This blog is derived from my educational experiences.

For amazing professional development given by educators who are passionate about what they do don’t miss these unconferences. If you want to share something that works with your students please give a session. I have attended nine of these events and each has been a great chance to meet, connect, learn and share with amazing people.

There is one real big problem at these free events. It is physically impossible to be at all the sessions during the same time period.  Yes, you can can freely go from one session to another but this does not work for me.  I get so caught up in the discussion I freeze in my spot so I don’t miss the learning and free flow of ideas. A way to get around this dilemma is to attend with colleagues and each go to a different session and later share with each other.

Please don’t miss my favorite The Smackdown which is a sharing blitz of great sites, apps or even teaching techniques (My Beach Ball Geography)

If you check the edcamp Wiki
or TeachMeet UK  and there is none near you organize one.

My big regret is not being able to attend all these great, free unconferences.  I just don’t have the financial resources to accomplish this.

My EdCamp page

My TeachMeet page

When I drive I always look ahead.  When I see an upcoming light turning red I slow down.  I feel that there is no need to speed up to a red light plus it saves gas to slow down to a stop.  I am conscious of what is going on all around me especially when I come to intersections.

I feel it is incumbent on all educators and parents to prepare our students/children for what lies ahead as well as making them conscious of the world around them.  I know it is impossible to predict the future but we must give our children a good foundation.

When I started teaching global history I quickly realized that my students had little knowledge of the world.  In fact, they did not even know about where they lived. I wanted them to be aware of the history and resources available to them.  I decided then to write a study of the neighborhood I taught in.  I then used that as a microcosm to explore the rest of the world.  Included in the neighborhood study was a comparison of the careers then and now.  This led to my writing career education curriculum for a school-business partnership.

I am a firm believer that we should be teaching about careers on all grade levels and in all subject areas. We should be exposing our students to possible careers but most important we have to stress the basic skills necessary for the work world.  Teaching them both verbal and non verbal communication skills, problem solving and critical thinking, working with others, money and budgeting, consumerism and technology are very important.

When I taught Social Studies I made it a point to make sure that my students were aware of what was going on in the world.  My daily homework assignment (sorry Alfie Kohn) was to have the students read about, listen to or watch the news.  In class we would discuss the major news stories.  One student years later wrote the following:

“Yale has played a tremendous role in broadening my horizons.  I’d never really been a very political person before – you probably remember quiet little me when it came to current events back in the good ‘ole days – but there is so much debate and political unrest here, it is almost impossible to not become aware of the issues.  There are so many things in this world that are flawed, and I think awareness is the key to improving them.  I used to dislike the “current events” part of our class, but now looking back, I see the significance of this exercise.  I only wish I saw it then.  And now, as I am about to embark on this long and treacherous journey called Life, I see it fitting that I look to the past, to the man who has been so important to my growth.  And I want to thank him.  Thank you. Mr. Blumengarten.”

Looking back on my Twitter Timeline I had a very busy year.

It is wonderful to be able to interact with great global educators, parents and students on a daily basis.  I like being able to learn so much from my wonderful PLN (Personal Learning and Sharing Network) and sharing my educational sites with others.

I somehow managed to help moderate #edchat every week. Much thanks to the wonderful #edchat team: @web20classroom @tomwhitby @ShellTerrell @rliberni @mbteach @kylepace
@jswiatek @EdtechSteve.  We had some wonderful discussions this year.  Thank you to all that participated.  I look forward to another wonderful #edchat year.  Please give us your suggestions for topics.

I was honored to be the guest moderator on #gtchat, #sschat and #engsschat.  My idea to join chats worked extremely well for #engsschat and #ticsschat.  I strongly feel that the educational hashtags and chats are what really helps connect educators and makes Twitter so valuable in education.  In 2012 I hope to continue to help moderate #edchat and I would like help create more joint chats.  I promised my good friends on #elemchat a joint chat with #sschat

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting many of my great PLN members while I gave opening addresses and/or sessions at TeachMeetGA, EdCampBirmingham, ntcamp, EdCampSpaceCoast, EdCampCitrus and the #sschat session at NCSS.  Getting to know these wonderful people on a personal level is so rewarding.  I can see the advantages of blended learning and realize the value of the face to face contact.  One of my fun adventures occurred one early morning in Washington, DC when I logged on and saw that @ShawnMcCusker was at White House and was headed to the Vietnam Memorial.  I quickly jogged/ran from my hotel to the monuments and was lucky to find Shawn.  We had a wonderful walking tour of the monuments to the Supreme Court and Library of Congress behind the Capitol.  The fact that I am a part of #temt The Twitter Exercise Motivation Team helped me be able to do that great walk with ease.

