Tag: book review

Book Review: Kid President’s Guide to Being Awesome

I’ve sent emails or included in staff updates, various video clips and messages from Kid President. I find the innocence and simplicity expressed by Kid President to by inspiring and motivating.  He so clearly articulates life lessons that remind us of the importance of focusing on what matters. In simple and entertaining terms, he focuses on what creates joy and awesomeness in our world.th

My favorite videos from Kid President include: (click on the links to see the videos)

  1. A Pep Talk
  2. 20 Things We Should Say More Often
  3. A Pep Talk to Teachers
  4. A Letter to a Person on Their First Day Here
  5. How to Change the World 

Kid President wrote his first book, “Kid President’s Guide to Being Awesome!” It came out this spring and is filled with inspiration that is applicable to our personal lives, but also our lives as educators. Despite his book including over 200 pages, it focuses on developing one major theme: relationships. At such an early age, Kid President shares the importance of developing relationships, maintaining relationships, and celebrating others.

Four of Kid President’s lessons remind us of the importance of celebrating our students, celebrating ourselves, and recognizing that all of our students are worth celebrating.

As teachers, we see incremental successes in our students daily. From recognizing letters at the beginning of the year in Kindergarten to completing complex math problems in 5th Grade, it is easy to get overlook the daily successes in our students. Kid President reminds us that there is always a reason to dance and that we need to celebrate more. As adults, we know the power of positive praise when a colleague or friend recognizes a new outfit, shares our joy in an accomplishment, or sends us well wishes. We can be that constant source of celebration for our students by taking time to dance and celebrate all of the wonderful things that go on daily in their lives.

Follow your passion

If you think back to when you chose to become a teacher it was likely linked to a love of the field and a love of child. Reflect on that passion. Keep that passion alive.

Think more like a kid

Take a moment to think about how you would act if you were sitting in your own class. Would you be engaged? Would you be hungry for more learning? Would you look forward to walking into your classroom each day? As we encourage students to demonstrate empathy, I challenge you to model the same by putting yourself in their shoes for a moment. Think more like a kid.

Broadcast the good news around you

I am so proud to be a staff member at Dunlap Grade School. Our school is filled with skilled professionals that instill a love of learning and pride in our students on a daily basis. Take time to broadcast the good around you. Consider sharing a blog post, pictures for facebook, or an email to the staff that celebrates an accomplishment, showcases student learning, or highlights the great things that occur in your classes on a daily basis!

Take a moment to reflect

We are not perfect. There’s not an expectation to be perfect. Continuously reflect on your practices, share your successes and set goals for improvements. Proficient practitioners are reflective.

Our Stop Doing List:

  1. Don’t stop believing
  2. Don’t type in all caps
  3. Don’t be a bully
  4. Don’t be mean. Be meaningful
  5. Don’t keep score

Change the Future. The time to be awesome is NOW!

Book Review: Tech Savvy Administrator

As an individual that accesses technology frequently in both personal and professional manners, I was eager to read The Tech Savvy Administrator. I am always searching for new and innovative ways to harness the power of technology at school and home. Steven Anderson’s book was straight-forward and a great introduction to technology for administrators with many connections that are applicable to classroom teachers.

sf115015b

Steven focused on the four primary purposes of technology:

  • Communication
  • Collaboration
  • Productivity
  • Community

A key take-away for me was that it is essential that as educators, we don’t lose sight of our goals of using technology. The concept of core tools and new tools were discussed. I see connections to this with our continuous improvement efforts with common core. We have been presented with new standards and new strategies to deploy, but at the same time, we have a set of core tools that have evidence and research base to support their effectiveness. It is our job to manage the pendulum and take new knowledge and merge it with best practices that are rooted in research. This isn’t done all at once. If you are new to technology, it is important to start small. Take meaningful steps that are focused on your intended goals. So often we think of technology as an instructional tool, but it also serves purposes in the areas of communication, collaborate, productivity, and community building.

 

The role of technology in communication is to tell our school’s story and leave a digital footprint. When a family Google searches Dunlap Grade, it is my responsibility to ensure that we are represented positively. In my Google search of DGS today, I saw images of our progress toward school goals, staff, and facilities. Many images of our efforts with continuous improvement were in the first several entries. I was also pleased to see examples of our students engaging in learning and staff delivering high quality instruction. The first several web links that were generated through the search included our homepage, facebook page, and parent’s club page. What does this all mean? It means that we provide parents, community members and other educators access to the essential information that makes DGS, DGS!

