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"My first take on 'special needs' is: Don't all students have special needs? Aren't we beyond the cookie cutter education that lines students up and feeds them from the same trough? Yes and yes, but for the purposes of this article, I'm going to reign my pen in and discuss what we traditionally consider 'special needs' and technology's affect on those students who function outside of the normal bell curve of pedagogic expectations."

"Exercise has been touted to be a cure for nearly everything in life, from depression, to memory loss, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's and more. At the same time, similar to the topic of sleep, I found myself having very little specific and scientific knowledge about what exercise really does to our bodies and our brains. "Yes, yes, I know all about it, that's the thing with the endorphins, that makes you feel good and why we should exercise and stuff, right?" is what I can hear myself say to someone bringing this up. I would pick up things here and there, yet really digging into the connection of exercise and how it effects us has never been something I've done. Inspired by a recent post from Joel on what makes us happy I've set out to uncover the connection between our feeling of happiness and exercising regularly"

"In the past couple of weeks, I've been asked the same question multiple times after speaking, "Do you still believe Genius Hour and 20% Projects are the best way to engage students?" My initial response was to shout YES, without really thinking about my answer. But, as someone who ran the 20% Project with my students, wrote Genius Hour into our 9th grade English curriculum, has written a book on the subject, and speaks on its merit around the country…I thought it deserved some more thought. My answer, after much reflection, is still YES but with a small hesitation. A Genius Hour or 20% Time Project involves three of the main components that engage students (for clarification purposes, my definition of student engagement is "high attention" and "high commitment" throughout the learning process). The three components are: Student Choice Authentic Audience Intrinsic Reward When those three traits are present in the learning process students are most likely to have high attention and high commitment."

"Recently I read an article discussing how libraries are converting to makerspaces. I found this wording dangerous because I love libraries and my library is not just a makerspace. My library is still a library. Yes, we are a learning commons, yes we have a makerspace, but at our core, we are still a library. Our makerspace is an extension of our library and really a "makerspace" is more of a mindset and philosophy we have towards learning. The makerspace is just one slice of our library pie. We house our maker materials in the library because it is the one place students have access to at any point in the school day."

"If there is one piece of advice that is drilled into you as a new parent, it is to limit screen time. Bringing home our first baby, I may have not known how to effectively swaddle or change a diaper, but I did know, "back is best" and "no screen time for children under two." Yet, screens are something we as parents are constantly interacting with. In those early days of parenting, our parents laughed as we announced that we would not expose our children to screens. Yet screens are such a piece of our world. How could I expect a child not to find interest in the screens and technology that we interact with routinely? Does this abstinence approach to teaching new parents and those who work with our youngest learners do more harm than good? Does coding and computational thinking have a place in early childhood education? Yes, it certainly does. "

"Yes, the Flipped Classroom (Video lessons watched before class time) is a fashionable topic but whilst there's still chalk-and-talk together with standardised testing I feel I must continue to push it. And no, it's not just chalk-and-talk in disguise. It creates a whole new learning environment for the student."

"The last two weeks my Kindergarten class has been using the StoryBuddy2 app to make books in their literacy center. Yes, I know there are many other apps but I have always liked the simplicity of this app for my class "

"art of rethinking learning means rethinking the -which is what makes the following chart we spotted over at connectedprincipals compelling. Rather than simply a list of alternatives to homework, it instead contextualizes the need for work at home (or, "homework"). It does this by taking typical classroom situations-the introduction of new material, demonstrating a procedure, etc.), and offering alternatives to traditional homework assignments. In fact, most of them are alternatives to homework altogether, including group brainstorming, modeling/think-alouds, or even the iconic pop-quiz. Nothing ground-breaking, but food for thought, yes?"

