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"What Makes a Great Teacher? Image credit: Veronika Lukasova Also in our Special Report: National: "How America Can Rise Again" Is the nation in terminal decline? Not necessarily. But securing the future will require fixing a system that has become a joke. Video: "One Nation, On Edge" James Fallows talks to Atlantic editor James Bennet about a uniquely American tradition-cycles of despair followed by triumphant rebirths. Interactive Graphic: "The State of the Union Is ..." ... thrifty, overextended, admired, twitchy, filthy, and clean: the nation in numbers. By Rachael Brown Chart: "The Happiness Index" Times were tough in 2009. But according to a cool Facebook app, people were happier. By Justin Miller On August 25, 2008, two little boys walked into public elementary schools in Southeast Washington, D.C. Both boys were African American fifth-graders. The previous spring, both had tested below grade level in math. One walked into Kimball Elementary School and climbed the stairs to Mr. William Taylor's math classroom, a tidy, powder-blue space in which neither the clocks nor most of the electrical outlets worked. The other walked into a very similar classroom a mile away at Plummer Elementary School. In both schools, more than 80 percent of the children received free or reduced-price lunches. At night, all the children went home to the same urban ecosystem, a zip code in which almost a quarter of the families lived below the poverty line and a police district in which somebody was murdered every week or so. Video: Four teachers in Four different classrooms demonstrate methods that work (Courtesy of Teach for America's video archive, available in February at teachingasleadership.org) At the end of the school year, both little boys took the same standardized test given at all D.C. public schools-not a perfect test of their learning, to be sure, but a relatively objective one (and, it's worth noting, not a very hard one). After a year in Mr. Taylo

Excellent graphic by a student depicting the facts on the current four generations.

"I've written extensively about how I use online video games with English Language Learners. They're great language-development activities when students play them by following "walkthroughs" (instructions on how to "win"). Here are four new ones, along with their walkthroughs:"

According to an ancient Greek philosopher, scientist and healer all matter is comprised of four elements: earth, water, fire and air and associated these four elements with gods and goddesses of Greek mythology. In more contemporary cosmologies these elements have been used to relate and contrast ideas of substance, feelings, energy and thought respectively.

Great teachers, he concluded, constantly reevaluate what they are doing. Superstar teachers had four other tendencies in common: they avidly recruited students and their families into the process; they maintained focus, ensuring that everything they did contributed to student learning; they planned exhaustively and purposefully-for the next day or the year ahead-by working backward from the desired outcome; and they worked relentlessly, refusing to surrender to the combined menaces of poverty, bureaucracy, and budgetary shortfalls.

After four tiring-exciting-stressful-fun days, we'd like to introduce you to our new little buddy, HelloApp. The idea is simple: When you arrive at a conference, you just say where you're sitting, via Twitter. Once you do that, you can … 1. Search for people with a certain skill-set (ie PHP, jQuery, CSS3, marketing, etc) and see where they're sitting 2. View the seating diagram colored based on Twitter follower count 3. Search for a specific person in the audience and find out where they're sitting 4. View the seating diagram colored based on whether people are Designers, Developers or Businessmen 5. Earn badges and points by meeting people and completing tasks. If you earn a high enough rank, you'll be able to post public messages to the entire audience and win prizes.

After four tiring-exciting-stressful-fun days, we'd like to introduce you to our new little buddy, HelloApp. The idea is simple: When you arrive at a conference, you just say where you're sitting, via Twitter. Once you do that, you can … 1. Search for people with a certain skill-set (ie PHP, jQuery, CSS3, marketing, etc) and see where they're sitting 2. View the seating diagram colored based on Twitter follower count 3. Search for a specific person in the audience and find out where they're sitting 4. View the seating diagram colored based on whether people are Designers, Developers or Businessmen 5. Earn badges and points by meeting people and completing tasks. If you earn a high enough rank, you'll be able to post public messages to the entire audience and win prizes.

This is horrible news to most bloggers I know as many of us use Google reader and the apps that go with it like Mr. Reader and Feedly to pull information out of the web. RSS is one of the most useful features of Web 2 and I'm really unhappy w/ Google. iGoogle was a mistake, this a travesty. Google needs to read outliers and the mavens who use tools. I'll be researching new rss tools. This is ridiculous. ""While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader," Urs Hölzle, SVP Technical Infrastructure wrote. "Users and developers interested in RSS alternatives can export their data, including their subscriptions, with Google Takeout over the course of the next four months.""

