Teachers are Heroes

My 8 year old daughter asked me this morning why I was crying. I explained to her that I was just very sad about the loss of life in Connecticut. She asked me if I knew those people. I told her I did not, but that there were parents there that were wishing with all their hearts that their kids were with them this morning.

How can I explain to her that I feel pain for them, but cannot even begin to sympathize (thank God) with the level of pain that they are feeling today? I am a teacher and a mother. This story is affecting me in a way that no other has that I can remember. I am feeling so much sadness and so much anger that it is hard to put into words.

The teachers that lost their lives in this tragedy is something else that we haven't even begun to think much about because it is so hard to see past the young lives that were lost. Teachers are being blasted for so much these days. Test scores, accountability, the list goes on. This brings to light what teachers really and truly are. Heroes. There is not one teacher that I can think of that wouldn't willingly put themselves in front of a bullet for their students if this situation were put in front of them. Not just their own children....their students. I'm sure that we are going to hear many stories in the coming days about how these teachers died. My hope is that people begin to realize what we do every day. That we love these children as our own. That we would give our lives to protect them if it came to that. My heart breaks for the parents of the students who died and for the families of the teachers.

How are you going to address this with your students? I have spoken briefly with my principal who is still working out a plan that works for all of our students grades K-5 as they are going to be dealing with this tragedy on very different levels. I would love to hear how other schools are planning to approach this very sensitive topic.

photo: http://www.nytimes.com/

Our 1st iPad Project: Create a Short Story

As most of you know, we were able to buy 2 iPads with our Fall Festival money. We already had 4, but I wanted to have 6 so that we could use them with the Storia app in guided reading. I also want to explore how iPads can be used as a creation tool and not just for apps. For this project, we used:

Pages
Doodle Buddy
Dropbox

We've been working on writing and grammar skills since the beginning of the year. We've also worked through the writing process quite a bit. The students have writer's notebooks where they keep their stories that are in the editing/revising process and they've published on different sheets of paper. This time, I wanted to try a different type of publishing.

To prepare for this, I spent one day of guided reading allowing the students to get familiar with Doodle Buddy. I knew this is where we would create our illustrations. I also wanted them to get the "play" out of their systems so we could get down to business. We also spent one rotation of centers last week writing our short stories (and I did stress short for this project) in our writer's notebook and editing/revising them. This week was a 2 day week because of fall break. No centers or guided reading=perfect time to publish. :-)

Students all had assignments to do while the six iPads rotated through the students and they typed their short stories into Pages. I also have two computers in the room that had Pages and they were able to type there too.

**Warning: You must have iWork '09 to move the document from the computer to the iPad.**

Next, the students used Doodle Buddy to do ONE illustration each for their story. They saved their drawing to the camera roll. They could then go into their document in Pages and add their illustration to their story.

**Time Saving Tip: Configure Dropbox to automatically upload your photos and store them. That way the students don't have to use the same iPad they typed on to create their illustrations, they'll automatically go to dropbox from the camera roll and you can pull them in that way. This was a two day process, so we typed one day and illustrated the next.

After the students got their stories typed and illustrated, my job began so we could showcase them to parents and you all! From their document, I used--Open in another app--export as a PDF--and saved in Dropbox. From Dropbox, I uploaded to my Google Drive account so that I could share the link. All this was done in a two day period, so it is possible! Later, the kid's projects will go up on a classroom wiki. I just couldn't wait to get these out there!

Whew! And here they are....in all their fifth grade glory! Great job, kiddos!! :)

Mrs. Lanning's Homeroom:
Brad
Campbell
Hailey B.
Justin
Kerigan
Matt B.
Preston
Skylar
Nathaniel
Teagan
Colby
Triston
Aaron
Christian
Matthew
Rachel
Hailey L.
Jake
Riley
Savannah
 
Mrs. McClary's Homeroom:
Alex
Damien
Danyela
Kennedy
Garren
Jordan
Katherine
Leland
Levin
Shylei
Taylor
Zac
Layla
Hailee
Meghan
Summer

Money to Spend!

This year, I was very blessed to have the son of a prominent business owner in my classroom. I went to the parent when we (myself and my co-teacher) began planning our Fall Festival fundraiser and asked for a donation. He was extremely excited about the possibilities of earning lots of money for our classrooms and gave some very generous donations. We were able to sell items donated from his store and give away a shotgun as a door prize. This raised $2519 for our classrooms!!! So....off to shop I went with my half of the earnings.

