One of the many great ideas that Daniel Pink has shared is having people come up with one sentence that they hope other people will use to describe thems in the future.

He writes about it in his books and in other writings, and I also discuss it in my new book.

Students in two of my classes — one an ESL class and the other a mainstream ninth-grade English class — are doing it now and it’s going well. It’s a short and simple lesson that’s a good reflective exercise for students. I’ll be sharing a video of my ESL students sharing what they came up with and the posters they illustrated. However, even though it’s gotten a mixed response from my double-block ninth-grade class, it’s had a very large impact on a few students who have been experiencing many, many challenges. In fact, after a student collected the posters in that class today, two students stayed after class and insisted that I read theirs right then in front of them. The wanted to explain to me why they wrote what they wrote and how they plan on living up to it in the future. It was very powerful. I’ll share some written examples from that class next week.

Here’s the student hand-out I used: ONE SENTENCE PROJECT (part of it was adapted from the third video in the next part of this post).

Here are the three videos I showed prior to students working on their one-sentence:

Two questions that can change your life from Daniel Pink on Vimeo.

What’s Your Sentence?: The Video from Daniel Pink on Vimeo.

Here’s a video a few of my ESL students made:

Mrs. Jee shares this Animoto slideshow.

Let me know if you have resources to share on One-Sentence Project’s you’ve done with your class.

If you found this post useful, you might want to look at previous “The Best…” lists and also consider subscribing to this blog for free.

I put out a request, as I do every year, to readers to share the best education-related books that they had read over the past year. The books could have been published earlier and the only requirement was that you had read them sometime this year.

You might also be interested in these posts from previous years:

The Best Education-Related Books Visitors To This Blog Read In 2011

The Best Education-Related Books Visitors To This Blog Read In 2010

The Best Education-Related Books Visitors To This Blog Read In 2009

The Best Education-Related Books Visitors To This Blog Read In 2008

Thanks to all of you who took the time to contribute. Even if you didn’t, though, you can still share your recommendations in the comments section of this post.

My personal favorite was The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail — but Some Don’t by Nate Silver. It’s full of insights about the possibilities and, more importantly, the limitations of how data can be used. Much of what he writes can be applied to schools, and I’m looking forward to writing a post about it in the future.

Here are The Best Education-Related Books Visitors To This Blog Read In 2012:

Cathy:

DRIVE by Daniel Pink-speaks volumes to non-educators, educators and definitely administrators!

Jim Homan:

“Why School” by Will Richardson. An ebook for sale on Amazon that takes about 90 minutes to read. One of the most important books of this year.

Leigh Ann:

The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller is the best book I’ve read this year. Her voice jumps from the pages and inspires you to do more. Inspires you to give students the unique opportunity to find what types of literature they enjoy. You can feel the warmth and connections that she has made in her classroom. I don’t know how any teacher who reads this book wouldn’t be compelled to make a change. Love it.

Jeffrey Temple:

Stratosphere by Michael Fullen

Jane Bozarth:

Katz, “Designing Information”. My Amazon review: “Three pages in I wanted to stop and write this review but forced myself to read the rest of the book before writing. My opinion was unchanged. “Designing Information” is a delightful, delectable, informative, visually rich, entertaining exploration of the business of making information more accessible…..”

dogtrax:

I’m choosing Why School? by Will Richardson, too. I think Will does a fantastic job of exploring the changing nature of education and offers up suggestions for how teachers and administrators can take steps to meet the changing needs of today’s students (for tomorrow).

Kurt Reynolds:

Don Tapscott’s “Grown Up Digital.” I reference it nearly every day in class. It gives me great hope for this generation. Check out his excellent TED Talk too. Tapscott uses startling examples and backs them up with research. A great counterpoint to a lot of what comes out denigrating this generation (Mark Bauerlein’s “The Dumbest Generation” or Nicholas Carr’s “The Shallows” or Jeane Twenge’s “The Narcissist Epidemic”). A must read for every teacher entering the profession.

Jonathan Martin:

Net Smart by Howard Rheingold: Hugely informative and wise on the topic about how the thrive online. My review here.

Robert Ryshke:

Creating the Opportunity to Learn by Wade Boykin and Pedro Noguera. This is one of the best books on what we need to do in America to deal with the huge gap in accessibility to quality education in the US.

The Innovator’s DNA by Jeff Dyer and Hal Gregersen was also a wonderful book. It is very interesting to think about how to apply these principles to schools, to help teach our students to be creators or innovators.

