EBTL2

This is an interesting and instructive post about one person's revised workflow as a paperless business and household. Worth a read.

This is a quick way to compare different blogging platforms that can be used with students in the classroom. Seventh and eighth grade teachers have had a lot of success with Edublogs at Parker, and we've been looking into beginning blogs with the sixth graders. I've also heard good things about Blogger, from Google, and wonder if others have used it? The students already have Google accounts and use Google Drive regularly to save and revise writing assignments. I believe it's also free, which is the right price in the world of public education, but often free accounts also come with limits. Curious to hear about others' experiences.

The chart mentions a $39.95/year fee for an Edublogs Pro user to access a lot of the features. A partial work around for this is to buy a bulk upgrade for $99 dollars. This gives you 5 credits to update accounts to Pro accounts. They roll over from year to year, so you could update your own blog account for 5 years for half the price.

I love Tumblr as a blogging tool, also. It's easy to use and provides a very polished looking site.

I agree that students should know how computers work and that the "Hour of Code" was a good experience for many students, but I think the focus of schools should begin with web literacy, typing, and how to use basic programs such as Word.

If we look at computer programming/coding as a replacement of the skills you mentioned we will not serve the students of today or the future. The skills you mention are valuable in and of themselves but many of these block based coding applications offer a platform for students to express creativity, develop problem solving and collaboration skills, as well as expose kids to an expanding field of study and career.

Why pit those skills against each other? I don't think you can have one without the other.

During Monday's class I overheard Sharon Burke talk about the possibility (or probabilty?) of the high school getting a 3D printer. I heard her say that one of the kids really wanted it "because it was fun". This article about a middle school experience with their 3D printer included the beliefs of play, passion and purpose. One of the students featured even wrestled with persistance. I hope we hear more about this 3D printer in the future and how our students are using it for their learning opportunites.

We wrote an REF grant and given how cool this technology is and the extensive cross curricula application, I will be very surprised if REF doesn't fund it. It has relevance in almost every subject. So let's make a little bet: if they fund it, I owe you a coffee--if they don't, you owe me. :)

I guess I need to look into Google+ and start teaching kids more about how to create and produce a good audio/video podcast!

Google+ is very handy. It helps to be part of a community. Maybe we should start an Expanding the Boundaries community and see who joins.

Interesting way to show teens how important it is to think before you post. I think we should lead my example. My teen students are welcome to follow me on Twitter. What do you think?

Each year, hundreds of visitors--including journalists and researchers--flock to schools like San Diego's High Tech High or Napa Valley's New Tech High to get a glimpse of how teaching and learning can be re-invented and re-imagined.

Janet, This sounds amazing. I'll probably regret it but I signed up for the course which begins Jan 20. If nothing else the response you receive once you fill out the form is worth the effort!

A friend of mine was reading this article and when I heard her mention "SMART Goals" I perked right up. Here are some examples of how one athlete has set SMART goals for the new year. They aren't just for the classroom!

This is a great article about brain health and how diets that include large quantities of gluten have been linked to maladies such as Alzheimer's, anxiety, depression, chronic headaches, ADHD and others. The book, Grain Brain: The surprising truth about wheat, carbs, and sugar; your brain's silent killers has been on the best seller list since September. It's being published in 15 countries. The New England Journal of Medicine has also conducted numerous studies and supports some of the claims of the book, though there are differing opinions in the medical field and at the end of the article, the author is not convinced that gluten is dangerous to most people. We see a tremendous numbers of students in our schools that suffer from some of these ailments. The article is suggesting that nutrition is absolutely linked to our neurological health. A few years ago our food services changed the menus in our schools. Children in middle school can no longer eat 6 cookies and 2 ice creams for lunch. Though lunch duty isn't my favorite responsibility, it gives me the opportunity to see the changes happening in our cafeteria. In my observation, kids are actually ordering and eating the healthier options that they are offered. I recently experimented with changing my diet to be gluten free and I've never felt better. I didn't lose weight, but I lost my craving for carbohydrates after a few days and my focus on everything else seemed to be a little keener. It lasted about 6 weeks and I only fell off the wagon with my mother's bread stuffing at Thanksgiving. I instantly felt cravings for all things with flour. If I try it again I will pay more attention to see if I can tell if my diet really does effect my brain.

