Twitter in Schools; What Does it REALLY Look Like?

Twitter is the new black. Everyone is doing it! Well, everyone except, of course, our schools. For most, the issue starts and ends with the firewall departments. Twitter is blocked and therefore no further discussion is necessary. But even if Twitter is blocked, isn't there still value in using it after hours and with those who have a vested interest in school-based updates?

Some school districts and individual schools ARE using Twitter to issue updates to the community. There certainly are many teachers who use Twitter and we've all seen many presentations where the benefits of using Twitter in the classroom are sung with great praise. What's missing is what it all really looks like.

• Administrators
  How do you get administrators on board? How do you get your principal or other administrators who may be nervous, to allow you to give it a shot?
  
• Parents
  How do you get parents on board? Do you explain how Twitter works at a Parent Night? Do you create a white-paper or video tutorial? Face it, if it looks too difficult then we've already lost most of them. Signing up for Twitter and entering your cellphone number is a pretty scary thing for many. How do you ease people's fears about this (in the few minutes you have to address it)?
• Content
  How do you determine what you will tweet? Obviously, a school district and school will have many more generic tweets, but what about individual classes? Do you tweet about upcoming quizzes, projects, and lunch menu changes? What about Author of the Week or other happenings that might involve individual students?
• Privacy
  Do you protect your updates? If you do, how do you determine who you let follow you and if you've gone to that much trouble, how do you determine who those folks really are?
• Conversations? or Announcements?
  Do you follow back? If so, why?

What does it all really look like?

Whenever I venture into new territory, the first thing I do is seek out those who are already actively involved. I've created a few collaborative documents to try to compile information on those who are currently using Twitter in our schools. The first is for school districts on Twitter. The inspiration for this was when I learned that the school district next door to us (where it's blocked BTW) was using Twitter to issue updates to the community; but we were/are not. I wanted to find out if there were many other districts trying it out as well. This spreadsheet has since proven helpful to many educators as we all continue to argue for reasonable awareness as it relates to our school districts using Web 2.0 and social networking tools. If you have something to contribute, feel free to edit it here.



The next document is specifically for classroom teachers who use Twitter with their students and/or their parents. Feel free to edit this one as well.


The last is a wiki site I set up in a manner of minutes thanks to a tweet sent out by Liz Kolb (@lkolb) Here, I'm looking for some concrete examples of how teachers are using Twitter with their kids or parents. Please add or glean ideas here as well.

If you're someone who has never considered using Twitter in the classroom, I encourage you to check out a few of the Twitter names on the last spreadsheet and check out their tweets. I've already learned a lot about the different ways teachers can not only keep parents informed but motivate students to stay involved.

Txt Me When My Favorite Blog Updates? OMG!

I've now reached the point where I don't even check my RSS reader anymore because it's too overwhelming. With over 1000 unread items, I've just given up. And yet, I know I'm missing some great blog posts and unfortunately, when you miss the posts, you sometimes miss the great conversations too.

I'm guilty of relying on Twitter to alert me of new blog posts and yet I know I'm missing plenty of great posts. Using Twitter as an RSS aggregator is not the most efficient way to consume blog feeds anyway, in my opinion.

So, I know I need to trim my reader but there are a few blogs that I would really like to read right away when they update and I don't check blogs often enough to join in the conversations in a timely manner.

I was very excited today when I ran across Pingie! Pingie is an RSS to SMS solution and will send you a text message when the blog (whose atom feed you enter) updates with a new post. All you have to do is sign up, add your cellphone number then add the atom feed to the blog(s) you want alerts from. You get a 2 line text message with a weblink to the actual post so, if you're on a smartphone, you can read the post from your phone.

There's even a widget you can add to your own blog to allow others to subscribe on your own blog.

I love this idea because because not only will it help me stay on top of my favorite few, but parents can remain on top of class blogs more easily too. I already subscribed and got my first alert!

Whose Conference is it Anyway?

Reflecting on NECC09 has apparently taken me a little longer than many others. There are so many blogposts out there about NECC09 that there hardly seems anything left to blog about. Although there were many F2F and online conversations regarding this, I've not yet seen a blogpost addressing this issue. That is; the role of companies at educational conferences, particulary NECC.

