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"Dear Parent: I know. You're worried. Every day, your child comes home with a story about THAT kid. The one who is always hitting shoving pinching scratching maybe even biting other children. The one who always has to hold my hand in the hallway. The one who has a special spot at the carpet, and sometimes sits on a chair rather than the floor. The one who had to leave the block centre because blocks are not for throwing. The one who climbed over the playground fence right exactly as I was telling her to stop. The one who poured his neighbour's milk onto the floor in a fit of anger. On purpose. While I was watching.  And then, when I asked him to clean it up, emptied the ENTIRE paper towel dispenser. On purpose. While I was watching. The one who dropped the REAL ACTUAL F-word in gym class. You're worried that THAT child is detracting from your child's learning experience. You're worried that he takes up too much of my time and energy, and that your child won't get his fair share. You're worried that she is really going to hurt someone some day. You're worried that "someone" might be your child. You're worried that your child is going to start using aggression to get what she wants. You're worried your child is going to fall behind academically because I might not notice that he is struggling to hold a pencil. I know. Your child, this year, in this classroom, at this age, is not THAT child. Your child is not perfect, but she generally follows rules. He is able to share toys peaceably. She does not throw furniture. He raises his hand to speak. She works when it is time to work, and  plays when it is time to play. He can be trusted to go straight to the bathroom and straight back again with no shenanigans. She thinks that the S-word is "stupid" and the C-word is "crap." I know."

"Each year many of us look forward to the annual reveal of the AASL Best Websites and Best Apps at ALA Annual Conference. In case you missed those big reveals a couple of week ago, no worries!  (Rather, worry. For you are in for a serious rabbit hole experience.) Summer is here and you will be able to squeeze in at least a few explorations of some new tools to bring back to school from among both of the committee's selections. There were so many goodies and you can enjoy them in a variety of publication platforms."

"Ten years ago, I walked past a newsstand and out of the myriad of multicolored covers, one jumped out at me: MAKE magazine. As someone who grew up making stuff, this magazine spoke directly to me. I bought copies and immediately brought them to the director of my school. I remember triumphantly exclaiming "We should show this to all of the teachers-think of the projects we can do!" A decade later, well-intentioned schools that create dedicated "maker spaces" worry me. For the uninitiated, a maker space often houses ultramodern tools like a laser cutter or 3D printers, mixed with drill presses, table saws, and soldering irons, or perhaps screen printing equipment or sewing machines. My fear is that stand-alone maker spaces will cause the powerful act of creation to be confined to only certain parts of the school building. I worry that yesterday's centralized computer lab-which we rightly democratized and decentralized by putting computers in every classroom-is today's maker space. When I walk past a new room being outfitted with a laser cutter or a drill press and hear, "This is our maker space!" I am tempted to ask: "What happens in all of the other spaces? What do people do there?" The act of creation is transformative. An individual's self-image is forever changed when he or she can hold up a real object-a real contribution to the world-and say, "I made this." In a time when students' lives are increasingly virtual, abstract and vicarious experiences, it is every teacher's job to make learning, and life, "hands-on." "

"My post last month on Why a Makerspace isn't a Magic Cure-all for Your Problems gained a lot of notice.  I've seen a vibrant social media conversation take off since then.  I have heard many people say in the conversation about making and libraries that they have reservations.  Many are worried about sacrificing literacy or reading when they create a makerspace.  They feel that traditional library programs and values will suffer.  They worry that the makerspace will replace the reading programs that they love. But I feel like they're missing out on something - the beautiful connection that can happen between making and literacy.  You don't have to give up your literature and reading programs when you start a makerspace.  Rather, makerspaces can help to bring a new dimension of literacy into your library.  There are so many elements and activities in makerspaces that fit perfectly into the types of library programs we all know and love."

"Tangled in an endless web of distractions Colleges worry about always-plugged-in students"

"On Saturday, AASL committee members announced the 2017 Best Websites and 2017 Best Apps for Teaching & Learning at ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. In case you missed those big reveals, no worries!  Actually, worry-big time. You are in for a serious summer rabbit hole adventure. Now in its ninth year, The 2017 Best Websites for Teaching and Learning list presents 25 websites that provide enhanced learning and curriculum development for school librarians and their teacher partners."

"Parents and teachers who trust little Muffy and Junior with their shiny iPads don't have to worry about how access to shoot-'em-up video games will rot their precious little gifted and talented program minds. Instead, they can download some of the following alternatives to help them build up their brilliant brains that will totally go on to win Nobel Prizes someday."

"Hooray! You have a brand new, shiny iPad to use in your classroom this year. Boo-there's only one iPad and 35 eager kids ready to use it. No need to worry-there are lots of amazing things you can do with a single iPad in your classroom, and it doesn't have to be a classroom management nightmare either. Here are 15 of our favorite apps that work great with a one iPad setup AND help to keep kids on task and engaged with what you are learning."

