I will now tweet “Our Page” instead of “My Page”

In the 1990’s while a classroom teacher I started bookmarking good educational sites.  When I became the teacher-librarian in my school I started a website of links for all subject areas. I was still finding the sites myself but I then found Kathy Shrock who shared amazing information. Once I got on Twitter in 2009 I started building a great PLN.  My first follows were: @coolcatteacher @web20classroom @shellterrell and @tomwhitby.  I started getting great links from them and as time went by my Twitter followers kept providing great sites that they were using.

For years I have tweeted pages from my website http://cybraryman.com/0_teachers1.htm and stated “My Page.”  I have now changed that to “Our Page” because without my wonderful PLN how would I ever find such great sites to add.  As a constant learner and a person who truly wants to help busy students, educators and parents I cannot keep up on everything without your help. 

My PLN means a lot to me #YouMatter.

Thanks to the following and all others who share so much:

@angelamaiers @mbteach @kyplepace @alicekeeler @pernilleripp @brholland @s_bearden @joycevalenza @KleinErin @mr_isaacs @gcouros @jmattmiller @justintarte @KerryHawk02 @sylviaduckworth @shannonmmiller @mssackstein @kevinhoneycutt @ClassTechTips @pammoran @SNewco @TonySinanis @wkrakower @scottrocco @TheBradCurrie @burgess_shelley @NikkiDRobertson @jeffherb @E_Sheninger @burgessdave @RossCoops31 @iTeachLipscomb @TeacherToolkit @gwynethjones @ICTEvangelist @ICTmagic @elissamalespina @ShiftParadigm @JoyKirr @librarian_tiff @TeacherCast @ozge @jenniferlagarde @JennRegruth @ncarroll24 @nathan_stevens @TechNinjaTodd @plnaugle @Lynch39083 @RACzyz @JenWilliamsEdu @ncarroll24  @PeterMDeWitt @LaVonnaRoth @timbuckteeth @russeltarr @elemenous @EdTechNerd @johnsonmaryj 

Control Alt Achieve @ericcurts

Education World @education_world

Emerging EdTech @EmergingEdTech

My Best of series | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… @Larryferlazzo

SurfNetKids @barbarafeldman

Talk Tech With Me @Katie_M_Ritter

Teachers Edition | U.S. Department of Education @usedgov

The Tech Edvocate @techedvocate@AdvocateforEd

#EduGoalsMOOC resources @SteveWheeler

Kathy Shrock’s Guide to Everything @kathyshrock

ASCD @ASCD Which for me as a member in the 1980’s was the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

Blogging About the Web 2.0 Connected Classroom by Steven Anderson @web20classroom

BrainPop @BrainPop

Common Sense Media @CommonSense

Cult of Pedagogy @cultofpedagogy

Daily Genius @DailyGenius

EdSurge @EdSurge

EdTechTeam @edtechteam

Education Week Teacher @educationweek

Edutopia (I have followed them since their start) @Edutopia

eSchoolNews @eschoolnews

Four O’Clock Faculty @4OClockFaculty

Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne @rmbyne

Getting Smart @Getting_Smart

Learning in Hand @tonyvincent

Mind Shift @MindShiftKQED

Shake Up Learning Website and Blog @ShakeUpLearning

SimpleK12 @SimpleK12

TeachThought @TeachThought

Tech & Learning @techlearning

The Learning Networks @NYTimesLearning

You can find all these on Some Favorite Resources page

I saw through GRIT that students could achieve.

Our inner city school was so dangerous a New York City police officer was stationed in the school every day.  He and I used to talk about our track experiences. When the gym teacher stated he wanted to start a track team we both told him we would help.  We did not have a school yard or an area outside where we could practice within a short distance from the school. So we started having the team run the halls and staircases.  We were a four story school built at the turn of the 20th Century.

When we finally got to the nearest track which was located behind another middle school over a mile away everyone wanted to race me.  There was no way I could beat them sprinting so I told them we would first have to warm up.  I neglected to tell them that I was a long distance runner who was brought up to kick in the end of every run.  They started to huff, puff and complain as I jogged the first quarter mile at a good pace.  Then I picked up the rate for the next quarter.  Many of them were dropping out but I kept going and increased the pace.  There I was on the third lap all by myself so I decided to sprint in the last lap.  They all cheered and told me how fast I was.  I had gained their confidence and they were challenged to try and beat me. 

We showed these young men (and later we involved girls) that through hard work they could achieve.  We set the standards high and with perseverance and determination they went on to win all of their dual meets and the Brooklyn Borough Championship.  To win the New York City Track Championship you had to beat the over 125 schools that qualified to run.  Yes, they went on to win the NYC Track Championship and during the summer some of the runners went on to win state and national titles. 

I am proud to say that some of these runners were able to get college track scholarships as a result of their hard work.  And the best thing I saw was that their classwork and conduct improved.  They saw that through hard work they could get to places they never felt they could before. 

Angela Duckworth’s GRIT: POWER of PASSION and PERSEVERANCE is a must read for all educators. 