It used to be very clear what a company's role would be at a conference. They'd be in the exhibit or vendor hall and teachers would walk through to pick up as many goodies as possible. But things are changing. Companies are re-thinking their participatory roles in conferences and therefore our experiences are taking on a new shape:

• Companies in The Vendor Hall
  In my job I deal with vendors almost on a daily basis. I don't find them nearly as annoying as others, apparently, do; maybe because my team at work puts on a great (if I don't mind saying so myself) conference every year and we depend on the sponsors and vendors to finance the entire event. We don' t charge for our conference but knowing what it cost for our small event; I can confidently say, that NECC could not succeed by simply charging what they do for participant registration. The vendor hall is not just a place where vultures are dying to scan you. We can and should use the hall to OUR advantage!
  
  The vendor hall is the perfect place to take a peek at what's new and to talk with the people who make the products we use or would like to use. I'm not sure most teachers are aware, but if (for example) you were to visit the Discovery Education booth, you would have seen (in addition to the sales folks) a few of the people from the back end of Discovery who truly want your feedback. There were product developers, customer support managers and professional development directors. All willing to answer questions and listen to your concerns. Now, this is not to promote Discovery Education. The reason I use them as an example is because of my close ties with them as part of my job and as part of being one of their DEN Stars. I know who these people are and I know their roles. Most people walking by see everyone at the booths "merely" as sales people who will tell you anything to make a sale. Not true.
  
  I believe we should seek out the people at these booths who can make a difference in the products we use, the way we use them and then modify their product accordingly. They are typically there at these conferences and they do listen.
  
  
  
• Companies not in the vendor hall:
  There were a few companies, of which I was a aware, that did not take a booth or sponsorship but instead had a presence at NECC anyway. VoiceThread was one of them: A few months ago, Ben and Steve (co-founders of VoiceThread) were tossing around ideas for how they wanted to participate in NECC; if at all. They were toying with the idea of taking a booth, or instead perhaps sponsoring some teachers to attend. They were kind enough to run some ideas by me (again.... companies DO listen and I was thrilled to be in on the conversation) and I loved the idea of sponsorships. Beth Still started a campaign to bring a conference newbie (Richard Byrne) to NECC and after Twittering, blogging about it and promoting it on other social networks, Beth collected approximately $600 in donations from individuals in her personal learning network. This seemed like the perfect sponsorship to suggest to Ben and Steve and they jumped on it quickly. VoiceThread chipped in the remainder and Richard attended NECC09! Kudos to Beth and online pals!
  
  Ben and Steve attended as well and were there to have conversations with the folks who helped make VoiceThread so popular. They attended some sessions and actively sought out those folks who are passionate about using VoiceThread. Ben also took a few of us out to dinner. Ben was thrilled to meet everyone and the conversation focused mostly on teaching, learning, online safety and the future of our students. No sales pitch, no promos, just good intelligent conversation from all around. This was one of the highlights of my trip because I got to be a part of some great discussions with some of the most widely respected educators without the hubbub of the conference madness. (In photo - top left- from left to right: Steve Muth, Me and Ben Papell / In photo - top right - from left to right: David Cassinelli, Ben Papell, Collette Cassinelli, Wes Fryer, Me, Richard Byrne and Beth Still.)
  
  CommonCraft was there as well.When Lee and Sachi Lefever were "spotted" in the Blogger's Cafe, the tweets started flying. Such superstars they are with the edu-community. They were posing for pics and shaking hands and having real conversations. They also sponsored a meetup at a local bar. I enjoyed chatting with Lee about how they make their videos. Lee explained to me how the most important part of their production comes in writing the script. A good lesson for those of us engaging our students in digital storytelling.
  
  What a great opportunity to learn from the experts! (In photo - above - from left to right: Lee Lefever, Me and Sachi Lefever.) (Photo - right - Lee Lefever)
  
  
• Private Workshops such as Constructivist Celebration:
  I had the pleasure of attending Gary Stager's Constructivist Celebration on Sunday and enjoyed it thoroughly. The cost was minimal (can't remember, but approx. $35.00) and included lunch and a handful of various full versions of software products. Gary had representatives from FableVision, Inspiration, LCSI, and Tech4Learning, SchooKiT and Generation YES in attendance to assist us with our projects. They handed out their software along with some flyers. I thought it was perfect. Who better to assist us with technical or How-To issues than folks from the companies themselves? Everyone seemed ok with it and I didn't hear any griping that there were vendors in attendance. Was that because we were getting so much "free" stuff? Was it because that we were all aware that without their sponsorship, Gary couldn't have pulled off the event without charging us all an arm and a leg? Or was it because it was a truly engaging opportunity to learn something new and simply create as if we were kids ourselves? (Scott Mcleod did a great job of summing up the key speaking points of the day.) Or were people put off by their presence and I was just not aware? (In photo-above-from left to right: Cheryl Woolwine, Me and Peter Reynolds. Photo credit: Gary Stager's Flickr stream.)
  
