Ideas for enjoying tech-free meals

The research is clear. Time together around the dinner table has beneficial results including improving quality of daily life, your children's chances of success in the world, and your family's health according to the Family Youth and Community Sciences Department at the University of Florida. In fact, your child may be 35% less likely to engage in disordered eating, 24% more likely to eat healthier foods and 12% less likely to be overweight (Hammons & Fiese, 2011). A study done by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse revealed that teens who eat fewer than three family dinners per week compared to those who eat five to seven a week are twice as likely to use alcohol and tobacco and one and a half times more likely to use marijuana.

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
5 Ways to use social media to spice up your next museum... Apr 16, 2014,	3926
Is boredom the real epidemic in our schools? Mar 23, 2014,	3231
Students, parents, teachers, principals + elected ... Apr 20, 2014,	1591
How obsolete is your school? Take this quiz to fin... Mar 19, 2014,	1177
8 Real Ways Facebook Enriched Ms. Schoening’s Firs... Jul 15, 2010,	947
10 ways the research behind banning #mlearning for... Mar 26, 2014,	888

Help your child get inventive with these resources

Do you have students who love inventing, experimenting, and computing? Then check out my article on Answers.com which features quality, free or inexpensive places you can turn to help your students discover, explore, and develop his or her inner inventor. 

Visit "Help your child get inventive with these resources" to find out about more about resources like Super Awesome Sylvia, Tynker, and Makey Makey.  

Caution banning cell phones may interrupt learning

“The only difference between smartphones and laptops is that cell phones are smaller, cheaper, and more coveted by students” (Richtel & Stone, 2009). Students, parents, teachers, principals, and elected officials know it is time to lift restrictions and embrace these tools for learning. Below is their wisdom and the research to support it.

Students

• In general, 95% of teens use the internet and 74% are “mobile internet users” (Pew, 2013).  With or without us, students are using cell phones for learning despite the perception by some parents and teachers that cell phones are distracting to kids. A national study shows that 1 in 3 middle schoolers are using their devices to complete homework and learn better (Tru, 2012). 
• "... with cell phones tucked in the book bags and pockets of three-fourths of today's teens, many high schools are ceding defeat in the battle to keep hand-held technology out of class and instead are inviting students to use their phones for learning" (Malone & Black, 2010).

• Nationally, just over half (52%) of teachers of upper and upper-middle income students say their students use cell phones to look up information in class, compared with 35% of teachers of the lowest income students (Pew Research Center, 2013).  
• More than half of the world’s population now owns a cell phone, and children under 12 constitute one of the fastest growing segments of mobile technology users in the U.S. according to the The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop (Shuler, 2009).  

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
How obsolete is your school? Take this quiz ... Mar 19, 2014,	4011
Is boredom the real epidemic in our schools? Mar 23, 2014,	3222
Does Twitter have a minimum age requirement? Jun 13, 2013,	2511
Google Drive gets add-ons. Yeah or Eh? Mar 16, 2014,	2370
8 Real Ways Facebook Enriched Ms. Schoening’s 1st Grade... Jul 15, 2010,	1621
10 ways the research behind banning handheld devices is flawed... Mar 26, 2014,	1594

5 Ways to use social media to spice up your next museum trip

It’s not uncommon for today’s children, brought up in a fast-paced, digital world, to become bored and uninterested when visiting cultural institutions. It doesn’t have to be that way though. Sometimes the first step to enjoying art is to look forward to a museum visit as something that is fun. Social media can provide a great way to engage young people during a trip to museum, landmark, or other cultural institution. At the same time, it might just connect them to a new community of others who share a love of arts and culture that they didn’t know they had.

Here are some fun and innovative ideas for teachers and parents to try on their next field trip.

