If you peek in the pocketbooks and briefcases of many people, you may just see their personal library of Alexandria. Did you know that you can download the complete works of Mark Twain in less than 2 minutes after paying 99 cents. It almost feels wrong. And yet, something truly epic and special has happened because these books are accessible. Many people still like paper and there are times I want paper too, but let’s talk about why so many people have begun to favor the ebook. 11 Reasons eBooks Can Improve Your Life 1. Highlights and Notes. In the Kindle, these notes are available at kindle.amazon.com You can organize, sort, and retrieve notes and highlights. [See How to Export Your Kindle Notes Step By Step or Export iBook Notes to Evernote Step by Step] 2. Search. Find quotes easily by typing a word in the search books. (That paper you wrote in high school on the symbolism of Queequeg’s coffin in Moby Dick would be so much easier to write now.) [See a YouTube Video tutorial on how to do this on Kindle] 3. Portability. Book fans no longer have to pay for overweight luggage. Need I say more? 4. Shareability. Share favorite quotes on the world’s new water cooler: Facebook and Twitter, with a simple highlight. (Goodreads, the social site for booklovers is now also available on the newer Kindles.) 5. Connectedness. Popular highlights of other readers show you what resonates and adds a whole new dimension to reading nonfiction. [Anyone can see them on https://kindle.amazon.com/most_popular but they show up in your book] 6. Organization. Organize your books into collections so when you want a classic you can find it or when you want to open your Bible, it is there.  [See Reading Tips to Program Your Mind For Success for tips.] 7. Readability. Make any book large print with one click. Some models have backlighting turn on when the lights go off. See the book and read any time you wish. [Kindle How To or iBooks How To] 8. Learning. The new Kindle lets you click a word and it becomes part of your "Vocabulary Builder." This is a flashcard including the original quote and a definition of the word that you can review until you know it. 9. Availability. You can have your book on your iPad, Surface, Computer and phone. Anywhere, the book and notes follow you. 10. Price. You can get many free or inexpensive ebooks like the must read The Mill River Recluse or huge volumes of Agatha Christie. 11. Opportunity. The best thing about ebooks is that the cost of publishing has decreased so anyone who can use Microsoft Word can write an ebook and distribute it. Some great new authors have emerged. [Read AJ Juliani's post 5 Free Easy Ways to Publish eBooks] ___  In this series on ebooks, I’m going to dispel the mystery and confusion many have with using these tools. Learn how to purchase and download ebooks, how to find free ebooks and even how you can check out ebooks from our local libraries. When the printing press emerged, many appreciated and enjoyed hand copied books and didn’t like the look of printed books. But printed books meant more people could have more books. We have a new printing press and we carry them in our pocketbooks and briefcases. You don’t have to crank ebook apps and readers, but if you do, you may just find more books and more opportunities to learn improve your life. Lets learn together. Note: This is part of a series of columns I’ve written for some local newspapers and has been enhanced for the web by adding hyperlinks and resources. To read more of my past newspaper columns go to my "Tech Tips Newspaper Column" to read past columns or to contact me about having these columns in your local paper. Photo credit: iStock photo The post 11 Reasons eBooks Can Improve Your Life appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you’ve seen my posts with pics of gold plated bathrooms that juxtapose against the harsh reality of an Afgani woman who went to school on threat of death from the Taliban. "Education is worth dying for," she said to a spellbound and quiet crowd who then went on to give a resounding standing ovation to her parents, the brave impetus to her secret work to become educated. We’re in Dubai at the Global Education & Skills Forum with many world leaders (over 30 education ministers from different countries from China to Saudi Arabia and Iran.) It is quite an interesting mix of people here as Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the UK urged that "Education should become a priority for the G8 because good education is a precondition for economic development." We’ll hear from many more leaders today and much of it will be live streamed and shared over at Big Think and the Global Education and Skills Website. You can’t gold plate the education struggles that are happening worldwide as we all struggle to bring the education system into the 21st century and it is exciting to be part of this event with many other incredible speakers. You can follow the #GESF hashtag or follow tweets from @GESForum or watch the live stream on the website. The post Join Global Education & Skills #GESF Live Stream as Education Leaders Around the World Talk about Using Technology and Creativity to Reach Every Child appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Google Drive has enabled Google Add Ons and there are some that you and your students will want to enable right away. Others may appeal more to professional developers or those who work remotely . How To Enable Add Ons for Google Drive Here’s a tutorial on enabling add ons. Start with this and then look to see which ones will suit your needs. And Some Suggested Add Ons From Google Add-On #1: EasyBib You can insert citations directly into Google Documents directly within the Document using EasyBib. MLA, APA and Chicago Style are available. The EasyBib Add On for Google Drive is one of the first you should enable if you are a writing teacher.  Add-On #2: Mindmeister Mindmeister lets you take bulleted lists and convert it into a mindmap for a graphical depiction. This would be a fascinating way to convert a table of contents or outline for a paper into something easier to read. I’d really like it to go the other way and let students create a mind map and convert to a traditional outline, it is a very cool tool that will be useful for education. The Mindmeister Google Drive add-on gives a powerful punch to organizing your writing. Add-On #3: Track Changes Track Changes is an incredible functionality win for Google Drive as it is one that publishers or formal publications require. You can now add it into Google Drive meaning you can really publish a book out of Google Drive where you track and edit changes for each other like in Microsoft Word. One interesting note: At the end of the video it says "Track Changes Basic is Available Today" which implies to me that upgraded or add-ons may be available for purchase in the future as perhaps a "freemium model" for some of these add-ons may be the direction this is heading. (Freemium is where you get it for free - like Evernote or One Note - but you pay for enhancements or premium features.) Add-On #4: Table of Contents This Table of Contents add on lets you have a floating table of contents on the right that is always there. This will help you move quickly through the document. Yes, Google Drive can insert a Table of Contents but it is placed inside the document. This add-on puts it in the sidebar where it is extremely useful. We use Google Docs to create the scripts and plans for our online presentations  and this is now a LIFESAVER making the document much easier to navigate and move around. Remember that for it to work, you have to make things as Heading 1, Heading 2, etc.  Add-On #5. Thesaurus The thesaurus will look up words to show on the right. While this add-on isn’t as useful as the right click thesaurus in Microsoft Word, it is a start. Add a thesaurus into Google Drive. While it isn’t as useful as Microsoft Word’s right click feature (and it is a tad slow) — it will likely improve with time. If students are writing papers, it is a very useful feature. Add-On #6: Template Gallery If you want additional templates than those that come with Google Drive, this is a great add in, especially for those who create documents a lot. If you miss the large template gallery in Microsoft Office, this add-on template gallery is a start with many useful form letters, spreadsheets, and pre-formatted mailers. Add-On #7: Texthelp Study Skills Highlighting Tools This Read and Write Text Help Add in is free to try for 30 days and has many features for Special needs and ELL (English Language Learners) with text to speech and other tools built right in. If you have special needs students (don’t we all?) and are using Google Apps for education, Texthelp Read & Write is a must test. Google Chrome gives you a free 30 day trial inside their store. Note that this also lets you mark up KES files which are for special needs and visually impaired. ePub (for ebooks) and many other formats are available. If you’re sharing notes, this can be useful, although it should be pointed out that you can highlight without this tool, this certainly makes it much easier than the highlight feature that is built in and requires several clicks to activate. Additionally, it includes: read aloud, text prediction, vocabulary building tools, and many other features helpful for helping students write. The trial is free, but this is one you’ll have to pay for to keep. There’s also an iPad version. They’ve created a nice playlist about their product I’ve been embedded above and recommend it for special needs and ELL (English Language Learners). Add-On #8: Workflows Although this is probably considered more a business app, I can see a million uses for this in schools from approval of purchase orders to even signing off on finished student work for newspapers. You could also have peer reviewers sign off on work and track it that way as well. If you need a way to convince administrators that Google Apps can save time, this add-on may just do it. Add-On #9: Uber Conference Calls Voice Conversations Inside Google Docs. I could actually picture a school use for this as well. Could you picture having a folder for student work and you share the document with parents, etc. and then have a voice call to go over the work? It is so hard for parents to get off work and once you sit down to talk, it is easy to drag it on. What if you had short 10 minute calls and they could be connected during their lunch break or a 10 minute moment without having to leave the office? PRO TIP: You can Use Google Drive inside Google Hangouts - see this great video from Ronnie Bincer and Trevor Beck on the Presentation Tool in Google Hangout  or their video about using Collaborative tools inside the hangout. This sort of thing could be very useful in education but remember that you can use Google Hangouts and have it running in the background. This tip is not for the average everyday person, so that is why Uber Conference Calls should be helpful. Another Option for Collaboration: If the live chat doesn’t work for you, there is a feature called  "Letter Feed Messenger" which is sort of like iMessage meets Google Drive. Add-On #10: Consistency Checker Consistency checker will be helpful for longer documents. This one is useful for those creating very long documents (doctoral dissertations come to mind) or other documents that have to be consistent. It will do an extra check for spelling but also looks to make sure you’ve handled numbers, hyphenation and other types of writing mechanics in a consistent way. For a subset of writing teachers or for college students writing long documents together, this is a great tool. Add-On #11: Gliffy Diagrams Oh, I love Gliffy and have used it a long time. Now, you can add the many diagrams to all of your Google Drive. I used this tool to map out the layout of my computer lab complete with measurements. From organization charts to layouts of just about any kind, this is a great addition to Google Drive. Note: Some of you may prefer Lucid Chart, but I’ve not use that charting tool and love Gliffy, but think it is worth a mention. Add-On #12: Twitter Curator Twitter Curator is an App that you can use to pull together the tweets your class makes as you share your learning. You can also use it to share tweets that are successful or even those made by authors and others to document further information about what you’ve learned. This is sort of like Storify meets Google Drive. This add-on is a Google Doc version of Storify and could be a way to pull in tweets from your class Twitter account or another source as you annotate and discuss them. Add-On #13: Kaizena This tool is one that is going to take further notice. The purpose of Kaizena is to help teachers give better feedback to students. You can pull the document into Kaizena with one click using this add-on to easily add voice comments and thoughts on student work. This is a very impressive emerging tool for teacher feedback. (Free)  Add-On #14: Document Merge You might need to be a tad more tech savvy on this one, but go with me here with the 2 main uses I see for this in education. Document Merge will let you merge documents into new Google Docs or into email and can be a handy tool for the more tech savvy educator who has to customize things for others. Instead of using a Google Doc template, you could create a standard document and then have a list of the data to go in each document and merge it to make new Google Docs. So, for example, you were going to have different documents for different student groups on different topics — so you might have 2 students write on robins and 2 other ones write on bluejays. But they are younger students and you want a common format for these documents. You can have an original document and have certain fields come from your data (like a merge) and then have this tool make those documents. While a small class might not be a big deal to do them individually, if you’re one IT person working with a whole elementary or  a teaching librarian who wants to do many google doc projects with children, THIS IS GOING TO SAVE YOU SO MUCH TIME!! You can also use this to customize and merge emails. If you’re not using an offline app like Outlook or Thunderbird (many of us don’t) - you can produce customized emails with this service. Add-On #15: Open Clip Art Clip art is always an issue and this handy tool seems to mitigate the problem of worrying about licensing for students and clip art. With 50,000 clip art items and icons, it is a great start for quick icons. So, you want to include clip art and not have to worry so much about clip art issues. This app has 50,000 thousand pieces of clip art and may just be what you’re looking for to use with students for quick graphics. I particularly like that they include icons so you can make it easier to navigate to other sites by making buttons. Other Notable Add-Ons for Some Teachers Music teachers will want to check out Vextab Music Notation. You can embed Google Translate into Documents. Geography and history teachers may want to insert Google Maps into their Document. Finding More Add-Ons While there are other add-ons including those that can let you send a fax from within Google Drive and others that let you sign contracts and documents, these are my favorites for educators. Let me know your favorites in the comments. To see the whole store, just open a document or spreadsheet and go to Add-Ons >> Get Add-Ons If you want to learn more about how writing has been reinvented, sign up for my monthly newsletter on the right hand side of the overview of my new book Reinventing Writing coming in early June 2014 from Routledge Publishing.       The post 15 Best Google Drive Add-Ons for Education appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Serious games can help with serious learning and fun. Using a research based rubric developed by educators at the University of Alaska Southeast, my students and the teachers in Dr.Lee Graham’s course evaluated games. There are 34 completely finished and ranked and others who need teacher reviews. (You can join in and review, anything tagged teacher_rev needs a teacher review, and we have quite a few so we could calculate the final score. When you ask to join, just let me know who you are, where you’re from, your school, and that you’d like to help. Thank you!) My students will be presenting today at 1:20 pm EDT and tomorrow (time tentatively changed to 9:15 am EDT tomorrow due to a schedule change). Scroll down for the links. The nice thing about scheduling through Google Hangout and YouTube live is that after these presentations, the links below will become the official video for you to watch if you come upon this post later. We are experimenting with a new way to share slides and audio and these are being created as OER resources as part of the Gamifi-ED OOC. I hope that some of you will watch the stream and pose questions using the Q&A Tool that you’ll see on the screen. (I"m not sure if that tool shows up on YouTube Live but I know it shows up when you watch on Google Plus.) Here are the links you’ll need to watch today or to view the videos after they are presented. It is Time to Curate Our Own Apps These students have tested hundreds of games and one of the biggest things that has emerged is that we are trusting the app stores to curate for us and we shouldn’t. (See my Edutopia post from last week on this.) The best apps from an educational perspective are not rising to the top. I really like the model that the students and educators worked out for both Workflow and evaluating the games and if enough of you want to join in and add to the database or have your students test games, then we can keep adding to the great repository of reviews and information. Just reply to this post or contact me and we’ll explore further. I have lots of student mentors who would love to help students of all ages get started adding their game reviews. When you see the students present, you’ll hear them talk about a Gamifi-ed score. The best a game can receive is 30. Gamifi-ed Student Evaluation Criteria There are 7 aspects evaluated by students including:  Problem Solving, Player Freedom, Game Play, Motivation, Real-World Connections, Teamwork, and Creativity. Gamifi-ed Educator Evaluation Criteria There are 8 aspects evaluated by educators including: Purpose, Narrative Context, Organization/ Problem Solving, Engagement Level, Collaboration, Scaffolding and mastery, Feedback, and Utility. How the score is calculated For each aspect, a game is rated as a "Rock Star" (2 points), "OK" (1 point) or "Not OK" (0 points). The points are totaled and put at the top. Top games so far include Sparx (30 points) - A game out of New Zealand to help kids with depression and coping that you have to play to believe (this will be talked about in both sessions.) AIC Conflict Simulation (28 points) - the Simulation run by the University of Michigan that helps students understand current events and the Middle East You can also view the games by topic: Current Events, Health, Social Studies, Language arts, Languages, Math, Science. Class Period #1: Serious Games Smackdown - March 26, 2014 1:20 pm EDT YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfB2xOjCHoA Google Plus Link: https://plus.google.com/events/cen2p8f3uc0drnbdjb6t57mgv8k Class Period #2: Serious Games Smackdown - March 26, 2014 9:15 am EDT YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWxd6QpCy4U Google Plus Link:https://plus.google.com/events/c1pi424k7pp8212i95c41m049mc Feel free to join us or to watch the videos and leave your thoughts. You can find all of these games on the Gamifi-ed wiki. The post Join My Students in a Serious Games Smackdown appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Email is a problem for so many of us. If I had been taught good habits early on, it could have avoided email overload and been more responsive many times when people needed a response. My students use gmail through our Google Apps for domains but often filters and other such things are a challenge for them. The Mailbox app is a great app for anyone who struggles with email. While all of my students don’t have an iOS device, the principles of inbox zero fit everyone and I make sure all students understand basic filtering. This lesson features: Inbox Zero Concept Spam and how to handle it Phishing and What to Do How to use filters and labels Multi-tab inbox feature of Gmail and how an app like Mailbox can help students manage their email and habits Here, I’m just taking you through the points as I cover them. Depending upon this class, this could be a one day, but typically, I build this over the course of several days or weeks until their habits are established. This is sort of my notes as I teach this concept. Take your notes and cover the points as you want to. I’ve included resource videos for students but also for you in some cases. Remember, this is an overview of how I teach it, I’m not necessarily including each item to teach you about handling this, although if you want me to write posts tackling any of these, let me know and I’ll share more content knowledge. Optional "Teach Like a Pirate Intro" I’m big on having hooks as students come into class. I usually start it the moment the first student comes into the room. This is music, videos, sounds, or something to set the stage. With this lesson, I use the Spam Video from Monty Python - it is usually over before the bell rings. When I do this, it is amazing how many are disappointed if they aren’t there quickly. You don’t have to do this, but it is hilarious (and also many kids haven’t heard of Monty Python.) I do it at the beginning so it doesn’t interrupt the flow, but you could also put this at the spam section instead. (See my review and interview with Dave about Teach Like a Pirate - awesome book!) 1. What does eMail let us do? Start off with a discussion about what email is used for in school and the business world. Make a list on the board of the things that students send and receive email. Also make sure they list annoyances with email (most of them get way too many updates from Facebook, Twitter, etc. (Point out at the bottom of those messages how they can unsubscribe to them. Most don’t know this.) I like to have students compare email to mail that comes in their mailbox. What needs to happen to physical mail: Opened, acted upon, shredded, thrown away, saved for later. We discuss the equivalents in regular email: open, acted upon (2 minute rule - if it takes 2 minutes, act), throw away (delete), shred (delete out of trash), saved for later (archive.) We also talk about email and what it lets us do. 2. Then, we compare email and a to-do list Remember that your inbox is a very poor to do list as is. (Jill Duffy from PC Magazine said it well and we’ll come back to this later.) What does a to-do list help us to do? (Remember what to do that day, remember and act upon things) What does email help us do? (Get information and send information easily, turn things in, reference information that we need to know, review information, it gives us items we need to do.) Why does email make a poor to-do list? (We don’t look at it all the time. We get too many notifications. We end up with too much email. We have too much email and the important is cluttered by junk and spam.) Note: This is why I prefer a to-do list manager that takes incoming email. I use Nozbe and forward my emails to it and it will turn it into tasks, but for students, they could technically use the Mailbox app that I get to later in this lesson if they have an ipad or iphone. I also use Evernote to file my most important emails and have an email set up in Evernote to accept that. This is beyond most beginners but something I’d teach more advanced students or adults. 3. We talk about spam and junk email. I write this on the board: Email is free. And ask: "Why or why not?" We have a discussion about junk mail and if it is free. What does it cost us? It costs us our time. Time is the most valuable resource on this earth because it is nonrenewable. Once time is spent, it cannot be gotten back and is gone forever. No one has invented a time machine to give us more. We are finite and have each second for just a moment, so when we save time, we free ourselves up to do other, more important things.  A Simple Explanation of Gmail This cute cartoon is the BEST explanation of the features of gmail that I’ve found. At this point, I’ll show this video to give us a framework for the conversation. Then, we’ll learn: How we report spam (the exclamation point) How we handle junk mail (unsubscribe or filter to delete) Also we mention here why it is not really an ok to mark a company spam that we subscribed to ourselves. We can always unsubscribe. They aren’t spamming us b/c we gave them permission to add us to their email list. How we handle phishing (use the "report phishing button") But we also talk about how serious it is and how it is all our responsibility to look for it and report it quickly. Usually students have no phishing in their inbox so I’ll have to pull some up from my personal gmail as I can always find an example in there. Do not practice this on someone’s email because it will literally report the person as a phishing or spammer. Treat it seriously and just point it out and have them point to it with their finger and check their neighbor. This is one time you find the button but don’t use it. Talk about how these buttons are really used. (See the video below.) 