  So above are some examples of companies who approached the whole NECC-thing from a different model. As more companies find it's not cost effective to spend their money on vendor booths, is this a glimpse of things to come? What are your thoughts about companies attending as "regular people" and mingling and conversing or having a presence at a private workshop? or is it just a stealth move on their part that "shouldn't be allowed?" Should they be required to wear signs that say, "I represent XYZ company?"
  
  Are there benefits to us? Are we able to adequately represent the hundreds of thousands of other educators who aren't in attendance while speaking to these companies with our shopping list of Do's and Don'ts for their products?
  
  What are your feelings about companies at conferences? I'm interested to hear what are your thoughts on all of this. ccdc09
  

Twitter in Real Life

Thanks to a Tweet from Lisa Thumann, I started my day today with some Twitter humor. Enjoy!

30 Places to Find Free Books, Book Summaries, and Book Reviews Online

Guest post by Karen Schweitzer

You don't have travel to the local library and scan shelves in hopes of finding free books to read. A simple trip to your computer is all you really need. There are a lot of different websites that offer free books as well as free book summaries and reviews to help you choose and delve into enjoyable texts. This list of 30 places to find free books, summaries, and reviews will help you as you begin to build your own digital library:

Free Books

Free ebooks - Readers will enjoy the hundreds of free books and magazines that can be downloaded from this website. Books are sorted by category and author so that you can quickly find the book that matches your mood.

FullBooks - FullBooks houses thousands of full text books that can be read for free online. Simply browse through the titles or categories to find the book you need.

Authorama - Authorama provides a wide variety of free books from classic authors. Books can be read online or offline.

ManyBooks - If you're looking for something to read but don't know what, visit ManyBooks. This site offers popular books, recommendations, and reviews from others to help you decide what to read.

Bored.com - People who are bored online will enjoy Bored.com. The site offers thousands of free books in every category imaginable.

IPL - The Internet Public Library is a good online source for free books, magazines, newspapers, and reference materials. You can peruse through the titles yourself or use the site's "Ask a Librarian" feature to find the texts you need.

Librivox - Librivox is a free audio book site that records books in the public domain. The books are read by volunteers and can be played on your mp3 player or desktop.

SimplyAudioBooks - With new titles listed each month, Simply Audiobooks is a wonderful resource for free classic audio books.

Public Literature - Public Literature offers free classic books and a modern book blog. The blog features an array of poetry, plays, and short stories from a variety of authors.

Open Book Project - Aimed at the educational community, the Open Book Project offers free online textbooks and educational material for everyone.

Lit2Go - This online collection of audio books features stories and poetry. Lit2Go works with (or without) iTunes and allows you to listen and read at the same time.

The Literature Network - The Literature Network is a good place to review works and read biographies for an assortment of authors.

ReadPrint - With over 8,000 novels, books, and short stories in their collection, ReadPrint is a great place to find free books to read online.

DailyLit - DailyLit offers free books through daily email or RSS feed. This site features a long list of categories that will please even the pickiest of readers.

Chest of Books - Chest of Books offers tons of free books for reading enthusiasts. A few of the categories you can expect to see include travel, outdoors, society, real estate, and novels.

Free Book Summaries

Bibliomania - Anyone looking for in-depth book summaries needs to try Bibliomania. This free online book resource offers summaries for their most popular books as well as discussion topics and commentaries for a wide range of texts.

PinkMonkey - Perfect for readers of all ages, PinkMonkey is a G-rated site with more than 460 book summaries to choose from.

CliffNotes - This classic study-guide provider offers a wide range of detailed summaries for novels, poetry, plays, and short stories.

Shmoop - Shmoop is a new website that is quickly becoming popular among students and teachers alike. The site offers fun and easy-to-read literature and history study guides along with other useful resources.

