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"What Makes a Great Teacher? Image credit: Veronika Lukasova Also in our Special Report: National: "How America Can Rise Again" Is the nation in terminal decline? Not necessarily. But securing the future will require fixing a system that has become a joke. Video: "One Nation, On Edge" James Fallows talks to Atlantic editor James Bennet about a uniquely American tradition-cycles of despair followed by triumphant rebirths. Interactive Graphic: "The State of the Union Is ..." ... thrifty, overextended, admired, twitchy, filthy, and clean: the nation in numbers. By Rachael Brown Chart: "The Happiness Index" Times were tough in 2009. But according to a cool Facebook app, people were happier. By Justin Miller On August 25, 2008, two little boys walked into public elementary schools in Southeast Washington, D.C. Both boys were African American fifth-graders. The previous spring, both had tested below grade level in math. One walked into Kimball Elementary School and climbed the stairs to Mr. William Taylor's math classroom, a tidy, powder-blue space in which neither the clocks nor most of the electrical outlets worked. The other walked into a very similar classroom a mile away at Plummer Elementary School. In both schools, more than 80 percent of the children received free or reduced-price lunches. At night, all the children went home to the same urban ecosystem, a zip code in which almost a quarter of the families lived below the poverty line and a police district in which somebody was murdered every week or so. Video: Four teachers in Four different classrooms demonstrate methods that work (Courtesy of Teach for America's video archive, available in February at teachingasleadership.org) At the end of the school year, both little boys took the same standardized test given at all D.C. public schools-not a perfect test of their learning, to be sure, but a relatively objective one (and, it's worth noting, not a very hard one). After a year in Mr. Taylo

"It doesn't seem to matter what age group or demographic that I talk to, kids (and adults) everywhere are fans of Angry Birds. As I was playing around with Angry Birds (yep I'm a fan too), I started thinking about all of the learning that could be happening. I have watched a two year old tell an older sister that "you have to pull down to go up higher". I have watched as kids master this game through trial and error. Being the teacher that I am, I started dreaming up a transdisciplinary lesson with Angry Birds as the base. I happened to be writing an inquiry lesson that has students look at inventions throughout time and thought: the catapult-that is an invention that has technology and concepts that are used even today. This is one of those inspirational moments that comes when you are drifting off to sleep and has you frantically searching for paper and pen to record as fast as the ideas come. So what did I do? I got myself out of bed and went to work sketching out a super awesome plan. Here is the embedded learning that I came up with"

I feel like the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz. The difference is the mantra. His was affirming his belief in spooks, mine is fighting my dread of winter: "I do believe winter can be fun. I do believe winter can be fun. I do, I do, I do!" Because truth be told, I don't think it's a whole lot of fun. This is because I'd prefer being in a tank dress over a down coat any day of the week. But, my current reality is that I live where it's cold half of the year. And I am a fun girl. So I've got to find a way to make it work.

"Last week my wife and I told our 13-year-old daughter she could join Facebook. Within a few hours she had accumulated 171 friends, and I felt a little as if I had passed my child a pipe of crystal meth. I don't mean to be a spoilsport, and I don't think I'm a Luddite. I edit a newspaper that has embraced new media with creative, prizewinning gusto. I get that the Web reaches and engages a vast, global audience, that it invites participation and facilitates - up to a point - newsgathering. But before we succumb to digital idolatry, we should consider that innovation often comes at a price. And sometimes I wonder if the price is a piece of ourselves. "

"One of the essentials in Reading this year is one-on-one conferencing with students. When I saw that The CAFE suggested using three-ring binders with tons of copies for each student, I went mentally-fetal. It wouldn't just be one three-ring binder I'd need to organize. I have three classes! Knowing that much paperwork would overwhelm me, I set about devising a system. I settled on Evernote with an iPad I've borrowed from my district's IT department. I want to lay out a few screenshots of how it works and why I like it."

Hey! where have you been? I hope u are not late upon reading this? I have waited patiently for one whole day without news of you; please send a reply as soon, I have been counting the time and that's what it must be. But a second day--I can see no reason for it, unless my servants have grown lazy or been captured by the enemy, nevertheless this script was no snail mail it was rather posted on my wall especially for you, I dare not put the blame on you, my beautiful angel: I am too confident of your affection--which is certainly due to me, for my love was never greater, nor my desire more urgent; that is why I repeat this refrain in all my letters...

