Category Archives: author

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WEP 128: How to Use a Teaching Mindset to Listen, Understand, Explain Everything, and Be Understood

An Interview with Reshan Richards and Stephen J. Valentine

In this 128th episode of The Wired Educator Podcast, Kelly interviews Reshan Richards and  Stephen J. Valentine about their new book, Make Yourself Clear: How to Use a Teaching Mindset to Listen, Understand, Explain Everything, and Be Understood. The authors describe their work as “working at intersection of teaching and business.” Kelly has interviewed Reshan in episode 7 about the top-selling educational app he co created, Explain Everything, and both Reshan and Stephen in episode 50 when they published their first book together, Blending Leadership.

Stephen J. Valentine is an educator, school leader, writer, and serial collaborator. He serves as the Assistant Head, Upper School, and Director of Academic Leadership at Montclair Kimberley Academy. He is Coordinating Editor of Klingbrief, author of Everything but Teaching, and co-author of Blending Leadership.

Dr. Reshan Richards is Chief Learning Officer and Co-Founder of Explain Everything Inc. and teaches at Teachers College, Columbia University and the Columbia University School of Professional Studies. He is co-author of Blending Leadership.

Mentioned in this Podcast: 

planbook.com: The best way to create, organize, and share your lesson plans. 

Their book: Make Yourself Clear by Reshan Richards & Stephen J. Valentine

My interview with Reshan on Episode 7 of The Wired Educator Podcast in 2015: Explain Everything.

My first interview with Reshan and Stephen on Episode 50 of the Wired Educator Podcast in August 2016: Blending Leadership.

Book Website: https://www.makeyourselfclear.xyz

Steve’s Blog: https://www.refreshingwednesday.com

Reshan’s Blog: https://www.constructivisttoolkit.com

Reshan and Stephen are reading: The Passion Paradox, Creative Confidence, Creatively Productive, Little Book of Leadership, and Keep Going. <<<< Lots of great books here!

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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. • Listen to Kelly’s other podcast, The Future Focused Podcast and subscribe. • Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with over 115 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 book, Along Came a Leader for a school book study or your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 

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WEP 125: Cool Cat Teacher, My Interview with Vicki Davis

Vicki Davis has been writing the Cool Cat Teacher blog for more than 12 years and has been an Edublog award finalist for Best Teacher Blog for most of those. Her blog is listed in the top 50 blogs in education and has more than 100,000 unique visitors who read this blog each month.

Vicki was voted a top 5 twitterer in education by the Edublog awards in 2015, and named by Mashable as one of Twitter’s Top 10 Rockstar teachers. Recently, Onalytica named Vicki as the top female edtech influencer on Twitter in December 2017 according to their statistical research.

Vicki hosts and self produces the podcast the 10-Minute Teacher show since February 1, 2017. Within one week of launch, it hit the top 10 in the k12 store in iTunes. It is a 5-day a week show for busy teachers. Vicki’s prior show Every Classroom Matters had over 300 thousand downloads a month and was produced by BAM Radio Network. In 2014, Vicki won the BAMMY Award for Best Education Talk Show Host in 2014.

Vicki is well known for her creation of more than twenty global collaborative projects including the Flat Classroom Project which won ISTE’s Online Learning Award in 2006 and the MAD About Mattering Project in 2016 and 2017.

Vicki is known for her speeches on differentiating instruction, being an excellent 21st-century educator. Her work with classrooms across the world has taken her and her students around the world- to China, India, Qatar, Dubai, Hawaii and here in the continental US where she has shared more than 100 keynotes and spotlights.

Vicki’s books  Reinventing Writing and Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds, empower teachers to connect their students to technology and the world.

Vicki writes for Edutopia and is one of Cathy Rubin’s Global Search for Education Top 12 Teacher Blogs. Vicki has 138K Twitter followers (and growing) and more than one hundred thousand unique visitors read Vicki’s blog every month. Vicki’s on Tumblr, Flipboard, and Facebook, too.

Vicki is a Discovery STAR educator and a Google Certified Innovator. She has spoken at Google, Microsoft, and other technology companies about innovative classroom technology use. Her classroom was named one of the most top 10 Financially Literate classrooms in the US by the H&R Block Budget Challenge in 2014.

Vicki has 3 three children, 4 dogs, 3 cats, 105 students, and 1 husband and now one more person who has read her bio — and for that — she’s most grateful. She is honored to count many of the finest educators on the planet as her friends.

