relax |riˈlaks|verbmake or become less tense or anxious

JULY 2011 ISSUE

Summer is the perfect time to REST, RELAX, and RECHARGEYour grades have been submitted, your room is packed, it’s time to prep for the coming year!

Yes, I know what you are thinking, but seriously, you will need to prep for the coming year, and sooner is better than the week or even night before the first day. This guide will help you organize your thoughts, improve your health, and help to alleviate some of the stress involved when setting up the classroom for the coming school year.

Remember to take some time for you. All of those after hours “parties” spent grading and lesson planning will be on brief hiatus. Know that sleeping in is both encouraged and accepted. Pamper yourself. You deserve it.

Contents: Healthy Habits Start Now 2Generation D Membership 2Tech Overload? 3Your Inner Child 3MITM 4

10 tips to help you get the

most out of your Summer Break!SUM

MER

recharge|rēˈ ch ärj| verb

return to a normal state of mind or strength after a period of physical or mental exertion

rest|rest|verbcease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself or recover strength

Avoid the urge to spend if you can. One of the pitfalls that many encounter is shopping just for entertainment. A casual jaunt to the mall could end up impacting the wallet, and if you add that up over 60+ days off, it can create a negative financial impact.

Take the opportunity to reconnect with some friends, colleagues, or classmates. Using social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter can make event planning simple and more efficient. You might also want to take the same opportunity to increase the membership in your PLN (Personal Learning Network) while you are it.

Take the summer to rediscover what you love about being a classroom teacher and then cultivate that. This is your time, to rest, relax, and recharge. Remember that and use your time off to its fullest potential.

10 Summer Survival Tips on p. 2-3We've made our list and checked it twice. Now it's your turn.

By the Numbers:

Make this your personal checklist for summer:

1. Revisit Your FaithRegretfully, many of us push our faiths to the back burner when we get too busy. Actions become habits with repetition. Start those good habits now while you have the time.

2. Alone Bad, PLN GoodDevelop a Personal Learning Network. This can be as simple as starting a Facebook group for like-minded individuals or as complex as

developing a collaborative Grouply site.

3. Watch More MoviesSnag Learning, Mubi, and FreeDocumentaryTV are great sites to start adding to your digital movie repertoire. You might even find something worth using in class.

4. Meet With Colleagues

Attend a conference like ISTE or simply reconnect with former coworkers during professional development opportunities.

5. Play Video GamesGames are NOT just for kids. You might be surprised at some of the content you find. It can range from action-adventure to romance and everything in between.

Healthy Habits Start NowOne of my colleagues willingly admits to losing at least 15 pounds during the summer

months because she no longer feels the need to stress eat. Unfortunately, many of us resort to eating when not hungry during the school year as a coping mechanism. Summer is an excellent time to break that bad habit. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention maintains that it’s important to create opportunities for physical exercise at home and in the workplace. That being said, it’s important to note that you are never too old or too unfit to begin a healthy exercise practice. As always, consult your physician before trying something new.

Yoga is one example of an exercise regimen that you could begin. You could choose to practice alone, with members from your PLN, with your friends, or with colleagues. If you start the practice with a group, you are less likely to find excuses why you shouldn’t participate. Some of the health benefits of yoga include increased flexibility, a decrease in stress levels, improved concentration and memory, and an increase in upper body strength, just to name a few. If yoga isn’t for you, consider visiting your local gym. Many offer personal trainer services, and some even have teacher discounts. International Association of Yoga Therapists: "Health Benefits of Yoga."

American Council on Exercise: "ACE Yoga Study."

Sarley, D. and Sarley, I. The Essentials of Yoga, The Omega Institute and Dell Publishing, 1999

Join Generation DIt’s like an alphabet soup of nomenclature. One minute we’re Generation X, then we shift to

Generation Y, and now Generation D? Yes, Generation D. The D stands for “digital.” Whether you are age 1 or 101, if you use any tech whatsoever you can classify yourself as Generation D. That almost makes you sound a bit hipper than you were before. Want to know how to maintain that status? Read on.

