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"Let's face it. All teachers talk, but not all teachers listen. I know, I know. You are probably thinking, "Well, students talk all the time, but they don't all listen." Granted, you may have a point there. But perhaps the root of the problem, a lack of honest and transparent conversations between teachers and students, can be discovered when Holmes' famous quotation is crossed with The RSA's animated video covering Daniel Pink's Drive. What results is a dry-erase animated video that took two sophomore students from Studio 113 and East Hall High School six hours to plan, draw, and fully articulate their concerns about the following educational concerns: Teachers' view versus students' view of school schedules. School systems' expectations of students versus students' own expectations of themselves. Purpose, application, and importance of certain curricula. The practice of not asking the most important people of all…the students. Ignoring successful educational models, such as Finland. Care to listen? The wise teachers already know it is the "privilege of wisdom" to click "play.""

Running the Numbers looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books. Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 32,000 breast augmentation surgeries in the U.S. every month. This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs. Employing themes such as the near versus the far, and the one versus the many, I hope to raise some questions about the roles and responsibilities we each play as individuals in a collective that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming.

"When planning a makerspace, most think about designing for creativity. It's important to think about the types of projects that will be completed in the space, how many people will use the space at any given time, and the equipment on your must-have versus nice-to-have lists. However, there are also a few considerations that often go overlooked."

"Ashley Kazyaka and the Colorado State Library invited me to speak to Coloradans/school librarians about makerspaces in affluent communities versus makerspaces in lower socio economic schools. I had a great time today discussing my passion for inclusive makerspaces and in case you missed it, here are the slides for my webinar and here is the Webinar recording!"

"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. "

"So how can teachers prepare for this surge of computer science in the classroom and integrate it into their curriculum in a meaningful way? It starts with understanding that technology is a tool-a means to accomplishing an end, but not an end itself. It's important to not just leverage technology for technology's sake. There needs to be a purpose behind it. For example, besides simply having iPads in the classroom, schools need to have goals in place for using them. Perhaps the goal is enabling kids to create with the iPads-like build their own apps-versus simply reviewing materials on the device. Through our work helping students, teachers and parents around the world embrace technology in the classroom and at home, I've learned some best practices for maximizing the opportunities that technology education offers:"

"Is it shocking that I would use such an obvious click-bait blog post title? Shameless! But this post is all about the difference between sharing what is personal versus private on social media. Why do people TMI share on Social Media?  Maybe because it's titillating! It's shocking! It's attention-seeking and it's usually a bad idea! "

"Part of learning in 2014 is NOT to just CONSUME information, but to also contribute and create information. If you enjoy reading the information and resources shared here on the Langwitches blog or via my Twitter feed, consider taking the time to contribute. There is no grade assigned to your contribution, there is no certificate attached and there is no one waving their finger at you, if you don't turn your homework in. This is about self-motivation and self-directed learning in professional development. This is about being part of learning through the power of the crowd versus alone. This is your chance to collaborate , contribute and pushing forward in education (and LEARN along the way)! Read on…"

"Chances are, if you have a smartphone or tablet, you've played Angry Birds. While Candy Crush Saga might currently top the charts, Angry Birds is the best selling app of all time. From an educator's perspective, what's exciting about Angry Birds' popularity versus something like Candy Crush is that getting good at Angry Birds means skillfully - and often unconsciously - using conceptual physics knowledge. It's something video games have been doing for years, but Angry Birds brought it to a mass audience, sneaking a bit of science into many students' digital diets. Here are five other games for the Angry Birds fan that do an even better job of integrating physics and problem solving into addictive, just-one-more-try experiences."

"The video consists of three sections. It starts introducing Gardner and the main problem of education versus different individual skills. Then it turns to present the eight intelligences as proposed by Howard Gardner, including a suggested learning strategy for each of these intelligences. Then in the third and final part it presents the concepts of personalization and pluralization, defined in respect of the multiple intelligences theory, as the guiding principle for a more including and developing educational strategy. Regardless of what type of student, their age, level, or subject you're teaching, awareness and understanding of the theory of multiple intelligences will help reach more and deeper in the teaching effort. Even for people not directly involved in education, this theory will help in getting a more nuanced and deeper picture of human skills and personalities."

But to suggest that video versus in-person PD is the real play here totally ignores what is happening back in reality. A reality where we merge online and real-life everyday through the act of sharing.

"Taking a walking meeting isn't just good for getting you out of your chair -- a new study shows that it could also be better for your creativity. Researchers from Stanford University's Graduate School of Education found that study participants gave more creative responses to questions meant to gauge creative thinking when they were walking, versus sitting. "

"It is the responsibility of all educators to model good digital citizenship for their students. Especially when it comes to copyright, plagiarism and intellectual property. The waters are murky. Not being familiar with online digital rights and responsibilities (hey, teachers did not grow up with the Internet being around), educators are wading through uncharted waters (hey, I did not know that I could not just google an image to use. If someone puts it up online it is free for the taking). That does not mean they can close their eyes and pretend life is the same or that the same rules apply to online versus offline use of copyrighted material with their students."

"Visible Thinking, as a learning approach, makes extensive use of thinking routines in class.These routines, according to Visiviblethinkingpz.org, are are simple structures, for example " a set of questions or a short sequence of steps, that can be used across various grade levels and content. What makes them routines, versus merely strategies, is that they get used over and over again in the classroom so that they become part of the fabric of classroom' culture. The routines become the ways in which students go about the process of learning." To better understand how to use the visible thinking approach with your students and cultivate a thinking culture in your class, Langwitches has this wonderful infographic to share with you.This visual features a number of key thinking routines together with examples of how to use them with learners. Have a look and let us know what you think of it."

Take a moment to reflect: How many minilessons have you taught this year that guide students to become effective digital readers? Do you have anchor charts or scaffolds in place that will support them as they attempt to read digitally with independence? Have you provided ample time for them to read diverse genres or self-select their onscreen reading material?

" When you fail, what is your thought process? Do you feel like you let yourself down because you didn't have innate ability? Instead, do you feel like you just haven't learned enough yet? Based on your answers, you might be able to easily distinguish between having a fixed mindset versus a growth mindset. This is a critical thing to understand for anyone looking to better understand how they learn and how they let themselves learn."