I Want to Teach Forever

Weekend Reader on Using Music in the Classroom

2013-05-17T11:00:00.000-05:00

How Music Can Become A Bigger Part Of Your Classroom [Edudemic via Twitter]

Spitting Rhymes and Firing Synapses: Freestyle Rap Battles Could Boost Student Creativity [GOOD]

Swapping C.R.E.A.M. for STEM: Wu-Tang's GZA Helps Kids Learn Science With Hip Hop [GOOD]
Jake Scott on YouTube [via The Educated Reporter] - This high school math teacher has been combining rapping with instruction.

VIDEO: Why Music Moves Us [Explore] - A little more on the science behind the power of music.

Using music in the classroom also happens to be one of the lessons in my book Teaching is Not a Four Letter Word. You might like it.

Finally, here's the now infamous Domain & Range Song that I adapted a few years ago:

Weekend Reader on School Lunches & Student Health

2013-05-10T11:00:00.000-05:00

How a $50 School Lunchroom Makeover Could Help Fight Childhood Obesity [Parade.com]

How the Food Industry Exploits Students’ Cravings for Sugar, Salt, and Fat [Edvoices] - Mr. Nast makes great points about the need to teach our kids media literacy, especially the power of advertising, as well as the science behind junk food.

What NOT to do: Lunch Ladies Teach Middle Schoolers About Debt, Trash Their Lunches If They Owe Money [Consumerist]

Action for Healthy Kids - This advocacy group has a lot of information on model school lunch and health programs.

USDA Rolls Out New School Brunch Program For Wealthier School Districts [The Onion] - A little satire that makes real life calls for better lunches for everyone seem much more reasonable.

New Online Resources for Math Teachers

2013-04-19T11:00:00.000-05:00

JsTIfied is a Pixel-Perfect Graphing Calculator Emulator [Lifehacker] - I'm not sure if this is the best solution in terms of bringing obsolete technology into the smartphone age, but it's progress.

The Best Way to Teach Kids About Money? Slip It Into Math and English Classes [TIME.com] - This seems common sense to me, but it's only now becoming a national priority. Here's an example I came up with not too long ago: Math in the Real World: Should I Take This Loan Offer?.

IXL Math - A new website with math practice for nearly all K-12 grade levels and subjects. Your students can create accounts, track progress and get feedback and help on specific skill sets.

Murals and Math: One School's Solution to Graffiti [GOOD] - This could be done online or offline. Beautiful, smart and engaging.

Curriki Announces New Online Project-BASED Geometry Course Available Free to Teachers & Students [Curriki]

A Brief Collection of Critical Topics Missing From Most Curricula, Part 2

2013-04-12T11:00:00.000-05:00

Entrepreneurship: Rise of the Mini-Preneurs: A Kid-Run Virtual Lemonade Stand To Teach Entrepreneurship [GOOD]

Independence: Hacking the Classroom to Encourage Student Independence [THE Journal]

Financial literacy: Moneythink: Giving a Handup (Not a Handout) With Financial Literacy Skills [GOOD]

Basic electronics: How to Get Started with DIY Electronics Projects [Lifehacker]

Coding: A Videogame That Teaches Kids To Code [Fast Company Co:Design] - See the game's trailer below.

See the original post, A Brief Collection of Critical Topics Missing From Most Curricula.

Weekend Reader on Gaming in the Classroom: April 2013

2013-04-05T11:00:00.000-05:00

Ten Surprising Truths about Video Games and Learning [KQED MindShift]

Bringing Gaming to the Classroom [Cisco]

Free Tools to Incorporate Game-Based Learning [Edutopia]

Can Video Games Make Us Better People? [Annie Murphy Paul via Twitter]

Math, Physic, Languages: Minecraft is the Teachers’ Ultimate Multi-Tool [KQED MindShift]

5 Awesome Articles to Share With Your Students

2013-03-22T11:00:00.000-05:00

How I used to share awesome articles with my students.

10 Amazing Jobs You Could Land With the Right STEM Education [Mashable!] - Discuss this one in class and watch their eyes light up!

