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"We all have them, some good and some bad. We pick them up from friends, family, and even strangers. But we may not recall who we picked them up from or when they began. Because we've practiced them over and over, these seemingly thoughtless repeated habits or behaviors, the pathways in our brain have become so broad, fast, and efficient in carrying them out that we do them automatically without even thinking. Yet these unconscious habits and behaviors add structure and order to our lives and help us to make sense of the world we live in. Our classrooms are full of them. We teachers are pros when it comes to employing and modeling good habits and routines that enable us to manage and carry out the many tasks and demands of teaching. And when it comes to teaching mathematics, we model and teach our students how to carry out procedures and algorithms flawlessly. But why is it that these same students often struggle when confronted with a problem to which the immediate answer is unknown?"

"Imagine if we taught pilots to fly without ever letting them in a cockpit. Or gave them the keys to a commercial airplane without the required hours-or years-of hands on training and practice. Sure, we'd show them plenty of PowerPoint presentations and make them sit through a few seminars on the theory and physics of flight, but then we'd slap on a graduation cap and let them take off into the big blue sky. Not only would it likely be ineffective, it would be borderline criminal. Yet when it comes to professional development for classroom teachers, that's almost exactly what we do. Most professional development opportunities for educators are still lecture style - telling, showing, and explaining how something can be done. And when the 'learning' is finished, we push teachers onto the runway with a cabin full of students and wish them luck. Predictably, many crash and burn."

"Sometimes quotations can really sum up what we're thinking or feeling in words that are much more eloquently put than what we can come up with in the moment. You can use them to help remind you that others are feeling, seeing, and doing the same thing as you are. You can use them to share a message you feel strongly about. Or, you can use them to keep yourself inspired and energized (which is as necessary as coffee for most teachers!) Hang them in your classroom, keep them as a background on your phone, iPad, or laptop, or leave them on a sticky note in strategic places. Here are five teaching quotations to keep you inspired."

"I absolutely love all of the new robotics toys that have been coming out for elementary age learners.  I have been using them for my summer maker camp, with my gifted education classes, and for my upcoming Saturday morning program. One of my gifted girls noted, "Where do all of these robots come from?" I laughed and told her, "It's actually has become one of my passions. Collecting them has become a major hobby of mine." I usually use them for an hour per week with my two groups of gifted learners.  I am an advocate of student-centric learning and giving them choices as to which instructional activities they would like to engage. For their robotics hour each week, I am giving them the following choices with their goal of using five of the robotics to complete five of the tasks provided. My robotics-type devices include:"

"While using twitter one night, I saw a teacher using coding blocks.  Hand's on, tangible, printed blocks.  No actually technology was involved.  I loved that this was a fun and easy way to include coding for French learners.  I googled the blocks and found them.  (http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/resources/vector-scratch-blocks).  I knew that these blocks could help my students, but I needed them in French.  I asked on Twitter, on Facebook, anywhere I could.  They were nowhere to be found.  So I decided to make them and I would like to share them with you all.  You can find them here:  https://goo.gl/A1ajhN (or in the folder below). This link will take you to the blocks that I have made and other helpful documents."

"I use short, funny video clips a lot when I'm teaching ELLs, and you can read in detail about how I use them in The Best Popular Movies/TV Shows For ESL/EFL (& How To Use Them). In short, there are many ways to use them that promote speaking, listening, writing and reading (including having students describe - in writing and verbally - a chronological description of what they saw). I've posted a few of them during the first half of this year, and I thought it would be useful to readers - and to me - if I brought them together in one post."

"What if the most underrated skill in school is thinking? I know, that sounds crazy. But how often do we tell kids what they are going to learn, tell them what to make, tell them what tool to use, tell them when to finish, tell them what questions to find the answers to. What if we stopped telling them things? What if we realized that knowing everything as the "teacher" and being the "expert" in the room is overrated. Because thinking? Asking questions? Growing? Developing ideas? Creating? Solving problems by digging in and pushing through the hard stuff that lies between a problem and a solution? That's learning."

"You've seen them appear in some of our earlier posts on freebies. But today we decided to put all the eBooks together (and many more!) in a single, mega post for you. These will keep you busy for a really long time. Go ahead, download them! Print them if you want to, or save them on your smartphone to read them on the go. "

"This week's edition of Sunday Night Teacher focuses on motivation-specifically motivating students by helping them see the big picture. These videos are all charged with hyperbole, rhetoric, and emotion. While the tones, themes, sounds, and visuals make powerful cases for motivation, what you're motivating them for and towards is on you. Yes, ideally motivation comes from curiosity and self-awareness, not rah-rah speeches you show them from YouTube-so let's use both. Prime your inquiry-based learning unit with a video, offer then a basic model, then unleash them and watch them fly."

From FAQ: The majority of the images come from companies like the AP, Reuters and Getty Images, who license them to the Boston Globe for our use. Other photos come from public domain sources like NASA, and others from private photographers who share them with the Big Picture for one-time use. Can I buy/reprint/re-use the photos? Well, I'm not the one to ask, since the Boston globe rarely owns the rights to the images - we only license them, or share them. In most cases the owners of the photographs are listed in the image caption, and you should ask them for re-use permission. Our main sources are the Associated Press, Getty Images, and Reuters Pictures.