My Track and Field page

My Grit page 

Back to Brooklyn, back to life and reality

The sudden and unexpected news of my only brother’s passing was quite a shock to me.  I had to get back to Brooklyn from Florida as soon as possible to make arrangements.

Traveling through the extremely bustling, noisy and crowded streets of Brooklyn on my way to the Medical Examiners office and then the funeral home took me on a nostalgic tour of my life and educational journey.

It was strange seeing three of the four schools where I taught. (The fourth school was torn down many years ago after they spent a half a million dollars fixing it up.)  It is hard to believe that I survived 32 years in such a crime filled neighborhood where I literally experienced just about everything you don’t want to live through.  I did smile when I saw the now fixed-up track where I trained two of my schools to city championships.

My East New York page

My heart goes out to all educators especially those who work in areas that are not safe and schools that are overcrowded, understaffed, lacking proper management and few supplies. I always envied schools that were safe, well run and teachers had all the supplies and support they needed to properly facilitate the learning of every child. I also do not miss trying to find a place to park my car especially dealing with alternate side of the street parking. I guess you have to be young and daring to teach where I did.

I cannot believe one of my colleagues (who was kind enough to put my wife and I up) is in his 47th year at the same school.  He kept telling me that it is even worse then when I was there. His wife who works on Long Island told me how difficult it is to teach even in a good area.   

Let’s take education back and make the necessary changes to ensure the successful learning of all children. I wish the public supported educators more.  I wish all parents would take more of an interest in their children’s learning and work closer with overburdened teachers.  We can make a difference!

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On your mark, get set for the new school year…

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI must admit that when August approached I started getting quite anxious.  I knew the new school year was approaching and was I prepared for it?

My goal once school ended was to get myself in the best physical shape to endure the rigors of teaching in the inner city.  I know that the fact that I kept myself fit definitely led to my excellent attendance record in school.  I rarely if ever got sick  I was very proud of being able to be there every school day (most years 186+ days).

For quite a few years I was given a program in June only to come back in September and told I was teaching a different grade level and subject area.  At first it was really trying mentally to accept the changes but after a while I was ready for anything.  Such is life in the New York City School System.

I have many pages on my website to help you prepare for the school year.

You can find many helpful pages in My Organizing pages collection

Back to School – Icebreakers

First Days of School

Orientation to Your School

Bulletin Boards

Classroom & Behavior Management

Learning Your Students’ Names

Organizing Your Classroom

Setting up Your Classroom

 

Best of luck and here’s wishing you an outstanding year of learning.

I am excited about #EdProdChat

#EdProdChat is starting real soon and I can see this will be a tremendous way to find out about great products to use in your school.  This much needed forum will give teachers a chance to interact with the designers of products that are used in classrooms.  It will also benefit the developers who will get real feedback on their work.  Both parties want students to learn and it will lead to better products being used in classrooms throughout the world. We are not endorsing these products but showcasing them because we feel they will be valuable additions for student learning.
 
When I wrote educational activities for the utility company I developed not only a teacher review network but one for children as well as industry personnel. The final product was successful because of the input from all these points of view.  
 
Please join us on #EdProdChat
First chat will be on Thursday, September 18th at 8pm EST featuring a project based learning App called WeLearnedIt.  Hosting will be WeLearnedIt CEO Adam Bellow @adambellow
 
The weekly #EdProdChat schedule of weekly chats will begin on the first Thursday of October (Oct. 2nd) at 8pm EST
 
Please sign up on REMIND using the class code: @edprod 
 
I am looking forward to #EdProdChat  because this constant learner loves finding out about wonderful products that will benefit students.

Students should be the real lead learners

I think it is wonderful that so many principals are adopting the title “lead learner.” It is definitely a role they need to assume.

However, the real lead learner should be each student as they follow their pathway to discovery. I feel it is everyone’s duty to allow children to lead their own learning and to model being a “constant learner” for them.  Show them that they can succeed if they put their minds to the tasks they face.

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Let’s guide children but step out of their way as they lead their own learning. Make sure they are not afraid to try new things and learn from their mistakes. Give them the reins but be there if needed.

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My Learning from Mistakes page

securedownloadHave your students set their own learning goals at the beginning of the school year.  Periodically have them review these goals and make any needed changes.  A good time to do this is once a month around a holiday period (October-Halloween, November-Thanksgiving…).

My Goals Page

Please make sure to listen to your children/students and find out what they really want.  Our job as parents and educators is to guide them on their way to learning.

My What Students Want Page

 


 

 

 

 

 

Read Across America – Read Across States

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” 

I truly enjoyed reading The Cat in the Hat Comes Back by Dr. Seuss to five classes of students in a Google Hangout whose wonderful teachers are:

Amy Pratt @apratt5 – Texas

Paula Naugle @plnaugle – Louisiana

Nancy Carroll @ncarroll24 – Massachusetts

Jennifer Regruth @JennRegruth – Indiana

William Krakower @wkrakower – New Jersey

We were also joined by Sandra Paul @spaul6414 Director of Technology.

Before the show began I had no trouble figuring out which class was from Indiana as one student had a Colt’s sweatshirt on and in another class a young man was wearing a Dallas Cowboy shirt so that must have been the Texas class!  The real surprise were the students in Paula Naugle’s class all wearing paper hats just like the Cat in the Hat.

To begin I decided to give the students a little background.  Not only did Theodor Seuss Geisel who we know as Dr. Seuss was born (March 2, 1904) in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts so was my wonderful wife Gail.  As a child I had visited Springfield to visit my great uncle and cousins.  In fact, it was only a couple of blocks away from where Gail grew up.  Who would have known Springfield would play such a big role in my life? 

I told the students that Dr. Seuss grew up near one of the largest municipal parks in the United States.  Yes, Forest Park contains over 700 acres.  It now has baseball diamonds, an ice skating rink, one of the first public pools in the country, ponds, lawn bowling, bocci, a rose garden, dinosaur tracks and a zoo.  Dr. Seuss’s father was in charge of all of the parks in the city.  I am sure his son spent a lot of time at the zoo in the Forest Park.  Reading his books he did take a lot from his experiences growing up.  The animals at the zoo (elephants…), motorcycle (Indian motorcycles were built in Springfield and yes there is a Mulberry Street.

We used to spend our summers in Springfield at my father-in-law’s home right across the street from Forest Park.  Our children went to day camp in the Springfield area.  I can remember several years where I can to commute from my summer job in New York to Springfield on weekends.  One summer I even got a job at the local college teaching computers in a summer program that my daughter attended.

Since The Cat in the Hat Comes Back was written in 1958 I had to explain that the $10.00 shoes were expensive then.  An average price of shoes nowadays would be at least $60.00.

I also told the children about my mischievous grandcat.  He is far different from the mild mannered cats that my children grew up with.  Yes, during the story The Cat in the Hat sure caused a lot of trouble but lucky he had his little cat friends to restore everything to normal.

I want to compliment all the children and their teachers as my audience was excellent.  If you haven’t tried a Google Hangout  (My Google Hangout page: http://cybraryman.com/googlehangout.html) I highly recommend them.  You can get 10 people or classes at one time. 

My Dr. Seuss page contains the YouTube of my reading as well as lot of great activities and lessons.

“Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.”

PRESDI

At METC2013 The Midwest Education Technology Conference I am honored to be a “Featured Presenter.”  It is quite nice to be singled out to address educators. I have decided that my “presentations” will be in the form of PRESDIs.  Yes, I have coined a new term.  PRESDI which stands for Presentation-Discussions. 

So many times I have attended outstanding presentations where the speakers have prepared excellent slideshows with embedded videos and used great catchy statements that I quickly tweeted out to my followers.  I walk away invigorated but that does not last long. 

I have also attended many professional development sessions as a teacher.  The talk goes on and I leave shaking my head because none of it pertained to my students and could not be adopted for use in my classroom.  I yearned for ideas that worked and could be used successfully to engage my students and increase their knowledge base.

I do not have all the answers but I am sure those in the audience can share what has worked and what hasn’t worked in their schools.  So, I will give my presentation with practical ideas that have worked for me but then I will open up a discussion and learn from those in attendance.  Some of the best curricula that I wrote were done collaboratively.  It is great to be able to bounce off ideas and get inspiration from others.  Just as we want our students to learn and engage collaboratively we also should use that method in our teaching and presenting.

Back to School Tips – Planning Ahead

Before school starts I highly recommend getting in the best physical shape that you can to endure the first part of the teaching year.  I used to make sure during every school break that I re-energized myself.  I concentrated on working out and getting into the best possible condition I could. Join us on the #Twitter Exercise Motivation Team #temt My Exercise Page

Plan how you will set up your classroom.  First, check with your supervisor and custodian on what the regulations are in your school about decorations and classroom configuration. Some principals only allow a certain desk formation. Some principals do not allow commercial signs and decorations. My Setting Up Your Classroom Page

Work out a potential seating plan system.  You can always start with one system and then consult with your students on how they would want the seating.  My Seating Plan page.

You can spend the time before school gathering books for your classroom library. Used book stores, library book sales and asking for books from publishers or members of the community can help you gather them.  When school starts put your children in charge of the classroom library.  My Classroom Libraries page

Remember how you felt when you were a student and a teacher did not know your name or mispronounced it… My LearnYour Students’ Names page

I always found it much easier when I was very organized and I tried to do the same for the students in my classroom.  I have collected a lot of great sites to help you be better organized on My Organizing Your Classroom page.

One of your first tasks should be to work together with your students on Building Community in the Classroom.  Also work with them on establishing Classroom & Behavior Management

To really get the ball rolling in the right direction check out My Back to School and Icebreakers page

Step outside the normal way of facilitating learning and think about:

Flipping Your Classroom

Student- Centered Learning

Project-Based Learning

Critical Thinking

Blended Learning

I hope you have an awesome year of facilitating the learning of each of your students.