MIT’s Free Creative Learning Class Teaches You How to Learn Almost Anything [Lifehacker] - Discuss question: What would you want to learn, if you could do it for free?

What if students designed their own schools? [GOOD] - Ask your students what their school might look like. You can use the short video as the kickoff for your discussion.

Mark Hyman, MD: Why Cooking Can Save Your Life [Huffington Post] - Home Economics isn't too easy to find these days, but that doesn't mean the skills are unneeded for your student's long term health.

How to Self-Publish Your Very Own Children's Book [Wired:GeekDad] - In the digital age, anyone can do this. I would suggest to use Lulu.com for the self-publishing, since they have done right by me with my two books, but otherwise, there's nothing stopping your students from being able to do this. You could do this as a very low tech in class project, but if you have access to tablets or similar tech, why not create the physical product? Your students would be much more invested if they were creating something not only tangible but that could actually make them some money.

What Will It Take For "Zero Tolerance" Policies To End?

2013-03-18T11:00:00.000-05:00

It's not too surprising that as a nation, we're all out of outrage for stories like Boy Suspended From School For Making “Gun” Out Of A Pop-Tart and Florida high school hero gets suspended AFTER preventing school bus shooting. It seems that in recent years, stories like this have become as much of a media cliche as "local boy makes good." They still illicit some sort of reaction, but it's not sustained or strong enough for us to make a serious change to the now standard "zero tolerance" policies in school districts across the country.

An artifact from my earliest teaching experience

"Zero tolerance" sounds great when the most common school story seems to be about mass shootings. Of course, that's why we have these policies to begin with. The reality is that "zero tolerance" runs counter to anti-bullying efforts as well as common sense that every good teacher uses within their classroom.

Bullying is nothing new. I was bullied in middle school (this was years before Columbine), and when I stood up for myself and it inevitably led to a "fight", we were both punished equally. This was wrong then, and it's wrong now--if a student is bullied and stands up for themselves, or someone defends themselves after someone else starts a fight, it should not result in both students being suspended or otherwise punished. Obviously, a student intervening to prevent a Columbine-like tragedy should be honored, not punished.

In short, "zero tolerance" discourages anyone from intervening and preventing bullying or other violence--including bystanders--because the consequences are doled out so thoughtlessly.

This brings us to the second problem: great teachers follow the main theme of Teaching with Love & Logic, the best book ever written about teaching. Great teachers know that the ladder of consequences or any other rigid system simply doesn't work. Every incident should be considered on a case-by-case basis, like it is in exemplary classrooms. This idea hasn't spread to the school or district level, like many common sense ideas that come from the classroom, but that's because it's easier to follow mindless, blanket policies.

The solution to this problem is very simple: districts and ultimately principals consider each case on it's merits and hand out appropriate consequences accordingly. This would end the practice that led to the Florida teen and any kid that makes a mere gesture of a gun getting suspended. Keeping "zero tolerance" in place not only fails to protect innocent kids, but also adds to the list of reasons why students are so increasingly disengaged with the entire school system.

Our students deserve a system grounded in reality, like the rest of the world around them.

Have You Read One Of My Books? If So, I Need Your Help

2013-03-13T11:00:00.000-05:00

I know a lot of people have read one or both my books on teaching, Ten Cheap Lessons and Teaching is Not a Four Letter Word: How to Stop Worrying and Love the Job. Between the number sold and those I've given away, there's roughly a thousand of you out there. Here's my problem:

0 reviews for Ten Cheap Lessons on Amazon, only 1 on Lulu.com.

2 reviews for Teaching is Not a Four Letter Word on Amazon and 0 on Lulu.com.

I don't know about you, but I rarely buy anything online that has few or no reviews. So no matter where you got your copy of my books, you can help me out by logging in to either site and posting a brief review.

Positive or negative, I'd like you to share your thoughts with others who might be interested. Any feedback I receive will help me reflect, improve and hopefully be able to publish better work in the future.

