This blog post from Mind/Shift explores today’s dynamic classrooms, where the teaching and learning process is becoming more more seamless, and it flows back and forth from students to teachers. Read about 3 key trends: Collaborative, Tech-Powered, and Blended. Take one idea and try it with your students!

This thought-provoking article, Shifting the Classroom, One Step at a Time, offers ideas to create an inquiry classroom using small steps.  It also suggests resources to support your mindshift and technology ideas to engage you and your students! It's all about knowing how to get started!

There is a variety of research that supports creating brain-compatible learning environments.  One of our favorite resources is John Medina's book, Brain Rules, that offers 12 rules to consider. These are applicable for our personal lives and learning in the classroom.  Try a few with your students!

_Listen to these 2 episodes,  Part 1 and Part 2, as Alan November speaks to Eric Marcos, a middle school teacher in Santa Monica, CA. Eric explains how one individual screencast tutorial made to help a student with homework blossomed into a robust tutorial site called MathTrain TV. Through this site, students have been empowered to create math tutorials for students.  This is a great idea for any classroom to support summarizing the learning. The power is the voice of the students as they provide follow-up and reinforcement to support their peers.

(This podcast may also be accessed through iTunes - November Learning Podcast Series).

_This year's conference begins November 21st with a pre-conference keynote presentation by Angela Maiers.  This is a great opportunity to go to a conference with no travel and hotel expenses! This year's theme is "Purposeful Play". Listen to a "movie trailer" tease to a presentation to hear what's ahead and plan to attend a few sessions online!

Listen to our friend and colleague, Cindy Loehr, and her fourth grade students as they learn about financial literacy.  Cindy received a grant from Great West to teach her students to manage their finances with iPads as they take care of their new class pets. Listen to this podcast that aired on Colorado Public Radio today.  Congratulations to Cindy and her students!

This activity supports NETS Standard 2- Communication and Collaboration
     Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information

_In this podcast, Alan November interviews Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams, chemistry teachers from Woodland Park, Colorado. The discussion focuses on their models of flipped learning where the traditional model of classwork and homework is reversed, leading students to a deeper understanding about the concepts being taught.

(This podcast may also be accessed through iTunes - November Learning Podcast Series).

In this podcast, Alan November interviews Silvia Tolisano, 21st Century Learning Specialist, along with other administrators, teachers and students at Martin J. Gottlieb School. At this school, students are being encouraged to take more of a leadership role in their learning as they
take part in a variety of jobs inspired by Alan November’s article: Students as Contributors.
(This podcast may also be accessed through iTunes - November Learning Podcast Series).
During the month of November, we will be featuring podcasts from November Learning
that offer ideas for students to take an active roles in their learning.

We have been fortunate enough to live Steve Jobs' visionary dreams  . . . He has had a profound influence on our work, our personal lives, and our connections with others. His Standford speech to the graduates in 2005, are words that can continue to deeply influence all of us.  

With so many education stakeholders debating the needs of today’s schools, student voices aren’t always heard when it comes to what they want from their education. This article, Five Things Students say they want from Education is a great follow-up to our previous post about 10 things every student should know.  Make your own list of what you think students need and then ask your students to make theirs as well!