I asked my students to write down topics/titles that they would like to see added to our classroom library. This is the list I got so I headed to McKay's.

I purchased as much as I could find buying about 95 books for $196. 

Next stop..WalMart. I have a futon in my room, and they all want to sit there during silent reading. I had discussed this with my class and they asked for a couple of bean bags. So, I bought two bean bags and a butterfly chair along with another floor lamp. Then, for the big purchase..the one they ALL wanted. I also bought two ipads. We already had four in our room, but it just wasn't enough to accommodate our groups of six.

I've already set up bookshelves for groups based on their guided reading level using Storia from Scholastic. I've used points to purchase books so far. The app comes with a dictionary and also allows them to highlight text. We're going to use this at the guided reading table.

You can create up to 10 bookshelves, so I made shelves for my personal kids too. :)

I do not want these iPads to be just about playing game apps so I've been looking at lots of creation type apps. So far, I've downloaded Pages, Comic Life, and Animoto.

And so our iPad in the classroom journey begins...I'd love to hear how other elementary classrooms are using them for creation!

Apple TV in the Elementary Classroom

Thinking of trying Apple TV in your classroom? I have heard about this tool for quite some time, but had not actually seen it in action until a recent conference. The keynote speaker did her entire presentation from her iPhone through Apple TV. I immediately emailed my tech coach and asked for one.

I have always loved and used my IWB in my classroom. I am a certified Promethean trainer so I support the boards wherever I go, however, I do like the possibilities that Apple TV brings. It is very easy to stream whatever is on your device through the TV. The first thing that occurred to me was that I could finally stream my ipad wirelessly and without my document camera. We have a set of 30 iPods in our school that we share. I would love to have the students create projects on the ipods (perhaps with Animoto or something else) and then let them stream their creations through the TV.

I'm very excited to explore the capabilities of this device. I read this post this morning that really gives a good argument for using the TV in place of an IWB. I'm not quite there, yet. I don't think I'll want to replace my board, but I think it will certainly be an exciting addition to my classroom.

My Classroom: The Physical Design

As anyone who reads this blog knows, I'm headed back to the classroom after my two year stint as an RTI specialist and I couldn't be happier. I have been working in my room all summer trying to find the best way to set it up to promote the ideas that I have about learning. I want very limited time for students at their desks. (I actually asked for tables, but didn't get them.) I also want comfortable, inviting reading areas and whole group instruction areas (carpet). I teach fifth grade so I tried to balance my ideas of an elementary classroom with the maturity that I know they expect as "kings and queens" of our K-5 school. I went with a jungle/safari theme. Here are some pictures of my design minus a few things that I haven't gotten up on the walls yet. The entire album can be viewed through this public link on my Facebook page.

Back to the Classroom....Hallelujah!!

Two years ago, I was approached about taking a newly created position in my district. It was called Curriculum/At-Risk Data Specialist and would involve studying data and planning interventions for at-risk students and doing PD for teachers at my school. I would not be doing any work directly with students, but would hopefully be helping on a broader scale through my work with teachers. I had been a classroom teacher for 7 years. I wasn't burned out, but I wasn't totally against a change of scenery either. So I took it.

I immediately began the work of training in RTI and assessment. I attended numerous conferences, studied the differences in systems implementing RTI, evaluated different assessment tools, visited and observed at numerous schools and began bringing some of what I'd learned back to our teachers. Data-driven instruction became my mantra. I also preached differentiation, although now I can clearly see the oxymoron. I wanted the teachers to differentiate everything they did with their students based on the data we were getting, but then assess them all the same. I generated spreadsheet after spreadsheet outlining exactly what the students were deficient in. I learned the names of almost all of the 550 students in my elementary school (especially if they were red or yellow). I lost sleep over a 4th grade student who couldn't read. I watched teachers cry over students they couldn't get from "yellow to green". I saw fantastic teachers panic over colors and numbers on a sheet.

Slowly, over the course of the two years I began to wake up and take a good look at what was happening around me. My philosophies began to change. The formative assessments, I really don't have a problem with. I think we do need ongoing feedback in some form or fashion to help direct our path and make sure our students are getting what we're teaching. The summative assessment is a different story and unfortunately that's the one that gets all of the attention. All roads lead to it. Teachers know it, students know it, and unfortunately it's driving everything we do in school.

