Using Lyrics to Inspire Students

As educators, we are always looking to find new and creative ways to inspire our students to learn the content we want them to learn. I noticed at the beginning of the school year how many students were walking through the halls and into class with earbuds in listening to music. Music has a way with all of us in some form or another. With many teens, they use it to motivate and calm them throughout the day. So, instead of doing the same project I have done in entrepreneurship the fast four years on "the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs," I decided to harness the power of lyrics to drive the lesson home!

HERE is the assignment that I created for the students. Feel free to download and use!

I first started the lesson off by sharing how lyrics have empowered and motivated me over the years using songs by Eminem, Linken Park, and the Foo Fighters (Clean versions of course)! Next, students took time to research five songs that they believe relate to them as a person and showcase their entrepreneurial characteristics. I then had them pick one of those songs and write down the lyrics that resonated with them the most. Lastly, students presented their songs and read their lyrics. 

Myself and the students had a ton of fun with this activity. They loved sharing how lyrics relate to them and their entrepreneurial traits! Many of them even discovered new artists that they never knew about before. WOW! There are always new and engaging ways to teach students about your content. Sometimes, all you have to do is notice where your students are and meet them halfway! If you try this activity, please let me know how it goes by commenting below or tweeting me @DTown_MrD.

Building Capacity Within Those We Serve

When one thinks of leadership in a school, they usually associate the term with a person that possesses a position of power. True, someone like a principal of a school is a leader with a title. They are responsible for those they supervise, carrying out the mission of the organization, motivating the troops, and creating a shared vision and culture for the school. If they are really great, they also find time to work as an instructional coach and make those they serve around them better. But with principals being as busy as they are today, if they aren't finding the time to build capacity in those they serve then who is inspiring educators to model a growth mindset consistently?

In my opinion, one of the biggest areas lacking in teacher professional development is teachers having someone act as a coach or mentor to improve them as educators. Professional development is powerful when educators seek it out on social media or it is done correctly within the limited time given during a school year, but learning is a continuous process in order for it to be effective. So if principals aren't able to find the time to work closer with their teachers, then who should?

If one looks close enough around a school, leaders are everywhere and they come in all forms! "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, then you are a leader." -John Quincy Adams. We need lead teachers, department chairs, curriculum directors, tech coaches, and those who are pioneering to help all educators grow in our buildings. It is a shared experience! When everyone in an organization is learning and growing together, there is no limit to what schools can do for kids.

Here are a few ways everyone can help each other build capacity within a building and be better for the children we serve:

1.  Make sure that everyone understands the POWER of Twitter. There are still a ton of educators who don't know what a Twitter chat is and how impactful they can be. Not to mention there are hundreds of them throughout the week and weekends. Also, schools should have a hashtag where all educators in that building can share and collaborate. Wouldn't it be neat instead of a faculty meeting from 3 till 4 it was done in a chat format? Imagine how much learning could and would happen!
2. Build more time into schedules that forces educators to share with others. Often, we get so locked into our own classrooms that we have no clue what is going on great in others rooms. Sharing is caring! Educators should to go visit five other teachers throughout the school year and discus/reflect on it. Also, don't be scared to ask each other what amazing things you are doing in your classrooms and share.
3. Conduct peer evaluations. For those that are tenured, evaluations happen once every three years. If we want to help each other become better teachers, why not evaluate and give feedback to each other in a positive format? If my department is five people, we all take turns going into each other's classrooms and evaluate our strengths and things we could improve.
4. Create a book study group where educators in your school pick a book each month, read it and discuss it. Or, have a bi-weekly tech/hot education topic meet-up somewhere off campus. It is healthy to get together with your peers and discuss ideas in a fun way. 
5. Reinforce the positives. They are so many positives happening within our school that they sometimes get overlooked by the negatives. Whenever and whereveer, share the positives because they make us proud to work in education and want to keep bettering ourselves for our students. We all have something to be grateful for during the good and bad times!

Have something to add? Please comment below or share. Remember, the more we help each other become better educators, the more powerful our instruction becomes for those we serve!

The Small Ways We Build Lasting Relationships In Education

My mentor said to me at our last meeting, "The only true measure of greatness is consistency." If we as educators and administrative leaders want to be great, we need to do the small things consistently each day. This quote applies directly to one of the most important functions of education and life, relationships. In education, we must not forget that we are in the business of building relationships, serving others, and creating pathways that inspire success. 

It is easy to fall into the "same-old" trap. We start the year strong, but after two months we forget to do some of the things that make our students love having us as their leader. This post is meant to serve as a reminder of the small things you can do each day to inspire others and build lasting relationships.

