THE

Best & Next

IN EDUCATION

Issue 8! May 2014

WHATS INSIDE?
!

Featured Book, Apps, and Tools Passionate Learners by Pernille Ripp App Reviews Web Tools! ! The Best Posts From Around the Web 10 Belief Statements about Student Discipline One Year Later - Thank You, PLN How to Make it to the End of the School Year! ! Whats Next? Ed-Tech Roundup Research Roundup! ! Innovative Teaching Challenge A Big Thank You From Our Team

Passionate Learners
by Pernille Ripp In Passionate Learners: Giving Our Classrooms Back to Our Students, Pernille shares what and how she changedand how her students changed with her. We learn about the little and not-so-little things she did over the course of a transformational year, so that she could shift the responsibility for learning the joy and wonder of it to the kids themselves. "I believed that I knew exactly what the students needed, if only they would listen. Now I know that a classroom has to be vibrant for students to invest their time and effort. We cannot force children to learn. They have to discover things and be teachers too." -Pernille Ripp Whether you are just beginning or well on your way in your Visit Pernilles Site to learn more Get the Book Here teaching career, this book can inspire you to break rules, take risks, and eagerly pursue your journey toward a classroom filled with passionate learners.!

APP REVIEW
Best: Poplet Great for work. Great for school. Popplet is a platform for your ideas. Popplet's super simple interface allows you to move at the speed of your thoughts. With Popplet you can capture your ideas, sort them visually, and collaborate with others in realtime. Quickly and easily! You can use Poplet in and out of the classroom for many different uses. Its brainstorming on steroids (with collaboration built in)!

Next: Commit To really get good at something you need to do it everyday. Commit helps you form these habits in order to become fit, learn to draw, or learn a language. Nathan Barry has created a simple app that builds habits and sets you on a winning streak. While this app may not be for everyone, its perfect for a student or class (or staff ) that needs a reminder of daily activities. Ive enjoyed using it personally and think everyone can benefit from Commit.

WEB TOOLS
Best: Vocaroo Vocaroo is so simple! Its the easiest web tool to record and share audio clips. Vocaroo does not require any sign-up or download. Go to its homepage, click the record button, and talk! Vocaroo will then give you a link to your recording and also creates a unique QR code for your podcast. When working with elementary or middle school students, this can be the best tool for a quick recording and podcast.

Next: SoundCloud Ive just got into Podcasting, and as I listen to more podcasts, the SoundCloud platform sticks out. Not only does it have great music and podcast already on there, but it is such a professional platform to use. SoundCloud is a free tool to create short audio recordings and share them with anyone online. The process is very easy and all it takes is a sign-up and the service is free of charge. In the classroom you can give comments on the podcast which is huge for teaching and learning. Check it out and let us know what you think!

K-12 View

THE BEST POSTS FROM THE WEB

In each issue we present four articles that have resonated with teachers online. Learn about student discipline, one year of connecting online, and how to make it to the end of the school year!

K-12 View

took the time to share these brief belief statements

10 BELIEF STATEMENTS ABOUT STUDENT DISCIPLINE

As I continue my journey in the first 4 months at James Hill elementary, I wanted to share my beliefs around student discipline with the staff. !Although my views continue to evolve and grow through formal and informal learning and school/home experiences, I want to be transparent about the lens I look through around student discipline. !At a recent staff meeting, I !

with staff: 1. Kids do well if they can. if they could do well, they would do well. (Dr. Ross Greene) !Behaviour is a skill. When a child struggles with reading, we provide interventions and differentiation to support and teach. When a student struggles with behaviour, we also need to support and!teach and then we teach some more. !Many students do not do well living in a grey world so, as with all learning, students needclear models and criteria (ex. criteria) of what effective behaviour looks like. !By focusing on skills, I am not saying that we do not use consequences; !however, when we use consequences, they must be logical and not punitive. We must be investigators of the skills that students lack to be successful and then work to teach those skills. !(See video below from Greene.) Create the conditions for student success.