Take time to read this PEW research about teachers and how they are using technology in their classrooms. It is shocking that 73% say they or their students use cell phones to complete assignments. I wish they had separated out this number to know exactly how many let their STUDENTS use their cell phones. To me, this number shows the tide has turned.  Some of the highlights of the research: "Mobile technology has become central to the learning process, with 73% of AP and NWP teachers saying that they and/or their students use their cell phones in the classroom or to complete assignments More than four in ten teachers report the use of e-readers (45%) and tablet computers (43%) in their classrooms or to complete assignments 62% say their school does a "good job" supporting teachers' efforts to bring digital tools into the learning process, and 68% say their school provides formal training in this area Teachers of low income students, however, are much less likely than teachers of the highest income students to use tablet computers (37% v. 56%) or e-readers (41% v. 55%) in their classrooms and assignments Similarly, just over half (52%) of teachers of upper and upper-middle income students say their students use cell phones to look up information in class, compared with 35% of teachers of the lowest income students"

This is a wonderful maths puzzle site where players must use + - x or ÷ with a set of four numbers to equal 24. There are many modes to choose from, including an easier 'kids' version of the game, timed games and even a battle mode where you can challenge other people. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Maths

US Census data is out and is being sliced and diced liked done on this edudemic article: 98% of students aged 6-14 are enrolled in school; 93% aged 14-18 are enrolled in school. 60% of 3-5 year olds are enrolled in nursery school; 92% of 5-6 year olds are enrolled in kindergarten. These numbers represent huge increases for the 3-6 year olds compared with 1970. In 1970, 20% of women and 27% of men attended college, compared with 38.6% of men and 47.5% of women in 2010. Generally only about 52% of school expenditures are for instruction. 29.7% go to 'support services' (a category that is not clearly defined here) Only four states spend more than $9,000 per pupil per year. 20 states spend $6,000 to $8,999, leaving the vast majority of states spending under $6K per year, per pupil.

This four part video series about the "Invisible children" is an excellent model for how you can share what you're doing. The design on this page is fantastic as well. This organization creaed #kony2012 as their 10th film. They understand social media mobilization. This is an important cause and also the example of how the story wouldn't be told if it weren't for good storytellers. We are first and foremost a "social media, storytelling organization" - they think it is fundamentally untrue that you cannot relate to someone halfway around the world.

"English…done! Reading…done! Assembly…go, go, go! Packed primary timetables can sometimes feel like you're racing through an army drill. It can be difficult to stop, and allow children time for deeper thought and study. Integrating meaningful STEM into the week can often feel like a bit of a headache. Project Based Learning as a method of teaching STEM, could be the solution to this. Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths are the four disciplines many schools are hoping to focus on this academic year, looking at an applied and integrated approach."

"A new report, published today by King's College London, shows the findings of four projects that for the first time in the UK placed Nursery, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 children in their local museum for extended residencies. The groups undertook many of their daily lessons and activities at their local museums for a period of between two weeks and up to a full term."

A four quadrant coordinates game. Set the position of your characters and try to find where the computer or a friend has hidden them. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Maths

An English resource that takes students through writing four different types of poetry. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/English

A set of maths rounding resources. Choose the correct answer from a choice of four. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Maths

A useful maths flash resource where players arrange numbers into a grid of addition and subtraction questions in the quickest time possible. It's great for practising basic skills. Why not set up a competition in your class? There are four levels of difficulty to choose from. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Maths

This simple addition and subtraction game is wonderful for whiteboards. The pen tool allows students to show their workings before choosing an answer from the four given. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Maths

I'm embarrassed to admit, but two weeks ago I didn't even know anything about  Angry Birds. It looks like this addicting little game has been around for a while. I know … Where have I been? I guess I've been spending time with a less angry little bird … I'm really not the angry type! I guess I see Twitter as better use of my time and professional collaborative learning than shooting birds out of a slingshot. A casual conversations with my hairdresser a few weeks ago about the game led to a quick demonstration on her phone. Another reference came last Friday while attending a session on Instructional Coaching for principals. Some areas that Instructional Coaches can assist schools with are referred to as the Big Four: Classroom Management, Content, Instruction, and Formative Assessment. While the presenters facilitated dialogue around the topic of formative assessment the analogy was made to video gaming; and specifically Angry Birds. This piqued my curiosity.

Make printable worksheets of reflecting shapes in four quadrants with coordinates. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Maths