Leveraging the Holiday Season to Empower Educators with Technology

Guest Post by Jason Kathman

The holiday season isn’t just a time for festive cheer and joyful celebrations.  It’s also a great opportunity for educators to infuse their classrooms with the magic of technology. As teachers, embracing this seasonal spirit can pave the way for innovative and engaging teaching practices, ultimately benefiting educators and students.

The holiday season presents an opportunity for educators to embrace technology in the classroom, fostering innovation, engagement, and collaboration. By leveraging the spirit of the holidays, teachers can not only enrich their teaching practices but also empower students with valuable digital skills and a love for learning that transcends the festive season.

As an instructional coach for technology, I am always looking for opportunities to get students to create with technology.  In Jamestown, we are 1:1 with iPad so the options to be creative are limitless.  Occasionally, as in any district, some educators are apprehensive about leveraging technology for learning.  “It takes too much time,” “I don’t have the time to learn how the tech works so I can’t use it with my students,” and “Kids are too distracted on the iPad for learning to happen” are phrases that I hear from fellow educators.  If I can get those teachers to have students use tech in ways that don’t deal directly with their content, then more times than not, they can see how engaged and excited students are when asked to be creative with technology.

Below are a few holiday resources that I use with educators in my district to get them to use iPads in creative ways in their classrooms.  Most resources are iPad-specific but all can be adjusted for any device.  

  1. 12 Projects for the Holidays:  My colleague and fellow Tech Integrator, Jeff Kresge and I built this website.  It asks students to create different holiday-themed products.  Students follow video tutorials to help them along the way.
  2. Susan Maynor’s Imaginarium:  Susan is an extremely creative educator and her monthly Imaginariums show that creativity.  Her December Imaginarium is a 30-page Pages (or pdf) document that is beautifully designed.  Each page represents a task for students to show off their creative genius.
  3. 12 Days of Creativity Series:  This four-volume series is packed full of ideas and resources!!  The genius educators who authored these books give you everything you (and your students) need to complete each task.  This is such a valuable resource!

As educators, let’s unwrap the gift of technology this holiday season and embark on a journey toward a tech-infused, dynamic learning experience for all!

Happy holidays and tech-filled teaching adventures!

 

WEP 229: SEEing to Lead, an Interview with Chris Jones

SEE: Support, Engage and Empower

In this 229th episode of The Wired Educator Podcast, I have the pleasure of interviewing an amazing educational leader named Chris Jones. Chris is the author of a really powerful, leadership book titled Seeing to Lead. I had so much fun talking with Christ and I learned a ton. He delivers actionable steps to help anyone improve and I love his authenticity and fun spirit. This is a great interview for anyone in education that wants a bit of refreshing inspiration, encouragement and some golden nuggets to level up and make a difference.

Click here to listen to my interview with Chris.

Dr. Chris Jones has been an educator in Massachusetts for 22 years. His experience in the classroom ranged from 8th – 11th grade working in an urban setting. A portion of this was spent opening a high school division for an expanding charter school. He has just finished his 14th year as a building administrator. Chris is also the Vice President of the Massachusetts State Administrators Association (MSAA). True to his “why” of improving the educational experience for as many people as possible, he is currently the Principal of Whitman-Hanson Regional High School in Whitman, Massachusetts. He is the author of SEEingtoLead, a book that provides strategies for how modern leaders can and must support, engage, and empower their teachers to elevate student success. Chris vlogs weekly about continuous improvement and is also the host of the podcast SEEing to Lead as a way to amplify teachers’ voices in an effort to improve education as a whole. His overarching goal is to positively model continuous improvement in all facets of life by being purposeful, acting with integrity, and building character.

Chris is passionate about continuous improvement and the idea that success is not a destination, but a process. Chris is a teacher centered principal and his beliefs around the importance of a positive work environment, continuous growth, and a healthy family work-life integration can be seen in the presentations and workshops he has given for the Massachusetts School Administrators Association (MSAA), Massachusetts Computer Using Educators (MassCUE), Massachusetts Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (MASCD), the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP); and his participation in the Better Leaders Better Schools Mastermind group.