Susie Highley:

Fall Down 7 Times, Get up 8: Teaching Kids to Succeed by Debbie Silver. I am so tired of all of the time and effort some educators put into devising elaborate reward systems, which, in my opinion, do little to change behaviors. I reviewed this book for Middle Web. Debbie does a great job of combining current research and practicies in an entertaining manner, filled with many examples. Here’s a link to my review.

Linda Aragoni:

A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives edited by Anderson and Krathwohl moves away from the multiple choice tests that were the focus of the original taxonomy. Since educational objectives are the foundation of the Common Core State Standards, this book is already more influential than the original. The revised taxonomy answers many of the questions teachers raise about how to teach under Common Core.

Bill Sterrett:

I recommend Doug Lemov’s “Teach Like a Champion” book (with accompanying DVD of video teaching clips) as a great illustration of numerous actual teaching tips, strategies, and approaches. Theory is important, but educational leaders need to always prioritize real-life examples, challenges, and solutions.

Carol Gardiner:

21st Century Skills Rethinking How Students Learn edited by James Bellanca & Ron Brandt This book is a culmination of research and expertise written by favorite authors of education. They provide a framework of learning that marries core knowledge and background knowledge with innovation, creative thinking, problem solving and technology.

rhoffman:

“Teach Like A Pirate” by Dave Burgess. The cover tagline reads: “Increase Student Engagement, Boost Your Creativity, and Transform Your Life as an Educator.” This claim holds up! This book will inspire the tenured and new teacher to unleash their passions in the classroom. The book has three parts: 1. The PIRATE (acronym) philosophy and system 2. How to create engaging lessons 3. Final thoughts and guidance. The two things I like most about Dave Burgess’ approach is that he is tells classroom stories I can relate to and I feel challenged by his strategies for creating engaging curriculum.

Matt Renwick:

I have to go with Opening Minds by Peter Johnston. This resource, along with his previous book Choice Words, has helped me change the way I listen and speak with students. Opening Minds is the only book I can think of that I have personally shared with teachers, parents and my wife.

jimlerman:

I really enjoyed “How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character” by Paul Tough. I think Tough argues quite vividly and persuasively that the skills such as “curiosity, self-control, and social fluidity” (ability to get along); skills that today are often called “soft” or “non-cognitive.” The book focuses on the determinants of success or failure among developing children and argues clearly and persuasively, in non-technical plain English, that the current-day educational policy emphasis on cognitive development among young people is seriously off-base. Tough’s book is brief and right on point. I recommend it highly.

Brenda giourmetakis:

Carly’s Voice by Arthur an Carly Fleishmann. While it is not a how to education book, it offers a deep understanding of children with autism who are non verbal. Because I had a student starting at my school with this description, I knew this would give me insights. It has made it’s rounds through my staff and because they have read it, they understand our new little student. They have more compassion and less pity for his situation. I would recommend this book to anyone who feels that autism is a mystery. Carly helps you understand more of the “why’s” behind the actions and reactions of children with autism.

Mary:

I will be using Eleanor Dougherty’s book, “Assignments Matter: Making the connections That Help Students Meet Standards” as a resource for my curriculum class this spring. I believe it is well written and extremely helpful for teachers trying to align standards with assessments.

Ellen Adolph:

Angela Maiers’ Passion Driven Classroom and Habitudes has been very enlightening to my teaching. Another book I’ve recommended to at least 2 dozen folks (parents, neighbors) anyone who is truly interested in education is Tony Wagner’s Global Achievement Gap; it will really get people thinking!

Christian Klaue:

Necessary Endings by Dr. Cloud. Once we find something that works, we don’t just stick with it forever after. We need to keep reevaluating if it is still the best way to go. Carol Dwecks Mindset and Patrick Lencioni’s The Advantage are honourable mentions.

Blair Peterson:

As a parent and educator I love Creating Innovators by Tony Wagner. Wagner profiles real life innovators and their parents and the educators who influenced them. I’m seriously thinking about how our school can do a better job of developing innovators.

Jan Hamilton:

What Teachers Make by Taylor Mali. An inspiration for all teachers and reminder of the power we wield. The perfect book to read before heading back to school.

principalliz:

Pathways to the Common Core : Accelerated Achievement by Lucy Calkins, Mary Ehrenworth, and Christopher Lehman was a very informative and motivational read in preparation for transitioning my staff into common core. It explains how the new standards will work and creates an easy to follow roadmap that helps a CCSS novice navigate through this new transition and movement.

