The hottest posts everyone's reading

Here’s the roundup of what's been popular on The Innovative Educator blog. Below you’ll see the top posts along with the number of page views. I hope there's something that looks of interest to you.  If it does, check it out. If you’re inspired use one of those icons below the post to share it with others and/or leave a comment.

Entry	Pageviews
If you're not preparing your students to use socia... Oct 29, 2013,	6614
Think before you send or post Nov 1, 2013,	5041
Stop trying to figure out if screentime is good fo... Oct 30, 2013,	3640
What if we let students design their own schools? Nov 8, 2013,	2195
Does Twitter have a minimum age requirement? Jun 13, 2013,	1800
Tasting in Technicolor - A Story of Learning Diffe... Nov 3, 2013,	1481
The principalship: 6 ways smartphones have changed... Nov 6, 2013,	1445

Remember

Guest post by Jacob Gutnicki 

Remember when education always pioneered

And how the educator was revered

Remember engaging activities and innovation

Multiple Intelligences and helping children were our passion

Remember the inner child

And when the kid smiled

Remember what it was like to be a kid

The games and the friends who we made trouble with; g-d forbid

Remember our children must contend with increased standardized testing

Accountability, College Readiness, and schools we plan on divesting

Remember the help you had when you were younger

And don’t forget to support your child with the help they hunger

Remember you were too proud to ask for help and played it wild

Remember no matter what they will always be your child

#NYSCATE13 - A Conference that Knows How to Make IT Happen!

I've attended a lot of conferences. Some nail it like EdCamps and EduCon, and others leave something to be desired.  When it comes to throwing a worthwhile conference, NYSCATE is one that knows how to make it happen.   I had the privilege to meet and canoodle with innovative educators at this year’s NYSCATE in Rochester and here are a few of my favorite things about what this conference did right.

How NYSCATE Makes IT Happen!

Making social media happen

* Lisa Nielsen impressed by all that is going on in the social media kiosk. Coffee with a Geek Geeky Ed Tech educator Andy Wheelock @Spiffwhitfield held court at the social media kiosk where he was on hand to get a behind the scenes look at what goes on at NYSCATE. He did this my interviewing presenters, speakers, and participants to find capture the pulse of the conference. You can check out his videos here. Social Media Camp All those interested in learning more about or sharing how to leverage social media in powerful ways were invited to join this informal session.

Finally. A conference that gets social media right. The area was manned with social media chairpersons who included gurus @ransometech and @JenLaubscher who were on hand to help get folks going or keep them engaged. Here are some of the ways they did that: Hashtag #NYSCATE13 Not to be taken lightly, #NYSCATE13 was consistent with the sharing of their hashtag promoting it in brochures, on posters, on their website, in sessions, and more.    Cheat sheets Steve Ransom made these awesome cheat sheets for folks who wanted to know a little more about Twitter. They were there for all interested, to take away for anytime/anywhere learning.  You can find them on his blog here. Topics were: Twitter Etiquette | Anatomy of a Tweet Tweet Cheat Sheet | Twitter Lingo Another Tweet Anatomy NYSCATE13 Eventfier Wow. I had never seen this tool before, and it’s FANTASTIC. It’s a one stop shop for all social media made specifically for events. The site shares what’s popular as well as all videos, Tweets, blog posts, photos, slides AND it tells you who top contributors are. You can also check out all contributions by any contributor. You can see what mine look like here. Check out the site at http://eventifier.co/event/nyscate13.  Note: It is not free, but prices start at $49 per event. Seems worth the savings in time to me.

Help for parents who want to keep their children safe online

More than ninety percent of parents think they should have a lot of responsibility for ensuring their children are safe on the internet, but only one-third think they are prepared to do so. About three quarters of parents think a major portion of the responsibility for ensuring children’s safety on the Internet falls to schools (source: Research on parent attitudes toward internet use PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1z93n). Unfortunately, schools can not and should not be required to be solely responsible for ensuring students safety. In fact, in cities like New York, their internet use and safety policy says that when it comes to online use, “Parents are primarily responsible for transmitting their particular set of family values to their children, and discussing with their children what material is and is not acceptable for their children to access through the Department’s Internet Systems.”  Despite parents knowing this should be their responsibility, the fact is most parents don’t feel prepared and many school systems are telling parents this is indeed their responsibility.  As passionate educators and involved parents know, the answer is in developing trusting relationships and having honest conversations.  However, this knowledge alone does not help an unsure parent know where to begin nor does it help educators in helping parents.  

The hottest posts everyone's reading

Here’s the roundup of what's been popular on The Innovative Educator blog. Below you’ll see the top posts along with the number of page views. I hope there's something that looks of interest to you.  If it does, check it out. If you’re inspired use one of those icons below the post to share it with others and/or leave a comment.