A finalist for the Massachusetts School Administrators Association’s Principal of the Year award and named the 2022 Massachusetts School Counselors Associaltion’s (MASCA) Administrator of the Year, Chris is described by his past Superintendent as being “…wholly invested in the success of the school…a creative problem-solver who is able to deliberate yet be decisive, be creative yet accountable…calm and clear-headed even under the most trying of times…has built a strong collaborative and collegial school culture…he is a positive influence on teachers, teaching, and learning.”

Chris’ education includes a BA from Bridgewater State University, an MA from Salem State University, and a Doctorate from Northeastern University. He currently resides in Southeastern Massachusetts with his wife, Mary (Bella) and two boys, Tommy and Scotty.

Mentioned in this podcast:

The World Education Summit: https://www.worldedsummit.com/
Chris’s Podcast: SEEing to Lead
Chris’s Book: SEEing to Lead
Follow Christ onTwitter: @DrCSJones
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Educator, Author, Keynote Speaker
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WEP 220: The Minimalist Teacher an interview with Tammy Musiowsky-Borneman and Christine Arnold

An interview with Tammy Musiowsky-Borneman and Christine Arnold

Are you feeling overwhelmed? Frustrated? Is your district enduring initiative fatigue? My two guests today are from Hawaii and the Netherlands, and they co-authored a book titled The Minimalist Teacher which can help all of us create a better work environment no matter what our role is an education may be. You are going to love

Click Here to listen to this episode with Tammy and Christine.

We talk about:

Why minimalism is needed in our educational lives and school culture.

The benefits of minimalism, and why it’s necessary, and how to employ these techniques.

How to advocate for this minimalist approach?

 I hosted the podcast in Ohio and Tami joined us from Hawaii and Christine from the Netherlands so in this recording we literally span across the planet. Pretty cool. We had a lot of fun.  I can’t wait for you to hear how this episode is going to change your life.

Tammy Musiowsky-Borneman is the founder of and professional learning facilitator at Plan Z Professional Learning Services, an elementary teacher, and ASCD author. She has experience teaching and leading in Hawai’i, Singapore, New York City, and Edmonton, Canada. She is an active member of ASCD and is an ASCD Emerging Leader Alumni. Tammy and co-author, C.Y. Arnold wrote the recently published ASCD book, The Minimalist Teacher, as well as other digital publications for ASCD. Tammy has written several guest blogs for ASCD Inservice, Express, EdWeek Teacher blog, and Achieve the Core. She writes on topics such as creating cultures of learning, student engagement, inclusivity, and student agency. 

C. Y. Arnold is an Australian educator with experience at home and abroad. She has worked in Australia, Japan, Singapore, Belgium, and The Netherlands as a teacher, coach, mentor, co-teacher, coordinator, tutor, and supervisor from early childhood education to adult education. Her dedication to teaching has led her to serve on the board of the Singapore chapter of SENIA, publish educational articles, and present at various international and Australian conferences. Her interests in education include exploring research-based pedagogy and practice, inclusive education, quality early childhood education, inquiry, and promoting well-being for students and colleagues. 

Mentioned in the episode: 

Tammy and Christine’s book The Minimalist Teacher.

Rich Czyz’s book Rogue Leader: Make the Rule, Inspire Others and Take Control of Your Own Professional Development Destiny

Kelly will be keynoting the Ohio Association of Elementary School Administrators Conference on June 17 In Columbus, Ohio.

Apple Learning Coach

The Wired Educator #WiredWednesday 30-Minute Twitter Chat for everyone in education. Wednesday’s at 9PM Eastern.

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Sign-up for Kelly’s newsletter here. Kelly Croy is an author, speaker, and educator. If you’d like to learn more about Kelly or invite him to your school or conference to speak please send him an email.  Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with 220 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Visit Kelly’s website at www.KellyCroy.com. • Looking for a dynamic speaker for your school’s opening day? • Consider Kelly Croy at www.KellyCroy.com • Order Kelly’s books, Along Came a Leaderand Unthink Before Bed: A Children’s Book on Mindfulness for your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 

WEP 219: Survival Guide to The Classroom Apocalypse an Interview with Amanda Fox

An Interview with Amanda Fox

This is the wired educator podcast episode 219. My interview with Amanda Fox and her books Teachingland: A Teachers Survival Guide to the Classroom Apocalypse and MarkerTown, an awesome children’s book. We talk about Canva, virtual reality, augmented reality,  book publishing, creation in the classroom and her amazing story of becoming an educator and more. Get ready to be inspired and learn in this awesome interview.

