Welcome to the first Diigo summary of the year 2014! I hope all of you and a wonderful New Year’s celebration.
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2014 Resolution: Tame Your To-Do List | Connected Principals
Some really good advice for teachers and admin
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That becomes your to-do list, and everything else gets delegated. You know who can handle what. When those tasks are delegated appropriately, they will be done promptly and efficiently. You may even find they’re done better than you would have done them–especially if you believe enthusiastic buy-in and positive reception by the people they’re intended for are important.
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Look at your to-do list and ask, “What are the things on here that can only be accomplished by me?
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You are surrounded by people that want to help (and want to help you!).
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Teachers, when looking over your lesson plans, ask, “Can this lesson be executed without kids?” I know this sounds laughable, but there are such lessons. Take, for example, the following lesson:
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- Teacher plans the lesson
- Teacher dictates expectations
- Teacher lectures
- Teacher tells students what to write down
- Teacher gives kids worksheets to do at home (maybe parents do them..?)
- Teacher grades all worksheets
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New Tool Invites Students to Zoom into History | Edutopia
Gerat interactive too; for Social Studies teachers in all grades
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Kleinspiration: 5 Great Math Resources for the New Year!
Some resources for math treaters for the new year
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The 21st Century Principal: Leadership Principle: Deal with Anger by Removing Your Buttons!
As we return to school here is some good advice for school leaders
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What if, though, we could find a way to do what Buddhist teacher Thubten Chodron describes as a process of “Removing Our Buttons?” She writes:
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“Rather than acting according to our habitual pattern of blaming others for our anger, we can note that our buttons are being pushed depends on two factors: other’s actions and our having buttons. If we remove our buttons, there won’t be anything for others to push.”
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According to Thubten Chodron, our removal of these buttons is simply removing our “automatic and habitual responses that so often get us tangled in cycles of anger and conflict with others.”
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We acknowledge and accept that anger when it appears.
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Then we simply recognize that the anger is temporary.
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Free Technology for Teachers: MindMup – Create Mind Maps and Save Them In Google Drive
Here are some ways to create mind maps and save them to Google Drive
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Here are some resources for Social Studies teachers of all grade levels
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Free Technology for Teachers: Five Essential Google Drive Skills for Teachers and Students
Some skills you need to have when using Google
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Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States
Here are some digital maps courtesy of U of R
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Here are some digital resources for math teachers that you should check out
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Nature on PBS | Watch award-winning wildlife documentaries
Tons of digital resources for science teachers
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Free Technology for Teachers: 10 Tools to Help Students Keep Track of Tasks This Year
Some ways you can utilize technology to assist your students with tasks
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6 Ways Social Media Will Change In 2014 – Edudemic
Social media is here to stay. Here are some ideas for 2014
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Preparing for the new year? Here are spoke trends to watch
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Some great resources for teachers of all disciplines
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Some great blogs from the past year
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Some very interesting thoughts on the future of learning
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the future of learning and education is becoming easier to predict every day: it’s digital.
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The combination of ubiquitous mobile devices and dramatic improvements in personalized and engaging digital learning experiences has resulted in drastically reduced time-to-market for high-quality, technology-enhanced educational content.
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Alvin Toffler. For a while now, he has talked about the need for speed in learning—and relearning—and the essential skills required for success. He’s said, “the illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
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A major element of the Framework for 21st Century Learning is the “ability to learn through digital means, such as social networking, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) literacy, technological awareness, and simulation.”
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Our digital and connected world calls for changes in how our children learn and how our teachers teach. We’re evolving from the “sage on the stage” model to one of coach and facilitator, and that’s a good thing.
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I believe that the most effective educator is one who deeply understands the learner—where he or she is in the moment of their learning journey.
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Tech integration is critical to education
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Our Future Will Not Look Like Our Present | Evolving Educators
Some things to think about as education moves forward
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we are in an educational transition that requires change.
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Reading and Writing
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students need to be technical readers. They need to learn how to comprehend complex text and be able to write it too.
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Technology Integration
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Within this integration students and adults need to learn to be Digital Citizens.
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Being able to collaborate with people is essential.
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Collaboration
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This is how social media has become so popular and the way many companies now do business.
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What are lessons in education and the events of the world we live in? They are a series of problems requiring solutions.
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Problem Solving
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Self-Reflection
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Guest Post by Greg Richardson – Leadership and Ambiguity | elumn8
Some great advice on handling ambiguity
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We like our leaders to be confident, clear, in control. We take comfort from leaders who have a vision, who are insightful, who know where they are going.
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We are not nearly as comfortable with ambiguity. Ambiguity is uncertain. We do not know what is going to happen with ambiguity.
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We are not reassured when leaders are ambiguous. We trust them less.
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The difficulty for leaders, and for us, is that many significant challenges are ambiguous.
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Leadership is turning ambiguity into measurable action steps, translating what we fear into what we can do.
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Leadership is turning ambiguity into measurable action steps, translating what we fear into what we can do.
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How To Motivate Your Students After Holiday Break – Edudemic
As we prepare for the end of the 2nd semester, here are some tips on getting your kids back into the swing of things.
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Set Short Term Goals
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It can be necessary to ease students back into work, depending on how long they’ve been away for; try to set up short term goals and rewards for students, which might involve organising a school trip at the end of January or February.
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Find Exciting Material
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Start Small
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Another way to get students motivated for the New Year is to assign small tasks that can be completed online; this approach is particularly worthwhile if you run blogs and other social media sites through the classroom.
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Be Active
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To clear out the cobwebs after Christmas, try to develop class projects that will get students working together and discussing different topics.
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5 Better Ways To Say ‘I Don’t Know’ In The Classroom – Edudemic
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Would a student (or students) be allowed to skate by and just say they don’t know?
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“May i please have some more information?” or “May I have some time to think?” or “Would you please repeat the question?” or “Where could I find more information about that?” or finally “May I ask a friend for help?”
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Enhance Project-Based Learning with These 10 Powerful Tools
Some great PBL resources for teachers.
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