Mentioned in this Episode:

Vicki’s podcast: The Ten Minute Teacher Show

Vicki’s Blog: The Cool Cat Teacher Blog

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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. • Listen to Kelly’s other podcast, The Future Focused Podcast and subscribe. • Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with over 115 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 book, Along Came a Leader for a school book study or your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 
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Can Fortnite Make You a Better Teacher? Squad up!

A lot of people are playing Fortnite, and it’s not all bad. In a recent article by FastCompany, I learned there are 200 million users on Fortnite, with about 8 million of those on at one time, with the average user spending over 10 hours a week playing the game. It is now emerging as one of the biggest social media platforms, and generated over 3.5 billion in revenue from this ‘free’ game.

Love it or hate it, Fortnite is not going away, and I aim to show that learning just a little bit about the game will make you a better teacher, and help make your classroom a better learning environment. I’m not suggesting you spend hours playing the game, but I do suggest you read this post and crack the code of Fortnite’s popularity, and find ways to bring its addictiveness to your instruction. Learn what makes students love Fornite and apply it to your class.

  1. Students want to sky dive into learning: Make the start of your class exciting. At the beginning of the game, Fortnite, everyone is literally on a “battle bus.” The players parachute down to an island. It’s exciting. Hook your students in with something close to a 13,000 foot freefall. Parachuters get about 60 seconds of free fall. What can you do that is exciting, quick and relevant to the lesson?
  2. Students want to choose their destination. Let students make choices about their learning. As the players are parachuting they are gliding down and choosing which part of the island to land and explore. Students in your classroom want to make choices, too. It’s fun. Give them options or let them choose. What can you let your students choose tomorrow? Do it.
  3. Students want a sense of urgency and a quick paced session. When the players land in Fortnite, the players are racing to stay away from a surround storm that is tightening. Players must keep moving, encountering new adventures, and face challenges. Your class needs to keep moving forward with new challenges. Students get bored with one activity that goes on and on.
  4. Students want an environment to explore. In the game, players explore an island looking for tools, prizes and surprises. Get students out of their seat and have them exploring your class and halls. Put task cards on the walls, use BreakOut EDU boxes, and find other ways to make your class a hands-on exploration.
  5. Students want to make stuff. In Fortnite, players must build forts. They can get pretty creative. The forts have a purpose and making stuff is fun. I’ve seen my daughters watch videos of people making stuff for long periods of time. What can you have your students build and make that is relevant and fun in your class?
  6. Students like to compete. I know. I know. We hear it so many times, “Competition in school is bad.” But students seem to love it. Can’t some competition be good? Can we find ways to game in class to have fun and hook students? I say, yes! Fortnite keeps track of your wins and players celebrate this.
  7. Students want to collaborate. In Fortnite, players can work together to achieve wins. Let’s give them opportunities for collaborative learning in class. I don’t mean group projects, I mean learning with a partner and tackling the obstacles of learning together.
  8. Students want to communicate with classmates.  The headset is popular in Fortnite. Players like to talk with each other and bark commands and summarize plans. Give students opportunities to speak their learning strategies and communicate about learning with classmates. Find more creative ways to do this.
  9. Fortnite is fun! It’s full of crazy costumes, colors, music, and themes. They are constantly updating the game with seasons and new stuff. How about your class? Do students ever walk in and say, “Wow! What did you do? What’s all this?” They should. Surprise them. Switch it up.

I think Fortnite can be a ridiculous time-suck for most players. I really do. I also think a little bit of it is a lot of fun. Mostly though, I look at things like this and try to figure out what I can learn from it to connect with students. I hope you do too.

Squad up! Go teach those students.

Written by Kelly Croy (With the help of my daughter, Jaclyn.)

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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. • Listen to Kelly’s other podcast, The Future Focused Podcast and subscribe. • Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with over 115 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 book, Along Came a Leader for a school book study or your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 
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WEP 124: Eduprotocol, an Interview with Jon Corippo

Photo by Danny Silva – www.iteachag.org

Jon Corippo describes himself as a “formerly disgruntled student.” He made it almost all the way through school at a 2.9 GPA. His final three semesters in Advertising changed everything, though: Advertising classes were project based. Jon’s grades shot to nearly 4.0. Also while at Fresno State, Jon served as a graduate assistant football coach, learning about leadership and teaching at the feet of Jim Sweeney. Jon graduated college with no intention of teaching.