4. Make your apps into a secretary. We talk about what secretaries used to do when most business professionals had them. They opened mail, processed things, typed letters, etc. They did many repetitive tasks and helped people be more productive by filing and organizing things and serving as a gatekeeper to keep a person from wasting time. Then, we talk about how apps can be a secretary for us and handle our junk for us. Here are the ways we discuss. a. Unsubscribe First, you can unsubscribe to mailings you don’t want by clicking unsubscribe at the bottom - or - you can use an app like Swizzle Sweeper to unsubscribe from mailing lists. Go into Twitter and Facebook and turn off notifications - do you really need/ want them? Think about what notifications you want and turn off the ones you don’t want. b. Then, look at the Tabs on the top of Gmail or use Priority Inbox You can drag emails into one of the tabs and train it, just remember that you need to check all of the tabs — and — when you check gmail on your ipad or smartphone those tabs aren’t there so you’ll get everything. Learn to train it for the tabs but be careful because sometimes important things can hide under one of those tabs. c. Set up filters Teach students how to set up filters for things they might want but may not want to read all of by filtering into a folder. Discuss basic folders and how they work but how you might want to wait on setting up too many folders if you’re going to use Mailbox. 5. We discuss Inbox Zero Ask "how do you feel when things clutter your life? When your desk is a mess? Your locker is a mess?" (Note that many kids are fine with a mess but we are trying to get at what happens when they have a mess.) You want to be able to focus on what is important, so keeping your inbox clear helps you see exactly what is important and needs to be done. The kinds of things that come into your inbox are to-do’s, things you need to file to reference later, appointments, and usually junk. Because Mailbox will help us with todo’s, reference material, and we’ve already discussed spam and junk mail, we need to talk about making appointments. 6. Adding appointments to email While I don’t have time in this lesson to go into Google Calendar, usually I’ve already taught Google calendar byt this time. I’ll create an appointment and invite the whole class and ask them to go in and accept or reject the appointment. I tell them that we’ll see later how the calendar function works in Google Calendar but to realize that when you have a request for an appointment that it is fastest to handle it at that moment and put it on your calendar - but that you should have a place for your calendar — Google Cal or in a planner of some kind. Google has a an excellent set of instructions on their help site for Gmail and Google Calendar helps. 7. Now, the Mailbox app. Now, I know I said that you aren’t supposed to use email as a task list — BUT — if you have an app that lets you use it in this way, you can actually go back and let the app overlay a task list on top of your email. So, let me restate - -email by itself doesn’t make a good task list, but if you use Mailbox, it can help your sort your mail and could make a simple task list. I actually just use this more for sorting as I don’t handle personal mail at work and I can schedule things to come back to me when I’ll be at home or working on Saturday. The video below gives you an explanation. I wouldn’t use this one with students. Instead, I hook up my ipad to my projector through my Apple TV and just show students how I use it. This app is supposed to be coming to Google Play soon. The Mailbox app is a whiz but there is one thing it doesn’t handle well — SPAM. This is why I always teach students how to deal with spam and create filters within gmail before going into Mailbox. They’ll need to download and setup Mailbox so they can learn how to use it, so I typically show them with my app how it works to give a quick demo and then I turn them loose to handle their email and get to inbox zero using the app or method of their choice. (Mailbox is for iOS only, and although there are rumors of a Droid app, Boomerang for Droid should give you a lot of the functionality you want.   You can swipe left or right to do different things with your email. Once you learn it, you can sort your email in a zip. Swipe to handle email: Swipe right: Archive Swipe left: schedule to look at it a later time Here we talk about scheduling — handle personal things when parents are around. When are you going to review material. Do you need to put something on your to-do list. Add things to a list — this is a long swipe but I usually just hit the list feature — the lists make folders in Gmail so you can access these online. To Read, To Study, To Do are all things you can do. The one thing students need to know is that these items can be forgotten unless you write them down or look at them, but it does make it easy to find these items if they are on a list and you know to do them. I do know some students who use the Mailbox app as their to-do list but the flaw with this is that not every task comes in as an email unless you’re going to email yourself for every task and then put it on a list - and that would be a bit cumbersome. The thing I like about Mailbox is that it forces you to decide what you will do with each item and then, I stress what to do if something is small — handle it then and reply. We close by talking about some of the stats on email and I also mention that many of the most successful people on earth (including a striking number of Nobel laureates) don’t check email until later in the day. Email interrupts the flow of what you’re doing so checking it once or twice a day is important. Also, we talk about how in college that professors can and will email all times of the day or night and how checking email daily is vital. Also, when they go to college (or work) they will get important emails concerning financial aid, bills, and more and have to be used to checking email daily. Being brutal with what email you allow into your life is a very important lifeskill. If you’re going to be a human being instead of just a human doing, must of that involves putting email it its place and these are just some tricks to help kids. Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad The post Mailbox: Inbox Zero and email Productivity [An App of the Week Lesson Plan] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo. Do you want to stay creative or be creative today? This cool video is less than 2 minutes and will give you thoughts about what you can do to be more creative today. This would be a cool type of video to assign to students. via To-fu.tv The post 29 Ways to Stay Creative [Video] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

eBooks are around us. Do you know how to find them? What apps should you use? Do you know how to publish one? This epic eBook guide will help you understand how to download ebooks, use ebookstores, and how to find free and inexpensive ebooks and how to self publish. (If you’re not sure why you should be interested in ebooks, read  11 reasons eBooks can improve your life.) What Do I Get To Read Ebooks? First, you need a reading device or app. An ebook reader is a device designed specifically for reading ebooks. If you want a book on your PC, tablet or smartphone, download one or all of the 5 most useful ebook reading apps (I have all 5): Fantastic 5 eBook Reading Apps iBooks for iTunes (works on Mac or iOS Devices) Kindle apps or a Kindle reading device for Amazon (available on any kind of device) Nook app  or a Nook device for Barnes and Nobles (available on any kind of device) Google Play Books for Google (available for Droid or iOS) Kobo App - a popular app for independent authors and many popular authors who are self publishing How Do I Pick An Ebookstore? Once you have a reader, you’ll need to get the books. eBookstores are one way to get ebooks. Just like with real bookstores, people prefer different ones based on convenience, price, and book availability. I have iBooks but use Kindle more because I have a Kindle Paperwhite. (I get interrupted less often.) In January, Google Play Books gave away some best selling spy novels, so I downloaded and used "Play Books" because it saved me $15 a book. If you read but want to save money, you could have all five apps installed to be ready to get a deal on a cool book you’re dying to read. How Do I Buy A Book? You’lll need an account and then you purchase and send to a registered device or app. On Droids you can buy directly from Google Play, on iPads you can buy iBooks directly from the App Store and on Kindle reading devices (not apps) you can buy directly from Amazon. But everything on Apple Devices is different. Because Apple requires that companies give them a percentage of anything sold "in app," Amazon and others disabled in-app book purchasing. Instead, you go directly to a bookstore’s website to buy and send straight to your eReading app on your iPad or iPhone. (There’s a great video on this page explaining how to purchase Kindle books on your ipad.) What about free ebooks? 5 Places to Go At Your Favorite eBookstore Oddly enough, you do have to have an account to download the "free" books in any of the bookstores. For iBooks, go to  the free section of the iBooks store inside the App store. (I can’t give you a link, you’ll have to go there.) Here are links to the top "selling" free ebooks on the other major stores: Amazon: http://j.mp/kindle_free Barnes and Nobles: http://j.mp/nook_free Google Play http://j.mp/googleplay_free Nook Daily Finds http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/ebook-nook-daily-find-bargain-deal/379003102 Kobo Daily Deal: http://store.kobobooks.com/#daily-deal Who needs to know how to download ebooks? Make sure your college or high school student is set up to do this. If you have a smartphone, tablet or PC, you might as well set this up so you can use it if you need it. Especially for the classics they’ll need to read in literature, you can get most of those for free. Quick Tip for Getting Almost Anything on Your Kindle There is also a trick that works for most ebook readers. For example, as I’m working on my third book (which I will self publish), I export it from Scrivener to .mobi format for Kindle and then I plug my Kindle paperwhite into my computer. I just drag the .mobi file onto my Kindle into the folder for my books. It is there and ready for me to read and edit. You can do this with your student books as well. Most devices can be plugged in with a cable and they look just like a jump drive. This works with files you download too and is a quick time saver if you’re struggling. Finding Free and Inexpensive eBooks Let’s explore some free ebooks now. To prepare to download free ebooks from websites, you need to know the format that you need to get the ebook onto your ebook reader. A common format is .PDF which stands for "Portable Document Format" made by Adobe. Kindle is in .mobi format while lots of other apps use .epub. Most websites are good about telling you which format they have. Make sure you download for "Kindle" or "Nook" or "iBook." Get it while you can Here’s the one big trick on free ebooks. If you think you might want it, download it RIGHT THEN because many free ebook deals are for a limited time only. I have a collection on my Kindle called "On Deck" where I put books I might want to read. You don’t have to worry about filling up your ebook reader, because you can always delete them and leave them in your digital library online to download any time you can. 10 Places to Find, Download and read Free or Inexpensive eBooks Let’s look at some places to help you find, download, and read free and inexpensive ebooks. Project Gutenberg is an excellence source for free classic ebooks. 1. Project Gutenberg www.gutenberg.org For classic books, project Gutenberg has more than 40,000 free ebooks. This is the first place to look for classics for that lit class. ereader IQ gives you a handy guide to finding eBook price drops, new books, and genre following. 2. eReaderIQ www.ereaderiq.com Meet your new personal research assistant and bargain hunter. This website tracks prices, freebies, and price drops but will also watch your favorite authors and books you want to read for you. If you love books and certain authors and are on a budget, this is a must use site. Go to it, click log in and get started. Free Booksy helps you find free ebooks, no matter the platform. The more platforms you follow, the more likely you’ll find a deal. Although Amazon has price matching, there are some other ebookstores out there who run specials. 