Ten Cheap Lessons: Lulu.com, Amazon.com.
Teaching is Not a Four Letter Word: Lulu.com, Amazon.com

What Leaders Can Learn From Spike TV's Bar Rescue

2013-03-11T11:00:00.001-05:00

Jon Taffer would make a pretty good principal. In the Spike TV reality series Bar Rescue, the bar expert takes failing bars and turns them around. How that might qualify him for a principal role requires looking closely at this great show and finding the very practical lessons that apply to any successful organization.

The problems facing each bar vary, of course, but the overarching problem in nearly all of the businesses is a failure of leadership. At first, the owner usually refuses to take responsibility for bad practices, poorly trained managers and employees, or failing to meet the needs and wants of their clientele. Of course, when no one takes responsibility, nothing ever gets better--especially if the lack of accountability starts at the top.

Does that sound much different than a school or classroom that's being run poorly? You can only fix problems when you agree to own them.

The show follows a procedure of collecting information, history and observations and then using that data to make improvements. Taffer brings in experts to retrain staff, fix menus and improve the entire concept behind the bar. He uses tons of research and science to get the owner and staff on board with changes and to show us, the viewer, why it works.

The process of reflecting on relevant data is something every successful teacher and school leader does. Poor leaders can sometimes put on a good enough show to convince you they're seriously, objectively looking at what's right and wrong in their schools.

There's also some great examples of what not to do on the show. Owners, managers and employees display the whole gamut of poor decisions, from laziness to ignorance. Taffer himself does a lot of yelling and insulting that should never fly in any school or classroom.

Most importantly, there is always resistance to change--it doesn't matter that these places are failing and what they are doing is clearly not working, there's always someone fighting Taffer on making improvements.

We see all of these things in schools, and we must continually strive to do better.

There are many other shows like this on television, and they follow the same formula--Restaurant Impossible, Tattoo Rescue, and many other makeover shows. If you watch a lot of them, like me, you see these same lessons come up almost without fail. That's how you know it's something you can learn from as an educator.

Weekend Reader on Video in the Classroom: March 2013

2013-03-08T11:18:00.000-06:00

19 Videos That Make Learning Fun [Mental Floss] - Covering everything from women's suffrage to calculus.

Kids Will Create Masterpieces With the Tabletop Moviemaking Studio [Wired:GeekDad]

THNKR - CHANGE YOUR MIND [YouTube via Twitter] - Described as TED talks for high school and college students "but better".

Making Math Meaningful with Online Games and Videos [KQED/Mindshift]

8 Videos That Prove Math Is Awesome [Mashable!]

Weekend Reader on Social Media & Education: March 2013

2013-03-01T11:00:00.000-06:00

Why Public School Leaders Must Embrace Social Media Now [Forbes]

The Teacher's Guide to Facebook [Mashable!]

BEING SOCIAL: HOW SOCIAL MEDIA CAN TRANSFORM YOUR SCHOOL CLASSROOMS [Tech & Learning]

It's vital we teach social networking skills in school [The Independent]

Teen Takes Educators to Twitter School [Mashable!]

Don't Click 'Share' To Save A Copy of My Shared Google Docs

2013-02-24T13:12:00.000-06:00

It's good to know many teachers are getting use out of the documents I've shared on Google Drive. I know this because I get an email every time someone clicks Share, because that button is a bit misleading.

When you click Share, Google thinks you want to make a collaborative document, not save a copy to your own Google Drive or hard drive. If I approved all of these requests, each one of those people would be able to edit the original document I shared however they want, and it would be saved that way for everyone else in the future.

Since I want to preserve my original documents and you want simply to have your own editable copy, you don't want to click Share. The image above should be pretty clear, but if you're not sure, follow the easy directions I posted last spring:

I Want to Teach Forever: How to Make a Copy of Google Docs I've Shared UPDATE 2/28: Some of my Google Drive settings were messed up and things were not being shared properly. I fixed them this morning and you should be able to access any and all files that I've shared here on the blog.