Unfortunately, I have to cut back on my attending conferences due to financial limitations.  Since I have to pay my own way it does get costly. I am going to fulfill my promise to attend #edcampSS  in Philadelphia and #edcampBoston (gives me a chance to visit my family and friends in Boston and Cape Cod) this year and will try to do more local events near my home.

Skype has enabled me to give my writing presentations in Georgia, Massachusetts, Iowa, Louisiana, and Florida as well as calls to a preservice class in Kansas, an Alabama tech conference, a chat with the organizers of #digcit chat and #edcampSC.  I have also taken part in webinars for Math Future and TeacherCast.

In 2012 I will continue my status as a lifelong learner by exploring new tools and providing more links or pages on relevant educational materials.  I do not publish “best” lists because my philosophy is put as many good sites on the same topic on a page and have the reader decide which are best for their purposes.

When not tweeting I have found that I am still pretty good at giving feedings and changing diapers for my newest grandchild.  I still have to master getting her dressed and promise my daughter not to put her top on backwards again and make sure I button her onezie all the time!  I really enjoy all five of my grandchildren, my own children and their spouses, and my wonderful wife and I am extremely proud of all of their accomplishments.

When my daughter was in lower elementary school she chose to do a Social Studies community project on the Jones Beach (Long Island, NY) Water Tower.  We went to Jones Beach and took photographs of the tower and then she interviewed the head park ranger.  When we got home she did some research and starting writing a report.  We also built  a model of the tower for the school Social Studies Fair.  It was wonderful to see all of the displays at the fair and the proud looks on the children’s faces. Twenty plus years later both my daughter and I have fond memories of this father-daughter project.

There has been a lot of attention on the need to improve parent involvement in schools.  Planning more fun family activities would really help.  Make sure to provide free child care and have refreshments.

I feel that it is important that there are more family type events in schools periodically.  I always enjoyed seeing the art shows with my children’s work displayed, listening to them perform in concerts or watching them perform in school plays or gym nights.

Be creative in forming these activities to make them more interactive for both the parents and children. A great beginning of the year activity especially for parents new to a school would be a QR Code Scavenger Hunt of the building.  Just think of all the fun parents could have with their children solving problems and riddles on a Math Night.

These parent children activities will become life long memories.

Help! Each day I am bombarded by tweets, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Klout (thanks to all those who have added me), emails, text and instant messages and I tend to lose my focus on what I should be doing.  It is a good thing I am a pretty good at multitasking.

Do you notice that when you attend a performance or a lecture they start by asking you to turn off your cell phones?  This allows you to concentrate on the performance or speaker.  (My only problem is that they do not remind you to turn your cell phone back on.  If I am tardy in responding to any one this is the main reason!)  Since we are surrounded by so many competing things in our lives it is important that we learn to focus in on what we are doing. I feel that we also have to work with our children/students on focusing on whatever they are doing.

During the time I coached I worked with my team on focusing in on what they were doing. I remember gathering my relay team together in the final race in the city championships.  I told them that whether they lost or won I would still be extremely proud of them for their hard work and commitment to the team.  I reminded them to focus on the handoff and try to block out everything else around them.

When I taught I spent a fair amount of time in the beginning of the school term getting my students to learn to listen.  This required them to focus on whoever was talking and not to fidget or play with their pen, pencil, paper, etc.  It is also extremely important that we as teachers and administrators listen to our students. In addition, we as educators need to focus on what we are doing with our students.  It is a good idea to set goals and have a mission statement.  Of course, it is important to review and amend those during the course of the school year.  I just wish the educational policy makers would focus on the real needs of the teachers and students in the classrooms as well as their parents and listen to what they need.

When I had writing assignments for my publisher I would have a sign on my desk with the word “Focus” on it.   Before my educational booklets were published they were reviewed by children, teachers and utility representatives.  I can remember when just about everyone would love a page except for one person. At first I could not understand why that person did not approve it.  When I focused in on that person’s comments in many cases I saw their point and then made the appropriate changes.

Of course, I should practice what I preach but that is very hard to do when I moderate a chat on Twitter.  The pace is so frenetic and it is hard to focus in on all the tweets and what they bring up.  I also have to focus on what I tweet.  There are times I inadvertently use the wrong word because I am rushed or leave out things as a result of the 140 character constraint.

We have to remind ourselves in our busy lives to focus on the things that really matter in our lives.

This is the front door of @grade1 Aviva Dunsiger's classroom.

