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Who am I being if my students eyes are not shining??

EY Math manipulatives

" sometimes get these secret emails or direct messages from some pretty amazing thinkers in education, talking about how they feel really constrained by the leadership in their schools. Sometimes after speaking, I get teachers in near tears thinking of "what could be" in their schools if only their administrators started reading blogs, looking at twitter; just something to push their learning. It seriously hurts to see the pain in the eyes of these teachers because they just want to do what is best for kids, yet they are feeling extremely constrained. They feel they are not in a situation where they can serve students in the way they feel would help them best in the future. The paradox that they face is that they stay and be frustrated or leave and feel they have abandoned students that need their help. This is an extremely tough situation."

"This week the Featured section of the iPad App Store is full of even more highlighted app collections than usual. One of the notable app collections that caught my eye is 'Apps for Elementary School' - as I have a daughter in 4th grade."

"Historically, student engagement has been thought of in terms of students "paying attention": raising hands, asking questions, and making eye contact. Of course, we know now that learning can benefit from learner self-direction and self-initiated transfer of thinking as much as it does simple "engagement" and participation. That being said, increasing engagement and sheer participation is not a wrong-headed pursuit in and of itself, and in pursuit of that is the following infographic from Mia MacMeekin: 27 ways to increase student engagement. 27 Ways To Increase Student Engagement In Learning"

""Hey Siri!" My husband continues to roll his eyes every time he hears me call my girl. However, I have to be honest...I haven't always used Siri. This is more of a recent habit that I have fallen into, quickly. Every day it seems like I learn something new about what Siri can do. She is one smart cookie! Have you ever thought about using Siri in the classroom? I use her occasionally on my iPhone; however, why couldn't we use her on our classroom iPads or iPods?"

"I still focus on fluency with multiplication facts in fourth grade but fluency has a completely different meaning to me now. The way I work on fluency now does not involve timed tests. It does not involve kids being anxious or feeling unsuccessful at math. Instead I focus on developing number sense which helps kids learn and remember strategies that make them fluent with their multiplication facts. To the untrained eye, it often appears as if my fourth graders have memorized their facts when they actually know their facts from memory. "

"MUSCATINE, Iowa- Legos, oobleck, and school have more in common than meets the eye at College for Kids, a two-week summer program held at Central Middle School and Jefferson Elementary. First through sixth grade students from eight different school districts participated in the program, which is organized by co-coordinators Laurie Schroeder and Troy Kulland. The program, Kulland and Schroeder said, is designed to give students hands-on learning experiences they may not have time or resources to have during the regular school year. "We fill in the gaps that a normal school year can't do, it gives them a chance to be creative, use their imaginations, think outside the box," Kulland said. Teachers love being creative in the classes as well."

"I've recently spent some time with a pair of apps-World War II Interactive and Timeline World War 2-that take the same information about the war that I pored over decades ago and present it in an eye-popping new fashion. Both apps are worthwhile downloads for history buffs, particularly students, but one of them in particular does a standout job of putting its own stamp on the story of the conflict. "

"This weekend I was excited to see that an iPad SMART Board app has been released, at the end of August. I was flipping through my iPad reader on Zite when the title: SMART Boards and the Notebook for iPad App hit my eye"

"Science apps are becoming more popular because we can use them to illustrate volatile chemical reactions, to look at molecular structures or even find constellations not visible to the human eye. These are the science apps that I have on my iPad that I use all the time - sometimes just to show off what the iPad is capable of. Have a looks to see if any of these apps fit in with what you are doing in your science classes. "

"In recent weeks I have playing with the exciting combination of Easy Portfolio and Coaches Eye inside of the PE classroom. This has enabled the easy recording and storing of video analysis activities. Check out the apps working in concert together below."

"24-year-old Lizzie Velasquez was born with an extremely rare medical condition that keeps her body from storing fats. In addition to being severely underweight, she is also blind in one eye. In 2012, online bullies had taken upon themselves to brand Lizzie the "world's ugliest woman." An eight-second clip of Lizzie was uploaded on YouTube without her knowledge, and had garnered over four-million views, with thousands of nasty comments. However, instead of letting this cruel twist of fate defeat her, Lizzie stood up for herself, and showed us what true beauty really is. Here are 21 lessons we can learn from her struggles and triumphs:"

"From a bloody battle in George RR Martin to a sensual scene from Jane Austen, Waterstones has been recreating setpieces from great literature in toy bricks to coincide with the release of The LEGO Movie. Take a child's eye view of classic books here"