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"Autism, Parenting, and Summer: Keeping Busy"

"The summer is quickly winding down & a number of teachers will be returning to their classroom with new mobile devices (iPads). Throughout the summer I have been conducting workshops on iPad integration with EdTechTeacher and I thought it might be helpful to pull together a back to school list of apps structured around specific classroom goals. While many schools may already have an Apple VPP program already in place, I know a number of teachers will also be purchasing the apps themselves. Therefore, I will do my best to include both a pay & free app for each objective."

"This week, we completed our 10th Annual Summer Teaching with Technology Workshop Series. During that time, we taught five iPad workshops ranging from Leveraging iPads, Laptops, and other Digital Tools to Create Differentiated Learning Environments to The iPad Classroom to iPads, ePubs, & iBooks Author. We often say that we learn as much from our participants as they learn from us. To prove it, we've compiled a Top 10 List of what we learned this Summer."

"With summer right around the corner, it is time to relax, decompress, and then start thinking about next year (when you're ready, of course J). Once ready, we here at App Ed Review encourage you to start thinking about ways to incorporate art into your instruction! Whether you're an English, social studies, P.E., or math teacher (or another subject area too!), art can be used to expand student learning and allow them to demonstrate their learning. We hope the apps below provide you with some ideas."

"This summer PracTutor is offering their online curriculum completely free for students.  This personalized curriculum includes a diagnostic pre-test that measures current learning levels and customizes a learning path for every student.  This summer your students can practice Math and English skills through various question types, manipulatives, and videos with scaffolds and support."

"I was 11 the year my summer camp director transformed the regular schedule, procedures, and lingo that we were used to-into the most memorable, enriching experience I had ever encountered at that point in my life. I had no idea that he had 'gamified' the week; I just knew that it was the best summer ever. Instead of grouping us by numbers, we were named after the Greek alphabet. We competed daily against the other groups in volleyball, softball, kickball, and on the final night -a chariot and Olympic flame opened an epic Olympic Game contest at midnight. The director, or 'game master' as we were inclined to call him, even made everyone reset the clocks and watches-so we never knew what the real time was, the entire schedule was set on some sort of crazy alternate schedule. Now I realize that it probably allowed him to sleep in and us to stay up later, but we were none the wiser. Daily we played games, wrote skits, went swimming, and competed for cleanest cabins. We did all the regular stuff, but it was more fun because there were rules and boundaries and points and collaboration and competition and a clear, mutual understanding of goals and performance and criteria for success. As a student, I got to learn more about the power of 'gamifying' something, and what effect it had on learners."

"I always felt trapped in school, with teachers telling me what to do and feeding me information that did not make sense. Honestly, I hated school and rarely paid attention or did homework. Obviously, I was mad when my mother forced me to go to my middle school's Summer Maker Camp. It sounded extremely boring. More school in the Summer? I think not. Within the first hour of camp, the teachers presented us with a challenge: Create a project related to something you love, incorporate some type of technology, and possibly start a business around it. I never did anything like this in school before. It was open-ended, and I could do it my own way, instead of sitting at a desk and being told to open to page 84. This excited me. I could work on a project that I chose!"

"You know that Minecraft is massive. But, did you know it is transforming learning? Geeky teachers have brought Minecraft to subjects ranging from history to biology to probability. The game is being rolled out to every secondary school in Northern Ireland this month. If you're a parent, you've noticed Minecraft offerings spawning in your local summer camp listings. The Chicago Architecture Foundation offers a Minecraft camp for budding builders. Ninety-two libraries participated in the International Games Day Minecraft Hunger Games tournament, and crowned a 13-year-old girl as its champion. And, I've helped launch Connected Camps' summer of Minecraft, a new in-game online camp."

" Reading makes your smarter.  More importantly, it makes you a better teacher. Smart districts offer in-service or professional development compensation for instructors that read relevant resources. Most people think that the summer provides educators with well deserved time to recharge.  While that is true, most importantly, it provides educators time to read. I challenge you to read the list of books described below this summer.  They have immediate and actionable implications with the way you instruct your students."

"Several summers ago, I wrote 10 Ideas for Creating Literacy Centers in response to a request from a summer Workshop participant. Over the past few weeks, this post has been re-circulated on Social Media, so I decided that it needed an update. My original post was inspired by Suzy Brooks' use of her SMART Board as a learning center. For this update, I would like to credit the fantastic work of Kristen Wideen and Meghan Zigmond. While many of the concepts from the original post are certainly still applicable, here are 10 new ideas for creating learning centers."