Litsum - One of the largest book summary sites online, Litsum has full chapter summaries and discussion topics for the world's most popular books. Readers can also find quotes, style guides, and character analysis.

BookRags - BookRags offers more than eight million pages of book summaries, essays, and biographies. Most recently, the site added more than two million literature articles from HighBeam Research.

SparkNotes - Arguably the most popular provider of study guides, SparkNotes offers detailed chapter analysis and plot overviews for widely-read literature.

WikiSummaries - Incorporating the same principles as Wikipedia, WikiSummaries provides free book summaries that anyone can add too. It is a useful site for anyone who enjoys reading or writing books summaries and guides.

Bookwolf - Bookwolf has a list, sorted by author and title, of chapter interpretations and summaries that will be useful to readers who wanted to further explore the books they read.

FreeBookNotes - FreeBookNotes is a popular database of free book notes, study guides, and chapter summaries for books, plays, and poems. The new and improved site links to resources on SparkNotes, Pink Monkey, BookRags, Bookwolf, and other popular summary sites.

Free Book Reviews

Amazon - Amazon is one of the best places online to find unbiased reviews of books you may want to read. The site displays editorial reviews as well as customer reviews.

Barnes and Noble - Like Amazon, Barnes and Noble publishes a wide range of reviews from editors and customers. The online store also provides a short blurb about each book so that buyers can see a general overview of a product before they make a purchase.

Shvoong - Shvoong gives readers instant knowledge about books through short reviews and summaries.

BookBrowse - Book Browse is a book review site that focuses exclusively on interesting and well-written books. The site is loaded with reviews, ratings, and excerpts designed to help you find the best read.

TheBookHaven.net - This reader-created site reviews the best and worst of fiction and non-fiction. Although some parts of TheBookHaven are for members only, most of the site's resources can be viewed for free.

Guest post from Karen Schweitzer, the About.com Guide to Business School. Karen also writes about online college classes for OnlineCollege.org.

Come on a Shelfari With Me!

Image by 1015 / J.L. McVay via Flickr

If you've been following my last 3 or 4 posts, you know that I've been encouraging teachers to give some thought to picking up a good book this summer. My goal wasn't really to recommend any type in particular; after all we all tend to lean towards professional books or trashy ones at one time or other, but I was really just looking to recommend that we all just RELAX and READ.

So, I asked you for some recommendations and perhaps you found something you liked on that list. I know I did. Then, John Shoemaker created the Shelfari Educator's Reading Group and as of this writing, we have over 80 members! Wow!

For those of you who are interested in joining us on Shelfari, but aren't quite sure what it's all about, here are two recent segments from PalmBreezeCAFE where I show Kim Cavanaugh how to use Shelfari.



Shelfari Part I



Shelfari Part II



The nice thing about the Shelfari group is that there is a discussion set up for each book on the original list, so you can not only jump in on any discussion on any book, but you can throw in your own book and add your own discussions!

Thank you to all of you who contributed your recommendations and thanks to all who are members of the group. I'm really looking forward to learning from you.

~Lee

An Educator's Shelfari Group

Image by circulating via Flickr

Based on the last two posts, John Shoemaker (co-worker and fellow PLN TweetPeep) asked if I wouldn't mind if he set up a Shelfari book club with all the books. I was thrilled!

I know it took a lot of time to set up (so, a BIG thank you to John) but it won't take a lot of time for YOU to join and participate in the discussions. If you're interested, just join Shelfari (free), and join our group. It will be a great activity to do for the summer that can carry well into the school year.

You'll see that Shelfari allows you to add books to your own shelf, and track whether you've read them, are reading them currently or plan to read them. You can rate them, mark them as favorites, comment and recommend for others. You can also add friends and send messages to each other as well as view the most popular books being read and recommendations for you.

If you join as a result of reading this post, please leave a comment here to let me know. Feel free to add your favorite education-related books to the group shelf.


My first book is going to be The Herb Kohl Reader by Herbert Kohl which was recommended in my previous post by Gary Stager .

What will you be reading???

Read Like Your Hair's on Fire: An Educator's Summer Reading List

Image by jilldoughtie via Flickr

In my last post I asked you for some summer reading suggestions for educators. Wow! What a pleasant surprise to see how many people responded with such thoughtful submissions. I'm happy to finally share the results. I am looking forward to picking a few from the list to read this summer. If you responded, THANK YOU!