This is very interesting. I saw Dr. Perlmutter on the Dr. Oz show last week. Dr. Perlmutter suggests that we need to stay away from most carbs including many fruits, grains, rice and root vegetables. He talks about how our low fat, high carb diets are actually shrinking our brains causing more instances of alzeheimer, dementia and ADHD. Simple life style changes of going to a higher fat, low carb diet will reverse this trend. We have to be careful that people don't translate this recommendation of adding fat to our diets into raiding the cookie aisle and super sizing at MacDonald's!!

Wow! Thanks for the helpful info. on gluten and other foods that can impact our brain health.

Nothing earth shattering in this article, but a good reminder to think outside the box when it comes to asking students to demonstrate understanding of what they're reading. I love the movie trailer idea, and the kids have shown they can do some amazing things with iMovie. I'm also interested in exploring some of the apps that the author says would allow students to put characters into new settings - it may be a neat way for them to demonstrate deep understanding of character's personality and motives.

Julie, I agree that these projects are interesting and also that kids like doing them. But...always...I wonder... do they really get kids more interested in reading or do they really just help kids get through the monotony of assessing reading? I think the latter goal is a worthy one and I do feel that kids get something out of these projects.researching, writing and collaborating. Even when I was a student, I used to wonder about these questions. Outside my school life, my reading was so rich and varied. English classrooms to me seemed places devoid of books and the discussion of books that took place in my home. So I don't think think this is a new question, but I like to think of the primacy of helping kids finding books they love as well as giving them a place to discuss them.

Andrea Elliot - journalist for the New York Times - followed the life of an 11 year old homeless child, Dasani, for a year. According to the article there are a staggering amount of homeless children in New York City - 22,091 this month. To put that in perspective, if all of the city's homeless children were to file into Madison Square Garden for a hockey game, more than 4,800 would not have a seat. The article chronichles both Dasani's home and academic life. It is discouraging to think that even though this child has so much potential, the obstacles she will face in life make success extremely difficult (even with all the support she recieves at school). I know we have at least one homeless child on our team this year, and this article really helped put what her life might be lke into perspective for me. Eventhough the article is legnthy, I would encourage everyone to spend some time reading it. It was well worth the read.

This article really puts things into perspective. I also was glad that with all the chaos, the school seems to be a place of comfort and routine. With that said, it is deplorable that children are living in these types of conditions. As Annemarie said, it puts things into perspective,

Thanks for sharing Taylor. I have read most of the article and will definitely be finishing it. It's almost inconceivable that families, and especially children, are living in these conditions mainly because people are aware of it, it is documented, and yet nothing is done to fix it. I'm glad that school can be a place that provides comfort and safety for Dasani. I think that is the case for a lot of students, no matter how tough their home life may or may not be. It's hard to think about that while we enjoy our vacation and most likely don't want it to end. There are probably many children out there waiting desperately for schools to reopen. This article really makes you stop and think.

This powerful spoken word video was one of Edutopia's "8 EduWins of 2013." As an educator, it made me think about the messages that I give to my students on a daily basis, and how important it is that we don't just fall into the trap of the way things have always been done. Students today need to see the relevance of their learning; they want to know how and when they will apply skills and information. Worth watching.

I found this video along with another Spoken Word video "Why I Hate School But Love Education," extremely powerful and captivating. The message is exactly what we are talking about in class and trying to change in our classrooms. The whole presentation of the video was motivating as well. I really enjoyed listening to him speak and agreed with his points. His presentation in the first video is what made click on the others. Both videos are definitely worth watching.

Has anyone seen this new feature of Socrative yet? There are a lot of audio files for History/Social Studies and STEM and many lessons designed for both subjects, which use Socrative to evaluate student learning. What do you think?

Annemarie, There is some great content for STEM classes in this link. I shared the volcano and roach robots with some of the teachers at CMS and will direct them to the entire list. Thanks for sharing this.

A really interesting reflective post about parents' concerns about screen time and our increasing use of screens as a way to encourage learning. What should schools do when curriculum and instruction conflicts with parenting? No easy answer here. Just posing more questions.

