Think Like a Teacher

Assignment:  Create a one pager on trends, terms, and  tensions surrounding teachers today for an audience of lay people not involved with schools. (This might also be a worthwhile assignment for teacher ed candidates.)

Background: I have been working on a project with a group of non-educators. Our purpose is related to serving teachers, but the exact mission does not matter here. I find myself pausing often, realizing that these highly intelligent, well-meaning people have no exposure to life as a teacher or to the education trends and currents that slap our faces like salty, unexpected waves. My group members know only what they read or see in the media. Imagine if you were trying to help teachers but knew only what you saw on Education Nation, an occasional PBS show, or in various columns and op-eds. Naively, I offered to create a one pager, not to comprehensively explain all the terms and trends, but at least to list them and indicate  where tensions exist (trying to maintain neutrality!).

So far my list includes many edtech trends, terms, and challenges along with others involving policy, pedagogy, and philosophy. The more I add, the more I realize should be there. I share my list-in-progress and hope that others might suggest things I forgot. What do you think?

Terms and trends: Emerging  technologies (already hatched, actually) and uses of technology

• BYOD/T (Bring your own device/technology):  Students provide the hardware; done for cost-saving, concerns re equity/inequity?
• One to one: Every student has a device (laptop/tablet)
• Mobile devices/apps vs computers/software
• eBooks: electronic textbooks, electronic books of all sorts, e-Readers (Kindle, iPad, etc)
• Social media in education: learning together using tech-enabled community spaces
• Gaming in education: simulations and intelligent games far beyond “edutainment,” many student-created
• “Responsible use” policies: school policies that expect kids to use technology well and make wise choices instead of deciding for them by blocking sites, etc.
• Digital Citizenship: a combination of skills and knowledge, including ethical use of digital media (awareness of copyright and other rights), netiquette, positive online behavior, cybersafety, anti-cyberbullying, etc.
• Digital Literacy: a combination of skills including digital citizenship AND locating/evaluating/curating sources, etc.
• “Blended learning”:  learning via combination of online and face to face delivery methods or combo of tech-guided and teacher-guided learning or synchronous and asynchronous or variations on any of the above. Ask for a definition when someone uses this term

Terms, trends, tensions: Curriculum and Accountability

• Common Core (CCSS): elevated, nation-wide curriculum rigor vs lock-step test prep?
• Student test scores as measures for teacher evaluation and teacher quality vs multiple criteria vs ?
• Data-informed instruction: customizing teaching by using continuous snapshots of student understanding (by what measure?)
• Schools without Walls: school as an experience defined by learning rather than location; may include contact with the “real world,” experts, mentors, and global connections with other students
• Financial literacy initiatives/standards: helping kids understand saving, money, credit, and other financial skills (perhaps to head off another Wall Street meltdown?)
• STEM initiatives (or is this already a bandwagon gone by?): science, technology, engineering, and math seen as an interrelated set of skills and competencies

Broader issues and tensions

• Creativity/innovation vs specific, standards-based skills
• 21^st century skills: According to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, this means 3Rs plus 4Cs: critical thinking, collaboration, communication, creativity. Other definitions also exist based on what businesses predict students will need to thrive and contribute in their careers
• Education “reform” — whose definition? Ask.
• School improvement (takeovers or action measures toward underperforming schools as determined by test scores) vs “Rethinking” school (imagining entirely new ways to configure education)
• Industrial model of education vs. newer, student-centered models

After starting this list, my head is spinning, and I need legal sized paper to fit on one page. As teachers, we toss these terms in heated discussions with our non-educator friends and contacts, but how can we expect non-educators to understand ever-changing, multi-directional waves that break over schools and teachers? If we cannot even explain them all, no wonder even the brightest, most sympathetic people shake their heads. The good thing about all this? At least there is agreement  among laypeople and educators that school is important. Let’s start building from there.