If you haven’t yet or in awhile, checkout our digital footprint:

In the field of education, there has been some resistance to social media. Steven Anderson’s book reinforces the importance of using social media as an opportunity to increase dialogue and two-way communication with our families. Our current facebook page has 381 likes. This platform allows us to tell DGS’ story and share the remarkable things that go on inside our walls on a daily basis.  Technology does not replace the relationships that are essential for us to forge with our families, but enhances them.

 

We use email to communicate with each other, but one goal I have after reading Anderson’s book is to increase my use of google forms and provide more ‘paperless’ opportunities for meetings and information. Anderson also focused on the use of technology to build a community of learners. My time on twitter isn’t idly spent reading the newest gossip in the entertainment realm, but rather connecting with other educators, principals and organizations to hone my leadership skills and develop insights into new and innovative practices. The individuals I am connected to our twitter share out with 140 characters or less, resources and information that is empowering. Twitter is my source for articles, websites, and images that enhance my learning and leadership.

Technology has provided many benefits to me as an educator and leader that were reinforced by the author of this book:

  1. Technology has the power to connect us with other educators, stay current on best practices, and engage us in opportunities to be innovative within our school.
  2. Technology allows us to engage parents and families in two-way dialogue.

My action plan moving forward as a result of reading this book:

  1. Review our website and determine areas for improvement.
  2. Use paperless forms more often to decrease use of paper and increase communication with staff
  3. Continue to collaborate with other educators on twitter and participate in virtual learning on  http://www.edweb.net/leadership

If you use blogs, twitter, or other means to communicate, learn, and collaborate, I’d love to hear your thoughts. What benefit have you seen? What challenges do you experience? What is a goal you could set for yourself to harness that use of technology in your position?

If you are still looking for resources to jump start your use of technology as a communication tool, you can check out:

www.blogger.com

www.edublogs.org

www.wordpress.com

www.twitter.com

A few posts to inspire your use of technology as a communication and collaboration tool:

Seven reasons teachers should blog: http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.com/2011/07/seven-reasons-teachers-should-blog.html

Using blogs as part of your Professional Learning Network (PLN):

http://teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/pln-challenge-5-using-blogs-as-part-of-your-pln/

https://dunlapgradeschool.edublogs.org/2015/01/06/book-review-tech-savvy-administrator/

Whole Brain Teaching

I promised a book review a month, but this book was too good not to gobble up and I’m ahead of my resolutions.  Just remember this when I may slack in future months on getting my thoughts down.

wholebraincover

I just finished reading Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids by Chris Biffle. I was initially introduced to the concept by first grade team, Jen Donavan and Courtney Erikson, last year when they provided PD on some of the basic components of whole brain teaching. I have seen how the “Class-Yes” strategy has infiltrated our building from morning announcements (oh DGS) to the teacher’s lounge microwave cleaning reminders. You’d be pleasantly surprised to hear playground supervisors and parent volunteers picking up on that and using it as well.

Many of the staff members at DGS use the scoreboard techniques and several have attempted to implement the “mirror” strategy. These are all building blocks of good classroom management and student engagement that are embedded in strong brain and learning research. Just wait until you see what other strategies are found in this book. The website www.wholebrainteaching.com has some amazing free resources and there are several examples on youtube once you know what you are looking for.

I shared with you earlier, the article of “That Kid” http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/11/14/teacher-to-parents-about-that-kid-the-one-who-hits-disrupts-and-influences-your-kid/. This book illustrates strategies to help with “that kid,” but also whole class strategies to foster a community of learning and self-motivated learners. A favorite of mine was the “Super Improvers” board. This strategy is essentially a data center focused on individual student improvements in areas of need. One child could work on behavior while one works on enrichment activities. This book reinforces the concept of “Universal Design” in education: What strategies that are intended to be good for a small population, reach and are beneficial for ALL students.

As I read the book, I used Twitter to tweet my thoughts, post additional resources, and share my learning. Thus, my reflection will come in the form of a storify this time. I used storify to organize my tweets and add other resources that may be beneficial to you. You can read it at https://storify.com/mandyeellis/whole-brain-teaching-for-challenging-students

I have a copy of the  book in my office, if you’d like to borrow it. It is significantly marked up with my own notes and post-its, but worth the read.

Ditch that Textbook

Let me preface this entire book review with the author’s own thought, “The mindset that fuels digital learning is: ”Good Teaching Trumps Good Tools.” We are embarking on a time at DGS where we will have tools to use with students on a daily basis: 75 Chromebooks, 50 iPads, and a newly outfitted computer lab.