If you don't see your submission, it's possible that:

1. You didn't leave your name NOR a comment
2. You left only a partial title, no author and no URL
3. You did not provide a URL and I could not find one either

What you'll see here: Title & Author - Survey Respondent (with url to blog), & Respondent's Comments (if any)

• Losing Our Minds by Deborah L. Ruf - Paula White (We are not only NOT REACHING all children, we are doing harm and truly losing many of our brightest minds to any kind of organized school learning because we don't challenge them enough and they are bored STIFF! Read this review to learn more specifics about this book)
• Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirkey - Lisa Parisi
• Readicide by Kelly Gallagher - John Shoemaker (This book should be required reading for anyone that deals with students. It is not just a book for reading teachers; it is a book for everyone in the schooling process.)
• Grown Up Digital - Don Tapscott - Anonymous (A very current commentary about today's Net Generation. All schools are moving forward into 21st century teaching and learning so this book is a must!)
• Work Hard, Be Nice; How Two Inspired Teachers Created the Most Promising Schools in America by Jay Matthews - Joy
• What Great Teachers Do Differently by Todd Whitaker - Suzanne Whisler
• What Great Teachers Do Differently by Todd Whitaker - Michelle Olah
  
• Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School by John Medina - Kyle Gardner (This is a great book to help you understand how people learn in general and how to create the best learning environments. Its presented in a straight forward yet easy to read fun way. I highly recommend it for anyone.)
• Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School by John Medina -Karin B. (This makes a great book study or book club book, with a chapter for each rule, it makes for an interesting discussion.)
• Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School by John Medina - Robin Martin (He has a great website with some free materials. I don't think teachers can learn enough about how children learn.)
• The End of Education by Neil Postman - George Haines (Makes you think about what we teach, what we should teach, how we teach it and how we should teach it, why we teach and why we should teach. Postman writes about the meaning and purpose behind subjects, the importance of connecting learning to our narrative and many other ideas. Provocative and unflinching; Indispensable to any educator.)
• Holes by Louis Sachar - Ali Colbeck (My favourite book to share with kids - they love it (especially boys)
• The Herb Kohl Reader by Herbert Kohl - Gary Stager (Here is my top-ten list of essential books for modern educators. Here is a collection of books in my "to-read" pile.)
• I Read It, But I Don't Get It by Cris Tovani - Carey Pohanka (This book made me a better reader, and helped me with my students.)
• An Ethic of Excellence-- Building a Culture of Craftsmanship with Students by Ron Berger - Andrea Hernandez (Genuine and inspiring. Written by a teacher; as opposed to a "thinker" about education who may not be familiar with the realities of classrooms.)
• 50 Rules Kids Won't Learn in School by Charles Sykes - Anonymous (Some are very true, others are just funny. Not a completely serious book, but all students should know some of these rules - and the teacher will enjoy reading it themselves :)
• You Haven't Taught Until They Have Learned by Swen Nater and Ronald Gallimore - Kelly Hines (This book takes John Wooden's principles of teaching, learning and coaching and applies them directly to the classroom teaching process. John Wooden's principles focus on developing each individual's personal best and they are geared toward bringing this out in all.)
• Made To Stick by Chip & Dan Heath and The Book of Learning and Forgetting by Frank Smith- Darren Kuropatwa (Made To Stick: How to make your ideas "sticky". Important for anyone in the "idea sharing" business; aren't all educators in this biz? The Book of Learning and Forgetting: Frank Smith advocates for the "Classic View" over the "The Official Theory". That comparative list is food for constructive conversation for at least a years worth of PD.)
• School Commercialism: From Democratic Ideal to Market Commodity by Alex Molnar - Sara Crawford (This book discusses the role and harmful effects of marketing in schools. Includes a section on junk food in schools.)
• Deeper Reading by Kelly Gallagher - James (I used it and loved it (high school English), then my wife got a hold of it and started making plans for her own classroom (third grade). There's a lot to learn from KG.)
