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Feel free to find others and add any here on this crowd sourced directory
https://docs.google.com/a/rocklinusd.org/spreadsheets/d/1uLXG2AYbApolzrGPwqXv3Jvur9ogs73U28l-yaqzoO8/edit?usp=drive_web

Ryan O'Donnell

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If you're still following along, I've shared an inside look into how a principal builds the best staff possible for the upcoming school year.

The first post shared how we had experienced the loss of an incredibly talented young educator to one of our feeder elementary schools.

The second post detailed how sometimes the stars align and a former staff member may somehow rejoin your staff through a bit of luck and timing.

This post shares how we were able to fill the our last open position for the upcoming school year... it's about always having a plan.

With Ms. Starr's impending departure for Noddin, we now had a 6th grade math/science core position to fill. I needed someone who had experience with 6th grade students, who was both an expert in mathematics and science at the 6th grade level, and who would understand our school culture and community from the minute go.

Over the next few days, I explored a variety of options for this now-open position. I attended the Santa Clara County Job Fair and met a few prospective candidates, all eager to find an educational home. I spoke with principals outside the district about any teachers they had who were ready for a possible change in their professional career. I would check in with our Human Resources department seemingly hourly for an update.

Despite all of these conversations, nothing seemed to make sense. There didn't seem to be a perfect fit.

And that's the thing. I won't accept anything less than a perfect fit for our students and for our staff. I fully expect to be able to hire the best possible educator to join our staff. I've shared my thoughts about our school community before. Our kids are awesome. Our parent community is supportive. And the staff is second to none -- it is easily the best staff I've ever worked with. No other staff puts kids first like the staff I have the pleasure of working with at Union Middle.

And that's when I got a random text, completely out of the blue, from a former UMS teacher.

This educator has left two years prior for an administrative position in a very wealthy district about 20 miles north. Unbeknownst to her, I kept close tabs on her progress as an admin. I only heard good things. Unlike many new-to-administration educators (including myself), this individual immediately and successfully blended the constant balancing act we administrators have to face in our daily routines. She was fantastic with kids. She supported her staff. She worked closely with the parent community.

And while I can't speak for her, I do know that being an administrator is a lonely place to be sometimes. You miss the classroom every single day. I still do myself.

You're viewed differently. The public figure aspect of the job is just bizarrely uncomfortable.

And maybe, to her, no matter where she was, it just wasn't home. It just wasn't Union Middle.

So we conversed over text and that quickly switched to a phone conversation.

She was looking for a change. No doubt in her mind. She wanted to come back to Union Middle. Did I have a spot?

Yes and no.

To make the spot in 8th grade science, a hard conversation had to take place with a current staff member. They would have to shift to Ms. Starr's 6th grade assignment, opening up a spot in 8th grade science. The move made sense. The now-6th grade teacher had taught at this grade level before with much success. The opportunity to have her rejoin our 6th grade team and create the opening at the 8th grade science level just made perfect sense.

During these frantic days, I would regularly check in with our superintendent and assistant superintendent of Human Resources. In some districts, a principal may not have the support for such out of the box thinking. Here, in USD, our district team was heavily invested and working hard to help make this entire project a reality almost overnight.

Fast forward a few days and it was a go. This actually could be happening. The plan was slowly coming together.

The hardest part about everything that was happening was not sharing the good news with our staff. While I dropped hints in various conversations with inquiring staff members, I knew that I needed to allow all of the dominoes to fall in a timely fashion. As more than a few of my staff will share, I'm not a big fan of secrets. I just prefer to be upfront and honest about everything; it's easier to keep track of the truth this way. Sadly, in education and many other work place environments, that's just not possible.

Finally, today, I was able to share the good news with our staff: Mary Martin was coming home to Union Middle.
At first, the staff didn't believe me. One teacher even said, "wait, is he serious? he can't be serious... is he serious?" Another staff member, someone who may have already known, confirmed that the news I was sharing, that Mary Martin was returning to Union Middle, was the truth. Smiles started to break out at every single table. The noise got a bit louder. I too stood at the front of the room, smiling at finally being able to share such good news.

After all, Mary has close to twenty years classroom experience. She has been at the forefront of our transition to a balanced implementation of technology in the classroom. We have co-presented at conferences. She's even been the president of our teachers' union and, in my opinion, performed extremely well to support the USD staff and students in this role. Mary is someone who sees the bigger picture and works collaboratively with all parties to make the goodness happen.

As I shared previously, she's one of those "I'll do whatever I can to support kids" kind of educators. She's expertly training in AVID. Her experience in teaching students how to love science is something district and noticeable when speaking with her students. I've often referred to her as the glue that kept our science department together.