After about 7 years in non-educational jobs, Jon’s amazing wife persuaded him to try his hand in education: he was hooked after just two days as a long-term sub on an emergency credential.

About 20 years later, Jon had served a decade at the K-8 level, opened a 1-1, PBL, Google-based high school, served in two county offices, including as an Assistant Superintendent and It Director. Jon has been recognized a County Teacher of the Year, a 20 to Watch Educator by the NSBA, and was a finalist in the EdTech Digest Awards. Jon also holds the Apple Distinguished Educator, Google Certified Innovator, and Microsoft Innovative Educator badges.

Jon is very proud of his work with CUE, where he currently serves as the Executive Director. His work with CUE includes creating the CUE Rock Star concept of Professional Development, with a focus on hands-on learning and getting teachers connected via social media. Cue Rock Star Camps now include Admin, TOSA, Teacher and Specialized Editions for core areas. Jon has lead the development of the very successful CUE Launch program, and the well received CUE BOLD Symposium. Under Jon’s leadership, CUE professional learning has trained over 30,000 educators in only two years.

Jon lives in Coarsegold, California, near Yosemite, with his wife (a very successful educator), three children and a random number of free-range chickens.
Eduprotocols – Book 2 will be adding a dozen new Eduprotocols to the existing sixteen Eduprotocols in original book. We are also beginning an Eduprotocols Podcast that will feature an educators who are actively using an Eduprotocol in their classroom.
Jon Corippo
Executive Director, CUE
Author, The Eduprotocol Field Guide
Helpful Guy
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Mentioned in this Podcast: 
Kelly being interviewed on the Magic Potion EDU Podcast by Keven Rinamen. Listen to this interview here.
Three books Jon recommends:
Invite Kelly Croy to be your opening day speaker at your school for teachers and staff, or present to your students. www.KellyCroy.com
Check out Jon Corripo’s awesome resource Eduprotocol.com and follow the hashtag #eduprotocol on social media.
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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. • Listen to Kelly’s other podcast, The Future Focused Podcast and subscribe. • Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with over 115 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 book, Along Came a Leader for a school book study or your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 
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WEP 123: Code Breaker, Block Breaker, An Interview with Brian Aspinall

In this episode of The Wired Educator Podcast I interview an amazing Canadian Educator name Brian Aspinall about his brand new book titled Block Breaker: Building Knowledge and Amplifying Student Voice One Block at a Time! Brian and I have a wonderful conversation that I know you will love and benefit. Enjoy!

Brian Aspinall is an educator and best selling author and is considered one of the brightest STEM innovators in Canadian education. His book, Code Breaker – 15+ Ways to Get Started With Coding, continues to top the charts in STEM Education with a focus on rethinking assessment and evaluation. Recently he was awarded the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence for his work with coding and computational thinking. His enthusiasm, thought leadership, and approach to building capacity within STEM education has made him a sought after speaker throughout North America and has earned him the honour of being selected as Canada’s first Minecraft, Micro:BiT, and Makey Makey Ambassadors! Order Brian’s newest book, Block Breaker, here!

NEW!

Mentioned in this podcast:

Planbook.com, our sponsor, is a great way to design your lessons!

Lisa Johnson has a new book out, Creatively Productive, and… she mentioned my book in her’s! How awesome! Grab a copy of Lisa’s new book; she will be on the show again soon.

The Future Focused Podcast: It’s my other podcast focused on leveling-up your leadership and living a dynamic life. I will also be documenting the release of my new book, Unthink Before Bed about anxiety and mindfulness.

I have added a feature so you can leave me a question with your voice about this podcast, or any other podcast or blog, or about education in general. Leave your name, where you are from and your question. It is quick and easy from any device. Record a question or comment here! It’s just one click! Thank you.

Brian’s book Code Breaker: Increase Creativity, Remix Assessment and Develop a Classroom of Coder Ninja’s.

Brian’s newest book is titled Block Breaker: Building Knowledge and Amplifying Student Voice One Block at a Time!

Brian’s next purchase is going to be a drone. Here is one that I have my eye on: DJI Mavic Pro. This is the one I recommend and plan to purchase.

One of Brian’s favorite books is: Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas by Seymour Papert.

