Happy Birthday to The Innovative Educator! You are 5 today, March 19th.

It was exactly five years ago today that The Innovative Educator took its first step in an effort to publicly become a part of the conversation on learning innovatively. As I shared in my post Why I started a blog and why maybe you should too, this blog was born in great part due to the prodding of blogevangelist Will Richardson who I have since named my Blogfather. It was Will who I would run into at events and conferences who would ask, “Have you started sharing your ideas on a blog yet?” and who would write, “if you want your ideas to resonate with me and to be taken seriously, don’t just talk. Engage. Publish. Converse.” I took Will’s advice and like any proud parent, I can say I’ve learned so much from the experience of giving birth to this new creation that has developed a purposeful and professional digital footprint consisting of more than 1400  entries.

Now, when I'm Googled, it is me and my blog that comes up on the front page. And, there are all sorts of other important footprints that The Innovative Educator has made. Its print is left on the front page of Google searches like: Cell phones, Homeschooling, Facebook, Passion-Driven Learning, Twitter in Education, College myth, Personal Learning Networks, Social media, ADD, Digital footprints, BYOD, and more.

Here are some of my favorite posts of the year:

5 ideas to inspire students to use social media for good

"High School Musical" star Monique Coleman is a youth empowerment advocate who recently provided advice about using social media to do good.  Below is the advice she shared on her site http://gimmemo.com followed by her video where you can hear her for yourself sharing these ideas.  If you like what she has to say, you’ll be happy to know you can connect with Monique on Twitter.  She is co-hosting the March 18th Student Voice Twitter chat on the topic, "How can influential figures and organizations play a role in empowering the student voice?" Use the hashtag #StuVoice and tag Monique at @GimmeMoTalk. The chat starts at 8:30 p.m. eastern standard time.

5 ideas to use social media for good

3 innovative ways to connect with parents via talking on a cell phone

This piece was originally posted in SmartBlog on Education.

We all know we can use cell phone to make calls, but few realize all the innovative ways simple phone calling technology can help us in building the home-school connection.  If you know how to pick up a phone and dial, then it’s time to pick it up a notch and learn about some free and easy to use resources that will help you coordinate and connect with parents in powerful and exciting ways.  

1) iPadio
Wouldn’t it be great to have a weekly podcast for parents?  While the idea sounds good, when we think of podcasting it often seems confusing and hard to put together. Not so with a phonecasting service like iPadio. All you need to know how to do is dial a phone number and speak. Then boom! Your phonecast is instantly published and can be shared via your website, blog, email, or text.  

The hottest posts that everyone's reading

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

Entry	Views
Why College Kids Shouldn’t Act Like College Kids Mar 7, 2013	3625
John Stossel hated school. Investigates unschooling Mar 10, 2013, 1 comment	2179
More Reading. More Writing. More Engaged Citizens Mar 9, 2013, 3 comments	2157
Say goodbye to bake sales forever Mar 12, 2013	1601
Why Smartboards are a Dumb Initiative May 12, 2010, 72 comments	1560
Finally! Research-based proof that students use cell phones... Feb 16, 2013, 10 comments	1495
7 ways to connect with parents via texting Mar 13, 2013	1395

6 Reasons to Incorporate “Smithsonian Quests” Into Your Classroom

By Ashley Naranjo, Education Technician for the Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies

For some time now, the education community has discussed and explored how to get out of the standardized-testing rut and make learning enjoyable again. Online games and challenges, real-world work, and point systems have been a few of the ideas kicked around by educators and tech-enthusiasts alike. Earlier this school year, a New York Times article highlighted the benefits of using digital badges to enable students, including those writing their college-admission essays, to demonstrate their knowledge and skills.

A new online program from the Smithsonian called Smithsonian Quests gives K-12 students the opportunity to earn digital badges just by learning more about topics that already interest them. Educators at the Smithsonian have considered all of the points on teachers’ instructional checklists while offering a fun learning experience for students. See if the program corresponds to your own checklist:

Can social media combat the issue of educator isolation?

Feelings of isolation occur with some regularity among educators, especially those who teach in specialty areas and/or small schools. Teachers spend much of their day separated from peers in classrooms that can become silos. However, technology is providing new ways for teachers to connect with peers both near and far.

This is part two of the show on this topic. In part one we invited listeners to join BAM radio's Rae Pica for a discussion about overcoming isolation by building a personal learning network which you can listen to here. 

In this show we walk listeners through the process of getting connected starting with the 5 C's of building your personal learning network moving to a discussion of what that looks like in practice.