Because of the recent changes with RTTT, this position went from two years to four years. I've decided that I don't want to ride it out that long. I'm returning to my classroom this year and I couldn't be happier. I feel like a first year teacher all over again! I wish that every teacher could experience what I have over the past two years. I've had training that I never would've gotten in the classroom. I've learned reading strategies, differentiation techniques, different approaches to running centers in my classroom, and so many other things and I can't wait to try them out with my students. I sincerely hope that I'm a better teacher because of everything I've learned over the past two years. I'm certainly enjoying looking at a SchoolBox catalog right now instead of reading a book about RTI!

Here's to the 2011-12 school year for all of us. Hope it's the best yet!

Snagit for Mac

Last night I was reading this month's Macworld and I came across an article about Snagit for Mac. This product is made by Techsmith and normally has a price tag of about 50 bucks. Techsmith offers a 30-day free trial so I thought I'd try it out.

When Snagit is open, it stays out of the way at the edge of your screen, but with a small tab for quick access.

 Clicking the big red button will allow you to capture any part of the screen that you wish. You also have other options from this tab such as capturing the entire desktop or a specific window. It also allows you to scroll and capture, which is a feature I haven't tried yet. The picture immediately falls into the Snagit editor. The first thing I noticed within the editor was that it is very "Mac-user" friendly. The interface reminded me of an iMovie and found that it was very easy for me to manipulate without a lot of directions.  From here you're able to customize your screen shot with arrows, speech bubbles, etc. You can also combine multiple images into a collage. I made a quick one here:

 

Notice you can also color the background of your image and change the edges. Sharing is incredibly easy as well. Drag and drop your finished project into another app or a click of your mouse will send it by email, share to screencast.com, or to an ftp server. There are lots of other features that I'll try out during my 30-day trial. I'm anxious to see what else it can do. 

What do you think? Worth the $49.95?

Images: www.freeimages.co.uk ; www.classroomclipart.com

My First Conference Presentation

I am extremely nervous about next week, but it is a jump that I've been wanting to take for quite a while. I am presenting at an upcoming Social Studies Conference and I want to share them how I use Web tools in my classroom. I present in front of our faculty all the time, but this is different!! I plan to show them how we used Skype to make connections outside our classroom. In order to make these connections, I will briefly introduce how I use Twitter, Classroom 2.0, and The Educator's PLN. We had contacts in several countries including Thailand, Spain, England, and Australia as seen in this video.

I plan to show them Blogger and how simple it is (not to mention free) to share your classroom with parents and other educators.

Another tool that my kids loved was podcasting. We used GarageBand to create our podcasts, but Audacity works just as well with PC. The project was very simple. The students had to research a famous person from the Civil War. (We put a bunch of names from our standards in a hat and the kids drew one out.) They came up with ten facts about that person and shared them in a podcast. The other students went to our site and listened to each podcast and tried to figure out "who" each student was. This helped with their grammar and reading skills as well. They were very careful to read fluently and correctly when they knew everyone in their class would be listening in. The link below is an example of one such podcast.

Abigail's Podcast 

We also used podcasting to record our reader's theater. Hear an example here. 

I've also created a small collection of links on a portaportal so that they can access all this from one location. I only have an hour to present, so I'm hoping I can get through this in that short amount of time. 

Wish me luck!!! :)

Beginning My iPad Journey

Our school has formed a technology committee this year as a result of the proposal that you all read about in a previous post. Our district technology coach agreed to allow members of the committee to pilot iPads for the upcoming school year. We have 7 in our building that we are currently piloting. I have been very excited about the possibilities that the iPads are providing us with in education and have begun compiling some very intriguing apps.

I brought the iPad home, of course, to play and explore. My children (ages 3, 6, and 9) have completely taken it over. They would play it 24/7 and I'm not exaggerating! The video above is my 3 year old learning from a great app during my daughter's girl scout meeting. Please excuse the watermark. I'm trying out a converter that will take my mobile videos and convert to web format. (Fingers crossed it works!)

I can't wait to see where this device takes us this year!

Tech Committee Proposal

So I've done several technology trainings over the past few years. I get really passionate and pumped up during these summer trainings. I can see the excitement for the teachers that come and every year I thing...this is it...this is going to be the year that we see some new things happen. Then the school year begins and the kids flow in and the lesson plans are due and the testing starts and .... well you know.