News Corp’s education division, Amplify, has announced a new tablet designed specifically for education.  According to the story on NPR today, they are touting this new device as the tool to bring schools into the 21st century. Amplify’s CEO, Joel Klein, claims they are launching this device for the love of learning. The skeptical teacher in me says it is for the love of earning. To start, News Corp’s infamous leader, Rupert Murdoch, insults teachers by saying

Today’s classroom looks almost exactly the same as it did in the Victorian age: a teacher standing in front of a roomful of kids with only a textbook, a blackboard, and a piece of chalk [Really? When were you last in a school?]

Then Klein continues

It’s not about hardware, it’s not about devices, it’s really about learning.

Is it? What does NewsCorp/Amplify know about today’s teaching and learning? If they think it looks like the 1890’s, they have not been in the schools I know. They have not seen teachers who work hard to take advantage of any technology they can to connect their classroom to the world beyond. They have not seen efforts like MySciLife® . They have not met the teachers who come to OK2Ask® to learn how to use the technology they have — and use it well. They have not read the comments of teachers describing the pedagogy behind their decisions to make their interactive whiteboard (IWB) into a student-controlled learning space. (They should have been there with us last night.) They have not heard teachers critiquing colleagues who fail to leverage the devices and materials they DO have for learning “to the max.” They have not met the teachers who are driven to learn themselves and take their discoveries to their classrooms the next morning.

According to NPR, “Murdoch has described education as a market worth hundreds of billions of dollars.” The education market is both a tasty lure for entrepreneurs confident they will make big bucks and a carnival of quick-fix claims. The education marketplace is far too much about earning than learning. Efforts like Edsurge try to bridge the gap between techpreneurs and educators, but the urge to make money still seeps in among the education reform/rethink efforts.

Money is a harsh reality of life, for sure. We all make difficult decisions about it. I just wish that those making the decisions about educational technology money would listen a bit more to the voices of learning. Just sit, watch, and listen for a while. Talk to teachers. Talk to students. Erase what you remember about school and try to imagine being a kid now. Then try to put your money into making sure every kid is connected, both at home and at school… and on the walk between. If you can’t shift the priority from earning to real learning,  please go away. Teachers and kids are busy enough without another Big Fix. Let us use what we have well and, please, let us tell you what else we really need.

I love the open letter that Library Media teacher Angela Estrella wrote to Edtech Entrepreneurs and shared via the EdSurge blog. I am sure every edtech coach out there would applaud it, retweet it,  or tack it up somewhere electronically — or even on precious paper. We who try to lure teachers into trying new tools have witnessed the rapid decline from enthusiasm to frustration when start up time on a new tool devolves into endless settings, checkboxes, and menu options named by a geek using vocabulary no teacher would ever use.  We who “coach” take the brunt of reasonable teacher skepticism about the latest and greatest new tool. Unlike those of us who enjoy edtech tinker toys, teachers have the patience of a flea when faced with the latest new gadget: “Get me to the red blood, or I jump… now!”

Teacher skepticism is a healthy thing. It is what makes us question a report that seems too well-written to be a student’s own work. It is what makes us wonder whether our own assessment (test, rubric) is perhaps measuring the wrong thing. It is what helps us survive the slings and arrows of politically-driven policies. Yet, it can easily morph into jaded negativism. [Insert your mental image of a burned out colleague here.]

So I add a followup note to Estrella’s letter.

Dear Edtech Entrepreneurs,

I hope you read my previous letter —  shared by Angela — more carefully than my kids read their assignments. I forgot a couple of things:

I am a skeptic by nature. You can help me focus my critical thinking skills on choosing appropriate technology for my class. Choose your words wisely and tell the truth. That will keep me from becoming jaded and negative toward all technology.

You have a responsibility beyond selling what you make. You are responsible for selling me on learning something new. I know how to do that with my students. Do you?

Skeptically,

Your customer/critic, the healthy teacher-skeptic

 

The other day I posted about the analogy of good coaching in sports to effective EdTech coaching. The new ISTE SIGETC already has some very effective coaches as members, so I am sure they will have something to say about this analogy. I toss it out and hope I don’t have to duck rotten tomatoes from anti-sports folks.

