From Out There Somewhere

The Dairy Farmer’s Path To Success – reminds me of my grandpa and my cousin as they worked on their dairy farms – 5 things to think about when planning and being preventative

12 Ways To Connect With Kids and Prioritize Relationships While Teaching Remotely – some good ideas here, some for staff support and relationships and some for kid support

Sidewalk Chalk Meets Math Game, Part 2: Testing the Limits – another math game that can be played outside or on paper

10 Picture Books to Change Your Reading Life – a good list of books

This Is Not Online Or Distance Learning – some interesting things to think about and a new name for our currently learning and teaching reality “emergency remote teaching”

10 Free Classroom Activities For Your Distance Learning Classroom – some great stuff, and videos from John Spencer

Simple Dice Games For Math Practice – a couple of games for families to do at home

From Out There Somewhere

Choice Boards 101: Strategies to Ensure Classroom, Professional and Virtual Learning Success – a nice way to give students choice in their learning and can be setup for blended learning

Just Shifting Online or Shifting the Learning – 4 questions at the end of the post are worth thinking about

What Effective Principals Do – 7 things to keep in mind as we work to support our school communities

3 Ways To Use Video Conferencing With Students Learning Remotely – design the time with intention and I like the design template in small group instruction section

How To Use Google Meet for elearning, online learning – some good tips here and I like the step by step to set up and manage a google meet

10 Tips To Support Students With Slow Internet – some good tips around video conferencing

Sidewalk Chalk Meets Math Game – this is a game that can have many variations

From Out There Somewhere

5 Simple Habits To Build Connection With Your Students – these habits and focus on paying attention are important to building connection

The 8 Best Questions To Ask In An One-To-One Meeting – add these to the list of possibles questions to use with staff – good phrasing

The Little Things That Make Employees Feel Appreciated – some good points to think about and habits to form as well as potential mistakes / things to avoid

Interdisciplinary Project Planning Framework – good steps and checklists when planning with a team of teachers. List still could be used for a teacher doing an interdisciplinary project by themselves

How To Create A Project-Based Learning Lesson – good steps to follow – liked the benchmark/deliverables section

Watch Out for Unintended Microaggressions – always need to be thinking about this and trying to do better. Lots of links to articles, books and resources

I Don’t Care If You’re Racist. I Care If You’re Hurting Me – “Racism is about the impact and the hurt of their actions. Intentions do not matter. And that’s a hard one for people, because they cling to being good as a way of saying “I am not racist.” And my thing is, I don’t care if you’re racist. I care if you’re hurting me.”

From Out There Somewhere

Building A Healthy Workplace Goes Beyond “Wellness” – focus on building trust – “Low-trust cultures are absolutely exhausting, painful, draining, and debilitating; by contrast, high-trust cultures are positively energizing, exciting, engaging, and creative.”

A Two Question Ritual To Change Your Day – 1. What one thing would you like to do less today? 2. What one thing would you like to do more today? Each question followed by some good suggestions

Quick Strategies To Energize One-To-Ones – some good strategies and a few questions to possibly use

Drive Deeper Thinking in Math: Designing An Error Analysis Station – “I create seven or eight problems and each problem contains an error or multiple errors. The students are responsible for identifying and describing the errors, then they make the necessary corrections.” I like this idea for a station but I find this point most intriguing and something to consider when looking to spiral topics “In fact, a learning support coach suggested bringing back topics from other units, or even previous courses. So, as I progress through the course, I spiral back to problems from previous units to keep those mathematical concepts fresh for the students.“

Making Cooperative Learning Work Better – 4 problems identified and various suggestions to help with tackle each problem

The Illusory Truth Effect: Why We Believe Fake News, Conspiracy Theories, and Propaganda – When a “fact” tastes good and is repeated enough, we tend to believe it, no matter how false it may be. Understanding the illusory truth effect can keep us from being bamboozled.

From Out There Somewhere

Try This Design Sprint At Your Next Faculty Meeting – some good questions and a structured activity to try

Over 400 Years of Leadership Advice for New Principals But Great Lessons For Us All – lots of good points, reminders and things to think about in this list

Want Real Leadership Growth? Focus on Strengthening As A Communicator – talks about a signal-to-noise ratio, persuasion cycle and message mapping

Seven New Resources For Black History Month – another resource put together by Larry Ferlazzo – links to a variety of resources and some of his old blog posts/lists as well

A Radical Guide To Spending Less Time On Your Phone – some good things to try in this list

From Out There Somewhere

The Empathetic Learning Environment: Sit Where They Sit – this could be determining the user experience for your kids

