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The chance to "make a difference" in young people's lives is what makes teaching a calling. But working in a community of learners that prizes real intellectual development and creativity, and having a level of control over what you can do on a daily basis, is what sustains that calling.

Very interesting flipping classroom assignment app called Knowmania. They have a homework assignment tool coming soon. I think this is a fascinating tool and there are many lessons to choose from. Right now I don't see any pricing, but am looking into what model they are using to sustain themselves. Looks like a powerful flipping tool, particularly for homework.

Great article by Larry Cuban on the Washington Post that you should forward to principals. "Yet studies of principal behavior in schools makes clear that spending time in classrooms to observe, monitor, and evaluate classroom lessons do not necessarily lead to better teaching or higher student achievement on standardized tests. Where there is a correlation between principals' influence on teachers and student performance, it occurs when principals create and sustain an academic ethos in the school, organize instruction across the school, and align school lessons to district standards and standardized test items. There is hardly any positive association between principals walking in and out of classrooms a half-dozen times a day and conferring briefly with teaches about those five-minute visits.The reality of daily principal actions conflicts with the theory."

A nice reflection on what is happening to reading with Common Core. I find the overemphasis on literary nonfiction problematic, unless, the fact that math and history are primarily nonfiction allows literature to remain 60-70% fiction, however, for those schools who just have "reading" in literature (that would be sad), this is going to have issues. This is a great read. "The CCSS mandates that by the end of high school, 70% of what students read should be informational texts -- specifically, complex and non-narrative literary nonfiction. Furthermore, students should be able to identify central ideas and articulate their development, summarize, analyze, draw inferences, identify an author's purpose, evaluate the effectiveness of rhetorical features, and figure out the meaning of words. In short, the CCSS has reclaimed a technique popular in the 1940s, close reading, or sustained interpretation of, in particular, the wording of a text."

Earth Day is April 22. Here are lesson plans for Earth Day that you can then use to tie into Arbor Day the next week. Environment, sustainability are both important topics that should be discussed in every school.

dynamic environment for educators to collaborate, share their expertise, and have access to resources to strengthen their ability to plan, implement, and sustain technology-enabled learning initiatives.

Aims Aims One of the OERtest project aims is to provide support for future OER-related initiatives by European HEIs. One way to do it so is by the establishment of a European network to promote and follow the development of OER and Open Educational Practices within the EHEA. The project partnership will act as a vivid example of a consortium of European universities that offer credit certification under a self-developed framework of learning based on study using OERs, which is shared among several universities and proves to be feasible. Formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding, the OER Europe Network is intended to initially consist of an agreement between the project partners to continue the sustainability objectives of the project beyond its lifetime. As a framework agreement for cooperation on the topic, the agreement will also however admit for other institutions to join, and for the network to take on its own life.

These heartbreaking words from a teacher in the UK. As the world tries to improve education by the numbers, the world has forgotten kids aren't numbers. They are precious, individual and unique and deserve education systems that celebrate and encourage that. OK, teachers, it is time to man the media - you are the media now! Are you fed up yet? It might not be you right now, but if you don't speak, it will be, wherever you teach, such stories impact us all and the profession we care for so much. "As a teacher, I vowed that I would work hard to nurture my students, to make each and every student feel valued and for them to know that they have a voice, and a place in the world. However the last two years have made me feel like that insecure 14-year-old again: I have lost my confidence because of the overly-rigid current education system. We are constantly being told we are not good enough and that we are not doing enough: enough intervention, enough rigorous marking, enough sustained and rapid progress. What excited me the most about becoming a teacher was discovering the hidden talents and sparks of genius in my students. However, it breaks my heart to say this, but I feel that I no longer have time, nor am I encouraged to make these discoveries. We are so caught up with data and so many progress checks that we don't give our students the time to shine. I wonder what would happen if the greats of the world like Einstein, Gaudi, Picasso and Martin Luther King were to attend school in 2013, would they be able to cultivate their talents and thrive?"

