Free Download: 5 Steps to Internet Safety Vicki Davis - on Docstoc I am amazed at how many people shorten their Internet safety guidelines by saying "Stop, Block, and Tell." As I’ve shared in both of my books, this is a grave disservice. When you block, it often deletes evidence of what happened. Students should: Stop, Screenshot, Block, Tell and Share. Some time a go, my sister helped me create a 5 Steps to Internet Safety Poster. You can download it for free. If you need a full sized poster as others have asked, I set up a store on CafePress that will make the posters for you. If you’re a non profit school I give you permission to copy and share these as a way to help you. (If you’re for profit, you’ll need to contact me.) I embedded it below for you. 5 Steps to Internet Safety The post Free Download: 5 Steps to Internet Safety [Link] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

In the end it didn’t seem to matter what the distraction was during recall as long as subjects had had a distraction during learning. Everybody who had been distracted in both learning and recall performed better than those who were distracted while learning but undistracted during recall. An important finding was that the effect Song measured did not depend on keeping the external context - for instance the ambient surroundings - consistent. There just had to be the same degree of distraction at both times. Another task is to figure out what might be going on in the brain to allow divided attention to be a boost for recall, rather than a hindrance for learning. "For now my working hypothesis is that this creates an internal representation in which divided attention is associated with the motor learning process, so it can work as an internal cue," Song said. Song said she is curious about whether understanding the effect could improve rehabilitation. It may be better, for instance, to help patients learn to walk not only in the clinic, but amid the degree of distraction they would encounter on their neighborhood sidewalk. Psych Central News Brown University (quoted on Psych Central, December 10, 2014), This fascinating research is worth a read if you’re following neuroscience. Distractions may not be as problematic as you think. The question seems to be whether the learning environment is similar to the environment where you will recall. Fascinating research. I look forward to my researcher friends digging deeper so we can all understand more. The post Distractions Help You Learn? [Quote] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

People are not your most important asset. The right people are. (loc 238) If we get the right people on the bus, the right people in the right seats, and the wrong people off the bus, then we’ll figure out how to take it someplace great. (loc 712) The moment you feel the need to tightly manage someone, you’ve made a hiring mistake (loc 972) Letting the wrong people hang around is unfair to all the right people. (loc 980) Yes, leadership is about vision. But leadership is equally about creating a climate where the truth is heard and the brutal facts confronted. (loc 1286) Jim Collins Good to Great (Harper Collins Publishers, 2011), This epic book has so many applications for schools. Any organization that wants to be great should have leaders who understand how to be a "level 5 leader" and how to take the organization from good to great. Hint: It is not the flamboyant that make the great leaders. It is also rarely people from "outside". Great read for all leaders in all professions. The post Good to Great - The Right People [Quote] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Want to help your youngest kids (4 and up) learn the basics of coding? There’s a screen-free way to learn and play called Robot Turtles Game.  I know some of you like to find things for the young children that are not in front of the screen. This would be something that you might want to consider. From the company: Robot Turtles was a Kickstarter sensation, graced the front page of the New York Times and has garnered awards since its national introduction last summer, including Teachers’ Pick by Scholastic Instructor and Best Toy for Kids by the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association. Robot Turtles was invented by Seattle software entrepreneur Dan Shapiro who wanted to spend quality time with his then four-year-old twins and share what he feels is his single greatest superpower - the skill of programming. I received a copy  of Robot Turtles over the summer and it was a delight. Since we’re all celebrating Hour of Code (and we’re all shopping for presents), I thought some of you might want to know about it. A good game for young classrooms too. My Amazon Affiliate Link: Robot Turtles Game Or, you can go to their website to learn more: http://www.thinkfun.com/robotturtles/ The post Coding for Kids: Robot Turtles Boardgame appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

This Ted-ED video uses Van Gogh’s painting "Starry Night" to explain turbulence. Remember that there are lesson plans around these and you can customize lessons for your students if you are using the flipped classroom or in-flipped methods of teaching. Level up a little bit every day. I challenge you to head over to Ted-Ed and find at least one video you can use with your students. You might be surprised! There are some new anatomy lessons on the liver and lungs and so many other concepts. If you don’t know where to start, visit the Frequently Asked Questions about Creating a Lesson on TED-ED. The post The Unexpected Math of Turbulence via Van Gogh [Video] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