Simply put, she's one of the best educators I've had the pleasure of working with in my 15+ years in education and we are truly blessed she's coming back home to Union Middle.

In my conversation with her on the phone, we discussed how happy she was in her present administrative role. She shared how amazing her students were, how friendly the community was, and how she'd build solid friendships with her staff.

But the difference is no matter how amazing those friendships are, she really missed her family at Union Middle.

And, without a doubt, the most important thing in and out of our profession is family.

Welcome home, Mary.

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If you're still following along, I've shared an inside look into how a principal builds the best staff possible for the upcoming school year. The first post shared how we had experienced the loss of an incredibly talented young educator to one of our feeder elementary schools.

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https://t.co/af5WHb5PZc

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http://ditchthattextbook.com/

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https://www.cultofpedagogy.com

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- Edutopia
- Caitlin Tucker

- singsurfknit.wordpress.com

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http://www.alicekeeler.com/

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PracticalAAC

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Although we won't be able to be face-to-face in person this year, it will still be great to connect virtually with people across the world, and to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

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https://georgecouros.ca/blog/

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Angela Watson

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Free Technology For Teachers – A TeacherMeade site

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successfulschools
http://successfulschools.blogspot.com/

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Read writing from Rafranz Davis on Medium. Executive Director of Professional and Digital Learning, Math & Tech Geek! Author, Speaker, Disruptor of Ridiculousness.

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As a new-ish teacher in the early fall of last year, I experienced a moment (well actually, more like an entire day) of helplessness. I fretted that my students weren't learning to read quickly enough. More alarming, the presence of kindness in our bungalow (AKA my super duper fancy double-wide portable) had deteriorated significantly. If one of my adorable students poked, prodded or aimed another verbal insult at another student again (did I mention I teach Kindergarten?), that was going to be the end of my tenure as the CEO of my classroom! I was going to hand over my classroom keys and go right back to waiting on tables!

You know what I did instead? I complained, I mean I consulted, with my amazing team of coworkers and then I burned rubber to a yoga class. I promise, while tempting, I did not leave tire tracks in the school parking lot and I strictly abided by the 25 mile an hour school zone traffic rule.

While I tried to get my just-returned-from-summer-break and actually-had-time-to-go-to-yoga mind to focus, I couldn't stop thinking that most of my at-risk students were not meeting the current trimester reading goal. And, man, did I have a few really mean kids this year! Some children were coming to school with negative energy that they just did not seem to know how to expel. I saw some students as restless and challenged to stay focused, mindful, and in the moment. And, then my mind stopped. Just like that, close to an hour had passed. Aha!

Cue fancy, overpriced University teacher credential program lesson number one: Reflect, reflect reflect.

I had wasted nearly an entire day being negative. As I became mindful I was able to reflect on my best teaching practices and my intentions (or desired outcomes). I was reminded of the mantra; find remedy, not fault. I had shifted my mindset. I had to find an alternative way to guide my students. I wanted them to discover healthy alternatives to training their tiny bodies and active minds to engage joyfully and successfully in the learning process. I wanted to become better at showing them how be kind. Children were not meant to sit still, conform, or naturally collaborate all of the time. I had to find a way to guide them into doing these things. The answer was focus.
I am going to get all researchy for a moment.

The United States Education Department recently allocated nearly $3 million to study mindfulness in 30 high-poverty Chicago schools (Deruy, 2016).

"Compassionate institutions are needed at every level so we can buffer, rather than cement, children's toxic stress." (Erikson, 2016). And, boy are a lot of our children under unimaginable stress!
You see, this research and our government's willingness to make a financial investment into the idea of mindfulness reinforces the aha moment that I had as I reflected on my yoga mat that day. I began implementing the practice of mindfulness into my pedagogy each day following that epiphany.
Pump the breaks! What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness in the classroom is taking the time to create a sense of calm, community, and validation that teachers are allowing time for the curriculum of me despite what is happening in the students' lives (Deruy, 2016). Mindfulness is simply taking a few minutes to be still and in the moment; a few moments to reflect and be grateful.

I noticed that as my students increased their skillset in the practice of mindfulness that they began to create their own set of expectations for classroom behavior. Using mantras, students began to remind unfocused to students to, "focus" and to use the, "focus muscle." Children who were experiencing stress would sit cross-legged, close their eyes and re-focus themselves. The children seemed to like a few minutes each day that focused on their happiness, joy, and health.