• The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter - Amy Crawford (This book was initially presented as an autobiographical account of Forrest Carter's childhood which was later proven false. Sadly, Carter also had a highly controversial past. BUT this book speaks for itself. I would encourage ALL educators to read it, then ask themselves what constitutes an "education." Check into the controversy and author's background AFTER reading the book. One of my all-time favorites!)
• Educating Esme by Esmé Raji Codell - Sean Williams
• Everything Bad is Good for You by Steven Johnson - Tony (Fascinating book that will make you re-think videogames, tv, and other forms of popular entertainment.)
• Intellectual Character by Ron Ritchhart - Beth Diaz
• Teaching with Intention: Defining Beliefs, Aligning Practice, Taking Action, K-5 by Debbie Miller - Maryann Molishus (This is a great book for those who want to reflect on what they think is important in their classroom. It helps you remember to trust your instincts as a teacher while relying on research-based practices to create a learning environment that is best for your students.)
• Building Engaged Schools by Gary Gordon - Joan Young (This book encourages us to open our minds and look at what we do to engage students in meaningful learning. What we think and believe is as important as the curriculum we teach.)
• "Sit and Get" Won't Grow Dendrites: 20 Professional Learning Strategies That Engage the Adult Brain by Marcia Tate - Terri Johnson (This book helps to actively engage teachers in professional development through the use of brain-based strategies.)
• Outliers by Malcom McDowell - Sarah
• Outliers by Malcom Gladwell - Diana Dell (This book answers the question: Why do some succeed while other fail? Gladwell presents his views on success by telling the life stories of several outliers.)
• Enriching the Brain: How to Maximize Every Learner's Potential by Eric Jensen - Mike Fisher (Over the years, I've come to incorporate a lot of what Eric Jensen discusses in his books. While I know that some of his methodologies have come under fire in recent years, the science is pretty solid. Long Term memory and Emotion ARE in the same part of the brain, and engaging and motivating teaching techniques help to solidify learning in a student's brain. This is his newest book. (It's a year old.) I've also really enjoyed Jason Ohler's book on Digital Storytelling, as well as the fiction book Cross Country by James Patterson--if your teacher's just need something exciting to read that's not school related!)
• Quantum Teaching: Orchestrating Student Success by Bobbi Deporter, Mark Reardon, Sarah Singer-Nourie - Anonymous (This book is phenomenal! It incorporates learning styles, student motivation, engaging practices & brain research... I am going to revisit it again this summer :)
• The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart- Lu
• Engaging the Whole Child edited by Marge Scherer - Paula Naugle (This is a free eBook from ASCD)
• Librarians as Learning Specialists: Meeting the Learning Imperative for the 21st Century by Violet H. Harada and Allison by Zmuda - Betty Jordan (April 2009 issue of Teacher Librarian lists it as "simply the best professional book of the year for teacher-librarians....")
• The Leader in Me by Stephen Covey - Tim Childers (Excellent look at how the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People have been implemented in schools across the country.)
• The Little Prince by Antoine Saint-Exupery and The Gulliver's Travels by John Swift - Elysio Soares (I've noticed that my generation and youngsters (I'm 36) don't know much about Gulliver, for instance. There's much to take into consideration regarding this classical novel, specially the author's view about the undesirable outcomes of advances in science. Teachers would profit from reading good books. Well, The little prince has long been acclaimed as one of the most sensitive stories, which has amused both adults and young children. It all depends on your point of view at different stages of your life.)
• In Graphic Detail by David Booth & Kathleen Gould Lundy - Barbara McLaughlin (Great resource for graphic novels and comic genre. Strategies and activities galore.)
• Beyond Discipline by Alfie Kohn - Hadass Eviatar (Everybody who works with kids should read this book. Keeping people under rigid mind control for 13 years and then expecting them to be independent thinkers makes no sense.)
• Three Cups of Tea - by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin - John
• Principal Centered leadership by Stephen R. Covey - Scott Carter
  