The strength of a nation lies in the homes of its people. Abraham Lincoln Springs in the Valley (Harper Collins Publishing, 2010), Such truth. We need to reinforce and help our homes be strong. We must partner with parents to raise up a generation of well educated, well rounded, hard working people. Priorities matter. It isn’t always about having everything but instead, helping students learn to overcome anything. Times are not easy and homes are more important than ever. I’m a fan of parents. Good parents are heroes as are good teachers. When we partner together, great things happen. Teaching isn’t easy. Neither is parenting. As parents and teachers learn to appreciate one another, we build a connection that helps our children succeed. The post Abraham Lincoln - Homes [Quote] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

200+ Free Educational Resources for Kids: Video Lessons, Apps, Books Websites & More Open Culture 2014 If you haven’t added Open Culture to your RSS reader, you should. This list of 200+ Free educational resources is just one reason why. They catalog so many of the open educational resources including: Free Language Lessons Free Textbooks Free eBooks Free Audiobooks Free Courses (over 1000) Free MOOCs Free Movies (including silent film, animation, Hitchcock, John Wayne and more) And so much more. Of course nothing is totally free and curating will take your time. But for those of us working hard to stretch our dollars, these resources can be assembled to create a world class curriculum in many subjects. You might just be surprised. With sites like CK12, ed.Ted.com you can bring the world to your students and they can publish right back. Remember. Don’t be overwhelmed. Innovate like a turtle! Plod ahead a little bit every day! You can do this! The post 200+ Free Educational Resources for Kids: Video Lessons, Apps, Books Websites & More [Link] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Book Review: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller (Thomas Nelson, 2009) So, what if you could edit your life — what role would you give yourself? In this book review of a A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: How I Learned to Live a Better Story I share why this book is epic and unsettling. It is also one of my best reads of 2014. When Michael Hyatt said  A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: How I Learned to Live a Better Story was one of his favorite books of all time, it sounded odd. Written by the same author of Blue Like Jazz, this book challenges you to look at your life and edit it. In my opinion, it is a must read. I STARTED THINKING differently about life when I met a couple of filmmakers who wanted to make a movie about a memoir I’d written. I wrote a memoir several years ago that sold a lot of copies. I got a big head about it for a while and thought I was an amazing writer or something, but I’ve written books since that haven’t sold, so I’m insecure again and things are back to normal.Donald MillerA Million Miles in a Thousand Years, loc 200 It makes sense. I remember reading some research in the early days of Second Life. (wish I could find it.)  They had found that when they took troubled girls in a program in Florida into Second Life to play out what was happening to them in real life that the girls would make changes. Why? Because they were able to see themselves in third person. Maybe we should be doing that too. Interestingly Donald Miller, the author, author takes the elements of story — specifically the need for conflict and the need for the central character to overcome that conflict — the need for a protagonist and other story elements- and encourages us to apply these to life. The thing is - we remember the big days of our lives. Those with monumental events. Those with story. When Your Life Has Story Like the day last year I sat and listened to my daughter give her valedictory speech. I didn’t cry because her speech was epic. I cried because of the great story her life told that got her to that moment. If Steve was right about a good story being a condensed version of life—that is, if story is just life without the meaningless scenes—I wondered if life could be lived more like a good story in the first place. I wondered whether a person could plan a story for his life and live it intentionally.Donald MillerA Million Miles in a Thousand Years, loc 530 She overcame the taunts of classmates who told her not to do so well on tests as she was making them look bad. Those who tried to get answers to homework with promises of her being included in events on weekends. She overcame and succeeded. Great story. What Role Should You Play Today? But A Million Miles in a Thousand Years doesn’t have us focusing on our past. It centrally nails us to today. If you look at your life right now. If you look at the conflict, the characters, and the great thing(s) you want to attain. What role should you play? For me, it is a hard role. I’ve gained fifty pounds in the past 2 years after coming through a very difficult situation that almost caused me to withdraw from social media. I