In the last nine years there have been 9,600 attacks against schools in 70 countries. "They are bombed, burned, shot, threatened and abducted precisely because of their connection to education," said Diya Nijhowne, director of the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack. There are those of you out there that bemoan the fact that teachers are not perceived as the modern nobility. Politics, the struggle to move into 21st century education, and presence of a few individuals who clearly don’t belong in our ranks have brought criticism. Yet we’re letting mass media headlines hide the truth. Guardians at Future’s Gate Those who wish to destroy a community first target the schools. Most of us know that the heart of a community is the children. And we are the guardians. We teachers care for and teach the young so that there can be better tomorrows. Because of this important role, teachers remain the modern nobility. I find it sad that teachers have to die in order to be praised for their nobility in the mass media. But we will not let headlines hide the truth from our own eyes. Teachers, let me remind us all that we are to speak of our own nobility. There are those among us who are amazing and teach us all every day. My purpose for Every Classroom Matters is to tell the story of a new nobility rising among us. Teachers who are excited about the future. Teachers who work hard every day and learn from each other. There are more of us than you think. Teaching is a tough profession. I’m sitting here in a hotel room preparing to go on a trip and I am sick as a dog. I am totally worn out from the fast pace of the past few weeks of December. With events every night and grading to do in the wee hours of the morning, I’m spent for a cause that I care about. All those kids we love are enjoying their holidays happily clueless about the toll this career takes on our lives. The signs that our PTO leaves at their appreciation events mean so much. We really do help kids get a great start in life. We need to do our job well and handle very child with care.  Appreciation of Your Profession Starts with Appreciating Yourself No matter how hard you work, there will be those who don’t think you do enough. No matter the thousands of arrows you deflect from harming your students, you know one hurtful barb will get through. No matter how many great stories coming out of your classroom, you’ll have one parent who thinks you’re a pretender. As teachers, we have to learn to focus on the doing. Are you doing your best? Are you leveling up a little every day? Are you managing your classroom effectively? Is your classroom a safe place where learning is celebrated? If you’re doing all these things then you’ll have to know that you’re doing all you can. For our worth is not built upon being popular. Admittedly, we and the children we care for are often the first targets of terrorists. Sadly, we are also targets for those who are angry at an education SYSTEM that needs to improve. Teachers are easy targets but let’s not be so easily discouraged. The Price of Heroism As I was contemplating the Sony Pictures hacking and their retreat to not show the Interview this week. I was thinking how easy it is for people to be motivated by fear. We’re afraid so we HAVE to do this or that, forgetting that once we show our fear, we show our weakness. You must never be fearful about what you are doing when what you are doing is right. Rosa Parks Everyone wants to praise Winston Churchill - but no one wants to be him. They praise Abraham Lincoln, Dietrich Bonhoffer, and Rosa Parks but no one wants to BE them. Fighting for the right thing usually means you step out alone - at first. Bravery is hard stuff. You might lose something valuable to you. If you say something unpopular, people might not like you. I’ve found in this life that people don’t think about us nearly as much as we think about ourselves. But part of our problem in the US is that we fear others not liking what we have to say. Our form of persecution is popularity. (Our rathers are not aligned. ) Think of the gutsy teacher who wrote a letter to her kindergarten parents about why she was refusing to give a test. The whole state of Florida decided to opt out of the reading test! She risked her job and everything she loved. But she was right. So, as you contemplate teaching also consider the kind of bravery it takes to be one. When people leave the profession they usually say something like "I just couldn’t do it." "It" being the equivalent of climbing Mt. Everest every 9 weeks. "It" being the exhaustion of never having time to get "it" all done. "It" being never knowing when the next parent will come after you with no notice or chance to explain yourself. "It" being never knowing when you’ll have another child have a parent or sibling die or another divorce or another tragedy. Because our student’s tragedies are ours. "It" aka teaching is hard. We struggle to teach and yet we struggle to do a good thing. The Worth of a Teacher So as I sit here sick in a hotel room pondering the profession I love, I want you to know how much you — the teachers  and administrators — all of you on the "front lines of the future" — are worth. You are valuable. You are important. You are worthy. You matter so much to our world that when evil wants to bring a community to its knees - you’re the one they attack. You’re the first line of defense to help tomorrow be better than today. My wish