Let’s start by clearing up a misconception: Rigor isn’t unfriendly. Adding it to your class doesn’t mean you become boring, a techie, or overseer of a fun-free zone. In fact, done right, rigor fills your class with Wow, those epiphanies that bring a smile to student faces and a sense of well-being to their school day. Rigor provides positive experiences, is an emotional high, and engenders a pervasive sense of accomplishment students will carry for years–and use as a template for future events.

It is NOT:

• lots of homework
• lots of projects
• lots of resources
• lots of rules

When those are used to define rigor, the teacher is flailing–thinking quantity is quality. Rigor is not about adding a column of data or remembering the main characters in a Shakespeare novel. It’s seeing how that knowledge connects to life, to circumstances and to daily problems.

Simply put, adding rigor creates an environment where students are:

• expected to learn at high levels
• supported so they can learn at high levels
• cheered on as they demonstrate learning at high levels

It helps students understand how to live life using brain power as the engine. Sure, it will ask them to collect evidence and draw conclusions that may find disagreement among their peers. It will insist they defend a position or adjust it to reflect new information. And it will often move them outside their comfort zone. It will also prepare them to solve the problems they will face in the future.

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Tell me if this sounds familiar:

With the 2023 New Year, you resolved to build your Professional Learning Network–finally, to stop living in the 20th century where your world revolved around a sticks-and-bricks building, a landline phone, and the mailbox. You joined all the big social media platforms (X, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogging–just for starters). The plan was to learn from the movers and shakers in education, have them as a resource when you needed help on a lesson plan or to select the perfect webtool for a project. You committed hours to it, and then days, eager to make this work because everyone you know talks about how much they learn from social media. Now, six months into it, you know too much about your followers’ lunch plans and almost nothing about their educational pedagogy. You’re frustrated, angry, and ready to give this whole failed effort up.

Without knowing anything about you other than that paragraph above, I’m going to predict that you became overwhelmed by the volume of information that flooded your inbox every day. The purpose of a social media-based PLN is to extend your reach beyond the narrow confines of the bubble you live in, not lose everything important in constant noise.

Before you unplug, try these seven steps to clean up the clutter, smooth out the wrinkles, and put you back in the driver’s seat of your online life:

Keep your stream pure

Only accept friends in your professional area of interest. This is less like a speed-dating party and more like a job application. When you come across a promising educator, visit their social media, pass judgment on whether they fit your needs, and then make a decision.

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I used to be pretty good at accounting because I was a whiz with spreadsheets and data analysis. That changed when accounting began relying heavily on technology. Well, to be honest, traditional accounting–financial analysis, auditing, and tax knowledge–might still revolve around my sweet spots, but the rest, I now hire skilled professionals.

And I’m not the only one who realizes the importance of tech skills in accounting has changed. One of our Ask a Tech Teacher members has a great article outlining the tech skills you’ll want to look at if you’re interesting in pursuing an accounting career after high school:

7 Highly Useful Tech Skills to Develop if You’re Aiming for a Career in Accounting

In the digital era, the accounting industry has tightened its embrace of technology, transforming traditional roles into tech-oriented ones. Undeniably, tech skills have become just as essential as understanding debit and credit for accountants as computers become necessary for work. 

These technological competencies allow accountants to streamline their work, provide more in-depth analysis, and enhance decision-making processes. Whether you’re just stepping into the world of accounting or aspiring to advance your career, sharpening your tech skills will unlock new opportunities and make you a much sought-after professional in this industry.

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Here are eight online resources for quick animations. For updates on this list, click here:

1. Animate with Krita–free Photoshop-like program for animation (see video below)
2. Animation and 3D Templates from MS
3. Brush Ninja–free and no registration required
4. ChatterPix–make anything talk
5. Draw and Tell–for K-2
6. PowerPoint–a video showing how to create animations in PowerPoint
7. Puppet Pals HD (free app)–Create your own unique shows with animation and audio in real time
8. Wick Editor–free, open source, to create games, animations, and more

If you’re not familiar with creating animations, here’s a longish video on using one popular program:

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I have written in the past about parent questions concerning technology in education, but always from the perspective of a teacher at the classroom. Now, I  teach grad school classes online to practicing teachers and want to see if those questions are the same.

So I asked my grad school students: What questions do parents ask you about technology and education? Here are the top issues:

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America, we love you on Patriot’s Day (formerly 9/11).

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvsN0Id4LEg?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&wmode=transparent]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwcWVs4Eejg?si=nfBd6Unur6CmgiUH&start=35]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wucTW_Y5hgU?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&wmode=transparent]

If you aren’t familiar with this terrorist attack, here’s a 2-minute overview:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uOn7xLYPbc?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&wmode=transparent]

Here’s a short list of good ESL and ELL resources. For updates, click here:

1. Digital Storytelling for Language and Culture Learning (PDF) – National Writing Project
   http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/download/nwp_file/12189/Judith_Rance-Roney_Digital_Storytelling.pdf?x-r=pcfile_d
2. L2 Digital Storytelling
3. MCC ESL Digital Stories
4. Teaching English – Digital Storytelling
   http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/özge-karaoğlu/digital-storytelling
5. Web English Teacher – Digital Storytelling
   http://www.webenglishteacher.com/ds.html

ESL

1. English Tools--digital tools to assist learning English as a second language
2. Resource Guide for ESL
3. SuperProf–private ESL online tutoring
4. The TEFL Academy–course provider for those looking to teach English as a second language!

–image credit Deposit Photos

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Go ahead–check it out!

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Learning to code is akin to receiving the key to a world of opportunities. It’s not about zeros and ones, or math and science. It’s about solving problems kids didn’t think they could, in creative ways that feel good. It gives students the power to shape a world they’re becoming part of, for many the key to a brighter future than their current one.

The Ask a Tech Teacher crew has come up with a foundational list of tips for teaching coding. Read them. Share in comments what your secret techniques are:

6 Tips for Teaching Kids Coding

If you were around when the internet first came out, you may have seen how coding was a career for specialized professionals. These professionals needed to get a specialized degree, and they gained experience through building software. But today, coding has become more accessible, and everything online was made through coding, and today’s employers are looking for employees who can code. If you are preparing to teach kids how to code, there are a few things you should know.

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I am a lifelong learner. I find great joy in discovering something new and connecting it to what I know. This is made easier because I received a good foundation in my school years in how to learn. The Ask a Tech Teacher crew has ideas on those skills that will not only serve you well in your academics but beyond:

4 Highly Important Study Skills to Develop During College and Beyond

We spend a lifetime learning, so it makes sense to develop a few study skills that will make our lives easier. Plus, some of these skills will help you have a successful career and even stay ahead.

Today, we’ll talk about 4 of these highly important skills and how to achieve them while you’re still in college. 

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