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Doug Johnson is a great read for his blunt, in your face honesty and his point about how technology companies are trying to differentiate is a great one. I think, however, we should extend this to schools as well. If your school is great, say why, but dissing the competition is no way to compete. If you think your school has no competition, think again. So, read this in light of the arriving and coming competition on the edulandscape and have an honest take on how you should "sell" the virtues of your school. If you can't talk about how great your school is and have to resort to how bad the other one is, prepare for a day when you'll shutter the windows and wonder how they're going to keep the bugs out of your empty building. Wake up and smell the wires burning their way into your student's computers and tablets, great teachers are just a click away and we've all got to learn how to blend and trend our courses, teaching, and to bridge our classrooms to add real value as teachers. It isn't hard as you think but if you just sit and teach like you've always taught, you're setting yourself up for some unpleasant days. You can't do everything but you can do something to improve yourself. Next practices are an important part of your best practice. Always innovate and never settle. Standards are only the beginning, you must have purpose if you're going to be a great teacher. Doug says: "But what I do know that when competitors trash each other, I tend to tune out. And I flat out hate it when I know they are lying - and I will NOT buy from a liar. A salesman recently promoted his video storage service by stating "unlike YouTube, we don't own your movies." That's just not true. (YouTube doesn't own your movies, GoogleApps doesn't own your Docs, CIPA, FERPA, etc. do not ban social media.)"

"Internet Scams, Identity Theft, and Urban Legends: Are You at Risk?" Unfortunately, as we hear every single day, being smart is NOT enough to protect yourself from dangerous Internet scams, frustrating spam, or devious identity theft

Unfortunately, as we hear every single day, being smart is NOT enough to protect yourself from dangerous Internet scams, frustrating spam, or devious identity theft

To blog, you can't always allow yourself to be burdened by overthinking. At times this will lead you to a scary place. A place without a safety net. A place full of prat falls. Because to blog is to teach yourself what you think. And sometimes what we think embarrasses us and we must then confront our thoughts and consider whether there are alternatives. This is real maturity.

This is a great potential fundraiser site for yourself or your local non-profit. Say, a HS band/team/church wants to raise cash? Sign up to receive advert texts (must be 13yo) from 5¢ to $1 each. Every $25 raised, you get a check cut for yourself! You can donate the cash to your organization, OR to your own bank!! This is AWESOME if you have an unlimited texting plan, and great even if you don't! Use KGTC for your invite code!

Many people have not read the Youtube Community Guidelines. You should report any videos that break these rules to youtube - everyone should have a youtube account and be able to do this. Today, a student had a bad video linked to hers -- I had to go to another place to report the other video but you can do this! Guidelines: "Don't Cross the Line Here are some common-sense rules that will help you steer clear of trouble: * YouTube is not for pornography or sexually explicit content. If this describes your video, even if it's a video of yourself, don't post it on YouTube. Also, be advised that we work closely with law enforcement and we report child exploitation. Please read our Safety Tips and stay safe on YouTube. * Don't post videos showing bad stuff like animal abuse, drug abuse, under-age drinking and smoking, or bomb making. * Graphic or gratuitous violence is not allowed. If your video shows someone being physically hurt, attacked, or humiliated, don't post it. * YouTube is not a shock site. Don't post gross-out videos of accidents, dead bodies or similar things intended to shock or disgust. * Respect copyright. Only upload videos that you made or that you are authorized to use. This means don't upload videos you didn't make, or use content in your videos that someone else owns the copyright to, such as music tracks, snippets of copyrighted programs, or videos made by other users, without necessary authorizations. Read our Copyright Tips for more information. * We encourage free speech and defend everyone's right to express unpopular points of view. But we don't permit hate speech (speech which attacks or demeans a group based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, and sexual orientation/gender identity). * Things like predatory behavior, stalking, threats, harassment, intimidation, invading privacy, revealing other people's personal information, and inciting others to commit violent act

"If there is one thing I have come to realise in headship it is that you can't do it all by yourself. Surrounding yourself with the very best people is a start - but getting the very best from the very best requires an atmosphere and culture of trust to develop. As the new calendar year dawned and the Spring Term commenced I gathered the staff together from both of my schools to introduce my Innovation Recognition Scheme which I intended to roll out across the federation."