Click here to listen to my interview with Amanda Fox. 

Amanda is the author of several books including: Teachingland: A Teachers Survival Guide to the Classroom Apocalypse and MarkerTown.

Amanda Fox, is an educator, author, and technology enthusiast currently living in Louisville, Kentucky. She is the Director of Education for QuiverVision, and the founder of Metainkbooks, a publishing company that leverages augmented reality to improve literacy. She has taught English Language Arts, Social Studies, Film, Journalism, and enjoys writing, illustrating, and cooking in her free time. Recipient of the 2016 ISTE Emerging Leader Award, recognized as a PBS Digital innovator for her initiatives in enhancing student learning with technology, Fox has also served as President of the Young Educator Network for ISTE, and received the President’s Volunteer Award in 2018. She is the author of Teachingland: A Teacher’s Survival Guide to the Classroom ApocalypseZom-Be A Design Thinker,  Markertown, and The Canva Classroom. She is currently working on a followup book to Markertown. Learn more or connect with Amanda on Twitter @AmandaFoxSTEM

For more information on booking Amanda for keynotes, workshops, design thinking led sessions, or video conferencing/virtual book readings with your class or school go to the contact page.

Amanda Fox, is an educator, author, and technology enthusiast currently living in Louisville, Kentucky. She is the Director of Education for QuiverVision, and the founder of Metainkbooks, a publishing company that leverages augmented reality to improve literacy. She has taught English Language Arts, Social Studies, Film, Journalism, and enjoys writing, illustrating, and cooking in her free time. Recipient of the 2016 ISTE Emerging Leader Award, recognized as a PBS Digital innovator for her initiatives in enhancing student learning with technology, Fox has also served as President of the Young Educator Network for ISTE, and received the President’s Volunteer Award in 2018. She is the author of Teachingland: A Teacher’s Survival Guide to the Classroom ApocalypseZom-Be A Design Thinker,  Markertown, and The Canva Classroom. She is currently working on a followup book to Markertown. Learn more or connect with Amanda on Twitter @AmandaFoxSTEM

For more information on booking Amanda for keynotes, workshops, design thinking led sessions, or video conferencing/virtual book readings with your class or school go to the contact page.

Mentioned in this episode: 

Amanda’s book Teachingland: A Survival Guide to the Classroom Apocalypse

Amanda’s book: MakerTown

Amanda’s book: Zom-Be a Design Thinker

Canva Youtube Playlist

TWITTER
Canva Template Links
Wordle Template
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Sign-up for Kelly’s newsletter here. Kelly Croy is an author, speaker, and educator. If you’d like to learn more about Kelly or invite him to your school or conference to speak please send him an email.  Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with 218 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Visit Kelly’s website at www.KellyCroy.com. • Looking for a dynamic speaker for your school’s opening day? • Consider Kelly Croy at www.KellyCroy.com • Order Kelly’s books, Along Came a Leaderand Unthink Before Bed: A Children’s Book on Mindfulness for your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 

WEP 218 Safe, Seen and Stretched in the Classroom an Interview with Julie Schmidt Hasson

WEP 218 Safe, Seen and Stretched in the Classroom an Interview with Julie Schmidt Hasson

In this episode of The Wired Educator Podcast I interview Julie Schmidt Hasson about her new book Safe, Seen and Stretched in the Classroom. It is all about her research on the impact of teachers. I first interviewed Julie a few years ago for episode 98, and now she is back. What a fun interview. You are going to love her book.

Click here to listen to my interview with Julie. 

Julie Schmidt Hasson, Ed.D. is a professor in the Reich College of Education at Appalachian State University. Julie’s research on the impact of a teacher is the topic of a TEDx talk and is the focus of her engaging professional development programs. She founded the Chalk and Chances project, a vehicle for elevating and celebrating teachers, in 2017. Julie’s latest book, Safe, Seen, and Stretched in the Classroom was released in November 2021.

