10 Ways to Makes This the Best School Year Yet

The first week of school is always my favorite. I'm still motivated enough to iron clothes the night before, my wife is still making me courtesy bag lunches, and my students are still trying to impress me with a good first impression. Come June, my clothes will likely be wrinkled and lunch will consist of a banana and a can of Diet Pepsi, but that doesn't mean this year won't be a success. Here are my 10 suggestions for making this the best school year yet.


1. Start a Blog
I've mentioned in previous blog posts the advantages of keeping a blog and I think this is a great way to make this school year stand out from previous years. Not only does a blog provide valuable communication that narrows the gap between school and home, it also serves as an archive for all that you do.

2. Take on a New Responsibility
This year I am serving as my department chairperson. It's a big responsibility, but it has motivated me to look at my building from a different perspective and ask myself how I can best make a difference. It's easy to stagnate in the safety of your own classroom and taking on a new responsibility forces you to engage and act outside of your comfort zone.

3. Collaborate with a Colleague
Two heads are better than one. It's an old adage, but it's true. Find a colleague that you haven't worked with before and create a co-curricular project.

4. Become a Mentor
Being the new teacher in the building is no fun. Use your experience to help that person hone his/her skills as an educator. You'll probably make a new friend in the process... Maybe even someone that you can work on a project with at some point (see number 3).

5. Change and Old Unit or Create a New Unit
Everyone has safe, go-to units. Dare yourself to throw one out and try something new. Even if it's a miserable failure you'll still learn a lot from the experience and this will improve your teaching.

6. Join Twitter and Develop Your PLN
Some of my best ideas have been inspired by the folks that I follow on Twitter. Create an account and follow other educators (maybe these 57 to start). You'll be surprised by how valuable 140 characters can be.

7. Volunteer
Connect with your students at a different level by volunteering to chaperone a dance or field trip, or by becoming an adviser for a club. Seeing kids in these different contexts will help you to gain a greater perspective of your students' strengths, weaknesses, values, and beliefs.

8. Make Reading a Priority
Practice what you preach. Make it a point to find 15 minutes each day for recreational reading. Maybe choose adolescent fiction books that you can then recommend to your students, or find education-orientated "trade" magazines to inspire new ideas and teaching techniques.

9. Attend a Workshop or Conference
Take the initiative to find a workshop or conference that you actually want to attend rather than one that is required for you to attend. This is yet another way to foster new and innovative ideas.

10. Find Better Ways to Connect with Parents
Bottom line: if parents are on your side, you are going to have a better year. Make it a goal to call one parent each day with something good to say.

(When I was a kid my mom took my picture every year in front of our house on the first day of school. Now, my wife continues the tradition. Old habits die hard.)

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Using ZooBurst in the Classroom

It seems like at the start of each school year, there's one new web app that I cannot wait to try with my students. In past years it was Glogster, or Storybird. This year, it's ZooBurst.

ZooBurst creates interactive, 3D pop-up books. In addition to this, it can also be viewed in Augmented Reality mode with the help of a webcam. After printed a special paper from the ZooBurst site, the webcam captures you and "projects" your pop-up book onto the paper you are holding. While this technology is fledgling and not without its major flaws, it is still quite fun to play with, and really lends nicely to the concept of a 3D pop-up book.

Holding my "book" in Augmented Reality

Here is a ZooBurst I made for my team's webpage. I thought this was a much nicer way to provide contact information for parents. The book can be rotated and viewed from different angles by holding down the left mouse button. Clicking on the exclamation points displays the contact info.

I made a tutorial my students when it comes time for them to start their own ZooBursts. Feel free to download and use it in your own classroom!

ZooBurst Tutorial

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Audio Books in the Classroom

Last night @nbteacher sent out a tweet alerting his followers to Lit2Go – an audio book repository created and maintained by the University of Southern Florida. It's a collection of famous poems, short stories, and larger works that have fallen into the public domain and therefore free to use and share without the fear of copyright infringement. Lit2Go took these works and had them recorded as downloadable MP3 audio books.
I find audio books to be much less interesting than real books. It’s just not the same, like having someone retell a movie. Sure, you’d know what the movie was about, but few will dispute that it’s not the same thing as experiencing the feet-sticking-to-the-floor, greasy-popcorn-fingers joy of really being there first-hand.

Regardless, I can't help but think audio books have a place in the classroom. But where?

The mp3 recordings found on Lit2Go can be readily downloaded in printable, PDF format from popular public domain sites like Gutenberg.org. I spent much of the summer browsing this site and found a few good titles, but I wasn't sure what to do with them. Lit2Go gave me an idea.

Wouldn’t it be cool if students created their own repository of audio books similar to what USF has accomplished with Lit2Go. Not only would this transfer a sense of ownership to students, but it would give them real, authentic cause to practice reading fluency.

Good idea?

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