"How Much Did Steve Jobs Change the World? You might be reading this on your iPhone, iPad or computer, but whether or not you have a Macintosh or a PC, Steve Jobs is responsible for so much of the technology we are using today. Did you know that Windows computers copied the drop-down window interface from Apple computers? Yes, all true. So today, when the power went out in the school and we couldn't get on the Internet, I noticed what an important part of my life technology has become. Talk about making a dent in the world. Jobs' legacy will live on in generations to come. Here are 39 sites for using one of Jobs' greatest innovations: THE iPAD."

"ll our best strategies, plans, projects, initiatives, etc. will all come to nothing and fizzle out, if we, as educators (Yes, I am also talking about teachers AND administrators) are NOT engaged as leaders and learners."

"Fact: Kids love Minecraft. The unique and ridiculously popular game is often compared to digital LEGO's, and at it's core, allows players to place and break blocks in a 3D world. With more than 22 million users in 40 countries, the Minecraft craze is only growing and kids can't seem to get enough. The draw of Minecraft? For kids, it's a blank slate and gives them the opportunity to let their imagination run wild. For educators, it is a perfect opportunity to fully integrate technology with learning. Minecraft is being recognized as an incredibly powerful, educational tool that acts as a medium for educators and students, alike, allowing them to unleash their creativity and fully integrate technology with learning opportunities. Because the game lives online, the multiplayer format can be utilized to emphasize digital citizenship and collaboration all through integrated project based-learning. Meet Connected Camps, an online summer camp for Minecraft that is breaking the rules in all the right ways. Yes, you read that right, Connected Camps is a virtual summer camp, that connects kids from around the country (and even the world) through a dedicated, monitored and secure Minecraft server."

"When in Boston, I taught next to a Geometry teacher who would later go on to become Teacher of the Year. Lining the walls of his high school Geometry classroom, from floor to ceiling, were vocabulary words with drawings and examples. At the time I thought it was a bit extreme. I mean, aren't these kids in high school? Over the years since, I have come to realize just how important word walls are and that he was absolutely right in putting it all out there like that. If you think about it, there's a measly 5 year age difference between a 4th grader and a 9th grader. Yes, kids do grow up quick, but what is it about those 5 short years that suddenly allows students to remember and recall everything and no longer need visual reminders?"

"As I've mentioned in other posts, I come from a background in Experiential Education (yes, it is a specific professional discipline). I've also discussed reflecting on the activities to increase the chances of extracting learning as well as transferable skills and knowledge from the activities which is an integral part of experiential education - see my previous posts, Where is reflection in the learning process? and The Maker as a Reflective Practitioner. Another concept common to Experiential Education, that also increases the chances that transferable skills and knowledge result, is framing or frontloading the activities as part of introducing them."

"Our 3rd grade classrooms love to mystery Skype.  Have you tried it? In a mystery Skype, 2 classrooms connect with one another but don't say where they are from.  The two organizers of course know, but the students don't.  By asking a series of yes or no questions, students try to narrow down to a country, state, city, and even school if there is time.  Mystery Skypes work best when students are prepared in advance and every student has a job to do.  There are many example of jobs to assign in a mystery Skype such as greeter, researcher, questioner, scribe, and photographer."

"It's still no easy task to develop your own apps. Yes, some talented teachers have programmed their own. I know many adults and youth are interested in developing apps. I was pleased to see Schools.com produce this infographic about how to become a mobile app developer."

"Just got an iPad for the holidays? You lucky sod! You scored the crown jewel, the Big Tamale - the most marvelous gadget Apple has ever made. Yes, go ahead, pick up its slim aluminum frame and dive right in - Steve knew that's what you wanted to do, and he designed the iPad so you could do just that. We want to make sure you get everything right though, and we know there are a few key setup tricks along the way that new (and even some not-so-new) iPad users miss. So take a look at the short list of steps we've lined up here. They won't take long, and they'll make sure you get the best out of your iPad 2. Ready? Here we go."

"Educreations Interactive Whiteboard by Educreations, Inc is an INCREDIBLE, yes that's right - incredible app. This newly released app comes with the huge bonus of being FREE! "