I'm reading a new book.  It's called "Creating Innovators" by Tony Wagner.  I've read it before but this time I really wanted to take it in and not skim it while watching my two year old.  I found some good stuff so I wanted to present you with a few challenges that I found in the book.







1) Wagner identifies seven survival skills that students in the post-recession world need to possess to have effective careers.  They are: 
    A. critical thinking and problem solving
    B. collaboration across networks and leading by influence
    C. agility and adaptability
    D. initiative and entrpreneurship
    E. accessing and analyzing information
    F. effective oral and written communication
    G. curiosity and imagination
How many of these are you hitting in your curriculum?  What types of lessons do you employ to teach B, D and G?  I think those are the ones I need to work on.

2) Wagner thinks that the key to student success is not their ability to problem solve (like we focus so much on today); however, he feels it is their ability to create while using problem solving skills.

3)  He thinks we need to be teaching conflict management.  He gives an example of Apple having to conflict with their suppliers when they are looking for a product that does not exist.  They have to

4)  Wagner thinks the most important aspect of teaching is incorporating free play.  I teach high school students so the idea of free play is difficult.  I know though that when I have a skit planned or a stop-motion using m&ms tracking the migration patterns of humans...that's play (while learning, right?).

As always, feel free to comment! 

by, Kathleen 

I truly feel like Frank on You've Got Mail.  You know, "The nut from the Observer who is in love with his typewriter", except I'm not a guy, I'm a girl.  And, I'm not in love with my typewriter... I'm in love with my NEW Class WeBsiTe!!! (Plus, I would like to think "nut" would be debatable from those who know me well:)  Last week, I posted about creating a class website header for my new online format.   

For this week's #Made4Math, I changed my First Day Handout so that it would match the header. 

Then, I thought the handout was so-o-o cute with the lined paper background that I wanted to re-create it on my Weebly site.   Despite watching a You Tube video and reading several articles, I could never quite get my image to tile in the background like the tutorial showed.  It looked fine in the preview, but when I added elements to my page, the image was covered.  Long lead in to say that, I figured out a work around.  Here's what I realized...in Weebly, the page dividers are thin gray lines.  So I dropped a few page dividers on top of one another and stacked together they look like...are you ready...lined notebook paper!!! 

And if you have notebook paper, you have to have paper clips and doodles: 

I drew the clipart in ActivInspire and took screenshots of the doodles. Though lesson notes and assignments will be added as the year unfolds, the website is finally ready to launch.  Good thing, too - school starts tomorrow!  Here's a shot of the finished product:  

by, Cindy

Update: Kathleen wanted to give you the links to her websites too so you can see a Liberal Arts type website.  The American History site is: www.ecahistory.weebly.com and the World History site is: www.worldhistoryde.weebly.com. Enjoy!

In anticipation school starting, I spent the morning making Marble Magnets to spread a little school spirit.  I thought new teachers might like to have something with the school logo on it and the "new to me" students could use the magnets in their lockers.  These are super inexpensive and quick!  It took me less than an hour and I have enough tiny gifts to share with all of my new friends.

Materials I used:

• Clipart w/school logo
• Large, flat glass marbles - pack of 30/$1.00 @ Dollar Tree
• Round magnets - pack of 52/$5.97 @ Walmart
• Mod Podge
• Sponge brush
• Hot glue gun
• Wax paper to protect the table

How I did it:
I created polka dot circles in Microsoft Publisher to use as a background for the school logo. (If you are polka dot fan like me, download the Publisher files for the dotted backgrounds in black, gray, green, navy, orange, pink, purple, red, royal blue, and yellow.) The school logo was captured via a screenshot from the school's website.  I pasted the image onto each of the dotted circles.  ( I used Promethean's ActivInspire software to capture the image, but you could use Jing or another favorite tool to take the picture.)  I printed the Publisher file onto white cardstock using my home printer.

I placed a marble over the clipart on the printed page to make sure I had my spacing and image size correct.  I had to adjust the page a few times to get it just right.  The marbles are smaller than they look, so check to make sure it is correct before you spend the time cutting.  The clipart was cut so that it was smaller than the marbles.

I used a sponge brush to apply a small amount of Mod Podge to the flat side of the marbles. 

