The little things

Mama's birthday was yesterday. Three years a go we didn't know if she'd live to see another one.Somehow all my other worries are little things.My present is her presence.Take a minute to think about the big things and how sometimes the many things we get so stressed out during the day aren't quite as big as we make them out to be.Perspective helps.I just had to say this before November turned into December. It was on my mind.The...

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The Sweet Smell of Success Starts at Home (part 1)

A cross post with my blog over at the Balancing Act on the Lifetime Channel. (View part 2 life on the Lifetime blog)The fact is that student success is more highly correlated with the parent than the teacher. A 2005 study through Harvard (Parental Involvement and Student Achievement: A Meta-Analysis) that looked at all research studies about...

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5 Ways to Cure the Common Crank

It is hard for a fussy teacher (or parent) to teach. Our negative body language is hard to overcome. Kids need to know we care. When I find myself going down this thorny path, this is what I do:1- Start smilingYou feel better and somehow forget about the reasons you had to be fussy in the first place.2- Do something kind and totally randomFind a stewardess or service person and call the company to give an honest compliment. Call...

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Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 11/29/2011

International classroom collaboration on the worldwide web An overview of International collaboration on the World wide web. It does mention our Flat Classroom projects, although they left out our biggest projec t- "A WEek in the Life" elementary project which is almost topping 1000 this semester!  tags: education flatclassroom ...

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Top 8 Most Read Posts on Cool Cat Teacher 2011

As I think about being thankful, I'm grateful that I get to write. Here I am sitting in the den, watching the screensaver on my Roku box paint the plasma into a rainbow because I'd rather write than watch.As I look back over this year, there are some blog posts that I'm thankful to have written. These are the posts that help people. In case you missed them, here they are, in order of most traffic:QR Code Classroom Implementation...

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Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 11/28/2011

Diigo It! | 21C Global I love Suzie Nestico's explanation of how we use Diigo for the Flat Classroom projects and her alignment with the common core writing standards. (She's a social studies teacher, by the way.) She impresses me more and more. tags: education flatclassroom diigo ...

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Holiday Ponderings from a Panting Mom

The holidays arriveand I wonder how I'll survive.So many things to dohow will I every get through?Grading period endingand holidays are pending.Red rover, red rover, send her right overright over the top pushing up clover!Mom of threeteacher of manyI'll take some holiday cheerif you've got any.But, I must stand back and lookthese times are...

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Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 11/27/2011

E-WOT A teachers's pondering on QR codes with some nice links. tags: Qrcodes education paperless Nook App Love - Teacherbytes - johnwoodring Information on using the nook in the classroom. tags: education...

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Ripped Game Pants and the School Improvement Dance

Shocked and agast, my son's pants were agape. Last night was the final game on the season and, the 26th straight win for the Westwood Wildcats and my son blocked a 270 pound behemoth with his pants flapping in the breeze.My Westwood Wildcats Football Team2010, 2011 State Champswinner 26 straight football gamesWe were picked to lose by 13...

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Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 11/26/2011

Books and Glitter: I Symbaloo--do you? Many teachers are raving about symbaloo, here is a another one. tags: education app teaching web2.0 Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are he...

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Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 11/24/2011

acrosstheglobe - home This across the globe wiki was created as a result of the "Create the Future" workshop in Japan in 2010 as a result of the work of Kim Cofino and Julie Lindsay. This wiki is still active and full of recommended books for middle schoolers. tags: education flatclassroom Posted...

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Keep Cranksgiving out of your Thanksgiving: Use it as motivation towards #success

Five years a go I was working with Julie Lindsay to create the first Flat Classroom wiki. Now, I'm proofing the final chapters of the book.Twenty five years a go I was laying in tanning beds and doing "jazzercize" to get in shape for the beauty contests I entered as a senior in high school. Now, I'm sitting here getting ready to proof the...

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Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 11/23/2011

Goodies - Buffer There is a new site I'm seeing called Buffer. It lets you find things and put them into your "buffer" - another autotweeting type service. You can use with facebook but beware that often Facebook makes things not typed "live" into facebook have a lower priority and not put them on homestreams. tags: education tools ...

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Flat Classroom is 5 years old today! Join the celebration! #flatclass

Today, November 22 is a big day in my life. The birthday of something big for me and for others who have joined into this.There are days that change everything. Wedding days. Birthdays. Well, for me, this is a very special birthday: the birth of Flat Classroom (tm) projects.Today was the day we created our first Flat Classroom wiki, five...

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Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 11/22/2011

A Guide to Sniffing Out Passwords and Cookies (and How to Protect Yourself Against It) How to protect your passwords. A handy guide from lifehacker that also shows how easy it is to snag those passwords. Read and learn. tags: education privacy security identity theft. ...

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11 Lies Social Media Hides

Searching for Facts image from Bigstock.Social media impacts lives. When you have someone in a controversial matter like the wrong thing or say the wrong thing it can cause a snowball that can influence and even harm.I've seen this first hand. I know people who've lost jobs, seen marriages destroyed, and organizations teeter on...

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