I challenged myself to assemble an essential (admittedly subjective) reading list on school reform. The following books are appropriate for parents, teachers, administrators, politicians and plain old citizens committed to the ideal of sustaining a joyful, excellent and democratic public education for every child.

The Fundación Internacional para la Educación Holista was founded in 1992 by Dr. Ramon Gallegos Nava in Guadalajara, Mexico, aim to spread holistic education in Mexico and all over the world as a response to current crisis from environmental degradation to mecanicist education which has trained human beings with a predatory consciousness. The Fundacion seeks emerge of a new planetary conscousness through a new educational paradigm of wholeness nature, that allows to teach human beings capable to live together in a responsible way in sustainability communities. To overcome predatory consciousness based on greed, materialism, and self-centered, the Fundacion points out what important is to know our truly nature as human beings, the core of holistic education is our genuine spirituality -understanding it in a no dogmatic way, spirituality is our truly nature which lead us to have a sentiment of gratitude for life and reverence for our planet in which we live. Holistic education is a pedagogy of universal love to all beings.

Nice Blog Post from Edwin Wargo about vision and leadership. I particularly like this phrase about school culture: "No matter how cool the technology tools, culture, I believe, will win the tug-of-war. There still may be a few trailblazers but systemic buy-in is likely to be minimal. I believe culture ensures the sustainability that Michael Fullan talks about."

Nice post about leadership

Free model-based learning resources and software We are delighted to be able to offer a growing collection of free software and student materials that use this software. Finding it is a bit of a treasure hunt. Sorry. The software is being developed in different projects, so we have not collected it all in one place. The following describes the major places to look. * Three powerful modeling environments * Activity authoring * Algebra interactives * Sustainable development education * VideoPaper builder * License and copyright You may also wish to visit our complete Software Download Center.

Describes MI's problems w/ adding serious wind power to the existing electrical grid. Calls for an improvement of transmission lines to be able to handle new energy sources.

Cool webinars and expert activities. I just love these -- go to this website and sign up! Dr. Wayne Clough, former president of Georgia Tech (my alma mater) now runs the smithsonian and they are doing some of the coolest things! Here is a list, but go to the website to join in. " Day One: Understanding the American Experience Tuesday, 13 April 2010 11:00 to 11:50 am EDT How do we change a stereotype? 12:00 to 12:50 pm EDT What can science tell us about American history? 2:00 to 2:50 pm EDT What does clothing communicate? Day Two: Valuing World Cultures Wednesday, 14 April 2010 11:00 to 11:50 am EDT Who owns music? 12:00 to 12:50 pm EDT What happens when a people meets its past? 2:00 to 2:50 pm EDT How does design solve everyday problems? Day Three: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe Wednesday, 28 April 2010 11:00 to 11:50 am EDT Are there other worlds out there? 12:00 to 12:50 pm EDT How have we imagined other worlds? 2:00 to 2:50 pm EDT How do we grasp the vastness of the universe? Day Four: Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet Thursday, 29 April 2010 11:00 to 11:50 am EDT What do modern animal bones tell us about biodiversity? 12:00 to 12:50 pm EDT How can we learn about nature's most elusive animals? 2:00 to 2:50 pm EDT How (and why) do we count living things?"

The Extraordinary and the ordinary- the projected trajectories of current computer technologies and their application for sustained mind controlling outcomes. It's already here- we will be interacting with computers with our minds. Incredible applications for learning.

"Welcome to the website of Bisharat! A language, technology, and development initiative. Bisharat* is an evolving idea based on the importance of maternal languages in sustainable development and the enormous potential of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) to benefit efforts in the area of language and development. Anticipating the gradual introduction of computers and the internet to rural communities in Africa, the current focus of Bisharat is on research, advocacy, and networking relating to use of African languages in software and web content. This website is always in development... Your comments and suggestions are welcome. To contact Bisharat, e-mail to: bisharat @ bisharat . net"

this is an interactive website that takes students into a forest and allows them to explore all different forest ecosystems. It is created by a logging company so it is even nicer that there are some sustainability issues on this site.

Social network for sustainability.