Mentioned in this episode: 

Julie’s book: Safe, Seen and Stretched in the Classroom

Julie’s website: https://www.julieschmidthasson.com

Julie’s blog: https://www.chalkandchances.com/about

Julie’s TedX Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmwy6r26vQY

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Sign-up for Kelly’s newsletter here. Kelly Croy is an author, speaker, and educator. If you’d like to learn more about Kelly or invite him to your school or conference to speak please send him an email.  Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with 218 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Visit Kelly’s website at www.KellyCroy.com. • Looking for a dynamic speaker for your school’s opening day? • Consider Kelly Croy at www.KellyCroy.com • Order Kelly’s books, Along Came a Leaderand Unthink Before Bed: A Children’s Book on Mindfulness for your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 

WEP 215: 3DU: 3D Printing in Every Classroom, An Interview with Keven Rinaman

An Interview with Keven Rinaman

In this episode of The Wired Educator Podcast, I interview Keven Rinaman about his new book, 3DU: A Guide to 3D Printing in Every Classroom published by Wired Educator.

Keven is an educator, administrator, podcaster, blogger, author and an important voice in education.

You’re going to love this episode.

Click here to listen to my interview with Keven Rinaman. 

Keven Rinaman is an educator and author. 

He has taught history, math, and technology at middle and high school grades, and has served as the technology director and Dean of Students for his district. Keven has coached numerous sports including: wrestling, golf, baseball and esports. He is a graduate of Heidelberg University and Western Governors University, earning both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Tiffin University. 

Keven is the author of 3DU: A Guide to 3D Printing in Every Classroom, the host of an educational podcast titled, Magic Potion EDU, and blogs at TeachersTechToolbox.com. Keven has spoken at numerous national and regional conferences including FETC and OETC. 

Keven lives with his wife Katie, and son, Cooper in Tiffin, Ohio. 

“Layer by layer, Keven Rinaman’s 3DU walks you through everything an educator could ever need in learning the practical, creative possibilities that await our classrooms thanks to the power of 3D printing. Far beyond mere trinkets and disposable doodads, 3DU is loaded with inspiring stories of how this powerful next-generation technology is quite literally helping our students build a better world. From scale replicas of famous attractions to practical solutions that run the gamut from prosthetics to Parkinson’s research, this is the kind of book that goes beyond a ho-hum “how to” and challenges us to learn the why, too. It’s a joy to imagine what incredible things might come from seeing the lessons from this book put into play.”

John Meehan, Teacher, author, and cofounder of EMC2 Learning

Mentioned in this episode: 

Keven’s book: 3DU: A Guide to 3D Printing in Every Classroom

Keven’s podcast: Magic Potion EDU

Keven’s blog: www.TeachersTechToolbox.com

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Sign-up for Kelly’s newsletter here. Kelly Croy is an author, speaker, and educator. If you’d like to learn more about Kelly or invite him to your school or conference to speak please send him an email.  Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with 215 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Visit Kelly’s website at www.KellyCroy.com. • Looking for a dynamic speaker for your school’s opening day? • Consider Kelly Croy at www.KellyCroy.com • Order Kelly’s books, Along Came a Leaderand Unthink Before Bed: A Children’s Book on Mindfulness for your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 

 

 

3 Quarantine Teaching Examples I Will Always Remember; What’s Yours?

What positive memory do you have from quarantine emergency teaching?

For the most part, I look at life’s positive side. It enchants and inspires some and annoys others.

Every teacher on the planet should hold their head high and be proud of how they leveled-up and continued to make a difference while teaching in quarantine, from quarantine, to quarantine, and remote, and every other possible scenario the last couple of years.

Every single example an individual heroic memory. Or at least it should have been. Too often teachers compare themselves to other teachers  and beat themselves up too much about the emergency teaching that had to occur. Everyone did their best and impacted lives. No one was perfect. Everyone tried. We should all be proud.

Still there are three stories I will always remember most from our teaching in quarantine:

  1. Jon Jarc collecting students’ 3-D designs remotely, printing them from his house and shipping them to his students’ homes. Whoa!
  2. Jen Davis, Port Clinton Middle School art teacher, hosting a virtual art show for students in quarantine. Go Jen!
  3. Keven Rinaman 3-D printing medical safety shields for hospitals. (The story is in his new book 3DU: A Guide to 3D Printing in Every Classroom.) Congrats Keven!

