As part of the #edublogclub year-long challenge to blog on education, this week’s topic focuses on favorite tools and resources for the classroom.
I keep lists. Lots of lists. I have an agenda. I have a notebook. I love Post-its. I also use Evernote and Google Keep. Then there’s emailing myself to remind myself of something. So let’s face it- everyone needs reminders so what’s an educator to use? The Remind tool that’s almost more easy to use as an app than on a desktop, but both work for a buffer between the student and teacher in terms of communication. It can be individual messages or a class announcement and the best part is that the reminders can be scheduled and students who don’t have cell phones can attach it to their email.
The planner in all of us wants to not be last-minute and give kids ample time to prepare whether it’s an assignment, upcoming assessment, or an activity in the school community. In the library, I run several different “classes”- one for the blood drives that I coordinate, one for the club that I advise, and one for our library groupies when there are upcoming activities.
It’s the perfect solution to send out information, but get it in a centralized place too. And what’s more important for our sanity than a little organization?
Yes, we need to have digital citizenship lessons, but we have forgotten to continue the lessons on personal citizenship because of and ignorant of our digital lives. We believe we know people because we are connected with them on social media. We believe we are better than or worse than people because of what we see on their feeds. We compare ourselves to Photoshopped images in advertising. We reserve the right to demean others either because we are behind a screen or because we think it is our right. Turkle shares a few stories that I can only compare to why teenagers are less likely to get their drivers license. We have scared them with advertisements, statistics, and more. And the same thing is true in real life. We have scared teenagers into speaking less because they see what happens when people say the wrong thing. The instant screenshot or video immortalizes a misstep. For whatever reason, Turkle’s example of a teenage boy who ignored a phone call from a college recruiter so he could email him instead later was explained by the boy as a fear of saying the wrong thing over the phone. He shared that a phone conversation is too quick for him to think about what he wants to say and the fear of saying the wrong thing drives him to email instead because he can think as he types.
Definitely bring the comfortable shoes, though I know the temptation for those like me, were to also be a bit fashion-forward. So even if you wore the *almost* comfortable shoes to match the dress, do this stretch when you get back to your room each night since you’ll be on your feet all day.
Dress the part. By nature, I’m a dress-loving, dress-wearing kind of gal. That’s not to say you can’t be comfortable, so wear what works for you, as long as it doesn’t look like you’re going to run three miles when you leave the conference hall. Dressing the part may mean being photo ready when you meet your idol (see picture) or to use as a conversation-starter when swimming in a sea of colleagues from across the country who you don’t know, but want to get to know!
Indulge in local food and try to do at least one touristy thing. I was in Chicago, so that did mean that I would have to stop for some deep dish pizza. I also took at a picture at The Bean and walked along the water in that picturesque city.
Readers Be Advised 