Do at least one tech-related thing daily. Just by reading this, you’ve accomplished one of your daily goals. Why stop there?

Visit websites, read teacher blogs, and join Twitter. Now is a GREAT time to enhance or create your PLN (Personal Learning Network). There are a variety of tools out there to assist you with this. In the second suggestion in the orange sidebar above, we offer a couple of suggestions, but feel free to find an alternative that would work for you. If you start with Twitter, try searching for hashtags- the indicators that are used to mark key words or topics in a Tweet. Some popular hashtags to search for are #edtech, #mlearning, and #elearning. iPad apps like Flipboard allow you to access your Twitter, Facebook, and Google Reader accounts in a magazine type format. You can also subscribe to Twitter hashtag feeds within that same app. Also, check out this Twitter Guidebook for Teachers to see ways that you can take Tweeting to a new level.

Vacation DestinationLearn to look at your surroundings in a different light. Make it meaningful for you and think about how the new experience makes you feel. Try to capture those feelings: journal them, blog them, and think of ways to bring that sense of wonder and excitement into your classroom next fall.

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6. Write a GrantMany grant opportunities don’t follow regular classroom schedules. Several grants can take up to 6 months from start to finish to award and distribute funds. It’s never too early to think about what you might need in terms of supplies. One opportunity is We Are Teachers.

7. E Pluribus, Read OneRead for fun, read for entertainment. It’s just important that you read. If you are anything like us, you have an ongoing list of books that have been recommended to you. Extra credit if you made them on an electronic list instead of a paper one that was eaten by your laptop bag or packed in a box marked “miscellaneous classroom stuff.”

8. Make A WikiCreate your own space to store cool websites or great lesson plan ideas that you might want to use. If you find just one a day, think of the great resource you will create. Wikispaces offers free accounts for teachers, and it’s user-friendly.

9. Go To The BeachCrashing waves, seagulls flying overhead, the smell of seawater, cooking food on the grill. Why are you still reading this? Pack up the car and GO! If the beach isn’t your thing, then try for the exhilarating thrills of a roller coaster ride, or even a trip to the zoo or museum. You get the point. Get out of the house!

10. Try Something NewEven if you don’t think that you will like it. You might be surprised and actually like it. The summer won’t seem as wasted if you make an effort to maximize its potential.

Tech Overload?To iPad, or not to iPad. It can seem like

there are so many decisions to make in regards to which device would be perfect for both your professional side and your personal side. Take the time to read the benefits and drawbacks of all devices that you are considering. Speak with salespeople before you buy. If they offer online chat services, try those first, as they lend themselves better to low-pressure sales. I cannot stress enough: ASK QUESTIONS!

Sometimes it’s just as simple as powering down all of your devices. One helpful tip is to NOT check your email first thing when you wake up. When you do that, it’s easy to become distracted and jump from your email, and any links included therein, to Facebook, Twitter, and other sites you normally have on online presence at. Set yourself a time to do all of that after you’ve had that first cup of tea or coffee.

Stress from your devices ≠ relaxation. If it causes you too much stress, put it down and move on to something else on your list of meaningful tasks.

Rediscover Your Inner ChildRemember that person? The one who

teased their younger siblings with earthworms. The insanely happy person who never wore shoes because barefoot was stylin’. The one who screamed in the face of bedtime. Yeah, you remember. Bring that person out o play a bit.

If you have kids, stay up late and play video games with them. Repeat after me: “It’s OK to play video games.” There, now you’ve said it, and the world did not come to an end. Now, here’s a thought: why not make your own video game. Scratch from MIT allows you to do just that. You can create your own game there, or on sites like Roblox. Think about tasks that you could have your students complete and create a quest-type game in either platform. It’s important to have fun with these. Don’t let them stress you out. Use the community at each site as a sounding board. There are plenty of school-aged (as well as your-aged) people there who will be willing to test out your game for you.