It’s unfair for me to name just three. There are hundreds in my own district. There are millions of awesome examples from around the world, but for whatever reason, these three resonate with me and will forever be remembered. I really do hope you will add your memory and example in the comments below so others can see them. Thanks for considering.

~Kelly

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Sign-up for Kelly’s newsletter here. Kelly Croy is an author, speaker, and educator. If you’d like to learn more about Kelly or invite him to your school or conference to speak please send him an email.  Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with 213 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Visit Kelly’s website at www.KellyCroy.com. • Looking for a dynamic speaker for your school’s opening day? • Consider Kelly Croy at www.KellyCroy.com • Order Kelly’s books, Along Came a Leaderand Unthink Before Bed: A Children’s Book on Mindfulness for your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 

 

 

Boom! Deliver Awesome Feedback, an Interview with Ben Kalb

An Interview with Ben Kalb

This is episode 210 of The Wired Educator Podcast, and I have the privilege to share with you the awesomeness of Ben Kalb.

Ben is an amazing educator and we are both members of The Apple Distinguished Educator Community.

Ben teaches some important things we need to know about delivering awesome feedback. We also have a great conversation about deficit thinking and the power of storytelling in education.

Click here to listen to this episode of The Wired Educator Podcast.

Ben Kalb is the Director of Communication for the Muskegon Area ISD in Muskegon Michigan. As a former classroom teacher he is a passionate advocate for Public Schools. Ben is an Apple Distinguished Educator and was the cohost of another top ranked education podcast. Throughout 4 seasons of Vrain Waves, teachers were informed, inspired, and connected through the advice of giants in education. Although his podcast wasn’t as prolific as this one, over the course of 4 seasons he and his co-host Becky interviewed dozens of New York Times Best selling authors including Dan Heath, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Daniel Pink and more.

Mentioned in this episode: 

I am excited to announce that Wired Educator has published its first book, 3DU: A Guide to 3D Printing in Every Classroom, written by Keven Rinaman.

Join the Wired Educator Squad Wednesdays for a 30-minute Twitter Chat. Follow the hashtag #WiredWednesday

Follow Wired Educator on Facebook and Twitter to join in our LIVE video chats.

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Invite Kelly to be your opening day speaker at your school, lead a leadership workshop, or share his What Everyone Needs to Know About Bullying presentation here. www.kellycroy.com

This link will take you to ALL of Kelly’s social media: https://linktr.ee/kellycroy

Sign-up for Kelly’s newsletter here. Kelly Croy is an author, speaker, and educator. If you’d like to learn more about Kelly or invite him to your school or conference to speak please send him an email.  Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with 210 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Visit Kelly’s website at www.KellyCroy.com. • Looking for a dynamic speaker for your school’s opening day? • Consider Kelly Croy at www.KellyCroy.com • Order Kelly’s books, Along Came a Leaderand Unthink Before Bed: A Children’s Book on Mindfulness for your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 

 

Educational Leadership and Literacy, an Interview with Evan Robb

An Interview with Evan Robb

In this 207th episode of The Wired Educator Podcast, I interview Evan Robb, the author of The Ten Minute Principal, Team Makers and more! Evan and I talk about literacy, leadership, culture and more. I learned so much and I know you will too.

Click here to listen to my interview with Evan Robb. 

Evan Robb is presently Principal of Johnson-Williams Middle School in Berryville, Virginia. He has served for more than twenty years as a building level principal. Prior to being a school principal, he was an English teacher, department chair, and Assistant Principal. Evan is a recipient of the Horace Mann Educator of the Year Award. In addition, the NCTE Commission on Reading selected him to serve on its national board.

A TEDx Speaker, Evan presents inspirational keynotes, workshops, and webinars on leadership, mindset, culture, impactful change, and how to improve literacy in schools. Evan has shared his ideas with thousands of educators at workshops across the United States and in other countries.