Interesting post, Kerry. I don't have any answers, either. And since I'm not a parent, it's hard for me to imagine how I might feel on the parent side of the issue at this time. It's interesting because in our jigsaw group discussion on chapter 6, we talked about a similar issue. Wagner points out how parents of the innovators he showcased in his book limited screen time, but also set an important distinction between screen time where kids are watching TV and playing video games, often independently, and screen time in classrooms where kids are engaged in collaborative learning projects. I certainly agree that there is a difference, but it makes sense that there should be some balance, or some limit, somewhere. In education it always seems that the pendulum swings from one extreme to the other before settling somewhere in the middle. It will be interesting to see how this issue unfolds. I'd also be curious to hear from the perspectives of the parents in our EBTL2 class, since they are also educators involved in the BYOD initiative and growing world of technology.

So, I'm a parent of a 7th grader and a 3rd grader, and obviously I'm also involved as a teacher at RMHS. We have 1:1 iPads in my LLD English classes but they stay at school. I haven't had any push-back from parents so far about assignments or screen time. I did look at this link, and I looked at the forum as well, and I think as a parent, what was a little concerning about the forum comments, was the lack of empathy and understanding from teachers towards parents. As a parent, I also have concerns about screen time, and I see that there are certainly ways that we can limit recreational screen time. We do as much as we can. But, sometimes if my 7th grader has a project, I might not know much more about it than she is able to communicate to me (sometimes this is a lot, and sometimes it is not much). There have only been a few times when this has happened, but I have tried to set some limit about how much time to spend on the project, my daughter has really fought it, because she's been concerned about not doing a good job, etc. Occasionally new technology or apps take longer for her to master than the intended time for the project or assignment, and so something simple or seemingly quick takes much longer than it should. Situations like this can turn parents off to technology if they don't understand the big picture, or if they don't have any confidence that the teacher understands the big picture. Sometimes we don't give kids enough time in class to "play around" with apps or new approaches before turning them loose to do an assignment independently, and that too, can lead to stressful situations at home where both parent and child don't know how to do the assignment. I think the point is that any change is going to make people uncomfortable, and some folks are going to react more strongly than others. The more we can communicate and explain what's happening, and let parents know that the technology and experimentation is a vital part of the learning proce

We have just started teaching informative writing. This guide has great information, some of it grade specific, on why and how to teach this type of writing.

Thanks for sharing this, Jan. I can see how it will be a helpful tool. I like the Thinking Maps that apply to different writing purposes - reminds me a bit of the EmPOWER writing program.

This reminds me how much I respect K-3 and elementary teachers in general. The fundamentals are so important. Thanks for posting this. I'm excited that Common Core emphasizes expository writing. I find it somewhat disingenuous that a lot of high school language arts curriculum is based on analyzing fiction and works of literature, and "proving" theses that are up for interpretation. Expository writing can be so interesting and when inspired by passion for the subject matter, powerful.

Explains how social media can facilitate and expand student learning. Robyn, it even has a cook infographic!

Interesting article - a lot of merit to it - I'm more engaged when doing what I choose to do rather than what I have to do..

At the risk of Evernote overkill, this is a good overview of some of the most useful aspects of Evernote. I was particularly happy to see that someone has developed a web clipper app for Android and iOS.

If we do another edcamp session in EBTL2, I'd love to see how some of you are using Evernote on a regular basis. I have an account and some familiarity with it, but would like to use it more. I had a former student come to see me yesterday to give me a lesson and show me how he's using it in different classes in 7th grade. There seems to be a lot of great potential.

Evernote says they want to be people's brains. When they put it that way, I get a little nervous.

I thought this was interesting especially after reading Tony Wagner's chapter on social innovation. Some food for thought. My conclusion-social innovation should come from student interest and motivation-not from some assignment by the teacher.

Interesting article, Laura. I think it could also spark a debate about making work public in general. While I like the broader audience we can so easily reach with technology, what about students who might be reluctant to publish to a blog, knowing that it's public, or a student not wanting a class video shared on YouTube, even if the channel is somewhat private? I don't have a right answer, but it does bring up more questions to consider.

This set of slides by Richard Wells visually represents their Responsible Use Policy. It can easily be adapted for the BYOD environment as well.