Global Teacher Prize finalists Nancie Atwell, Stephen Ritz, Jacque Kahura, and Naomi Volain sat down with Vicki at The Global Education & Skills Forum to talk about their passions in education. Nancie Atwell is the winner of this prestigious prize. Listen now to find out what inspires them to offer world-class education to their students. Listen now to Part 1 special from Dubai Add @NancieAtwell and @greenBXmachine to your PLN @NancieAtwell Center for Teaching and Learning @greenBXmachine Green Bronx Machine Listen now to Nancie Atwell, Stephen Ritz, Jacque Kahura, & Naomi Volain Global Teacher Prize Nominees - Show #132 - What Makes a World-Class Teacher? Nancie Atwell, Stephen Ritz, Jacque Kahura, and Naomi Volain each were nominated for the Global Teacher Prize. They each prepared a video for the competition which you can view here:Nancie Nancie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usy3ixT0QpA Stephen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEn_Rp2Tcp4 Jacque https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoA0ko8unaU Naomi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lhw89YdJWJ0 During The Global Education & Skills Forum, they sat down with Vicki to talk about their passions in education, engaging students, and world-class education. Listen now to find out what drives these world-class educators. Listen now to four world-class teachers nominated for the Global Teacher Price World-Class Educators talk with @coolcatteacher in this special episode of Every Classroom Matters from DubaiPowered By the Tweet This PluginTweet This 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? Click "Play" on the BAM Radio site or subscribe in a podcatcher. If you need help, use this tutorial. The post What Makes a World-Class Teacher? #gesf appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

An edWeb Webinar from the Amazing Resources Community will feature Vicki Davis presenting on April 23, 2015 at 4:00pm EST. This free webinar will include: Tips for making technology use routine and transparent Ensuring technology is accessible for the task at hand Strategies for using technology to support curricular goals Strategies for using technology to help your students effectively reach their goals Click here for more information and to pre-register for the live session. Join the live session at the scheduled time at: www.instantpresenter.com/edwebnet10. Join the Amazing Resources for Educators community to participate in online discussions with peers, for invitations to upcoming webinars, to view past webinar recordings, to take a quiz and receive a CE certificate for a past webinar, and for access to more resources. This webinar is sponsored by Quill.com and co-hosted by Big Deal Media. Seamless integration is when students are not only using technology daily,but have access to a variety of tools that match the task at handPowered By the Tweet This PluginTweet This The post Differentiating Instruction with Technology: A Framework for Success appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

20 Top Pinterest Tips Vicki Davis on Edutopia February 23, 2015 Are you Pinteresting? Well, lots of educators are. The PEW Research Center has found that 28 percent of online users are using Pinterest(compared to only 23 percent using Twitter). Women dominate Pinterest with 42 percent of women online using the site. With over 80 percent of teachers being women (PDF, 1.5MB), it makes sense that teachers are all over Pinterest sharing ideas for lesson plans, centers, and resources. Pinterest is different from other sites. When you pin something, people will be looking at and repinning it years later. Pinterest may be the secret powerhouse of educational sharing. Here are 20 power tips that you can use in many areas of schools and your classroom. Tip 1: Follow Boards or People Pinterest has a useful feature that lets you just follow just one board. Here’s an example. If I look at super-teacher Laura Candler’s Pinterest, I can click at the top right and follow everything she pins, or I can click "Follow" under her boards that interest me the most. So a math teacher… Continue reading the rest of this article on Edutopia. Pinterest has so many uses for educators. After reading the post I wrote for Edutopia, which is comprehensive, you may also want to check out Simple Pinterest for Beginners and 346 Uses of Pinterest in Education. The post 20 Top Pinterest Tips [Link] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

I’ll admit something, I dread April and May. With every fiber of my being. Can I admit this to you? Will you judge me? Why can’t we all just skip the last two months of the year? It is easy to see why so many people jump at the chance to leave the classroom when they can. It is sooooooo hard to stay here. It isn’t your students that drive you to despair; it is the other stuff - or "schtuff" as my husband calls it. Printing the certificates and updating the databases and doing everything else. So, here I am the last day of Spring Break writing this as we’re driving home in the rain, and I don’t want to go back. I don’t want to go to school tomorrow. I want to see my students - yes. I do; I want to share stories, and I even want to teach them the things that I’ve planned. I’m looking forward to that. I just can’t fathom