His first book, The Principal’s Leadership Sourcebook: Practices, Tools, and Strategies for Building a Thriving School Community was published by Scholastic in the fall of 2007. His next book, The Ten- Minute Principal, was published by Corwin in May 2019. Evan Robb and Laura Robb collaborated with Dave Burgess Publishing to write, Team Makers, published in August of 2019. In addition, Evan partnered with Laura Robb to write, A School Full of Readers, with Benchmark Education, published in January, 2020.

Evan has been named one of the top 25 educational leaders to follow on Twitter. Scholastic EDU also named Evan one of the 10 educators to follow on Twitter. Evan was recently named one of the 10 most inspiring global thought leaders for 2020.

Mentioned in this episode: 

Planbook.com: Our sponsor and the leader in online lesson planning and collaboration. Enter code WIRED for The Wired Educator special discount.

Links to Evan’s websites:

Learn more about Evan: https://about.me/evanrobb

Evan’s website: https://robbcommunications.com/

Evan’s blog: https://therobbreviewblog.com/

Evan’s books: 

A Big Thank-You to our sponsor www.Planbook.com – Enter code “Wired” at sign-up

Planbook has been the established leader in online lesson planning since 2010, offering collaborative lesson sharing, flexible administrator access, and even student view tools for just $15 a year. Using Planbook, educators can build customized school years, classes, and lessons 100% online, directly inputting class materials and up-to-date standards from all over the world. Enter code “Wired” at sign-up to join over 800,000 Planbook teachers today and get your first year for only $5!

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Sign-up for Kelly’s newsletter here. Kelly Croy is an author, speaker, and educator. If you’d like to learn more about Kelly or invite him to your school or conference to speak please send him an email.  Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with 207 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Visit Kelly’s website at www.KellyCroy.com. • Looking for a dynamic speaker for your school’s opening day? • Consider Kelly Croy at www.KellyCroy.com • Order Kelly’s books, Along Came a Leaderand Unthink Before Bed: A Children’s Book on Mindfulness for your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 

 

The Influence of A Good Teacher: A Tribute to Mrs. Joan Francis

Guest post by Theresa Welch, Wired Educator Squad Member

They say that the influence of a good teacher can’t be erased.  Recently I found out that my fifth grade teacher passed away and those words truly apply here.

It was 1991 and the world was a different place.  We rode in our friends’ moms’ minivans to field trips (and may or may not have worn seatbelts).  Videos in class were rare occurrences and they were on these big black boxes called VHS (insert millennial doing a Google image search here).  And I was in fifth grade at St. Lawrence School in Shelton, Connecticut.

Mrs. Francis was the teacher everyone talked about and loved.  She made social studies come alive.  Her classes were filled with laughter and smiles.  The irony is that thirty years later (author gasps as she writes that!), I couldn’t much tell you about the content of the academic classes she taught me.  But I can tell you that she made learning fun and made me want to keep learning.  Before there was a movie Jurassic Park, she had the book on her desk and was telling us about this exciting story of a world where dinosaurs return.  She moved to the beach and we took a field trip TO. HER. HOUSE.  Yes, you read that right.  Not only did I know where my teacher lived, we went there as a whole class of rambunctious 10 and 11 year old Catholic school kids!  We found snails and dug in the sand and all made it back to school in one piece!

When my life long friend texted me that Mrs. Francis had passed, I was heartbroken.  I was friends with her on social media and went to her profile.  In it she wrote: “I enjoyed every class and every subject AND EVERY CHILD.”  That passion was apparent to me as a child and even more so now as both and adult and teacher.  As I was reading the text, I heard my teenage son watching Cheers on TV and the familiar words of its theme song, “Sometimes you want to go; where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came, you want to be where you can see, our troubles are all the same, you want to be where everybody knows your name.”  Mrs. Francis knew all our names.  She remembered and befriended many alumni of our school on social media.  She commented on pictures of our kids and our live’s accomplishments.  But most importantly, she helped lay the foundation for a love of learning and enthusiasm for life for so many of us.

I can imagine that there aren’t many readers of the Wired Educator blog that had the honor of knowing Mrs. Francis.  But I know that you each have a Mrs. Francis in your life.  If you are lucky enough to still be in contact or can get in contact, send them a note of appreciation.  My challenge to you is that even if you cannot find your teacher to thank, strive to be that teacher for your students.  Be the teacher that they will remember 30 years from now and fondly remember that time when…