John Berray:

My top read of 2012 for educators is Dave Burgess’ Teach Like a Pirate. Dave shows teachers how to develop energized lessons, the kind that make his classes among the most popular on campus. Teach Like a Pirate offers specific strategies on how to tap into and cultivate the wellspring of creativity educators already possess! This book is an empowering read, transcends disciplines, and is the type of book I wish had been included in my own teacher preparation program.

Joy Kirr:

Classroom Habitudes by Angela Maiers. Kids need to be told that they are geniuses! They need to keep that spunk and assertiveness well into high school, so they can truly show their geniuses as they mature, instead of being ashamed of what they do. Great lessons embedded, and resources any grade can use.

Rachel Amstutz:

Several of my favorites have already been listed here but I have to lend my support to them as well! Creating Innovators is a fantastic read as it tells an important story by spotlighting students and families. Pathways to the Common Core is also a great tool to support our transition. I’m only half way through it, but it’s impacting my work tremendously.

Other favorite that were not yet listed include:
Best practices, 4th edition as it reflects on what we know works and incorporates the new movements/initiatives thoughtfully.

Blackants and Buddhists for proving a concrete example of teaching perspective, tolerance, openmindedness, evaluating for biases, and for its usefulness as a tool for my equity team.

Jennifer Lawler:

Sensible Mathematics, 2nd Ed. by Steve Leinwand. There aren’t a ton of books written about teaching math, or leading the reform that math education needs in this country. Leinwand hits the nail on the head with this book, laying out exactly why and how math class needs to change if we are to realize the promise of the CCSS. His companion work, Accessible Mathematics, geared more towards classroom teachers, is equally as good.

Suzanne Porath:

I would agree with Matt Renwick on Opening Minds by Peter Johnston. This book has influenced my own work in the classroom and also my understanding of my dissertation work. As Johnston says, words create worlds, and each interaction I have with my students creates a particular type of world. Johnston has helped me become more conscious of what worlds I’m creating and be more intentional with my language. I believe that all teachers should read both Choice Words and Opening Minds several times during their careers as with experience and new circumstances, Johnston’s ideas become more relevant.

Suzanne:

I share a strategy a week with our staff from Doug Lemov’s “Teach Like a Champion; 49 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College”

Thanks again to everybody who contributed! Feel free to leave additional recommendations in the comments section.

I’ve recently looked back in the archives of the blog to identify the best posts of each year, and now I’m up to 2012!

The first list in this series, My Best Posts Over The Years — Volume One, focused on the year 2007 and included a fair amount of still-useful material (at least in my opinion).

I’d say the same thing about my review of posts from 2008, which you can find in My Best Posts Over The Years — Volume Two.

Volume Three covered 2009.

Volume Four reviewed 2010.

Volume Five looked at 2011.

And now it’s time for 2012:

I published my fourth book, “The ESL/ELL Teacher’s Survival Guide: Ready-to-Use Strategies, Tools, and Activities for Teaching English Language Learners of All Levels,” (co-authored by Katie Hull Sypnieski). You can see lots of excerpts here.

Here are some of my favorite “The Best…” lists from this year (by the way, the total lists I’ve published reached 1,000 this year):

The Best Sites To Learn About Saul Alinsky

The Best Fun Videos About Books & Reading

The Web 2.0/Social Media Tools I Use Everyday & How I Use Them

The Best Posts & Articles On Building Influence & Creating Change

The Best Posts Questioning If Direct Instruction Is “Clearly Superior”

The Best Resources For Teaching “What If?” History Lessons

My Best Posts On Metacognition

The Best Funny Movie/TV Clips Of Bad Teachers

The Best Resources On The Newly-Released California Educator Excellence Task Force Report (I served on the Task Force)

The Best Resources On The Importance Of Knowing What You Don’t Know

A Sampling Of The Best Tweets With The #SaidNoTeacherEver Hashtag

I’ve published quite a few articles in other publications this year. Here are a few of my favorites:

I’ve enjoyed doing my monthly New York Times column on teaching English Language Learners and my weekly teacher advice column in Education Week Teacher.

My article in ASCD Educational Leadership, Eight Things Skilled Teachers Think, Say, and Do, has been the most popular article on their website for months.

• Helping Students Motivate Themselves (New York Times)
• The Five By Five Approach To Differentiation Success
• Cultivating Student Leadership
• Students Remember More When They Tell Stories
• Getting Organized Around Assets
• Merit Pay and “Loss Aversion” (Washington Post)
• Dancing Guy Doesn’t Teach Good Leadership Lessons
• What to do — and not do — for growing number of English Language Learners

Here is a good post on classroom management:

How To Recover From A Classroom Train Wreck….