how I’ll do it all plus cook dinner at night and keep the clothes washed, etc. etc. etc. (I can hear Yul Brenner saying that in the "King and I" — it is the "etcetera etcetera etcetera" that kills most teachers.) So, I’m whining now. I think I’ll probably delete at least half of what I wrote in these previous sentences (I did) except that I want you other teachers to know where I am. I know this — YOU’RE RIGHT HERE WITH ME. You know the stress of the last few months. You feel it. Your teeth are clenched and many of you are wondering how you’re going to survive. So, here we go, I’m going to share with you what gets me through this time. Unclench your teeth, relax and let’s do it! (Now that I’ve gotten over my desire to quit.) Are you ready? You can stay motivated at school by moving forward each day. Many struggles and tasks we have at school are only solved by moving forward and doing our best as time passes. You can do this. 1- Solve By Moving Forward "Solvitur ambulando" - is Latin. It means "it is solved by walking" The problem of April and May is not solved by sitting and stressing about it. It is solved by walking. One foot in front of the other. One task in front of the other. I will solve this by walking ahead. Each day, I’ll make a list for the next and make appointments to do major tasks and put them on my calendar. I will solve this problem by walking. Can you? 2 - Listen To Awesome Music Music is a natural mood booster. Keep some headphones in your room. As for me, when I have time without students, I tune out the ambient noise and enter my own "Cone of Silence." I have a playlist called "Hope" that I play on the hard days. 3 - Be Strategic About Mornings How do you start the day with the most peace and purpose? For me, I pray and read my Bible no matter what. Not because this makes me a good person, it makes me a purposeful person. One day I realized that the very best days of my life started this way, and then I asked myself why I wouldn’t want to have the "Best Day" every day. After my morning wake up routine, I grab a cappuccino and start writing. Writing gives me joy. What morning routine helps you live your Best Days ever? Do it, especially during April/ May/ June. An excellent book, The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (Before 8AM), is the best one I’ve seen about focusing your mornings on success. I follow the SAVERS principal but call it PAVERS (Prayer, Affirmations, Vision, Exercise, Reading, Scribing). I substitute prayer for silence, but we each have our own method. 4 - Top Off Your Tanks. This is vitally important. Have you ever noticed that if you keep waiting to fill up your car with gas, you end up driving around town on empty. It causes even more stress and you don’t know if you’re going to make it. Something small just became very very big. During April/ May, I take steps to top off my tanks. Every chance I think about it and I need gas in the car, I top it off. (Usually every Saturday morning.) But this also applies to everything else in my life. If I’m feeling really tired, I top off my sleep tanks and guilt-free go to bed early. If I sense that I’m getting anxious or upset, I immediately take steps to deal with the issue, if I can, or to journal it. Top off Your Tanks -whichever kind runs empty. 5 - Keep a Joy Journal. If you write five things a day in a journal - that is all it takes to be happier than if you’d won the lottery. (See 9 Fine Reasons to Keep a Journal.) Not kidding. It is crazy, but true. These months when I know I’m going to be calling 9 - waa - waa much more than I should (calling the waaaaaambulance is never any fun) — I have to keep my joy front and center. 6 - Let the Rough End Drag Granny Martin always said "sometimes you gotta let the rough end drag." In these last few weeks of school, my husband makes me promise not to feel guilty about dinner, etc. I have to put my perfectionist tendencies to the side and stop expecting myself to cook huge meals each night and be OK with a sandwich. It is OK. 7 - Forgive and Move On This is the biggest. You have to realize and understand that EVERYONE I mean EVERYONE is in the same boat with you. If you sink their boat, you sink yours too. You’ve got to row together. Hurting people, hurt people. Fighting in a row boat is always a dumb move. 8 - Work Towards Your Task. There’s a Chinese Saying "Man who waits for roast duck to fly in mouth will wait long time." You’ve got work to do then DO IT. Idle chatter is a procrastination technique (as my pastor has so aptly said). I’ve found that my attitude tends to go in the opposite direction of how much I talk. (For you non-math folks — the less I talk and more I do, the better I feel — the more I talk and less I do, the worse I feel.) 9 - Enjoy the Moments This May is also important because my daughter and son will come home from college for a bit before school is out. If I can’t enjoy the moments with her and let my stress ruin it, then I’ll miss out on so much. We’ll find small things to celebrate and find little ways to celebrate them. A good smelling candle, a cup of coffee together after school, an unexpected trip to the mall — I can’t let the tasks keep me from the most important thing of all — being a human BEING and not just a HUMAN DOING. 