- 6-

2. Start with strengths. !We must create the conditions for students to see and feel real success. We cannot wait until a student is on a long string of setbacks before we talk about what the students strengths and interests are include these in their learning from the start! !These strengths should be embraced and never used as a carrot to be dangled or taken away. !If a childs strength is working with younger students, put it in their schedule. !This will help build confidence and give them a sense of purpose and positive identity at school. 3. Students need to belong. !We ALL need to belong. !If a student is consistently being sent out of class or moved from school to school, how can we expect a sense of belonging? !I realize that there are some students whose behaviours can pose a safety concern and we must look at and balance each students needs but we must maintain the goal of creating a sense of belonging in the classroom. 4. Students need to know they matter. !Take the time to connect with kids. !Find out their strengths and interests. !Find out who they are. !Take the time to show the students that you do care about their life beyond the classroom. !Differentiation is not just about teaching at a childs level, it is also about including their strengths and interests. 5. Focus on self-regulation and self-control skills. !If a student cannot sit still, they are telling us they need to move. !Yes, sitting still is

-7-

a skill but it is also developed more easily for some. !If a student has meltdown, there are likely many opportunities to intervene (that occur prior that point) to help teach the student the skills needed to self-regulate his/her emotions. !We also need to reflect on if our classroom environments help or hinder a child lacking selfregulation skills. !Do our classrooms have a calming sense (as Shanker asks have we removed some of the visual clutter in our classrooms?)? !Do we provide opportunities for students to move as needed? 6. We cannot motivate students. !We can only create the conditions for students to motivate themselves. (adapted from Ed Deci and Richard Ryan) !The use of carrots and sticks will help students to become good at getting carrots and avoiding sticks. !Students should learn to do the right thing just because it is the right thing to do. !Carrots and sticks are effective in the short term but ineffective in the long term. !Teaching the needed skills and creating the conditions for students to motivate themselves takes a lot of time but it is worth it in the end. 7. Students make mistakes and they need to make things right. !Every student will make a poor choice, an error in judgment, or react inappropriately at some point. When this occurs, it is important that we look to restitution to help make things right (ex. doing something meaningful for the person that was hurt see the work of Diane Gossen). Some view this as letting him/her off the hook to do something positive when what it is really doing is helping a child FEEL what it is like to do something positive and then creating a moment to reflect on the difference between what it FELT to do something negative. 8. We need to move from MY students to OUR students. !We need to tap into the many relationships and resources in our school. !If there is an education assistant or former teacher that has a positive relationship and

-8-

can help, embrace this. If the teacher across the hall can offer a quiet area when needed (for self-regulation), explore this idea. 9. How we teach becomes what we teach. (Larry Cuban) !If we want to see it model it. !If we want children that our caring, kind, empathetic, inclusive, etc, we need to model this at all times. !We are not perfect and we make mistakes but it is how we respond to these mistakes that teaches our students how to respond to theirs. !Whenever we have that opportunity to discipline and teach the child a lesson, we need to be reflective on what that lesson is. !Even at the most challenging times, we must do our best to remain respectful as our actions teach so much. !Being respectful, kind and caring does not mean we need to be permissive. !A teacher once told me that when we are working with students with challenging behaviours, we need to be kind and firm. 10.The kids who need the most love will ask for it in the most unloving ways. We must seek to understand. !We often hear that we should send kids home when they misbehave. !There are many problems with this but the main one is that for many (not all) students who struggle, !life outside of school is not filled with love and care. Sending a child home to a stressful, uncaring situation can make matters worse. !In addition, if the goal is to teach a child to behave at school and in life, when we send him/her home we are crossing our fingers and hopeing for change which rarely (never) happens when he/she returns to school. !As stated, kids need to feel they belong and they are cared for sending a child home can escalate behaviours !in the long term. Kids need us. !For students who struggle with behaviour challenges, it is never a simple solution. !Teaching 30 students (with a variety of academic, social and emotional needs) for an entire day can be completely exhausting. !When discussing solutions, though, we need to ask the question: who is this about the teachers/admin? or the

-9-

student? ! It likely falls somewhere in the middle but it is important to keep in mind the needs of everyone. !In the end, it is our job as admin, teachers, and staff to create the conditions for student success. !Meet students where they are and teach the needed skills from there. I share these statements here not to state that my views are correct but to share with others for understanding as well as provide an opportunity for feedback to help me grow. !Please add your thoughts (support AND challenge) in the comments (on his site here). !Are there key areas that I have missed or need to be changed?

