Starr Sackstein, MJE, NBCT

Spending time alone to reflect on situations is essential to becoming an effective educator. I need to make more time to do it.

After completing a successful conference and a string of months where everything in my professional life seems to be aligning with the stars, I must force myself to pause and reflect instead of asking my usual, “what now?”

So much of life is spent pushing myself to the next goal, that I often miss the moments to relish in my successes. The older I get, however, the more I recognize the need and importance of taking pride in my accomplishments, and slowing down.

Once thought of as a detriment or weakness, I considered time off or relaxing antithetical to my success. I thrived on high that came from the responsibility and inertia of the pace. Others marveled at my ability to maintain “Starr-speed” – a warp ahead of the Schwartz. Tirelessly, I’d juggle many projects, exhilarated by the satisfaction of completion and the challenge it provoked within me. Read more »

Mixed media sophomores work together in groups to direct, film and create PSAs on journalism ethics.

The light bulb appeared a couple of months ago. A moment that overtook me in the middle of class. It came swiftly and there it was -  my mixed media class would be in control of their final projects. I proclaimed it in class, relinquishing control of my ability to assign a final project effectively giving students complete authority over their own learning.

There were a range of feelings that ensued after I said it aloud: exhilarated, relieved, nervous, panicked, calm again and lastly assured. My mind at ease at the end, realizing how much more the students would get out of a self-designed project experience with the opportunity to explore their own interests and ideas. Granted, I do love coming up with creative things for them to do, but this was perhaps my greatest stroke of genius yet. Read more »

Edmodo is one educational app for students and teachers.

Teachers often complain that they don’t have the resources to effectively use technology in the class; I say all you need fits in your pocket. Despite many school districts having strict electronic policies, it’s foolish to not use what we have.

Each day children sit before us, some not so eagerly, waiting to learn. We ask them to join us on a journey, to trust us and take risks that we claim will benefit them later. Teachers, I’m asking you to do the same here.

Teenagers use smart phones everyday. It’s a part of their everyday life, even if it is not a part of yours. These new phones are powerful tools that can be used to aid in learning. As a matter of fact I’m writing this blog post from my iPhone through my WordPress app.

The first step any teacher new to using a smart phone must do is become acquainted with the various valuable apps that help develop a teacher’s ability to engage students. For example, simple twitter chats equipped with clever hash tags (#) can replace or compliment the usual classroom conversation allowing kids to linger on the ideas long after class ends. Read more »

Google drive offers instant organization from anywhere on any computer… best part, students can’t make excuses.

Getting organized and staying accountable has never been so simple. The Google educational suite is a one stop solution for all of a teacher’s classroom needs: word processing, presentation, organization, spreadsheets, art, video,calendar, mail and websites. In addition to some less traditional features like real time conferencing and feedback. It has eased my day to day load exponentially and it’s free…

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