Read comic books, or even make your own using a few photos and some great apps like Comic Life, Half-Tone, or Cartoonatic. Think about how you could not only have fun during your time off with these apps, but also how they could add that Zing! Bang! Boom! to your classroom activities.

Inspire Us!That’s the extent of our recruitment drive.

We need you, pure and simple. Our community will continue to change and grow with each lesson plan submission. Consider joining us and sharing your content knowledge and love of all things tech-related.

Our mission is to inspire and be inspired, and we’d like you to be a part of that. Visit Educator Studio today online, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

Location³: Liberate your library. E-books make it easier to take several interesting books with you on the go.

Content provided by:Rena Hanaway, Joe Huber, Susan

Jacobs, Diane Johnson, Kathy Kellen,

Arlene Martinez, Keith Paulk, and

Cindy Tehan

Intelligences Defined:Bodily-KinestheticCharacteristics:

Hands-on LearnersWill Draw and Doodle While

Listening/Talking To OthersChew Gum while studyingMove Fingers Under Words While

ReadingCreate Role-play and SkitsCreate ListsWork Standing, Walking, or

ExercisingEnjoy SportsOften Express Themselves Through

Dance

Possible CareersCraftspersons, Surgeons, Scientists, Athletes, Dancers, Actors, Mechanics, EMT, Police Officer, Fire Fighter, Postal Carrier, Artist

ReferencesEngaging the intelligences. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://literacyworks.org/mi/practice/engage-bodymovement.html

Gardner, H. (1999). Intelligences reframed: multiple intelligences for the 21st century. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Multiple Intelligence Of The Month

Sit Down = NOT Cool How many of you have those students in

class who prefer to stand, or won’t sit still even if you ask them to? What about those students who doodle or play games on their iPod while you are trying to talk. Frustrating, right? Does your school have strict rules about gum chewing in class and serious repercussions for offenders? Be honest, what’s your first reaction in situations like this? Do you resort to disciplinary action? Do you

disrupt your class, demanding the restoration of order? Hopefully you answered a resounding negative and preferred to deal with the

situation with an air of understanding. For many students, the seemingly simple act of sitting still is not possible, while other students need to draw or doodle in order to process new information. These students possess what Howard Gardner would refer to as Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (BK).

Keep this thought in the back of your mind: That BK learner may grow up to be your surgeon one day.

Rules for EngagementSo, now you’ve identified that you have

BK students in your class, and you realize that even though they are doodling, they are listening and paying attention. However the underlying question remains as to how to maintain their attention spans.

These are the students who would make excellent helpers in your classroom. Give them the opportunity to help you set up an activity or to move around the room and assist other students as they complete their tasks.

By all means allow them to draw or doodle, but if that becomes too much of a distraction for you allow, invite them to play

with an object that can’t be repurposed as a noise maker, button pusher, or other irritant.

The Best PartThe MI theory is not one of those

programs that seeks to tell teachers what they should do. It is more of an information provider that allows teachers to teach what they want to teach in the way they want to teach it. So, whether you pride yourself on innovational or traditional methods in the classroom, MI can work for you.

FYIGardner suggests several ways to

educate yourself and “probe deeper” into addressing and understanding multiple intelligences in your classroom. Some of these suggestions include:

1. Learn More. Information about MI is available on the web and in print form. Some great online resources include Education.com, Tapping Into Multiple Intelligences, and Multiple Intelligences for Adult Literacy and Education.

2. Form a Social Group. This could be an add-on to your already-existing PLN, or a separate group. The best part is that you get to choose how you learn and with whom that learning occurs.

3. Professional Development. Project Zero offers the Educating for Today and Tomorrow Conference in November of each year. You could plan to attend individually or with members of your PLN. Make sure to Tweet, blog, and send status updates to your network members who aren’t able to attend.

MITM: B-K

Inspire and Be Inspired

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