thought about quitting teaching and living life as a hermit. I’d be happy tending a garden, fishing, and writing the next Walden. I really would. My uncle told a good story with his life, but I think there was such a sadness at his funeral because his story wasn’t finished. If you aren’t telling a good story, nobody thinks you died too soon; they just think you died. But my uncle died too soon.Donald MillerA Million Miles in a Thousand Years, loc 518 But being a hermit standing on a pillar isn’t my story. Every single kid should have one great teacher and I want to be at least one of them. I want to be that pivot point that helps kids find themselves and their passion. I’ve got down the role of teacher and want to play it as long as I can. Every time I put my head on my desk and wonder how I’m going to make it, I feel the vibrations of tens of thousands of heads on desks of teachers just like me and I know how they feel. My sister says that these experiences of the tough side of teaching aren’t wasted if I can help others through them. So sometimes the road I travel as a teacher is dark and hard and full of slimy gooey monsters who threaten to steal my joy and life’s purpose. But as I kill the monsters, I can help other teachers kill their own. I can shine a light upon the heroes among us. Teachers are epic. I love them with a deep love. Telling their story is part of telling my own. I was watching the movie Star Wars recently and wondered what made that movie so good. Of course, there are a thousand reasons. But I also noticed that if I paused the DVD on any frame, I could point toward any major character and say exactly what that person wanted. No character had a vague ambition. It made me wonder if the reasons our lives seem so muddled is because we keep walking into scenes in which we, along with the people around us, have no clear idea what we want.Donald MillerA Million Miles in a Thousand Years, loc 1258 But I’m afraid now because my story includes sweat. It includes some more running if I can get my knee to cooperate. Whatever it is, it is going to include not eating the Italian Cream Cake that my son won at the Fall Festival Last night. I may have to shun the ham and mashed potato casserole the lunchroom is famous for and eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich instead. If I’m Going to Edit My Life Because if I’m going to edit my life - I’m going to have to lose this weight. I’m going to have to join my son who has already lost 18 pounds as he loses another 15 or so and I am going to have to become healthy. If I’m going to edit my life. Somehow we realize that great stories are told in conflict, but we are unwilling to embrace the potential greatness of the story we are actually in. We think God is unjust, rather than a master storyteller.Donald MillerA Million Miles in a Thousand Years, p 100 If I’m going to edit my life, I’m going to have to not only write this blog and tweet and these other things. But I’m going to have to make time to write the books that are on my heart. I’m going to have to overcome my fears of self publishing or my self-doubt that people may not want to read it. I see where I want to go with these books but I have to go there. Overcoming Conflict Gives You Purpose I remember being a sixth grader who was bullied beyond belief. I cried every single day for four years - from halfway through fifth through halfway through ninth grade. It was hard. I was one of those who ran for every election and never won one I couldn’t even get elected to carry the banner for the Homecoming parade. What I’m saying is I think life is staggering and we’re just used to it. We all are like spoiled children no longer impressed with the gifts we’re given - it’s just another sunset, just another rainstorm moving in over the mountain, just another child being born, just another funeral.Donald MillerA Million Miles in a Thousand Years, loc 719 I remember it was in sixth or seventh grade and Mom and I were driving in the car to Albany to shop. I had my shoes off with my argyle sock clad feet on the dashboard. I told her that I knew deep down I was called be a leader but that no one would let me lead. That I had something to say and no one would let me speak. Was I going to have to live my whole life alone when I had these things inside me that had to come out? I felt like I was going to explode. I had stuff to share and do. Things needed to be done. And I was invisible. Overcoming Conflict Writes a Great Story So, Mom bought me a book. It was my Granddaddy Martin’s favorite book after the Bible. How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. She  told me to read it until it made a difference.  