My previous post listed fan approval, wins/losses, building learnership, and noticing/nourishing individual strengths as important characteristics for the effective EdTech coach. Here are some further ingredients to add flavor and assure success:

5. A balance of team and individual. With the excitement of molding individual talents comes the responsibility to build teamwork. A strong team of tech savvy teachers is far better than individual stars. A great EdTech coach finds ways for both stars bench warmers to work as part of TEAM. ONe great thing about EdTech is that you don’t have to limit the number of players (teachers) on the field. Everyone gets full time playing time. The effective coach finds ways for all teacher sto be engaged and contributing to the schoolwide goals of Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers.

6. The ability to communicate skills beyond your own. A short basketball coach could never demonstrate a slam-dunk. An English major EdTech coach knows nothing about chemistry and does not talk in chemspeak. But a good coach can find a way to talk about the skills even if he/she cannot personally DO them.  A coach may understand a lot about manipulating data using technology, but have no recollection of the formulas a math or science teacher knows and challenges students to use in creating infographics. But if the coach can talk it through and communicate about the skill, the “players” who have the right skill set will pick it up and refine it as the coach suggests. A real advantage of NOT being able to “just do it” is that you will never be tempted to grab the mouse!

7. Inspiring the next generation of coaches. We see this in every sport: the kids who loved the sport come back to coach it, maybe as volunteers in a youth program or even as pro coaches. If they receive good coaching, they pay it forward. The best EdTech coaches inspire their teaching peers to do the same: volunteer to demonstrate at a staff meeting, sit side by side and help the tech-timid colleague work through a tech challenge, or simply volunteer for “pick up” tech sessions in the planning center. The best way to help teachers stay abreast of the pace of change in both teaching and technology is for all coaches to see next generation inspiration as priority one. We need many minds to keep this team in action.

Hope you’ll join the EdTech Coaches of #SIGETC in our chat January 15 at 1pm Eastern. We have future chats planned for March 19 and May 21. Start cooking up that secret sauce for #SIGETC!

As part of the leadership team of a new ISTE SIG (special interest group) for EdTech Coaches, I have been mulling what makes a good coach. This time of year, NFL and NCAA college football programs are tossing, grabbing, and exchanging coaches like kids with Halloween candy. The media and the fans love to chime in. As a former three-sports-a-year student, I have had experience with many coaches. As a parent, I have witnessed the strengths and weaknesses of my children’s coaches. Along the way, I formed a solid list of what I think makes a good coach. The same traits that inspire kids to swim harder, dig deeper, and learn more as athletes also work when technology integration specialists (or EdTech coaches by any other name) coach our teaching peers. The sports analogies really do make sense, even if you were never a “jock.”

Secret Sauce: Seven Must-Have Characteristics of a Good Coach

1. Fan approval. If the ultimate audience — the fans/students/parents– do not appreciate the results of what the coach does, it’s all over. They may not even notice how the coach does it, but they do notice the effects on the players/teachers. If the EdTech coach helps a teacher score lessons that fascinate, challenge, and/or hook the fans (students), the coach is brilliant. EdTech coaches are perhaps more like the next tier “coordinators” on the football sidelines, removed from the media hype given head coaches and in more direct relationship with the teachers/players. But fan approval still matters.

2.Wins and losses. Coaches are judged by the final score. Did the teacher improve student achievement? Did the coach help him/her make a touchdown, or did they have to settle for a field goal? No matter how much yardage a team gains, the management/administration wants the wins that justify the costs. It’s brutal, but it’s true. Savvy EdTech coaches know how to track results to prove that they are having an impact. If you can’t “score,” at least show that you are improving yards per carry. That will buy some time until you can help your players build confidence and skills enough to #eduwin and until management priorities begin to include more than just one score.