I placed the cut images in the center of the marbles and then, dabbed Mod Podge around the edges and over the top of the clipart.  Don't worry, the Mod Podge dries clear.) 

After the Mod Podge dried, I used hot glue to adhere a magnet to the flat side of each marble. 

Now, the packaging makes the project and the idea came straight from Madigan Made.   Her idea transformed the marbles into a brightly colored packages sure to delight!  I started out with a package of metal washers from the hardware store, a package of blank index cards, a pack of Wilton treat bags (50/$2.50 @ Walmart by cake decorating supplies).  

I folded the index cards in half and used hot glue to adhere two washers to the inside of the folded card. 

I re-folded the card in half and my magnets stuck right to the hidden washers.  I placed all inside the treat bags, folded and stapled a decorative piece of card stock (also made with Publisher) across the top of the bag, and I'm thrilled with the finished result! 

As always, take it and make it your own.  Then, send the pics to share with everyone else:)  Cindy

My Fabulous Finds this Friday all revolve around connecting with others, specifically fellow educators.  Gems include hosting a Pinterest Party, sharing pinteresting ideas on an "analog board", and reaching and teaching through a variety of strategies.

 Last month, I read The Clever Pink Pirate's post
about hosting a real life  Pinterest party.  She invited crafters, bloggers and friends for an informal gathering to try Pinterest inspired recipes and crafts. 
 I loved the party  theme.  I thought this might be fun to try at work, maybe
before school starts,  where colleagues could get together and make the teacher
binder or bulletin  board that was pinned in early June:) For me it is not so
much about getting  more stuff done, but spending time with friends I haven't
seen all  summer!

Second idea...more Pinterest, more connecting.  Mr. D, blogger and future Pinterest user, posted a picture of  his idea of an "analog pinterest board". The picture cracked me up, but  reaffirmed an idea I had for creating a real "analog board" for our faculty  lounge.  There are several teachers at our school who are pinning and while we  enjoy finding inspiration for our homes or our next party, we also are busy  pinning ideas for our classrooms, educational technology tips, and helpful sites  for implementation of the Common Core. After a summer of prolific pinning, I  want to share some of our best ideas with my non-techy friends. So, of course I  had to create a board that would be Pinterest worthy (okay, maybe that's a  stretch, but it had to be more than a chalkboard with scotch tape:).  I've  posted tags with the screen name for teachers who pin and invited them to share  pictures of their favorite finds. As we find new organizational ideas, games and  activities, or great tools for the classroom, we can print the picture and repin  on our "analog board". Hopefully, this will foster collaboration and communication  among  many faculty members, not just those who are already online.

My last find is a fantastic post on Edutopia by Monique Flickinger filled with 10 great  ideas for sharing with others. While Monique is responsible for teaching almost  1500 teachers technology, most
of her strategies could be employed by any educator.  She suggests:
1)  Show, don't tell. Create a 3 minute video that  shows teachers in action using a new technology (or  classroom management strategy, or teaching
technique).  Teachers could create  videos starring students who are solving challenges, explaining content, or  demonstrating a procedure.
2) Teach with TV. Produce a 20 minute monthly show  to be broadcast on your district,
school, or class website.  This could  feature any teaching strategy for PD
purposes or in the classroom, serve as a  longer review for students who need to
see things explained in a variety of  formats or multiple times.  No TV station
to host your broadcast? Use U-Stream to broadcast your own online show.
3)  Be "liked". Monique's department has created  a Facebook page where they
post weekly updates on new technology, pictures of  classes in action, and share
updates.  This would be a perfect way to  connect with teachers or parents
after hours.
4)  Chirp about  your accomplishments. Twitter has become an invaluable tool
for me to  connect with others and learn from them.  I call it PD in my pocket,
because all  I have to do is open the app on my phone to learn something new. 
@TeachTechPSD tweets twice a week to  inform teachers of timely information.
Teachers might invite parents to follow a class  account on back to school
night.  It would be an easy way to remind families of  upcoming assessments,
project due dates, or changes in the  schedule.
5) Blog about it.  Monique suggests sharing teacher tips twice a week in short posts that can be  processed quickly by readers .  For her team, their posts are about technology, but a  content coach might share about the Frayer model or a foldable idea for a 
specific unit; a student might update the class blog with a reflection on current content.
All of the ideas are  wonderful and could be implemented by anyone wishing to make
content accessible  anytime and any place. Want to know the rest?  Check out the
complete article on Edutopia!
by Cindy!

