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"First, let me thank you for entrusting me with teaching your children, honoring the amazing individuals they are, and helping them discover the confident and empowered young people they can be. Providing a rich and engaging environment for your children to learn in is my utmost concern, but Iately I have had to acknowledge that the young people I see every day do much of the learning that is important to them when they leave the parking lot and head home from school. Thus, I am writing to solicit your help."

"Creating is important. In the West, traditional education has concentrated mainly on our heads, on filling them with knowledge. Little time and effort has been put into teaching students to be creative, to think widely (or often, deeply for that matter). In the past few decades, as our societies have advanced technologically, we have somehow arrived at the point where an education that places at least some emphasis on making actual real things with our hands and our minds is seen as second class, as "vocational." This is a mistake."

"Back in October, we published an article about the importance of holistic teaching. When students are stressed, their capacity for learning is drastically reduced. In psychology, Maslow's hierarchy of needs explains in part why anxious and depressed students are much more likely to fail. Even if the situation is not catastrophic, a student's mind and body "feel" that the situation is very serious. All their brainpower is fixated on dealing with the fight or flight response in the body, plus the repetitive thought patterns that affect daily activities like eating, sleeping, and relationships."

"In our latest issue of our iPad magazine, we talk about the importance and benefits of teaching kids how to code. This lively video by Stephen Howell in the Dublin Interaction Design Association (IxDA) conference tells us all about how he developed a toolkit 'Kinect2Scratch' that teaches kids programming by using Scratch and the Kinect."

"There are a number of apps that are being released that give us direct and instant access to real time data to events and happenings around the world. These apps allow the students in the classroom to have the same data and information that authorities, scientists and researcher have. This is important form the students point of view as it makes the learning more real."

"Looking for a GREAT presentation app for your iPad? Check out Haiku Deck. It's a great way to create a quick presentation using the IPad! I'm already loving how easy it is to use. I love that you can import a pic or snap one right around you, and add it right to your slides. It speaks to the visual learner inside me. Here are a few ideas of using Haiku Deck in education…"

"Welcome back to iPad Summer Camp. Whether your summer is relaxing and filled with free time or packed with busy things (like me - working on a master's degree!), it's important to take some time to play with some of the technology that you might be using next year. If you haven't been following along, check out the introductory post and the first project. Otherwise, onwards to collaborative writing!"

"This infographic flyer was created to put important digital footprint information in one place in a graphically pleasing format. Take a look and let me know what you think. "

"Here are some interesting graphics I came across in fortheteachersblog and thought you might want to have a look. These visual graphics feature a set of useful pieces of advice to parents on how to help their kids with Math, reading and spelling. I invite you to explore them and share with your colleagues. The graphics are also available for free download in PDF format in case you want to print them out and use them in your class. Make sure you give credit to the owner of these visuals anytime you use them."

"You know that teaching involves more than the dispensing of facts. It is more important than ever that teachers help students learn HOW to learn. Skills that prepare students for 21st century careers involve more than memorization; critical thinking, collaboration and problem solving are key. The way to help students gain those skills is by creating lessons that let students learn actively in the classroom."

"Upon posting about some of the best reading apps for iPad we got an email from Onlinecolleges with a detailed list of another set of reading apps but this time for students with disabilities. This list contains 50 reading disability apps but we have handpicked only the ones we think are really important for you to know about."

"What would happen if the roles were flipped and students asked the questions?"

"After visiting dozens of makerspaces in preparation for our design, and now a year into our newly-built makerspace, I can offer the following recommendations to those beginning design for new builds. Not just the equipment and materials, but the architectural design. Some elements that we fought for turned out hugely important, and we found that there were some elements we missed."

"Popular mobile devices may come and go, but the iPad has remained a hit in the K-12 classroom. But even though they're in schools, our work with teachers has led us to understand that while many of them would like to use iPads meaningfully in their classrooms, they can't because of time, access, and training. So for the past year and a half, we've both been working with teachers and university students integrating iPad technology into the classroom in a controlled way. While doing this, we came across several outcomes that made us question and dig deeper into what the research actually says about using them in the classroom. Do students and younger teachers use them more effectively? Do they work better for some student populations? It's probably not giving much away to say that the most important learning outcome we found was that experience is the greatest teacher."

"The educational acronyms of the 21st century look a bit different from those of previous generations. The "Three R's" (which, confusingly enough, weren't even R's to begin with) have since largely been replaced by STEM, and parents of the newest generation are doing everything they can to better prepare their progeny for success in an increasingly digitized world. Updated on 04-07-2016 by Lulu Chang: Cubetto finishes Kickstarter campaign as the most funded ed-tech project to date. Key to that success appears to be an early start - an extremely early start - when it comes to learning important skills like computer programming and other technical talents. Here to help is Cubetto, and adorable little wooden robot that is specifically designed for pre-literate children ages 3 and older that teaches the basics of computer programming and STEM, sans screen. "

I want my students to be sceptics. I believe that in the present age scepticism is more important than ever. Easy access to information, ease of publishing, scams and confidence tricksters combine to create a climate where blind trust is dangerous for our security, our finances and our knowledge bases. For students of all ages a healthy dose of scepticism is much needed not just so they may reveal falsehoods but to allow them to discover new truths.

"If you're thinking about starting a Makerspace in your school, one thing you might want to consider is how to make sure kids are digging deep in their learning.  Questions to ask include: How can we tie the maker mindset into existing curriculum? How might we ensure that our students are going deep with their creativity, problem solving, and reflection? What learning experiences and opportunities do our students need? These questions are way more important than, "What stuff do I buy?""

"One of the most important roles of a classroom teacher is that of classroom manager. Learning cannot take place in a poorly managed classroom. Conversely, the best classrooms provide environments where teaching and learning can flourish. Follow these tips and you'll improve your classroom management skills immediately."

"If you've looked into 3D printing, you know there are a lot of options - some good and some not so much. Since the technology is just beginning to enter classrooms and is new for most schools, choosing a good partner and printer is important when diving head first into this new world. There are plenty of schools which have experienced problems from purchasing machines that are no longer serviced or weren't made well, and avoiding these missteps can save everybody a lot of time, money and headache."