I remember keeping the book in the bathroom and reading it while I took the long hot baths that have marked the end of my day since I was in the second grade. I read it. I read it. I reread it. By ninth grade I understood that thinking of others first was the key. Of course, we all star at the center of our own play - as evidenced by my introspective book review here — but as you look at your goals, looking at others first will help you shape your own goals to be a more helpful person. Genuinely help others because you want to and in the end, you help yourself. You reap what you sow. If the point of life is the same as the point of a story, the point of life is a character transformation.Donald MillerA Million Miles in a Thousand Years, loc 821 I stopped talking about what I wanted and started looking at what others wanted. For for my next election I asked "What do ninth graders want?" In my generation we wanted to hang out - boys and girls. Lights off and dance. Not this dirty dancing stuff they do today but in our day our music was considered pretty raunchy too. Careless Whispers and rock stars who dressed like zombies, wore one glove and grabbed their crotch. Naughty stuff, mind you. So, I ran on a platform of more dances. That election and every election after it, I was blessed to be voted the winner. Even through college and beyond. Not because of me but because I learned to think of others. Transformed character through overcoming conflict. Story. Overcoming Hard Things Makes Good Stories, Good Stories Make a Great Life And that story is pretty cool. It is one I could tell my children and they can understand. I always tell my kids — "Don’t you know we always have to start off with nothing and earn it. That is who we are." My Recommendation I highly recommend this book. While there are some religious overtones, I would recommend it to anyone. There’s great clarity that comes from looking at your life in this way. And that clarity, like this book, is a gift. Part of me wonders if our stories aren’t being stolen by the easy life.Donald MillerA Million Miles in a Thousand Years, loc 1948 Awesome book. Great read. I’ve already given away two copies. It is that good. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years is one of my best reads of 2014. The post Book Review: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years [Book] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

YouScience is an online research-based program to help an individual understand their personal aptitudes and where they overlap with interests.  The College Success Profile generated by the YouScience program works to tackle these common problems: Why should students go to college knowing so little about their talents? Why do we spend so much money to go into one major without doing any real research on a student’s likes, dislikes, and talents first? Why do we wait until we’re older to find out what we really love? If someone wants to change careers, how can they save time and make sure they will do something they enjoy and can be good at doing? Do Aptitudes Change Over Time? According to  co-founder Betsy Wills and the experts at YouScience, at around age 16, our aptitudes are somewhat set (particularly over the next 10 years - they recommend retesting at that time).  What will change, of course, is our interests. They have taken current research and condensed it down into a series of tests to determine your aptitude. Additionally, they survey your interests and help you find their overlap. What I also love is that you’re also tested on how you interact with others (think something similar to Myers-Briggs). The result of the YouScience testing (which takes a little over 2 hours) is a 50 page profile about you. YouScience is a program to help you learn more about yourself. Our seniors here at Westwood are participating in the program this week. We’re so excited! While our students are taking the test, I’m also taking it and my college aged children will be taking it as well. Betsy says that many adults looking to change careers also use their comprehensive system. I’ll be sharing more about my own results and that of my students in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, I thought you might want to tune in as I spent 20 minutes interviewing Betsy. I did this on YouTube so we can see Betsy’s screen for ourselves. You’ll see some testing information and some results. Why We’re Using YouScience at Westwood: To Help Students Study Themselves I’m excited, most of all, to help my students (and children) make educated choices about their future. We spend so much time studying subjects, but sometimes the most important subject students should study is themselves! My school is part of a market research pilot program with YouScience. I am also covering this program on my blog and Twitter as part of our participation agreement. The post YouScience: The Science of Talent, Interests, and Career [Video] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Take several notes and make a table of contents note that links to them all. This is a fast way to organize notebooks, projects, and topics. For example, when you scan your student rubrics or work samples into Evernote, it is best save them as individual notes. This way you can share the note with an individual student or parent if they have questions. I’ve found that you can access it faster as well. But what if you want a quick index of all of the rubrics from one assignment? In today’s 2 minute tip, you’ll learn to make a table of contents notecard with a click. Other Uses of a Table of Contents Notecard Create an index of notes on a common topic (used with a tag) - this could be a person, a topic, or a course. Create an index of your journal entries for a particular year so you can quickly go back to a certain date Create an index of your blog posts or other things you’ve sent to Evernote via ifttt.com Evernote is a versatile notebook service and one of three I highlight in Reinventing Writing. Of the nine ways writing has been reinvented, the electronic notebook is one of the most important