The 5 Roles Of A Successful Leader – a good list to review and think about how to improve in these areas

11 Phrases To Effectively Respond To Complaining – a good list of statement starters to help understand someone’s concerns and then start to take the next steps

I Am A Loser Because Of School – a great perspective piece written by a student; lots of links to other writings like gradeless in math and failure week

Where Talent Thrives Or Drives: How To Build Effective Teams – talent dies where jerk-holes thrive

Designing A Kinesthetic Station: Get Kids Moving In Math Class – some good examples of different ways to engage students in math

School Leaders At Every Level: 5 Ways To Create A Culture Of Leadership – important things to remember as a school leader

The Inner Game: Why Trying To Hard Can Be Counterproductive – how we learn and self 1 vs self 2

Always wonder how to incorporate these in to a math class – speed of changing lines vertically and horizontally – have students explain this
Video is from: https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2020/01/26/interesting-video-the-largest-u-s-cities-by-population-from-1790-to-2020/

From Out There Somewhere

6 Traits That Set Top Business Leaders Apart – clarity, embrace, unite, focus are just a few of one-word descriptors

Project Zero’s “Thinking Routines Tool” Is An Excellent Resource – lots of interesting routines that could be used with students or staff – the routines website lets you search by routines or how the routines are linked to subject areas

14 Easy Tips For Creating A More Inclusive Workplace – some may not work for a school/education setting but good things to consider in this list

Relationships Are Important. How Do We Build Them Effectively With Kids? – it takes a big, but essential, piece of time but understanding their Four S’s (sparks, strengths, struggles, supports)

Tipping Point and Why Small Things Matter – a brief summary of Malcolm Gladwell’s book Tipping Point and how that relates to school and school culture

From Out There Somewhere

Key Qualities of a Vibrant Culture Leader – talks about the importance of emotional intelligence and a few suggestions on how to improve as a leader

NFL Head Coaches Are Getting Younger. What Can Organizations Learn? – discusses what skills are needed for a leader to grow

4 Myths About The Future of Education – talks about the skills we should help kids develop and the idea of a mash-up innovation; the idea of redefining relevance. Lot of videos embedded in this post.

Small Thing Big Idea: Designs That Changed The World – a TED talk series, all videos are under 4 minutes and have some interesting topics

Essential Leadership Skills For The Roaring ’20s – the ideas of discernment, thought mastery and conflict capacity

Safeguarding the Mental Health of Teachers – some good points to remember to support staff and the importance of the school leader being a role model. In searching up the work of Elena Aguilar’s work (mentioned the post) lead to this post: 12 Ways Teacher Can Build Their Own Resilience

We’re Meeting, Now What – some great thoughts, strategies and templates for collaborative team work – lots of links to the templates to copy to your google drive

20 Tiny Changes You Can Make In Your Home To Make Life Simpler in 2020 – things to try at home, linked to a more minimalist lifestyle and slowing things down; being more purposeful

from: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/videos/how-to-be-organized.htm

From Out There Somewhere

Building A Positive Staff Culture – always enjoy reading Chris’ work – a principal for the Langley School District. The article talks about four pillars and four values of a positive staff culture

Subtract – looking at what to remove instead of add

The One-To-One Meeting Template For Your End Of Year Review – some good questions to consider when planning for my one-to-ones

Creating With Google Earth: 10 Activities To Try – a list of activities to try with kids

Mindfulness Practices: Made For Middle School – good reminders for classroom practices

The Analog January Challenge – 5 commitments to make during the month of January – read, move, connect, make, join

How To Develop Better Habits in 2020 – some good tips and need to think in terms of habits instead of goals

It’s 2020 And You’re In The Future – some interesting year span comparisons in this one.

From Out There Somewhere

7 Leadership Lessons Over 2.5 Years – this had a couple of good reminders but also a couple of new perspectives/thoughts for me – I liked #4

Building A Thinking Classroom In Math – 14 things to consider from Peter Liljedahl. I have been to a few workshops with the author and came away with some great stuff – liked the reminder of this article. Have also watched a Socials Studies, Law Teacher use the strategies in his class.

How Can Students Self-Assess When Teachers Do All The Grading And Work – some strategies and things to consider from Catlin Tucker – always like the station-rotation model

Allies And Accomplices – the difference lies in taking a risk. A good read is also linked in this post – Don’t Be An Ally, Be An Accomplice

Asking Your Kids The Right Questions – a change from “what did you do at school today?” to “Who did you help today?”

You’re Spending Your Free Time Wrong – some questions to consider when determining what to do with your free time