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. • Listen to Kelly’s other podcast, The Future Focused Podcast and subscribe. • Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with over 115 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 book, Along Came a Leader for a school book study or your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 
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WEP 122: Everyone Can Create with Ben Mountz

In this episode of the Wired Educator Podcast, I interview Apple Distinguished Educator, Ben Mountz about his work using apple’s Everyone Can Create Curriculum, his journey of relocating from Pennsylvania to Hawaii, what it means to be an Apple Distinguished Educator and more! I know you will enjoy this interview with Ben. He is one of the most creative educators I’ve ever met. His kindness and care for others has no limitations.

Ben is a Physics, Robotics, and Digital Storytelling instructor at Hanalani Schools in Mililani, HI.After teaching for 13 years in southeastern Pennsylvania, in 2016 he and his wife Jess realized their dream of relocating to Hawaii and continuing their teaching careers there. The rich environment allows Ben to pursue his love of creating images and media, as well as exploring the natural wonders of Hawaii through hiking, swimming, and surfing.

As an Apple Distinguished Educator, his most recent passion has been in using the various facets of Apple’s Everyone Can Create curriculum in his Digital Storytelling courses to help students find their creative voice.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Everyone Can Create Curriculum: A collection of project guides that that bring creative expression to every subject. Ben and I talk about this at length. What a fantastic resource! It is awesome and free.

• The Apple Distinguished Educator Program: Apple created the Apple Distinguished Educators (ADE) program to recognize K–12 and higher-education pioneers who are using Apple technology to transform teaching and learning. These are the educators who are looking to change the world. They are active leaders from around the world helping other educators rethink what’s possible with iPad and Mac to make learning deeply personal for every student.

• The most influential books Ben chose to share are the Bible and Resonate by Nancy Durante. If you are a creator, a speaker, and educator, or really anyone trying to “create” better, you need to read and apply Resonate.

• Ben’s favorite apps are Keynote and Procreate. Both are amazing tools for creation, design, art, and more.

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. • Listen to Kelly’s other podcast, The Future Focused Podcast and subscribe. • Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with over 115 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 book, Along Came a Leader for a school book study or your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 
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WEP 121: Reclaiming Our Calling, an Interview with Brad Gustafson

Hold on to the Heart, Mind, and Hope of Education

In this episode of The Wired Educator Podcast, Kelly interviews Dr. Brad Gustafson about is hot new book, Reclaiming Our Calling: Hold on to the Heart, Mind, and Hope of Education. This is a great interview that will inspire you and help you in so many ways. Be sure to leave a podcast review, a comment, and share with your tribe and PLN. Thank you for listening.

Dr. Brad Gustafson’s life is defined by his faith, family, and desire to help others succeed. He is a practicing principal, speaker, best-selling author, National School Boards Association “20 to Watch,” Digital Innovation in Learning Award winner, and Minnesota Principal of the Year. He serves on Scholastic’s Principal Advisory Board and is a national advisor with Future Ready Schools. He also co-hosts the UnearthED podcast. You can connect with him at BradGustafson.com or by checking out his newest book, “Reclaiming Our Calling.”

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. • Listen to Kelly’s other podcast, The Future Focused Podcast and subscribe. • Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with over 115 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 book, Along Came a Leader for a school book study or your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 
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WEP 120: Coaching and Leading, an Interview with Phil Cristofaro

An Interview with Australian, Apple Distinguished Educator, Phil Cristofaro on Coaching & Leading

In this episode of The Wired Educator Podcast, Kelly talks with Phil Cristofaro, a distinguished educator and coach from Victoria, Australia about coaching, leadership and an amazing #EveryoneCanCreate project his students published. You will love everything about this episode including Phil’s incredible insight into education from 30+ years of service, and his Austrailian perspective and accent. What a great interview.

Phill Cristofaro has thirty years experience as a classroom teacher, Leader and Instructional Coach.  He is an Apple Distinguished Educator and is an accredited Apple Professional Learning Specialist. In 2007, Phill was a finalist in the Herald Sun Teacher of the Year Awards and in 2005 was a finalist in the Outstanding Primary Teacher category of the Education Excellence Awards (Victoria, Australia).

Phill works part-time as a Digital Learning Coach at Mackellar Primary School in Melbourne, Australia. Phill supports schools and education across all levels of the system as a part-time consultant. He has published more than twenty iTunes U courses which showcase his expertise in high-level instructional practice and creativity. Phill recently published a student project in the form of an interactive Apple Book titled, “Convergence: April 13th, 1945”.