3. Building sportsmanship, or in this case learnership. Good athletic teams do more than score. They model the behavior we call sportsmanship: caring, ethical attitudes that transcend the playing field or classroom. As EdTech coaches, we nurture learnership by being learners ourselves. We admit when we are wrong and try to help those around us gain skills side by side with us. Fan approval can actually go up without wins if a good coach builds learnership. In athletic programs that rely less on making $$ from The Team, coaches can put learnership first. May we all be blessed to be in such a program/school!

4. Noticing and nourishing individual strengths. This is a delicate balance for any coach. Unless you are in an elite NFL program or an EdTech magnet school, you probably have some players/teachers with natural talent and some who simply have to work hard. You want to help the hard workers but also keep the high-talents moving ahead. As an EdTech coach, you may want to arrange some extra exposure to elite “camps” such as ISTE workshops or invite a teacher to submit for a conference. A good coach develops all players without making any of them jealous. And a good coach finds some strength even in the bench warmers. Those good-hearted teachers who just keep trying need every pat on the back they can get. The corollary is that a good coach notices the faces in the crowd who did not even come to tryouts. Some may hide from technology, perhaps out of fear or simply because they did not grow up in the right neighborhood where all the kids got to join in sports/technology. Result: they don’t want to embarrass themselves. Have EdTech play days or “camps” where everyone is welcome. And give out snacks. Everyone loves snacks. This is where the “everyone gets a trophy” philosophy actually fits.

I have three more, but it’s time for “practice.” I’ll share the rest of the thoughts from my playbook in a few days. To be continued….

Meanwhile, I hope you will plan to join the #SIGETC chat at 1 pm Eastern on Tuesday, January 15!

I poke through well over 100 web sites a week as part of my job with TeachersFirst, so it takes a lot to impress or excite me. I am grateful this final Friday of November for the discovery of Fun Favs. Here is a list of a dozen that have left impressions on me recently.  All have been or will be reviewed on TeachersFirst with loads of classroom ideas. Enjoy some creative play or lasting learning.

3D Photo Cube  What a great idea to make photos display interactively. I love the idea of sharing multi-faceted impressions of an event or person. Think of the pictures you could upload of just one person to show all aspects of his/her personality. It’s just plain visual fun.

LiveTyping  This one looks pretty dumb. Watch someone type as a “recording.” Now think about all the stories you could tell this way. Remember the Google searches during the Superbowl commercial a few years ago? Show what a character is thinking as he/she types a letter  or job application or creates a resume. Record Charlie Brown applying for a job as a football kicker. Record an imagined breakup email. Record an imagined memo being written by your most hated politician. Record a letter to the principal explaining why you had a live pig in your classroom (I once did!). Have fun!

Windmap I actually used  this one during Superstorm Sandy. Apparently a lot of other people did, too. It was quite sluggish. Make weather come to life far more than those static maps or “predictors” on your local TV forecast.  I wonder what other real-time viewers we could invent: see the paths of the grease smells wafting from fast food joints? No one has invented the smellavision, but I am sure there will be an app for that eventually.

Symphony of Science I love experiencing the arts in connection with academics. As an analogous thinker/connector, I always imagine concepts through analogies in visual or artistic form. I “see” poems and words as images. I even experience  numbers via a personal, visual number sense.  So why not experience science as music? This one intrigues me. I want to spend more time with it. Do you ever wonder whether your students personally experience concepts in some unusual way (and are afraid to talk about it for fear of being “weird”)?

Overlap Maps (Do you sense a visual theme here?) This one is simply cool. See maps as overlays so you can compare geographic spaces. I need to see a map when I travel, and I remember directions via the map in my head. But now I can compare places to give them context. How does my planned vacation location compare in size to my city? How does the setting of this novel compare to my childhood hometown? Make geography a toy.

Sodaplay  Yes, you play with straws. Create animated figures that move. Gotta love the web for mess-free “crafts” and animations. Wonderful time waster/creative challenge, depending on how you look at it. How could your students use it to explain something?

Phrasr  A word (or sentence) is worth a thousand pictures. Make words and sentences into a sequence of images. Poetry makes images out of a sequence of words, so Phrasr is another way to engage your visual-verbal mind.  Or simply make a creative sign for your door.

