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"Integrity1 My daughters class flip chart list to describe Integrity. Can you name a few people around you, or in the public spotlight, that seemed to have missed that day in first grade? Promises Mrs. Dillon's first graders are well aware of the power of keeping promises. They know that promises are a contract between two people. One person expects things when that promise is made. Multiple kept promises, those smart kids know, helps build trust. They feel comfortable making friends with those they trust. In class they know it is much easier to finish things together if the other kids keep their promises. The really bright ones know that promises and promises kept are the deposits and withdrawals into and out of the account of collaboration, effort and success. Things get better when you manage that account- you know, positive change. Truthtelling Those little ones know early on what it means to not lie, to lie and to be dishonest. What Giordan's class has figured out is that being aware of the truth and revealing it, even if you know the result might be hard to deal with, is a good thing. The one who added this to the list might have done something wrong, separate from a lie, felt bad and fessed up. Smart he/she was to know that those consequences were much less severe than the ones that follow silence. Mistakes These kids are 7. I will let you figure out who, in the public limelight in those years, might have made mistakes and never admitted them- despite resounding evidence to the contrary. They have some negative role models. On their own level they know there is lots to be learned from having to explain a mistake, from gathering the courage to do so and from the connection that gives you to better future decision making. altruism First grader, kids in general, have a knack for the real kind of black and white. The kind where you know if someone might get hurt, you know if you might get hurt and you just feel what is right or wrong. They al

"In order to convince teachers of the possible benefits of using a new technology, such as Twitter, we decided to look for evidence of its qualities. What in particular, does Twitter offer educators? Is it worth getting involved?" 30 leading educators (with an interest in educational technology) were identified. They were the ones who were currently using Twitter. The study analysed samples of their tweets in order to determine their purpose and the possible benefits of the tweets to their followers. Also examined were a sample of tweets from the twitter streams of two popular educational hashtags: #edchat and #edtech, in order to determine what 'followers' may gain."

Some interesting tools and how they might be used mentioned in the post. "In the past, limited access placed a hardship on teachers to meet the diverse needs of their students, especially when school resources are limited. In this brave new world, we are fortunate to live and work in an environment where the possibilities are endless for getting students what they need when they need it, and in a format that works best for them. How are you tapping possibilities to meet learner needs?"

Possibly the most dangerous place to spend too much time is inside your comfort zone. Only when we take a risk and step away from the safety of the familiar and the ways we have always done things do we expose ourselves to new ideas and become open to the possibility of learning and discovery. The trouble is having the confidence to take that first step, to embrace discomfort and become open to the risks that come with trying something new.

There is little interest in understanding the pedagogical foundation of higher education as a deeply civic and political project that provides the conditions for individual autonomy and takes liberation and the practice of freedom as a collective goal

Via Adrian Camm, a link to The wikipedia game is played by having you begin with a start Wikipedia article, eg banana and a winning article eg "Britney Spears". The task is to get from the start article to the winning article in as few clicks as possible.

"We invite students, teachers, designers, parents, careres, architects, industrial designers, interactive designers, interior designers, gardeners to join in and ideate, design, prototype new possibilities and reinvent the school experience in Australia. This is another ideas@play project."

Memofon is a new mind mapping tool that makes it possible to create mind maps from typed outlines. It is similar to Text 2 Mind Map. To create a mind map with Memofon you just have to type an outline. It takes some time to figure out the outline formatting tricks. Once you have the formatting down it can also be used to create to-do lists within your mind map

Change is something that we fear or embrace. It is widely considered as the one constant in our lives. For education at present we face a deluge of reports that the pace of change shall only accelerate and its scale become more absolute. No wonder then that many teachers feel now is a good time for a move out of the profession. For others the changing face of education is seen as bringing exciting new possibilities wrapped in engaging challenges. Regardless of how reliable predictions for change may prove to be it is worth considering how individuals and groups respond to it.

The maker movement and with it maker-centered learning brings new possibilities and challenges into the classroom. It has spawned makerspaces and students are busy designing and making products. The danger with all this frenzied making is that it is very easy to miss the point, to focus on the product and not the journey.  

There is a growing momentum in education driven by a desire to share our practice and learn from our colleagues. Increasingly teachers are finding ways to break free of their classrooms and share their ideas. Collaborations in the interests of unlocking the collective potential of the profession are spreading within and importantly between schools. For many these collaborative endeavours and desires are satisfied by online communities but for many the possibility for a face to face conversation is more alluring.

There is something about human nature that draws us towards dichotomous patterns of thought; an all or nothing, us or them style of thinking in which an option is either good or it is bad. In such a model complexity and subtle nuance with multiple possible outcomes and routes towards a goal are ignored. The field of educational technology is one where such a pattern is evident and recent ban on technology by a Sydney school shows how this style of analysis can have a significant impact on student learning.

From Robin Good: "The map presently lists over 250 content curation tools which you can navigate much more easily than it was possible on my earlier versions of this map. On the right side of the map you will find all of the news and content curation tools available online today. On the left side, you can find bookmarking, link lists builders, clippers and lots of tools to operate with RSS feeds (which are still at the heart of a curator's job)."

Another great blog post by John T Spencer

"Streaming video websites are such a big part of our lives, it's hard to remember a time when they didn't exist. These websites revolutionized our computer video experience - no longer do we have to download every single video we want to watch - it's all right there! But the opposite is also true. Sometimes sending a link or embedding a video is not enough, and we need the actual file, or only its soundtrack. And when that happens, the default FLV file format rarely cuts it. Luckily, there are several downloaders-converters out there that make it easy as pie to download videos and convert them into almost every possible format."

Great use of technology to give students a global understand of topic. Principal's Reflections: simple but very effectivve

"Rachel Langenhorst helps teachers in her district find solutions for those issues. She used to teach social studies, but is now the K-12 Technology Integrationist and Instructional Coach at Rock Valley Community Schools in Iowa. "Really be cognizant of the digital tools you're picking and why you are picking them." She put together a list of favorite digital tools for the social studies classroom and shared them during an edWeb webinar. She emphasizes that, as with any classroom technology, teachers need to be careful not to just substitute a tech tool for an analog one. Instead, technology should be used to enhance classroom learning in ways that wouldn't be possible otherwise, including expanding learning beyond the classroom walls."

"This "Teacher's Guide to Flipped Classrooms", offers one place for a teacher to go to if they want to try changing their classroom focus. You get a good grounding in the principles and mentalities that a flipped classroom requires. "The following 10 amazing (and free!) resources will further ensure the flipped classroom is as successful as can possibly be"

This post on Edutopia offers a list of resources that includes tips and guides on classroom design and layout to help maximize the possibilities of the learning environment.

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