Entry	Pageviews
If you're not preparing your students to use socia... Oct 29, 2013,	7071
Think before you send or post Nov 1, 2013,	4212
Stop trying to figure out if screentime is good fo... Oct 30, 2013,	3614
Is compulsory education really necessary? Aug 30, 2012,	2006
Does Twitter have a minimum age requirement? Jun 13, 2013,	1713
Tasting in Technicolor - A Story of Learning Diffe... Nov 3, 2013,	1379
What if we let students design their own schools? Nov 8, 2013,	1148
When and How Should Kids Learn to Type? Feb 8, 2011,	1098

How Social Reading Enhances the #CCSS

Guest post by Travis Alber

ReadUps is an online discussion platform where students can read online and discuss content inside the book. Actually, it doesn't have to be a book, it can also be an imported URL, an uploaded course packet, or whatever you paste in. But the purpose of the ReadUp is to "meet up" inside what students read, and to discuss it. Discussion features allow students to leave comments and responses on any paragraph, or message other readers in the book at the same time. When the ReadUp expires (usually within 2 months), the conversation and book disappear from the website.

ReadUps are “Meetups” inside Books

Here are some ways ReadUps can be used to implement the Common Core

1. Contextual discussion

ReadUps is great for the close reading of texts, and a good platform for students to help other students. Students attach questions to a paragraph and get multiple answers. It's like a distributed study group that meets outside of class to help students get more from their peers.

2. Detailed analysis of the work

CCSS has a focus on critical thinking. Some teachers assign a chapter to students, and sprinkle questions throughout the text, asking students to answer a requisite number. Readups provide a good way for students to demonstrate a deep understanding of the text, and to show improved comprehension when they ask questions back.

3. Focus on Feedback

ReadUps provide an effective means to engage students in their writing assignments. Students can paste content in, ask classmates to read it, and learn how to improve their work. It's not a word processing program, it's a discussion platform, so students take away suggestions at high level, learn to consolidate their thoughts, and then edit their original document in whatever other program they’ve been writing in. Since the ReadUp only lives for a short time - in fact, students can set it to expire after a day - it allows detailed, comprehensive feedback as a simple step in the writing process.

So what do you think? Is this something you might try in your classroom? Want to try it out? Join " Sherlockian Diversions," a public ReadUp in progress [http://rdup.me/hkzit1cens714i].

---

Travis Alber is an entrepreneur focused on publishing innovation; her latest startup, ReadUps, offers paragraph-level discussions and reading groups inside content. Based in NYC, she has been working for 15 years on a number of web, ebook, education and mobile-related projects. Reach her at  @screenkapture [http://www.twitter.com/screenkapture].

Talking isn't enough. 10 suggestions to help keep teens safe.

By Lisa Nielsen with guidance and contributions from Willyn Webb

 

Today's party companions

Molly and tampons with boozetube flasks. What do these essentials for today’s EDM (or electronic dance music) culture have to do with being an educator? Well, if you work with secondary school students, a lot actually...That is, if you believe your role goes beyond simply imparting knowledge and includes ensuring your students are armed with some common sense information that could mean the difference between them showing up to class safely or not after a weekend of fun.

This realization was brought to light for me recently after spending an evening with a dozen or so wasted, passed out teenage girls whose plans to enjoy a concert by electro house musician Steve Aoki, were thwarted by a trip to the ER.

In a few short hours, I realized several things parents were not aware of that they could be doing to keep their kids safe when they’re out with friends. School guidance counselors, PTA leaders, teachers, and other members of the school community can help educate parents by sharing a few suggestions parents can keep in mind to keep their children safe.

10 suggestions for keeping kids safe

The hottest posts everyone's reading

Here’s the roundup of what's been popular on The Innovative Educator blog. Below you’ll see the top posts along with the number of page views. I hope there's something that looks of interest to you.  If it does, check it out. If you’re inspired use one of those icons below the post to share it with others and/or leave a comment.

Entry	Pageviews
If you're not preparing your students to use social media... Oct 29, 2013,	6660
Think before you send or post Nov 1, 2013,	3779
Stop trying to figure out if screentime is good ... Oct 30, 2013,	3584
Does Twitter have a minimum age requirement? Jun 13, 2013,	1601
Tasting in Technicolor - A Story of Learning Diffe... Nov 3, 2013,	1386
Has Google replaced teaching? Oct 22, 2013,	1229
Ideas for supporting #TeacherEffectiveness with ... Oct 20, 2013,	1137
When and How Should Kids Learn to Type? Feb 8, 2011,	1129

Free #mLearning book. Great companion for student-centered learning practices.

Mobile Education: Lessons from 35 Education Experts on Improving Learning with Mobile Technology is a new eBook that features me and some great friends from my learning network including my co-author of Teaching Generation Text - Willyn Webb, #Edchat cofounder - Shelly Terrell, EduClipper founder - Adam Bellow, Geeky Mama - Lee Kolbert, and a couple dozen or so more which you can see below.

The book is offered in a Slideshare format which it turns out could be a terrific platform for educators and their students to self-publish.  There are many ways to share the eBook with others. You can embed it on a blog or website, Like it, or tweet about it.

Here’s the book. You can click the < > arrows to advance the pages.

Mobile Education - Lessons from 35 Education Experts on Improving Learning with Mobile Technology from Studio B Productions, Inc.

The book features 35 essays that fit into a common theme -- technology drives student-centered learning. The book is a great companion for those interested in using mobile technologies to move from instructor-centered learning to student-centered learning.