Stand for Something

This is a simple one. Stand up for something good. Get your kids involved with something that matters. Be a part of the Million Minor March.

Five for Friday-Spring Break Edition

I had a chance to catch up on some reading including some great blog posts during the NASSP conference and spring break. Here is a review. 

TED-Ed is a game changer. Use these incredible video to build learning and understanding before, during, and after your class. 

After finishing Will Richardson's book Personal Learning Network, I decided to follow his blog. This post entitled Rebranding Teachers  provided a couple of great images about today's teaching environment. 

Preparing Students to Learn Without Us is another article from Will Richardson in a recent edition of Educational Leadership

Dr. Troy Roddy takes time to write a lot about education. I find his work insightful and helpful for growing. 8 Ways Schools Can Enhance a Culture of Innovation is of those interesting posts for teachers to think about the conditions need for innovation and excellence. 

Angela Maiers is an education thought leader. She has spent a lot of time working on a project that features the hashtag #youmatter. She continues to produces excellent blog posts like 12 Things Kids Want from Their Teachers

Staples had a fun speed reading activity this week. How fast can you read?

I had a chance to read Sir Ken Robinson speak at NASSP. His new book looks like excellent reading. 

If you read only one thing about education this quarter. Read Stop Stealing Dreams by Seth Godin. Incredible and so missional for us. 

I love my infographics, and this one continues to have me returning for me. It is a look at county by county on how much of the personal income comes from government assistance over multiple decades. 

The Met Life Survey of the American Teacher is an annual report that provides more questions than answer, but it completely worth the read. 

The TED 2012 conference just past, and Bryan Stevenson received a standing ovation which rarely happens at TED. His piece of social justice is incredible. 

Here are 15 Awesome Virtual Field Trip Opportunities

As we try to shift student habits, we should love more about how habits work. Read The Power of Habits. 

I loved the images that went with this masterful blog post about gaining new perspective. 

Literacy is an issue for all of us in every subject. Here is a resource of 103 before, during, and after reading strategies. 

Here are the top ten ads from the recent TED conference awards for commercials. 

Digital Literacy and Citizenship Classroom Curriculum is a great set of resources that we can use to build the norms around our technology use for next school year. 

The TED prize for this year was around the concept of City 2.0, and how we can build the cities of the future that work on all levels. The site is a powerful one that is data-driven and very useable. 

Inside Out is a Global Art Project. 

How Fast Do You Read?

This was a fun test to keep me busy on my travels this week. Enjoy.

Source: Staples eReader Department

Things Principals Talk About

I'm at the National Association of Secondary School Principals conference in Tampa, and I have realized that there is a word cloud emerging. It features words like standards, testing, materials, resources, and motivation. An organization like NASSP should be pushing for more. The conference is lovely. The people are great, and the weather is amazing. Clearly though....if we are to lead the schools of the future, then let this conference drag us to the far edge of possibility, drop us off and let us perish if necessary. The top technology people are helping people blog, use Google reader, and social bookmark. Old news... Let's accept that the masses of principals missed the first boat, and we need an airplane to the front again. Maybe from the airplane we can see the future. The future doesn't have us playing by their rules and their definition of success. This conference needs to create radical leaders that transform their schools as examples of their community and their state.

Green Schools National Conference

I am finally unpacking the conference from last week in Denver. So often, we can get in the trap of going to a conference and allowing the learning to get trapped in the moment, never to be processed, reflected on, or shared out. 

U.S. Green Building Council offers a great download called, Green Existing Schools Toolkit. This could be an ideal resource for science or sustainability courses. 

I was really impressed by the work of the Green Bronx Machine. They are keeping kids off the street and learning a ton of green skills. Here is their TED talk. 

EPEAT is a comprehensive environmental rating system of electronics that helps school reduce their environmental footprint. This was one of the Green Ribbon Schools areas that we didn't have a resources for when we completed our application. 

CHPS, Collaborative for High Performance School, is designed to improve the quality of education for our nation's school children by facilitating the design, construction and operation of high performing schools: places of learning that are not only environmentally sustainable, but also healthy, comfortable and well-lit. 

I didn't realize that there is a certification called Greenguard for desks, chairs, flooring, and other common classroom items that looks to enhance indoor air quality. 

This caught my attention, The green movement brought us this far- but if we want our planet to grow and thrive, doing less bad won't be good enough. It's time to shift our mindsets. It's time to evolve from sustainability to regeneration. The future depends on it.  CLEAR, the Center for Living Environments and Regeneration. 

This is an incredible vision for a school. I would love to exist in this space. The Conserve School.

The folks at Project Learning Tree really impressed me during the conference. They appeared in a number of places, and they seem like that have some programming for us. 

Foodskey, the science behind what you eat and drink. 

The Environmental Protection Agency has a program called the SunWise. It is a program surrounding sun safety for kids. Seems like one of those things that we could touch on with all of our time outside with kids. 

There are many times when people are asking whether there is research behind our expeditionary learning. Here is one great study, The Benefits of Place-based Education.  

There is a huge section on the Green Ribbon Schools Application surrounding Indoor Air Quality. This seems to be the gold standard of information from the EPA. 

I had a chance to work with Brian Wee during my panel presentation at the conference. He talked about a very interesting study that he has worked on surrounding the Green School National Network Greenprint and how it correlates to achievement in Denver. The study summary is attached. 

The United States Forest Service has a great learning activity called the i-Tree Learning Lab that allows students to see the cost savings that comes from the trees on campus. It is an ideal activity for middle school and high schools. 

Missouri Environmental Education Association is a great local resources for kids and staff. 

Can We Get Connected?

Green Inspiration

It was a pleasure to meet Stephen Ritz at the Green Schools National Conference in Denver. This guy is a hero for kids and communities.

Let's Play

Should we be encouraging our students to be creative and do these things at our schools? I vote YES.