#WeirdEd Week 52- Being Yourself Redux

The #WeirdEd Anniversary Band

This week is week 52 of #WeirdEd! Some say they can't believe it lasted this long. Some don't know why it lasted this long. Some still don't know it exists. We hate them the most.

We have had some excellent, important, serious, ridiculous conversations over the last year. I thought about doing a Look Back/Reflection #WeirdEd and we still might at some point but I thought it would be fun instead to go back to the very first #WeirdEd. We've branched into two chats and the number of Weird Teachers who come play has exploded. So here's the very first blog post, I'll be running the same questions with little to no editing (depending on how my ego can take looking back at something I wrote a week ago).

We're going to be talking about how you're yourself in your classroom. Being a Weird Teacher doesn't and has never meant teaching Like Me. That's what THE Teaching Text (You're Welcome) is for.

Look forward to seeing you. Please speak up if you're celebrating your one year with us. I think a few people have been on the ride the whole time.

So Many Updates! OR CUE, A Book, and Dancing

I like to write posts that are specific to one thing but in this case I have three things I want to hit all at once.

FIRST- CUE Blog Editor

CUE is looking for a new editor for their blog and I made the short-list of candidates to take the helm this summer. They have decided to let me and two other people guest edit the blog for a month, then they'll choose based on those posts, how easy we are to work with (I assume), and how handsome we are (I hope).

I have two posts up so far. One by me, Teachers Vs Technology, a look at how the computer savvy amongst us should help the less so, and one by the talented Jessica Lifshitz called What We Want For Ourselves We Should Want For Our Students, which is about student empowerment.

I'm proud of the work I've posted so far and I'd appreciate you reading, commenting, and sharing them. Getting a side job editing an education blog is one of those things that I'd love to be able to do. Someone paying me to write has been a fantasy for forever.

SECOND- THE Teaching Text (You're Welcome)

Speaking of being paid to write, did you know I've got a new book out? I do. It's called THE Teaching Text (You're Welcome) and it's a satirical look at the teaching books we all know and love-hate. It's everywhere books are sold online (amazon, iTunes, Nook, etc) and those links are up to the side on this blog. You can get it in paperback for $5.99 and as an ebook for the bargain price of $0.99. It's not terribly long so I priced it to move and priced it for broke teachers. If you do pick up THE Teaching Text (You're Welcome) I'd appreciate a review on amazon, goodreads, iTunes, or wherever. Those stars help. Tell your friends.

THIRD- Thiller in PE

So many thanks to everyone who helped me over Spring Break find a dance unit for my students to do in PE. I'd been dying to teach dance but had no idea where to begin looking. I threw the question to twitter and got a million responses. I looked at them and went with this tutorial on a version of Thriller posted by Deep Creek Elementary. Ever wanted to watch me do the Thriller dance? Now you can.

#WeirdEd Week 51- Bullying

**Ed. Note: #WeirdEdE moderator Shawna Briseno (@nolagirlfromtx) wrote both this blog and the questions for this week's chat. This topic is very close to the heart of everyone at #WeirdEd and I'm thrilled Shawna felt so passionately about it she pursued making it a topic.**

by Shawna Briseno

It’s time to talk about the “B” word. It seems as if it’s always in the news but whatever we’re doing isn't working because it’s still a gigantic problem. Kids are still being bullied for any number of reasons.  

Sometimes those kids who are being bullied do very bad things. Like this:

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/tarrant-county/2015/03/23/northwest-isd-school-violent-graphic-threat-story-protest/70327006/

Or this:

http://www.bigcountryhomepage.com/story/d/story/social-media-post-prompts-big-country-school-to-ta/13209/3OZuadJ7_EikhVyaL16bDw#.VR3pQdGSijs.facebook

Sometimes they go even farther. We've all heard the stories of kids who commit suicide because the bullying is just too bad. And it’s still happening.