3. Free Booksy freebooksy.com Featuring Kindle, iBooks, Nook and Kobo, this site shares free ebooks wherever they are. BookBub sends me daily emails with tips on free and inexpensive books in the genre’s I love. I heard about this from Joanna Penn who uses it too. 4. Book Bub www.bookbub.com This website is recommended by my favorite self publishing guru Joanna Penn and is a neat place to find new books. You can get limited time free ebooks. When you join, you tell BookBub what kinds of books you like to read and you can say what platforms you like to read. I LOVE BOOK BUB! Bookish starts off by having you type in a book  you already love or have recently read to match your interests. 5. Bookish www.bookish.com This is another website with personal recommendations and shelf tracking. Hundred zeros (no e in zeros) is an ebook guide that will help you find inexpensive ebooks for the Kindle. 6. Hundred Zeros hundredzeros.com Lists lots of free ebooks (for Kindle) by genre. (Note, there is no "e" in this zeroes please see info on this usage.) Goodreads is a social network for booklovers. Now owned by Amazon, your book ratings go to both Amazon and Goodreads. There are some great ways to connect with authors on this. Sometimes there are free book giveaways on this site. 7. Goodreads www.goodreads.com/ You can’t ignore Goodreads, especially because Amazon bought them and now at the end of every Kindle book, it prompts you to put your star recommendations in. Goodreads is a social network for those who love books.  (Here’s my author page. If you’ve written books, author pages give you a cool way to interact with readers. I love Goodreads for helping me see what my friends are reading.) What should I read next is a simple suggestion website that you do not have to subscribe to. This is great if you’re just looking and don’t want to sign up for another site. 8. What Should I Read Next? www.whatshouldireadnext.com This is a great tool because you don’t have to create an account. Type in the name of an author or book you love and it will recommend one for you. This service doesn’t care the price of the book, though, just if it is a good fit for you, so use this if you don’t mind paying for a good book. Which book has a fascinating glider scale that lets you pick settings for the kind of book you’re in the mood for and then you get suggestions. (I don’t recommend this for students - look at the homepage and you’ll see why.) 9. Which Book www.openingthebook.com/whichbook/ In this service, you say your mood and it gives you recommendation. I don’t recommend this one for kids at all, but it is sort of like a netflix or pandora for books — you have to say what you feel like and it will recommend books based on that. Again, this lists books of all prices. The Calibre tool is the Swiss Army Knife for ebook reading as it helps you convert books you get on the Internet to almost any sort of device. 10. Calibre calibre-ebook.com For more tech savvy readers - this is an ebook SWISS ARMY KNIFE!  Calibre is an app that converts ebook formats. For example, if you want to get a deal on a book at Google Books and read it on your Kindle, you’ll be buying in epub format. To convert to Kindle’s .mobi format, use Calibre. It lets you buy books just about anywhere and send them just about anywhere (and you can save a lot of money doing this, especially with the deals in the Google Bookstore lately on very popular authors.) eBooks and Your Local Library Remember that you can check out books at many libraries using the Overdrive app. They have a certain number of digital copies, so sometimes you have to wait, but this is my favorite way to grab an audiobook for when I am driving in the car. 7 Essential Resources For eBook Creators There are several resources that I highly recommend if you want to publish ebooks yourself or with your students. I recommend reading the best guides available. Every single book and resource here I’ve read or listened to personally and they have helped me as I’m preparing to publish my third book. 1.  5 Free Easy Ways to  Publish eBooks by AJ Juliani (a guest post on this blog) In this guest post, AJ Juliani writes a handy ebook publishing guide for teachers including Liber.io, Draft, iBooks Author, LeanPub and (believe it or not) PowerPoint/ Keynote. (AJ also authored an awesome free ebook "Teach Above the Test" on his blog that you should download.) 2. APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur-How to Publish a Book by Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch Hat tip to my friend Sylvia Martinez who says this was her and Gary Stager’s guidebook for self publishing Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom. I am reading this book now and it is incredibly useful. 3. Write. Publish. Repeat. (The No-Luck-Required Guide to Self-Publishing Success) by Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant I LOVE THIS BOOK. It has helped me so much. While it is written by some somewhat irrelevant, quirky authors - they are modern day workhorses who write lots of things that interest them from stories about Fat Vampires to Alien worlds. But don’t let your lack of interest in their genre dissuade you or their somewhat profanity laden podcast Self Publishing Podcast dissuade you, this is a fantastic must read for wannabe authors. 4. How To Market A Book by Joanna Penn Joanna Penn is a fiction author under the name of JF Penn but she also has an amazing, practical book and podcast. I’m her newest and most ardent fan. I’m so glad that Sean and Johnny mentioned her in their book (listed above.) It has opened my eyes to how I’ll market my first book and all of the tools that I can use in that effort (Hopefully this October.) 5. The Creative Penn Podcast by Joanna Penn This podcast a MUST LISTEN TO. In fact, anyone who teaches writing would love her interviews with some of today’s best authors. (English teachers will love her interview with AJ Hartley who has adapted Shakespeare in amazing ways with modern literature including a popular adaptation of Macbeth.)  She’s so endearing and has one of those podcasts that I’m going back through to find older episodes. I also found the next book recommendation on her podcast. 6. Die Empty: Unleash Your Best Work Every Day by Todd Henry What is the most valuable real estate in the world? The cemetery: because that is where all the books that were never written and the businesses that were never started are buried. This book gives you a gift: clarity. Clarity and focus. If you want to figure out what creative project to work on next - read this book! (Listen to Joanna Penn’s interview with Todd about managing your creative rhythm. Wow.) 7. Scrivener Manual This free manual is an incredible resource for the best tool for writing books I’ve ever found, Scrivener. (You can download a free trial and try it out but go through the manual and videos.) Read More About the 9 Ways Writing Has Changed in the 21st Century If eBooks and making eBooks interest you, I have a whole chapter in my book Reinventing Writing (you can watch my video presentation on it here.)  Reinventing Writing will be out in late May and you can preorder it now or contact me if you’d like me to write a guest post for your organization or blog. If you have a podcast or group, reach out. Find out how to buy Reinventing Writing This epic ebook guide started as a compilation of two articles written for some local newspapers.  If you want to read the rest of the articles I’ve shared in this series, just go to coolcatteacher.com/enterprise. I wrote this as a current resource for my book Reinventing Writing that I can keep updated with links. The post The Epic Ebook Guide appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Bob Burg @BobBurg has some fascinating advice for how to turn adversaries into allies with his new book Adversaries into Allies: Win People Over Without Manipulation or Coercion. As teachers, we never know when we’re going to have a tough situation walk through our door or barge into our inbox, so his advice is very helpful and timely for all of us - especially during high-stress times of the school year. (Like testing or the end of the year for those of us in the northern hemisphere.) Who will want to listen to this show Everyone who might have someone get angry with them. That’s all of you. We all need this relational advice and Bob gives some good ones. I particularly like with Bob talks about how you view adversaries — are they really your adversary? Some of his thoughts are reminiscent of Dale Carnegie, but with a slightly different take. Listen to the show Listen to Bob Burg Add Bob Burg to your PLN Bob Burg Blog: http://www.burg.com/blog/ Twitter: @BobBurg You’ll want to pick up Adversaries into Allies. Bob has a thought provoking blog and I was quite intrigued at his recent post about Why So Many People Sabotage Their Happiness. We see this in kids (and teachers) who just seem to wreck the very thing that can bring them joy. We all must challenge ourselves to improve our interpersonal relations with parents, administrators, colleagues and students. The post How Can You Turn Adversaries Into Allies? with Bob Burg appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

I’m rushing around right now after Spring Break and teaching 6 classes. Yep, I said 6. It is a struggle to keep things together, but I thought you might want to take a glance at 7 things that may interest you including national Poetry month, some Google Forms, and an interesting discussion on the privacy you can expect on open Wifi. Today’s inspirational thought is that I hope you’ll be the rainbow in someone else’s cloud. As teachers, we impact so many students every day. We should be the kind of people that students WANT to be around. Would you want to be around yourself? How do you handle life and your profession in general? We can all change and improve. Our subject may be hard but our face doesn’t have to be. We can be the kind, loving, encouraging people that our students need us to be. You don’t have to be a hugger or emotional to be someone who loves kids. They know it if you do. Have a great day! Your friend, Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher 7 Resources and Sites to Improve Your Practice Today 16 Resources for National Poetry Month | Edutopia 16 resources for national poetry month tags: education news poetry inspiration edutopia Welcome to NanoSpace! Science Teachers will love the Nanospace Molecularium from Renssalauer Polytech. Very cool too. (via Richard Byrne.) tags: education news science science_teacher Skitch | Evernote If you use Evernote, you should download and use Skitch. This is a must use tool for teachers. tags: education productivity evernote tools Free Technology for Teachers: A Handful of Helpful Google Forms Tutorials for Teachers Helpful Google forms Tutorials for teachers if you’re wanting to learn how to do this. Great info from Richard Byrne. tags: education tutorials google bestpractices Google tells Supreme Court it’s legal to packet sniff open Wi-Fi networks | Ars Technica Fascinating. But how does this impact any open school networks here? I’m wondering if this will impact schools as well? I have an open network for guests where they have to accept our terms of service, but then, we have a student network. This is one to watch, but if we provide an open network and don’t disclose that people can (and probably will) steal your data. I don’t see how Google can argue this, though — there is the assumption of privacy and security of your own data and you have to give permission for Facebook, Google etc. to get your data - you don’t give permission for a random stranger to see it no matter where you are. This is a stretch and a problem if it goes through. tags: education google edtech ooomf Blog | Tips and other good things. Some great thoughts about how cognitive dissonance and our internal dialog in our head makes it hard for us to get started at new tasks. tags: education news physchology all_teachers Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. The post Daily Education and Technology News for Schools appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Canva is a tool to create infographics, social media graphics, and more. If you need to gain traffic, you need a graphic. Canva is to graphic design what the Keurig coffee maker is to drinking coffee. It is free, but they make money by having stock images you can buy for $1 a piece if you want them. Everything I did was free. Here are some ways I’ve used Canva in the last 24 hours along with a tutorial video at the bottom on how to use it. 1. Promote what is happening in your classroom or area of work Create memories or share what students are doing RIGHT NOW in powerful ways. I’ve done this with the featured image on this blog post above. 