• The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Sir Ken Robinson - Wesley Fryer (In his book "The Element," Sir Ken Robinson highlights the case for differentiated instruction and recognizing the unique gifts/talents of every human being. His book is helpful not only for educators and parents seeking to develop the full potential of the children in their care, but also for adults who may find themselves reinventing themselves or rediscovering themselves in our dynamic economic situation.)
• Don't Shoot The Dog! The New Art of Teaching and Training by Karen Pryor - Kathleen
• Day One and Beyond by Rick Wormeli - Janelle (I re-read this book each summer to get ready for the next year and to remind myself how wonderful middle schoolers are.)
• The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd - Anonymous (Theme: Equal-Rights, Grief, Love)
• Somebody Else's Kids by Torey L. Hayden - Pat Hensley (I really enjoy reading any books by this author because they inspire me.)
• Public Teaching One Kid at a Time by Penny Kittle - Mary Rodger (A book we (educators) can all relate to. Stories that will touch your heart. Light reading.)
• The Global Achievement Gap - Dan Schmit
• Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for the Classrooms by Will Richardson - Carolyn Rains (This is an awesome book with MANY resources!)
• Born Digital by Palfrey and Gasser - Sandy Kennedy (While this book is not specifically about technology use in the classroom, it gives good insights into the students we are seeing in our classrooms now.)
• Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson - Ed Shepherd (Both books are by the same authors and have a lot of insight on how to approach conversations effectively and then utilze these conversations for change.)
• The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle - Jeanne Reslan (This book teaches you lessons about living in the moment. It is so important to have that outlet to breath during the chaos that sometimes caves in around you as an educator and administrator.)
• Mosaic of Thought, Teaching Comprehension in a Readers' Workshop by Ellin Olive Keene and Susan Zimmermann - Shannon Bauley (...wonderful for shedding light on teaching kids to think meta-cognitively about reading. If I had to choose just one, it would be Mosaic of Thought. It really opened my eyes to a new and better way to look at teaching reading!)
• Teachers and Schooling Making a Difference: Productive Pedagogies, Assessment, and Performance by Hayes, Mills, Christie and Lingard - Nicole Mockler (One from the Antipodes! A wonderfully practical book about bringing authentic learning to life in schools.)
• The Homework Myth by Alfie Kohn - Russ Goerend (As educators, we need to rethink homework. Kohn does not argue that all homework is bad or that it should be universally done away with, merely that we need to rethink (or for some of us, think about for the first time) our homework policies and the reasoning behind them.)
• The Homework Myth by Alfie Kohn - Jennifer (This book confirms what you already know. Why are you assigning homework? Does it do what you think? Has it ever? As a teacher and parent of a college student and 1st grader, I think it is imperative for teachers, especially elementary level, understand the ramifications of homework intellectually and psychologically and to make research-based decisions. This book presents research from the last century on homework and its effects/lack thereof on achievement.)
• Web2.0 New Tools, New Schools by Gwen Solomon and Lynne Schrum *ISBN 978-1-56484-234-3 (via ISTE website)* - Dean Mantz (This book can be purchased directly from ISTE. It does a great job of collecting names, resources, and examples supported by research on how Web 2.0 is positively influencing education today.)
• Digital Fortress by Dan Brown - Unklar Klaar ("Digital Fortress" and "Deception Point" are both great techno-thrillers and give the reader another side of Dan Brown's talent. "Grown Up Digital" is a must-read, increasing in importance the older you are. "Physics of the Impossible" is an amazing journey through the "impossibilities" of certain physics concepts based on what is currently know.)
• Living, Loving and Learning by Leo Buscaglia - Wayne Basinger (This books reminds each teacher what they contribute and how to contribute with love.)
• The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill - Michael Redfearn
• Crowdsourcing by Jeff Howe - Jean Tower
• Why Don't Students Like School: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom by Daniel T. Willingham - Donna Bills
  
• Results Now by Schmoker - Marie Bell (Thought provoking...flies in the face of conventional wisdom, aka NCLB)
• Disrupting Class by Clayton Christensen - John Seipp
• Disrupting Class by Clayton Christensen - Jen Dorman (I just finished reading this book and recommend it to any stakeholder in education (which should be everyone. !) It does a really nice job to contextualizing education in the larger historical and societal background. I think this book is well paired with The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell. They both help to shape our understanding of how technology and changing societal norms can drive education in new directions and redefine what it means to learn, what is important to learn, and how to best achieve deep and transferable learning)
• Disrupting Class by Clayton Christensen - William A. Hoch
  
• Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire by Rafe Esquith - Adam DeWitt
• Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire by Rafe Esquith - Michelle Reagan (A very inspiring book for classroom teachers. I read this book last summer and couldn't wait to get back to school to incorporate some of his ideas into my classroom.)
• Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire by Rafe Esquith - Crista Anderson
  
• Tribes by Seth Godin - Alice Barr (We read this as a tech team. I like the leadership vs. management models discussed in the book.)
• Tribes by Seth Godin - Dave Bill (A great read for those trying to swing teachers toward using technology and shifting their teaching.)