And one on education policy:

“Sacramento City Teachers Association declines to participate in Race to the Top “

Here are some on instruction:

“Instead of seeing students as Far Below Basic or Advanced, we see them as learners” (Guest post by Lara Hoekstra)

Have You Ever Had A Student Say “This Is Boring”? Here’s A Lesson On It I’m Trying Out Tomorrow

Series Of Good Dan Pink Videos To Use With Students

“What I Cannot Create, I Do Not Understand”

Ducklings Video Demonstrates Great “Differentiated Instruction”

And here are a few miscellaneous ones:

All My Class Blogs

Eight Ways To Build An Audience For Your Blog

Prof. James Heckman Says Adolescence Is Key Time To Teach (& Learn About) Self-Control & Perseverance

“You Cannot Make A Plant Grow — You Can Provide The Conditions For Growth”

How I’m Helping My Students Try To Avoid The “Summer Slide”

Wow! Voice Of America Dramatically Redesigns & Expands Its Learning English Features

Part Two Of “How I’m Helping My Students Try To Avoid The “Summer Slide””

Daniel Pink Answers Two Questions About Group Incentives

Is This The Most Important Research Study Of 2012? Maybe

Author Daniel Pink has written a lot about “Fed Ex Days” and describes it this way:

One of the best ideas I’ve heard in the last 10 years is the FedEx Day. Created by the Australian software company Atlassian,FedEx Days give people 24 hours to work on whatever they want — so long as it’s not part of their regular jobs and provided that they show what they’ve created to their colleagues when the 24 hours elapse.

Why the name? Because you have to deliver something overnight.

Dan has also written about a version of it in The Genius Hour: How 60 minutes a week can electrify your job.

Several teachers and administrators have picked-up on the idea and have applied it to the school setting.

Of course, having students work on projects of their own choosing is not an entirely new concept — many teachers have done this for years. For example, at the end of the year I have students create a unit using teaching/learning strategies we’ve used and then have them teach part of in small groups. You can see the general plan and access hand-outs here (that particular post relates to their doing an ethnic studies project of their choice, but it can all be adapted easily to any topic they want) and I have a complete lesson plan in my book, Helping Students Motivate Themselves.

You can also find additional related resources at The Best Posts On Helping Students Teach Their Classmates.

But “Fed Ex Days” (by the way, Dan Pink just posted that Fed Ex would like a different name used for the project and the Australian company is seeking suggestions) tend to be a little less structured and more shorter term. I’m going to put some more thought into them over the summer and try it out next year.

I thought I’d put together a few posts and resources developed by educators who have tried Fed Ex Days — either with students or with teachers for professional development. Most of the posts shared here also include downloadable hand-outs.

Please share links to additional resources in the comments section.

Here are my choices for The Best Resources For Applying “Fed Ex Days” To Schools:

DOING IT WITH STUDENTS:

Josh Stumpenhorst wrote about what he called Innovation Day and Dan Pink wrote about it at What your business can learn from a 6th grade classroom.

4th Grade do Innovation Day is by Pernille Ripp. That’s her post from 2011, and here’s her post from 2012 — What Is Innovation Day and Why Should You Care?

#GeniusHour Blog Post Index is by Denise Krebs.

Here’s another version: Inspire Drive, Innovation, and Creativity: The 20% Project in the Classroom.

Here’s a nice video students made to publicize their “Genius Hour” activities:

A Year of Genius Hour – What Have I Learned? is from Dare To Care.

Here’s a project from our class blog that can be easily adapted for any “Fed Ex” type project.

DOING IT WITH TEACHERS:

FedEx Prep: A Reflection is by principal Chris Wejr.

Inspiration delivers is by principal Lyn Hilt.

Fed Ex Day – We Delivered! is by principal Brian Downing.

FedEx Day: Putting Autonomy Back in Professional Learning is from Mr. Wastler’s Office.

Additional suggestions are always welcome.

(Time off to innovate: Good idea or a waste of tech talent? is an article in Computer World that also might be worth a look)

10 Reasons To Try 20% Time In The Classroom is from Edudemic.

Primetime: Putting the conditions for intrinsic motivation into homework in 2nd grade is from The American School of Bombay.

If you found this post useful, you might want to consider subscribing to this blog for free.

You might also want to explore the over 900 other “The Best…” lists I’ve compiled.