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This is one more reason why I am increasingly insisting that we, as educators, need to began to picture ourselves as master learners, and to project that image of ourselves to the community. If we become enthusiastic learners, then we are modeling the concept and process of life-long learning.

Ever wanted to master the keyboard shortcuts and get more productive on the web? Here is everything you need - 7 quick cheat sheets for some of the most widely used tools on the web. Download, print and stick them somewhere near your desk.

"It is Benjamin Bloom's belief that the entry point to learning is the acquisition of knowledge. He postulates that a solid foundation of terms, facts, theories, and skills is the educational base that will allow the mind to evaluate information effectively and inspire innovation. Our schools' emphasis on and devotion to standards-based instruction and high-stakes testing reflects a desire for students to become proficient at memorizing terms, and facts as well as and mastering various sets of skills. "

Iron Teacher is a contest based on fun but with serious intent; bringing together cutting edge educators with sharp ideas to infuse new life into traditional lesson design. We aim to revolutionize the way teachers look at teaching and learning through the use of innovative methods and unconventional ideas. Basic Premise: Like Iron Chef, participants are presented with key "ingredients" and required to come up with a final product that is judged on Originality, Adaptability, Student Appeal, and Ability to Meet Outcome. The Iron Teacher goal is two-fold: 1. To help teachers discover new strategies, ideas, or tools that will get their students to care, communicate and create something of value around the curriculum. 2. To help articulate the lesson design and creative brainstorming process used by master educators.

Master Podcaster Wes Fryer shares his podcasting recipes.

The keyword is infographics.  This is a round up article from the New York Times.  It will lead you to a series of resources that provide a basic understanding of the field.  Follow the work of Hans Rosling if you want to see a master at work..

"Scaffolding is a critical teaching strategy that can support students struggling with a concept, or those that have mastered it. In short, to "scaffold" something is a metaphor that describes the process of supporting students so that they can achieve learning goals in lieu of content deficiencies. Or, in short, helping students succeed."

"As students work to master the complex reading and writing standards demanded by the Common Core, Mrs. Montecuollo and Mrs. Westbrook collaborated to create writing scaffolds that address the diverse academic needs of their 9th grade students. These teachers believe that differentiation is about access points. Therefore, they used four support activities (scaffolds) to address different areas of difficulty they see their students face."

"You've just downloaded Yosemite, Apple's latest update to the Mac platform. There's a lot that's familiar, but a number of features still look, feel, and function differently. If you haven't already been using the public beta, it can be a lot to take in. Lucky for you, we've got a primer. We've selected 10 Yosemite features that will change the way you use your Mac. Some you may recognize, particularly if you've followed our previous Yosemite coverage, but now that Yosemite and iOS 8 are live for all, there are a few more features Apple's rolled out."

"When I was a kid, I wanted to be a drummer. When it came time to assign instruments in elementary school, I started on a practice drumming pad. The music teacher never let me graduate to a real drum because he knew what he was hearing on the rubber pad would be a disaster on a simple snare. But an aspiring drummer in Japan has mastered the pad - the iPad, that is. His fast-moving fingers earned him the title of "sickest drummer in metal right now" on Digg."

"As educators across the country continue to examine the best ways of teaching and learning, a new lexicon is beginning to emerge that describes one particular approach - deeper learning. The phrase implies a rich learning experience for students that allows them to really dig into a subject and understand it in a way that requires more than just memorizing facts. The elements that make up this approach are not necessarily new - great teachers have been employing these tactics for years. But now there's a movement to codify the different pieces that define the deeper learning approach, and to spread the knowledge from teacher to teacher, school to school in the form of a Deeper Learning MOOC (massive open online course), organized by a group of schools, non-profits, and sponsored by the Hewlett Foundation. So what defines deeper learning? This group has identified six competencies: mastering content, critical thinking, effective written and oral communication, collaboration, learning how to learn, and developing academic mindsets."

"Family Sharing make sharing iTunes and App Store purchases in a single household easier than ever. It also enables the new "Ask to Buy" feature, which gives kids the ability to ask for any purchase they want, and parents the ability to say yes or no, as appropriate. Family Sharing also makes it simple to set up shared calendars, shared reminders, and shared photo streams, so everyone will get to their appointments on time, remember what to buy, and enjoy magical moments as they happen. If you aren't sure where to start, we can show you not only how to set up Family Sharing but how to master all the features it offers!"

"There is one education trend that is, well, trending. It's called project-based learning (some refer to it as PBL) and it's essentially a way to organize in-classroom learning around dedicated projects that the students oversee and are responsible for completing. There are keys to mastering PBL if you're a teacher and the always great Edutopia has assembled a quick video that explains exactly what the keys are. Below is a fun little graphic we adapted for this video if watching videos isn't your thing (or you don't have the time right now)."

"July 16, 2014 While searching for some resources on a paper and writing on  the 21st century learning skills I came across this skills checklist created by the university of Toledo. This checklist is meant to help students build powerful resumes outlining all the skills they master. I spent some time going through the components of this sheet and found it really sharing with you here.  You can use this sheet with your students as an explanatory guide of some of the important skills ( I said some because some other important skills particularly those related to digital citizenship and digital literacy are missing) they need to work. Below is a round-up of the 9 most important skills which I selected from the entire list. You can acccess this list from this link. 1- Research skills Know how to find and collect relevant background information Be able to analyze data, summarize findings and write a report 2- Critical Thinking skills Be able to review different points of view or ideas and make objective judgments Investigate all the possible solutions to a problem, weighing the pros and cons 3- Organizational skills Be able to organize information, people or thins in a systematic way Be able to establish priorities and meet deadlines 4- Problem-solving skills Be able to clarify the nature of a problem Be able to evaluate alternatives, propose viable solutions and determine the outcome of the various options 5- Creative thinking skills Be able to generate new ideas, invent new things, create new images or designs Find new solutions to problems Be able to use wit and humour effectively 6- Analytical/ logical thinking skills Be able to draw specific conclusions from a set of general observations of from a set of specific facts Be able to synthesize information and ideas 7- Public speaking skills Be able to make formal presentations Present ideas, positions and problems in an interesting way 8- Oral communication skills Be able to present information and ideas clearly a

"We're all familiar with the term "muscle memory." Once you've learned to do something--serve a tennis ball, play a difficult piece of piano music, or draw a lifelike human hand--your body seems to intuitively "know" how to reproduce that action. But researchers at Johns Hopkins university have recently discovered that our ability to perform a physical athletic or creative task isn't entirely about what the body has learned to do right. Instead, we owe our success to the hundred times we've tried to master a skill and failed."