"If you were happily downloading the update to iOS 10 today when your dreams were crushed by a black screen with a Lightning cord connecting to an iTunes logo on it, you're not alone. Something has gone wrong during the installation process with iOS 10 and many of us are feeling the punch. Technically, this hasn't "bricked" your device. It just needs some special care and attention. We only mentioned "brick" because we know that's what a lot of you are thinking. If you're iPhone or iPad looks like I described above, don't worry. There is a way to get you back to the way you were before. You just have to connect your device to iTunes."

" According to the latest EQAO report, half of Ontario Grade 6 students don't meet the curriculum standard in math. That's a problem. But it's not the only one. What worries me is that only 13 per cent of students who didn't meet the provincial standard when they were in Grade 3 manage to catch up so they meet the standard for Grade 6. That's the lowest number on that indicator in five years. If you fall behind in math you stay behind. That's why it's important to get it right, not just at some vague moment in the future, but for kids who are in Ontario schools right now. Fortunately, every parent in Ontario is sure they know how to teach math. Many parents want to get rid of "discovery math," broadly defined as "doing it weird." If only that loopy Liberal government would teach math the way we learned it when we were kids, the theory goes, there'd be no problem. Sure, great, except for one thing. Very few parents I've met can perform more than the most rudimentary arithmetic for themselves. If you all learned math so well, why do you inch toward Junior's algebra homework with a cross and a bulb of garlic?"

"Think back to 2005. Since the dot-com bust, there had been a steep and steady decline in undergraduate enrollments in computer science, with no end in sight. The computer science community was wringing its hands, worried about the survival of their departments on campuses. Unlike many of my colleagues, I saw a different, much rosier future for computer science. I saw that computing was going to be everywhere. I argued that the use of computational concepts, methods and tools would transform the very conduct of every discipline, profession and sector. Someone with the ability to use computation effectively would have an edge over someone without. So, I saw a great opportunity for the computer science community to teach future generations how computer scientists think. Hence "computational thinking." I must admit, I am surprised and gratified by how much progress we have made in achieving this vision: Computational thinking will be a fundamental skill used by everyone in the world by the middle of the 21st century. By fundamental, I mean as fundamental as reading, writing and arithmetic."

"I normally tend to stay away from "stuff" lists when it comes to talking about makerspaces.  I believe that the stuff that goes into a makerspace should be based around the needs of the students and the school, not on a checklist of items to get.  But this list is different.  The holiday season is upon us, and what better gift to give to a young (or not so young) maker than something that encourages creativity? (Well, books, but don't worry, I've got those too). Here's some of my favorite picks for maker themed gifts for the holidays or any day."

"Coding, computer programming and computer science are being discussed as possible curriculum topics, pedagogical tools and integration contexts within our elementary schools. I understand, however, that some teachers may feel a certain level of concern, worry or even anxiety when it comes to learning and teaching within this area. How are educators expected to teach coding with little to no experience? How can they develop and implement lessons without adequate formal instruction in the subject area? While these questions are valid, I challenge teachers to see the novelty of coding as a valuable professional and personal opportunity."

"Juan Carlos Galindo, a Wheaton High School ninth-grader with attention-deficit disorder, always had difficulty managing academic demands when he was younger. His mother, Virginia Munoz, a single mother of four, regularly found her son asleep with homework in his lap. She knew he was struggling, and she worried he would become a checked-out, rebellious teenager. In seventh grade, however, Juan Carlos was invited to participate in a maker learning partnership between Parkland Middle School in Rockville and the KID Museum in Bethesda. The maker philosophy emphasizes hands-on, self-guided projects to build kids' technical skills and confidence through tinkering, inventing and designing."

"Fake news, unreliable websites, viral posts-you would think students who have grown up with the internet would easily navigate it all, but according to a study done by Stanford researchers, that couldn't be further from the truth. Researchers describe the results of the study done on middle school, high school and college students across the country as "bleak." Students were asked to judge advertisements, social media, video and photographic evidence, news reports and websites. Though researchers thought they were giving students simple tasks, they say that "in every case and at every level, we were taken aback by students' lack of preparation." As if that weren't bad enough, researchers go on to say, "At present, we worry that democracy is threatened by the ease at which disinformation about civic issues is allowed to spread and flourish." So what can educators do about the spread of fake news and our students' inability to recognize when they have been fooled? Lesson plans that explicitly address the new media literacy and task students to be responsible consumers and disseminators of news are a good place to start. Here are eight things that students need to know about fake news and the new media literacy:"

"Have you found some amazing and cool videos on Facebook, and you are looking for a way on how to download them to your computer? Maybe, you have tried to get them, but you didn't find a solution or a working way. Really, it's so frustrating when you come across awesome videos on Facebook and you find yourself unable to save them to your PC for offline view. But no worries anymore, even if Facebook doesn't provide an option to download and save videos to your computer or any other device, In this post, I'm going to share with you a fantastic trick that will allow you to download any public or private video from Facebook without using any software or plugin. So, let's get started!"