Spectra Visual Newsreader  Arrange your news visually. As a news junky, this one grabs me. My iPad is loaded with visual representations of news and feeds: Flipboard, apps from the networks, Newsstand. This one is online and customizable. I love the idea of hooking kids on current events through the visuals.

Infographics Archive  See the latest and greatest of infographics. Learn (and critique) as you browse this very popular medium. The more I see good and bad examples, the more I respect this way of communicating. I also come to fear it as teh Viewers Digest of information, showing stats and facts

YouTube Time Machine  See times past in the videos from that era. Get lost in the past, perhaps even waxing nostalgic for a favorite TV show from childhood. But you can also build a sense of a time past the same way Madmen rebuilds the sixties. Wouldn’t it be fun to show a few clips and challenge viewers to guess the year?

The final two are for my fellow political junkies:

AllSides As much as we all like to think our opinions are correct, we know there are others who do not agree. This tool lets you see issues from many points of view. Think of it as a 3D scanner for political thought. For those unable to make up their minds, this one is a politikaleidoscope.  During en election cycle — or the approach to the fiscal cliff, you can entertain yourself predicting the next set of soundbytes.

People’s Pie Speaking of the fiscal cliff, what would YOU do about it? Here is your chance to try to solve it without filibuster of news cycle bluster. Decide the priorities for the federal budget using this simulator. P.S. If you do, please sent tips to the folks in Washington.

This has been a grate(ful)  month. Thanks for letting me share it.

Installment 3 of Thankful Fridays is for my own learning. Most of all, I am grateful to have a job that allows me to learn something new every day, both face to face and in digital venues. Here are five digital places I am glad to “visit” and participate as a learner:

1. Flipboard. At first glance a visual way to “flip” through news articles and pretty pictures,  Flipboard customized  is nothing short of WOW! This iPad (or iPhone) app can teach me via tweets, RSS feeds, magazine articles, and  multiple Flipboard offerings. Yes, I could go to all those places separately, but the abilities to FLIP through them in one place, send things to others, Fav,  and otherwise pull in a customized educational technology collection (and other, non-professional interests) make Flipboard a namesake nominee to steal my employer’s epithet: The Source for Learning! My interests do not easily fit into a box under one label, so no prepackaged collection of Things to Know appeals to all my needs. Flipboard does- easily. My only complaint is that I get sucked into endless learning and lose all track of time. If you try it, be sure to click the magnifying glass to select things you want Flipboard to pull in for you, including your own accounts from various services (Google Reader, Twitter, etc). Sprinkle in a few news services, Flipboard finds, and Twitter hashtags searches “to taste.”

2. Tweetdeck. Are you noticing a Twitter theme here? Although Flipboard displays Twitter searches, people I follow, etc, there are things I love about learning via Tweetdeck. While Flipboard lets me browse through a visual, magazine-esque tweet viewer, Tweetdeck lets me see a load of tweets at the same time in a small space. The visual footprint is tiny, but I can scroll quickly or shoot out questions for instant help. I also like being able to see my new followers, instantly set up a temporary search column and click to learn details about a Twitter user. A couple of weeks ago when Diigo went down, Twitter was the perfect place to find out if the problem was mine or a widespread concern. Unlike mobile-only Flipboard, Tweetdeck  carries my Twitter search settings on all my devices, including my laptop. Handy.

3. Google News. I am a current events junky, and I also have specific topics where I want to stay informed. Google News gives me its own news categories but customizes to grab news on topics I care about. I don’t like the fact that Google may know too much about me, but Google News is worth the compromise. I learn about politics, latest Apple-dropping predictions, public policy debates, and consumer stuff. I change it on the fly. The only drawback: getting sucked in.