1. Smile & Greet: One of the simplest ways to brighten anyone's day and mood is with a smile. Do you sit behind your desk as students walk into your classroom/school or are you at the door welcoming them with a big happy grin? Student's notice when you are excited to see and teach them! BE VISIBLE and PRESENT.
2. Ask questions that don't require one word answers: How often do we ask our students and teachers how are they doing and they respond with a uninformative "GOOD?" If we want to build stronger relationships and get to know those we work with better, we must ask better questions and listen more than we speak. HERE are 101 fun and engaging questions to ask people to spark a better conversation.
3. Drop notes and compliment: When students and teachers are caught doing something positive, write and drop them a small note. Your words of acknowledgement and encouragement may mean more than you will ever know.
4. Listen and care: As educators, we are multitaskers. We have an amazing ability to listen to a student's question while doing three other things at the same time. Are we really listening or are we going through the motions? It is OK to stop what you are doing for a minute, turn to the person, make eye-contact, smile, and genuinely listen to what they have to say. This builds trust and respect.
5. Laugh and tell stories: One of the best ways we learn and grow from each other is through authentic stories. How often do you use story telling with your students or staff? The more we laugh with each other and use storytelling as a part of the way we communicate, the stronger relationships we will form with those we serve.

These seem like simple tasks that educators and administrators should do each day as good instructional practice and leadership, but if we have a ton of things to grade and hundreds of emails to answer, they are the first to go out the window. Never forget, it is the small things that are done consistently each day that inspire greatness. Are you doing these in your classroom and school? Dare to be above the status quo!

Episode #25: ToonDoo & Speed Presentations

On this weeks segment of the Donatelli Edzone, learn how you can use ToonDoo to create innovative comic strips, help students imrpove their communication skills with speed presentations, and laugh/be inspired with a joke & quote!

If you liked this weeks video, please subscribe to my YouTube channel HERE. Thank you!  

Episode #24: Piktochart & Multiple Intelligences

On this weeks segment of the Donatelli Edzone, learn how you can use Piktochart to make visually stimulating infographics, get a better grasp of multple intelligences, and laugh/be inspired with a joke & quote!

If you liked this weeks video, please subscribe to my YouTube channel HERE. Thank you! 

Episode #23: Google Keep & Behavior Modeling

On this weeks segment of the Donatelli Edzone, learn how you can use Google Keep to save notes, checklists, videos, and pictures, be an edcuator who models what they want their students to do, and laugh/be inspired with a joke & quote!

If you liked this weeks video, please subscribe to my YouTube channel HERE. Thank you! 

Boogie Into Failure & Risk-Taking

As I sat reading a book at the beach while on vacation, I looked up to see one of the most natural things in the world; kids playing, failing, and learning from each other. In-front of me formed a natural tide pool from the ocean and kids from the surrounding area began to flock to it with excitement and enthusiasm. Before you knew it, there were fifteen or so kids diving into the small pool, splashing around, and trying to zip their boogie boards across the water like a sled in the snow.

The first couple of kids who tried to slide across the water standing-up fell off of their board onto their butt and failed. Even when they "failed," they laughed, shook it off, and tried again without feeling sorry for themselves. The "innovators/leaders" set the example while the other kids learned from them, saw it was "fun to fail and try," thus creating an environment of ingenuity and innovation to figure out the best ways to slide across the water without falling off the board.

Watching this take place got me thinking about some important questions we need to ask ourselves in education...

As educators, where do we encourage our learners to fail in order to learn? Is this built into our lessons and curriculum? Do we challenge them to solve problems or spoon feed them everything?

Do students learn from play or is that taken from them by the time they get to middle school? Kids, no matter what age, need to play and find joy in their learning in order to get the most out of school.

Administrators, are you leading like an innovator with a growth mindset? Are you taking risks and demonstrating to your staff that it is OK to try new things, fail, and grow from them? In schools, just like in many organizations, the 80/20 rule applies. 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. My point being that most educators are the kids on the sidelines of the pool wanting to watch and learn from the 20% of leaders and innovators. When the 80% sees something that works from the 20%, often they are willing to give it a try and learn.

Whether you are an educator or administrator, I challenge you to answer and reflect on these questions before the start of the school year. Your students and teachers deserve leaders who model innovation, creativity, and risk-taking. Boogie into the school year with a fresh and open mind!

The Power of Snapchat in Schools

In education, it's as important as ever that educators continue to grow and meet student's where they are. In order for our lessons to best "stick," we must understand our students worlds, their likes/dislikes, free time activities, and how they prefer to communicate. When we know these things, we can be creative in our lesson planning and make our content come to life!