As an administrator, I harness the power of technology to improve my efficiency, communicate, and collaborate. That being said, the tools we have at DGS now will be antiquated in a few short years and technology will evolve as our current students grow into college bound high school seniors. Good teaching will always be the catalyst that promotes student learning and engagement, but “Ditch That Textbook” is a superb resource to read, learn, and develop a deeper understanding of how we can harness current technology to motivate, engage, and empower our students.

th

Why do we need to consider technology as a tool in education?

  1. Free Access to powerful resources
  2. A Boost to our Professional Efficiency
  3. The ability to Empower Students to Find Their Passions

A contributor to the book was quoted, “A technology tool is not a $1,000 pencil.”  The SAMR model represents the various levels of implementation of technology that would be considered during use and just as Bloom’s Taxonomy promotes higher levels of intellectual engagement, the SAMR model promotes the use of technology at higher levels of implementation. SAMR stands for:

  1. Substitution
  2. Augmentation
  3. Modification
  4. Redefinition

Whereas a good portion of the book focuses on the use of technology in education, there are also several key ideas related to activities that aren’t reliant on technology that can drive motivation and engagement in the classroom very similar to “Teach Like a Pirate.”

What “Ditch That Textbook” argues, is that we can achieve student engagement, ownership, and overall satisfaction with their classroom learning by keeping some key considerations in mind:

Some Considerations:

  1. Don’t forget the little details. As educators, it is important to not burden our heavy workload with all the details, but details and ‘the little things’ add to the impact of a child’s educational experience.
  2. Customer Service is a Priority. Whereas we are responsible for developing students that are respectful and contributing citizens, we are also responsible for developing a culture and environment where they enjoy coming every day.
  3. Build Rapport and Relationships
    1. Make students fell important
    2. Talk about your own mistakes
  4. Dramatize your ideas
  5. Set clear learning goals and targets first
  6. Identify the activities that have gone well and what you (and your students) liked about each of them
  7. Be Flexible
  8. Be a Connected Educator
    1. For Inspiration
    2. For Motivation
    3. For Challenge
    4. For Camaraderie

Whatever actions you choose, consider the words of the author, ‘inaction is crippling. Action is empowering. Jump in and start!’ Summer is approaching, and whereas you need to recharge your personal batteries, it is also a good time to consider how you will recharge your teaching and come into 2015-2016 with ideas, strategies, and goals that will motivate your students.

“Ditch That Textbook” is a great follow up to “Teach Like a Pirate” and “Learn Like a Pirate.” It’s an easy read that will provide you tools to focus your instruction on key goals that align to your personal and professional mission and values.

As Stefanie Pitzer wrote in her review, “WOW! This is a fabulous book that will redefine the way you teach and help you to shape your philosophy into a digital one. Chalk full of ideas and advice, my favorite being don’t try everything at once/take your time. This book raised some great questions and really delved in to embracing technology but remembering not to use technology for technology’s sake. Matt Miller reminds us that “technology is a tool, not the goal. The learning experiences are and should be the focus!” A must read for all current and soon to be educators!”

Resources to Check Out:

  1. www.twitter.com: it was quoted in the book as being “the busiest education community out there right now.” If you are still dabbling in it, trust me, it’s a wealth of knowledge, resources, and connectivity to grow and learn as a professional!
  2. Sanderling.io
  3. Chatterpix
  4. Voki
  5. www.nearpod.com

Change Starts with You!

Fish in a Tree

How often have we asked our students to just try a little harder? Focus? Give a little more effort? This seemingly positive encouragement may resonate a little differently to a child that has a specific learning disability in reading.

th

Lynda Mullay Hunt’s book, Fish in a Tree, is about a young girl that has an initially undiagnosed reading disability that has bounced from various schools over the course of her education. Her frustration with her lack of ability manifests itself into behaviors that get her kicked out of classroom after classroom in an effort to avoid work and difficult tasks.

She continues struggling year after year until a teacher recognizes her difficulty and works to meet her needs in innovative and creative ways. He builds trust and rapport with the child and fosters confidence in her strengths outside of literacy and words.

The book is considered a Young Adult book, but worth a read from every educator. It is a strong reminder of two very important things:

1. Students that demonstrate difficult behaviors may have a deeper rationale for their behavior. There is logic behind the behaviors of our students and our challenge is to understand its context.

2. Teachers do make a difference. Despite years of failure, the student in this story made a
connection with a teacher that impacted her and gave her the confidence and tools to be successful. Never give up on a child!