"For the past couple of weeks, I have been preparing to teach a summer school/camp on maker education (see http://www.makereducation.com/summer-camp-schedule.html). As part of my preparation, I decided compose a list of promises to my learners as a maker educator."

"f you're planning to give project-based learning a try during the coming school year, you may hope a spark of inspiration will strike during the summer months that will lead to a memorable PBL experience. And maybe that's just the excuse that hard-working teachers need to take a hike or daydream by a pool. But here's another surefire strategy for PBL planning: borrow project ideas from your colleagues and adapt or remix to fit your context. Here are ten project ideas that I've gathered from a busy season of summer conferences and professional development events (including ISTE 2015 and PBL World, an annual event hosted by the Buck Institute for Education). By sharing their thinking at this early draft stage, teachers invite feedback from peers. That's another strategy for effective project planning. (Most project ideas were shared anonymously and some are mashups of similar suggestions. Thanks to the creative teachers behind these PBL plans.)"

"Transcending beyond a make-believe world, Toontastic, by Launchpad Toys, can be a fully-functioning learning experience for your child, student or class! I have to admit that when we first looked at Toontastic we envisioned one child on a rainy summer day lazily creating a pretend world of their own on their parent's iPad. However, the more we experiment and test out this app for iPads we realize its true potential. Whether you are introducing storyline to your English/Literature students, historical documentary to your Social Studies class just "What I did on my summer Vacation" you will find that the app brings the children's skills to life. Winner of top awards in their industry, Toontastic offers a simple venue for initiating, coordinating and presenting ideas, thoughts and imagination."

"One of the most versatile and easiest-to-use platforms I've used over the past several years is ThingLink. I've used the interactive poster tagging tool to create and embed media-rich image maps, to annotate and evaluate the claims infographics make, as a portfolio and as a curation tool. This summer, educator, consultant and ThingLink Education Community Manager, Susan Oxnevad invites educators to share their creativity and push the envelope with a ThingLink Teacher Challenge on a Google+ Community. In her blog post, Susan explains the rationale for this free self-paced summer challenge: This challenge invites teachers to learn to use interactive images to redefine learning in the classroom. Learn how to connect audio, video, images, and text in one cohesive presentation during this self-paced professional development opportunity. "

" TWEETSHAREEMAIL Over the summer, academics debated the impact of growth mindset, the belief that one's intelligence can be developed with hard work and effort, and whether it can move the needle on academic performance. Even Stanford psychology professor Carol Dweck, who is often credited with the term, chimed in with additional research supporting the efficacy of mindset interventions. An Education Week survey found that the vast majority of educators believe that a growth-oriented mindset can help improve students' motivation, commitment and engagement in learning. But the study found that applying those ideas to practice, and helping students shift their mindset around learning, remains an elusive challenge. Those findings largely coincide with my observations as an administrator, coach, technology implementer, and now founder of an education company. Over the summer, my team ran a series of professional learning community sessions with dozens of educators across the country, focused on instructional practices that foster and support growth mindset. At these events, almost all teachers said they get the big ideas around growth mindset, but over 80 percent said their schools don't implement them well."

"It's summer, which means you're most likely out of the classroom and enjoying the weather and all that comes with it. For many of us, this means either attempting to grow a few things in our own gardens or hitting up the farmer's markets for some awesome fresh produce. Others will start small school gardens with their students in the fall, which offer many learning opportunities extending way beyond just the idea of how to get something to grow. The handy infographic below takes a look at fifty cool facts about plants, many of which you may not have already known. Use them as cocktail party fodder, to get your students interested in plants, or just for fun! "

"After sending out a survey over the space of 2 weeks on Twitter and through other Social Media Platforms, we had 258 book suggestions from 123 educators from 13 different countries around the world, spanning several continents and every corner of the globe. The global reach here has magnificent and the professional reading shared was detailed and diverse. I know you are going to love this list and be totally inspired by it. Summer is almost here (for those in the Northern Hemisphere). If you are like most educators, this is your time to rest, relax and for many, delve into some professional reading and learn about all those exciting strategies and resources that will reinvigorate learning in your classroom when you return after the break."

"Summer's the perfect time for a new creative outlet, but it's far too easy to slip into "consumer" mode, passively watching TV or playing video games. Coding is a great way to break the cycle and flex your creative and logical muscles. Anyone can learn to code! We've chosen six fun starter activities that help kids see that making their own games is much more fun than playing a game made by someone else. They can just fire up their web browser (or the Tynker app for tablets) and choose whichever activity most strikes their interest! Kids follow easy step-by-step instructions to make their own games and stories while creatively customizing the project as they go. They can access hundreds more free activities by going to tynker.com or downloading the Tynker app for iPads or Android tablets."