Snapchat is one of the most popular social media platforms used by teens and adults today. The app allows users to send and receive short "visual" messages from each other that disappear in time. The "Snaps" can include a picture with text, audio, filters, drawings, geofilters, and bitmojis.

If new to Snapchat, want a more detailed explanation, or you just want to see how it works, CLICK HERE for more information.

Students and adults alike a lot of fun with Snapchat and have gotten very creative with it over the years. When used appropriately and professionally, it can be a fantastic tool for learning and collaboration.

In 2016, Matt Miller, founder of Ditch That Textbook, wrote about 15 ways to use Snapchat in the classes and schools which is awesome! After engaging in a terrific #tlap chat in July 2017, many educators shared ways they use Snapchat in the classroom which inspired this post. One of the people that I met through that chat was Tisha Poncio, Innovative Learning Coach in Texas. She and I decided to collaborate on a post and share other unique ways you can use the power of Snapchat to increase learning, engagement and excitement in schools!

1. Classroom/Organization Snapchat: As educators, we are always looking for professional ways to communicate with our students and parents but no one wants to use their personal social media account to do so nor should they. Why not create a separate Snapchat account for your classroom, department, club/organization, or even sports team to share all the great things that are happening?! Meet them where they are. This year in our business department, we will be using Snapchat to highlight student projects, promote our school store, and showcase the community service our FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) are doing. You never have to follow students back, everything you choose to share gets posted to your story for others to view, and it builds the brand you are proud of in a positive light. Follow us @ "dtbusiness" to see what we are up to this school year.


2. QR & Snapcodes: Did you know that Snapchat has a built in QR reader?! No longer do you have to download an app that reads QR codes. How can you use this in the classroom? Scavenger Hunts! Fact: Kids sit most of the day in schools. Why not take that biology lesson on squirrels and spice it up a bit. Send them on a quest in teams around the school to find Snapcodes that take them to videos, pictures, and websites. What is a Snapcode? It is Snapchats version of a QR code! No longer do you need to go to a website to make them and print. They can also be shared digitally.
     
3. #BookSnaps & Twitter Chats: BookSnaps have taken the education learning World by storm this Summer! A BookSnap is when a user takes a picture of a passage in a book they like with Snapchat, marks the image up with drawings, filters, and bitmojis, saves the image, then shares it digitally with others to learn and debate from. To learn more about these and how to create one, CLICK HERE and follow the "Mother of BookSnaps" Tara Martin. When having students read an article or section of a book, have them create a BookSnap of the most impactful snippit to them, save it, and share it on Twitter using your class hashtag. This can be incorporated into a Twitter chat discussion in class! See below on the reasons why you should create Booksnaps.
    
   


4. App Smashing Snapchat with Flipgrid and Shazam: Students love using all of the filters, stickers, and bitmojis when making Snaps. Why not appsmash while having fun?! Let's say you want students to respond to a question towards the end of the lesson. Instead of having them write it, why not have them make a 10 second video using Snapchat and the filters? When done, have them save the video and upload it to your class Flipgrid.
   
   There, as a class or individually, you can watch, listen, and learn from everyone's responses. Powerful! Also, the app Shazam (ability to instantly recognize any song in seconds) is now built into Snapchat if you hear a song you like but can't figure out the title of it.


5. Creating a PLN: When Tisha and I brainstormed this post, she mentioned "many educators are using Snapchat for fun, but it can be a powerful tool to connect with others to provide encouraging and thought provoking material." At times, teachers can feel isolated in the profession and connecting with other like-minded educators can help them remember their WHY and grow on a deeper level.


6. Geofilters: Want students to work on their  creativity and
   
   design skills? Geofilters are screen overlays that capture where you are or what you're up to in a Snap! Students can create them for the community, school, birthdays, parties, weddings, stores, and restaurants. They could make for a great outside the classroom project or partnership with a business

Have more ideas on how to use Snapchat innovatively inside schools? Please leave a comment below!

5 Creative Ways To Use Weebly In Schools

Weebly gives millions of people a surprisingly easy and affordable way to create a website that is as unique as they are. With a Weebly site, people can start their own business, communicate with their clients, showcase their achievements, and be an authority on personal and professional interests.

In 2015, Matt Bergman and I gave a presentation at the PETE & C (Pennsylvania Educational Technology Expo & Conference) to showcase how Weebly can be used by educators and students to create organizational websites, digital e-folios, teacher class websites, summative projects, and district resources for schools. Here is the link to the (FREE GOOGLE DOCS RESOURCE) sheet from our presentation. Please explore the examples and let me know if I can answer any questions for you regarding how you can use this awesome software in your classroom  to engage students in project based learning!  