2. Report on Progress and Build Your Image I’ve been asked to promote our new building project in the elementary school and quickly made this image in Canva to share with our school community. This graphic is of the building at the elementary school. Remember that graphics are more widely shared and seen on Facebook, Twitter, and Beyond and they’ll be shared more if you include a graphic in your update. Canva lets you do that. People like this and it gets shared beyond your immediate page. I just checked and this image shared yesterday afternoon has been seen by 444 people. That is more than we have students in our school. Great PR. 3. Promote an Event Our Grandparent’s Auction is Coming Up Saturday. I have a series of graphics that we’re sharing to promote this event. NOTE TO READER: The Grandparent’s Auction raises money for building projects at the school. Here we’re pointing out our current project and reminding everyone of the times. This was sent out through Facebook and our blog. NOTE TO READER: Harness the power of powerful moments and let the principle of transference work in y our favor. Here we have our basketball coach of our girls varsity basketball team raising her arms in victory when we won state this year. Plus kids. We love them. Another reminder of our auction 4. Point out websites or tools you’re using. This is another piece I used to promote some student work. Links seem to get lost in status updates. I think this is a better way to do it. NOTE TO READER: Websites we’re using in Class - made with Canva. Oops, I see that I messed up on the text — I’ll fix before sharing with parents. I want parents to know about the websites and the locations of our collaborations this month. 5 - Promote Positive Messages Again, sharing graphics and quotes about what you believe is a fantastic way to promote your school or your own beliefs and thoughts as a teacher. Every like or share is someone spreading your message further. Plus, it is great to have more positive in the world to counter the negatives that come across our feeds every day! Readers Note: Promote positive messages relating to your school or organization. 6- Update Graphics for Your Website A new banner New "Featured In" Graphic Update the graphics for your website. I have been struggling with Photoshop and my header graphics, so I played around last night and came up with a header (now on this blog) that is pretty close to what I’ll end up using. I also worked on the "featured in" graphic and again, am pretty close. I’ve got some alignment issues and a tweak on the "Featured in" Word.  It won’t let you do transparent png’s so you’ll still need PhotoShop for knockouts. (If you don’t know what a knockout is, don’t knock yourself out, it isn’t that important for you.;-) 7 - Redo Your "Identity Graphics" for Social Media This is where many of us need help. While there are makers for Facebook covers, etc. you have to go into each one and create. You can have the same graphics in canva and making a new image is a snap as you pull them together. The only thing you need to know how to do, as I share in the tutorial video below, is to customize the color to match your website or blog. How To Video for Canva using Facebook Identity Graphics 8 - Have students share their eportfolios and create graphics of all kinds I was tweeting about Canva and teacher Deborah Morgan shared her thoughts on Canva. @coolcatteacher @canva Love me some Canva…as do my students. — Deborah Morgan (@deborahbmorgan) April 10, 2014 9 - Graphics for serious bloggers If you’re a serious blogger, this app is for you too. As Deborah and I tweeted back and forth, uber-blogger Guy Kawasaki (author of APE - a great book for Self Publishers) and he shared this with me and Deborah. @coolcatteacher @deborahbmorgan @canva I missed Canva for a while too then @PegFitzpatrick showed me the light… — Guy Kawasaki (@GuyKawasaki) April 10, 2014 Why Canva Belongs in Your Classroom and Personal Toolkit If you’re like me and you tinker with a lot of apps, it is rare that I find one that keeps drawing me back in all day long. There was such a backlog of things I’d been fighting with that I needed to do — publicity for the school, new header for my blog, new Facebook graphics, it is such a relief to finally be able to do it. I also like that I don’t need so many apps to be able to do basic work for my blog - I can use just one. I agree with you, Deborah — Love me some Canva too! The post 7 Ways to Use Canva to Create Compelling Graphics appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

I love this conversation with A.J. Juliani @ajjuliani (Tech Coordinator) with his teachers Rosie Esposito @djesposito and Steve Mogg @stevenjmogg and  from Wissahickon High School, Pennsylvania. It is consistently a top school and their pattern of innovation shows why. Who will want to listen to this show? If you want to understand how to promote innovative practices and helping teachers level up, you’ll want to listen. I love listening to Rosie and Steve share insights into their thought process of innovation. Innovation is a mindset not a destination and the more we can hear real teachers talk about how they innovate, the more we can adopt that mindset ourselves. Listen to Every Classroom Matters "Achieving Sustainable Classroom Innovation" Listen to "Achieving Sustainable Classroom Innovation" Every Classroom Matters is a bi-weekly Internet Radio Show by Vicki Davis on BAM Radio network dedicated to excellent education. Listening will help you teach with better results, lead with a positive impact, and live with a greater purpose. Subscribe.   The post Achieving Sustainable Classroom Innovation with @ajjuliani @djesposito and @stevenjmogg appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Richard Wells @ipadwells gives a masterful explanation of the SAMR model of technology integration. He is from New Zealand but his charts on the SAMR model have spread worldwide. All technology integration is NOT the same. Having tablets in a classroom doesn’t make the classroom any better than if Einstein sat in the corner. It is not the presence of a person or thing that makes the classroom better but the interaction with it that does. That is what the SAMR model helps us understand: how technology is actually being used to teach. ### What is the SAMR Model? Standing for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition, this model demonstrates and helps those supporting technology implementation understand the different ways technology can be implemented in the classroom. No, technology integration practices are not all the same. I would argue that technology is MORE disruptive if a teacher is only using it for Substitution and Augmentation. If your teachers are saying the devices are a distraction and not worth having, it is likely, that they haven’t changed their pedagogy and practice. They’re just substituting the technology for what they are already doing and not using the technology to do what they couldn’t do before. Understand the SAMR model to help coach change. Richard is adept in this show and while every ECM show is special, this one has to go up there as one of the best of the best. It is one of those you’ll want to email to people. ### Who should listen to this show? Everyone. Period. Teachers, technology integrators, principals. School Board Members for sure. If you want to have a 21st century school or classroom it is vital that you listen to this show. I’ve listened to it 3 times already and have shared it with my administration - his explanation is that profound and yet simple.. Listen to Richard Wells explain SAMR" You’ll want to visit Richard’s blog and follow him on Twitter and I hope you’ll share this conversation with others to help them understand that ALL TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION IS NOT THE SAME! The post 4 Step SAMR Model of Technology Integration Explained by Richard Wells appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Yesterday after school I earned my dumpster diver 101 merit badge as a senior and I went through the school’s trash looking for an unmarked photo cd that had been accidentally tossed. (They may doubt my sanity but they can’t doubt my love.) After it was found I drove home quickly to take a hot bath. (I was reminded of a word I haven’t used in ages but we used often in the 1980′s "grody" - not even sure if that is a word.) All the while,  I started thinking about the crazy days that these are. How to make it to the end of the school year It is the end of school for us — April and May are nuts. These are days apt to be described by the first paragraph of "A Tale of Two Cities." Right now I have 3 planning periods a week. (Not kidding.) Plus Special Olympics Bocce Ball. PLUS NHS Blood Drive. PLUS Senior Slide show. PLUS Graduation movie. PLUS Bidding out pulling cable for the new building. PLUS the Technology plan and budget for next year. PLUS tech support. PLUS my book launch for Reinventing Writing to coordinate. PLUS graduating my second child and getting her off to college. MINUS sanity. I say this because tens of thousands of you live this every day. This is your life. You totally get this. To bad no one else does. Don’t expect them to either. People are going to start casually saying "Aren’t you glad things are winding down." ### The school year doesn’t wind down! It crashes.  The School Year Doesn’t "Wind Down"! And you know they are among the clueless. There is nothing "winding down" about the end of the school year. It is more like a complete and total crash. You accelerate until you run into a brick wall and you hope your seatbelt lets you get out of the thing intact so you can limp off to your summer. The first week or so of my summer is spent sipping coffee - staring into space and reading books where stuff gets blown up. I’m worthless because I’m spent. Every shred of everything I had to give is given. ~ You’re Going to Make This But as one teacher to another - you’re going to make this. If you’re a new teacher and you’ve never experienced this side of the "end of school" - the jolting, nerve wracking, exhausting, ridiculous side of "ending" school - then it is OK. You’ll make it. It is one of the toughest most taxing things you’ll experience. ~ The Fallacy of Summer "Vacation" Then, everyone in the world is "jealous" of teachers but they don’t understand that we are hurting, exhausted, and often wounded by this time. We don’t fault new Moms for staying at home for 6 or 8 weeks after having a child. They’re not "getting time off." We aren’t either. When the summer starts, we’ve just come through something - to me - as taxing and exhausting as childbirth. I may not feel as close to death as I did when I had my 10 pound baby girl (who is now 6’1″ and graduating) but in terms of wondering if you can do one more thing - it is the same thing. ### Hold On, Hang On, Yell For Joy In the Wind So, just know that you’re going to find yourself doing all kinds of things over the next 6-8 weeks. You may even find yourself in the dumpster - or even worse, the proverbial dumps. But hold on, you’re going to make it. Yell in the wind as it whips your hair. Enjoy it for what it is. Be noble. Work hard. Keep your commitment to excellence. It is never OK to go on autopilot. These kids can watch movies all summer - don’t give into the temptation to be sorry - you’ve still got things to do. Teach until the last day. Find your beautiful moment every week. You rock teacher and often your nobility is observed and measured these last weeks when many slack off and head on summer break early. Finish well. Do incredible things. Be epic. Never settle. We get one chance at this life and everything we do in the classroom is important. Have fun but have fun with purpose. Be intentional about everything. Make memories. These are hard times but they are sweet times. ~ When we try to sit down, we must pull each other towards excellence as the school year ends. Pulling You Forward So, as I emerged from playing in the trash yesterday it was with a laugh and a high five and the joy at knowing that I showed love by my willingness to play in the trash. And that, my friends, is why you and I are here. For the lessons we teach in our classrooms are important, but the lessons we teach with our lives are never forgotten. And this is just another one of those lessons. The hope that if I share this little piece of myself and my own struggle, that it will encourage you.  