5 More Ideas for Using iPads in Schools

2013-02-22T11:00:00.001-06:00

A Free Interactive iPad App To Teach Algebra [Edudemic]

Build your Wild Self Stories : 6th graders collaboratively create Avatars w/ Pages [via @Artsedtech]

17 ways iPads will be used in schools in 2013 [Education Dive via Twitter] - I like the many ways that tablets, while often expensive up front, will ultimately result in lots of savings in terms of money and waste. Hopefully it will also toll the bell for traditional textbooks.

iPad Poster for Primary School [Apps in Education] - Love this simple poster!

iOS 6 Tip: Lock children out of exiting an app on iPad / iPhone [SpeechBox] - i06 has a built in feature called Guided Access that does exactly what it sounds like it does.

Weekend Reader on Tech in the Classroom: February 2013

2013-02-15T11:00:00.000-06:00

Hands-On Learning in School Just Got Very Real [Mashable!] - Microsoft Surface + giant Promethean-built touchscreen = an interesting new development in technology for schools.

How Portal 2 Developers Became The Best 6th Grade Physics Teachers Ever [Fast Company]

Handing Out Laptops in School Isn't Enough—Teachers Need Training, Too [GOOD]

5 Ways Schools or Districts Can Immediately Use Technology to Engage in Authentic Learning [The 21st Century Principal]

SimCityEDU Teaches Students STEM Subjects in a Virtual Environment [Mashable!]

Notes on Teaching: A Short Guide to an Essential Skill [Giveaway]

2013-02-05T14:01:00.001-06:00

I'm no conspiracy nut, but I think the authors of Notes on Teaching: A Short Guide to an Essential Skill, Shellee Hendricks and Russell Reich, must be somehow reading my thoughts. They've managed to put together a book that's one of the best companion pieces to this blog that I've ever read, including my own books. There are 184 "notes" in Notes on Teaching, grouped by topic and with each going into detail without being too long winded or overwhelming.

A few examples that I particularly loved:

174. Put away the jargon. We rightly try to use the correct language and vocabulary to teach concepts, but we often get lost in it and forget to actually teach the concept and develop the vocabulary along the way.

159. Open your door. In a world where separate offices and cubicles are being replaced by more open concepts across industries, this is an important lesson to you can teach your students by example.

114. Notice what they [students] want you to notice. In other words, pay attention to your kids. I've been reflecting on my career for a while now, and showing your students you care in as many ways as you can is one of the best ways to get them engaged and on the right track in and out of your classroom.

172. Be an eternal student. Perhaps the best advice she (and I) could give you for any career.

Of course, I didn't agree with everything (Never use sarcasm), nor did I think everything was particularly realistic for everyone (Clean the slate daily). Yet I found little to quibble with, and came away thinking Notes on Teaching is a more explicit version of my own book, Teaching is Not a Four Letter Word. We both offer straightforward advice culled from years of practice, observation and professional learning, but there's enough to compare and contrast that you will certainly get a lot out of Hendricks and Reich's work.

RCR Creative Press sent me a review copy that I want to give away to a teacher (or future teacher) that wants it. If you're interested, email teachforever@gmail.com with the subject "Notes on Teaching giveaway" by 11:59pm CST on Wednesday. I'll pick a random winner and send them the book! Good luck and thanks for reading.

More Free Online Courses For You & Your Students

2013-01-25T11:00:00.000-06:00

Drop In! Top Schools From Berkeley to Yale Now Offer Free Online Courses [Mashable!]

Stanford Offers Free Game Theory Course [Wired:GeekDad]

Thanks to This Free Class, Every Educator Can Learn Design Thinking [GOOD]

Top UK universities launch free online courses [The Guardian]

Hack Design Delivers Design Lessons to Your Inbox Each Week [Lifehacker]

"No Excuses" Is a Powerful Idea in Education

2013-01-16T14:31:00.000-06:00

Student rendition of my classroom, circa 06-07

Today on This Week in Education, Paul Bruno declared "No Excuses," the mantra made popular by KIPP and others in the charter school movement, a meaningless education phrase. He was responding in part to reports of Washington, D.C. charter schools having high expulsion rates, implying that "No Excuses" is mainly used as a reason to kick out kids who cause problems.

