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"Netiquette ( net + etiquette) is the code of proper conduct applied to virtual online spaces. This code is dictated by common sense rules ( manners ) and social conventions. Teaching students about netiquette is just as important as teaching them to use technology in their learning. Crafting a netiquette memo for your class and informing your students about the importance of these rules will definitely help you create an engaging, respectful, and meaningful learning environment where collaboration and diversity of opinions are celebrated."

"For May, we celebrated the power of makers with the themes of media making and DIY. We featured great tools for creating presentations, videos, and podcasts, as well as articles about best practices for student self-publishing, remix, and tutorial making. "

"I always try to do a video or something sweet to show the mom's of my students just how special they are! This week, as we celebrate our moms, my students did some "App Smashing" (When you use one or more apps together to achieve a final product) with ABCya's Word Cloud App, Photo and Video Transfer Over Wifi, Explain Everything, and I put it all together in iMovie."

"Much has been written about the detriments of praise in recent years, particularly the kind that focuses on inherent intelligence. It was Carol Dweck who inspired me to consider the unintended consequences of over-celebrating my students' smarts, and as this conversation continues within and beyond the field of education, everyone seems to be a bit more sensitive when it comes to reinforcing learners. Wondering how you can motivate and inspire in ways that build confidence, stamina, and perseverance? Take a few of these statements for a test drive."

I am a huge proponent of using hands-on, interactive learning activities to explore ill-defined problems as a way of teaching for all age groups. Given the spontaneity and uncertainty of these types of active learning environments, I believe educators should observe, reflect on, and analyze how learners interact with the materials, the content, the educator, and the other learners. This practice is in line with the teacher as ethnographer. In my role as a teacher as ethnographer, I made some initial observations during my first two weeks of teaching maker education for elementary age students. With half the kids under 7, I learned a bunch about young makers. Young makers are more capable than what people typically believe. Young makers need to be given more time, resources, strategies to learn how to solve more ambiguous and ill-defined problems (i.e., ones that don't have THE correct answer). Too many don't know how to approach such problems. If a project doesn't "work" during the first trial, they way too often say "I can't do this." They have a low tolerance for frustration; for not getting the answer quickly. Young makers often celebrate loudly and with extreme joy when making something work. Young makers like to work together but lack skills or desire to peer tutor one another. Young makers usually like to stand while working. Young makers are more capable than what people (adults) typically believe. During our maker education summer camp, the young makers made LED projects, circuit crafts, and simple robotics. Looking at the instructions for similar activities, the recommended ages were usually 8 and above. Yet, my group of 14 kids contained half under that age. The kids of all ages struggled a bit - as is common with making type activities but all were successful to some degree with all of the activities.

"From a wall of photos to celebrate your students to using photos as an organizational tool (for example, a photo of art supplies on the canisters where they're stored), photos can be incredible classroom tools. Here are 21 ideas for using photos in the classroom, from the first day of school to the last."

"Roald Dahl is the author that people would most like their children to read, according to a new survey to find 50 books that children should read by the time they are 16. A survey of 2,000 readers by Sainsbury's to celebrate World Book Day also found that nostalgia reigns supreme, with six in ten parents choosing to read stories to their children that their own parents once read to them. "

"TeachThought is officially ten weeks old (yay us!), and to celebrate that incredible milestone (which is also the same as the gestation period of the North American Box Turtle), we're putting together posts that reflect back on that time, while also acting as a kind of curation tool for some of the content you have found most helpful. With that, below are ten of our most popular iPad posts, in no certain order, because, well, we don't play favorites around here (even if you do). And if you suspect there might be a follow up post with ten more, you might be on to something."

"Today, I came across Maths Storytelling Day (25th September, celebrated annually). Although the day isn't for a while yet, it got me thinking. When pondering my own education, I remember maths being one of the subjects which incorporated stories fairly regularly. A favourite being that of making a robot move around and follow your instructions, which in today's education, could probably slide under computing. I always thought that it was perhaps my teacher's style, but upon reflection, and with a particular day dedicated to it, it has become apparent that the reason we do maths through storytelling is because it works! "

"The UK is on a mission to create a nation of coders. A new GCSE for programming is set to launch and everyone from business leaders to celebrities are getting behind the campaign to boost the country's tech talent. The current trend follows the influential Next Gen report, which warned that the UK was losing out to overseas developers through the lack of technology specialists at home. The move from infrastructure to the cloud and the boom in smartphones and tablets have further increased demand. To meet the challenge, the government is spearheading a push to get more kids coding and to increase vocational skills. Education secretary, Nicky Morgan, recently told teenagers to stay away from the arts and to opt for science and maths if they want access to the widest range of jobs. Every child should learn to program, but not necessarily how to code Read more As an employer of more than 85 staff at a fast-growing UK tech company, I consider Morgan's approach as potentially short-sighted. For Potato, while coding expertise has been essential, employing staff from a variety of backgrounds has also been key to our success."

