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"I got an email from one of my readers here in Educational Technology and Mobile Learning asking me about some good tools for classroom management. I have already posted a list of some web tools teachers can use for this purpose but today I wanted to feature "the urgent" ones. By classroom management I mean anything that has to do with the unfolding of classroom instruction from behaviour controlling to lesson planning. Here are the top 5 you can use this school year. "

"We often talk about iPads in K-12 classrooms, the availability of information on the web for college students to access, and a host of other similar topics in too many categories to mention. But we don't often broach the topic of technology in early childhood education classrooms. While we've seen some statistics on kids and technology usage, that information doesn't usually fall into the 'classroom usage' category. So we were interested to see this handy infographic which looks at the technologies early childhood teachers and administrators use (or don't use) in their classrooms, including how often they're used, what tech is used, and why they are used. Keep reading to learn more."

"Today, I'm going to tell you a fairy tale: Once upon a time, my mother in law (a third grade teacher) was in her classroom at school when her principal walked in and gave her an iPad for her class to use. Well, technically it was supposed to be for the entire third grade to share, but that's almost beside the point. After some initial excitement, she discussed how the entire third grade was supposed to share a single iPad with her fellow third grade teachers, and the iPad was promptly banished into a drawer, never to see the light of day again. The end."

"The source for innovative or creative thinking is as much as mystery as that of curiosity or particular genius. In a traditional classroom, "having a good idea" is strangely not valued as much as the ability to demonstrate proficiency with a specific assessment form. In fact, "good ideas" can often be disruptive to a tightly-sequenced and outcomes-based learning process."

"Need to create a poster for your classroom? There are a number of websites and mobile apps you can use to help you craft something beautiful and informative. You can thank Holly Whitt, librarian for Walnut Grove Elementary School, for curating this collection of proven resources."

"Ginger Gregory is the Gifted Resource Teacher at Lakeview Elementary School in Yukon, Oklahoma, and currently has 117 videos on her classroom YouTube channel. Ginger has used the six iPads in her classroom and her free, district-provided YouTube channel (since the Yukon school district participates in the Google Apps for Education program) to help her students develop oral communication skills, oral fluency, as well as digital literacy skills this semester. In the following six minute video, Mrs. Gregory and eight of her students explain what they have learned as a result of their assignments this year using iPad videos and YouTube."

"As technology transforms the classroom, teaching is changing as well. When students head back to school this year, they may discover that monotonous lectures and mundane activities are a thing of the past when their teachers decide to flip the classroom. Educators across the globe will take a pledge to flip one lesson on Friday, Sept. 6, the first "Flipped Day". Hundreds of educators from 10 countries have already taken the pledge to use this innovative model of instruction on that day."

"With the rise of new trends such as a flipped classroom and whole brain teaching, there is an emphasis on getting students more actively involved in learning in the classroom. And whether or not you choose to fully embrace either of these methods, we can all agree that we want students participating as much as possible. When students are actively participating, they are learning. In math classes we typically involve students in the problem-solving side, but we don't often expect them to provide explanations."

"Over the summer, I have been blogging about Redefining Learning in the Mathematics Classroom through the use of individual student blogs. After hearing about the great things going on in Kristen Wideen's classroom and her use of QuadBlogging for creating a Primary Blogging Community, I have been inspired to attempt modifying a similar approach for blogging in mathematics."

"Many teachers are using Twitter as a classroom tool. But a lot of schools still view the communication tool as a "toy" students use in their free time, not a serious platform for learning. As sites like Twitter and Facebook become ever more fundamental to how the world communicates, schools will need to shift their policies to move with the times. An article written by KQED's Education department in collaboration with the Trust and Safety Team at Twitter helps educators understand how to keep themselves and their students safe on Twitter. It also pulls together great resources on digital citizenship, basic Twitter info and ideas on how to use Twitter in the classroom."

"Educational author and former teacher, Dr. Michael Schmoker shares in his book, Results Now, a study that found of 1,500 classrooms visited, 85 percent of them had engaged less than 50 percent of the students. In other words, only 15 percent of the classrooms had more than half of the class at least paying attention to the lesson. So, how do they know if a student is engaged? What do "engaged" students look like? In my many observations, here's some evidence to look for:"

"The school has an unconventional take on the iPad's purpose. The devices are not really valued as portable screens or mobile gaming devices. Teachers I talked to seemed uninterested, almost dismissive, of animations and gamelike apps. Instead, the tablets were intended to be used as video cameras, audio recorders, and multimedia notebooks of individual students' creations. The teachers cared most about how the devices could capture moments that told stories about their students' experiences in school. Instead of focusing on what was coming out of the iPad, they were focused on what was going into it."

"Augmented Reality (AR) is a growing field of technology where real life is modified and enhanced by computer-generated sights and sounds. The most common use of AR can be seen through mobile apps. Point your device's camera at something that the app recognizes, and it will generated a 3D animation or video superimposed over whatever is on your camera's screen. The effect makes the computer-generated item appear like it's really there. Want to see it in action? Here is a video from IKEA showing their AR app in action."

" want to quickly share with you this awesome little graphic I came across in iLearn different. The graphic outlines the different steps teachers and educators can follow to apply SAMR model to iPad apps used in the classroom. " This graphic is not intended to be an exhaustive list but it will give you an idea of how you can integrate the SAMR Model into your teaching and learning. ""

"Being connected is not easy. I've spent three years on Twitter building relationships and co-moderating and participating in education chats. I am constantly reading (and writing!) blogs; all this in the pursuit of being a better teacher. Although the time it takes to develop a network is substantial, the benefits of connection far outweigh the efforts. Here are seven ways that my students benefit from the online Professional Learning Network I have built over the years:"