Genius Hour Examples for High School

One of the biggest movements in education over the past several years has been that of Genius Hour. If you are not familiar with Genius Hour, it is a project in the classroom and sometimes in the workplace where students and employees are allowed to explore their own passions and wonders for a set amount of time. Teachers empower students by allowing them to pick a topic of their own, usually framed around an inquiry question, based on their own passions or wonders. One of the things I love about Genius Hour is that it is customizable to any teachers classroom and students. THERE IS NO ONE RIGHT/WRONG WAY TO DO THIS which makes it so fun!

• Learn more Genius Hour about HERE 
• FREE resources to get started and rubrics HERE

This past year (2016-17) in my Accounting I and Honors Accounting classes, I decided to "spice" things up a bit. Instead of teaching all accounting curriculum which can get dry at times, I challenged my students to research and or create something they are interested in or passionate about for a small amount of time. In the beginning of the school year, students brainstormed ideas, selected the topic they were most interested in, and began their research/project. Throughout the semester, there were several built-in work days for students to conduct research and work on their projects. Many of them found great joy in working on something they loved or wanted to know more about.

My key requirements for their final presentation was they had to present their research/work in a professional presentation and explain to the class how they grew from the process. They also had to create something that could be shared with those from around the world. Many of my students blew me away with the things they chose to work on and create! Projects ranged from video game creation, business websites, stop animation lesson, the history of special effects in movies, mediation for a month, and whether or not the lure of the Bermuda Triangle is real!

CLICK HERE to explore the outstanding projects my students did this year!

Many of the SAMPLE Genius Hour projects that my students and I found when trying to brainstorm ideas were for grades 3 through 6. Hopefully, if you teach older students and are interested in doing Genius Hour next year, these projects can serve as inspiration and generate ideas! Remember, YOU are a genius and the world needs your contribution!

Endless EdMagic With Flipgrid

If you weren't at ISTE following along via social media or were too exhausted at the end of the year to care about any new technology, chances are you haven't heard of Flipgrid yet. The software is as the kids say today, "LIT!" As Karly Moura states in her awesome blog post "15 ways to use Flipgrid in your classroom," Flipgrid is a video response platform where educators can have online video discussions with students or other educators. Teachers can provide feedback to students AND better yet students can provide feedback to one another. Flipgrid empowers and amplifies student voice. You create the topics. Students respond with video, and everyone engages!

Check out my EDUCATOR GRID that I created to better network and learn from fellow educators. I would love to hear your video responses about your "Best Educator Tip" you have to share with others!

Flipgrid has tons of videos to help you get started if you are a newbie HERE.

What I want to do in this post is build off of Karly's article and highlight more ways that Flipgrid can be used by educators, parents, administrators, and coaches alike inside and outside of the classroom.

1. Personalize PLN's: I couldn't help but notice on Twitter how many people at ISTE were "shocked" when they ran into someone in person that they chat with every week online. Flipgrid can help break the 140 character barrier and give people a deeper way to learn from each other using audio and visual. It will also build stronger and more meaningful relationships.

2. Flipped Twitter Chats: Twitter chats are one of the most powerful ways educators learn from each other today. With anything that has been around for a while, they get stale. Flipgrid can flip Twitter chats upside down by using video response to questions instead of text. Instead of having eight questions to respond to really fast while trying to read what everyone is typing, you can take your time, thoughtfully respond to a topic, then engage and debate with whomever you agree/disagree with.

3. Inspiration/Faculty Meetings: At the beginning of the school year, the principal usually gives an inspiring presentation filled with vision, goals, etc. Throughout the busy school year, these visions and goals can get lost. Leaders can use Flipgrid to provide weekly/monthly inspirational videos for teachers. It can also be used to spark conversation before or after faculty meetings. Before to pose a question for all to think about. After to gather questions and answers faculty may have had but didn't get answers to.

 4. Administrator Feedback: As an aspiring administrator, I thought about how I could use this tool with the educators that I lead someday. Meaningful feedback to educators is often one of the things that is hardest for administraots to do because of time. With Flipgrid, leaders can offer feedback to teachers anytime, anywhere. Also, it can be used to share best practices within a school and to cultivate a culture of learning and growth.

5. Public Speaking: I have my students do a lot of public speaking in my classes. One of their comments to me at the end of the year is "we wish we had more time to practice our public speaking skills." With Flipgrid, you can inegrate public speaking into almost every unit. Students get to practice their facial expressions, voice control, language, etc. Also, with the classroom version, students can comment and give feedback on each others videos!