We do not have a tech integration specialist in our county. We have a fantastic, supportive tech coach at the district level, but she is just one person completely overloaded with the needs of the entire county. I am the school-based tech coordinator, but that is an extended contract position that I have to fit in whenever I'm not working my full time job. That leaves very little time during the school year to support tech integration.

After reading an article in Tech and Learning, I was inspired to propose a technology committee to my district coach and principal. The coach immediately jumped on board and offered up the iPads to those agreeing to serve on the committee. (I told you she was great!) We were looking for a good way to pilot the program anyway. Here is the proposal:

• Encourage one participant per grade level; possibly special ed also
• Participants will discuss the condition/functionality of technology available at their particular grade level
• Participants will discuss exciting technologies that teachers can introduce in thie classrooms
• Participants will share findings with their respective grade levels during planning/grade level meetings
• Participants will research grants/available funding to pursue projects for his or her classroom/grade level
• Each participant on the tech committee will be given an iPad to pilot in his or her classroom. At each meeting, we will discuss ways to use this new technology in the classroom
• There will be at least six meetings throughout the year

Some of my responsibilities will include leading each meeting, introducing unfamiliar tools, demonstrating ways that the iPad can be used in a classroom setting.

Do any of you have committees like this at your school? Do you have suggestions for us? I would certainly like to hear from you if you do! Also, I'm collecting a list of iPad apps for education if you know of any!

Making Tech About the Content

Well, it's back to school time in my neck of the woods. That means back to the blog for me as well. I hadn't planned on taking so much time off this summer, but...I did. I spent the majority of the summer playing and swimming with my three precious blessings and I don't regret a minute of it. I hope all of you take some time to put work completely aside and enjoy time with your families.

As we get back to school, I have been looking at a lot of new and old tech tools to use to integrate technology in the classroom. I came across this great post by Mrs. Ripp in my reader and it really made me think about tech integration and what I have done in the past in my classroom. So many times the technology that we are using is so new to my students that we get completely caught up in the TOOL and the content gets pushed aside. I'm guilty of it, too. I'm a proud nerd and I love playing with this stuff! In Mrs. Ripp's post, she mentions tools that she is using with her student and very clearly posts the content behind the technology. I would love to see more classrooms use technology in a way that  is second nature and isn't the focal point of the lesson. Here's hoping!!

Wishing everyone the best school year ever!!

Engineering and Science for Kids

In elementary school, we are constantly looking for ways to engage students in science activities (especially girls). It is important that we instill this love and interest in them early. Thanks to my subscription to the Rutherford County Schools newsletter, I found some great sites for integrating engineering, science, and math.

This site provides some fantastic interactive activities and all of the resources are free!

eGFI is provided by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). This site is committed to promoting and enhancing efforts to improve K-12 STEM and engineering education. There are links to lesson plans, activities, and outreach programs by grade level.

The EngineerGirl website is part of an NAE project to bring national attention to the opportunity that engineering represents to all people at any age, but particularly to women and girls.

There are lots of links here for science and math activities for kids.

Do you have other sites for engaging students in science activities that you can share?

My Summer Inservice (Ideas Needed, Please!)

Ok, today I took the plunge and decided to schedule a summer inservice for my county on developing a PLN. Here is the proposal description that I sent to our Technology Director:

July 22 (1/2 day inservice)- Using Social Networking to Connect Yourself and Your Classroom
Learn ways that educators build PLNs (Professional Learning Networks) and utilize services like Ning, Twitter, Skype, and Blogger to collaborate with other classrooms and educators and to pursue professional development customized to your needs.

I have found my experience with my PLN to be so invaluable that I feel it is absolutely necessary to share with other educators. This will be brand new to most (if not all) in attendance. I don't know of anyone else in our district who uses any of these tools except for Skype. I held an inservice on Skype last summer and most everyone in our county have really used it and loved it. Right now, though, they only use it's IM capabilities to communicate with each other. I want to take the next step and help them realize it's ability to connect their classroom with others. Their problem, though, is that they don't have the connections to do that. I want to introduce them to ways to make connections first and foremost.

My goal is to introduce them to the benefits that come with a PLN, show them ways to start building theirs, and hope that they take off from there. I would really like to have them leave excited about the possibilities. I hope to also have some ideas for them that they can begin to pursue immediately that won't require developing relationships right away. I found some great ideas in Kathleen McGeady's last blog post. I would love to hear other ideas/links that you all have to share with these teachers.