for students and teachers. Want to know more? If you want to know more about digital notetaking, you might also want to see: Notetaking Skills for 21st Century Students,  PREPS: 5 Steps for Notetaking Success or buy my book Reinventing Writing Speak Out: What is your favorite Evernote tip? What would you like to learn in the next 2 minute tip? You can leave a comment by clicking here. The post How to Make a Table of Contents in Evernote [Video] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Dr. Craig Union talks with Vicki about using Nooks with primary students to engage students in reading. His research found that students can be motivated by using technology to read and raise reading scores. Listen to Dr. Craig Union Add @craigunion31 to your PLN @craigunion31 Dr. Craig Union Listen to Dr. Union Dr. Craig Union - Show #80 - Can Ipads, Nooks and Kindles Motivate Students to Read More? Dr. Craig Union researched how e-readers can be used with primary students to raise their reading scores. He found students were motivated to read outside of the classroom and to use Nooks at home and at school. At the end of the school year, these students who had been the lowest performing third grade students raised end of year reading scores above other end of year third grade students at that school. Listen now to find out how Dr. Union implemented the Nooks to raise reading scores and engage primary students in reading now. Listen to Dr. Union Every Classroom Matters is a bi-weekly Radio Show by Vicki Davis on BAM Radio network with best practices for busy teachers. Subscribe. Show notes prepared by Lisa Durff, Production Coordinator for Every Classroom Matters. Need help listening to the show? If you’re clicking "Play" on the BAM Radio Site, this often works best in Internet explorer. Or subscribe in a podcatcher. If you need help, use this tutorial. The post Can Ipads, Nooks and Kindles Motivate Students to Read More? appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Vinnie Vrotny talks with Vicki Davis about teaching STEAM to his students. He uses a makerspace and Mindcraft. Listen now to find out more about using these with students. Listen to Vinnie Vrotny Add @vvrotny to your PLN @vvrotny Multi-faceted Refractions Vinnie Vrotny - Show #62 - Teaching Girls STEAM in Middle School Vinnie is the Director of Academic Technology at Quest Academy in Illinois. He teaches STEAM courses to girls at a private school. He transformed the computer lab into a makerspace and redesigned the middle school curriculum to include the STEAM courses he now teaches. He has students designing projects using tools in the makerspace. He also uses Mindcraft in his curriculum as both an enrichment activity and as project assessment during the school day. Listen now to find out Vinnie’s current projects with students. Listen to Vinnie Vrotny Every Classroom Matters is a bi-weekly Radio Show by Vicki Davis on BAM Radio network with best practices for busy teachers.  Subscribe. Show notes prepared by Lisa Durff, Production Coordinator for Every Classroom Matters. Need help listening to the show? If you’re clicking "Play" on the BAM Radio Site, this often works best in Internet Explorer. Or subscribe in a podcatcher. If you need help, use this tutorial. The post Teaching Girls STEAM in Middle School appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Tutorial: How to Add Channel Art on YouTube YouTube has 1 billion viewers a month who view more than 6 billion hours of video a month. With YouTube available on more devices and televisions than ever, subscriptions are growing three times faster than ever. Schools, businesses and individuals are creating their own channels. In today’s episode, I teach you how to customize your own YouTube channel art using Canva. If you want information on how to use Canva, I suggest viewing their tutorials to learn how. (Canva has a new design school that rocks.) Disclosure: I have written lesson plans for Canva’s design school website, however they have not sponsored this post. The post How to Add Channel Art on YouTube [Video] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Two educators in California, Maggie Lauder and Joe Kim, talk about the 4 Liters Challenge Project and learning about water poverty with students. Viewing water poverty as a personal issue and relating this to human rights helps to engage students in the project. Maggie Lauder & Joe Kim talk about the 4 liters challenge Add @DigDeepH2O to your PLN @DigDeepH2O 4Liters Challenge Maggie Lauder & Joe Kim - Show #64 - The Four Liter Challenge: Teaching Students About Water Poverty Maggie Lauder helped to write the curriculum guide for The Four Liters Challenge. Both Maggie and Joe Kim have tested this challenge in their classrooms in California. The water poverty challenge is based upon the See, Judge, Act model, which is a curricular model used in the Catholic church, which helps open students eyes to water poverty for those used to easy access to clean water. This challenge helps students act in response to what they have learned. Listen now to learn more about this cross-curricular challenge that anyone can join. Maggie Lauder & Joe Kim talk about the 4 liters challenge Every Classroom Matters is a bi-weekly Radio Show by Vicki Davis on BAM Radio network with best practices for busy teachers. Subscribe. Show notes prepared by Lisa Durff, Production