When I first began writing about The Habitudes, the conversations around "21st Century Skills" were in full swing. From business to education; classroom to community, the debate on what was a "new skill" or an "always skill" was both controversial and confusing. Despite numerous white papers, acts of legislation, and newly mandated curriculum, I am not sure if we are any closer to making clear to students the skills, strategies, and competencies they must embody for success now or in their future. So I set out on a quest to define "21st Century Skills" in my own terms. My research and experience led me to the following conclusions:   21st Century success requires: The ability to see the challenge and the solution, from every angle The ability know what questions to ask and when to ask them The ability to communicate one’s vision passionately and persuasively The ability to connect with others and create an enduring relationship The ability to understand your strengths and the discipline to improve your weaknesses The ability to stand out, stand up, and stand beside and knowing when each is required. The ability to dream, set audacious goals, and believe they can be accomplished The ability to lead, serve, and honor others Individuals and organizations with these attributes believe they can solve any problem and no challenge is too great. They approach problems with an attitude of optimism, persistence, confidence, and resolution to improve the situation, regardless of context and circumstance. These abilities are a combination of habits, daily disciplined decisions that successful individuals choose to make, but they also illustrate a new attitude, mindset, and way of thinking about the world and one’s place in it. Together, these disciplined habits and critical mindsets, or Habitudes as I like to call them, provide a comprehensive model for excellence in education. The new edition of the Habitudes outlines strategics lessons and conversations around the following key Habitudes: Imagination Curiosity Self Awareness Courage Adaptability Perseverance Passion It is more than a "how-to" guide for teaching 21st Century Skills and competencies. It is a "how-to-be" guide that provides a clear and explicit profile of the learner, worker, and citizen the world is expecting us TO BE. Whether you are helping students pass algebra or seeking to uncover their spirit of creativity within your organization, these lessons will improve the chances of success in both big and small ventures. Click here to READ A SAMPLE CHAPTER See first hand how the conversations look, sound, and feel by exploring the HABITUDES RESOURCE WIKI. Download any of the following FREE REPRODUCIBLES to help you in your lesson planning and implementation efforts. These reproducibles include handouts to copy and share, as well as forms you can fill in electronically. Defining the Habitudes Definitions and Descriptions of the Habitudes Dream Team Members General Habitude Reflections Genius Questions See ALL REPRODUCIBLES FOR THE HABITUDES HERE. You can ORDER YOUR COPY NOW  and explore first hand the over 60+ lessons and strategies.               My greatest hope for the new edition is for you to understand your own strength and power in students’  lives. The vast majority of your learners currently have or once had the Habitudes, but did not see their own ability for public and private greatness. They deserve to know that their passionate curiosity, powerful imaginations, and courageous abilities to adapt from their challenges and take chances matter. Happy Reading Friends!  

Writing prompts are no longer static when they are placed into an environment of active collaboration, reading and responding via any number of mechanisms (mobile, elearning, face-to-face, and hybrid). The key is to develop prompts that work in all environments.  Welcome to an interview with Valerie Fox and Lynn Levin, whose book, Poems for the Writing: Prompts for Poets (Texture Press) was a

Every year on September 15, innovative educators around the world celebrate International Dot Day by making time to encourage their students’ creativity and genius potential. Inspired by Peter H. Reynolds treasured story, The Dot, students are encouraged to "make their mark" by starting simply with a dot and then seeing where that dot takes you. I am especially looking forward to this year’s event. I have partnered with Peter and the amazing team at FableVision in an effort to connect like-minded educators willing to share their passions and talent with one another across the larger world community.   Over 350,000 educators and students have registered so far for International Dot Day and have signed up to share their stories with one another using the Skype in The Classroom Network. It is awe-inspiring to see children, teachers, leaders and entire communities representing all 50 states and spanning 6 continents join together to let one another know how much they matter to the world. And, this is a perfect time to issue a challenge to all the worldchangers and leaders in your community to Make Their Mark and Make it Matter. There is still time to participate so please join us: If you are a teacher/school and want to participate, there is still time to sign up your students at  http://fablevisionlearning.com/dotday/signup.html.  If you are a student  and want to participate, talk with your teacher and parent. Join Our Community Facebook pages to get frequent updates and ideas for Dot Day and share how your school/community is Choosing2Matter. Follow Us (@angelamaiers @PeterHReynolds) on Twitter Using the Hashtags :  #DotDay  #MakeURMark  #Choose2Matter Visit http://fablevisionlearning.com/dotday/ to learn more about International Dot Day, activity suggestions, resources, a global map showing participants and a peek at the dots being created by celebrities.     Make sure that you get registered on the Skype In The Classroom Network. We will be using the SITC platform as a way to enable  teachers participating from around the world a way to find and connect with one another. (if you already have a Skype account you can login with the same details. If you don’t have a Skype account already, you can create one here.)  