Many charter schools and organizations have adopted the "No Excuses" idea from KIPP and used it for a number of reasons. It is translated into very high expectations for teachers, staff, students and parents on all fronts. It is sometimes (and in my admittedly narrow experience, very rarely) used as a reason to expel students.

Bruno is missing the most important meaning behind "No Excuses," the one that drives teachers and leaders at every one of these schools.

"No Excuses" means that poverty, race, the neighborhood you live in, and the innumerable issues challenging low-income students and their families should not be accepted by society as excuses for why they can't succeed. Those factors should not stand in the way of a great education and a path towards a better life. We've come a long way towards getting past the idea that certain students "can't learn," but we're not there yet. Indeed, those of us that have worked in low-income communities will tell you how much we have to fight this idea among our own students, parents and teachers.

"No Excuses" stands in defiance of that lingering fallacy.

To paraphrase my friend JoAnn Gama, Co-Founder of IDEA Public Schools and member of President Obama's White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, being born into a low-income community should not be a guarantee that every successive generation will live in poverty. Education is a gateway out of poverty, and we should be making "No Excuses" as we push our students and ourselves on that path.

Weekend Reader on Sleep & Your Health

2013-01-11T11:00:00.000-06:00

Eating Earlier in the Day May Make You Healthier and Sleep Better [Lifehacker]

Use a "Sleep Diet" to Ward Off Weight Gain [Lifehacker]

Do Some Math If You Have Trouble Falling Asleep [Lifehacker]

Students Who Stay Awake to Study Do Worse in School the Next Day [Wired:GeekDad]

Bruno: Sleep, Don't Study [This Week in Education]

Harness the Power of the Apps and Websites Our Students Use Every Day

2013-01-07T11:00:00.000-06:00

The Pinterest of education.

The Facebook of education.

The YouTube of education.

As the use of technology in the classroom has risen, so has a cottage industry of supposedly classroom-friendly versions of the most popular, powerful and useful websites and apps available. These new websites and apps aim to fill a demand to take every good idea and create a version that allows teachers, parents and administrators strict control over content and use.

We don't need a "Pinterest of education," because we have Pinterest. We don't need the "Facebook of education," because we have Facebook, the most popular website in the world. We block and ban the real sites because we can't control everything students do or see. We spend millions of dollars on people, hardware and software to ban the most relevant technologies available, because we can't be bothered to figure out how to make our lessons more engaging than what these sites and apps offer.

Don't misunderstand: there are certainly many great, useful educational websites and apps and the need for them is growing. Yet while the education sphere rings loud with the call for curicula and lessons that are more relevant to our students' lives, at the same time they are fighting to avoid using things our students and the world around them use in real life every day.

As the next generation of apps that our students actually use comes to your attention--such as Twitter, Tumblr or any number of new photo and video sharing apps--don't go looking for the education version. Start thinking about how you can use the powerful, relevant tools in front of you.

Related: Educational Games Research » No Need to Reinvent the Wheel to Revolutionize Educational Video Games

Ideas For Getting Your Students to Write More

2013-01-04T11:00:00.000-06:00

Get them blogging: Blogging 2 Learn - Point your students at this site to help them get started with their own blog. The book below was written about a 9 year old student who started blogging about her school's poor food choices, a great example of the power of this medium.

Start a penpal project: Penpal Exchange Helps Students Squash Red-Blue State Divisions [GOOD] - This is even more engaging and easy if you integrate it with Skype in the Classroom as noted below.

Connect with inspiration across the planet: 'Skype in the Classroom' Connects Kids to NASA and Global Experts [GOOD]

Provide the optimal atmosphere: Coffee Shop Buzz Is Good For Your Creativity and Why Distractions Can Actually Be Good for Creative Thinking [Lifehacker] - How can you recreate the ambient noise and occasional distractions needed for creativity without letting your classroom descend into chaos?

Use hip-hop and other music: Taking back the mic: Hip-hop as a STEM learning tool [The Root DC Live / WaPo]

BONUS: You could try a six word story, something I wrote about in A Lifetime in Six Words? Possible.

