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Joann Fox (AppEducation.com), a member of my PLN, shares how she's made Twitter her top Personal Learning activity and how you can, too. Oh, yeah, she's a CA teacher like you, except she does 4th grade...and is a blogger, San Diego Co. Teacher of Year, CA , co-founder of #CAedchat, #EdCampSD organizer, and Google Certified Teacher. She's a connected teacher.

So many great points by veteran teachers - one with over 50 years of teaching experience - on what makes a great teacher - not just the quality, but the process of becoming/sustaining excellence in teaching

There's one request for advice that I receive more than any other from coaches: How can I coach a resistant teacher? This article explores that by helping those who coach teachers to look at themselves as much as they do those they coach. Good read for instructional leaders.

This blog post will get you to ask yourself, "What is the role of a teacher?" Some of the comments show the wide diversity in views among educators - those who would abandon schools if they could (LIsa Nielsen), others who have the paradigm of the student making the instructional choices and the teacher just floating around and helping students, and those who see the teacher as embodying many different skill sets and who work out of a strong relationship with their students. The current educational shifts in pedagogy and goals in education have had a profound impact on teaching. Reading this post will help stimulate and hopefully clarify you own views.

A Twitter friend, Holly Clark aka @hollyedtechdiva,(http://hollyclark.net/), shared a post she found about how Google Apps can make a difference for teachers & students. And they are making a difference, and there's so much more we can do. Just think, students and teachers in our district have created over 30,000 docs, 1,712 spreadsheets, 1,027 presentations, & 2,894 folders. There are also over 9,000 files uploaded and stored in Google Drive. And there are 10 things Google Apps teachers rarely, if ever hear. Check them out :)

This post explains the "why" and "how" of Twitter in teacher friendly terms. Joanne Fox is an elementary ed. teacher who helps moderate #Caedchat on Sunday evenings when she's not teaching and tweeting. Make Twitter your Superpower as a teacher or administrator.

Among the findings: New teachers aren't more likely than veteran teachers to use technology. This raises some important questions how well teacher preparation programs are training pre-teachers how to integrate technology or if they're simply entering school environments where they're not encouraged to do so.

Good tips to reflect as you prepare/evaluate your online presence in a blended/online course. "The fundamentals that define a great teacher don't differ much whether classes are taught in the online setting or off, but there are certain things that need greater emphasis and gain greater importance when a teacher is working with students who aren't in a traditional classroom setting."

Terry Heick, Curriculum Director, etc. wrote this short blog post with a nice graphic aimed at helping us look at self-talk that encourages a "Growth Mindset." I like this statement in the post: "While teachers are constantly admonished to change, there is very little dialogue as to what that kind of change looks like, exactly how to go about making that sort of change in the face of local expectations, and maybe most critically, what kind of "internal coaching" a teacher might start with to establish the kind of thinking position of mindset that promotes fluid change."

"During class time, the teacher will stand at the front of the room and hold forth on the day's topic. Then, as the period ends, he or she will give students a clutch of work to do at home. Lectures in the day, homework at night. It was ever thus and ever shall be. But one American teacher is taking a different approach - and in the process, he's offering a lesson in innovation for organizations of every kind. Karl Fisch is a 20-year veteran of Arapahoe High School, located south of Denver, Colorado. For the past 14 years, the one-time maths teacher has been the school's technology coordinator." Learn about the Fisch Flip - instead of having students do algebra problems at home after listening to the lecture at school, he has flipped it around, and puts his lectures on the web and then does the work with students at school. It's working well. Check out his videos here: http://www.youtube.com/user/karlfisch

Great resource for U.S. History teachers and a place to collaborate with other history teachers

Teaching quality has been defined as "instruction that enables a wide range of students to learn" (Darling-Hammond, 2012), and it is the strongest school-related factor that can improve student learning and achievement (Hanushek, 2011; Nye, Konstantopoulos, and Hedges, 2004; Rivkin, Hanushek, and Kain, 2005). Knowing this, what is the best way to foster and provide ongoing support for good teaching practices? While every school is unique, research has identified several elements that can almost universally increase the chances for successful teacher development and create a powerful and positive school community.

Important reading on the effects of poverty and teachers on student performance. 

Some great points at how to view engaging teachers who may be hesitant learners/implementers of technology. It may help you get into their thought processes and understand their unique needs in a respectful way. 

Online portfolio for teachers - FREE. I would encourage especially pre-service teachers to consider using a tool like this to help provide something more engaging than the standard resume. One of my goals this summer is to use something like this or a blog resume to document my work, experience, skill sets, and learning. 

My response: Patrick, thanks for bringing the issue to us to consider. No matter how we see it, it is a discussion that is important to have. It does mean we have quite a responsibility to use the tools we have well. On a Classroom 2.0 Live webinar today, there was a discussion of the technology needing to be transformative, not just a substitute for paper/pencils/books, etc. or just an electronic version of the same curriculum. That brings us to the pedagogical approach of each teacher. If they just place their old methodology on top of the technology, nothing much different will occur. BUT...if they see their method of how students will interact with them and course material differently, the technology can be a tool both the teacher and student can enjoy and in the process they can become more creative, collaborative, and communicative.

Krista Moroder, Director of Learning & Instructional Tech. (former teacher) provides some insight into these two tech. integration frameworks and their strengths & difficulties. "I'm going to preface this post by saying that I think both TPACK and SAMR are incredibly useful frameworks- and I use them a lot in my work with education technology. While I don't want to completely discount either framework in this post, I do want to start a discussion- and explain why I am currently not finding them completely effective in my work with teachers. Worth the read....

Catlin Tucker clarifies what "Complex Text" is and shares a link for teachers to see what the Lexile Measure is. Read the comments on her post, as a few teachers respond with additional resources.

"This is part of a series for being professional ina digital world and focuses on when teachers should and shouldn't use email communication." I liked the guidelines. Very clear use of email for teachers with parents, guardians, etc. ***You can download the document & revise it.

"Finland's Pasi Sahlberg is one of the world's leading experts on school reform and the author of the best-selling "Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn About Educational Change in Finland?" In this piece he writes about whether the emphasis that American school reformers put on "teacher effectiveness" is really the best approach to improving student achievement." This article brings forth some challenges to some of the things we assume in the U.S. that make for success in our schools. With the CCSS, this discussion becomes even more relevant.