! Chris Wejr is a principal at James Hill Elementary School in Langley, BC. Previous to this, Chris was principal at!Kent Elementary School in Agassiz, BC.! He has spent his career working with students as a high school physical education, math, and science teacher, an intermediate teacher, an elementary vice-principal, as ! well as a high school volleyball, rugby, track, and basketball coach. Learn more about Chris on his blog, and on Twitter.

- 10 -

K-12 View

How did Twitter and blogging transform my

ONE YEAR LATER THANK YOU, PLN

Happy "connected educator" anniversary to me!!!It's been exactly a year since I stumbled into my first!#edchat!and!#patue!chats, which inspired me to start my own blog.! That's where this journey of transformative career growth truly began for me. On this day last year, I think I was following 30 people and probably had the same amount of tweets. One year later, I find myself reflecting on the professional journey I've taken!and I am considering some thoughts: I became seemingly unconnected to

practice? How do I feel now? ! Unconnected To Connected: What Changed For Me That Day?! Nothing really changed about me as a person that day. Or the next. Or the next.! What changed was the tools I used to get the job done (the job being to find resources and ways to professionally develop myself and grow as an educator). !I came into that situation with a growth mindset and I learned about a place that would feed that motivation. Most social media users are motivated to be present, participate, help, and share. Some watch from afar (AKA lurking), and that's cool, too, but the general idea is that everyone there is trying to grow their pedagogy and practice.

suddenly connected; what!changed for me that day?! Why did I keep coming back for more?

- 11 -

! Why Did I Keep Coming Back For More? Twitter was easy, fun, and I could access what I wanted, whenever I wanted, through the power of a hashtag. I could connect with educators I didn't know, chat with ones that I did, and even make new connections in my own district through it.! Because of the!list of Twitter educational chats!curated by!Jerry Blumengarten,!Chad Evans, and Thomas Murray, I had access to several topical areas in education that I may be interested in. This list guided me on many occasions so I knew which hashtags to use for specific questions I had. ! How Did Twitter and Blogging Transform My Practice? When I jumped into the Twitter world, I!dove!in head-first and prolifically tweeted for the first 4-6 months...Twitter chats. Impromptu discussions. Questions to hashtags. Late night work crew. Google HangOuts. Online edcamps.! The pedagogical ideas and philosophies that are offered through these networks of educators on social media only scratch the surface of what became a transformative change in my practice.!Blogging helped me to reflect on how I designed learning opportunities with my students and how I approached specific situations.!Discussions with educators from varying regions!helped me to gain a huge appreciation for my own province, district, and school settings by being exposed to other educational climates and their respective challenges.!Connecting with these peers at local and global levels also held me accountable to my word -- when I told someone that I was

- 12 -

going to try something, I really had to try it -- I did say it on the Internet, after all! Advice for newer edu-folks taking this road:!The tools are aplenty and the ideas can be overwhelming. Take what you need and take a break when you need it. Social media and those motivated & sharing educators will still be there when you come back. Check out!this post!by!David Truss!that outlines (literally) everything you need to know about tapping into Twitter as a professional development tool.! ! How Do I Feel Now?! My feelings, one year later? One word: grateful. I'm grateful for my PLN and all that they've done for me. I'm grateful that they are better than Google or any educational database out there when I'm looking for that!one thing!that's going to make that lesson pop. I'm grateful that I have support locally and globally on my students' and school's initiatives. I'm grateful!for the opportunity to travel, present, and share the stories of my students and to!learn about the students of others. And most of all, more than anything, I am grateful for the connections that have blossomed into incredible friendships.!So, PLN,!thank you.!We all stand on the shoulders of giants, and you're mine.! ! Victoria Olson is a grade 3/4 teacher and technology coach at West Langley Elementary in Langley, British Columbia. Victoria co-founded #bcedchat, EdCamp35, and the EdTech Mentorship Network to increase networking between BC educators and to enrich the focus on professional development within the province. Learn more abut Victoria on her blog, Tech Teacher on a Mission, and on Twitter.