10 - End well I’ve written often about ending well and finishing the race. I teach until the last day (see Finding Your Beautiful Moment the Last Week of School). There are hundreds of eyes watching you. Sure, there are some teachers who will check out early. They’ll watch videos the last few days, but these kids have videos they can watch all summer. They won’t have you. Teach until the last bell rings. Hold focus groups with your students to get feedback and to improve yourself over the summer. Plan memorable moments full of meaning to help them remember what they’ve done. Be epic. These are the best of times and the worst of times. There will be laughter and you’ll likely be up at least a few times crying into your pillow at 2 am. This is my 13th year of this and it is this way every year. But every year while I dread it more, I get better at handling it. Solvitur ambulando. We can do this The post 10 Ways to Stay Motivated at School appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Some of you are living on the edge of financial ruin. Not because you’re not a good money manager - you are. Not because you’re bad with people - you’re good with them too. No, some of you are living on the edge of financial ruin because you are not backing up your computer. Only 7% of people back up their data daily and 23% back up at least once a month. While you can recover most hard drives with a Ben Franklin and a good tech support person, you’ll be out and down for some time waiting for that to happen. I’m going to share several ways you can back up your files and how I do it. Most of you insure your home and personal property but choose to play Russian roulette with your dissertations, financial records, and personal photographs. 1 - Purchase An Online Backup Service: Carbonite Carbonite (carbonite.com) is an online backup service. If you have high speed Internet and want it to just run in the background, this is a good service to use. I used it for a year, but did notice it slowed me down slightly when it was running, particularly after I took a lot of photos off of my iphone or other activity that triggered the backup to start running. 2 - Use An External Hard Drive And Crash Plan Many of you in the country without high speed Internet will want this option. Purchase an external hard drive (the biggest you can find 500GB - 1TB) and then set up Crash Plan (crashplan.com). While Crash Plan can back up online, it will also handle your offline backup to your external hard drive or another computer. This program makes backup easy. 3 - For The Privacy Sensitive: Spider Oak If you like option 2 but really want a super-private service, Spider Oak (spideroak.com) has high reviews in this area. While I haven’t personally used this one, it comes highly recommended. It looks to be a tad harder to set up than Crash Plan, if you’re super concerned about your data being private, it is a great option. 4 - Use Dropbox Instead of My Documents Dropbox (dropbox.com) is not an "official" backup service, I installed it and use it instead of My Documents So, for me, once I had my Documents synced, I didn’t need anything else. Last summer as I was finishing the final draft of Reinventing Writing, my desktop computer died and I kept working on my laptop as it went in the shop. No downtime. The advantage of this method is that your files follow you everywhere. I use Dropbox daily. Don’t live on the edge of financial ruin. If you depend on your computer (like many of us) take steps to back up your computer and rest easy at night. The post 4 Ways to Backup Your Files and Stop Playing Russian Roulette With Your Data appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

She sounded like a banshee with a stubbed toe. The wail from the cubicle across from mine, as I sat down to try to write this blog post on a layover in Minneapolis, is worse than any caterwauling I’ve ever heard before. I can’t tell if she’s speaking in tongues or lost hers. Right now is not a time for the battery in my noise cancelling headphones to go out but it did! Eeech! I am usually pretty good at NOT staring or glaring. But several times, the shrieks alternated with the off key something and the guttural noises caused me to jump in my seat and look at her. And then it hit me… there are times we need noise cancelling headphones at school. We shouldn’t wear them literally all the time, I think. But, there are things we can do to silence the noise when it threatens our ability to bring our best to our students. There are those who whine, complain, and bellyache so badly that you can’t get your work done. In fact, I started really writing this blog post AFTER she left. Even my Focus@will app couldn’t quite drown out the noise like she was killing cats! (Although I admit, I do NOT know what that sounds like.) But you know what — I find that the more I hear complaints and "woe is me" kinda stuff - it almost does kill this cat — the Cool Cat Teacher, that is. When I don’t post on my blog for a while: either I’m on a family vacation or… you guessed it… I’m fighting a battle with my attitude. The worst wars with my own attitude are usually started by friendly fire. But there is no such thing. Bad attitudes spread like a virus. Schools need people who can cancel out the noise. There are two or three places I know I can go to have a down day. There are certain people that if I let