then tries them out herself.  She has found potential with voice activated search, which is currently filtered by her schools. Her advice for getting started is to use tools to teach current lessons.  The comment tool is easy to integrate for many students.  Peer reviewing can be taught with the comment tool in Google Docs. Susan is on Twitter at @soxnevad.  Her blog, Cool Tools for 21st Century Learners, contains a wealth of resources for teachers.   Susan is passionate about using technology for learning.  Listen to this episode to find out how she uses Google for learning in K-12. Listen to Susan Oxnevad Share about Google Docs Add Susan Oxnevad to your PLN @soxnevad http://d97cooltools.blogspot.com/ Every Classroom Matters is a bi-weekly Internet Radio Show by Vicki Davis on BAM Radio network with best practices for busy teachers.  Subscribe. Show notes prepared by Lisa Durff, Production Coordinator. Need help listening to the show? If you’re clicking "Play" on the BAM Radio Site, this often works best in Internet Explorer. Or subscribe in a podcatcher. I have a tutorial to help you Question: Do you have a favorite tip for Google Apps? Please share. You can leave a comment by clicking here. The post 12 Great Ways to Use Google Drive in Education with Susan Oxnevad appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

As hall of fame baseball player, Babe Ruth said, "Yesterday’s home runs won’t win tomorrow’s games." To level up writing, we need to take advantage of the out-of-the park features and capabilities that social media inspired concepts give writing instruction. I write this for @InnovativeEdu Read this Full Post Now Most of us know how it feels to write an exciting Facebook status update or a powerful tweet. Without delay, we know the impact of our words as they are retweeted, commented on, and liked (or ignored.) With this in mind, it stands to reason that students want a response too. Paper essays that are only seen by the teacher with a wastebasket as their final destiny are a needless waste of time and potential. Writing can be so much more exciting and it isn’t that hard to do. Order the book Reinventing Writing Notably, social media is impacting writing in the classroom in ten powerful ways. You don’t have to be on social media (or even like it)  to feel the lift social media concepts can give writing in your classroom, as I share in my new book  Reinventing Writing released just this month. 10 Ways Social Media Has Reinvented Writing and Tips to Benefit Students Social Media Impact #1 - Connect with an Audience. Research shows that audience improves student writing effort and work. It makes sense, writers want meaning… Read the rest of this post on Lisa Nielson’s Innovative Educator Blog You’ll see me sharing views and thoughts based upon the two years of research and work that went into my new book, Reinventing Writing. To see how to get it click here. When I write in other places, I do like to share the links here on my blog for all of you faithful readers. I’m doing this as part of sharing the news about how we can improve writing far and wide. Thank you for adding me to your PLN. Read this Full Post on Innovative Educator Get Reinventing Writing on Amazon   The post 10 Ways Social Media Can Improve Writing (on @InnovativeEdu) appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

During summer days, if you’re a top teacher, you’ll take time to improve your best asset — you. If somehow it’s not clear why that’s so important, look at it this way: when financial times are tight, our schools can improve the bottom line in four ways, three which aren’t beneficial for us as teachers. They can cut teachers and staff. They can cut benefits. They can lower quality. We teachers can become more productive and better at our jobs. The best choice for our students, schools, and us is #4 — becoming better teachers. But how? We’re so tired! Here are 12 tips that I use to level up every summer. 1. Rework the Worst to Be the Best Based on student feedback, rework your least engaging lessons to make them the most exciting lessons the next year. Create costumes or comb thrift shops, make room decorations, and spend time inventing powerful learning experiences. Top teachers never settle. Read this Full Post on my Edutopia Blog Permalink: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/top-12-summer-tips-teachers-vicki-davis Edutopia includes me as a blogger on their site. Edutopia has a thriving community of educators, please join in the conversation! I’ll keep you posted. Remember that you can sign up for notices every time I post something in the box on the top right of this page. The post Top 12 Summer Tips for Top Teachers appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

