This telling story of a Dad and his son after the Arapahoe Shooting in text messages. I was crying before I got to the end. Those who respond to emergencies at school should read this to know how parents (and kids) feel although most of us could imagine. Heartfelt prayers continue to go out to everyone at Arapahoe including the friend of many of us Karl Fisch.

Share this article with your principal and superintendent - not to pressure them but as many start seeing the wisdom that wise leaders tweet, you'll want to help them along. Principals no longer question the wisdom of writing for the school newsletter - this is just a newsletter but in shorter form and much more personal. It is something you can do. "Great schools (online, blended, and traditional) act as nurturing centers that foster creative development and high-quality art, math, and science skills; and school is the medium to advance human development and better society. The internet took our society into hyper speed and successful schools will quickly follow."

Wise words about the purpose of tablets, ipads, and more from Daniel Edwards @syde06 from the UK. It is about people, pedagogy, and purpose... the apps come later. "The power of learning with new technology lies with the teacher and the ability to choose the appropriate tool for the right intention. Moreover, success directly relates to the relationships between learner and educator, and the learner and learning."

Great advice from Nicholas Provenzano about failure: "What I am not saying is that teachers should leave students on their own to figure everything out and sit back and watch them fail on exams or essays. Teachers still need to guide their students and let them explore learning, but you have to let them try new things and learn through trial and error. The error part is the thing people are starting to forget. In the rush to get through content, it's easier to give students the answers instead of letting them discover them on their own through hard work.  As you work in your class this year, try to take a step back when a student fails the first time. Assure them they can come up with the right answer on their own if they try a couple of times. Offer them strategies on how to approach problems in different ways to get new outcomes. "

Peggy Sheehy is the matron of gamification and she's one upped her own groundbreaking work in Second Life. She's gamified the Common Core Learning Standards. Wow. One more reason you can't use standards as an excuse to do nothing. "They are also learning to be mighty gamers because Sheehy is gamifying the Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS). With the command "Go forth and be epic," students pack away drafts and log on to 3D Game Lab where A Hero's Journey awaits. WoWinSchool: A Hero's Journey is a curriculum based in World of Warcraft (WoW), a massively multiplayer online role-playing game in which players assume characters and interact within an ever-changing, virtual world.  Sheehy helped to frame the curriculum developed by Lucas Gillespie and Craig Lawson with whom she collaborates on the award-winning WoWInSchool project.  "

Such a great story about why NORAD tracks Santa. I love this story. What a great story to share with adults. (Shhhh.)

Chromebooks are making the news. Here, Miguel Guhlin writes about how you can make video and create audio on Chromebooks.

Absenteeism is a topic we need to discuss! "While research shows that attendance is one of three key predictors of high-school graduation as early as sixth grade, 7.5 million students nationwide miss an entire month of school annually. In New York City, the nation's largest school district, 20 percent of students miss a month each year. Until as recently as five years ago, attendance was not even accurately recorded in cities as large as Washington, D.C."

What is 21st century literacy and how do we help students become better communicators? Rebecca Alber says: "In today's world, being literate requires much, much more than the traditional literacy of yesterday. According to the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English), twenty-first century readers and writers need to: Gain proficiency with tools of technology Develop relationships with others and confront and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes Manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia texts Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments"

As Chris Lehman says about technology - invisible like air but just as necessary... "Ubiquitous computing doesn't dictate that technology devices are used for every aspect of learning, but as trends like 1:1 learning grow in popularity in schools, teachers and pupils will be able to think more strategically about when and where to use computer devices."

This is very true. Online tutorials can only get us so far. This is why I'm learning Scratch and brushing up on Java. I may even have to learn Python before I'm done. We need Computer Science but who will teach it? If we only rely on videos, it would be like asking kids to teach themselves math using Khan Academy without a teacher who knew how to work the problems. "The vast majority of my students do very well on their first hour or two of coding using structured lessons, but when they start to write code for a new problem, or hit the first set of bugs, they get frustrated and need help. Sometimes, all they need is a hint, a pointer to a similar problem, or my assurance that they can solve it. In some cases, they need someone to just re-explain it a little differently."

Technology Integration Professional Development Guide | Edutopia - Great free guide to use and read that addresses the NETS standards from ISTE.

PISA Scores help and hurt... of course, the world won't be happy until every country and every child and every system is at the 100th percentile - something that won't happen. From Valerie Strauss about what Finland should do as the result of their "slipping" scores. In the Washington Post. "Finland should also continue to let national education and youth policies - and not PISA - drive what is happening in schools. Reading, science, and mathematics are important in Finnish education system but so are social studies, arts, music, physical education, and various practical skills. Play and joy of learning characterize Finland's pre-schools and elementary classrooms. "

A learning guide for Project Based Learning that you can download and review. A great PD tool for the break.

A great list of apps (both free and not free) for promoting the hour of code. Share this with your parents who want to encourage this at home.

Some very practical tips from Sharon Plante on using ipads as assistive technology. I love the links and how she uses things. Great work.

Great conversations happening over at Edutopia about the Hour of Code and what people are doing. I love it when educators talk and share.

Some great tools for simple quizzes but remember this -- if they only thing you use technology for is to give a quiz - you are totally missing the point. Totally.

Students at Burlington High School are reviewing hour of code tutorials and their thoughts. For high school students, this is a great way to learn and share and also helps teachers identify best practices and best tutorials. Great job, Jenn Scheffer.

Literature teachers will love these book openings.