K-12 Greatest Hits: Your shortcut to what works in education

Most educators agree that education is all about the learning and not the grades. However, the messages we give students and the expectations of parents suggest that grades are indeed the name of the game. How do we change this. Highlights and commentary from the 3/12 Edchat.

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Mark Barnes is a 20-year classroom teacher, education consultant and author of Role Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom (www.markbarnes19.com). Tom Whitby is contributing Editor at SmartBrief, founder of #Edchat,Twitter-Using Educators, and NYSCATE Network. Nancy Blair is a school improvement consultant who frequently worked with the High Schools That Work and Making Middle Grades Work initiatives.

Student bodies have changed in dramatic ways. There are more differences in your classroom than ever, but many of these differences are below the surface. Children of divorced parents, children of single parents, children in blended families, children with LGBT parents, children from homeless families and military families all bring a different set of issues into your classroom. What do you need to know to manage these new classroom dynamics?

Eileen Kugler is author of Innovative Voices in Education: What It Takes to Engage Diverse Communities. Lisa King is co-author of "Today's Families: Who Are We & Why Does it Matter?" (Exchange magazine). Heather Wolpert-Gawron is an award-winning middle school teacher. Peter DeWitt (Ed.D.)a principal in Upstate, NY and is the author of Dignity for All: Safeguarding LGBT Students.

Highlights and commentary from the 2/19 Edchat about Creativity as the new literacy and concerns about what could happen if we try to test for creative competence.

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@tomwhitby @bamradionetwork

Kyle Pace is an Instructional Technology Specialist for the Lee’s Summit School District in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. Tom Whitby is contributing Editor at SmartBrief, founder of #Edchat,Twitter-Using Educators, and NYSCATE Network. Nancy Blair is a school improvement consultant who frequently worked with the High Schools That Work and Making Middle Grades Work initiatives.

Highlights and commentary from the 2/12 Edchat about the tension between the kind of professional development teachers want and what teachers need to know.

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@tomwhitby@bamradionetwork

Aaryn Schmuhl is the Assistant Superintendent for Learning and Leadership Services in Henry County, Georgia. Jerry Swiatek is a District Technology Specialist for the Citrus County School District in Florida and founder/ organizer of EdCamp Citrus. Tom Whitby is contributing Editor at SmartBrief, founder of #Edchat,Twitter-Using Educators, and NYSCATE Network. Nancy Blair is a school

Educon is all about putting big thinkers in a small place and turning them loose to tackle education's biggest issues. In this segment Edchat's hosts bring you highlights of the big ideas from this year's event.

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@tomwhitby @bamradionetwork

Tom Whitby is contributing Editor at SmartBrief, founder of #Edchat,Twitter-Using Educators, and NYSCATE Network. Nancy Blair is a school improvement consultant who frequently worked with the High Schools That Work and Making Middle Grades Work initiatives.

The rate at which new education technologies are being developed and diffused is accelerating at a mind-numbing pace. How can teachers, especially matures teachers who are not digital natives, discern what technologies they need to embrace and master.

Neil Charness, author of Designing Telehealth for an Aging Population: A Human Factors Perspective. Dr. Kathy King is a professor of education, and chair of the Department of Adult, Career and Higher Education at the University of South Florida. Maria Knee is an award winning, educator whose kindergarten students use a personal and a classroom blog, twitter and skype. Vicki Davis is a classroom technology teacher and author of Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds.

The debate about homework is heating up again, much of it driven by connected educators through social media. The growing consensus is that the notion of homework has passed its expiration date, but has it? Are you still assigning homework? Should you?

Etta Kralovec, co-author of The End of Homework, is an Associate Professor of Teacher Education, University of Arizona, South. Janine Bempechat is a professor of psychology and human development at Wheelock College in Boston, MA. Josh Stumpenhorst, is an award winning teacher and a junior high Language Arts and Social Science teacher. Brian Nichols is currently the Executive Director of School Leadership for Newport News Public Schools, located in Newport News, Virginia.

Welcome to the 1/22 episode of EdChat Radio. An increasing amount of research and growing numbers of teachers believe it's time to bury homework. So why is it still alive and well?

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@tomwhitby @bamradionetwork

Jerry Blumengarten taught in the NYC public schools for 32 years and serves as an ed-chat monitor. Tom Whitby is contributing Editor at SmartBrief, founder of #Edchat,Twitter-Using Educators, and NYSCATE Network. Nancy Blair is a school improvement consultant who frequently worked with the High Schools That Work and Making Middle Grades Work initiatives.

A new generation of young teachers, combined with more casual trends in dress, has raised some prickly questions about what is appropriate attire for teachers. Teachers with tattoos, piercings and provocative clothing are acceptable to some and strictly off-limits to others. In this segment our guests tackle the issue in what became a surprisingly spirited discussion.

Eve Michaels, author of Dress Code: Ending Fashion Anarchy, believes that Americans suffer from a pandemic of fashion anarchy. Beth Winfrey Freeburg, Ph.D. is Professor and Chair in the Department of Workforce Education and Development at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. David Bloomfield is Professor of Education Leadership, Law, and Policy at Brooklyn College and the City University. Amanda Dykes M.Ed, is a sixth grade teacher who is passionate about technology integration.

Interest in project based learning continues to accelerate. However this approach to teaching has its share of skeptics and detractors. In this segment our guests do a wonderful job of laying out the benefits of Project based learning and dispelling the concerns, doubts and objections. Check it out!

John Larmer is Director of Product Development at the Buck Institute for Education. Nikhil Goyal is a 17-year-old author of One Size Does Not Fit All: A Student's Assessment of School. Lisa Nielsen, author of the book Teaching Generation Text, is a long time public school educator. Nicholas "Nick" Provenzano is a high school English teacher and writes thoughts on education at TheNerdyTeacher.com.