We can do this, my dear friends. I’m so happy to be a teacher even though it is hard. ~ The magic never happens inside your comfort zone. The end of the school year is the time we must push past the comfort zone and rutt and be "awesomer" than we’ve ever been. So, how to make it to the end of the school year? Pull each other forward, friends. We’re going to need each other in the coming days. For we can’t expect the world out there to know what this is like, but we should expect support, encouragement and a magnetic pull of excellence from our PLN and colleagues to finish this year in awesome ways. And remember this one essential point — the magic always happens outside your comfort zone. So of all things you can do, don’t get comfortable. Get better and better and end in amazing ways.  You can either be memorable or you’re forgettable. The same applies to what you teach. Live it. Be it. Be noble. We’re in an important profession. Teach on till the last day. Let’s rock! ### Picture Credits: End of School  Year Baby: http://www.pinterest.com/happyteacher/end-of-the-school-year/ Keep Calm Poster: http://www.keepcalmandposters.com/poster/keep-calm-because-school-is-almost-over Where the Magic Happens Venn http://www.thecitrusreport.com/2011/headlines/the-vennesday-diagram-where-the-magic-happens/ The post How to Make It to the End of the School Year appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Today I’ll meet my students at the school at 8:15 am to set up the Bocce Ball courts. By 10 am, the courts will be full of Special Olympians rolling Bocce Balls and yelling in triumph at their accomplishments. The orange-clad referees will work to serve, encourage, measure, and officiate the games. It is a Saturday and 60 something of the kids in my school will roll out of bed, don their shirts and smiles and come to the school even though they don’t have to.Not one of these kids is being MADE to be here. While the National Honor Society is sponsoring it, any student grades 8-12 can come and volunteer and over half the school comes out every year to do just that. Some Things Aren’t Just Special, They’re IMPORTANT We’ve been going now for 11 years. It started off as an effort to host the state Bocce Ball Special Olympics games and indeed we did that for 4 years straight - running 12 hours and doing our best. But when the state games moved to a more central location - in Macon - we kept a tournament going because of how important it is for this event to happen.You see, when students interact with each other in this way - it is a win win for all. It is a win win for the Special Olympians who get encouragement and fair officiating as well as the laughter and fun that comes from being in the presence of teenagers. One thing is for sure, we’ll all laugh (and cry tears of joy) all day today.But my students get a great gift. They get to serve, encourage, and love those with special needs. It is to the point that many of them have been doing this long enough that they remember names and see each other far more than just at this once a year event. They become friends.  ### Be the rainbow in someone else’s cloud. Helping kids be that rainbow blesses them with meaning, joy, and more. Help them serve. The Greatest Joys and the Most Wealth You can teach a child all the knowledge in a thousand books, but if they don’t know how to love and serve others - they’ll miss out on the greatest joys this life has to offer. Today everyone involved will become wealthy beyond their wildest dreams. NO, no one will put anything in our wallets — but our hearts will be showered with richness in every way. Joy. Love. Happiness - pure unadulterated happiness. ~ The Tide of Compassion Some of these kids will start off today a tad fearful. You can always see them at the beginning, hanging back just a bit and watching. But when they see their friends cheerleading, hugging, interacting and laughing with the participants - that love just spreads like a wave breaking down the beach. The tide of love and compassion comes crashing in and after just an hour or so, those kids who started the day are all in. By the end of the day you’ll see them, eyes shining working until the last court is put up hanging around sort of wishing it was still happening. They don’t want to leave. ~ Each person is amazing. Help children shun the world’s view that your worth is determined by how smart you are or how fast you can run or how much money you have. The Purpose in Personhood Then they’ll know one of the great secrets of life. When you spend yourself in a worthy cause - your heart becomes full of great riches that you cannot comprehend. As a Christian, there are many verses I can share with these kids about why we do this — but the biggest thing is that each and every one of us realizes we’re not the center of the universe. We see our fellow human beings full of purpose and shun the world’s view that your worth is determined by how smart you are or how fast you can run or how much money you have. They can see clearly that each person is a person of worth, merit, and importance. They’ll see a spirit of true sportsmanship and why we play sports at all and that you don’t have to win the Super Bowl to be a winner in life. ### How Amazing Adults Are Made OK, I’ve got to go get dressed and meet these winners. For the kids who come to this earn my respect and admiration. Other kids at our school are great kids — but these are the ones who really get an education. These are the kids who will change the world because even as teenagers - during a time of natural inborn selfishness - they set their alarm on a Saturday to get up and do something worthwhile. And that, my friend, is how amazing adults are made. The post How Amazing Adults Are Made appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Jerry Blumengarten @cybraryman1 talks with Vicki Davis about using technology in the classrooms.  He asserts he would connect students with any technological tool he could, and finds embedding technology in learning is important to today’s teachers.  He talks about the Genius Hour, the flipped classroom, and the maker movement. Despite being a retired educator, Jerry never stops learning. He recommends these hashtags: #Sschat Wednesday s  8pm CST #Parentteacherchat  #Edtechchat Mondays 5pm PST/9pm EST And Twitter tools Tweetdeck Twubs He recommends teachers try out the learning resources on his site -> Cybrary Man’s Educational Web Sites. He emphasizes that  students should see us learning - that is crucial for teaching and coaching. Every Classroom Matters Show #54:  Jerry Blumengarten "A Discussion with the Connected Educators’ Cybrarian" Listen to Jerry Blumengarten Note from Vicki Davis: Hat tip to my dear friend Lisa Durff who is joining me as the production coordinator for Every Classroom Matters. While the people at BAM RAdio do an amazing job producing this Internet Radio show, I want to give you better show notes and a more timely post on my blog when shows go live. Lisa Durff worked with me on Flat Classroom and is a dear friend and connector.  I’m grateful she is willing to jump in and help as she continues to finish up her doctorate at Walden University in their Ed Tech Program. Lisa drafted this post and is also helping me book and coordinate guests.  The post Jerry Blumengarten: The Connected Educator’s Cybrarian appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

David Menasche , author of  The Priority List: A Teacher’s Final Quest to Discover Life’s Greatest Lessons, didn’t sit at home when he was diagnosed with brain cancer.  When he was no longer able to teach due to the cancer and blindness, he travelled around the country to see his students and he truly got to see the impact he had made in their lives. The book is the story of his 101 day adventure visiting his former students.  He relates how The Priority List was his student’s favorite lesson in which they prioritized 26 abstract words like love, power, and spirituality.  He taught English in southern Florida, but his students recalled the conversations, the life lessons, and his insights more than the content of the class. The Guardian released an article in March noting that Steve Carrell is producing the movie based upon this book. When I read David’s book back in January, I knew it was important for him to speak his story to the audience of Every Classroom Matters. So often, we as teachers forget both that we matter and also that sometimes the most important lessons aren’t those from a book. Listen to David Menasche on Every Classroom Matters Book Review of the Priority List by David Menasche This wasn’t an easy read for me but the story was raw and authentic. Teachers have tough situations to deal with every day and David had more than his fair share. Certainly some of the issues in this book will be controversial to many. But working with students is messy. Helping them become adults is hard. Being a teacher who helps kids find their way without imposing our own will and belief systems upon them is important. Students have choices and we must help them make their own way. David does that. By the time I did this interview, I was exhausted and overwhelmed just because David deals with edgy stuff including death - the specter of which most people choose to ignore. You’ll find yourself asking questions and making choices in your classroom that will make you a better person and your students better people as well. While I’m not saying I always agree with his advice to kids - few of you would agree with all of mine either, I do agree that teachers make a lasting difference. I also think more literature teachers should use this priority list approach and worked on the show to get more about this teaching method so you could use it. Thank you to David for his bravery and coming on the show. Add David Menasche to your PLN David’s FaceBook Every Classroom Matters is a bi-weekly podcast by Vicki Davis on BAM Radio network dedicated to excellent education. Listening will help you teach with better results, lead with a positive impact, and live with a greater purpose. Subscribe. Show notes prepared by Lisa Durff, Production Coordinator for Every Classroom Matters. Need help to figure out how to listen 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.. The post David Menasche and The Priority List appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Amin Saberi and Anne Trumbore  recently  talked with Vicki Davis on episode #67 of Every Classroom Matters about encouraging creativity.  Only 17% of creatives felt a teacher had taught them to be creative.  As our economy moves  away from the industrial workforce, into the information age and beyond, the question arises, "How does one teach creativity"? Well, Stanford Professor Tina Seelig, the designers at NovoEd and some pretty amazing rock stars may just be on to something. Show Notes: What Are the Best Ways to Teach Creativity? ECM #67 Listen to Every Classroom Matters #67 For the first assignment in the Creativity MOOC, over 5,000 people turned in an album cover representing their life. Amin and Anne focus on teaching creativity through a MOOC (Massively Open Online Course by creating a course  through NovoED in collaboration with Tina Seelig at Stanford University entitled, "Creativity: Music to My Ears". Students peer review work and more than 10,000 people are taking the course in April and May 2014. (You can still sign up.) ~ Amin describes the six week free course in the episode, which anyone can take. Josh Groban, Lily Allen, and LinkinPark are just some of the artists involved in helping to teach this course.  Anne emphasizes that publishing work to the world online encourages collaboration and community. Learning creativity in safe communities as in the course enhances the learning of creativity. The assignments are peer-reviewed against a rubric for course assessment. (See the awesome first assignment where participants were asked to create an album cover of their life.) Amin created NovoED to teach students in the same way students are taught at Stanford. Many courses are business courses, teacher training, and entrepreneurship. Student-centered learning is at the center of all these courses, that is the courses are experiential, social, and innovative. ### Listen to the Show to Learn about Stanford’s Creativity MOOC Listen to Every Classroom Matters #67 Every Classroom Matters is a bi-weekly podcast by Vicki Davis on BAM Radio network dedicated to excellent education. Listening will help you teach with better results, lead with a positive impact, and live with a greater purpose. Subscribe. Show notes prepared by Lisa Durff, Production Coordinator for Every Classroom Matters. Thanks for the BAMMY nomination. If you like this show, please vote! Need help to figure out how to listen 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. Here’s a tutorial to help you. The post Massive Creativity MOOC with Rock Stars, Prof Tina Seelig, and NovoED appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

