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

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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Setting Goals and Reflection

Too many people make resolutions and set goals but do not follow through.  I set my educational goals each school year and also had my students make their own learning goals.  I kept copies of their goals (now it is easy to do this with all the devices we have available) but the key that helped keep them on track was to have them periodically review them.  I had my students reflect on their goals at least once a month.  I did this around the holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, December Holidays (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa..), New Year’s, Valentine’s Day…)  It takes persistence and diligence to achieve what you set out to do.

My Goals page

This past January in my Twitter feed I saw tweets about #500in2014. Investigating, I found out it was walking, jogging or running an accumulated distance of 500 miles in the calendar year. I have always set fitness goals so this was perfect for me. After this Medicare recipient reached the 500 mile plateau I set a new goal of 1000 miles.

Google doc for the #500in2014 challenge

I use an app on my iPhone called Walk Tracker Pro (Running, Cycling, Walking) as it periodically tells me the time of the workout, distance I have traveled, my pace and calories burned. My goal on most walks is to do a mile in 13 minutes or better. This every five minute notification keeps me on “track” and gives me the opportunity to speed up if necessary to reach my goal. During my walk/jogs I have plenty of time to reflect on a lot of things. Once again set a goal and review it!

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I am disappointed that only 52 educators signed on for #500in2014 and only a small percentage of those will reach the goal of 500 miles in 2014. I am a strong advocate for educators to promote good health, proper nutrition and exercise. We need to lead by example and model for our students.  

9 have achieved the 500 miles  

1 is on the verge of accomplishing the goal  

6 have the potential to reach the goal  

So far 2 have surpassed 1,000 miles

2 have the potential to reach the goal 

My Health page
My Exercise page
My Nutrition page 
My Track page

Since I live in Florida, after spending most of my life in the Northeast, I have found the best time to work out is the early morning hours. The Breakfast Club chat #BFC530 (a fifteen minute spark chat 5:30-5:45amEST/MST Mon-Fri) gets me up early and moving so I can then catch some really nice sunrises ( I even saw a lunar eclipse). I used to be at school at 6 am (to do the early morning programing when teachers called in sick)  so getting up early is easy for me. I make it a point to say good morning and have an awesome day of learning to the students I see at 6:10 am waiting for their school bus.

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On Saturdays I try to either get my workout in before or after #satchat (School Leaders chat 7:30-8:30 am EST/PST). I wish more of our administrators would set fitness, health & good nutrition goals and model the importance of exercise and good health. I feel health, wellness & eating properly are the most important subjects we need to stress with our youth and staffs. The 9am EST Sunday morning #sunchat is at a great time as I can do my usual hour workout & shower before this stimulating chat starts.

Hopefully you have set educational goals for yourself and have your students do their learning goals.   It is important that you periodically revisit the goals that you have set, reflect on them and make any changes. 

My Resolutions and Reflection page

Please don’t exclude anyone…

I was brought up to give of oneself and help others.  I am always willing to assist as can be evidenced by all the sites that I share.  I do this because I know as a former classroom teacher and later as a teacher librarian how hard it is to teach.  I have  been criticized by some for sharing such much but on the other hand so many people have thanked me.  I do not gain anything monetarily from my website.  In fact it costs me money to sustain it as well as he countless hours and years I have put into the site.  I just want to help in any way that I can. 

I was fortunate to have a very varied teaching experience and will always be thankful to my first PLN who helped me get started with my teaching career. 
 
When I was excessed because of seniority to a new school I will never forget coming in to the crowded teachers’ room and only finding a couch to sit on.  I was immediately informed that I could not sit there as it was reserved.  Some welcome!  I made sure to always welcome and help the new staff members.
 
I cannot tell you how many times when I approached my administrators with a new idea or technique they turned it down with the statement: “We don’t do that here!”  Be open to change and don’t exclude new approaches.
 
When I coached track I made sure in dual meets to include everyone who worked hard.  I was criticized because I allowed a “slower” runner to compete.  I stood my ground because he had been at all the practices and tried his best.  At an awards banquet after we won the NYC Championship (arranged by a staff member who got the community to pitch in) a mother grabbed me and gave me a big hug.  She was so appreciative that I had allowed her son to compete even though she knew he wasn’t the greatest athlete.  She said it was really hard raising him as a single mother and I was responsible for changing his attitude and building his confidence.  
 
Don’t exclude #stuvoice.  Listen to your students and make sure you know how each child likes to learn.
 
The best curriculum I ever wrote was done collaboratively and we opened the door to anyone who had ideas.  In my writing career producing educational materials for the utility companies I learned so much because I listened to all parties: children (my best reviewers), educators, parents and utility personnel.  
Don’t exclude anyone who wants to help.  
 
 
 

Thank you Georgia Educational Technology Conference #gaetc13

It was a great honor for me to be asked to be a featured presenter at this year’s Georgia Eucational Technology Conference #gaetc13.  I always enjoy connecting, learning and sharing with passionate educators.  Everyone at #gaetc13 was wonderful.  They were so gracious, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind….

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I tried to give sessions where not only did I share information but I was able to learn new things from my audience.   I  feel that some of the best interchanges are those given by participants.  I enjoy when they share what works or does not work with their students.  We all gain valuable information from these conversations.  I have to give a special shout out to @brholland (pictured) who shared some amazing things at several of my sessions.  Thank you Beth.

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I am a champion of the classroom teacher and I salute them for all that they have to face.  I am also a huge fan of students.  I totally enjoyed interacting with all of the student presenters.  The Student Showcase was outstanding.  It included everything from STEAM, gardening, Legos, digital storytelling, to tech prodigies.  It was great to connect with my good Twitter friend @staffdevjnkie and her students.  Glad I was able to get Sue and one of her students to learn from the amazing @ShellTerrell at her Digital Storytelling session. 

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Conferences to me are so much more meaningful because you get a chance to meet (and hug) your followers many of whom you never actually met in person before.  It is also a chance to connect with your “old” Twitter friends. I was thrilled to be able to spend so much time with my great friend @ShellTerrell and reacquaint with @NikkiDRobertson (pictured) @amandacdykes and @Fernandezc4. A very  special moment for me was getting a chance to hug my good friend @blairteach who stopped by #gaetc13

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I love the EduVue team and getting a chance to see them in person was so nice. @GaTechTeach @CatFlippen @JaimeVanderG (pictured)  #EduVue

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Could not believe in one session I gave I had a slide of @aschmuhl and he was actually in the room. Great to meet the #gaed moderating team of @aschmuhl and the very dynamic @blantonbrian.

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It was wonderful hanging out with educational leaders who I admire so much:@tonyvincent @shellterrell (pictured) @crafty184 @lesliefisher  @dlaufenberg and @Njistem.

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Thanks to everyone who stopped and talked to me.  You mean a lot and I always love talking to my PLN. I am sorry I did not scan and keep everyone’s names to thank them all like @debbiechildress @cereseg @ktheodocion @AnissaLAndrews @mrnidey @BrandiKotsalis1 @PMontarella @mcrogers27 @MmeBurgess  @cmslibrarylady @vlaguaite @barber_meg @britt1119 @ldenson8 @lewisgrade5.  Special thanks for all the kind words @hoke (Hoke Wilcox)

Big thank you to the Georgia Educational Technology Consortium Board of Directors, GaETC Sub-Committee, committee members, sponsors and all the wonderful volunteers who made this an outstanding conference.

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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.”

Parent-Child Activities

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.