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"Face it. Like all organizations, schools get locked into routine, impeding change. But all schools need to innovate to prepare kids for a dynamic and uncertain future. The question is, "How?" The Innovation Playlist can help your school make positive, informed change. It represents a teacher-led model, based on small steps leading to big change, that draws on best practices from outstanding educators and non-profits from across the country. The Innovation Playlist consists of albums (the big goals on the left) and tracks (the small steps on the right that help you reach each big goal). Each track can be done quickly - fifteen minutes to a day or two - with minimal downside and lots of upside. The playlist process can be led by a school's principal, by faculty at the school, grade or department level, or even by a family at home. The "Mobilize Your Community" album is the ideal place to start, letting you generate enthusiasm for innovation. Then, focus on a few tracks in coming months. Start with one (e.g., Curiosity Time), find a few eager volunteers to try it (many will!), and have them share their experience with the entire faculty. Over time, encourage the early adopters to go deeper, and others to give it a try. Innovation is contagious. This "small steps leading to big change" model means you don't risk the painfully-visible failure that inevitably comes from a sweeping top-down dictum. Each teacher can innovate as much, or as little, as fits their strengths and styles. Give permission to those itching to innovate, and let them run with it. And if a teacher isn't up for this kind of innovation, that's ok, too… It can be a good thing for students to experience a range of pedagogies."

"In the age of artificial intelligence, the answer to a more optimistic future may lie in redefining work itself. WORK, as an idea, is both familiar and frustratingly abstract. We go to work, we finish our work, we work at something. It's a place, an entity, tasks to be done or output to achieve. It's how we spend our time and expend our mental and physical resources. It's something to pay the bills, or something that defines us. But what, really is work? And from a company's perspective, what is the work that needs to be done? In an age of artificial intelligence, that's not merely a philosophical question. If we can creatively answer it, we have the potential to create incredible value. And, paradoxically, these gains could come from people, not from new technology."

"We've all heard how we must practice being more human to avoid turning into robots. But how about practicing humanity to make sure we don't become monsters? Whether it's the emotional cues spinning by in a meeting headed for disarray, curiosity that could turn a business-as-usual day into an internal spark reminding you why you got into this darn job in the first place, or the art of making space for conflict resolution that's going to save us all, here are ten ways to salvage our better selves and keep us from mutating into workplace monsters."

"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."

"I can't stop thinking about Caine's Arcade. If you haven't seen it, you gotta check it out. It's a bit dated - 2012 is ancient history in the EdTech world - but to date, this YouTube video has over 8 million views. Caine's Arcade is still inspiring people everywhere. If you still haven't seen it, then let me break it down for you. Caine, a nine-year-old boy hanging out at his dad's auto parts store in a rough East LA neighborhood, had an idea to use the stuff lying around - mostly used cardboard - to create his own arcade. One particularly inspired customer stumbled upon it and…well, just go watch the video. Trust me, it's worth your time."

"If you find yourself frustrated trying to keep up with the school packets, video chats, and virtual office hours, take a deep breath and a step back. Official school activities are important, but there are plenty of everyday activities that count as learning too. These kinds of activities have their limits (kids aren't going to learn calculus from cooking dinner), but overall, you can feel good about kids furthering their learning through these at-home activities."

"Please, No More Professional Development! By Peter DeWitt on April 17, 2015 8:10 AM Today's guest blog is written by Kristine Fox (Ed.D), Senior Field Specialist/Research Associate at Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations (QISA). She is a former teacher and administrator who has passion for teacher learning and student voice. Kris works directly with teachers and leaders across the country to help all learners reach their fullest potential. Peter DeWitt recently outlined why "faculty meetings are a waste of time." Furthering on his idea, most professional development opportunities don't offer optimal learning experiences and the rare teacher is sitting in her classroom thinking "I can't wait until my district's next PD day." When I inform a fellow educator that I am a PD provider, I can read her thoughts - boring, painful, waste of time, useless, irrelevant - one would think my job is equal to going to the dentist (sorry to my dentist friends). According to the Quaglia Institute and Teacher Voice and Aspirations International Center's National Teacher Voice Report only 54% percent of teachers agree "Meaningful staff development exists in my school." I can't imagine any other profession being satisfied with that number when it comes to employee learning and growth. What sense does it make for the science teacher to spend a day learning about upcoming English assessments? Or, for the veteran teacher to learn for the hundredth time how to use conceptual conflict as a hook. Why does education insist everyone attend the same type of training regardless of specialization, experience, or need? As a nod to the upcoming political campaigns and the inevitable introduction of plans with lots of points, here is my 5 Point Plan for revamping professional development. 5 Point Plan Point I - Change the Term: Semantics Matter We cannot reclaim the term Professional Development for teachers. It has a long, baggage-laden history of conformity that does not

"Even when schools are closed, you can keep the learning going with these special cross-curricular journeys. Every day includes four separate learning experiences, each built around a thrilling, meaningful story or video. Kids can do them on their own, with their families, or with their teachers. Just find your grade level and let the learning begin! -The Editors of Scholastic Classroom Magazines."