As the owner of a company that now consults school districts in their technology plans, I have zero patience for administrators that fail to see the importance of professional development when new tech is welcomed. My feelings have been hardened by first hand experience working in education and seeing how hopeless new tech initiatives were when the assumption that "if you provide it, they will learn." Just laying claim to the fact that technology was purchased and dropped into classrooms doesn’t make up for the negated fact that it will be next to useless without the correct training. Not only training, either; districts need to make concentrated efforts in championing not only the functional aspects of technical aptitude, but also the integrative possibilities with how instruction can be transformed through a digital paradigm… If teachers have a common understanding of where the technology is taking their instruction, the student body will only then be capable of being led by the next generation of instructors. From Derrick Wlodarz "7 Big Mistakes K-12 Education Needs to Avoid in 1:1 Computing Plans" via betanews Derrick Wlodarz (BetaNews: 7 big mistakes K-12 education needs to avoid in 1:1 computing plans, 2013) The post Lack of Staff Professional Development (in 1:1 Implementations) is Like Tossing Money Away [Quote] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

"There is one way to avoid criticism: Do nothing. Say nothing. Be nothing." says Aristotle. Criticism comes with breaking new ground. Criticism comes with putting yourself out there. But how do you respond when that criticism turns to hatred? Hatred is a hard thing to handle, particularly when you feel it is unjust. But I’m writing this for you today: DON’T LET IT STOP YOU. The Man in the Arena by Theodore Roosevelt It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. Theodore Roosevelt, Excerpt from the Speech "Citizenship in the Republic" given at the Sorbonne in Paris, France April 1910 We are all people of the arena. Every human has to cope with this question: What to do when someone hates you Be you. But being you will often cause undeserved hate from others. Hatred is a hard thing to handle. Humans usually posses a me-centric view of the world. We’ve all seen two good people can have a vastly different opinion. It happens. No matter what you do, how kind you are, or anything else, I promise you this: in your human-ness you will attract haters. No way around it. Haters are are an inevitable part of life if you’re accomplishing anything of worth. You can decide what to do with it. It will also shock and surprise you just how long some people will nurse hatred. It can be years later and they’re still hanging onto something you barely remember. Don’t confuse criticism with hate.  People who care will give advice help you improve.  Tip 1: Not Every Criticism is Motivated by Hate A person giving you constructive criticism wants to help you improve and become better. A hater wants to hurt you and wants you to die. Determine if love or hate is the basis by who gave you the criticism and how it is given. What was the intent? Help or harm? Why Do We Notice the Negative? You can be in a crowd of ten thousand and give an incredible speech. One critic blasts you on their blog or on Twitter and what do you notice? You don’t see 100 positive tweets - you see the one negative. You can captivate your whole classroom but one student has decided to dislike you.  You don’t relish 29 joyful happy learning kids - you languish because one student (and their parents usually) don’t like you.  (I’ve been there and goodness - it is hard when it happens.) Understand Critics Math Jon Acuff talks about this phenomenon in his book Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work that Matters calls this "critics math." Jon says 1 insult + 1,000 compliments = 1 insult Jon goes on to tell the story of Larry David, the inventor of the hit show Seinfeld, he went to New York and went to a ballgame. When the organizers spotted Larry in the crowd, they showed his picture on the big screen and played the Seinfeld theme song as the entire stadium stood and applauded. After the game as Larry walks to his car, a stranger drove by, rolled down his window, and yells "Larry, you suck!" Which did Larry remember later? The one stranger who said he sucked. Are you kidding? One rude person can erase 49,999 giving you a standing ovation? This math doesn’t make sense. Tip 2: Reject Critics Math The first step in overcoming critics math is to realize you’re doing it and refuse to go there. Tip 3: Keep Perspective For me, when I deal with the haters I admit  there’s room enough in this big wide world for both of us. Good people can dislike me. I can even dislike good people. Good and evil is not determined by whether people like you or me. This helps. I recall a professor in college who drew a little x at the corner of the board. Across the board he drew a cloud. He points at the cloud and says, "this is the universe." He walks across the front of the room to the tiny x and says, "this is you" as he addresses the whole class. Then, he says something profound. "Notice that you (pointing at the x) are not at the center of the universe (pointing at the cloud.)" Love is a powerful response to hate. Tip 4: Center Your Thoughts in Healthy Ways Nope. I’m not. But we can choose to center our thoughts daily. When hate rears its ugly head — it hurts.  And yet it gets easier with time. Focus on your goals. We’ve got things to get done! Tip 5: Focus on the Likers  not the Haters Stop focusing on the futile: making the haters like you. Focus on people who like you. Spend time cultivating relationships with those who like you and perhaps they’ll come to love you (and you them.) Focus on helping and serving others and being kind. Choose to ignore those who may be speaking negative about you - that can quickly become paranoia. Usually people aren’t even talking about you at all - I hate to tell you what I tell myself - you’re not that important.  