Phil and Kelly discuss: The importance of teaching to the child, not the level, how the interactive book was produced and published, what the project represents in terms of learning, creation and differentiation as well as collaboration, creativity and a strong female role in learning, student agency, and more!

I love hearing Phil say, “Mate” and he explains why his nickname for me is ‘Bear.’

Mentioned in this podcast:

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. • Listen to Kelly’s other podcast, The Future Focused Podcast and subscribe. • Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with over 115 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 book, Along Came a Leader for a school book study or your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 
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The Very Best Student Learning Experience, and Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise is one of my favorite actors. He may not be your’s and that’s okay, but to me he really seems to go out of his way to make a great experience for everyone that sees his movies. He said as much in a recent public service announcement about viewing movies on a smart TV and the problem of video interpolation, which is when the TV smoothing out the picture, which actually degrades high definition action movies. You can watch him talk about it here in this PSA if you are interested, but the focus is on his closing words, though, “…on behalf of everyone who works so hard to bring you the very best motion picture experience.”

Boom! That’s really it, isn’t it? That is what we should be focused on doing in education. Our goal is to create the very best student learning experience possible for everyone. We are a team working together on a common goal, from our janitorial staff preparing the school for the day, to the bus driver picking the students up, to the administration greeting students at the doors, to the teachers welcoming them to class, to the cafeteria workers making sure they get a great meal, and every experience in their day, including the work we send home for them to complete. All of it… every single piece should be about creating the best learning experience possible.

What would the result be? I imagine students just couldn’t wait to get to school. They would love their classes, build self esteem, learn, make lasting friendships, and become life-long learners that love to read and give back to their community.

Making a movie takes a lot of work. There is a lot of editing. When you see the credits roll for literally minutes you may be surprised on just how many people there are to thank for making that movie possible. The same is true in education.

The PSA linked above shows Tom apologizing for how smart televisions have a feature that needs turned off in order to enjoy his latest movie. The feature gets in the way of the magic of the movie. As educators, let’s focus on that “best experience” and turn off some of the features that get in the way.

Thanks for all you do in education. You are awesome!

~Kelly
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. • Listen to Kelly’s other podcast, The Future Focused Podcast and subscribe. • Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with over 115 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 book, Along Came a Leader for a school book study or your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 
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Resolutions I Want Every Educator to Make in 2019

Educators are my favorite species. They not only work incredibly hard all hours of the day to make an impact in the lives of those they teach, they are also constantly working to improve themselves as well.

Each year I taught, I wanted to make my classroom, lessons, and engagement better. I was always trying to level-up. I still am. I made resolutions each school year and again at the start of the new year. I love those imaginary reset buttons! I shared my resolutions each year with my students and hung them on the classroom wall. Why? Because I knew my students would hold me accountable. And boy did they! I didn’t hit them all, but I hit more than I would have if I didn’t share them.

Which of the following resolutions are you nailing? Scared of? Challenged by?

Here are 19 resolutions I believe every educator should make:

  1. Help to Build a Positive School Culture: Your words and actions contribute to the culture of your building and school district. You are a leader and influencer even if you don’t think you are. You are. Are your words and actions improving the culture of your school district? Are you waiting for someone else to fix the problems? Are you better at pointing out the problems or leading solutions?
  2. Make Your Class Open 24 Hours a Day from Anywhere in the World: Turn your class in to a 7-Eleven. Use Google Classroom or other Learning Management Systems to help students who are absent, traveling, or need to see things for a second or third time. Kids can learn anytime from anywhere. They can even do work on snow days.
  3. Build a New Community in Your School: Look at the students in your school. Which groups of students don’t have a place to share their talents and feel like a contributor? Find them and build that community. You don’t need to be the expert. Just identify what is missing, talk to your administrator, throw a poster on the wall, make an announcement and get going. Maybe it is a group of video gamers, lego builders, robot drivers, or a book or food club. Ask your students and help them feel a contributor to their school.
  4. Add a Portion of Challenge Based Learning to Your Year: Call it what you want, Project Based Learning, SOLE, Problem Based Learning or CBL, but add a little to your school year. Students need to be making and thinking and collaborating and solving. Check out startSOLE or Apple’s Challenge Based Learning: A Classroom Guide. You don’t need to change everything, just add a little. It goes a long way. You will love it, and it is the future.
  5. Collaborate with Your Colleagues to Build Dynamic Lessons and Units: Work with the other teachers in your building to collaborate on lesson plans to increase engagement and design interdisciplinary thematic units. It’s fun for you and the students. The most memorable lessons I ever experienced were working with my colleagues. You can even plan remotely using PlanBook.com, Apple Numbers or Google Sheets.
  6. Take Less Home: Living in constant overwhelm and frustration is not normal nor admirable. Everyone is busy. Teaching is fun and noble. It’s time to get efficient, take less home, and have more pride and joy being a teacher. Design a curriculum plan for your class and change just a small percentage each year rather than constantly trying to redo everything. Take less work home. Really. What are you taking home anyway? What are you trying to assess and measure?Try to do more in class with the students in the form of labs, workshops, presentations and SOLE projects and less 19th century grading of tests and quizzes.
  7. Rethink Homework: “But students need the practice!” Really? I’m not telling you not to give homework, but I am asking you to rethink what you are sending home. Check out the book Ditch That Homework by Alice Keeler and Matt Miller for ideas. Talk with fellow teachers and admins. Rethink homework. Please.
  8. Transform the Use of Technology in Your Classroom: Technology does not need to be used the majority of the time. What a misconception, but when it is used, it should be sued to create content, and only briefly to consume. Examine how you are using tech in your classroom. Offer your students amazing ways to create and publish what they know. Create digital textbooks, videos, presentations, animations, and more! Get going. If your students are mostly on websites clicking answers, well… you’re using it poorly. Try the book 50 Things You Can Do with Google Classroom.
  9. Share Your Story: Take all of the great things you and your students are doing and share them with the world on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, a blog, YouTube or write a book. Everyone benefits. Start this, this year!
  10. Attend a Conference: It is always awesome to get out of your classroom and learn something new, get inspired, and apply it. I recommend returning and giving a presentation to your building and maybe even your board. If you don’t return and apply it, then maybe you should let someone else go in your place. Apply.
  11. Apply to Speak at a Conference: Share what you know! Don’t have anything special enough to share? Then it’s time to level-up and get after it. I’m serious.
  12. Nominate a Colleague: Yes, find someone in your district you admire and nominate them for some recognition. Why? Because they deserve it, and when one educator is looked upon positively, all educators are looked upon positively.
  13. Collaborate with a Colleague: Open the door to your classroom both figuratively and literally and find ways to collaborate with other teachers. I suggest creating an interdisciplinary thematic unit with a culminating activity with other teachers at your grade level. It’s fun, memorable, and good for students.
  14. Lead: Rather than complain about something you don’t like, create a solution and begin implementing it. That’s called leading. We are all educational leaders. Need help? Read my book Along Came a Leader, or one of my favorites, Start. Right. Now.
  15. Start a YouTube Channel for Your Classroom: Hey, it’s all about video. I found myself watching someone cook a fish dinner the other day on Facebook. I watched the whole thing. I don’t like to cook, and I hate fish. My point is… video done well can be engaging, and your class could be open to students 24/7. Do this now.
  16. Get Connected with Other Educators: Build Your Personal Learning Network (PLN) either online by using Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or reach out to educators in your building, district, or state. Share what you know. Learn from them. Show other educators how to do this.
  17. Publish Student Work: Find unique and powerful ways to share and publish the work your students do in your classroom. Give them authentic audiences and genuine purposes to create. Build a website, start a podcast, host a “fair”, publish them on a blog, YouTube, or SeeSaw. Have them create digital books as published authors using Book Creator or Apple’s Pages. Publish their work.
  18. Contact Every Family You Teach: Seriously, forget the email. Pick up the phone or send a postcard home to every family you teach. Find something positive to say about every student and offer them a personal challenge in your class. Let them know you care about them. When you do have to contact home for something less than positive it will be easier because you have already talked with them about something positive.
  19. Read an Educational Book: There are so many great educational books out there that will change your career. Grab one and see what a difference it makes. Looking for suggestions? Try Teach Like a Pirate, Lead Like a Pirate, or Empower. Also check out my podcast for links to fantastic educational books. How about my book, Along Came a Leader? It will challenge you in many ways.

Bonus: Subscribe and listen to an educational podcast. Here is a great list from Monica Burns the creator of Class Tech Tips. >>> Click here for Monica’s list. <<<

What did I miss? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

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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. • Listen to Kelly’s other podcast, The Future Focused Podcast and subscribe. • Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with over 115 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 book, Along Came a Leader for a school book study or your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram