Broken Windows

I recently finished Gretchen Rubin's latest book entitled, "Better Than Before - Mastering the Habits of our Everyday Lives" and I can't recommend it to you highly enough.  I've read a few books that discuss habit formation and this was the most accessible and inspirational of them all.  One idea that stuck with me was that of the "broken window" theory of reducing crime.  Some social scientists in the 80's developed this idea that if communities reduced the petty crimes in their area and maintained an order of lawfulness that it would reduce the incidence of more serious crimes.  Now, I am the furthest thing from a criminologist and have no idea whether the theory really holds true in actual communities.  However, the philosophy behind the idea really struck a chord with me.  So much so that "No Broken Windows" has become a kind of mantra for me over the last couple of weeks:

"I've been good on my diet, I deserve a piece of my son's Easter candy" "No broken windows!"
"I'll grade those tomorrow." "No broken windows!"
"I'll work on that assignment tomorrow, right now I deserve some TV time." "No broken windows!"

You get the idea.  What are your broken windows? How could you better address them? If you are interested in the book, Ms. Rubin is appearing at the Philly Free Library this Thursday, April 30th for a talk and book signing.  

Tech Tips!

Google Classroom - 

• The beauty of Google is how they respond to users.  The biggest request that I had heard this year (and that Google heard as well) was to have multiple teachers access a single class.  It is now possible.  Go to the "About" tab for a class and you can invite a teacher:

• Another request I heard was being able to grade assignments through classroom, without the students being able to see the grades until you wanted them to.  For English teachers making their way though a long essay, this was particularly applicable as they wanted to return the assignment all at once.  You asked, Google responded.  Draft grades are now possible.
• Lastly, similar to draft grades, if you start to make an assignment, it will auto-save a draft for you. Quite helpful when you forget what time it is, start typing something and the bell rings and you slam your laptop shut... not that I ever do that... 

ROCKETBOOKS!

I am really excited about these.  Most current research says that even techno-digital peeps still enjoy and retain more information from simple pen and paper.  However, it is often easier to save and store your notes in the digital realm.  Enter the rocketbook - A paper notebook that uses special pens and automatically uploads everything from the page to Google Drive, Evernote or another cloud based service.  The craziest part? When you have filled the notebook... you microwave it and it clears all the ink! Brand new notebook! How awesome is that?? It is running on Indiegogo right now and if you buy through my link below you (and I) also get a legal pad that will upload but is not microwavable.  It's 25 bucks and could be the only notebook you ever need again.  Check it out. Only 7 days left on their Campaign.

Speaking of awesome campaigns to support...

I would be remiss if I did not mention our own amazingly talented, Neil King and his kickstarter campaign.  If you have never seen Neil's work, it is so original, funny and beautifully drawn.  $10 gets you his latest book.  Check it out!



Plickers! - Great for classrooms without chromebooks!

Thanks so much to Valerie Sanchirico for this recommendation.  If you have used Kahoot, you know how engaging these class quizzes can be.  You may have also started to notice that it can turn into a racing game more than a thinking game.  Try out Plickers - this gets the "coolest app I've seen all year" award.  As long as you have a smartphone, you download the app, print out a sort of puzzle piece for each student and type up some quiz questions.  When you want to review, you post the question son your board and the students respond by holding up their shape with A, B, C or D facing up.  You then use the app on your phone, which uses the camera to scan the student's responses.  The students are less likely to be affected by other student's responses and time is not rewarded or punished.  You really have to try it to see how great it is.  https://plickers.com/

Toontastic and Telestory

I know not many of you use ipads in your classroom, but even if you have only 1 ipad or iphone in your room, these are 2 tools that might prove helpful to you.  They recently were aquired by Google and are now totally free apps to help you and your students with your next digital storytelling adventure.

Have a great week everybody, thanks for reading!!