Keep perspective and keep to your task. So, decide. We’ve already heard Theodore Roosevelt tell us clearly, "It is not the critic who counts" but why do we give such things power over us? Why let haters distract us from living an epic life? Tip 6: Celebrate Good Times and Progress My first boss sent a memo to his manager praising my performance. He brought the copy to my desk and I was so excited. I couldn’t believe it.  Then, he told me something I’ll never forget. ‘Create an at-a-girl folder for those hard days. They’ll come and you’ll need to remember who you are and who you can be. This is your first at a girl. Keep it." I still have the folder and  made one in Evernote. It has pulled me through dark days when I failed at something. We all fall. We all fail. It is part of life. Tip 7: Keep Moving Forward   Failure becomes permanent only if we stop trying.  It becomes success when we learn from it. It also helps to remember the good days when the bad days come. But let’s be clear about the difference between failure and criticism. Criticism is not failure. Having a hater is not a failure. Being criticized and having a hater is part of being human. Sweet Revenge. Dr. Phil Adler, my favorite professor, always talked about racism and sexism and how to overcome it. He would tell us that there were people who would not want us to be included in conversations because of our gender or race. "Be so good they can’t ignore you. The best revenge is success and proving them wrong." Ever since that moment in class, I’ve repeated this thought when faced with a hater of me or my gender. Tip 8: Be Excellent In Your Work. Your best revenge against haters is to prove them wrong. Succeed and work your best to do a fantastic job at whatever you’re called to do. Some just want swift justice in their me-centered world that demands it. Well, life is a marathon not a sprint. Be a turtle. (As I share in Chapter 13 of Reinventing Writing.) Who Hating Really Hurts Hating hurts the hater most of all.  I read a story of the freed slave Frederick Douglas riding a train through Pennsylvania. Told to ride with the luggage,  and several white passengers came to the car to express how upset they were. Douglass responds by telling them that he is not degraded but that those who did this to him were degrading themselves for treating a fellow human being with disrespect. (Paraphrased from the story included in Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington.) Tip 9: Commit Not To Hate Hating is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. Hating is like tying a dead body to your back - the body doesn’t care they are lashed to you but you bear the burden. Hating hurts the hater most of all. When you are bothered by a person’s hate it gives them power over you. They can rejoice because they ruined your day. They purpose is to wound you and cause you pain and would probably only be happy if you were dead. Since there’s nothing you can do to make them happy you have to learn to live with it! Tip 10: Live Life! And live with it you do! Don’t just live - thrive and succeed and enjoy your life. Fulfill your mission and spend time loving the 99.9% of people who don’t have a problem with the fact you are breathing air at this moment. Life is too short to make a big deal of a small person. And hate does that - it has a way of making a person smaller and more incapable of success. So, my friends - forgive, move on. Do whatever it takes but let go of hate. If someone hates you -sing the song from Frozen and  "let it go." Haters are gonna hate. The question is: what will you do about it? The post What To Do When Someone Hates You appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Perhaps the weakest area of the typical one-to-one computing plan is the complete absence of leadership development for the administrative team—that is, learning how to manage the transition from a learning ecology where paper is the dominant technology for storing and retrieving information, to a world that is all digital, all the time. Leaders must be given the training to: Craft a clear vision of connecting all students to the world’s learning resources. Model the actions and behaviors they wish to see in their schools. Support the design of an ongoing and embedded staff development program that focuses on pedagogy as much as technology. Move in to the role of systems analyst to ensure that digital literacy is aligned with standards. Ensure that technology is seen not as another initiative, but as integral to curriculum. Leaders also must learn how to support risk- taking teachers and creating cohorts of teachers across disciplines and grades who are working on innovative concepts—such as students designing libraries of tutorials to help other students learn, as Eric Marcos has done with Mathtrain.TV. via Alan November Why Schools Must Move Beyond 1 to 1 Computing Alan November (November Learning, 2013) The post Developing Leadership #BYOD #1to1 [Quote] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.