Ethan Kross, says that we spend ⅓ of our time focused on the past or the future and not living in the moment and we engage in those conversations with ourselves. The negative self talk can consume us as anyone who loves a personal struggling with mental health knows. This article says that if you can address yourself by name and use second-person pronouns in a strategy called "distanced self talk" that you can literally help yourself. There are other powerful strategies in this article and it is worth reading.

I love these thoughts about being a thought leader. I think also, this could be said of leaders in schools as well. "It's important that if you want to be a Thought Leader in your industry, you take the time to develop your thoughts and publish information that will educate, entertain and engage your readers. Think about the issues you've worked through yourself in the past with your business and talk about those. Share your challenges and how you struggled to get through them, but what you did eventually to achieve success. Or, sometimes even more enlightening, share your failures, and how you're working never to experience that particular failure again. An old Afghan proverb I heard on the radio last week said, "If you think you're leading, and no one's following, you're just going for a walk.""

I'll be spending time to AJ Juliani, Steve Mogg and Rosie Esposito from Wissahikon school district. Here's a copy of their Graduation project required to graduate from their school. I think all schools should have graduation projects. There is information and manuals if you want to look into this for yourself. I saw this in Evansvlle High school as well. This can be part of your genius work. "As part of graduation from Wissahickon High School, every senior is required to complete a graduation project.  The projects include research, writing and an oral presentation to assure that students are able to apply, analyze, synthesize and evaluation information and communicate significant knowledge and understanding.  This is culminating project in one or more areas of concentrated study under the guidance and direction of the high school faculty. "

This is an aggregation site for science news and articles. Find fascinating research and stories to intrigue your class and explore the boundaries of human knowledge yourself. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Science

I love this reflection from Azhar Youssef, an EFL teacher in Egypt who is so passionate and excited. This is what MOOCs are all about - connecting the world and finding the best wherever they are. Hat tip to my friend Lee Graham of #diffimooc who let me know about Azhar's work. This is her introduction video that she used for the Mooc work. I think that all teachers in the near future, are going to need to have an introduction video. Like a resume, you'll need it to use to introduce yourself when you participate in elearning projects. Do you have an intro flyer or video? Isn't it time? I love her smore flyer. (via Azhar's Reflections: Twitter in a new dress!)

Either it's the case that everyone is talking about Educational Technology (EdTech) at the moment, or it is true that you 'trap' yourself in bubbles of your own interest. Whilst either could be true, from conversations that I've either had in the staffroom or online, there is a real trend towards talking about which apps/websites/other pieces of cool kit you can use in the classroom in enhance or benefit the learning that is taking place...

Review and consider your classroom rules. My best advice is to keep them simple and few and if you want to go into detail, let the students collaboratively write out the details in a google doc or using post it notes as you talk about what kids should and shouldn't do in the classroom. It is great to talk about these things up front because you will understand the "pet peeves" that drive kids crazy about each other (saving yourself time.) I find that spelling out my bare minimum and involving kids in the detaiils gives them ownership.

University of the people, a site offering free degrees in business administration and computer science continues to gain momentum as leading the effort to "democratize education." Things are underfoot that will radically change the expensive landscape known as higher Ed. The bottom line is that universities without solid online platforms won't be ready for the changes they will need to made. Their greatest commodity will be excellent teachers who can now be beamed from one end of the planet to the other. This crazy upheaval in education is only beginning and the competition is no longer limited by geography.

Christmas is a time to be with friends and family, but if you are by yourself for a while, try this Christmas Solitaire card game. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Winter+%26+Christmas

Tips to rid yourself of inappropriate comments or slide the video to only the portion you need in the classroom