4. OK2Ask®. TeachersFirst offers OK2Ask, free online teacher professional development, as a service so teachers can come together  in informal “snack sessions” to learn. What teachers may not know is how much I learn from them as I present, moderate, and talk together. Not a session goes by that I do not hear about a clever teaching strategy, a web resource, a tool, a project idea, or an innovative school policy that I never knew before. At another level, I learn what teachers are most upset about, are seeing in schools  in various locations, and are wishing for. As someone who runs a web site as a service to teachers, this is some of my best professional learning.

5. Edsurge.  As they describe themselves:

EdSurge is an independent information resource and community for everyone involved in education technology. We aim to help educators discover the best products and how to use them and to inspire developers to build what educators and learners need.

For me, Edsurge is like holding an eavesdropping glass up to the door of Edtech Cutting Edge. I hear the inside scoops on new tools, developers trying to find a niche, and educators finding success with technology. I subscribe to the emails even though I an very cautious about inbox overflow. This one is worth more than the space and time it takes. What I appreciate most is the fact that it always leaves me thinking about issues and philosophical underpinnings at the same time as I ponder practicalities of teaching.

As you dig into the turkey this coming week, think about where you can dig into  some new learning for yourself, too. You will be thankful you did.

Installment#2 of this Thanksgiving series shares my favorite tools to save me time digging, hunting, or forgetting things. As a teacher and a parent, I know how easy it is to lose things, especially among pyramids of paper. As a “teacher to go,” i.e. one who works from many locations, I especially value things that help me avoid shoulder injuries from hauling heavy bags. (Too bad the cloud didn’t exist when I taught itinerant gifted and changed schools at noon each day! ) Here are my favorite FREE helpers:

What can I do to beat this, break this, or make people laugh?

When I taught gifted kids, their first approach when faced with a new technology tool, game, or toy was to beat it, break it, or make people laugh. I saw this reaction back in the day of early computer games we loaded from a 5 1/4 inch floppy disks. In the pre-PC days, my students — gifted or not –had the same reaction when faced with a special effects generator in the school’s black and white TV studio. (OK, now you can guess my age.) They wanted to make special effects that cut off heads or caused the TV monitors to go crazy.

Kids, especially middle school kids and older, will want to break, outsmart, or use any tech tool to make their friends laugh. We are missing a bet by not using this impulse to help them learn. There is a misconception, well debunked by Bill Ferriter, that technology itself is motivating. Ferriter is right. It isn’t motivating to ask kids to do what a tool is intended to do. It is motivating for kids to show their prowess in defeating it or molding it to their own purposes, preferably for an audience. The same social impulse makes them want to share on Facebook or YouTube. There may be some gender differences, but the stereotypes say what the boys break the girls will secretly redirect to their own purposes — giggling.

The makers movement challenges kids to MAKE things to fit a challenge. The gamification movement invites kids to create games to construct learning. I think we miss a bet by not asking kids to break things to meet a challenge. How can you use a tool of your choice to do something new and productive that it was NOT intended to do? What tool can you break to solve this unrelated problem? Give students the web full of  “tools,” and they will want to combine them or use them every way except as intended, especially middle and high schoolers. So let them.

Instead of  assigning kids tech tools to make a project using a specific tool, maybe we should simply allow them to break or “redirect” tools at will. The final rubric should certainly include curriculum accountability:  the result must show what they know about the prescribed curriculum. In the interest of teaching life skills and preserving our own jobs, we must include a requirement that the products have no more than a PG-13 rating (at least not in the version they submit for a grade). Share the rubric and any relevant acceptable use policy, but let students do it any way they want. Humor, even deviousness, can be a far greater motivator.  The teacher pleasers will ask for tools to be assigned, and that’s fine. The most able, most motivated,  and most creative will break something to make something. Isn’t that the innovation we want to build in our students?  The examples of “broken” or redirected  tools can serve to lure the timid into trying something a bit more adventurous themselves the next time.

One practical concern of this idea is that kids will take a long time to figure out the gimmicks and potential humor of the tools they choose. Let them do this on their own time. Schools have no walls, right?

Many years ago, I learned that comedy is far more difficult to write than drama. Parody, satire, and humor challenge the greatest minds. (I know how long it took to write a barely-adequate spoof of  “The Raven” last week!) If we can motivate kids to go above and beyond in their learning by following their impulse to break, trick, or make others laugh, we  have gone above and beyond our own curriculum. We have “mashed up” the student behaviors we can barely control with the curriculum we want students to master.  We have encouraged innovation. And we might even get a chance to laugh together.

Make time for what’s “good for you.” Exercise 30 minutes a day. Eat organic. Go outside. Read to your child. Drink water. Set aside quality time. Model responsible behavior. Oh, and reduce stress.

We know what we’re supposed to do and why it is good for us. We just don’t know how to fit it all into a teacher’s week. Now add to the list: staying up to date on new approaches to teaching and learning (often using technology). As someone who finally figured out where to find the time for some of the above, I wonder whether the same strategies –with a little tech assistance– could work for the other things, like staying up to date with tech for learning.

Strategy 1: Where were you?

I have read that we are more likely to exercise if we have comrades at the gym or pool or on our walks. Simply knowing that you’ll be asked, “Where were you?” is often enough to make you go when you’d really like to skip. My swim friends have no authority over me, but anticipation of their concern is enough to drag me out of bed before 5 am on cold, winter mornings. Even the casual acquaintances who greet you on regular walks will ask why they have missed you. Easier to just do it than to make up excuses. Try establishing the same “where were you” type of group in your faculty room for Better Teaching Tuesdays or on Twitter by joining one of the many #chats. But be sure to  befriend enough buddies in the chat that they will ASK you where you have been if you do not show up.  As I scan chats, I see enough side conversations about vacations, family, and local lore to recognize the same kind of conversations that happen in my swim locker room. Support each other’s professional development simply by asking, “where were you” when a frequent chat buddy is absent, and ask your buddy to do the same for you.

Strategy 2: Let them notice

There is nothing like having someone say, “You look good. Have you been exercising?” or “I wish I read to my kids as much as you read to yours.”  If you keep your success at beating the time bandits completely secret, you may never hear these invigorating reinforcements. Leave a trail that others can find. Facebook is great for this. So are blogs. Mention the book you and the kids just finished or the great story you heard at the gym. Be honest about how much you hate broccoli as you share the first broccoli recipe you can stand on Pinterest. Maybe even share the first tech tool you figured out. It’s not bragging if you are simply giving people a small view of a minor accomplishment. I don’t think I’d list my breakfast menu, but I see how many comments my friends receive when they share a pic of a culinary coup. I personally have a bit more trouble with the running apps that share how fast you ran 5 miles, but that is probably my problem, not yours. To me, sharing limited peeks is better than trumpeting announcements. To each his own. A great side benefit of playing in the social network venue is that you are learning the way your students like to learn. How can you adapt it as a class activity?

Strategy 3: Find the app for that

If nothing else, apps add novelty. Heaven knows, they multiply like mosquitos, with a new buzz hourly. A lasting favorite of mine is Flipboard. I like being able to add Twitter searches, favorite blogs, and just plain news into one magazine-style app that I can browse without feeling like I am working. I admit I don’t stay up to date on all the new apps that come out. I wait to read what others say on Twitter and try them when I notice 3- 6 tweets about the same app. Must be good, right?  App shopping is like using coupons. You try new products when you hear enough buzz and you think it’s cheap enough to try. (Either that or your eight year old is hounding you to buy it.)

Strategy 4: Balance your diet

Twitter is dark chocolate for the teaching heart. I could stay on all day, but I know it is not the only food for thought. There are other options that offer high fiber (online pubs like Learning and Leading), large tossed salad webinars, and  the full meal experience of  creating a conference presentation or online PD session. I especially savor the face to face potluck paloozas like the ISTE conference where I meet and simply talk with other teachers.

I certainly don’t stick to what is good for me, and I often do not meet recommended daily allowances of professional development. I’ll keep working on serving things up at TeachersFirst if you promise to try some tech broccoli once in a while.