Vicki A. Davis's Blog, page 148
October 2, 2015
Connecting Your Students with the World: Book Review [Book]
Connecting Your Students with the World: Book Review by Billy Krakower, Paula Naugle, Jerry Blumengarten (Eye on Education, 2015) Overwhelmed teachers who want to collaborate globally are going to loveConnecting Your Students with the World.This book designed especially for grades K-8 classrooms.I’m excited to review this book. My favorite thing: The book organizes by month! You’ll see all the opportunities by month with links and information about the project. You’ll le...
October 1, 2015
Story of a Young Life Turned Around by Great Teachers
An Every Classroom Matters Episode
Raised by an “alcoholic and an outlaw” father, Kevin Honeycutt grew up in poverty. He says childhood had many “midnight runs.” His Dad would let the kids pack their belongings in one trash bag each. Kevin was always the new kid. Foster homes. Extreme poverty. But someone saved him. It was his teachers. This episode is his story.
Important Takeaways How you can “flip a kid” and change a life You have lots of kids who transfer in and out, do you still make a...September 30, 2015
Epic Sketchnoting Resources: How to Get Started Teaching Sketchnoting
Useful Pedagogies and Tools for Educators
Sketchnoting is not just an attractive way to take notes, it can improve retention and learning. These sketchnoting resources will get you started with your students. You don’t have to have a ton of talent, just a little know-how. I’ll update these sketchnoting resources, so tweet me or leave a comment to add your favorites. Don’t get overwhelmed, just get started.
Twitter Tip: If you want to find and share great sketchnotes, follow the #edusketch has...
September 29, 2015
How to Get More Volunteers and Donors for Your School
An Every Classroom Matters Episode
Beth Kanter is a leading social media expert for nonprofits. She gives advice on how schools should manage their Facebook, Twitter, and social media efforts. Most schools need more volunteers and donors (or at least positive press). Schools can even motivate students to share positive things. Social media can help if you know how.
Improving the Education of Kids in Poverty and Other Helpful News
Hot Research, Trends, and Teacher Resources Today
I’m going to be experimenting again with a news feature that I ran a few years back. I’ll summarize some of interesting research, trends, and helpful resources. Let me know in the comments if you like me bringing back this feature and if you find it useful. I plan to try this for a while and measure the response. I want to help educators be excellent every day. Part of being excellent is reading things and being a lifelong learner. Tweet me th...
September 25, 2015
Why Technology in Classrooms Doesn’t Always Boost Education Results
Technology Research and News
A recent Wall Street Journal Article is attracting attention. It found (gasp) using computers doesn’t give you better test scores. Technology in classrooms means little.Here’s why:
“The report suggested that “we have not yet become good enough at the kind of pedagogues that make the most of technology; that adding 21st century technologies to 20th century teaching practices will just dilute the effectiveness of teaching.”
Report results are based on an assessment...
MATH FREEBIE ALERT: Awesome Foldables and Downloads from Sarah Hagan [Link]
MATH FREEBIE ALERT: Awesome Foldables and Downloads from Sarah Hagan 
Math = Love Blog 
Sarah Hagan is one busy math teacher from Oklahoma. Her site has:
If you know any math teachers, this is one of those sites that is a MUST SHARE! Just scanning her site, I see Frayer models, integer operations work mat, downloadable mathematical research projects, college algebra real number line project, order of operations g...
September 24, 2015
If You Don’t Know these 22 Things About Computer Security, You’re Headed for Trouble
Friendly Technology for Beginners
We bank online. We buy things on our computers. But what do we know about computer security? Everything from our wills to our accounting software is on our home computers. But one drive around a neighborhood with my phone looking for hotspots, and I can see dozens of homes ready for a hacker to steal their information.
We put in alarm systems. Do we purchase firewalls? Do we password protect our wifi and home computers? Do parents and kids share the same logi...
September 23, 2015
Celebrate Awesome Girls with Kid President! #kpawesomegirls
Trends to Help You Teach
Kid President is cool. He is now looking for awesome girls to celebrate. His video is endearing (and funny) but rings true. Girls often don’t think they’re awesome.
I felt invisible and unwanted by my peers until I lost weight and started winning beauty pageants — at least in my small town. Being smart was not a good thing. Being pretty was. I remember feeling very un-awesome.
We MUST tell girls they are awesome just like they are!
We can complain about “the media.”...
September 22, 2015
Stop Struggling! Teach English Language Learners with Karaoke!
An Every Classroom Matters Episode
Jon Schwartz is the California teacher who created Rockademix. He found that Karaoke is an incredible way to teach reading and English as a Second Language (ESL) students. You’ll find so many ideas that you can use to teach reading (and any subject). This method can produce great results! The California state Senate named Jon “Tech Hero of 2011.” If you write music, maybe you should write some for your classroom. If not, start looking for some!
Important Ta...
