The five habits of great students (The Washington Post)

1. Read Early, Read Late, Read Often
2. Write Daily
3. Line Up Your Pencils (Be Prepared)
4. Collaborate With Others
5. Question Your Teachers

"Five habits of great students"  is published by the Washington Post. 

The habits are predictable, but they're still nice to keep in mind.  As a teacher, I should be creating an environment in which my students can develop these habits.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/02/20/five-habits-of-great-students-lessons-from-top-ranked-stem-school/

Building Better Classrooms (NPR)

TED + NPR = love

The last NPR radio hour I listened to was "Building Better Classrooms."  It featured clips from TED talks I'd already watched, but it was still a great program. 

The program is divided into three sections:

1. Sir Ken Robinson: How do schools suffocate creativity?
2. Salman Khan: How can videos "Flip the classroom?"
3. John Hunter: How can 4th graders solve world problems?


You can download the podcast in three parts (Access here)

Or you can go to the following link and listen online: 
http://www.npr.org/2012/06/22/155224654/building-a-better-classroom

I hope you listen.

A few quick cleaning tips from the wide web

It has been quite some time since I last posted and my "favorites" folder has gotten out of control. Organizing that and the resources I've come across are on my list of many things to organize in the next few weeks.

I've been reading a lot of websites which deal with the topic of staying healthy in the classroom. In consolidating the lists, here are the top suggestions:

Clean tables and countertops every day
Don't use the shared pencils
Clean the doorknobs
Get enough sleep
Eat healthy
Exercise

My favorite little tip: unscented baby wipes are far cheaper than the wipes you buy in the cleaning section.

Planning on using hand sanitizer to clean more than hands this year!