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"Before we play phonics games, there is always a direct teaching lesson where I explain the phonics rules and sounds and some manipulation of the words as well. Often, I will use letter tiles to build the words and then change out the pattern for a new pattern. I have my students read both real and nonsense words with the pattern I have taught."

At first glance, I like this a lot. It combines existing social spaces and incorporates or provides the opportunity to fracture them into learning spaces as well. I've heard folks ask before if this is even where our students want us to be. good question. I think the tool, whatever it is, will need to allow for layers or (ahem) circles so that we can organize the input and output cleanly and easily. I still lik edmodo in this type of space as THE go-to tool because of the ability to work with kids and teachers P-12.

I am going to be trying this tool out soon. I know some of my colleagues will be excited about this. I especially like that the designers built it on top of HTML5 which in the long(er) run it will make it a viable tool to train folks on how to use because it will be relevant. It also plays nicely with vis.io which is a plus, too.

"The 3 Rs of Global Collaboration:: Receive, Read, Respond" #ISTE2014 #istewiki #dmhspeeps - Ms. Stearns (@Miss_Stearns) June 29, 2014 How do u resize videos? #istewiki - Daphne Crenshaw (@DaphneCrenshaw) June 29, 2014 #iste2014 #istewiki I had no idea there was such a thing as wikispaces classroom now. Allows teachers to monitor what students are doing. - David Karnoscak (@dkarnoscak) June 29, 2014 Is there a maximum number of students a teacher can have join a wiki? I teach K-5 and have 32 classes #istewiki - Cindy Herren (@cindyherren) June 29, 2014

"The 3 Rs of Global Collaboration:: Receive, Read, Respond" #ISTE2014 #istewiki #dmhspeeps - Ms. Stearns (@Miss_Stearns) June 29, 2014 How do u resize videos? #istewiki - Daphne Crenshaw (@DaphneCrenshaw) June 29, 2014 #iste2014 #istewiki I had no idea there was such a thing as wikispaces classroom now. Allows teachers to monitor what students are doing. - David Karnoscak (@dkarnoscak) June 29, 2014 Is there a maximum number of students a teacher can have join a wiki? I teach K-5 and have 32 classes #istewiki - Cindy Herren (@cindyherren) June 29, 2014

"15 Habits That Will Totally Transform Your Productivity 1/16 From decluttering your desk to letting yourself complain, these 15 easy behavior changes can change how much you accomplish each day. BY STEPHANIE VOZZA6 MINUTE READ Editor's Note: This article is one of the top 10 Leadership stories of 2015. See the full list here. People who manage to get a lot accomplished each day aren't superhuman; they've just mastered a few simple habits. Some may be easy to guess: Keep your desk organized and aim for around eight hours of sleep a night. But others, like taking a mid-day nap or complaining, might surprise you. Here are 15 easy ways to make every day more productive: 1. DECLUTTER YOUR DESK. MESSY WORK SPACE: Creativity may arise from chaos, but a litter-strewn office probably isn't helping you get stuff done. "Attention is programmed to pick up what's novel," says Josh Davis, director of research at the NeuroLeadership Institute and author of Two Awesome Hours. Visible files remind you of unfinished tasks. An unread book is temptation for procrastination. Even if you don't think you're noticing the disorder, it hurts your ability to focus. TIDY WORKSPACE: People with neat offices are more persistent and less frustrated and weary, according to a recent study in Harvard Business Review, which found that a clean desk helps you stick with a task more than one and a half times longer. "While it can be comforting to relax in your mess, a disorganized environment can be a real obstacle," says Grace Chae, a professor at Fox School of Business at Temple University and coauthor of the study. 2. BE PART OF THE 20%. No matter how crazy your days get, make sure you carve out and ruthlessly protect just 90 minutes-20% of an eight-hour day-for the most important tasks. "Even if you squander the remaining 80% of the day, you can still make great progress if you have spent 90 minutes on your goals or priorities," says Charlotte, North Carol

"It is amazing how much you can accomplish in a short time when you are focused and uninterrupted. In just 20 minutes, I was able to write an entire page of my thesis or review a whole journal article - tasks that would have taken me an hour or longer before. Even if you have the luxury of long stretches of time, I encourage you to try "writing sprints" of 10-30 minutes each. Focus on putting your ideas on paper, and do not worry about making mistakes. Some students find it helpful to do their writing sprints first thing in the morning, before they get interrupted or need to start putting out fires. Make sure your phone and email are turned off, so you can put your attention fully on writing for just 10-30 minutes."

""It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter. Someone he outranked in privilege, power and the capacity to fight back. It kind of broke my heart when I saw it. I still can't get it out of my head because it wasn't in a movie. It was real life." Streep was referring to Trump's remarks during the campaign, when he appeared to mock New York Times reporter Serge F. Kovaleski, who has arthrogryposis, which visibly limits the functioning of his joints. "And this instinct to humiliate, when it's modeled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody's life, because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing," the actress said."

"I am asked to cast a vote on Dec. 19 for someone who shows daily he is not qualified for the office."

A couple of quick takeaways for me (Michael Wacker) are that it's nice to see professional development called out as something we need, but we really have to get away form the paradigm of thinking it's something we do "to" teachers or is done "to" us.  The other takeaway I have after reading this is around a question I've asked before. If we're truly "blending" our teaching and environment, what does the space look like? How can we professionally develop as teachers to be better prepared to adapt and modify our existing learning spaces to better meet the needs of a flexible, student centric, tech infused learning environment? If shifting the ENTIRE teaching model paradigm upside down is NOT an option, what is? Is this something that needs to be built, modeled, and then iterated? I culled some nuggets from the reading.

I could disagree more with this statement! Schools have nothing to do with it - people do - some of us are called teachers, some are called relatives; some we meet F2F, some we only meet in virtual spaces.

One way I help motivate Edus in my tech PD! #21stedchat pic.twitter.com/rhhiGbHnAY - Rachelle Wooten (@rwootenits) August 11, 2014 http://twitter.com/rwootenits/status/498626514582528001