I have the book in my office and would be happy to share it with you if you are interested in a light and easy read with a deep and meaningful message.

Book Review: Tech Savvy Administrator

The Tech Savvy Administrator

I am excited to write my first reflective review of the new year with my reading resolutions. I made a commitment to myself this year to engage in reading practices that are meaningful.

My resolutions this year include:

  1. Read a professional book (or journal/article) monthly and share reflections with you.
  2. Have family “read to self” time
  3. Read at least once a week to students at lunch time
  4. Continue on the Newberry Challenge

This review is the first of my resolutions to read a professional book and share my learning with my staff and others. During an evening review of my twitter feed, I saw another member of my PLN (professional learning network) post a review from her goodreads.com of The Tech Savvy Administrator.

As an individual that accesses technology frequently in both personal and professional manners, I was eager to read The Tech Savvy Administrator. I am always searching for new and innovative ways to harness the power of technology at school and home. Steven Anderson’s book was straight-forward and a great introduction to technology for administrators with many connections that are applicable to classroom teachers.

Steven focused on the four primary purposes of technology:

  • Communication
  • Collaboration
  • Productivity
  • Community

A key take-away for me was that it is essential that as educators, we don’t lose sight of our goals of using technology. The concept of core tools and new tools were discussed. I see connections to this with our continuous improvement efforts with common core. We have been presented with new standards and new strategies to deploy, but at the same time, we have a set of core tools that have evidence and research base to support their effectiveness. It is our job to manage the pendulum and take new knowledge and merge it with best practices that are rooted in research. This isn’t done all at once. If you are new to technology, it is important to start small. Take meaningful steps that are focused on your intended goals. So often we think of technology as an instructional tool, but it also serves purposes in the areas of communication, collaborate, productivity, and community building.

The role of technology in communication is to tell our school’s story and leave a digital footprint. When a family Google searches Dunlap Grade, it is my responsibility to ensure that we are represented positively. In my Google search of DGS today, I saw images of our progress toward school goals, staff, and facilities. Many images of our efforts with continuous improvement were in the first several entries. I was also pleased to see examples of our students engaging in learning and staff delivering high quality instruction. The first several web links that were generated through the search included our homepage, facebook page, and parent’s club page. What does this all mean? It means that we provide parents, community members and other educators access to the essential information that makes DGS, DGS!

If you haven’t yet or in awhile, checkout our digital footprint:

In the field of education, there has been some resistance to social media. Steven Anderson’s book reinforces the importance of using social media as an opportunity to increase dialogue and two-way communication with our families. Our current facebook page has 381 likes. This platform allows us to tell DGS’ story and share the remarkable things that go on inside our walls on a daily basis.  Technology does not replace the relationships that are essential for us to forge with our families, but enhances them.

We use email to communicate with each other, but one goal I have after reading Anderson’s book is to increase my use of google forms and provide more ‘paperless’ opportunities for meetings and information. Anderson also focused on the use of technology to build a community of learners. My time on twitter isn’t idly spent reading the newest gossip in the entertainment realm, but rather connecting with other educators, principals and organizations to hone my leadership skills and develop insights into new and innovative practices. The individuals I am connected to our twitter share out with 140 characters or less, resources and information that is empowering. Twitter is my source for articles, websites, and images that enhance my learning and leadership.

Technology has provided many benefits to me as an educator and leader that were reinforced by the author of this book:

  1. Technology has the power to connect us with other educators, stay current on best practices, and engage us in opportunities to be innovative within our school.
  2. Technology allows us to engage parents and families in two-way dialogue.

My action plan moving forward as a result of reading this book:

  1. Review our website and determine areas for improvement.
  2. Use paperless forms more often to decrease use of paper and increase communication with staff
  3. Continue to collaborate with other educators on twitter and participate in virtual learning on  http://www.edweb.net/leadership

If you use blogs, twitter, or other means to communicate, learn, and collaborate, I’d love to hear your thoughts. What benefit have you seen? What challenges do you experience? What is a goal you could set for yourself to harness that use of technology in your position?

If you are still looking for resources to jump start your use of technology as a communication tool, you can check out:

www.blogger.com

www.edublogs.org

www.wordpress.com

www.twitter.com

A few posts to inspire your use of technology as a communication and collaboration tool:

Seven reasons teachers should blog: http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.com/2011/07/seven-reasons-teachers-should-blog.html

Using blogs as part of your Professional Learning Network (PLN):

http://teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/pln-challenge-5-using-blogs-as-part-of-your-pln/