6. District/ParentCommunication: Community members and parents are always curious as to what's going on in the district and classrooms. Flipgrid is an excellent tool that allows leaders and teachers to share news through a creative way and take questions based on their videos.

7. Clubs/Sports: Clubs and sports teams can use Flipgrid for various things as well: Brainstorming ideas, sharing important news, getting community involvement, and creating rich discussions.

If you can think of any other ways Flipgrid can be used in or outside of classroom, please comment below. Flipgrid Fever is real!

Don't Let Summer Crush You!

Summertime is here for educators which brings much joy and happiness after a long and challenging school year. For some, it's a time to slow things down, relax, hang with friends, go on vacation, and reflect. Others take up unique jobs and accomplish things they weren't able to during the busy school year. So many options yet how many of us get caught in the "lazy trap?" We tell ourselves that we worked hard all year so we don't have to do anything "too strenuous" this summer. This sounds nice in theory and at the end of the year when we are tired, but summer can crush us as educators if we aren't meticulous about how we choose to grow as people and professionals during the sunny months. 

Now, I am not saying that you don't deserve to sleep in, go on vacations, play with your kids, etc. These are the fruits of our labor throughout the year. My point is that humans weren't meant to be stagnant and sit around for two and a half months. Happiness in our lives does not come from binging Netflix for three days, scrolling through social media non-stop, and floating at the pool for more than a week. It comes from the pain we endure, risks we take, and challenges we accomplish. Weird I know, but when we look back on our lives, it will be things we endured and accomplished that meant the most to us, not the things that require little mental and physical strain.

My challenge to you is this; DON'T GET CRUSHED BY SUMMER! Life is a balancing act. If the pendulum swings too far one way, it is not good for our health. Sit by the pool but read a challenging book. Watch Netflix but take-up a new hobby. Look at social media once a day but write during the times you would normally browse. Sleep in a little but meditate when your up. Go on vacation but stay-up with current best practices in your content area. Hang out with friends but always look for ways to build new relationships. Go shopping but learn a new skill.

So, when you look back on summer in September, hopefully, you have more to talk about when asked the question, "How was your summer?" other than "it was good, yours?" Always challenge the status quo and never stop innovating and growing.

Get UP Teacher...You Matter!

It’s a Wednesday in February. The alarm rings at 5:30 am. It’s 34 degrees outside, raining, and pitch black. Your body is warm and doesn’t want to wake from its slumber. As you force yourself into consciousness, your mind begins to race. It says things like, “Just 10 more minutes of sleep”, “I’m not sure if I can handle those kids today”, “Do I have the energy to do this?” Yet, you force your feet onto the cold floor, wipe the gunk from your eyes, and head to the bathroom to prepare for another day. Sound familiar?

Some days, it is hard to get out of bed, especially when it is cold, dark, and you have been doing the job with the same kids for half-the school year. It can feel like the same thing day in and day out. The truly great thing about teaching though is we have the opportunity each day to change the ordinary into the extraordinary! We are never stuck if we choose not to be and can make a kid’s day bright, sunny and exciting.

Hopefully what gets you out of bed isn’t the thought of one more day getting through the grind; it is knowing that if you choose to today, you CAN and WILL make a positive impact on a child's life. We need YOU teacher more than ever to get-up and be there for our kids as role models and leaders. In a society where so much negativity dominates the news and social media, we can be that spark that inspires greatness in someone. Never forget the power of your actions and words.

So I challenge you, when you aren’t feeling the most motivated and things are getting stale, it may be time to hit that recharge button. We all need it from time to time. Follow these tips to get yourself back on track to being an AWESOME educator! Your students deserve your best everyday.

1. Keep a folder of positive emails, notes, and cards from students. When you need a reminder of why you do this job, look there first.
2. Listen to educational podcasts or TED Talks on the way to work. Terrific for inspiration and new idea generation. Simple and easy to find.
3. Engage once a week in an educational Twitter chat. Build your PLN and learn from other innovators in your content area.
4. Ask a colleague whom you respect to eat lunch together one day and collaborate on ideas.
5. Read a new book that challenges your thinking.
6. Keep an idea journal. Write in it a few times a week when a great idea pops into your head! Also good for mental health and growth.
7. If feasible, find a conference to attend that interests you. I find going to conferences allows me to re-tool and add to my bag of tricks.
8. LAUGH! It reduces stress, burns calories, and makes you more enjoyable to be around.

*Check out my Donatelli EdZone YouTube Channel for teacher tech and classroom tips to get you ready for each week!