I have recently been very inspired by what my good Twitter friend @AngelaMaiers is trying to do with her #youmatter mission. We definitely should let the children that we teach know that they matter to us.  Not only should we be recognizing our students and believing in them but you have to realize that you really matter to your students.  Many of your students will never let you know how you have affected them.

While doing my Fall cleaning I came across my Teaching Career binder. It contains many of the letters that I received during my 32 year career.  Most of the letters are from my administrators. Sprinkled throughout are letters from my students.  Reading them reminded me of the funeral of my father.  So many people came up to me and told me how my father had helped them.  I had no idea of his tremendous impact on so many people.  Similarly you might not realize the effect you are having on your students.

Some parts of the letters I received and special times that I’m lucky enough to have been brought to my attention

• The day my class gave me a trophy and a letter of their appreciation for what I was doing for them.
• A student’s letter telling me to please stay safe in the dangerous neighborhood where I taught.
• From parents thanking me for getting their son in a college discovery program.
• You were the best when I was in your class and you are still climbing that ladder.
• You have been a great friend as well as a good teacher.
• The time my track team presented me with a stop watch after we won the city championship.
• A student who saw me on television teaching a lesson commenting on how great I looked.
• “Thank you for having faith in me.”
• I will never forget my first library squad presenting me with a special plaque.
• “And now, as I am about to embark on this long and treacherous journey called Life, I see it fitting that I look to the past, to the man who has been so important to my growth.  And I want to thank him.  Thank you, Mr. Blumengarten.” (Student at the time was attending Yale University)
• “And yes, I will surround myself with positive people.  I will also carry the words of “If” with me at all times.” (Student who was a very successful professional athlete written from prison)

Teachers have no real idea of how they have impacted their students’ lives.  Last year when I went to TeachMeet Georgia one of my former students who found me on Facebook said he wanted his wife to meet me.  He and his wife treated my wife and me to a fancy dinner.  He said it was his way of thanking me for helping get into a special program that consisted of boarding school and an Ivy League education.  He remembered my telling him that he was either going to be a politician or lawyer. Today, he is a very successful attorney.

To all educators I want to thank you for all that you do and let you know you too really matter.

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match. 

 Whenever I get an email from a new follower I automatically look at their biography.  I like to know what they are interested in, where they are from and what they teach, etc. I check the grade level and subject area they teach to direct them to those pages on my website . I feel that it is important to carefully construct your biography so that people reading it will know what you are all about.  I can however understand why some people keep private and I respect that.

 I am thrilled that we now have such a wide variety of subject area and grade level chats on Twitter. I feel it is a wonderful way to get people (educators, parents and students) together to discuss common issues, problems and find solutions.  It is nice to see the connections and collaborations that have been made through these chats.  I send my new followers the names of chats I feel fit their teaching profile.  I feel that this will help them start building their own PLN (Personal Learning Network) with educators who teach the same grade level or subject area. Each day I also tweet the chats that occur that day to remind my PLN of them.

I like to know where my followers are located because I try to match them up with the edcamps or TeachMeets that are planned in their geographical area.  These unconferences have grown and blossomed and are great and fun learning experiences where I have seen PLN members connect face to face, interact and collaborations have grown as a result.  This is what makes Twitter wonderful.

 My PLN Stars page  is an accumulation of great educators to follow in different subject areas. 

 During the course of a typical Twitter day members of my PLN asks me a lot of questions. Contrary to popular belief I do not know everything.  Luckily I have an unbelievable PLN  and am able to connect questioners with my go to people whether it is about the Flipped Classroom, tech questions or collaborative projects. 

 Twitter has definitely brought together similar minded educators who are passionate about their jobs and the children that they educate.  The matchmaking is taking place on Twitter 24/7 and it is wonderful to experience.

 Matchmaker, Matchmaker,
Make me a match,
Find me a find,
catch me a catch
Matchmaker, Matchmaker
Look through your book,
And make me a perfect match

Years ago I was asked to take part in a community group looking to address the gap in activities for young adults after school in our town. I was quite impressed with the group that was assembled but I noticed a glaring exclusion. I raised my hand and was recognized by the chairperson. I said, “We are missing a very important element here.” She responded, “Jerry, we have the Superintendent, School Board members, all the principals, members of the clergy, the police captain of the local precinct, elected officials, Presidents of all the PTA’s, members of the Chamber of Commerce and business community and of course you representing the library (I was the President of the Library Board of Trustees & VP of one of the areas HS PTAs.).” I replied: “How come we do not have any young members of the community here? We are here to make decisions about them and they should be heard.”

