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"Anxious, overconfident, curious, indifferent, angry, amused, lonely, hopeful, embarrassed, empowered, afraid, excited, diminished-teachers have seen all these emotions emerge from students as they engage with classroom content. Emotional responses to lessons often go through students' minds before they even begin to think about the material: This stuff is stupid/awesome/beyond me. I'm not comfortable with this. Finally, something I'm good at. Maybe somebody will notice I can't read. Let's see her find a mistake in that one-it's perfect. Does the teacher know I didn't study this last night? Some of us deny this reality and claim we aren't trained to guide children's emotional health. We think our purpose is to teach content and skills only, not to deal with the touchy-feely stuff. This attitude turns a blind eye to the developmental nature of the students we serve, and it runs afoul of how minds learn. Unless we're the most severe of sociopaths, we all have emotional responses that affect what we do. Adding to the messiness, our individual perspectives and experiences may put us out of sync with others' emotional states, even as the institutional nature of schools demands emotional synchronicity. The resulting miscommunication, blame, anxiety, and frustration are not the best ingredients for a good day at school. Teachers who deny the emotional elements of teaching and learning can become exhausted from ceaseless confrontations with students' emotional states, often blaming their personal stress and students' failure to learn on students' lack of motivation or maturity. They grow disconnected from students, creating an almost adversarial relationship with them: I need to get them to shape up. It's them or me. These students are hopeless; why should I bother? It's the parents who created this situation. This attitude can bleed into daily interactions with students and colleagues. It doesn't have to be this way. We can develop constructive responses to our own

"We are in an exciting time in education, where innovative topics like Design Thinking, Rapid Prototyping, Entrepreneurism, Engineering Design, High Quality Project-Based Learning, and The Future of Work are at the center of discussion. How can we give our students the chance to master content knowledge while integrating these student-centered approaches to education in the classroom? For the last five years, 3D printing has been an important part of my classroom because it encourages an innovation mindset, exposes students to elements of design thinking, and fosters self-directed learning."

"Wordplay is a never-ending source of amusement for me, with puns, spoonerisms and double entendres bringing a little extra color and life to the everyday language that we sometimes take for granted. Swedish designer Daniel Carlmatz also loves to get creative with words, but in a different way. He set himself a challenge to create a new typographic logo each day for 365 days, using a common word and adding related visual elements through symbolism, creative use of negative space, and geometry. "The inspiration for the 365 day challenge came from trying to challenge myself to look at type and design from a different perspective," Daniel told Bored Panda. "The challenge was just an outlet for my personal design thinking. And yes, I did manage to finish it without missing a day!""

The question of what learning matters most to our students is one that I return to regularly. A fascinating range of models are available each with similar elements but presented in a slightly different manner. Most could be summarised by the 'Four C's' model outlined in 'Most Likely to Succeed' by Tony Wagner and Ted Dintersmith. Critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity are vital and each plays an important role in allowing us to manage the complexity of modern day life. Beyond being relevant to success in the classroom the Four C's are the foundations of life-long learning but I question if alone they are enough. I believe we must include a fifth; compassion.

"Too many classes, all grade levels, begin the school year with getting down to academic business - starting to cover content, discussing expectations regarding academic requirements, giving tests, and other academic information provided by the teacher to the students in a mostly one-way communication.  The human or social element is often disregarded. I believe that all classes should begin with focusing on having the students make connections between themselves and the educator; and between one another.  I want students to learn about one another in a personal way.  I want to learn about my students so my instructional strategies can be more personalized and tailored to their needs and interests.  Beginning class with a focus on connections rather than content gives learners the following messages:"

"Another collection of good educational iPad apps specifically curated from iTunes App Store for high school teachers and students. These are apps to help students with chemistry learning from understanding the elements, molecules and atoms to exploring chemical reactions.They provide students  with activities, video lessons, simulated experimentations,  periodic tables and several other materials to boost their chemistry learning."

"Flash forward eight years and the classrooms look very different in my same school district. In the two years since my district began our 1:1 laptop initiative our classrooms have evolved once more. New technology, new standards, and new content. Throughout this process I have tried my best to stay on top of where education is headed and what are the emerging "next" practices. Now when I talk to teachers in my district and around the country, I try to focus on the key elements of innovative teaching. With technology, standards, and content continually changing…these "innovative commandments" give teachers a starting point regardless of their situation."

When schools communicate, and share strategies they are using to develop mindsets, dispositions and competencies with parents and when parents adopt these strategies and elements of a metalanguage for learning and thinking, our students are better able to integrate the desirable attributes. 

"Until recently, Facebook had dominated the social media landscape among America's youth - but it is no longer the most popular online platform among teens, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Today, roughly half (51%) of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 say they use Facebook, notably lower than the shares who use YouTube, Instagram or Snapchat. This shift in teens' social media use is just one example of how the technology landscape for young people has evolved since the Center's last survey of teens and technology use in 2014-2015. Most notably, smartphone ownership has become a nearly ubiquitous element of teen life: 95% of teens now report they have a smartphone or access to one. These mobile connections are in turn fueling more-persistent online activities: 45% of teens now say they are online on a near-constant basis."

