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"It's always exciting to see your hard work finally pay off. Waddington35 and his buddy tirelessly worked to build a homemade remote control airplane made out of nothing but cardboard. Finally, at the moment of truth, they threw the plane into the air and it flew! Their giddy excitement is palpable. Now this video has gone viral with over 630,000 views!"

"Everything we've been told about food and exercise for the past 30 years is dead wrong. FED UP is the film the food industry doesn't want you to see. From Katie Couric, Laurie David (Oscar winning producer of AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH) and director Stephanie Soechtig, FED UP will change the way you eat forever."

"At first glance, authentic learning may seem like an unrealistic approach for elementary learners, but nothing could be further from the truth. Throughout this year, I've had the opportunity to design curricula with numerous teachers who will tell you that in fact, authentic learning is elementary! It all begins by embracing the fact that even our youngest learners have a great deal to teach others."

"When I attend yoga classes, the instructor guides participants through a series of poses. An outsider unfamiliar with yoga might think the class was instructor-directed, with everyone moving through poses as they are called out. The truth is that people add or subtract movements based on their comfort, drive, and current capabilities. (My favorite is Child's Pose to catch my breath before rejoining the flow of movements.) This culture where participants shape the class along with the instructor is something I've found in every yoga class that I've attended. Education culture can be just as powerful when students, like yoga class participants, are encouraged to help shape what and how learning takes place every day. It requires teachers to view what students can do alongside us. I already explored this in Student-Centered Learning: It Starts With the Teacher. There are many tools for establishing a culture of student voice. Here are some that are easy to implement as you launch your students' journey."

"The simple truth is that turning students on to nonfiction reading - proving that articles from sources like Popular Science and Gizmodo and National Geographic can be JUST as amazing as The Hunger Games or The Lightning Thief or The Lunar Chronicles - is probably the MOST important contribution that I can make to the academic and intellectual growth of my students. Being exposed to high interest articles from a wide range of fields - space science, biology, chemistry, earth science - might just introduce kids to personal passions and future professions.  Seeing science in action turns what could be just another boring subject in school into an interesting career worth pursuing.  Just as importantly, exposing kids to high interest nonfiction text on a regular basis will build their comfort level with a genre that will increasingly define the reading that they do as middle schoolers, high schoolers and adults. So I'm trying something new this year:  I'm going to use Remind - a free service that allows teachers to send out text and/or email updates to parents and students - to share two or three interesting science current events every week."

"I am in the midst of a profound "Maker awakening". Yes, that's what I think I will dub it. I have spent the last couple of months immersed in the research and development of incorporating the maker movement into the library I am currently working at. I have been reading, reading some more, and refining what I think it means to incorporate the concept of makers and maker spaces into our libraries."

"Have you ever seen the following "research" presented to demonstrate some truth about human learning?"

"The field of education bubbles over with controversies. It's not unusual for intelligent people of good will to disagree passionately about what should happen in schools. But there are certain precepts that aren't debatable, that just about anyone would have to acknowledge are true. While many such statements are banal, some are worth noticing because in our school practices and policies we tend to ignore the implications that follow from them. It's both intellectually interesting and practically important to explore such contradictions: If we all agree that a given principle is true, then why in the world do our schools still function as if it weren't? Here are 10 examples."

"There is a certain magic found in rolling up your sleeves and tackling a project head on, an undeniable sense of empowerment that results from solving problems and manifesting big ideas. In essence, that's the soul of the maker movement - creative individuals from all walks of life united by an insatiable desire to improve the world around them. Although synonymous with 3D Printing, it extends far beyond a single technology or buzzword. Truth be told, the maker movement represents the instinctual drive of our species to ascend ever upwards: to innovate, design, and construct a better tomorrow. "

"reaching out to share their own tough truths and a bit of hope as well. "You need to tell new teachers how it gets better," one of them suggested. "You need to leave them with a bit of light." Point taken, and thanks for the feedback. I loved reopening this conversation! Veteran teacher friends: I'm wondering what you would add."

Many of my students have ipods. These mini music makers are captivating them…truth be told, my ipod touch captivates me! I feel as though we could use these ipods to, not only increase the interest factor of lessons, but also to encourage students to become involved in their learning process.

I am often asked as I travel to various places to present why I would spend so much time talking about technology knowing that with outsourcing and such that I am undermining job security in that computers could replace teachers. To that I respond, If you can be replaced by a computer then you probably should be! The truth is that technology will never replace teachers, however teachers who know how to use technology effectively to help their students connect and collaborate together online will replace those who do not.

How we discover the big truths in small things

Excellent quote Gandhi - " First they ignore you, Then they laugh at you, Then they fight you, Then You win!" Mohanda Gandi

Librarians and educators need to be able to illustrate to students and users alike that websites cannot always be trusted to provide truthful and accurate data. This page provides examples of websites that are full of lies, inaccuracies or false information - either for amusement or for more worrying reasons. The list does not include phishing sites however; these are intended to fool a person into believing that they are visiting a legitimate bank site for example; there are already plenty of links to these online already.

Evaluating website tips. "The truth is out there, but so are the lies."

There are some educational "truths" that we can't change, even if we wanted to. These educational technology resources, annoyances, and condiions are here to stay despite some educators denial, resistance and fast grip on the status quo. The sooner educators, especially tech directors and administrators, accept that these things are a permanent part of the educational landscape, the sooner attention will be paid to using them positively and productively.