With the emerging threat of COVID19 and the closure of schools, teachers are scrambling to move to online learning environments. This will bring with it a myriad of challenges the short time frame is not going to help the situation. While we are fortunate that there are many technological solutions for the provision of remote learning, the more significant challenges will revolve around how we interact with our learners.

"You're having one of those days when nothing seems to be going right. It seems like the world is out to get you, and now you find that you've fallen into a major emotional funk. What can you do? Resign yourself to getting crabbier and more despondent by the second -- and thus turn your bad day into a bad week? No way. Instead, watch one (or all!) of these inspiring, feel-good TED Talks - and prepare for your bad day to turn right around."

"Health education is one of the most important parts of schooling, but current techniques and curriculum tend to be a bit outdated - old books and even older information is being reiterated over and over, teaching the next generation dated science about how the body works. Even when the info was current, these old teaching methods go in one ear and out the other for many in this generation - they're immersed in technology from a very young age, often before they're old enough to speak or walk. Health apps are the best high-tech way to teach kids about their bodies and how to keep them in shape. What are the best health apps for teaching K-12 students about health?"

A recent strategy to alter the negative image that homework has built is to re-brand it as "home learning". But is this enough and if we are going to "get it right" what do we need to change besides the name?

"Today in our Inquiry we are going to look deeply at the affect some of these celebrations have on people. We would like to listen are learn about the Declaration of Human Rights. Many people in different countries and especially Australia have different beliefs about culture. Where immigrants should be allowed in to a country, whether cultures have the right to even celebrate their traditions. Lets take a look at what the Declaration of Human Rights tells us. "

"At a recent talk for special education teachers at the Los Angeles Unified School District, child development professor Maryanne Wolf urged educators to say the word dyslexia out loud. "Don't ever succumb to the idea that it's going to develop out of something, or that it's a disease," she recalled telling teachers. "Dyslexia is a different brain organization that needs different teaching methods. It is never the fault of the child, but rather the responsibility of us who teach to find methods that work for that child." Wolf, who has a dyslexic son, is on a mission to spread the idea of "cerebrodiversity," the idea that our brains are not uniform and we each learn differently. Yet when it comes to school, students with different brains can often have lives filled with frustration and anguish as they, and everyone around them, struggle to figure out what is wrong with them."

"Learn how to recognize and count with coins using the MaKey MaKey. Anyone with a MaKey MaKey can create this educational tool for kids. The software is written in Scratch, which can be modified in order to go deeper in using coins as well as Scratch programming. We hope that you have fun!"

"There's an old saying that the things that change your life are the books you read, the places you go, and the people you meet. But I'd like to add a fourth: the challenges you face (and how you face them) will always change your life. If we want our students to respond to challenges with creativity and inventiveness, we must create the conditions in which innovation is not only possible but encouraged. You don't help students learn to invent by giving worksheets or cookie-cutter assignments. In fact, these one-size-fits-all approaches may actually take up the time that could be used for such creativity. Get the best of Edutopia in your inbox each week. According to the Torrance Test-which measures CQ, or creativity quotient-the United States has been declining in creativity since 1990. There has to be a reason. Perhaps it is because we focus on students' weaknesses instead of their strengths. In many schools, we'll put a math genius who struggles with grammar into extra English classes. Should we not give this math genius access to college-level advanced math work, and figure out the basic English requirements he or she needs for a basic understanding of grammar? Why do we think that all students should be good at everything? We can either be average at everything or exceptional at something. With this in mind, here are some things we need to do to encourage student inventors as we nurture student passions, interests, and strengths."

"Have you ever sat down to take a math test and immediately felt your heart beat faster and your palms start to sweat? This is called math anxiety, and if it happens to you, you're not alone: Researchers think about 20 percent of the population suffers from it. So what's going on? And can it be fixed? Orly Rubinsten explores the current research and suggests ways to increase math performance."

"Learning about basic electronics and creating your own projects is a lot easier than you may think.  In this tutorial, we're going to give you a brief overview of common electronic components and explain what their functions are.  You will then learn about schematic diagrams and how they are used to design and build circuits.  And finally, you will put this information to use by creating your first basic circuit."

"You just cannot ignore the fact that when you think about searching online for your assignments and projects, the first name that comes to your mind is Google. However, when it comes to academic research, Google search engine does not serve the purpose as it does in most cases. Its search results are not perfect some times. This doesn't mean that it is the end of the world for students trying to collect academic data online. Apart from Google, there are a number of search engines that are especially designed for the purpose of academic research. They can help you get your hands on relevant information without going through irrelevant or low-quality pages. Given below is a list of some of the best academic search engines that will help you get the research material you want quickly and easily, and without compromising on quality."

"We recently sent the call out on our Teacher HELPLINE! for teachers to tell us the best websites for teaching math. And wow, did you all come through! We've gathered all the links and a short description of each math website. The list encompasses grades K-12 and is chock-full of resources, games, freebies, and innovative programs. Not to alarm you, but, we think you're going to want to bookmark it. STAT! Without further ado, here it is:"