You Should Read…(August 12, 2012)

I had an amazing time in Australia and really appreciate the hospitality of kindness of all those we encountered on our trip.  It was awesome to connect and meet with so many people from the other side of the world and making some new and powerful friendships.  It was greatly appreciated.

In the last week of our trip, here are some awesome posts that I found through those sharing on Twitter:

1.  25 Education Blogs for Parents – Parents are so important to our schools and it is awesome to see that the ease of the Internet has provided a great platform for them to have a voice.  I know that the number one factor on a child’s success in school is when parents reinforce the learning that is happening in the classrooms.  The Edudemic site, which is a great resource, shares some awesome resources for parents:

As a parent, it’s your job to look ahead and plan for the future, whether that means packing lunch or creating a roadmap for college. Perhaps one of the most important things parents can look ahead to is education.

I encourage parents to take a look at the blogs listed on the site, and I encourage schools to share these with your parent community.

2.  Becoming an Innovative School?  My top 10 ideasAnne Knock writes this great post on pushing schools forward in our time.  Not only does share insights on what it should look like, but she also gives quick tips on how it can actually be done.  The first two are listed below:

1. A vision for learning is incessantly and clearly communicated

  • What is your vision? Make sure you know where you are going.
  • Find ingenious and relentless ways to communicate it. This takes courage.

2. Learning is future-focused

  • The world is changing, make sure the learning context recognises this
  • Observe the students, how they work and communicate (Tip: they aren’t using email anymore)

A great read for any school (which should be all schools) looking to move ahead.

3.  Why social media is costing our generation opportunities – a student perspective – When our kids talk, we need to listen.  This post is right on the money as it actually does not say to get rid of social media, but it actually promotes balance which is so important in the world that we live in.  I love how the author talks about soaking in the moments while we are actually experiencing them, as opposed to worrying about sharing them with the world at the moment:

I used to be guilty of TIE. That’s Tweeting Instead of Experiencing. I know you follow people or maybe you’re that person on Twitter who goes to some incredible event/concert/show/party/whatever and spends more time trying to create the perfect #hashtag instead of truly participating and taking in what’s happening. It seems innocent, but if you’re tweeting or updating your Facebook status while at the event, you can’t really be paying attention.

Obviously I am a huge advocate of social media, but I do believe that these conversations are vital to the work we do with kids.  I encourage you to read the entire article.

As one last share, take a look at the cute video below that shows the power of collaboration:

I hope you have a great week!


cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by mrsdkrebs

Scroll to Top

Changing the Trajectories of Those We Serve​

Join over 40,000 Educators who already get the Newsletter