Coordinator for Every Classroom Matters. Need help listening to the show? If you need help, use this tutorial. The post The Four Liters Challenge: Teaching Students About Water Poverty appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Tutorial: How to Create Custom Thumbnails for YouTube Videos We’ve already learned how to create a custom header for our YouTube channel, now let’s learn how to create custom thumbnails. Why is this important? If you share on YouTube, the thumbnail is important. If someone is looking at your channel on their mobile, all they may see is the thumbnail. You can customize these in Canva. Below I share some sample thumbnails and 10 tips to make great thumbnails. Technology Fear Factor in education is the most popular video I’ve ever created amassing tens of thousands of views this year! In this thumbnail, I used a custom image to invoke fear. (Click the picture above if you want to watch it.) 10 Top Tips for a Great YouTube Thumbnail Pick high contrast colors. It should be easy to read even if it is very small. Bright backgrounds stand out. Use text but not too much. If it is a nonfiction or how-to post, you may want to create a large text title for your post. (On a mobile phone, this may be all the person sees.) Size it correctly. I use 1280 x 720 but you can also use 1920 x 1080. These are standard sizes for thumbnails. On Canva, just click custom dimensions as I share in the video. I use a template but change the color based upon the software. Add a border. I’m playing with this one, but some experts think that adding a border makes the thumbnail jump out. Accurate. Your thumbnail must accurately share what is in the content of the video. Be honest if you want to be trusted. Be trusted or be busted. Period. Use close ups of faces. If you have faces in your video, use a close up. Some experts say the faces should be making eye contact with the viewer. Strong emotions on those faces will also intrigue possible viewers. Use branding. I’m working on this for my channel next. The little "bug" usually shows in the bottom right corner of your channel and on the thumbnail. You’ll see, however that many don’t use the bottom right hand on YouTube because sometimes YouTube covers that up with a "watch later" or the time of the video. For now, I’ve opted just to use my Twitter handle but this will likely change in the future. This is the template I used for 2 minute tip videos. I just tweak the settings each time I have a new 2 minute tip video. Create templates. I use templates for different types of videos. You can see the template for my 2 minute tips and my how-to videos. I use the same fonts on all of them. You’ll want to work to get your templates established so you can just tweak the words or graphics. A consistent look is important as it is part of your brand. Emulate the best. As you’re starting, find a couple of YouTube channel experts who you like. Note the things about their thumbnails that you like. Tweak your template until you find something you like and can repeat. Fix the older videos. I’m working through the videos on my channel to create a consistent look. With 100 videos, it will take some time, but if I want to level up it has to happen. This thumbnail is the cover for a tutorial about how to join a Twitter chat. Many educators have used this to teach how to join and participate without being overwhelmed. Disclosure: I have written lesson plans for Canva’s design school website, however they have not sponsored this post. The post How to Create Custom Thumbnails for YouTube Videos [Video] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

How to Write a Letter: Lesson Plan Canva Design School Website - Lesson Plan by Vicki Davis December 2014 This sample letter is one of two in the lesson plan. You start by having students compare the two letters. By comparing the two letters students can discuss what it means to be "professional" and which letter is a better example than that. Click this graphic to download the examples and plans. How to Write a Letter: Lesson Plan In this lesson plan, students learn: The tone and style of business letters. The format of business letters. How to create letterhead. How to proof and print their letters on personal letterhead. This lesson is a great way to incorporate social entrepreneurship (read the post I wrote on Edutopia about this). Students can write letters to real people based upon needs. For example, two of my students created letters to the mayor of Atlanta about the situation of the homeless in certain parts of Atlanta. (This says a lot since these kids live 3 1/2 hours away but take time to volunteer and work in the neighborhoods at question.) I believe that we should all be using graphics to teach. Canva is a great way to do that. Disclaimer: I was compensated to create the lesson plans for Canva’s design school, but not to write this blog post. There are many resources in the Canva design school you can use and I have six lesson plans up on the site so far: Writing Business Letters | Teaching About Fables | An Epic Event: Famous Historical or Literature Characters | Scientific Element Fanpage Designer | Historical Figure Fanpage | Literary Devices Unleashed . They are FREE to take. The post How to Write a Letter: Lesson Plan [Link] appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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