for you today is that you may have your own very silent night. That whatever you celebrate that you consider your own calling. We Give Our Lives And for me, as I celebrate the birth of the greatest man who ever lived, I will consider that He came to earth and wanted to be called "Teacher". I will consider that He loved me and you enough to give his life for us and said that the greatest thing we can do is give our life for others. And that, my friends is what we do every day - we give our lives in a worthy cause. A Blessing on Teachers May you find rest, joy, and peace. May you rest deeply and well so that you’ll be energized to teach again in 2015. Teachers are my heroes. Teachers should be all of our heroes. Thank you, teacher — your presence is a present to a world that doesn’t quite know how to say thank you. The post Thank You Teacher for Your Presence appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Sometimes I feel so helpless and weak. I think that is why God uses me. Because I cannot depend on my own strength, I rely on Him twenty-four hours a day. (Location 101) God allows the failure but He does not want the discouragement. (Loc 110) Be kind to each other: It is better to commit faults with gentleness than to work miracles with unkindness . (Loc 291) Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. (loc 231) Let us conquer the world with our love. Let us interweave our lives with bonds of sacrifice and love, and it will be possible for us to conquer the world. (loc 264) Never bother about people’s opinions. Be humble and you will never be disturbed. The Lord has willed me here where I am. He will offer a solution. (loc 301) If you are humble, nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are. If you are blamed, you won’t be discouraged; if anyone calls you a saint, you won’t put yourself on a pedestal. (loc 437) "I have called you by your name," Jesus said. "You are mine. You are precious in my sight. I love you." (loc 1130) Let us understand the tenderness of God’s love. For He speaks in the Scripture, "Even if a mother could forget her child, I will not forget you. I have carved you on the palm of my hand" (see Isaiah 49:15-16). When you feel lonely, when you feel unwanted, when you feel sick and forgotten, remember you are precious to Him. He loves you. (loc 247) Mother Teresa No Greater Love (New World Library; First Trade Paper Edition edition (October 4, 2010), 2010), Such a fantastic book by Mother Teresa. It reminds us of our service and our love of others. That we love others because we were first loved. We should humbly serve in our calling without need for recognition. We should show love in even the simplest of deed. For true greatness is often in simply serving without seeking attention. The post Mother Teresa Quotes [Quote] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

The Swivl is a robotic recorder of your classroom, but it can also do many other things. The Swivl is one of the most simple devices, but it is also diverse in its uses. After learning the specs of the Swivl, and just having some fun with it, I finally learned how to effectively use the Swivl, and find other uses for it by using some creativity. I’m a student in Mrs. Vicki Davis’ class and have come up with 15 uses for the Swivl in the time I’ve been testing it.  1. Record a teacher’s class or presentation This is basically using the technique of flipping classroom, where you record your class, the student watches it at home, and then you do the homework in class tomorrow. You can also use it in class and let the teacher help students as they work. (This is what my teacher does.)This post was written by Akshay Patel, a tenth grade student, who tested the Swivl as part of his genius project. I have permission to share his full name and the article as he builds his portfolio online. This handy device has an option for iPhone/iPad and another for DSLR cameras. We were sent a Swivl to review for my blog. 2. A Robotic Camera Man When students are doing a group project, they could use the Swivl and record all of them instead of having someone else as the cameraman and be left out of the video. If a team member is missing, this is a good way to include them when they’re out. 3. Present With Slides By using the Swivl Cloud and the Swivl Capture app, you can record your own presentation while presenting with slides on your IOS device. 4. Improve Teaching Skills When using the Swivl to record a teacher’s class, the footage can be sent to a higher-ed teacher or the school administrator to see how the teacher is doing, and then send feedback. 5. Practicing Made Easy You might be nervous about your presentation and want to practice like it might be the real thing. Using the Swivl, you can check for time, audio, slides, and eye contact. 6. Quick and Effortless Streaming Anybody can use the Swivl to record videos to upload to YouTube or stream on Ustream. 7. Audio Recordings With the Swivl’s marker, you can record clear, wireless audio. 8. Vlogging Made Easy The Swivl can be used to easily make a vlog. Instead of focusing the camera in one place, you can attach the marker to the lanyard, put the lanyard on, and walk around while still recording clear audio and video. 9. Your Own Personal Coach You may be a basketball player or a golf player. Sometimes you have to practice on your own, but how would you know if you were shooting the ball right, or swinging the golf club with proper form? With the Swivl, you can just put the marker on you by using the lanyard, and start practicing. When you’re done practicing, you can watch the video, see how your form is, and improve it from there. 