When you have meaningful, authentic projects using technology, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS. Casey Cox,  one my students from  the very first Flat Classroom project in 2006  is now a college graduate. Take a look at her latest water conservation project and see what this type of education does. Casey is a young graduate from the University of Florida and has  moved back home. She’s becoming an advocate for environmental conservation and water use. She’s written a piece for IBM’s Smarter Planet Blog: "How Big Data is Helping Seed a Farming Transformation." Big Data and Water Conservation She and some other local leaders are featured in the  YouTube video on the IBM Social Media Site. In her article, Casey @caseymco says: My work with the Flint River Partnership focuses on leading outreach initiatives to help farmers implement conservation-oriented agricultural practices to minimize environmental impact and enhance farm efficiency. Working with top agricultural scientists, we’re developing new and innovative farming practices using big data analytics that will ultimately transform agriculture at a global scale and create a more sustainable food supply. The ultimate goal of our Partnership is to optimize irrigation water management by building new services and tools based on emerging technology, and then assist agricultural producers in using those tools to irrigate more efficiently. IBM’s Deep Thunder is one of these tools. While Casey deserves the credit for her work, I’d like to think she got her start as she collaborated globally in her tenth grade classroom, as she composed poetry and studied the history of the Flint River, and discussed big data in my classroom eight years a go. (You can see exactly what she did on our class wiki. She was also mentioned by name in Thomas Friedman’s book The World is Flat along with her partner Cannelle. Doesn’t she wish it was her full name now? ) ### Epic Starts With an Excellent 21st Century Education There’s a direct correlation between what she’s doing now and the conversations she had here when she was a student at Westwood Schools. I see a direct impact of our visionary curriculum director Betty Shiver who pushed us to do projects with students that had meaning and relevance in our local community. I see her literature teacher Betsy Caldwell who helped her hone and improve her already strong writing skills. I see her science teacher Pam Dean and her math teacher Azalee Vereen and so many others who poured their life into her. I see studying the World is Flat and the Horizon Report. And yes, I see just the tiniest bit of me. ~ My student Casey Cox got her start into technology and the Flint River when she was in high school. She is mentioned by name in Thomas Friedman’s book the World is Flat. But mostly I see just Casey- a polished, professional, savvy woman well versed in technology, science, and the history of the area she loves. I see epic. It is awesome to have even a small part of epic. ~ When you use true 21st Century Teaching and Learning Strategies, that is what you do. You become part of epic, life changing experiences. You help students get on track to their own version of epic. ### 21st Century Teaching Isn’t Just Good Teaching: It’s Revolutionary I love how Casey ends her article There’s no denying the potential data analytics can have on business, but for agriculture and today’s farmer, only one word can describe its future impact: revolutionary. Dear Casey, Casey Cox, your Computer Science teacher is so proud of you. You’re making a difference in the world and our community. You’re also confirming to me that what we’re doing in this classroom works in the long run. You’ve given me the gift of seeing all this hard work does make a difference. Because as much as I love teaching, I also love the earth and the agriculture, and the beautiful Flint River we must protect. I love this community and helping you become epic is helping this community I love and this world we must protect. By helping give you a great education, I’ve helped give the world a gift: YOU. Being well educated isn’t about science or technology or collaboration or  math in isolation but what understanding those things together can do in the hands of a creative mind. We need help with the hard problems without multiple choice answers. Now that’s revolutionary.   The post Being Part of Epic: 21st Century Teaching Can Do That appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Learning shouldn’t be for a test or an event; learning should be for everybody claims Dawn Casey-Rowe @runningdmc on this episode of Every Classroom Matters. Like many of you, Dawn teaches in a  challenging situation but she loves her students and finds time to innovate anyway. Let’s learn how. This history teacher of 235 students feels the educational paradigm needs to be changed towards developing successful people.  She supports changing terms from "administration" to "educational leadership" which reminds her of successful actions.  We need leaders not administrators to move ahead in challenging situations. Listen to Every Classroom Matters #15 She remembers many reiterations of standards through the years but does appreciate the present Common Core standards as more skills based and believes these standards have the potential to positively impact classrooms. In college, she learned about being an educator who paid personal attention from a professor who cared about her as a person.  It is an educator’s duty to really care for students and show those students they care with personal attention. In Rhode Island, Dawn is part of EdUnderground, a group for sharing best technological practices in education. She also works with Learnist, developed for educational uses for engaging learners. As she claims, learning shouldn’t be for a test or an event, learning should be for everybody. Dawn’s favorite hashtags on Twitter are #edchatri #edunderground and #learnist Add Dawn Casey-Rowe  to your PLN @runningdmc Dawn’s FaceBook Café Casey ### Listen to Show #15 About Innovating When You’re In a Challenging School Situation Listen to Every Classroom Matters #15 Every Classroom Matters is a bi-weekly internet radio show by Vicki Davis on BAM Radio network dedicated to excellent education. Listening will help you teach with better results, lead with a positive impact, and live with a greater purpose. Subscribe. Show notes prepared by Lisa Durff, Production Coordinator for Every Classroom Matters Need help to figure out how to listen 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.   The post Dawn Casey-Rowe : Innovating When You’re in a Challenging School appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

If you are looking for a way to take your student’s comprehension to a whole new level in any subject area, Close Reading is just the strategy for you! It is a very simple and easy way to take students through multiple readings to increase comprehension and encourage metacognition. This is something I do in my sixth grade ELA classroom weekly. This is a sponsored guest post by SNAP Learning @SNAPLearning and authored by Heidi Morgan @heidiamorgan, 6th grade ELA teacher in New Lenox, Illinois. As Heidi and I talked, I wanted her to share her classroom experience with using the Close Reading technique she uses. (You can get a free demo of Snap Learning here.) They also made a very cool, pinnable infographic explaining close reading strategies that you can pin and use as you teach close reading. — Vicki Davis ### Test Snap Learning in Your Classroom What is close reading? Close Reading is a way of reading text that encourages students to read and reread with a purpose each time in order to help students achieve deep comprehension. According to PARCC, "Close, analytic reading stresses engaging with a text of sufficient complexity directly and examining meaning thoroughly and methodically, encouraging students to read and reread deliberately. Directing student attention on the text itself empowers students to understand the central ideas and key supporting details. It also enables students to reflect on the meanings of individual words and sentences; the order in which sentences unfold; and the development of ideas over the course of the text, which ultimately leads students to arrive at an understanding of the text as a whole."(PARCC, 2011, p. 7) The goal of Close Reading is to teach readers how to read and reread with a purpose. As time goes on, and students become more familiar with the close reading strategy they will begin to read and reread independently. Thus, mastering the strategy and having a deeper understanding of the content of the text they are reading. ### 10 Tips for Close Reading Activities ————- Close Reading Tip #1: Select Short Passages These short passages of high interest text should be long enough to be meaningful, but not too long for students to lose focus or get lost in the reading. Close Reading Tip #2:  Make Your Focus Intense Pick a skill or literary element, like cause and effect or figurative language, you want to focus on and make sure that the text has an adequate amount of this skill or element in it. Close Reading Tip #3: Extend Focus Through the Text The focus should extend from the passage itself to other parts of the text. Once students begin to notice or see the focus skill or element, they should be able to find it throughout the text. Modeling is so important when you’re teaching reading strategies. This is what makes the portfolio approach fit so well with close reading - you have texts students can mark up and teaching materials to help share and add emphasis. Request a SNAP Learning Demo Close Reading Tip #4: Students Markup the Text as They Read As students read they should mark up the text with symbols that help them think through what they are reading. (Use this Sample Mark It Up Poster with students. Close Reading Tip #5: Encourage Exploratory Discussions Encourage exploratory discussions between students between reads. Students talk about what they read, what things they marked up, and about the focus skill or literary element. The Think, Pair, Share strategy works well with close reading discussions. Close Reading Tip #6: Encourage Rereading Students read the text at least three times with a different focus each time. (See below for more info on how this works in my classroom.) Close Reading Tip #7: Read in Every Subject Area Use the close reading strategy in all subject areas. Close Reading Tip #8: Annotate the Text If you can not physically mark-up the text (like in traditional textbooks) use sticky notes. Close Reading Tip #9: Use Close Reading Marks Independently Encourage students to use close reading marks in their independent reading to help them focus and comprehend. Once students see the value in close reading they will begin to use the strategy on their own. Closed Reading Tip #10: Use Close Reading Strategically in Small Bites Don’t over do Close Reading. Use articles, short passages and short texts, don’t close read a whole novel. ~ An Excellent Close Reading Resource ————- I think SNAP Learning’s Close Reading Portfolio can guide any teacher through the Close Reading process with amazing success. It is a well planned and constructed portfolio of short, high interest, nonfiction text that kids want to read. It is perfect for any day, but really great to take the stress out of those three-day weeks when you can’t get  a whole week’s unit in. Request a Snap Learning Demo in Your Classroom Here’s an example of how I use SNAP Learning’s Close Reading in my classroom. First Reading: Get the Gist As students review and explore the text in the first few minutes of the lesson, they are drawn into the text and want to read it because of the nonfiction topics and images associated with the text. During the first read students read through the text to get the gist of what the text is about. Second Reading: Digging Deeper and Marking It Up During the second read students dig into the text and focus on analyzing the meaning of a passage of text at the word, phrase, sentence, paragraph, and passage level. Thus exploring the author’s craft and how specific words and phrases make meaning. Close learning is an excellent technique to help students learn to read deeply (especially non fiction texts). I like the approach of Snap Learning, the sponsor of this post, because it gives you materials to mark up (most schools would frown on having their textbooks marked up for close reading.) I thought this would be something many of you would like. — Vicki Davis Third Reading: Looking for Evidence During the third read students use evidence in the text to determine and support an answer to a question. This skill is so important in a world of CCSS and in light of the upcoming PARCC test. Following the third read, the student is given the opportunity to respond in writing to the text. What SNAP Learning’s Close Reading Portfolio does that is unique is that it gives the students fluency practice. It is a fact that fluency is an indicator of comprehension and this added piece is very valuable to all teachers. The last piece of the Close Reading Portfolio is a culminating activity to show how well students are able to answer text dependent questions and demonstrate proficiency. Request a Snap Learning Demo in Your Classroom ~ Snap Learning Resources (Have a free demo) Want a free demo of SNAP Learning’s Close Reading Portfolio? You can request one here http://www.snaplearning.co/request_demo. SNAP Learning also has an impressive guided reading program. You can learn more about it here http://www.snaplearning.co/guided_reading. If you are an Edmodo user SNAP Learning has apps in the Edmodo App Store https://www.edmodo.com/home#/store too! If you want to know more about the Close Strategies I use in my classroom, you can take a look at the presentation I did at the Raising Student Achievement Conference in December 2013. 