After implementing the mindfulness strategy for several weeks, I had noticed a marked increase in kindness. Daily student reading groups allowed me to analyze whether or not my students could read more fluently from the guided reading books following the use of the mindfulness strategy. Not only did their fluency increase, but their overall reading scores climbed! Those at-risk students I fretted about were reading at the benchmark! Some students increased their reading proficiency by two levels and a few by three levels! The practice of mindfulness in my classroom increased social emotional awareness and academic success.

How did I find time to squeeze yet another strategy into our jam-packed world of common core curriculum?

All I did was show my entire class a mindfulness video each day and model, model, model (fancy college lesson two). I pointed out that the video was designed to help them be calm, focused, and happy. They were receptive immediately. In fact, the buy in was profound.

Who LOVES GoNoodle, raise your cyber hand?! GoNoodle is an online, interactive video tool that is FREE! They have three channels focused on mindfulness called Focus, Flow, and Think About It. They are appropriate for all ages. This is the platform that I used to deliver quick lessons in mindfulness. After a while, we did not require the videos as a guide.

Many of my kiddos were having major behavioral issues that were distracting and hard to regulate. The practice of mindfulness increased their success and helped my tiny teachers to find calm and to focus and to give and receive positive affirmations. Mindfulness in the classroom improved self-regulation and confidence in all of my students. I encourage other teachers to strive to meet the academic and social emotional needs of their students by giving mindfulness a try! Your focus muscle will thank you for it.

ReferencesDeruy, E. (2016). Does Mindfulness Actually Work in Schools? Scholars want to know whether the practice helps young kids of color succeed academically. The Atlantic. Retrieved from www.theatlantic.com

Erikson. (2016). Amanda Moreno, Ph. D joins filmmaker James Redford to discuss toxic stress, learning. Erikson Institute. Retrieved from www.erikson.edu

Robin Dawson

Robin Dawson is a kindergarten teacher in the Santee School District. Robin is focused on fostering a love of learning through the building of relationships and by creating high interest learning activities that incorporate technology, accountability, kindness, and an emphasis on social emotional awareness and learning while striving to be tech-forward. You can reach Robin on Twitter @kindercollab or via email at robinleo@sandiego.edu.

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As a new-ish teacher in the early fall of last year, I experienced a moment (well actually, more like an entire day) of helplessness. I fretted that my students weren't learning to read quickly enough. More alarming, the presence of kindness in our bungalow (AKA my super duper fancy double-wide portable) had deteriorated significantly.

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CUE Blog - Connect. Collaborate. Contribute.

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It's fall!

Students are settling into the school year, parent-teacher conference time is upon us, and everyone is well into the school routine now. In addition to all of this, is anyone kicking off #geniushour projects?

I have been so excited to talk to several teachers in my district who are either working on #geniushour right now, or planning to do so in the future. Although I'm not in the classroom this year, I have found myself pulling up my students' evaluations of our #geniushour last year to share with others. If you are curious, I go into more detail on the results in this blog. Looking at data and real student comments has been incredibly helpful in planning on how to make this time even better in the future - both for myself and for others!

Even though many of us are at the beginning of our #geniushour journeys, I am always looking ahead to how we will evaluate & document our learning at the end. To that end, I've created a template of the Google Forms survey I gave my students at the end of the year. I know there are many great resources out there, but I was very happy with the data I received from it, and if it saves someone a bit of time so that they don't have to reinvent the wheel, that's a win for all of us in education! Make your own copy here & adjust as needed.

I believe in the power of students engaging in authentic, passion-driven projects. I can't wait to see what they come up with! Please share so we can all benefit!

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Adventures of an Educational Technology Specialist

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Students are settling into the school year, parent-teacher conference time is upon us, and everyone is well into the school routine now. In addition to all of this, is anyone kicking off #geniushour projects? I have been so excited to talk to several teachers in my district who are either working on #geniushour right now, or planning to do so in the future.

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I love teaching middle school, especially 7th grade. The kids are goofy, energetic, and super squirrels (...squirrel!). They're also pre-teens, and trying to fit into the limbo world where they're not quite kids, but not quite teenagers. Many of my kids have faced challenging family situations that preoccupy their thoughts while in school.

Knowing things are sometimes distracting outside of class, whether it is friends, family, or both, I start my class with a warm-up. This is usually a silent individual activity that activates prior knowledge, or asks students to review what they learned last class.

In April 2015, I changed the way I did my warm-ups. And I had major positive results. Immediately.

I implemented the Daily Check-in Form. I still called it a warm-up, but the purpose expanded to ask students about their day.

Your warm-up questions are:

Ok, now that you filled it out, let's continue. (If you didn't fill it out, go back and do so. It's good for you to actually go through the experience, not just open up the link!)