them corner me in the hall, I will take a tumble. There are those who just cannot find solutions, only a multitude of problems. So, here are seven ways to cancel the noise of negativity: You can change the subject. Kindly try to redirect the subject to something you know the other person likes. You can be upfront about your new hope. You can be direct, "____, I’m working very hard on having an excellent attitude but if we talk about this right now, it is going to be hard to do that. If it is OK with you, could we change the subject so I can stay positive?" You can schedule a meeting with those who can do something about it. Sometimes a real issue needs to be handled. Crucial Conversations is a dynamite book that can help you learn how to have productive conversations about hard topics. You can tell the truth AND preserve your relationships with people if you know how because there are people who do it every day. I’m committed to being a leader at my school. I have to be able to be part of crucial conversations. I am committed to being someone that others can speak to and feel safe. I admit that I’ve failed miserably in the past. Admitting failure is the first step on a journey of self-improvement. Another option with this one is to help the person do something about it. If it is in your power, give them a job to do that will have a measurable result. This technique is often one that will either quiet the complainer or help you make progress. Listen. There are people who are rarely negative and need a listen. We all fall and struggle. Sometimes we need someone to listen without trying to give answers. And then, after you listen, try to forget and move on unless you need to do. You can walk away. Yes, you can. You do have lots of work to do, so you can say what that is and move on. You can avoid the "hot spots". I can tell when people are congregating and belly aching. When I see it happen as I’m walking in the teacher’s lounge, I keep walking out the door and just take a quick walk to the other building and back. You must reprogram yourself. As a Christian, we call it "renewing our mind." Read success stories about people who overcame problems. Write a joy journal. Move ahead and decide to have an excellent attitude. Sometimes we all need noise cancelling headphones. Sometimes they are physical headphones but it is usually our ability to hit problems head on with solutions and the avoiding of those who have decided to have a stinky attitude that helps the most. I’ll never forget that noise coming from the cubicle next to me in Minnesota. I think I’ll replay it in my mind every time I hear unconstructive complaining — they are both just as annoying. Question: Think of those people or places where negativity clouds the space like fog on a warm spring day. What can you do to cancel out the noise? Make a commitment to yourself to take action this week. The post Stay Positive: 7 Ways to Cancel the Noise of Negativity appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

An Interview with Every Classroom Matters Guest, Rae Pica Rae Pica is joining a cacophony of voices calling the US national standards for kindergarteners as "developmentally inappropriate" and "unrealistic." In her new book, What If Everybody Understood Child Development?: Straight Talk About Bettering Education and Children’s Lives, Rae shares a composite of opinions and research that gives voice to the children being pushed to learn. In this fear-based DO IT NOW mentality being pushed on parents and educators, it is a voice of reason and authenticity you’ll hear. Listen to ECM Episode #142 In episode #142 of Every Classroom Matters, I sit down with Rae Pica to hear her thoughts on early childhood standards and what is happening in early childhood education today. You can follow her on @BodyMindChild on Twitter. With more than 90 math and reading standards including the REQUIREMENT that all children read at the end of kindergarten, these standards may not only be unrealistic but harmful to children. There is no #stuchat twitter chat for kindergarteners to voice their concerns about what is happening to them. The megaphone for children must be the adults who listen and pay rapt attention to their condition. Many of us have a unique perspective of working with children over a period of time. We know if things are leveling up or sinking. It is our job to speak out when we see injustice.  I believe someone reading this post is uniquely positioned to be the voice for children - in fact, you may already be. Are you bravely speaking up and speaking out? Is this your calling? Then, dear friend, this is your wake-up call. The post EPISODE 142: What If Everybody Understood Child Development? [PODCAST] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Understand the Future of the Classroom, sponsored by Intel On May 20, we will get a glimpse into the future. Many education leaders complain about the difficulty of long-term planning when we don’t have a clue what the future will look like in the classroom. Now we can have some insight. "Technology alone will not make our kids smarter." says  futurist, Brian David Johnson. OK, so what will? I’m totally intrigued to learn what will be said in this free webinar from Intel where Brian David Johnson will explore what culture, living, and learning will look like in 2025. What will power the future of learning? How will we advance schools in the future? What decisions do we need to make today? As part of the live online audience, you’ll also get to pose questions. 