Social media can exacerbate the problem. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook...you name it and kids have used it to spread maliciousness. Oh, and just in case you haven’t heard, there’s now an app for that:

http://www.popsugar.com/moms/Burnbook-App-37160354#photo-37160354

Why, in anyone’s mind, is this possibly a good idea? What responsibility do adults, especially teachers, have to step in when a line is crossed?

So yes, we’re going to talk about bullying. We’re going to decide for ourselves just what bullying is. We’ll talk about how bad it can get and what we can & should do to stop it.  

#WeirdEd Week 50- Doug Robertson

**This is 100% in character from THE Teaching Text (You're Welcome). That means it's satirical.**

Let's face it- I'm pretty awesome. I think this is generally accepted as fact. If you disagree with that statement then the rest of us have one question for you- "Shut up, it's true."

With that established all you really need to know about the chat this week is that we'll be worshiping at the alter of me. All you need to do is make sure you bring all the teachers in your building who are not currently on social media to twitter by Weds at 7est or Weds at 7pst. Remember, if your colleagues are not on social media they aren't really trying.

For the rest of this blog let's look at pictures of me.

Hmmm, I'm thinking about your question

Excuse me, this breeze is to die for

Say what?

Oh, I know what you want

Are you wanting what I think you're saying?

You're welcome in advance

This?

Thiiiiiis?

*steam noise*

Phantom of the Opera Selfie proves I'm cultured

THE Teaching Text (You're Welcome)

You are so happy that I'm announcing the release my next book- THE Teaching Text (You're Welcome)! 

THE Teaching Text (You're Welcome) is everything you ever wanted in a book about education. Every topic, subject, theme, and musing about education that a teacher could have is covered in this brilliant piece of work. *

What more can I say about THE Teaching Text (You're Welcome) except go buy it! Now! From one of these many fine retailers.

amazon.com (paperback and kindle)
Barnes and Noble (Nook)
Createspace (paperback)
Smashwords (kindle)

Still not convinced? You foolish, foolish person. Here, this commercial will sway you.



*totally satirical. All of it

#AussieED- Empathy

Really me, my sister and my dad really dressed up to
really go to a Star Trek convention

Empathy is the most important tool in a teacher's bag of tricks. It's more important than tech know-how, more important than pedagogy, more important that recess duty. Empathy is the core of what makes a great teacher great because empathy means you are trying to reach your kids. You're not talking at them, you're not teaching to them, you're reaching them.

Tonight I want to talk about empathy. Where it comes from, how we build it, and why we should have it. If you've never done one of my chats here's something you should know about me- I encourage side conversations, silliness, and irreverence. There is learning in silliness. The opposite of Funny is not Serious. The opposite of Funny is Not Funny.*

What that means is I want you to loosen up and be honest. Trust me, trust your fellow teachers. Have fun. My questions are (hopefully) layered in a way that encourages you to answer them deeply while still having a good time.

Empathy is a rich vein and I want to mine it as much as we can in the hour we have together. Let us see if we can figure out what we know about empathy and how best we can wield it in the classroom.

*stole this from Neil Gaiman talking about Terry Pratchett. Watch it. Cry a little if you're like me and Terry Pratchett meant a lot to you.  Then read everything they both ever wrote.

My #AussieEd pre-chat interview with Brett Salakas (special guest Weirdling Number One)



My #AussieEdcast podcasts pt 1 and pt 2

#WeirdEd Week 49- Phrasing

I've wanted to write an Innuendo Chat for a while. Looks like this week is the week.

Kids say unintentionally funny stuff all the time. They misspell things that end up spelling other much funnier things all the time. I've said, "Uh, country has an o and an r in it. Go fix it. Please. Now."

I'm not grown up enough to deal with this. Neither are you.

Fair warning, this is going to be full of dirty-without-being-openly-dirty jokes. Because this stuff makes me giggle. And the kids make us giggle. And it's funny.

Easy test. If you laugh at the below gif you'll be fine. If you don't, see you next week.