My Summer Discoveries that You Must Know About!

I had a summer filled with learning and thinking. I was lucky to connect with so many people and each time I left to go to a conference, etc. I had great intentions of blogging each event. However, time got away from me and those good intentions never turned into blog posts. But I discovered so many things that I want everyone else to know about that I need to share them. So here, in no particular order, are some of my favorite summer discoveries that I think are worth sharing!

An App

And do you know about Flipgrid. I was lucky enough to hear Sara Kajder speak twice this summer and both times she shared the amazing things students were doing with Flipgrid.  Definitely an app I'll be checking out this year!

A Podcast

If you do not regularly listen to the Voices from  the Middle podcasts, I would start now.  In the latest episode, middle school ELA teachers talk to amazing author, Jason Reynolds. Once you listen to this one, you'll probably want to go back and listen to all of the episodes but this one is definitely a current favorite for me!

A Voice of Wisdom

I learned about Claire Wineland from this recent CNN story. I am inspired by her message and all I have learned from her about life and living and being healthy in the few short weeks since I read this article. I've watched some of her TED Talks and her Zappos talk-lots to learn from Claire, for sure. 

Nerdtalks

I was lucky to attend this year's #Nerdcampmi and I cannot tell you how powerful the opening Nerdtalks were. I captured a few of my favorite words in a recent blog post. 

If you missed the Nerdtalks, Chad Everett and Donalyn Miller published the text of their speeches and I highly recommend reading and rereading both. 

Resources to help think about #weneeddiversebooks

I was lucky to hear Donalyn share her presentation, Books for a Better World. Of course I learned about so many books I didn't know about.  Donalyn was generous to share her slides from the talk on Slideshare. 

The Stenhouse Blogstitute is a favorite annual online event. This year, I especially loved Kathy Short's piece, Teaching Globally to Make a Difference in the World. Her post has several great resources that you'll want to know about if you don't already.

Elizabeth Bird's post, Where Are All the Black Boys: A 2017 Assessment and Comparison is an important read with an embedded booklist.

I discovered The Journey Project (The intersection of research, resources, and outreach to support gender expansive and transgender youth, families, and educator advocates.) recently and think it is a great resource for parents and educators. I needs to spend a bit more time on the site but I am especially interested in The Inclusive Classroom Library Project that is part of this site.

ILA Panel
I attended an amazing panel at ILA in July titled Disrupting a Destructive Cycle: How Literacy Drives Social Change. I was able to hear and learn from Nikole Hannah-Jones (If you don't know her work, you should read as much of it as you can). I learned about Salaam Reads, a new book imprint that we should all know. And Cornelius Minor's opening talk at this panel is one that I keep reflecting on. The live event is archived on ILA's Facebook page so you can watch it there. And then follow all of the panel members on Twitter, etc.

New Blogs to Follow
Classroom Communities is a new blog with an amazing list of contributors --one that focuses on classroom community and relationships. Happy to have this blog in the world!

This Teaching and Coaching Life is a new blog by the amazing Stella Villalba, Always something amazing to learn from Stella! So glad to be able to learn from her through this new blog.

Math

And I was excited to discover the math site, Building Math Minds and to learn that they are hosting this FREE Math Virtual Summit with some amazing speakers.

Jess Keating

I have always been a fan of Jess Keating and her work. This summer she launched a new free magazine called The Curious Creative. Each issue is packed with great stuff so you'll want to subscribe for sure!

And finally, if you have not tried McDonald's ROLO McFlurry, it is a happy treat!  Not sure when this was invented because I just discovered it a few weeks ago but well worth it on a day you need a special treat!

So many great discoveries so far this summer! Enjoy!