Late Victorian writer George Gissing and his works are not well known, but they are emotionally gripping, psychologically realistic, and ultimately both destabilizing and reinforcing of how we come to understand the world around us vis-a-vis rapid cultural and technological change. To correct the fact that his works have slipped into invisibility, The Fringe Journal is launching a series of

For the past year, my first Monday of the month have been filled with insights and inspiration from the worlds top leaders who faithfully gather on Twitter for one of the most powerful and productive chat streams on Twitter: The chat is co-hosted by Social Media Branding Strategist, Peggy Fitzpatrick (@PegFitzpatrick) and Creative Director,  Paul Biedermann (@PaulBiedermann) who each month invite the community to an engage with leading authors like Guy Kawasaki, Oliver Blanchard, Mari Smith and Jay Baur using guided discussion questions that challenge both writer and reader. I have learned a lot from this super smart crew, and I am very very proud to be part of this community.  It is what makes this Monday night even more special to me.  I have the distinguished honor of being a featured author and a #mybookclub guest. We have an exciting show planned for Monday Sep 10, 8pm EST entitled :  Show Me Your HABITUDES  based on the ideas and insights from my new book: Classroom Habitudes. In Classroom Habitudes, I outline strategic lessons and conversations around the following key habits and attitudes of successful individuals across time and discipline: Imagination Curiosity Self Awareness Courage Adaptability Perseverance Passion It is more than a "how-to" guide for teaching 21st Century Skills and competencies. It is a "how-to-be" guide that provides a clear and explicit profile of the learner, worker, and citizen the world is expecting us TO BE.  Whether you are helping students pass algebra or seeking to uncover their spirit of creativity within your organization, these lessons will improve the chances of success in both big and small ventures. Do you agree? I hope that you are able to share your thoughts and #Habitudes live with us. Whether you lead a team of one or a force of thousands, we are all leaders in some way,  #mybookclub is  It is THE place to be this Monday evening. If this is your first Twitter chat, check out these great getting started tips: How to Get Started With Twitter Chats My Twitter Chat Toolbox How to Set up TweetGrid to Monitor Twitter chat 5 Ways to  Tweet Like a Champion For more information on and upcoming chat topics  and  #MyBookClub follow the amazing Peggy Fitzpatrick (@Pegfitzpatrick).

Mexico has six basins that produce oil and gas, and tremendous offshore, deep Gulf of Mexico resources. There is also shale potential in formations that extend south from the South Texas Eagle Ford. Still, according to statistics released by Pemex, Mexico’s oil and gas production has declined 25% since the 1980s. The problem has stemmed partially from a lack of investment, and difficulties in

As I write this blog post, over 500,000 students from schools in every state and across six continents to make their mark on the world. As they prepare for the International Dot Day Celebration, many are collaborating and connecting using Skype technology and the powerful network of Skype In the Classroom to find one another. This has to be one of the most powerful experiences for students as Skype enables students to connect, collaborate, and communicate with other students across the globe. It creates an opportunity for students to learn from each other, to have authentic audiences for their work, and to meet others who can further their learning. And as I learned first hand, Skype has the power to bring awareness and action to causes that matter in the world. As teacher her Bridget McCrea put it: "Skype take students where no school bus can take them and to give them experiences that will last a lifetime, and who knows? Maybe it will inspire some of them to become leaders someday." It’s a powerful (and FREE) resource that’s just waiting for you to join the Hundreds of AMAZING teachers taking time to open their classrooms to these global learning experiences. Getting Started is Easy:  This Guide encompasses step-by-step help from Skype projects, preparing your students for a Skype call, transforming a Skype call into a Learning call to student job responsibilities before, during and after the actual call. You can also view this Skype techtorial  for additional support. Finding Other Educators to Connect With: The directories below will help you find and connect with other educator’s looking for classroom partnerships. If you are creating this project in response to the Choose2Matter Initiative, please include ‘Choose2Matter’ in the title or description of the project so like-minded people can find you and your students! Skype in Schools Directory Choose2Matter Community Eduskypers Phonebook Meet the Author Directory Partners In Learning Network The Following Resources will give you ideas, strategies and insight on how you might use Skype In YOUR Classroom: Learning Languages On Skype How I taught My Kids to Use Skype 50 Interesting Ways to Use SITC Power fo Skype Beyond the Classroom Around the World in 80 Classrooms Homeschooling and Skype