"So often, we make learning more complicated than it has to be. Local planning requirements are usually at fault here-plan this way and prove that you've done so here and here, fill out this and this, etc. Those legitimate concerns aside, the following series of fill-in-the-blank prompts can be used by teachers to create lessons, students to create projects-or teachers to collaborate with students to create lessons-or projects. Or, well, you get the idea. I use these sorts of stems to create "learning blends" for students-either with them, or for them. I couple these prompts with other components-technology like apps or social media channels, texts from literary classics to postmodern non-fiction, creativity, or even local matters of citizenship. Please steal them, add to them, or otherwise do with them what you will."

"Each time we post something about Facebook here we get some negative feedback from individuals claiming that Facebook is no good for students. While we do understand some of the reasons behind this argument but we are afraid we do not share the same line of reasoning. Social media websites do have some  educational potential in them and, as teachers and educators, we need to capitalize on this potential and leverage it in ways that can benefit our students learning. An elemental step in the integration of social media in your instruction is to raise students awareness about the dangers and risks involved in these platforms ; not to scare them away from them but to help them stay safe while using them."

"Coding is believed to be the 21st century literacy par excellence. Codes make up the totality of our digital world. They are a universal language that every computer speak. Teaching kids coding will not only enable them to better understand the digital world surrounding them but, more importantly, will equip them with skills integral to their overall learning. Coding is all about creativity, imagination, problem solving and strategic thinking. There is a wide variety of ways to make learning programming and coding a fun an enjoyable task for kids. One of them is through the use of engaging and interactive games. Below is a collection of some of the most popular iPad apps for helping kids learn coding through games. Check them out and share with us if you have other suggestions."

"Back in the early 1900s, John Dewey promoted the "learning by doing" approach to education, which would later become the foundation of project-based learning (PBL). This framework allows for students to use knowledge from all areas of study to complete a project or task, a process that prepares them for the challenges that they may have to overcome in a future career. Having a job may seem a lifetime away for a child. But by exposing them to different career paths, we can get them thinking about their life after high school before it's too late. As teachers, administrators, or parents, we know how important the future is for our students, and we want to give them an idea of what to expect when the next chapter of their lives begin. But how can we better prepare them for their lives after graduation?"

"I've spent much of the summer working with teachers who are eager to integrate making and writing but uncertain where to begin. This is what I tell them:  I tell them that making must elevate writing, otherwise it will merely replace it. And writing matters. I tell them that we need frameworks that help us see how making and writing can connect inside of our classrooms and workshops. Making writing looks like play, but it's purposeful. Intentional. I tell them that we need tools and strategies and protocols that inspire complex, creative, and high quality work. I tell them that for all of these reasons, planning matters. Planning really matters. So, this is where my return to blogging will begin."

"Regardless of whether you think every infant needs an iPad, I think we can all agree that technology has changed education for the better. Today's learners now enjoy easier, more efficient access to information; opportunities for extended and mobile learning; the ability to give and receive immediate feedback; and greater motivation to learn and engage. We now have programs and platforms that can transform learners into globally active citizens, opening up countless avenues for communication and impact. Thousands of educational apps have been designed to enhance interest and participation. Course management systems and learning analytics have streamlined the education process and allowed for quality online delivery. But if we had to pick the top ten, most influential ways technology has transformed education, what would the list look like? The following things have been identified by educational researchers and teachers alike as the most powerful uses of technology for learning. Take a look. 1. Critical Thinking In Meaningful Learning With Technology, David H. Jonassen and his co-authors argue that students do not learn from teachers or from technologies. Rather, students learn from thinking-thinking about what they are doing or what they did, thinking about what they believe, thinking about what others have done and believe, thinking about the thinking processes they use-just thinking and reasoning. Thinking mediates learning. Learning results from thinking. So what kinds of thinking are fostered when learning with technologies? Analogical If you distill cognitive psychology into a single principle, it would be to use analogies to convey and understand new ideas. That is, understanding a new idea is best accomplished by comparing and contrasting it to an idea that is already understood. In an analogy, the properties or attributes of one idea (the analogue) are mapped or transferred to another (the source or target). Single analogies are also known as sy

"Today we are covering iPad apps for Social Studies, we have organized them into different categories and we hope you will find them practical. Check them out below and share with us what you think of them. Enjoy"

"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."

"There is a staggering amount of free video available online that makes great fodder for teaching students, particularly in flipped classroom settings. Instead of giving students YouTube links or telling them to search for a video on a particular subject, with EDpuzzle teachers can select videos, edit them down, assign them to students, and quiz them as they watch. EDpuzzle is a very simple tool that walks teachers through the video lesson creation process, with only a few limitations. With this solution a teacher can make the most of the video assets he or she has access to, plus everything the Internet has to offer. It is also an easy enough experience that you can quickly create individualized video lessons for different students and their particular needs or areas of interest."

"Let's face it - getting kids to learn their math facts can be a challenge. But once they know them, they know them forever. The process of "doing math" becomes more efficient and less frustrating when kids know their facts. Luckily there are plenty of fun apps that can help kids become "math fact" proficient. All of these apps are FREE or were "FREE for a limited time" when I reviewed them. Check them out - they're all great!"