Pass It On

This week, I was notified from Kelly Tenkely at the iLearn Technology blog that I had been chosen by her for this award and it was certainly an honor coming from her. As I was catching up with my reader, I noticed that I had also been mentioned in Suzanne's Blog etechplace. Boy was I surprised because I love Suzanne's blog, too! Thanks so much for taking the time to recognize me. There is no bigger boost to the spirit of blogging than to have your hard work noticed. This award is meant to honor the blogs that we read regularly and find helpful and informative.
So, this is me paying it forward.....

The rules of the award are as follows:
1- Copy and display the picture of the award given to you;
2- Link back to the blog that nominated you;
3- Nominate 10 different blogs yourself;
4- Inform the people you nominated, so they can in turn, continue the chain and spread the word about other great blogs out there.

I get about 100 blog posts a day to my reader. Sometimes I scan through them all, sometimes I only read the ones that have a title that interests me, but there are some that I never miss. This is a few of those in no particular order. I wish I had time to elaborate on all of them, but trust me, they are all worth a visit.

1. Bright Ideas Blog- a fantastic "library blog" sharing resources that can be used across all curriculums.

2. EDge 21- Mr. Bolito shares his "Catch of the Day" and they are always good ones. Lots of math stuff here too.

3. Bits and Pieces Place- Every single time I visit this blog I have to bookmark something. I never miss a post! I even have lots of them saved in my reader to read again later.

4. Notes from McTeach- Always lots of good ideas and tons of links! Great examples straight from the middle school classroom also.

5. Bits and Bytes- This blog is amazing. Ann is so knowledgeable about everything Web 2.0 and shares it here. She is also super supportive of all of her fellow bloggers.

6. A Geeky Momma's Blog- I know that a lot of people look to Lee for guidance in the Web 2.0 world. She was one of the first blogs that I started following and I still enjoy reading her posts.

7. Ozge Karaoglu's Blog- I could go on and on about the resources here. Everyone in education needs to be subscribed to Ozge's blog. I wonder if she ever sleeps!

8. Passport Academy- I love, love, love this blog. This a homeschooling mom who does such great activities with her children (students). She shares these fantastic ideas and resources and we can take them straight to our classrooms.

9. The Pursuit of Technology Integration Happiness- Mr. Zimmer's blog is one that I never miss. I have never read a post that I didn't come away with a new resource or idea.

10. Integrating Technology in the Primary Classroom- I love the ideas and resources that Kathleen shares in her blog. This blog has fantastic resources to use in the elementary school classroom.

It was very hard to choose ten myself because there are so many! Thanks to all of you hard working bloggers who share your knowledge with all of us every day.

Making Standardized Testing Fun (for one day at least)

Well, as we all know, testing is becoming a part of life. It is inevitable (for now), so why not make it at least a little fun for the kids? The week before the tests, stress and anxiety could be seen on the faces of all the teachers in the building (and the kids too because of that). For the first time, our school decided to do a TCAP pep rally to try to alleviate a little bit of that stress. All teachers and students in our building dressed up as rock stars. Our theme was "Rock the Test".
The kids made signs and posted them throughout our school on the week before the tests. On Friday, all students entered our auditorium to tunes like "We Will Rock You" and "Are You Ready for This?" Some very creative teachers made up cheers and led the students in them. Our music teacher and a "rockin" first grade teacher sang songs with the lyrics adapted to encourage test-taking strategies. We also did a little skit featuring a "hard-working" test taker and a "don't care" test taker. It was so nice to see some excitement and laughter replace all that anxiety. Teachers really put forth a lot of effort to make this enjoyable for the kids and they loved it!

Earth Day 2010

This year, my school is participating in the Earth Day Groceries Project. This is a very simple project especially for elementary school to help raise awareness for Earth Day. We have standardized tests coming up next week, so this is the perfect time for teachers to do something like this in the afternoons to give students a break.
Last week, I went to our local grocery store and asked for donations of paper bags. The manager was hesitant to give me enough for all 560 kids, but he did donate about 100. I decided to use the bags for one grade level (fifth) and improvise for K-4.  The other grade levels are going to create a flyer or bookmark to be inserted into the paper bags.  On Wednesday, I am going to return the bags to our grocery store and the manager has agreed to distribute these to patrons in lieu of plastic bags on Thursday in honor of Earth Day.  I gave the teachers a description of the project and printed off a few examples from the website to help get the kids thinking.
I'm anxious to see how the students do on the bags. Pictures coming soon!

