Get Fit with and without Technology

walk may 24 2014Look around at our society and you will immediately see the fact that we are not as fit or healthy as we should be and this troubles me.  We talk so much about tech but neglect health, fitness and nutrition without which we do not function as well as we should.  I will never forget my good friend and assistant principal who passed on too early.  He did not heed his doctor’s warnings and even my suggestions on improving his condition.  This man stopped whatever work he was doing and helped anyone who came into his office.  He was so concerned about everyone but himself.  

As educators we should be setting a “healthy” example for our students.  Now, we can employ tech to measure our health and fitness. Over a year ago on a promotion I picked up a free app Walk Tracker.  I like the fact that periodically it indicates the distance I have traversed, my pace and calories exerted.  It keeps me focused because I believe in sustained activity at a varying pace. 

Helping me keep fit this year is the #500in2014 challenge group. My personal goal is have 500 miles by ISTE14 in June.  I have a link to add your mileage for #500in2014 on My Exercise page 

I am happy to see some of my PLN members using FitBit Fitbit® Official Site: Flex, One and Zip Wireless Activity and Sleep Trackers  I feel it is a good start to making you more conscious of your fitness and health.  

My friends and PLN members have mentioned about other devices they use which include the following:

Nike+ FuelBand SE. Activity Tracker & Fitness Monitor. Nike.com

MapMyWalk, CardioTrainer, RunMyRoute

Today I found an interesting article in USA Today Finally, fitness trackers measure up It will be interesting to see how the latest activity trackers work out!

Jawbone: UP24 | Activity Tracker with Bluetooth Sync | Live Better 

Misfit Wearables Misfit Shine

Withings Pulse 02 

Garmin Vivofit 

Samsung Gear Fit 

Adidas MiCoach 

TECH NOW: Here’s the skinny on the latest fitness bands

Save of the Day: Optimize your workout with this watch

Whether you use these devices or not the main thing is that you start moving, become fitter and healthier.

 

 

 

I am inspired and you can be too!

The motto for this year’s #tcea14 Convention & Exposition was “Get “Inspired.”  There are so many ways that you can get inspired.

During the past few weeks I attended some outstanding events that not only engaged me but re-energized me.  I met so many of my PLN that it would be impossible to list all of them.  I love you all and appreciate you.  #youmatter a lot to me.

#FETC14  – Florida

I only had the opportunity to spend one day at #FETC14 but it sure was jam packed with great experiences:

I took part in a fun app session delivered by @adambellow @kathyshrock @lesliefisher and @HallDavidson. Attend stimulating sessions at conferences or go to an edcamp where you can share what works with your students or learn from others.

I was fortunate to join @tomwhitby and @adambellow for a luncheon conversation.  Then we bumped into @rushtonh and I was able to have an enjoyable talk with him. Spend time with your PLN.  It is incredible the sharing and learning that takes place in these informal get togethers.

rushtonadamtom

I really enjoyed hanging out with my fellow #edchat moderators: @blairteach @kylepace @tomwhitby and archivist @jswiatek. Educational chats on Twitter are great opportunities for professional learning.  Take advantage of the incredible chats available.

The extremely well attended TweetUp gave me a chance to meet so many of my PLN.  It was nice to renew acquaintances and make new ones with great educators like @s_bearden @kristenswanson and @thomascmurray.

#TCEA14 – Texas

@tomwhitby and I had a fantastic time during #tcea14 and it was really special when we tweeted side by side while moderating Tuesday evening’s #edchat on: What would be the effect of building collaboration and reflection time into your work schedule?

Take part in chats and build your PLN.  Share your thoughts and learn how others feel.

@kenroyal  I definitely got the royal treatment from Ken who introduced me to so many of his friends in education.   It was so much fun hanging out with him.  It is amazing the connections that you make as you build a Twitter or Social Media Family.

@myclassflow Learned about this interactive lesson planning method that will engage students. Attending sessions gives you to opportunity to see first-hand technology that can help deliver your lessons.

I had a fantastic barbecue dinner with @PaulRWood, @shannonmiller, @TomWhitby, @woscholar et al. was nourishing for body and mind.  It is amazing when educators get together and then discuss intellectual topics that stretch the mind.

EdTech Karoke was a wonderful opportunity to let your hair down and enjoy yourself.  Always enjoy talking with my buddy @kevinhoneycutt. Once again I came across @stevedembo and we both stated that some day we would have to just sit down and talk.  Having fun and learning is great for us and our students.

kevshannontom

I was honored to address the LIB-SIG group thank you @_MichelleCooper. The message to all educators should be to continue to do what you are doing but embrace technology and listen to #stuvoice.

Conferences and edcamps are invaluable as you get a chance to meet members of your PLN (Personal Learning Network) like @mattBgomez  @djakes @duncanbilingual @ipadSammy @RafranzDavis @TechNinjaTodd to discuss educational topics in person, groups or during sessions.  It is now wonderful that you can go to meetings and actually know people as a result of your being a connected educator.

Tuskegee Airmen at Fantasy of Flight – Florida

Thanks to @DennisDill and @MLMRobertson  I was able to accompany their students to a special presentation by three Tuskegee Airmen at the Fantasy of Flight.  These gentlemen gave an outstanding session explaining the struggles they faced and how they triumphed.  It was wonderful that they encouraged the students attending to get a good education and work hard.  My tweets caught the attention of @DianaLRendina who was attending the same presentation with her class.  It is always nice to meet members of my PLN.  Great also to connect with @KKStephens82 the Operations Manager of @fantasyofflight Take advantage of such learning opportunity field trips in person or virtually.

Take part in activities that will inspire you don’t wait for them to come to you.

 

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.”

Model Fitness and Good Health

Yes, we must prepare our students to be critical thinkers, problem solvers and to be able to collaborate on a global level but I feel more important we want them to learn how to be healthy.  Children need to eat properly and exercise in order for their growth and healthy development. This is a lifelong skill that I feel is essential. We, as educators/parents should be modeling ABCDE: Act Boldly to Change Diet and Exercise for our students/children.

I must commend these educators who lead by example in terms of fitness:

David Britten @colonelb, Salome Thomas-EL @Principal_EL, Bob Dillon @ideaguy42, Josh Stumpenhorst @stumpteacher, Joan Young @flourishingkids, JoAnn Jacobs @JoAnnJacobs68, and Philip Cummings @jasontbedell Jason Bedell among others.

It is felt that children who have good nutritional habits and exercise regularly feel better about themselves, perform better in school, and can cope with stress better.

Take a survey of your students and see if they are getting enough exercise and eating properly.  Children should be getting at least 60 minutes of exercise on a daily basis and this does not mean playing games on their Xbox, texting or watching TV.


The fact that I exercised regularly and ate properly kept me well, gave me more energy and led to an excellent attendance record.   My track teams appreciated the fact that I ran with them. I tried modeling good nutrition yet my students used to laugh at me when I ate a salad for lunch with water as my beverage.  When I taught in my school’s health careers program I was very pleased at the end of each year when some of the students would thank me for changing their lives when they followed my preaching of eating properly, exercising and getting enough rest.

 

My new workout sneakers.

2013 is here and I will soon be eligible for Medicare and I will continue to exercise regularly and be more careful with the foods that I eat.
 
We all can achieve more if we are healthy as we have more energy.  Too many children are not getting enough exercise and eating properly.  Please model proper health to your students/children. 

Hope everyone has a very Happy and Healthy 2013.

 

Focus

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.

 

You Matter – Yes, You the Teacher

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.

 

Don’t Forget the Students

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.

A Letter to Administrators

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