J.P. Prezzavento - The Bits and Bytes of Education:

http://goo.gl/t6QgJ This past spring, I prepared my first group of students for the Missouri End of Course exam, and I have a confession to make:  I taught to the test.  That's right, I did it.  I was that teacher that all the good teachers complain about.  Now that testing season is over and I've had the summer to reflect on my last school year, I feel like I'm on a perpetual walk of shame.  Did I let my students down by focusing too much on test preparation and not enough on what really matters  in education?  Was I focused too much on the big picture and not enough on the little things that make up a school day?  Of course none of these thoughts crossed my mind while I was worried about 3s and 4s, but the day after my testing sessions ended, something amazing happened... My first child, Giuliana, was born April 26th, the day after my students finished testing.  The birth of my first child has helped to  put a lot into per...

Does the talk of professional development in your building make teachers cringe and hope to plan their next root canal on a PD day?  Professional development doesn't have to be painful or boring for teachers.  Under the guidance of a forward-thinking principal, @MrGrimshaw , and with the help of an awesome present and past PD rep, @thompson_SHS and @justintarte , respectively, at Seckman High School , we have been able to add fun and interactivity  to our PD days. Now teachers are getting more out of professional development and more teachers are getting involved with PD.  Here are 5 strategies we have used to increase teacher engagement and enjoyment of our professional development days. 1.  Make sure each activity is part of your PD plan. The first step to a successful PD day is to have a long-range professional development plan.  Scheduling random sessions with no rhyme or reason to them will leave teachers unsure of what to expect on professional d...

 http://goo.gl/16Zut  The past few days, @wmchamberlain   has been tweeting reasons to attend #EdcampSTL , a participant driven unconference.  As I have been reading and retweeting, I started thinking about why I can't wait for Edcamp to get here in19 days. Here is my list of ten reasons I'm excited about #EdcampSTL.   1.  Edcamp is a day of FREE learning.   Many educators are attracted to edcamps instead of traditional conferences for many reasons, but in my opinion, one of the most attractive aspects of #EdcampSTL is that it is totally free.  Edcamps do not advertise world-renowned speakers but sessions and professional discussions led and facilitated by the participants.  2.  A chance to reconnect with educators I met at #METC_CSD and #EdcampKC .   Professional discussions and Twitter chats are a great way to stay connected with members of my PLN throughout the year, but it's always great to get to meet with lik...

http://goo.gl/OS0V2 During passing time today I was making small talk with a colleague I typically don't see or talk to much throughout a normal work day.  The topic of lesson planning came up during our 3 minute chat.  This person told me in no uncertain terms that it has been about 15 years since he has updated his lesson plans because his content doesn't change and he has found what he believes to be the best way to teach students his curriculum. http://goo.gl/JJMnB I didn't have much to say in response to this person partly because I didn't want to start screaming at a colleague in the middle of the hallway and partly because I was dumbfounded that an educator could feel that he or she is doing students, parents, and our profession justice by not changing or modifying lessons year after year.  Personally, I rarely reuse lessons from year to year.  I regularly tweak lessons to make them apply to my current group of students. ...

http://bit.ly/o0WVrp What is passion?  According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, passion is defined as "an intense, driving...feeling of conviction."  To me, passion is feeling strongly enough about something to want to shout about it from the roof-tops.  Well, maybe not a literal roof-top, but you know what I mean. Last year I found my passion as it relates to education:  instructional technology.  Once I started learning about it and using it in my classroom, I felt like I had to tell everyone I could about it.  I took to Twitter , Facebook, my blog , professional development days , and conferences to share my message.  I didn't feel obligated to do any of those things, but once I realized what a powerful tool I had unearthed, I felt the need to share it with anyone and everyone who would listen to me. http://bit.ly/poalPX What is your passion?   Do you feel strongly about Google Applications?  Using student feedback effectivel...

I am excited to say that I have been given the opportunity to mentor a new English teacher in my building .  Since I found out the good news I have been thinking back to my first  year in the classroom and what helpful hints my mentor gave me, what additional help I needed, and how I can help a new teacher have a smooth transition from student teaching to having his own classroom. http://bit.ly/p81udg The purpose of this post is to share my ideas for my mentoring program and get feedback on my ideas and suggestions from experienced teacher mentors and new teachers who are adjusting to the teaching profession. My Mentoring Plan Introduce the new teacher to all of the building's faculty and staff member. Introducing new teachers to their colleagues is important so that they can  begin to make the valuable connections that will benefit them for their entire career in the building.  Ensure the new teacher is able to access his email, district web portal, a...

For a few months, my wife Kim and I have been discussing adopting a dog.  After a lot of careful thought and reflection we decided to adopt Molly a 3 year old puggle.  Between the time we decided to adopt Molly and when we brought her home, I did a lot of reading about how to welcome a new dog into our home.  While reading information from the web and talking to employees at the Open Door Animal Sanctuary I realized that bringing Molly home for the first time wouldn't be all that different from starting the school year with a new group of students. Here are five ways that adopting Molly has helped me prepare for the upcoming school year...and vice versa: 1.  Each day will not go as planned.  After we got home from the animal shelter, we decided to take Molly for a walk.  We tried to put her new harness on her, but no matter how hard we tried, Molly wouldn't put on her harness.  After about 20 minutes of trying to put on her harness and...