When students arrive for class, they line up in 2 silent, straight, and smiling lines outside. I invite them in, and they walk in silently (we don't do it right, it's back outside to do it over), and begin their warm-up on their iPad. I have a set of Slides for each lesson, and the first Slide is always the warm-up questions.

I reuse the same Form everyday and for all classes. At the end of the week, I hide the previous week's rows on Sheets.

I know some of you are asking, why are you SO strict on coming in silently? Two reasons: First, it helps my students settle in and make the transition to class time. Second, it helps me setting in and make the transition to teaching. I use that time to take attendance, quickly check in with individual students, and skim their warm-up answers.

From this daily warm-up, I have learned many essential things about my students, from death of family members or arguments with friends, to excitement over weekend plans or their deep love of tacos. These are things my students may have been too shy to tell me, or I likely would not have taken the time to listen to their needs.

If there's a concern, I'll pull the student aside during class and chat privately about what they shared. If they rank their day as a 1, then I'll make sure I make it over to their desk more frequently, offer a friendly smile, and start a conversation. (I don't take them aside, unless they show additional signs of being upset or stressed in class.)

The day I first implemented this warm-up, I learned that my student's uncle died the week prior. Over the next three weeks, she lost three more people close to her. Because she willingly shared this with me, I was able to support her emotionally in class, and refer her to our counselors for additional support. I am 100% positive this prevented serious behaviors in my class, because she had struggled all year with attitude and off-task behavior.

When I present at conferences and workshops, I often start my session with an identical Form--I ask about participants' prior knowledge on the topic and goals for the session. I feel like this helps me connect to my participants in the limited time we have.

I'm grateful for this simple tool that has helped me build community in my classroom!

Have fun with the Form, make it work for you, and please share!

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I love teaching middle school, especially 7th grade. The kids are goofy, energetic, and super squirrels (...squirrel!). They're also pre-teens, and trying to fit into the limbo world where they're not quite kids, but not quite teenagers. Many of my kids have faced challenging family situations that preoccupy their thoughts while in school.

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Post by Sam Bates

Ahoy there, landlubbers! 'Tis I, Salty Sam. When I discovered Dread Pirate Doug would be leaving #WeirdEd unattended for a month, I set my eyes upon borrowing it for yon evening.

But when I discovered the captain's quarters would be empty on Ye Olde International Talk Like a Pirate Day, I knew I needed to be at the helm for one (more) night (if'n ye be confused, it's because you haven't gone back and read all of Doug's blogs, in which case, ye should be ashamed of yourself. His blogs are a goldmine. Yar, I mean, full of booty.)

Pirates be amazing role models for teachers. If your familiarity with pirates comes from Disney, VeggieTales, Rogers and Hammerstein, a catchy jingle about rum, or professional athletics, ye be vastly uneducated about pirates, as were I up until about a fortnight ago.

Are ye familiar with the Pirate's Code? T'was a contract, better'n what the actual navies of the day could provide. It spelled out precisely how loot were to be divided, the rules of the ship, conflict resolution, and a termination clause - and I don't mean death. It be specifyin' when a pirate's contract were up.

Speakin' of death, pirates weren't the blood-thirsty ragamuffins ye may think. T'was better to have a reputation of mercy, for if a crew knew for certain they were takin' their last breaths, they fought harder. Nah, when overtaking an enemy, best to give them some options. Some pirate ships gained crewmembers this way; today corporations call this "onboarding."

Today we celebrate these businessmen of yesteryear by adopting their slang and a highly butchered version of some European accent. Yar!

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Post by Sam Bates Ahoy there, landlubbers! 'Tis I, Salty Sam. When I discovered Dread Pirate Doug would be leaving #WeirdEd unattended for a month, I set my eyes upon borrowing it for yon evening.

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José Luis Vilson is a math educator, blogger, speaker, and activist in New York City, NY. He is the author of This Is Not A Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class, and Education, and has spoken about education, math, and race for a number of organizations and publications, including The New York Times, Education Week, The Guardian, Al Jazeera America, Huffington Post, Edutopia, GOOD, and El Diario / La Prensa, NY. He is the founder of EduColor, a Math for America fellow and a National Board Certified teacher.

For more, click here.

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Teacher - Author - Activist - Father | The Jose Vilson

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José Luis Vilson is a math educator, blogger, speaker, and activist in New York City, NY. He is the author of This Is Not A Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class, and Education, and has spoken about education, math, and race for a number of organizations and publications, including The New York Times, Education Week, The Guardian, Al Jazeera America, Huffington Post, Edutopia, GOOD, and El Diario / La Prensa, NY.