Vicki A. Davis's Blog, page 144

Top Blog Posts for Teachers This Week

News and Trends: Sunday, November 15, 2015

Why Teachers Need to Keep Going Even When It’s Hard

This story of Vedran Smailovic is resonating with the heartbreaking weekend in France. Some teachers are letting me know they are sharing this story. His heroic music amidst the bombing of Sarajevo reminds us that as we deal with horrible things in our world, we each make music that makes a difference.

Also a shout out to Aussie teacher, Jennifer (don’t have her last name), who helped me tweak a...

Top Education Tweets of the Week: November 14, 2015

Trends and Topics on Twitter

A subtle shift is happening in language as seen in the top education tweets this week. After we’ve gone down enough techno-innovation-as-Savior trails and found them to be dead ends, it seems many in education are circling back to one simple point: the greatest innovative force in the classroom is an innovative teacher. Why? Because they can unleash innovative students. And when they do, the force is transformational, transcendent, and awe-inspiring. It is what we...

7 Books to Help Add Purpose and Meaning to Life

Leaders are Readers and Readers are Leaders

You want to have purpose and meaning in your life, and certainly there are lots of people who have advice. How do you tell truth from fiction? How do you know who to believe? Research by Anne Cunningham and Keith Stanovich found that habitual readers know more than habitual television watchers. But it also showed that readers are better at decipheringmisinformation.

As John Maxwell and my pastor, Michael Catt, often say,

“Leaders are readers and rea...

19 Epic iPhone Productivity Apps & Tips

Productivity that Works

You can be more productive on your iPhone or smartphone. My home screenas been pretty consistent for the last few years. With this tutorial, I’ll take you through the apps I use, how they work together, and some quick tips on productivity with your iPhone. If you’re just starting out or want some productivity ideas, this post is for you.

Above, I share a quick tutorial video from my iPhone.(Screenflow lets you record from your iPhone or iPad!)

19 Epic iPhone Productiv...

Top Blog Posts for Teachers This Week

News and Trends: November 8, 2018

As I hinted in yesterday’s summary of the week’s top tweets, teachers are talking about flipping kids. An offhand comment by my friend Kevin Honeycutt seems to be growing into a larger conversation. Teachers also need inspiration as shown by the 10 inspirational videos for teachers. This week’s top blog posts also have a 2013 post with lesson plans and ideas for teaching gratitude that I’ve updated.

It is fascinating to me to see three episodes of Every Class...

Top Education Tweets of the Week: November 7, 2015

Trends and Topics on Twitter

This week’s top education tweets of the week have lots of interesting nuggets for us busy teachers. But one topic is flying around: flipping kids. No, not flipping them off. Not flipping your classroom — flipping a child like you flip a house. Turning their day around. The old cliche of “turning that frown upside down” is catching on. For when you change a child’s day for the good, you’ve truly accomplished something. (We can do it to each other too.)

Some hot twe...

Throwing Students Across the Room Doesn’t Work, This Does…

Every Classroom Matters episode 187

There aren’t enough scented candles and bubble bath in the world to soothe the stress of a teacher who has completely lost control in her classroom and can’t get it back. But you can get it back. While considering the horrible incident at Spring Valley, I’ve thought about it a thousand ways. There is no reason I could ever find or see to hurl a child across a room. I don’t care how disrespectful or defiant they are– there are better ways to handle a situati...

My Lesson Plan is Not Working, Kids Are Not Learning, I Am Freaking Out!

Every Classroom Matters Episode 186

Here’s to you overloaded, exhausted, overworked teachers. Everyone is heaping guilt trips and criticism on you. But then, it happens. You look up and your classroom is in chaos.

The lesson completely falls apart. Nothing works. Confusion builds. You realize that the kids are not learning because something messed it all up. And now, you’re criticizing yourself. STOP IT! It happens to all of us teachers. So, what do you do when this happens to you?

In today...

Moving Students Beyond Making Connections to Making an Impact

Every Classroom Matters episode 185

Students making toys for kids in Africa who have none? Kids taking a live virtual tour of the Great Barrier reef with scientists? Designing with a purpose? Australian Teacher Brian Host is all in with his seven and eight-year-old students.Students don’t want to just make connections. Students of all ages want to be making an impact. Here’s how Brian helps his students do things that matter.

Essential Questions:Moving Students Beyond Making Connections to M...

Financial Literacy: Make the Money “Real” [Link]

Financial Literacy: Make the Money “Real” Vicki Davis on Edutopia
November 3, 2015

Financial literacy can be hard to teach. That’s because numbers on a page don’t feel real. With our society’s increasing dependence on credit cards, it’s more important than ever to help students “feel” the realness of their own money. Any effective financial literacy lesson needs to be hands on.

Financial literacy can be taught, but the best ways are hands-on.

This article is posted i...