Teacher's Clubhouse

Usually if I am looking for a teaching site or resource, I search the web and only visit sites that offer free materials. Teacher's Clubhouse is my one exception to that rule. The resources created and sold here by two elementary school teachers are well worth the average $0.99 per activity. I call it my iTunes for education. These are not just worksheets. These are colorful interactive activities. In the fall, I purchased the non-fiction text features activity.





I paid a total of $1.98 for the whole activity which included nine signs and 20 cards.

All subjects are represented and the site is very easy to navigate. Every activity is available for instant download. The teachers that I have shared this with love it and always go back for more!

Apps for Early Elementary

As promised, here is a list of some of the apps that my PreK teacher uses on her iPod Touches in her classroom:

ABC Tracer Lite-Free
Bathtub Letters
Build-a-Word$1.99
Cute Math-$1.99
Doodle Buddy-$.99
First Words-$1.99
Fruits and Veggies-$1.99
Giraffe's Matching Zoo-Free
Giraffe's Preschool Playground-$.99
Grover's Preschool
Meet the Vowels-Free
Meet the Uppercase Letters-$.99
Meet the Lowercase Letters-$.99
Meet the Shapes-$.99
Monkey Preschool Lunchbox-$.99
iPlay 'n Learn-Free
Phonics Free-ABC & Words-Free
Shape Builder-$.99
Toddler Pad-$.99
Wood Puzzle-$.99
Write My Name-$.99
123 Animals Counting Lite-Free
Preschool Pattern Recognition-$.99

I also found the ikids Blog which has fantastic lists and reviews on early elementary apps.

iPod Touches in our Pre-K Classroom

We have a very tech savvy pre-k teacher, Amanda Stiles, who is implementing iPod touches in her classroom this year. I am amazed by what these kids can do and can't wait to see how it affects their Kindergarten year. Her progress with these has encouraged the IT department to consider putting them in the hands of more students at our school. I truly hope that we can.
This is a Quicktime video.

Teach Like a Champion

I read an excellent article this morning that had been recommended on Twitter by @thecleversheep. I had never heard of Doug Lemov or of Uncommon Schools. His ideas, though, I think are really important to explore especially when we are about to experience a huge shift in education with Race to the Top. My state, Tennessee, was named as a finalist yesterday for RTTT funds. This is no surprise. We have been projected from the beginning to be one of the states that will ultimately receive the funds. All teachers in my county are now up in arms thinking immediately that their jobs are on the line. I have watched the progression of this and have slowly tried to develop an opinion on how things are headed. I'm not one to jump on bandwagons one way or the other. The painful truth is that there are teachers who don't really perform up to par. Do I think the answer is to fire each and every one of them? Absolutely not!

I do believe that some people are just born to be teachers. They seem to have an innate ability to teach and lead a class. I do not believe, however, that it is realistic to think that those are the only people who are going to enter the teaching profession and come to work in my school. Doug Lemov believes that we have to improve upon what we have. I agree 100%. I think that we can take many if not most of the teachers that we currently have in the profession and tap into whatever inspired them to become a teacher in the first place. We need good administration in place to identify the needs of those teacher and then offer training to them based on their needs.

Mr. Lemov's book Teach Like a Champion outlines 49 Techniques for teachers to improve performance in the classroom. The Amazon.com description is as follows:

Easy-to-apply ideas for becoming an outstanding teacher

How to Teach Like a Champion is filled with proven teaching techniques that are designed to help teachers, especially those in their first few years, become champions in the classroom. These powerful techniques are concrete, specific, and are easy to put into action the very next day. Includes techniques and tips in the following areas

* Setting high academic and behavioral expectations
* Structuring and delivering excellent lessons
* Engaging students in your lessons
* Creating a strong classroom culture
* Building character and trust
* Improving the pace of your classroom
* Helping students improve their reading skills

You can also view short videos of a few of the techniques here and here. For some of us, this comes naturally. But for some, I think these small instructions can help change a classroom. The book has not yet been released but I can promise you that when it does, I'll be one of the first in line to buy it.