One of the books I read this month is entitled "Eat That Frog" by Brian Tracy.  It boasts of 21 great ways to stop procrastinating and get more done in less time. 
Mark Twain said once that "if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long."
My frog is exercise.  I hate it.  The idea of getting up and putting on clothes to sweat in...yeah no.  So, I get up between 5 and 6 every morning to get it done.  When I get home from school, my frog is planning for the next day.  I usually would wait until the very last minute to get everything together and feel prepared for the next day.  This causes stress.  Now, when I get a minute free, I start writing and planning the specifics of my next day.  This is helpful to me because I LOVE to procrastinate. 
In chapter 16, the book talks about motivating yourself into action by controlling your inner and outer dialogue.  He says "you should never share your problems with anyone because 80 percent of the people don't really care and the other 20 percent are kindof glad you got the problems in the first place."  Don't we all do that at some time or another?  Oh...Johnny Bob in my first hour is the death of me and Suzie from fifth hour won't stop talking.  I can't tell you how many times I've sat in a teacher lunch where everyone is simply complaining about their students and about their job in general.  What is the point? 
He also talks about the four behaviors of optimists.  1. Optimists look for the good in every situation.  2. Optimists seek the valuable lesson waiting for them to learn in every bad situation.  3. Optimists seek a solution to every problem instead of whining about them. 4. Optimists think and continually talk about their goals.  
I encourage you, the next time someone asks how you are doing...you should answer, "great!"  If you think it, it will happen.   

Teachers love summer!  It's a time to relax, plan for the next school year and spend time with our families.  If you have young children, you can do amazing things with them like take them to a science museum, draw on the sidewalk with chalk and spend hours in the pool like me and my son.  This past week, however, I got an email from our head of schools and our principal that asked something of all the teachers that surprised me.  They asked us to come to the school and work on cleaning it and restoring it for 4 days at the end of July.  WHAT!? They want me to come to the school and clean in my last 3 weeks of summer?! Are they kidding?  It was so easy for that selfish attitude to jump up and say, "no! absolutely not! These last summer days are for my family!  Plus it's 4 million degrees outside! What am I supposed to do,...sweat?"  Then, I started to think about the idea and I just got excited.  I love my teacher friends and I haven't seen them for weeks.  I thought about getting together and getting dirty and laughing all in an attempt to better our school and help our students feel like this campus is their home.  I invite you to lead an initiative at your school to help do something to help.  Help a teacher move in to a new room.  Help a teacher organize their papers - something! Work together to build a community of educators who love their school and their students.  I guarantee - you won't be sorry.
by: Kathleen   

I love the 4th of July! The watermelon, sunshine, subsequent sunscreen, bug spray, hamburgers, hot dogs, fireworks & summer heat make for a fun time. It's also nice that I enjoy being a teacher and technically don't have a full time job during the summer. I love our country. 
I love how patriotic we get this time of year and with the Olympics
coming up it's so easy to root for the good ole U.S.A. In between hot dogs, though, I want to teach my children the origins of this great country and the hardships they went through to get it to this point. I also want to tell my children about my great, great-grandfather (War Between the States), great-grandfather (World War I), grandfather (World War II) and brother (Operation Enduring Freedom) who fought and still fight for this country and the freedoms we enjoy (Yes, I'm proud). It's quite a tear-jerker to think about my brother who is across the world serving as a U.S. Marine in harm's way but I know if he were here with me right now, he'd say "suck it up, Kathleen. Have a little courage." Don't you think of the word courage when you think of the history of this great country? I used to think of those mothers who would send their sons off to battle right here in their homeland and how scary that must have been. That takes courage. You know what, though? It also takes courage to walk into the classroom. It takes courage to bring up the next generation and to do it with love and an open heart. It's so easy to think of courage when you think of how amazing our freedoms are today because of the sacrifice of those who went yesterday. It should be easy to think that teachers are courageous too. We should be proud of ourselves, teachers! 
We are a heroes to so many out there. Never forget that.
By: Kathleen