10. Family Moments Saved Forever One way the Swivl can help a family is to record those precious childhood moments that do not last very long. The parents can use the Swivl to record their children or record themselves with their children and make those bittersweet  moments last longer. 11. Multitask Like a Pro One day you might be cooking in your kitchen, moving around a lot, and suddenly your mom wants to FaceTime. You know you are unable hold your phone, iPad, etc. while moving around cooking. So  just pop your Apple device right on the Swivl, and let mom see you walking around the kitchen. Also with the wireless microphone, she can easily hear your voice. 12. Dog Training For dog trainers, a client may want to see how their dog is doing, so they ask the trainer to send a video. The trainer can easily record quality video of the dog moving around, while he or she is giving commands to the dog. The marker can be attached to the dog’s collar, and easy as that, you have clear video to send to your customers. If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. 13. Horse Training Horse trainer can also send videos to their clients. By putting the marker on the horse’s saddle, the trainer can use the Swivl to record video while he or she is commanding or calling the horse. The video can be played over to see how the horse canters, gallops, and how well the horse responds to commands. If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. 14. Literary Practice An easy way to practice for literary is to use the Swivl. Usually when practicing, the literary coach would have to record someone practicing and try to help them at the same time. With the Swivl, the coach can give advice, while recording clear audio and video. Then the video can be watched over again to see how they do. 15. Personal Camera Use In case you do not like the camera on your phone or Ipad, then you can use your own personal DSLR camera, if you buy the optional Swivl Camera Mount.  With your DSLR camera, you can make time-lapse videos. The Swivl can also be mounted on a tripod. as long as it follows these guidelines. Akshay Patel is a student at Westwood Schools who is studying the Swivl and the potential for robotic filming in schools as his genius project. Akshay was recently the Project manager for the Gamifi-ed Project and lives in Camilla, Georgia with his family. He loves playing tennis, running, and anything to do with technology. He’s interested in testing anything robotic. His parents have given permission for his full name to be used and for this blog to be posted as Akshay builds his portfolio. Photo Credits: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/satarii/swivl-multipurpose-motion-platform-for-mobile-and http://www.swivl.com/ Video Credits: http://redeemingdogs.com/ https://www.youtube.com/user/TollerScout The post 15 Uses for the Swivl appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

3 Steps to Make 2015 an Epic Year Vicki Davis on Edutopia January 2, 2015 You don’t accidentally climb Mt. Everest. You don’t accidentally have an epic year. Here are 3 important points to have an epic year over on my Edutopia blog. Here’s the wordcloud for the article. The post 3 Steps to Make 2015 an Epic Year [Link] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Karen Nelson advocates using technology with primary students. She feels it is appropriate for short periods of screentime and with engaging activities even for young primary students. Listen now to Karen Nelson Add @MrsNelsonCWA to Your PLN @MrsNelsonCWA Technology in Early Childhood Listen to Karen Nelson Karen Nelson - Show #82 - Generation C: When Very Young Children Are Connected to Technology Karen Nelson discusses with Vicki about using technology apps with primary students. She recommends limiting consecutive screentime to twenty minutes and to use engaging activities. She recommends several apps for tablets that meet these requirements. She loves using programming with students because they propel students into higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. She advocates teaching digital safety to students and teaching primary students to unplug. She discusses how technology can fit into a early childhood program. Listen now to hear her recommendations to parents and teachers for using technology with primary students. Listen to primary teacher Karen Nelson Every Classroom Matters is a bi-weekly Radio Show by Vicki Davis on BAM Radio network with best practices for busy teachers. Subscribe. Show notes prepared by Lisa Durff, Production Coordinator for Every Classroom Matters. 