"Every classroom is different-and that's good because every student and teacher is, too. But are there any common elements that most/all classrooms should share? and more specifically, in a modern classroom? Screens and data and artifical intelligence and robots and Skype and holograms? Do these belong in every classroom? What ideas, practices, strategies, patterns, and technology belong in every classroom? Can we identify the kinds of 'things' that every modern, high-performing classroom should have? In the post linked to above, we explored some of these ideas in the form of 'characteristics.' And there were more-32, in fact. This post is a bit simpler and briefer. Some of the items are better suited to specific grade levels, content areas, teaching styles-even certain times of year. Still, most can remarkably improve the learning of students and the overall climate of your classroom. So then, that's the premise: What sorts of things belong in every modern classroom?"

"he Rigor and Relevance Framework-an action ­oriented continuum that describes putting knowledge to use-gives teachers and administrators a way to develop both instruction and assessment while providing students with a way a way to project learning goals. This framework, based on traditional elements of education yet encouraging movement from acquisition of knowledge to application of knowledge, charts learning along the two dimensions of higher standards and student achievement.  Capable teacher presence and teacher­ centered instruction always belong in the foreground and always underpin lasting student learning, no matter what digital tools are in use. Grounded in rigor and relevance, instruction and learning with digital tools are limitless. This is the foundation of uncommon learning."

"All over Canada, and at many schools in North America, today is the first day of school. Doing the work that I do today, I did not realize that until I opened up Facebook this morning and was hit by a barrage of "the first day of grade _____" pictures all over my feed.  The excitement on the faces of many students was contagious, but it also seemed that some parents were pretty happy to send their kids back to school as well What I have been thinking about a lot lately is about how we maintain that "first-day" excitement in our students throughout the year? Although this is something that I do my best to support in my work, I know that this is not an easy task for educators and schools as there are so many variables in the lives of our students and ourselves that have an impact on our experience in school. My focus here is on how do we create an experience in school that is both joyous while challenging.  The reason both elements are essential is that it is easier to "challenge" our students to grow in a space where they are excited to be in the first place. If a student hates coming to school every day, it is going to be a lot tougher to push them toward growth."

"Starting to integrate technology can be intimidating.  So many choices, new ideas being shared all of the time through social media, blogs, books, Teacher Professional Development, and more. I find the best time to walk away with new ideas is right after a big event dedicated to edtech. With conference season upon us, maybe you recently attended a conference or edcamp or read something and now have a long list of new ideas which can be overwhelming. Or maybe you just are looking for something to change in your classroom or school and need some quick ideas for new, engaging elements to implement in your classroom or with your faculty even for professional development."

"I agree with Brene Brown about developing "shame resilience" and have found the usual tug of war between with teaching and mistake making diminishes when we introduce students to a mindset in which they appreciate the importance of recognizing our errors and strive for constant improvement. When I think about design thinking, I believe it could be a powerful way for students to experience their vulnerability and develop perspective taking, all the while creating real cool stuff-whether it is a piece of writing, a t-shirt, a rollercoaster, an app or, in my Early Year's classroom, a garden. They learn how to fail forward and create another prototype. This design sprint is not a destructive but constructive element because, although they spent a lot of time developing their idea, the focus shifts from the product itself to the user-who will reap the benefits of this redesign. It gets the kids to detach from what they are making to who they are making it for. This nuance has a relatively big impact on the process of improvement."

"National Literacy and Numeracy Week, this year taking place on 4-10 September, is an opportunity to focus in on key skills that are essential for life in and outside of the classroom. As these skills are being taught on a daily basis, why not use this week to add an element of discovery and enjoyment to your lessons? We've gathered a handful of resources for each section to get you started."

"Games can be a great tool for teaching students about complex topics like digital citizenship, politics and even science. With about 47 percent of kids aged 4 to 13 playing digital games every day, game-based learning is poised to further engage children in the classroom. One classroom in Tampa, Fla., has discovered that digital games can help some children with mathematics. Gregory Smith, a fifth-grade teacher in Hillsborough County, tells Education Week that after incorporating math-strategy games - think word problems with corresponding interactive elements - his students' math-skills scores went from an average of 49 percent to 83 percent. The students themselves also reported more enjoyment from math."

"In a few weeks, people around the world will celebrate Computer Science Education Week. Millions of kids and others will participate in an Hour of Code, a global call to action to spend an hour learning the basics of coding. Today, it's my privilege to announce that Microsoft has released a new Minecraft tutorial for Hour of Code, called Hero's Journey, that will be used in classrooms, at after-school programs, community centers and homes everywhere. The tutorial uses game elements loved by so many young people, and introduces a fun character called the Agent, to present computer science concepts in a fun and creative way. Learn more in a post today by Deirdre Quarnstrom, Minecraft Education general manager, and start planning your Hour of Code."

"Classroom learning as we know it is undergoing change at an unprecedented rate. Technology has made its way to the classroom, increasing the engaging and interactive elements that many students are benefitting from. Students today are already familiar with various technologies, which is why computerized tools and apps make sense in a classroom setting. One study among marketing students has shown that the introduction of technology makes 87% of students more likely to attend class and 72% of them more likely to participate. Augmented and virtual reality are seeing more prominent utilization in classroom and educational settings. The format and even the location of the learning process could be transformed through AR in the years to come. Keeping in mind that 71% of people aged 16 to 24 in the US have a smartphone, AR could be the next big thing in education. Let's explore educational uses of the AR technology in detail."

"The world has changed dramatically in the last 30 years. The rise of the internet means that much of our lives now takes place online, and the process of digitising society only seems to be accelerating. With this rapid change comes the need to know about digital citizenship - the roles, responsibilities, and skills for navigating digital life.  In this article, we explore the essential elements of digital citizenship. We look at what it is, why it's important, and what the various aspects entail. Finally, we explore how you can teach your students about digital citizenship. "