#BYOD Management from the experts: @mluhtala @jksuter @hobsonjill

Listen as bring your own device (BYOD) experts discuss best practices for classroom management.  Special guests Jill Hobson @hobsonjill, Michelle Luhtala @mluhtala, and Jason Suter @JKsuter all currently work in BYOD environments and share insights about the following topics:

• Getting started with byod management.
• Preventing distraction. 
• Fostering trust in students who are using their own devices.
• The role of students in classroom management.
• Explaining this will work to administrators.
• Getting parents to support responsible use.  

Watch the video below then check out the collection of Tweets on Storify filled with insights and resources.

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
How obsolete is your school? Take this quiz to fin... Mar 19, 2014,	3940
Is boredom the real epidemic in our schools? Mar 23, 2014,	3047
Does Twitter have a minimum age requirement? Jun 13, 2013,	1713
Google Drive gets add-ons. Yeah or Eh? Mar 16, 2014,	1375
Face off: @Twitter verses @Remind101 for family ou... Mar 9, 2014,	1256

Inspiring story of social media giving @CarlysVoice a #StuVoice

Carly Fleischmann hadn't communicated with many people before she started using social media. That is because Carly doesn't speak. Today however, social media has opened the door to give this very social young lady access to connecting with tens of thousands of people around the world. 

In the video below, Carly shares, "The moment when I typed on social media for the first time a sense of belonging and a feeling of being heard came over me. I was surprised how I was now a part of society in a social way. It has brought me out of my shell and allowed me to help people learn about autism straight from the horse's mouth."

Social media is an amazing tool to give us a voice, allow us to share our stories, and connect to others.  How are using using social media to open up doors to the students with whom you work?
________________________________________
Get social!
-->Follow Carly on Twitter at https://twitter.com/CarlysVoice 
-->Like her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/carlysvoice 

Consider this...
How can you use Carly's social media presence as a model for the students with whom you work?

Google Hangout on Air - Managing BYOD - Live on April 7th!

Join me for a BYOD Google Hangout on Monday, April 7^th at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time. 

Topic
Managing the BYOD classroom

Guests will discuss the following

• Getting started with byod management.
• Preventing distraction.
• Fostering trust in students who are using their own devices.
• The role of students in classroom management.
• Explaining this will work to administrators.
• Getting parents to support responsible use.  

Our special guests include

• Jill Hobson @hobsonjill
• Michelle Luhtala @mluhtala 
• Jason Suter @JKsuter

Connect with them on Twitter!

Backchannel

• Join our backchannel conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #BYODEquity. See all the backchannel hashtags on our Tagboard at http://tagboard.com/byodmanagement

Join the hangout at this link

https://plus.google.com/events/cnb6l98874hjdvh0ec92r289ktk 

Teen explains the power of a student PLN

Guest post by Connor Wood

I had never heard of a Personal Learning Network (PLN) before Lisa Nielsen asked me to write about mine. I did not originally set out to make a PLN. It just sort of happened as I started asking around for interviews for my education blog, Trismegistus Nab-tu-we. I also contacted author  Henry Olsen and entrepreneur William Peregoy. They were both helpful in giving me the tools and ideas I needed to start my blog and autodidactism. There are a couple of other student groups I have turned to for advice including Students for Education Reform and The Providence Student Union.

I have a little secret. Aside from my blog, the only social networking site I belong to is Google+ which is only because of my blog. I use Google+ for major posts, but not much besides that. I guess I am kind of old school in using my email for most of my networking. When I started going around looking for people to interview, I used only email. This allowed me to connect to progressive educators and reform activists like John Robinson, James Bach, Lisa Nielsen, and Jerry Mintz, all of whom have been extremely helpful in networking ideas and suggestions. Jerry and Lisa, for example, both recommended I get in touch with Nikhil Goyal. Additional help in getting my voice heard has come from Diane Ravitch and Mercedes Schneider. Lisa too has helped me a lot. Allowing me to contribute this guest post is an example of that.