Welcome to a mini-lecture learning object on one of the first sea novels, or "nautical tales," Mr. Midshipman Easy (1836) by Captain Frederick Marryat.  The full text is available at Internet Archive. An audio recording is available via Librivox. To access the interactive learning object, please click the Learning Object Link. Click the graphic to go to the learning object for Mr. Midshipman

This is a guest post by Eric Williams, Superintendent York County School Division. Follow Eric on Twitter. Too often educators adopt a content coverage mentality to prepare students for high-stakes tests. They try to cram a ton of facts into students’ heads without engaging students in deeper, longer-lasting learning. International Dot Day and the Choose2Matter movement are opportunities for teachers, principals, superintendents and others to reject the content coverage mentality and articulate a more compelling vision of teaching and learning. With this vision, students commit themselves enthusiastically to work that makes a difference locally, nationally, and/or globally. Students learn the content and skills of the curriculum as they choose to matter. International Dot Day is inspired by Peter Reynolds children’s book The Dot. The Dot tells the story of Vashti, a little girl who is dared by her teacher to "make her mark." Based on registrations, over 500,000 students are participating in Dot Day September 15-ish. Students from all areas within our school district are participating in International Dot Day. The level of participation by school varies ranging from an entire school, to entire grade levels or departments, to a few classes. Students in each of our nineteen schools will make their mark matter during the school year. Third grade students will research options for fertilizing soil in rural communities as part of managing actual charitable contributions. Sixth grade students will write letters and create videotaped public service announcements for 5th grade students regarding lockers, homework, and other topics relating to the transition to middle school. High school students will engage in oyster restoration to improve water quality and increase the native oyster population. Students at all levels will create tutorials using screencasting, Claymation, and videotaping in a variety of content areas, including Driver’s Education, Spanish, Algebra, and Biology. They will publish these tutorials for a global audience on the Internet. You can read blog posts relating to these and other similar projects via the links provided at the end of this post. Student Dots from Mount Vernon Elementary School Participation in International Dot Day can launch sustained efforts to support students as they do work that matters. Participation in Dot Day can generate excitement, extend understanding of the concept of choosing to matter, build community, and make connections. These examples illustrate the different ways schools can use participation in Dot Day to launch a year of doing work that matters: Students, teachers and administrators are making their own dots. Dot Day Digital Quilt of Magruder Elementary School Staff Dots High School students are Skyping with elementary school students for a read-aloud of The Dot and related activities. Multiple schools are planning aerial photographs of students and staff standing together forming a Dot, making their mark as a school. Waller Mill Elementary School, with a Dot Week of activities, provides other examples of using International Dot Day to kick off sustained efforts to support students’ making their mark matter. WMES Display in Front Hall will Display Dots Soon A bulletin board near the entrance to the school will display staff and student dots. Gold frames will initially exhibit student dots and eventually exhibit other student work that makes a difference. The morning show will feature students sharing their commitment to make their mark matter. Students will write responses, some of which will be published as blog posts, in response to a school-wide common writing prompt relating to making one’s mark matter. Gold Frames, Just Like Vashti Used! Here are five steps you can take to participate in International Dot Day: Visit the official Dot Day web site to learn more and view resources for instructional activities.Here are five steps you can take to participate in International Dot Day: Read Angela Maier’s blog post regarding connecting the dots to change the world.  Sign your students up to participate in International Dot Day. Register for the Skype in the Classroom network to use videoconferencing to participate in Dot Day and followup activities throughout the year. Exchange ideas with others through Twitter using the #DotDay #Choose2Matter and #MakeURMark hashtags.   Participating in International Dot Day can be an effective part of engaging students in deeper, longer-lasting learning through projects that make a difference.  When students learn the content and skills of the curriculum through these projects, we see that a content-coverage mentality that focuses on just exposing students to content is not the best perspective. So, join educators and students around the globe in connecting their dots to make a difference locally, nationally, and/or globally.