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. If you need help, use this tutorial. The post Advice About Young Children and Technology with Teacher Karen Nelson appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Teaching about copyright, Creative Commons, and how to license your work can be a challenge. I’ve created a lesson to explain this simply. All of the videos I’m creating now on the Cool Cat Teacher TV YouTube channel now have essential questions with them. Feel free to use them with your students. Copyright 101: A Simple Lesson in Licenses Essential Questions What is copyright? How long does it last? What are the kinds of copyright? How can I copyright my own work? How can I find works I can use freely? Do I still have to give credit for the work? How can I buy licenses for professional work? What are the penalties for not following copyright? The post Copyright 101: A Simple Video Lesson in Licenses appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Look forward at this year but you should also look back to celebrate and appreciate! I’m so grateful for all of you who read the Cool Cat Teacher Blog. Most of these posts are written in the wee hours of the morning, when I come home tired or sometimes in the car (with Kip driving, of course). My goal is to be helpful, inspiring, and informative. If you’ve visited my blog in the last two days you might have seen an error screen! It is because I was upgrading to a faster server and we had GLITCHES. I need to make sure that this site can handle the traffic that happens when people like Cathy Rubin mention my name. (See her write up of the top 12 Teacher Blog Posts of 2014. She named my Edutopia piece 12 Ways to Step Back from Burnout as one of her top posts.) Top Blog Posts of the 2014 on Cool Cat Teacher Jetpack, my WordPress statistics service gives me an annual report. Here are the top posts of 2014. 15 Best Google Drive Add-Ons for Education 18 Epic Productivity Apps 5 Reasons I’m moving from Blogger to WordPress and How I did it Top 10 Tips for Close Reading Activities (this was written by Heidi Morgan with editing from me) How to Mod Minecraft: Youth Digital Has the Class for Your Kid 8 Great Classroom Ideas to Level Up Learning What To Do When Someone Hates You 8 Great Email Etiquette Tips for Educators and Everybody How to Save Your Kindle Notes Into Evernote How to Make it to the End of the School Year Note Taking Skills for 21st Century Students I’m including eleven posts because there was a big drop off between 11 and 12. These are my eleven "site crashers" - the ones that so many of you read and shared that they account for a large part of the traffic of 2015. You like lists (that is obvious) and how-to posts. The two more socio-emotional posts show that you grapple with the struggles of working with colleagues and fighting burnout (who doesn’t?). I posted 140 times (and overall have around 3,500 blog posts!) This chart fills me with wonder that we are so interconnected! Wow!    Top Referring Sites of 2014 I use Twitterfeed to automatically send my blog posts into Twitter. My Facebook fanpage has attracted some incredible educators who like to talk about and share ideas. My old blog at blogspot is still where many people go, but I link to this blog and they end up here. For those of you who don’t know linkis.com is a link shortener that is often used on Twitter. Flipboard is popular as I have a popular education magazine over there that people read. I’ll often flip it into the magazine as well as all of the other stuff I share over there. (You can also read it online.) Twitter tops the list Let’s Talk: Top Commenters This is commenters inside wordpress. I’m not sure it is accurate because of the problems I had with Disqus this year (I may have lost some of those comments.) But it is interesting nonetheless. Andrea has a link because she put a link to her website in her profile name. I know the others though and am pretty sure we’re connected on Twitter. I like to follow people who have conversations. I’m topping the list because I work hard to reply to people who ask questions and have thoughts. What I Learned? I’ve been hacked, had so much traffic the site went down. I’ve fought with disqus. I’ve learned to optimize graphics. I’ve learned a lot because I’ve failed a lot!!! But the question my husband always asks the kids when they make a mistake is "what did you learn?" I’m learning so much about blogging, running my own website, and lots of patience. My friend Lisa Durff has come on with me this year and is helping me post and share Every Classroom Matters shows. The BAMMY for Best Education Talk Show Host was unbelievable and still moves me to tears. I really love that show because I love the incredible teachers who are on it. I also adore my friends at BAM and look forward to incredible things to come! I’m so grateful to the good Lord for a calling such as this and to all of you who teach me so much through my PLN. Every day we’re learning! Right now I’m running (as usual). I have no time to wax poetic as I HAVE TO GET DRESSED AND GO TO SCHOOL. TIME TO TEACH!! I hope you rejoice in 2014. I hope you ask yourself what you’ve learned. I hope you move ahead with a vigor to improve the things that didn’t work well and to celebrate the things that did. Life can be epic. The post Best of Cool Cat Teacher - Reflection on 2014 appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

