Bookish Stuff
The Busy Librarian has an interesting interview with author/illustrator Bob Shea on how stories that ring true connect so well with people.
Mr Schu Reads has the book trailer up for Donalyn Miller's just released Reading in the Wild. Having read, loved, immediately told 10 people to read it, and totally 100% agreed with The Book Whisper, I can't wait to read this one either. (Did I just say I was eagerly anticipating a "professional development" book?!)
Teaching Tools, Resources, Ideas, Etc.
TeachThought has an article from yesterday on 10 Mind Mapping Strategies for Teachers. Nothing spectacularly new, but it is always good to be reminded of how tools can be used in various settings.
Want your students to develop their own apps? MIT has some help for you. MIT's App Inventor provides guides, suggestions, and tutorials for teachers and students who have app ideas.
PBS has a series of videos for 6th grade common core concepts. The series is called I <3 Math. What is really great is that the series applies the concepts to real life situations to answer the ever popular math question, "When are we ever going to use this?" The videos are also done in an attractive format for preteens/teens, so they won't roll their eyes as much when you click play. For schools not under the common core umbrella (like mine), the concept of "6th grade math" can have a wide range of meanings. The videos cover concepts I've seen as young as 3rd grade and as high as algebra, such as integers, percentage as rate, and dividing fractions. So if you teach math anywhere in the 3rd-12th grade range, you might be able to use these videos.
Do you have students with anger issues in your classroom? Charity Preston of the Organized Classroom blog has shared a Self-Awareness Chart Freebie and some of her tactics for helping easily angered students.