A lot of times when we are making important educational decisions we have a tendency to leave out the voices of the students (and parents). We should be listening more to what our children and students have to say. When making the rules of the classroom include the students in the formulation of them. Learn to step aside and let the students take more of a role in their learning process. School improvement needs the voices of the students on what they would like to say. Make them a real part of the process.

In the early 1980’s I had a Social Studies class that was real troublesome.  All their subject area teachers had problems with them.

I always felt that it was important that my students knew what was going on in the world, so with this class as well as with my others, their daily homework assignment was either to listen to, watch or read the important news of the day. The next day we would start off with a recap of the major news stories that occurred.  Coincidentally, one student years later wrote me from college stating that he did not appreciate this assignment until he reached college.  He thanked me for having him do this.

This tough class was reluctant to do the daily homework so I decided to have them do a weekly news show.  I had them decide what we should cover on the news show.  They came up with the following: world news, national news, state news, local news, sports, fashion, movies, music, business, and weather.   I was very pleased when they really got into this weekly project.  The first weather person after a couple of weeks told me to step aside.  He was going to take charge of this show.  He even decided to give the show to the teachers during their lunch period.

This activity really turned this class around.  They were a joy to work with the rest of the school year and my colleagues loved the change in attitude of this class.

One day years later my wife and I were walking in midtown Manhattan when someone yelled, “Mr. Blumengarten!”  Boy was I surprised when the former weather forecaster on our weekly news show ran up to me and he was wearing an NBC jacket!

It is important to know when you should step aside and let your students take charge of their learning.  Of course, you should still be present to facilitate and help them along their paths of discovery.

Dear Administrators,

I know that you have awesome responsibilities and are very busy having to work with your staff, your superiors, the school board, parents and the local community but please do not lose sight of the classroom teacher, the pupils in your school and their parents.

Your School

Work with your staff, students and parents to build a learning environment in your school. My favorite expression to administrators is “Take the Chalk.” Of course it would now be “Take the IWB or tech tools” and get in the classroom.  Teach some lessons and talk with the students.  My all time favorite administrator was one superintendent who took the chalk when I presented it to him and he had the time of his life working with my class.  He thanked me for the opportunity he had not had in years

Expectations

Please let your staff and students know exactly what you want from them.  Don’t keep them guessing.  Establish rules with them to ensure your building has an atmosphere where learning will take place..

New Teachers

I have seen too many new teachers who had a lot of promise leave teaching because of what they experienced.  Provide them with support and make sure their needs are met.  Periodically talk to them informally and find out what help they need.

Observations

I will never forget the post observation conference from one principal who criticized my use of the chalkboard.  He went on for 15 minutes about how I should use the chalkboards in a classroom.  When he finally finished I asked him what room he observed me in.  It took him a while to finally realize that it was the art room and I had to remind him that it only had one portable chalkboard.  The art teacher had her work on one side and did not want it erased.

I did not mind observations but what I really needed was constructive criticism on how to improve my teaching techniques and how I got the material across.

Listen to your staff and students

Too many times I was told we don’t do that in this school, we do it this way by my administrators.  Be open to new ideas and methods.  Keep your door open to sit down with your staff.  Be cognizant of their lives (deaths and illnesses in the family, children’s achievements).  Show that you are a caring administrator by acknowledging students by name and know what they are going through.

Letters and Appreciation

Teachers need a pat on the back once in a while.  I had principals who only had a negative approach. Of course there are extremes too.  I have a bulging binder of letters from my administrators.  Some wrote a letter for everything I did and it got to be too much.  Other administrators rarely wrote an appreciation note for my going above and beyond the call of duty.  Let your teachers know when they are doing well and in a nice way show teachers how they can improve.  Be there to support them, not tear them down.  It is not an easy job being a classroom teacher.

Professional Development

Provide meaningful training for teachers that they can actually use in their classrooms.  The edcamp model shows that giving teachers a choice of what they want to learn is very beneficial.  I sat through and wasted my time in most faculty conferences and training sessions that I had to attend. Ask your teachers for their input on what training sessions were beneficial and which can be improved.  Heed their advice to make the experience worthwhile for them! Encourage your teachers to observe their colleagues and if possible allow them to attend educational conferences.

Parents

Communication is essential with the parents in your school.  You need to build a dialogue with them and need their cooperation to ensure the best learning for the students.  Keep them informed of school events, schedules and provide them with useful information on how to work with their children.

I hope that you have a wonderful school year.  Please enable your staff to facilitate the best learning and growth of all of the children under you care.

My Administrators page