9 Essential Close Reading Resources to Learn More Strategies Teacher’s Guide to SNAP Close Reading Portfolio Closing in on Close Reading [ASCD] Pinterest Close Reading Board Snap Learning Teacher Resource Page (Placement Test, Beginner’s Tutorial) Fisher and Frey YouTube Channel Close Reading of Literary Texts [Read-Write-Think Strategy Guide] Newsela Readworks Notice and Note Strategies for Close Reading References Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. (2011). PARCC model content frameworks: English language arts/literacy grades 3-11. Retrieved from www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/PARCCMCFELALiteracyAugust2012_FINAL.pdf ### 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 Top 10 Tips for Close Reading Activities appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Why You Can’t Find Black Boxes: Infographic Worth Sharing The Washington Post 2014 This powerful infographic shows why it is so hard to find some black boxes in the ocean but also shows the complete and utter power of an infographic. The Washington Post made this one about the downed Korean airliner and the quest to find the black box. Some don’t know why it is so hard — take a dive through this infographic and start to understand. If you’re studying the ocean, it will also make an incredible infographic. Bring it up on the screen and scroll down and discuss. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. You feel like you’re diving and descending and wondering when it ever ends. Note that it is drawn to scale for a reason and probably breaks most infographic rules and yet that is part of the information in this graphic. Hats off Washington Post for explaining a question many have been asking with a powerful visual. The post Why You Can’t Find Black Boxes: Infographic Worth Sharing [Link] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Ira Bickoff  uses a new way to read primary source content in his marine science classes at Rondout Valley High School in New York State. Ira creates an overlay in Google Maps to create virtual BookMaps to integrate literature into the science content. If you think these are a traditional "Google Lit Trip" - you’re wrong. Ira is putting the full book text into the map.  For lack of a better word, let’s call it a Google BookMap because what Ira has created isn’t a synopsis, but the full book. Listen to Ira Describe BookMaps Students read the book, learn geography, and investigate marine science with these map-based reading experiences.  The books are older with expired copyrights. Ira Bickoff has created a new genre of book: the BookMap. Ira has written a manual to help you get started. Tweak your Google Map settings and you can read a full book. His resources are free. He has  incorporated Civil War content, artwork, and other primary source material into the experience. The Voyage of the Beagle is the most popular BookMap so far.  For his next project, he’s talking to the daughter of the only American on the Endurance in the 1800’s about the material she co-wrote with her father. Ira is a physics teacher. In Every Classroom Matters Show #70, Ira describes how he’s integrated physics activities into one of his books. Ira explains how to tweak Google Earth to use it with students in a full series of video tutorials. (See below.) He is using BookMaps to change the way people read books and to engage students in literature. I’m curious if some students relate in positive ways to text embedded on a map. Note to the reader. A traditional bookmap lists pages and page numbers, this is different. I guess you could call this a Google BookTrip. But, to me, in some ways, that term diminishes the work because students are reading the full book.  BookMap turns it into a proper noun, so that might work. What do you call this new genre? Does BookMap work for you? Discuss in the comments. (I’m happy to update this post as you add your thoughts.) What a fascinating teacherpreneur! I hope you enjoy Ira Bickoff’s free BookMaps with your students. Listen to Ira Bickoff - Every Classroom Matters #70 Add Ira Bickoff to your PLN Ira Bickoff Sail the Book Facebook Sail the Book 7 BookMaps Available from Ira Bickoff The Voyage of the Beagle Two Years Before the Mast Sailing Alone Around the World The Cruise of the Snark In the South Seas The Log from the Sea of Cortez South! The Story of Shackleton’s Last Expedition 1914-1917 2 ArtMaps Winslow Homer The Sea Poets Every Classroom Matters is a bi-weekly podcast by Vicki Davis on BAM Radio network dedicated to excellent education. Teach with better results, lead with a positive impact, and live with a greater purpose. Subscribe. Show notes prepared by Lisa Durff and enhanced by Vicki Davis, Production Coordinator for Every Classroom Matters. Need help listening? If you’re clicking "Play" on the BAM Radio Site, this often works best in Internet Explorer. Or subscribe in a podcatcher. (View the tutorial.) The post Ira Bickoff Creates a New Way to Read Books: Google BookMap appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Two important security issues loom over computer users right now. Take steps to solve these problems NOW. No excuses, tell everyone. These two security risks are THAT important. 1 - Internet Explorer Bug Experts discovered a bug that allows a hacker to remote control your computer when you’re on Microsoft Internet Explorer(IE). Even if you don’t use IE, you should still install the patch. (This impacts Windows XP, Windows 7 AND Windows 8.) Go to Programs and Windows Update. In Windows 8, go to the Start screen and type "Windows Update." Run the "Security Update for Internet Explorer" or install the newest version of IE. (Shown in the picture.) ~ RECOMMENDATION: Use Chrome or Firefox As Your Primary Web Browser As part of the Windows operating system, IE gives more access to your computer than other web browsers. Your computer becomes easier to hack. Using IE to access the Internet is like playing football without a helmet - hackers can directly access to your computer’s brain. Fix the bug but use Google Chrome or Firefox instead for an extra layer of protection from future security glitches. ### Last Pass is my new password protection service. I’m using it to generate super-strong unique passwords for every website. In the face of the improving abilities of hackers, this is necessary to keep from forgetting passwords. Just set a very strong master password AND REMEMBER IT. The only drawback is that you can end up being unable to retrieve your passwords if you forget your master password. 2 - Heartbleed Bug The Heartbleed bug infects the security that underlies encryption for websites called "SSL certificates." While not every secure site is affected, you can install a Chrome add in to see if your online financial services or stores are safe. Because of the bug, many passwords are now compromised. With the massive numbers of passwords recently stolen, hackers ferreted out the patterns for how we set our passwords. They can now crack most passwords in hours if not minutes. ~ RECOMMENDATION: Change Your Passwords; Get a Password Manager Service To be safe, go change your passwords. But what a pain! To simplify, create a LastPass account and use the password generation feature for unique, uncrackable passwords for every website. LastPass is safe and convenient. (It does take time to learn.) ### Tell Everyone and Help Them Be Safe Technology is here to stay. If you are smart enough to fill out forms our government has us complete, you are smart enough to download software and setup a password service. You can do this! The way I look at it, when I protect my passwords and patch my computer, I’m protecting my family. Tell everyone you know. Note to readers: This article is intended to simplify for a general audience. I’ve linked to the detailed technical resources that you can use to more deeply understand these two important issues. The post SECURITY ALERT: How To Fix the Internet Explorer Bug and Heartbleed appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Book Review: On Writing by Stephen King (Scribner - 10th Anniversary Edition, 2010) Wow! On Writing  by Stephen King is a nonfiction book you can’t put down. If you’re a writer, an aspiring writer, or teach writing On Writing  is an essential read.When my husband sees me engrossed in a Stephen King book, he gets worried. (Because I dream vivid nightmares about things that scare me, horror is a no no. When I read scary stuff, Kip prepares for a few nights of combat as I fight creepy things in my sleep.) But this book isn’t a horror, it is a joy. For the first section of the book, Stephen King does a great job of making himself his own character. He shares his raw quirks as well as insights into why he became… well, Stephen King. As a kid, he aspires to be a writer. His stories of getting in trouble in high school make me think twice about how I see my students. Everyone has their story about "that" teacher and King has a few teachers emblazoned in his mind (not for good reasons.)I love when he gets into the craft of writing - from what makes a good book to grammar. Who makes a distaste for adverbs so vivid but the master of horror? When you DO action -adverbs are a waste of words. I now slash adverbs like one of King’s demented characters. He also explains why active voice is so important in writing. (FINALLY I understand!) This book is encouraging to writers. I like King’s admission to authoring a bad book. (People who never write anything bad don’t write.)But the epic part of this book is his description of his 1999 accident. ( He admits being hit "by a character from one of my novels"). King goes on to show how writing helps him get his life back.  In many ways, like Jesus making the good wine at the end of the wedding feast, King’s last few chapters are the best. I found myself reading and rereading the end and wanting more. At this point, this book abruptly turns from the craft of writing to finding purpose in life.I recommend King’s aptly titled "On Writing" as one of the best books you can read on writing. Writers and lit teachers should pick up this book  for page turning nonfiction. On Writing is a must read if you’re doing or teaching any writing. ~   A K12 Student Note: Be warned, King is explicit about his drug and alcohol use. (Also how he overcame and is better for it.)  He also doesn’t mind using profanity a bit. As one who doesn’t care for profanity in books, his explanation of why he uses profanity makes sense. For this reason, I’d have this book but read aloud sections as you promote writing with K12 students. The section on adverbs and passive voice are fantastic explanations any writing teacher can use. This is definitely a book for college students and adults. The post Book Review: On Writing [Book] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.