So what if we put students in charge of planning a global student technology conference? It is happening Saturday, January 31 as students from around the world connect and share about technology. Encourage your students to present, participate, and learn. I asked Eric Walters, the teacher of the students organizing this event to share. As we shared in Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds — students are the greatest textbook written for each other. OPEN THE BOOK.  Let your students know. Guest post by Eric Walters, Director of STEM Education, Marymount School of New York Students at the Marymount School of New York, working with students as nearby as Westhampton, Long Island and as far away as Mumbai, India, decided to connect the world, one student at a time through the 2015 Student Technology Conference. What are the topics? Who is presenting? The 2015 Student Technology Conference is  a free, virtual event, bringing together students from around the world. They are planning to discuss technology in their schools, global collaborations and opportunities for innovative learning. Here’s the logo: STC. I love how they are using an ethernet cable instead of the traditional "electrical plug". It shows how far we’ve come! I hope you share this with your students. Let’s help them live their vision. Conference Strands. The conference has some exciting strands: Making, Design, Innovation and  3D Printing School Technology Clubs Technology in Schools: Projects and Collaborations Educational Tools Students and Social Media Entrepreneuship Student Keynotes. We have some exciting keynotes! Students from American School in Mumbai Students from Westhampton Middle School Dylan DeWaart, globalbuddy.org Here are some of the student planning team members who are partnering with other students from around the world. When is the conference? The conference will be held online at: studenttechnologyconference.com on Saturday, January 31, 2015 from 9 AM to 9 PM EST.  All of the presentations and all of the keynotes will be by students! How Do Students Participate? Submit a Proposal. We are still accepting proposals for presentations.  You can submit your proposal at: http://studenttechnologyconference.com/page/call-for-proposals Attend the Conference. Or sign up as an attendee at: http://studenttechnologyconference.com/group/2015-attendees How Did The Students Plan It? In planning the conference, the students first had to develop a conference mission statement.  The conference, by students and for all, is committed to: Fostering a better understanding of how students use technology and to engage students, teachers and administrators in a conversation about technology. Assisting teachers and administrators in understanding how students use technology both in and out of the classroom. Strengthening the relationship between students, teachers, and administrators about technology in the classroom. The students also started a Kickstarter campaign to fund the conference infrastructure.  The campaign was successful and was funded at 176%! Our Inspiration The STEM fields provide a unique opportunity for students to both collaborate with each other and to connect with subject experts from around the world.  Using the work of Alan November as inspiration, educators can develop and implement unique learning and leadership opportunities for students to achieve this goal. Our Appreciation We need to thank the following people: Lucy Gray and Steve Hargadon:  Educational consultants and mentors . Concepcion Alvar: Headmistress, Marymount School of New York I encourage you to share this with your students. You all have students who need to share their story or who just need to connect with other students OUTSIDE of your school. Plus, you can get in on the ground floor of something very special. Head over to  studenttechnologyconference.com and email the link to your faculty, staff, and students. The post January 31: the First Student-Led Technology Conference is Here! Join in. appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Feedly helps you pull together many great sources of information around the web. RSS readers have been part of my curriculum for 10 years. It is time to learn to master this technique to make your life easier. In today’s tutorial video I’ll teach you how to set up Feedly (just the basics) and add 3 sources of information. You’ll learn how RSS works and why it makes your life easier. Video Tutorial: RSS and Feedly Learn the new way to stay updated: RSS. While RSS has been around for a while, few people understand the potential to stay on top of news and interesting things in a snap. Using it can be easy with Feedly. Essential Questions: What is RSS? Why can RSS be hard to find? How do you set up an RSS reader? (We used Feedly) What are 3 Ways to Find RSS Feeds? How Does RSS Fit into Your Learning? What is a PLN? How do you use RSS? How I Teach Feedly to Students I ask students to set up their own Feedly. We add content all three ways I teach in the video. Then I give them times to check their feedly and become familiar with how useful it is. If they have a device, I encourage them to install the app. Once students see it in action for a few days they start to understand. You can also do this with college students and research projects. If you like tutorials and want more, check out Cool Cat Teacher TV on YouTube. I upload quick tips and longer tutorials to help you learn today’s best tools. I like fast, practical ways that get to the point. The post RSS and Feedly: Stay Up to Date without the Hassle appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Oh, dear friends and fellow educators — you are in the throes of January. A teacher at church admitted to me just this past Sunday that this time of the year she lies awake at night figuring out how to better teach this or that. Brrr. The tests are coming. Such things dominate the minds and can cloud the hearts of great teachers who believe (rightly so) that too much testing obscures what we’re here to do. Dear teacher, have hope. There are things to do and precious children to love on and