3 Steps to Attend Mark your calendars for May 20, 2015 at 2pm PDT (Pacific Daylight Time). Go to the Event Website to reserve your spot in this free webinar. On the day of the event, follow the link in your email. (I recommend entering webinar rooms 15 minutes before they start.) Who is Brian David Johnson? It’s Brian David Johnson’s job to study and predict future trends for governments, militaries, trade organizations, and corporations. When he’s not researching, his articles appear in Scientific American, Forbes, and Popular Science, and he makes the occasional appearance on PBS and the Discovery Channel. As Intel’s resident futurist, you can follow him on Twitter at @Intelfuturist. To vet this article, I read through several magazine articles he’s written, and found a lot of fascinating opinions. Who Should Attend? I predict it is going to be a must listen for IT Directors, savvy technology users, and anyone who is curious about the trends in the future of education. Brian David Johnson, Intel’s futurist, will be talking about the classroom of 2025. It will be a fascinating webinar for those planning and making decisions in schools. Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a "sponsored post." The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to edit and post it. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.) The post FREE WEBINAR: Living and Learning in 2025 appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

The Every Classroom Matters Show: Tony Vincent, Expert on Teaching with Mobile Devices Tony Vincent started using mobile devices in the classroom back in the days of Palm Pilots. Since then, he’s become an expert on everything mobile. In episode 143 of Every Classroom Matters, Tony teaches us how to use the iPad even when you only have one. He shares about infopics and how you can use them for a student reporter project. Tony also explains his new app, StickAround, which lets you create cool informational puzzles in teaching and learning. Listen to ECM Episode 143 with Tony Vincent If you are teaching with mobile devices or don’t have enough technology to go around, this episode will be very helpful to you. Here are some must-grab resources that Tony shared: iPad as teacher’s pet infographic version 2.0 The StickAround App The PicCollage App (Tony’s Favorite app) Tony’s YouTube channel (See his infopics tutorial included below.) Teachers with insufficient technology access who want students to blog should try his "daily planet" student reporter idea that he shares on the show! You can follow Tony on Twitter @tonyvincent and read his blog. If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. The post EPISODE 143: 10 Practical, Entertaining Ways to Teach with Mobile Devices [PODCAST] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

The Every Classroom Matters Show: Matthew Farber, Expert on Gaming in the Classroom Matthew Farber does a masterful job of explaining game mechanics, Bartle’s player types, and how to use gaming in the classroom. In Episode #144 of Every Classroom Matters, Matt also talks about game design as it relates to the classroom and how he uses questions to level up his classroom design. Listen to ECM #144 with Matthew Farber He also relates the "magic circle" of play with the zone of proximal development. Matthew is helping create a common design grammar between game design and what is happening with education. He teaches his middle school students about Game Mechanics and Bartle’s player types as part of a game literacy he builds in his classroom. Note from Vicki: If any of you follow educational gaming and know anything about "real" game design, you’ll know that many in education are blindly trying to figure it out without applying research and terminology from the rapidly maturing game-design industry. You can’t slap points and badges on it and say you’re gamifying! Matthew Farber’s new book Gamify Your Classroom: A Field Guide to Game-Based Learning (New Literacies and Digital Epistemologies), is a must-read for those working with games in the classroom. Matt includes both research and practical classroom ideas in each chapter. (I love it when classroom teachers write as they teach, the result is a fresh book that really WORKS in the classroom. That is what Matt has done with his book.) It is fascinating to hear Matt talk about a conversation he had with Richard Bartle about the misapplication of Bartle’s player types in game design. I especially enjoyed Matt sharing how he taught his sixth grade students social studies lessons about the Columbian exchange. It helps me picture how to use games by using game stations. Some must-have takeaways that Matt mentioned in this episode: The Pandemic Board Game Sim City Bartle’s Player Types Matt’s book Gamify Your Classroom Matt points out that game designers keep asking questions and iterating. He challenges us to do it in our own classroom. You can follow @MatthewFarber on Twitter and his blog on Edutopia.   The post EPISODE 144: The Elements of a Great Educational Game [PODCAST] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.