"Dr. Seuss is gold-whimsical and visually interesting traipses through surreal worlds, and always full of life advice. And life advice is learning advice, and learning advice-well, that's why we're all here, yes? There are themes below that apply directly to the responsibilities of a teacher. Let's face it-teaching is an emotional roller coaster, and a microcosm for life itself, full of tedium and wonder, disappointment and triumph, down days and days to celebrate. Take #11 for example-you have brains in your head and feet on your choose, you can steer yourself any direction you choose-can be both encouragement to elementary students, or high school students taking themselves-and life-too seriously"

The time between the end of one school year and the beginning of the next is a season for reflection and renewal. It's important to celebrate student successes and recall challenging times when things just didn't go as planned. This season between school years is an opportunity to plan for new and modified instructional approaches to increase learner success. What follows are suggested readings and resources for developing and deepening your practice to meet the diverse needs of all learners. The readings are grouped from easy starts to deeper complex implementation. Like Steve Jobs, feel free to choose what captures your passion.

"The more and more I think about changing my classroom practices, the less and less I consider technology. Perhaps I should celebrate how embedded in practice it has become since I no longer consider it an event. It takes times for this natural fit. Time and energy. Two things teachers don't have much of during the week - time and energy. Between raising families, coaching sports teams, planning lessons and marking at night (forget having a social life), it can be challenging to learn about new tools an technologies. Trying a new app with a full class of kids generates a lot of anxiety and fear. What happens if the technology fails?"

"Inspired by the short film, 'Caine's Arcade,' the Global Cardboard Challenge is an annual event presented by the Imagination Foundation that celebrates child creativity and the role communities can play in fostering it. This September, kids of all ages are invited to build anything they can dream up using cardboard, recycled materials and imagination. Then on Saturday, October 10th, 2015, a day that commemorates the flash mob that made Caine's day in the short film, communities come together and play!"

"The Global Cardboard Challenge is an opportunity for children to play and learn by using simple materials to build the things they imagine. The Cardboard Challenge: lets children explore their interests and passions teaches valuable "21st Century" skills like critical thinking, resourcefulness, perseverance and teamwork brings communities together to foster and celebrate child creativity"

"Who is allowed to "make"? Who is celebrated for hand-fashioning all sorts of devices, objects, artworks and comestibles - and perhaps picking up some critical thinking skills in the process? These questions have been percolating in the "maker community" for some time - and gained relevance when 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed was arrested last month after his homemade clock was mistaken for a bomb."

"We hear it all the time - Be Awesome - Be Great. This Post is a celebration of the ordinary, everyday change efforts of educators to Make a Difference."

""Have you seen this video?" The Twitter message from my good friend and fellow thought-instigator Daniel Scibienski pointed me toward If You Build It, a recent PBS documentary about designer/educator/activists Emily Pilloton and Matthew Miller persuading an underfunded school board to create a new kind of design-based program for the students at Windsor High School in Bertie County, North Carolina. What I saw affected me profoundly: students, confused and reluctant at first, gradually developing skills and abilities with tools they'd never used before, designing and building increasingly complex things; failing, trying again, improving, collaborating, and ultimately succeeding and celebrating. I, too, have a vision for a new kind of classroom. I, too, am building something radical, exciting, and even revolutionary. I want to tap the power of design thinking to transform learning in my classroom. We're bringing shop class back to my middle school -- but this time, it's digital."

"The iPad isn't famed for its photographic abilities. But in reality, it is one of the most useful devices a photographer could own. Everyone who takes pictures has a favored digital workflow. For some, it is entirely iPhone-based, using filters and careful framing in preparation for the latest Instagram triumph. For others, it is a laptop operation which takes hours of patient sorting, followed by adjustment and layering. But there is a third way. The iPad's processing power cannot compete with that of a computer, and its photographic credentials are less celebrated than those of a smartphone, and yet, you could argue that it combines the best of mobile and desktop."

"Inspired by the short film, 'Caine's Arcade', the Global Cardboard Challenge is an annual event presented by the Imagination Foundation that celebrates child creativity and the role communities can play in fostering it. This September, kids of all ages are invited to build anything they can dream up using cardboard, recycled materials and imagination. Then on Saturday, October 10th, 2015, communities will come together to play!"