teach. Some of them are struggling, and the last thing on their mind is a test in April or March or whenever. They don’t care about those things because they are hurting. They need a kind word. They need someone to call them by name. They have strengths to discover, and that can’t wait until June when testing is over. You might feel like you can’t give hope to others. You need it too much yourself right now — but let me remind you of something, dear teacher: you are the hope. Suzanne Collins, the author of the Hunger Games,  has her character Katniss in the worst of situations — in an arena being forced to fight to the death. Survival is all these children think. Collins penned, "You don’t forget the face of the person who was your last hope." Some of these children are just fighting to survive. To these precious ones who need us most — you, my friends and teachers — you are someone’s last hope. They need you to whisper words like those written by Shel Silverstein — the author/artist who penned books like Where the Sidewalk Ends and The Giving Tree, "Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be." Famed neurosurgeon, Ben Carson tells a story of how his fifth-grade teacher noticed that he knew everything about rocks. For some reason, Ben was fascinated by them. So, the teacher pointed it out to the class and asked Ben to stay after school. He encouraged Ben to start a rock collection and said he’d help. That whisper of "Anything can be" to the poor child of a single mom struggling to make it — made all the difference in Ben’s life. Ben is now a neurosurgeon AND a best selling author. In all things it is better to hope than despair. GoethePowered By the Tweet This PluginTweet This So the days may be dark, and you may be awake at night thinking about the test. But when you’re tempted to work yourself into a fury, let me remind you — think about THEM. Think about your students: what are their strengths? What are the things they do well? Last night we were at the school meeting with seniors to get their YouScience results. This amazing assessment (that I highly recommend, by the way- do those words go together — LOL), gives students a 50-page report on their aptitudes and abilities. These students are tired and in the midst of term paper season, basketball season, dance recitals and everything else — they came out with their parents to learn about themselves. Some learned they had aptitudes for some things and their eyes opened. It was joyful to see parents say "this so nailed my child - this is just like him/her". Why were they so excited about a test: because this assessment revealed their strengths and didn’t focus on their weaknesses. (Disclosure: My students are a pilot school doing research for YouScience.) So, you can’t do anything about that blasted test you have to administer. And you do have to teach all of this stuff. But I’m begging you not to forget the STRENGTHS. I’m begging you not to forget the gifts in your classroom. Learning can’t start without a connection of the heart.Powered By the Tweet This PluginTweet This Learning can’t start without a connection of the heart. Hope without action is fantasy. Dreams become reality through hope accompanied by a consistent daily habit of moving towards your dream. You have a dream - at least I hope you do - of reaching each of these children and helping them be their best. Don’t make excuses - make possibilities. The author of the Little Prince and famed French aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well. Antoine de Saint-ExuperyPowered By the Tweet This PluginTweet This You’ve got darkness and hate causing these little precious children to struggle. It is not their fault. It is, however, our fault if we let a test blot out all remembrance of what we are here to do. We cannot let our objectives make us lose sight of our primary objectives. "Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." penned Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. There are many who will tell you that you don’t have time to love… you’ve got to test. There will be others who will frown and say you have to teach and cannot find a child’s strength… you’ve got the test. I’ll tell you that you can’t have teaching without love and trying to find a child’s strengths. For within every great teacher I’ve ever known is the deep-seated desire to build a better future by educating the minds of today’s students. Every great teacher I’ve ever known taught me an incredible volume while also teaching me how to live life. I’ll quote a few lines from Edgar Guest’s great poem "It Couldn’t Be Done" to those people who say we can’t teach and test: Somebody said that it couldn’t be done, But he with a chuckle replied That ‘maybe it couldn’t’ but he would be one Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried. So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin On his face. If he worried he hid it. He started to sing as he tackled the thing That couldn’t be done and He did it. Here’s to all of you hope givers. Here’s to all of you exceptional people doing every day what others say can’t be done. Here’s to you, teacher, hope giver, hero of the next generation. Let’s don’t let the cold days of January and the hot tests of tomorrow dampen our passion for what we must be doing today. Teach on, noble teacher, have hope. You can do this. The post Hope for Teachers; Hope for Kids appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.