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"For a generation now creating advanced things and placed in corridors of power, LeVar Burton was a god-king: both Star Trek's Geordi La Forge, and the guy who taught us to like books on Reading Rainbow. Now, the two Burtons are fused-and it's pretty incredible."

"I've started a list of educational iPad game apps for parents. I've got a special affinity for these games as I originally started my career in technology as a first generation educational software designer. The list contains casual, fun games to use at home. They don't necessarily help you master long division or prepare for an upcoming geography test. The accent is primarily on having fun. If your child isn't going to enjoy playing then the app won't make the list. The second important criterion is that time spent playing is productive and that something of value is learned while playing the game."

"Your textbook is just another tool in your teacher's instructional kit. The problem is that for many of us it becomes a crutch when we first begin lesson planning. The textbook can be very useful for planning curriculums and lessons. It is a framework and guide that provides us a general overview of what should be covered within our classes. However, for our learners the textbook is often boring and tedious. No learner wants to spend hours sitting down reading or answering questions from a textbook for an entire year. I hope the following tips show you how to bring this tool to life for more hands-on, student-centered learning in the forthcoming year."

"The ease-of-use and engagement factor of an iPad can really liven up a lesson. Combine that with an apps' ability to simulate real-world conditions, such as chemical reactions, and you have a tool that is both safe and fun for your students. High school science teacher Kimette Witt curates this collection of her favorite chemistry, physical science, and general science iPad apps. And the best part - they are all FREE! A teacher's favorite price!"

"The following is an excerpt from the book The App Generation: How Today's Youth Navigate Identity, Intimacy, and Imagination in a Digital World by Howard Gardner and Katie Davis. Let's dive directly into the world of educational apps. Our survey suggests that the majority - one might even say, the vast majority - of educational apps encourage pursuit of the goals and means of traditional education by digital means. They constitute convenient, neat, sometimes even seductive pathways to accomplish what were already goals in an earlier era: mastering concepts, learning arithmetical operations, identifying geographical locations or historical figures or key biological or chemical or physical processes. We could dub them "digital textbooks" or "lectures" or "pre-programmed educational conversations." Decades ago, major behaviorist B. F. Skinner called for teaching machines that would automate the traditional classroom, allow students to proceed at their own rate, provide positive feedback on correct answers, and either repeat a missed item or present that item via another pathway. Those sympathetic to Skinner's brand of psychology and to its associated educational regimen would easily recognize many apps today and would likely nod in approval at their slick, seductive interfaces."

"Taking pictures on handheld devices and blasting them to everyone you know, has become the norm of today's social generation. Snaps of our pets, our dinner, and even ourselves ("selfies") can be found stored in the library of most people's iPads. With all the work that has been done on the technology end of things, to enhance the megapixels and quality of the camera, it's no wonder the App world is keeping up by enabling user's to have fun with and perfect, their digital masterpiece's. "

"Below is one such collection. It is curated by Mrs. J. Porritt from W.S. Hawrylak School. Generously included are notes for each of the tools she uses in her classroom. If you are looking for a new tool, or want to know more about an existing tool, check out her useful collection of teaching tools."

"Bookworms everywhere mourned the state of our country when Pew released a poll that found 23 percent of Americans didn't read a single book in the previous year. Things aren't looking particularly encouraging for future generations, either. Experts estimate that only 1/3 of parents regularly read to their children, even though reading plays an immense role in cognitive development. Despite these depressing statistics, there is reason to take heart. With a greater emphasis on literacy research and advocacy, teachers have more information than ever about how to best cultivate a love for literacy in the classroom. There are numerous methods, but most fall under "the three E's of literacy." "

"Students do not always have a great sense of time and many of my students over the years have miscalculated the time remaining on a particular task or assessment piece. This is a skill that they develop over time but not without some devastating consequences. These visual timers are exceptionally good for visual learners but work just as well for all the students in your class. Start to generate better time management in your class with the use of one or more of these visual timers."

"In part one of this series, I shared how I use freely available video in my reading and literacy methods course to help my preservice teachers understand close reading instruction at a level that could not be attained through reading and discussion alone. In part two, I shared my curated collection of videos for general Common Core info, as well as videos to teach the close reading, text complexity and informational texts standards. "

""A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the quality of his actions and the integrity of his intent." - General Douglas MacArthur"

"iOS 7.1 is out today and you can update your iPad by heading over to Settings -> General -> Software Update. This dot update marks the biggest and bug-fixinest improvement to iOS since the release of iOS 7 last year. The major features you'll likely notice immediately are:"

"The digital natives of today are the ones who will be pressured to take all of the present technological wildness and make it make sense for the next generation. They are the starting pitchers in the game. If we can set them up for success, that will bring us one step closer to those super-digital natives who will flip this world upside-down with what they will have to offer. The rise of the super-digital native starts with how we empower the digital natives of today."

"Because this book's main focus is on the day-to-day classroom applications of brain-based research, I will not attempt to provide you with a thorough description of the physical brain and all its functions. However, it is beneficial for teachers to have at least a general awareness of how the brain physically functions. This knowledge can help teachers understand their students' needs or reactions and may provide a physiological basis for certain instructional decisions. So, let's take a quick walk through the brain."

General ideas for teachers who just got iPads - a nice overviw.

"Financial literacy used to be a class in many schools-well, until that whole standards-based reform and "accountability" movement started turning the screws on schools. And like that, it was gone. It only takes one look at our nation's financial crisis, heaps of student loan trouble, and general credit malaise to wonder if financial literacy shouldn't be a bit higher on our priority list. An easy retort is to wonder who has the time-and where are the standards, where is the research, and who's going to see the data? But what if, rather than teaching a pure financial literacy lesson or unit, you tied it to your content area? What if it was embedded into a project-based learning unit about design or social media or the causes and effects of World War II?"

"Kids between the ages of 8 and 18 spend 11.5 hours a day using technology - whether that's computers, television, mobile phones, or video games - and usually more than one at a time. That's a big chunk of their 15 or 16 waking hours. But does that spell doom for the next generation? Not necessarily, according to Dr. Gary Small, a neuroscientist and professor at UCLA, who spoke at the Learning & the Brain Conference last week. "Young people are born into technology, and they're used to using it 24/7," Small said. "Their brains are wired to use it elegantly.""

"Reading is one of the major foundations of any student's studies. In any subject - including math - understanding how to read and being able to comprehend words on a page is a make or break in academics and in life more generally. Some kids take to reading naturally, and you'll find them with their nose in a book at any given time and nearly every time you turn around. Others don't take to it quite as naturally, though they'll eventually get into it, and others feel the same about reading as they feel about going to the dentist."