Vicki A. Davis's Blog, page 169

Being Part of Epic: 21st Century Teaching Can Do That

When you have meaningful, authentic projects using technology,THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS. Casey Cox, one my students from the very first Flat Classroom projectin 2006 is now a college graduate. Take a look ather latest water conservation project and see what this type of education does.

Casey is a young graduate from the University of Florida and has moved back home. She’s becoming an advocate for environmental conservation and water use. She’s written a piece for IBM’s Smarter Planet Blog: “How Big...

Massive Creativity MOOC with Rock Stars, Prof Tina Seelig, and NovoED

Amin Saberi and Anne Trumbore recently talked with Vicki Davis on episode #67 of Every Classroom Matters about encouraging creativity. Only 17%of creativesfelt a teacher had taught them to be creative. As our economy moves away from the industrial workforce, into the information age and beyond, the question arises, “How does one teach creativity”? Well, Stanford Professor Tina Seelig, the designers at NovoEd and some pretty amazing rock stars may just be on to something.

Show Notes: What Are t...

David Menasche and The Priority List

David Menasche , author of The Priority List: A Teacher’s Final Quest to Discover Life’s Greatest Lessons, didn’t sit at home when he was diagnosed with brain cancer. When he was no longer able to teach due to the cancer and blindness, he travelled around the country to see his students and he truly got to see the impact he had made in their lives.

The book is the story of his 101 day adventure visiting his former students. He relates how The Priority List was his student’s favorite lesson in...

David Menashe and The Priority List

David Menasche , author of The Priority List: A Teacher’s Final Quest to Discover Life’s Greatest Lessons, didn’t sit at home when he was diagnosed with brain cancer. When he was no longer able to teach due to the cancer and blindness, he travelled around the country to see his students and he truly got to see the impact he had made in their lives.

The book is the story of his 101 day adventure visiting his former students. He relates how The Priority List was his student’s favorite lesson in...

Jerry Blumengarten: The Connected Educator’s Cybrarian

Jerry Blumengarten @cybraryman1 talks with Vicki Davis about using technology in the classrooms. He asserts he would connect students with any technological tool he could, and finds embedding technology in learning is important to today’s teachers. He talks about the Genius Hour, the flipped classroom, and the maker movement.

Despite being a retired educator, Jerrynever stops learning.

He recommends these hashtags:

#Sschat Wednesday s 8pm CST
#Parentteacherchat
#Edtechchat Mondays 5pm PST/9pm EST

A...

How Amazing Adults Are Made

Today I’ll meet my students at the school at 8:15 am to set up the Bocce Ball courts. By 10 am, the courts will be full of Special Olympians rolling Bocce Balls and yelling in triumph at their accomplishments. The orange-clad referees will work to serve, encourage, measure, and officiate the games. It is a Saturday and 60 something of the kids in my school will roll out of bed, don their shirts and smiles and come to the school even though they don’t have to.

Not one of these kids is being MAD...

How to Make It to the End of the School Year

Yesterday after school I earned my dumpster diver 101 merit badge as a senior and I went through the school’s trash looking for an unmarked photo cd that had been accidentally tossed. (Theymay doubt my sanity but they can’t doubt my love.)

After it was found I drove home quicklyto take a hot bath. (I was reminded of a word I haven’t used in ages but we used often in the 1980′s “grody” – not even sure if that is a word.)All the while, I started thinking about the crazy days that these are.

How t...

4 Step SAMR Model of Technology Integration Explained by Richard Wells

Richard Wells @ipadwells gives a masterful explanation of the SAMR model of technology integration. He is from New Zealand but his charts on the SAMR model have spread worldwide.

All technology integration is NOT the same. Having tablets in a classroom doesn’t make the classroom any better than if Einstein sat in the corner. It is not the presence of a person or thing that makes the classroom better but the interaction with it that does. That is what the SAMR model helps us understand: how tec...

Achieving Sustainable Classroom Innovation with @ajjuliani @djesposito and @stevenjmogg

I love this conversation with A.J. Juliani @ajjuliani (Tech Coordinator) with his teachersRosie Esposito @djesposito andSteve Mogg @stevenjmogg andfrom Wissahickon High School, Pennsylvania. It is consistently a top school and their pattern of innovation shows why.

Who will want to listen to this show?

If you want to understand how to promote innovative practices and helping teachers level up, you’ll want to listen.

I love listening to Rosie and Steve share insights into their thought process of...

7 Ways to Use Canva to Create Compelling Graphics

Canva is a tool to create infographics, social media graphics, and more. If you need to gain traffic, you need a graphic.Canva is to graphic design what the Keurig coffee maker is to drinking coffee. It is free, but they make money by having stock images you can buy for $1 a piece if you want them. Everything I did was free.Here are some ways I’ve used Canva in the last 24 hours along with a tutorial video at the bottom on how to use it.

1. Promote what is happening in your classroom or area o...