- 13 -

Featured Story

How to Make it to the End of the School Year

Over 10,000 educators have by Vicki Davis joined the The 30 Goals Challenge since January 2010. Join them this year as we prepare to make a difference in 2014 and beyond.

Yesterday after school I earned my dumpster diver 101 merit badge as a senior and I went through the schools trash looking for an unmarked photo cd that had been accidentally tossed. (They!may doubt my sanity but they cant doubt my love.) After it was found I drove home quickly!to take a hot bath. (I was reminded of a word I havent used in ages but we used often in the 1980"s grody not even sure if that is a word.)!All the while,! I started thinking about the crazy days that these are.! ! ! How to make it to the end of the school year ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! It is the end of school for us April and May are nuts. These are days apt to be described by the first paragraph of A Tale of Two Cities. Right now I have 3 planning periods a week. (Not kidding.) Plus Special Olympics Bocce Ball. PLUS NHS Blood Drive. PLUS Senior Slide show. PLUS Graduation movie. PLUS Bidding out pulling cable for the new building. PLUS the Technology plan and budget for next year. PLUS

tech support. PLUS my book launch for Reinventing Writing to coordinate. PLUS graduating my second child and getting her off to college. MINUS sanity. I say this because tens of thousands of you live this every day. This is your life. You totally get this. To bad no one else does. Dont expect them to either. People are going to start casually saying Arent you glad things are winding down.! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

- 15 -

The School Year Doesnt Wind Down! And you know they are among the clueless. There is nothing winding down about the end of the school year. It is more like a complete and total crash. You accelerate until you run into a brick wall and you hope your seatbelt lets you get out of the thing intact so you can limp off to your summer. The first week or so of my summer is spent sipping coffee staring into space and reading books where stuff gets blown up. Im worthless because Im spent. Every shred of everything I had to give is given.! ! Youre Going to Make This But as one teacher to another youre going to make this. If youre a new teacher and youve never experienced this side of the end of school the jolting, nerve wracking, exhausting, ridiculous side of ending school then it is OK. Youll make it. It is one ! !

of the toughest most taxing things youll experience.! The Fallacy of Summer Vacation Then, everyone in the world is jealous of teachers but they dont understand that we are hurting, exhausted, and often wounded by this time. We dont fault new Moms for staying at home for 6 or 8 weeks after having a child. Theyre not getting time off. We arent either. When the summer starts, weve just come through something to me as taxing and exhausting as childbirth. I may not feel as close to death as I did when I had my 10 pound baby girl (who is now 61# and graduating) but in terms of wondering if you can do one more thing it is the same thing.! Hold On, Hang On, Yell For Joy In the Wind So, just know that youre going to find yourself doing all kinds of things over the next 6-8 weeks. You may even find yourself in the dumpster or even

- 16 -

worse, the proverbial dumps. But hold on, youre going to make it. Yell in the wind as it whips your hair. Enjoy it for what it is. Be noble. Work hard. Keep your commitment to excellence. It is never OK to go on autopilot. These kids can watch movies all summer dont give into the temptation to be sorry youve still got things to do. Teach until the last day. Find your beautiful moment every week. You rock teacher and often your nobility is observed and measured these last weeks when many slack off and head on summer break early. Finish well. Do incredible things. Be epic. Never settle. We get one chance at this life and everything we do in the classroom is important. Have fun but have fun with purpose. Be intentional about everything. Make memories. These are hard times but they are sweet times.! ! Pulling You Forward So, as I emerged from playing in the trash yesterday it was with a laugh and a high five and the joy at knowing that I showed love by my willingness to play in the trash. And that, my friends, is why you and I are here. For the lessons we teach in our classrooms are important, but the lessons we teach with our lives are never forgotten. And this is just another one of those lessons. The hope that if I share this little piece of myself and my own struggle, that it will encourage you. !We can do this, my dear friends. Im so happy to be a teacher even though it is hard.! !

- 17 -

! So, how to make it to the end of the school year? Pull each other forward, friends. Were going to need each other in the coming days. For we cant expect the world out there to know what this is like, but we should expect support, encouragement and a magnetic pull of excellence from our PLN and colleagues to finish this year in awesome ways. And remember this one essential point the magic always happens outside your comfort zone. So of all things you can do, dont get comfortable. Get better and better and end in amazing ways. !You can either be memorable!or youre forgettable. The same applies to what you teach. Live it. Be it. Be noble. Were in an important profession. Teach on till the last day. Lets rock!

! Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher is a full time classroom teacher, host of Every Classroom Matters on @BAMRadionetwork and author of the Cool Cat Teacher Blog. Her second book, Reinventing Writing arrives in June. Check it out!

- 18 -

Next Practices

WHATS NEXT?
It can be overwhelming to stay on top of the latest ed-tech trends and educational research. Weve broken it down into two easy sections so you know whats next in education.

Whats Next?

GREAT SITES FOR EDTECH INFO

ED-TECH ROUNDUP
! Think of this list as your way to get caught up on the big things happening in educational technology. Want more? Look to the left!! ! Good news for Google Apps schools - no more scanning for ads inside of Google Apps for Education. Learn more about it here.! ! EdSurge recently published a great visual infographic: How Teachers are Learning: Professional Development Remix -- definitely worth the read!! ! Check out Khan Academys Blended Learning 101 course here.! ! Edsurge released their Top SCool Tools for the first quarter of 2014 be sure to check them all out!! ! Educating Modern Learners is finally here - check out this newsletter.! ! Have an ed-tech story for us to share? Email team@bestandnext.org

Educational Technology and Mobile Learning: A site full of great articles, resources, and information on all things ed-tech.

Solve for <x>: Solve For X is a place to hear about and discuss radical technology ideas for solving global problems. Radical in the sense that the solutions could help millions or billions of people. Radical in the sense that the audacity of the proposals makes them sound like science fiction.

- 20 -

RESEARCH ROUNDUP GREAT SITES FOR

Get caught up on the latest educational research

EDUCATION RESEARCH

studies: Aliquam and ! turpis tellus. Id

!

malesuada lectus.
The Study of School Turnaround examines the improvement process in a purposive sample of 35 case study schools receiving federal funds through the School Improvement Grants (SIG) program over a

Suspendisse potenti. Etiam felis nisl, cursus bibendum tempus nec. Aliquam at turpis tellus.

! ! Growth!in the urban education reform movement, characterized largely by an exponential increase in charter schools, will create a need for at least 32,000 senior and mid-level workers over the next decade, according to a report to be!released Tuesday by EdFuel.! ! Have an article to share? Send it to team@bestandnext.org

Id malesuada lectus. to 2012-13 school years).! three-year period (2010-11

!

Suspendisse potenti. Etiam felis nisl, cursus bibendum Researchers have identified major benefits of teacher
online connectivity to fill the gap between what preservice teachers experience in the university and what they will find in schools. Researchers have

tempus nec, aliquet ac tellus orci.

magna. Pellentesque a

Pellentesque tellus tortor, identified major benefits of teacher online connectivity

cursus what vitae, to fillsagittis the gaput between preservice teachers

experience in the university and what they will find in schools . Suspen disse aliquet odio

adipiscing id neque.

ut nisl dapibus nec

- xxi -

Teacher Challenge

The Innovative Teaching Challenge

by A.J. Juliani

Maybe youve had the same challenge Ive been dealing with for the past seven years in educationthings change rapidly. And the only reason it is a challenge is understanding which changes will actually help our teaching, and improve the learning process for all students. In the two years since my district began our 1:1 laptop initiative our classrooms have evolved again. New technology, new standards, and new content.Throughout this process I have tried my best to stay on top of where education is headed and what are the emerging next practices. Now when I talk to teachers in my district and around the country, I try to focus on the key elements of innovative teaching. With technology, standards, and content continually changingthese short innovative video challenges can give teachers a starting point regardless of their situation. The Innovative Teaching Challenge runs from May 1st to June 1st. During the 30 days youll receive 10 emails with a simple video challenge. Youll hear from teachers and school leaders who are doing innovative work right now in education. The best part? This challenge is completely free and you can join here to receive the first email and video!

Join the Innovative Teaching Challenge

- 23 -

You Made It!

THANK YOU
Thanks for reading! If youd like to drop us a line about the magazine please send all email to team@bestandnext.org. We are so excited to see educators passionate about learning and growing together. Check out our new website at BestandNext.org!