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
How obsolete is your school? Take this quiz to fin... Mar 19, 2014,	3773
Is boredom the real epidemic in our schools? Mar 23, 2014,	2990
Does Twitter have a minimum age requirement? Jun 13, 2013,	1713
8 Real Ways Facebook Enriched Ms. Schoening’s Firs... Jul 15, 2010,	1608
Face off: @Twitter verses @Remind101 for family ou... Mar 9, 2014,	1279
Google Drive gets add-ons. Yeah or Eh? Mar 16, 2014,	1369

Don’t Be Fooled on Facebook - Cloning Accounts

This week an elderly relative of mine friend-requested me on Facebook. Not only do I love to see more and more seniors connecting online, I also love that this provides further opportunity for generations to share their lives. Especially these days when families tend to have busy lives and be spread out.

The relative was a cousin who I don’t see much beyond big family gatherings like weddings and funerals. The next day she messaged me. Nice! She was catching on quickly. We had the usual pleasantries. She asked how the family was in Vegas and said she had been there recently but unfortunately hadn't had time to visit. I gave her the update on my Dad's birthday party and also shared that things at work and home were very well and shared a couple pictures of my pups.

I was impressed at how she jumped right in. Bravo! Then she said she had been trying to reach me about something.

She asked if I ever played games on Facebook, (Who doesn't right?). Well actually I don't. She said she doesn't either but there was this site that takes Facebook profile names and enters them in a contest. She was excited because she had won and they delivered cash right to her door. Uh. Ok. That is weird. But I congratulated her.

She said she was trying to reach me, because she saw my name on the list of winners.

Hmmm.

I explained it must be someone who shares the same name as I have never entered a contest. And, now I'm thinking, "What the hell?" This clearly isn’t my cousin, but who is it and who else has this impostor reached out to?

I click on the profile to verify who had contacted me. It was my cousin. It was her picture, jobs, schools, and we had a few mutual friends/relatives. I went to see when her profile was created. A-ha! Just a couple days ago. But then again, she was new on Facebook, from what I thought, so maybe that wasn't an issue.

I did not happen to have any contact info for my cousin or I would have reached out directly, however, I searched some more and found a duplicate Facebook profile from my cousin. On her timeline she says not to answer any communication from her as she got hacked.

The reality is that she did not get hacked.  Instead, someone just cloned her account. Profile pictures, jobs, education, etc.  Interesting.  That would not take very long to do. Probably about 15 - 20 minutes or so.  If the person does not frequently interact with others on Facebook (as was the case with this relative) it also wouldn’t be surprising that folks didn’t even remember they were already friends with her.

At this point I go back to the fake cousin and ask her to tell me more about this list I am on. She is getting mad. She is telling me to just friend request and message a man named Brian Mcpherson on Facebook from the National Lottery Administration who has the list of winners.

I'm interested to see how the scam plays out and contact him. He asks for my full name and number. He messages me a congratulations informing me I am a winner! Then he sends me a form to fill out with lots of personal information. I fill it out with lots of fake information.

Now he does what’s expected. He tells me I only have to pay $2000 to get the $100,000 I have won (see the message in the screenshot below).  Yipee!

What I was wondering during all this was if our students and their parents, and their parent’s parents would be prepared for something like this.  How would they react? Would they be fooled? Would they realize and get scared saying no more social media?

My hope is that they would not see this as a sign to shy away from social media. Shying away does not empower anyone and does not teach how to be discerning when encountering individuals. However, the lesson to be discerning, does not only apply to online interactions. I have personally encountered (and imprisoned) an impostor that I became close to face-to-face. Scam artists and those with double lives are everywhere.

I agree with Will Richardson’s belief that we want our children meeting strangers on the internet (see # 11), but how are we preparing our students to know if the person they thought they knew is really who they say they are? What lessons are we teaching them? What safeguards are Facebook (and other services) putting in place when scammers duplicate a profile? Do those who are contacted know how and when to get the authorities involved? Are you sure you know if your students would be prepared to handle such a situation?