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I think we've all got to stop cranking out blog posts and Tweets that tout new tools and the "10 Best Ways…" and instead begin to make the case in our blogs and in person that technology or not, this is about what is best for our kids. That in this moment, 20th Century rules will not work for 21st Century schools.

Although President's day is past, this Pinterest Inspired President's and DIY Lesson pLan book is a very cool idea.  I love post it notes and would suggest that you use super sticky post it tabs. I really like this idea because you can move the lessons around as needed. In fact, I'm considering moving to this approach. I really like it. If you make your own lesson plan books, this is worth reviewing.

If you have a PC and want to write offline and then upload, Windows Live Writer is your option. It is actually a very powerful (free) tool for blogging. Here's a blog post about why Scott Hanselman uses this app for his blogging. I've used it off and on but am using it even more now that I have a Surface Pro. I used to draft on my ipad in Blogsy but the biggest issue I had was adding links and full compatibility with wordpress - I can do it all on my Surface Pro using Windows Live Writer. This post links to the app and the why-to from this blogger. It works with wordpress, blogger, and more.

So if you have wordpress and have several thousand posts, there are ways to reshare that content.

This post from Angela Watson garnered more than 100 retweets when I shared it. It is a great summary of ISTE this year and bravely points out some things that must be discussed for future ISTE's. It is a must read if you follow edtech. Here's to you Angela for a great post.

Richard Wells at Ipads for schools has written a nice post about project based learning with iPads including a great Edutopia video and many app suggestions. If you're moving towards better use of your ipads, this will be a great post for you.

Dawn Casey-Rowe hits a tough topic that is the number one complaint that teachers have. I had her on my show not too long a go and she speaks from a tough situation with lots of blocks and bans but gets it done anyway. If your complaint is blocks and bans, then take time to read this post to focus on what you CAN do. Dawn is offering a set of PD blog posts that you'll want to dig into. "This week, we're going to discuss the white elephant in the room. Tech frustration. Many teachers struggle to bring students the type of tech experience they would like because of systemic blocks and bans, or worse, feel embarrassed as students have more access to tech than teachers do. This is the issue that brought me to the tech world myself. Students continually asked the hard questions about why they couldn't utilize technology such as smartphones, laptops, and tablets, and why phones were confiscated when students were using them for educational purposes. I wanted to improve my classroom experience and give my students more, but budget was a concern. Tech access is a problem in many schools. There are legitimate reasons-the desire of administrators to protect students from the darker side of the internet, fear of the unknown, lack of wireless capacity and budget difficulties which cause insufficient numbers of computers or the inability to upgrade existing tech. Some educational leaders have overcome these hurdles, but others are still working to get to that space."

Excellent word clouds created by Ben Rimes over at Tech Savvyed related to the Common Core State standards. This demonstrates how technology standards are related and embedded in the standards, particularly the writing standards. This is one big reason I'm publishing the book "Reinventing Writing." I think a lot of people know they need to write with technology but just don't understand how. This blog post is useful to read if you're having anything to do with Common Core implementation and these charts would be useful to share with your teachers in a quick teacher's meeting. Great post, Ben!

Nice post by Margaret Regan on Edutopia's blog with 3 Strategies to promote independent thinking. With some practical examples and use of a word I haven't heard -- "autotelic" or those happiest when absorbed in complex activities. That would describe many of us coder types. Great post.

Jo-Ann Fox writes a lovely post on Huffington Post about how to get started with Twitter.

These popular posts include using Wolfram, LiveBinders, Twitter, Flip Cameras, and iPod touch apps in science and math.

Julie's guest post over at the Wikinomics blog. Excellent excellent post about how to flatten your classroom.

Nice blog post about some great apps for the itouch. Will be writing more on this next week, but this is a great post!

Great post giving an overview of some great posts and information on teaching.

This extensive post has some amazing resources and links and is great for student teachers as well as for all of us. I enjoyed reading this and following some links. This is a great one to share in schools of education.

Leadership and taking criticism

Another must read motivational post for those in leadership from Doug Johnson. I love the part where he says this time of year he needs to wear iron underwear b/c everyone seems to want to take a bite out of his a*%! Criticism is so tough to deal with, especially when you feel a lone. This is something I've been taking on the chin lately at our school and sometimes it really makes me want to quit. I think it is because as connected as I am with all of these amazing educators, right now in terms of technology, I don't feel very connected with the teachers at our school, largely because my workload barely gives me time to go to the ladies room! I love this post!

Great post on Respect in the writing and communication process

I love this post by Darren Kuropatwa who talks about the transformation many, including himself, experience from just taking a photograph a day of their own person and surroundings. I find this fascinating and the links are great. This is a very rich post and insight into the types of things that cause change. To me, reflecting on my blog is sort of an internal snapshot of my thinking at the moment and has been fundamental to my own transformation. Sometimes when we observe ourselves from a distance, we are able to make changes right up under our nose.

Transformation with pictures.

Students, administrators and teachers at Gilbert Classical Academy have a new tool to express themselves that is rarely tapped by schools as a teaching aid: blogs. Blogs have been available on the Internet for years, offering Web users an opportunity to opine on various subjects and post images in a personal journal that anyone on the Internet can read. But schools have generally not utilized them as a classroom tool because officials have such worries as: What if inappropriate messages are posted? What if a hacker steals personal information on a child or staff member?

At its best, Twitter is a place to share a resource, a link to a new blog post, or an insight, and even a place to have a little fun. It's a place that could be about learning. At its very worst, Twitter is a self-indulgent exercise in self-promotion and pettiness.

The key to Twitter is to see it as our own Personal Learning Network (PLN). Everyone has the right to use it how they want. If someone doesn't like how you use twitter than they can just go ahead and unfollow. Really it's no different from writing a blog. Similar etiquete but you are more likely to share the mundane in twitter. Twitter is also more like f2f conversations - if all you do is post links or ask for help you will never make the connections that make people want to conenct with you.