"Every time I attend a conference, I give myself a list of goals to meet. This ensures that I spend my time wisely and that my attendance isn't in vain. If I meet these goals, I will be more likely to attend the conference the following year. Below are a list of my goals that I make sure to meet every time my company sends me to a conference."

Not that long ago I was a writer of interesting and engaging educational programmes. Fortunately, that is no longer the case. The programmes that I wrote and shared with a team of teachers were generally well accepted and the feedback offered was always politely positive. I enjoyed writing these programmes but in recent times I have enjoyed even more stepping away from this process and in doing so empowering the team of teachers that I learn with. The programmes that this team produces far exceed the quality I could ever have hoped to produce but more importantly the students are benefiting from their experience of highly engaged and thus engaging teachers.

I DON'T think I am a very good teacher, but I try. Some of my students think I am but I don't trust their small experience. Some adults think I am but they've never been in my classes. Frankly, I'm not absolutely sure what a good teacher is. The descriptors are vague anyway: ''has empathy'', ''knows the subject'', ''inspires'' - the more you think about such things the faster they turn to quicksand.

I still remember the first day I met my mortal enemy, I was back from school and my mother gave me this piece of cloth to tie around my chest for the rest of my life. It sounded archaic to me but as 13 years old I couldn't help but obey her. Since then till last year not wearing a bra (Stop Wearing Bras) never seemed like a viable option. Being a slave to bras for 13 years was enough for a person like me and finally, I had to let them go (The torture can was filled to the brim). It was a bittersweet parting as I have exhilarated to let them go but since they were so damn expensive that my bank balance is still in mourning over the loss of such a nice and hefty collection.

"Review of 2009: 100 great resources At the end of 2008 I produced my review of the year by listing 100 resources I enjoyed during the year. This proved quite popular, so I have done it again this year. I have selected 100 resources - articles postings, PDFs, presentations, videos etc - about (workplace and academic) learning, tools or technologies that I found of interest or practical use or made me think! The 100 resources are listed below, chronologically by the month in which they appeared. "

Some great links to resources on many different educational areas. Will need time to do the research.

"I remixed this awesome scavenger hunt originally created by Joyce Valenza and added a QR Code Twist! I re-worked some of the questions for a lesson with my adorable ESOL kids (we have 35 right now in our ESOL program & one cute be-freckled girl just came yesterday & speaks no English at all but she LOVED scanning the codes when I handed her my Droid Fascinate!) The rest of the kids have varying degrees of English proficiency but still will benefit from a few visual clues. So the scavenger hunt questions are intentionally simply & clearly worded combined with pics I created as QR Code Hints. You can also use this lesson for special needs classes, Library Media orientation, or even re-mix the questions, QR Codes, & hints for just about ANY subject area! To create the hints I used a combination of Photoshop, Flickr, bit.ly and my favourite QR Code generator, Kaywa."

Tell me about the algorithms you applied when you took data from 16 students over a course of nearly five years of teaching and somehow used it to judge me as "below average" and "average".

Better we make the wise decision than the expedient one. Read the older educators... Read Ted Sizer and Deborah Meier and Herb Kohl... and feel the wisdom in their words. They write without hubris, but instead with an acknowledgment of their own flawed humanity. They write with an understand that they cannot be all things to all children, but with the knowledge that they must come as close as they can. I am far from religious, but I am reminded a lot these days of the serenity prayer: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

A beginner's guide to the Mac OSX from a nuts and bolts perspective. Half hour long - but I paused to try apply what I was learning as I learned so took me a few hours. Well worth it - I feel much more comfy with what is for me a whole new OS!

"I was skiing in Brooklyn's Prospect Park and I found a roll of film. I had the film developed and this is what I found. Please contact me if you recognize the people in the photos. brooklynfoundfilm@gmail.com

Fascinating to follow this search on YouTube and the collaboration that is being called for to track down the owners.

"Working in technology administration, I have always bowed down to uniformity. I can't help it…it's the way we were all taught in the technology industry. It was routine and comfortable. Everyone got the exact same computer with the same image. Everyone had to login to active directory. Security groups were applied with abandon. I wax nostalgic just thinking about it.Fear of BYOD But those days are coming to an end. This is due to a huge number of factors including ridiculously tight school district budgets, much lower computer prices and cloud computing. I believe more and more schools will soon adopt bring your own device (BYOD) as a matter of economic necessity and recognition of educational potential."