Links I Loved Last Week: A Round-up of Online Reading 8/16/15

Jackie Gerstein curates a terrific list of team building activities that would be perfect for the beginning of the school year in Maker classrooms.

Amy Rasmussen reminds us that the most important thing we can do on the first day of school is talk with (not to!) our students.

Beth Shaum wrote a beautiful piece about her new tattoo (which I absolutely love) and the powerful story behind it. I also appreciate the reminder to use social media to be real and share all our dimensions–not just the smiley face ones.

I’m requiring notebooks in three of my courses this fall, and I loved Shana Karnes’s list of 3 Ways Notebooks Top Digital Writing. (A big yes to that shelf full of completed notebooks–never fails to thrill me every time I see the accumulated notebooks of my adulthood.)

I thought I didn’t read self-help books, but it turns out that more than one of Ellie Herman’s 10 Best Self-Help Books That Will See You Through a Crisis sits on my shelves.

If you’re in my PLN, chances are that The Guardian’s 10 Must-Read YA Novels You’ve Probably Never Heard Of are all sitting on your bookshelves, but it’s still a great list.

I too needed Linda Urban to put me in my place as an adult reader of middle-grade.

Here’s a feel-good story about the awesome Judy Blume who helped a man replace his wife’s irreplaceable copy of Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret.

Brilliant post by Carrie Gelson illustrating how the very best teachers reflect on their students’ learning and make adjustments to their teaching as a result: These are the kinds of learning goals we should have for our students.

And if you need some wonderful books to read, check out Carrie’s Top Ten list of the middle-grade and YA authors she’s read the most. This list made me want to go straight to the library and check out a big pile of books.

If you teach children who have experienced trauma (and if you’re a teacher, you do), One Flawed Dad’s parenting advice for looking beyond the behavior to the fear holds true for the classroom as well.

I seriously do not need to subscribe to more podcasts, but Oddly Lovely’s list of 8 Lifestyle Podcasts has me intrigued.

I don’t know anyone who is more prepared to be a great teacher than Kelsey Empfield, but she still has all those Initial Feelings of a Brand New Teacher.