Key Insights on Education From Outside the Sphere

2012-12-21T11:00:00.000-06:00


The Outsiders, circa mid-90s, have a perspective

This Week In Education: Bruno: A Math Professor's Year Teaching High School [This Week In Education] - What happened when a college professor used a sabbatical to teach high school math?

No soft retirement for this former NFL QB [NBC Sports via This Week in Education] - After a long, successful career in football, Jon Kitna became a math teacher and football coach at his alma mater. It's a great story.

After a Year Teaching High School, Tony Danza Says We Owe Educators an Apology [GOOD] - The actor turned teacher (at least for one year) wrote a book about his experience in a Philadelphia high school entitled I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had: My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High. I felt this way after a couple of years in the classroom, and did go back and apologize to one of my high school teachers.

Use Tim Ferriss' Four-Step Process to Master New Skills [Lifehacker] - My love of Tim Ferriss and his methods is no secret; in 2007 I explained how to apply the lessons of his book The Four-Hour Workweek to teaching. I think there's still more to learn from him, specifically how to teach our students his method for learning new skills rapidly (and how to structure some of our lessons this way).

Why Nate Silver Can Save Math Education in America [KQED/MindShift] - Silver's rise to superstar nerd status through his use of statistics shines a light on what's fundamentally wrong with our approach to math in schools.

December 2012 Reader on Tablets & Apps in Education

2012-12-14T11:00:00.000-06:00

6 Safety Apps Every Student Should Download [Mashable!] - A college-focused list, but most of the apps would be relevant for middle and high school students as well. See also Facebook and Google Help Launch Online Safety Platform For Teens.

Everything You Need to Know About iOS 6 in Under Three Minutes [Lifehacker] - In case you missed it.

Kindle Whispercast gives schools and teachers control over students' tablet browsing [Slate]

Periodic Table Wall Graphics from Yiying Lu. Plus FREE Periodic Table Design Downloads! [WALLS 360] - A free, printable interactive periodic table that uses QR Codes for each element. Your students could use one of any number of free QR Code reader apps to find more information.

Why Tablets Are Important for Educating Our Children [Wired:GeekDad]

November 2012 Reader on Gamification & Education

2012-11-23T11:00:00.000-06:00

In Defense of Video Games: More Than Just an Entertaining Time Sink [Lifehacker]

5 Ways Teachers Can Evaluate Educational Games [Mashable!]

INFOGRAPHIC: Gaming in the Classroom: Why Bring Electronic Games into the Classroom? [Online Schools]

What Makes Educational Games Work? [KQED MindShift]

5 Reasons to “Gamify” Your Class [The Innovative Educator]

November 2012 Reader on Robotics & Electronics in Education

2012-11-16T11:00:00.000-06:00

Create Your Own Robot Using This Multiplo Kit [VIDEO] [Mashable]

LEGO-like Toys Help Kids Build Electronics [Mashable]

Raspberry Pi Launches, Offers Low-Cost, Low-Power, Hackable PCs to All [Lifehacker]

E for Electronics Is a Coloring Book That Teaches Ohm's Law [Lifehacker]

Technology: "Social Robots" In The Classroom [This Week In Education]

Student Video Contest Focuses on Global Connections

2012-11-14T11:54:00.000-06:00

A great contest for high school students just came into my inbox. Pass it along to your students (especially if they have iPads or similar devices at their disposal):

A national grassroots group is offering high school students the chance to win $1,000 and other cash prizes in a student video PSA contest.

Population Connection, the nation’s largest grassroots population organization, is again hosting its “World of 7 Billion” contest. Students in grades 9-12 are asked to create a 30-45 second public service announcement that illustrates the connection between world population at seven billion and one of the following topics: Food security, wildlife habitat, or the global status of women and girls.

Cash prizes will be awarded to four winners in each topic area. Three grand prize winners will receive $1,000. Participating teachers will receive free curriculum. The deadline for video submission is Feb. 21, 2013.

For full contest rules or to see previous winning videos, please visit www.worldof7billion.org.