A final New Year reflection - I've chosen Gratitude as my #OneWord2019. (Last year's was Courage) As defined by Wikipedia, "Gratitude, thankfulness, or gratefulness, from the Latin word gratus ‘pleasing, thankful’, is a feeling of appreciation felt by and/or similar positive response shown by the recipient of kindness, gifts, help, favors, or other types of generosity"
Robert Emmons, a leading researcher on gratitude, argues that gratitude has two key components:

1. "It’s an affirmation of goodness. We affirm that there are good things in the world, gifts and benefits we’ve received.”
2. "We recognize that the sources of this goodness are outside of ourselves. … We acknowledge that other people—or even higher powers, if you’re of a spiritual mindset—gave us many gifts, big and small, to help us achieve the goodness in our lives.”

While there is certainly a 'feeling' component to gratitude, it is important to note that one can choose to be grateful (or not). One of the best known illustrations of this comes from The Hiding Place, where Corrie Ten Boom describes choosing to be grateful for the fleas in her concentration camp dormitory because they kept the guards away.
Research indicates there are a number of benefits to developing an attitude of gratitude, some of which are described in the following video.

I live a life of abundance - family, material blessings, work that matters, co-workers who inspire, health, and too many opportunities to count; I choose to be grateful.

As lists and resolutions abound at this time of year I choose to reflect on 2 sets of life guidelines from authors that have been influential in my life - Robert Fulghum and Max Lucado...

“These are the things I learned (in Kindergarten):
1. Share everything.
2. Play fair.
3. Don't hit people.
4. Put thngs back where you found them.
5. CLEAN UP YOUR OWN MESS.
6. Don't take things that aren't yours.
7. Say you're SORRY when you HURT somebody.
8. Wash your hands before you eat.
9. Flush.
10. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
11. Live a balanced life - learn some and drink some and draw some and paint some and sing and dance and play and work everyday some.
12. Take a nap every afternoon.
13. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.
14. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Stryrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
15. Goldfish and hamster and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
16. And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.”
― Robert Fulghum, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

​– Love God more than you fear hell.
​_ Once a week, let a child take you on a walk.
– Make major decisions in a cemetery.
– When no one is watching, live as if someone is.
– Succeed at home first.
– Don’t spend tomorrow’s money today.
– Pray twice as much as you fret.
– Listen twice as much as you speak.
– Only harbor a grudge when God does.
– Never outgrow your love of sunsets.
– Treat people like angels; you will meet some and help make some.
– ‘Tis wiser to err on the side of generosity than on the side of scrutiny.
– God has forgiven you; you’d be wise to do the same.
– When you can’t trace God’s hand, trust his heart.
– Toot your own horn and the notes will be flat.
– Don’t feel guilty for God’s goodness.
– The book of life is lived in chapters, so know your page number.
– Never let the important be the victim of the trivial.
– Live your liturgy.
To sum it all up:
Approach life like a voyage on a schooner. Enjoy the view. Explore the vessel. Make friends with the captain. Fish a little. And then get off when you get home.
-- Max Lucado, In the Eye of the Storm

For the immediate future, what we can best tell about the most effective teachers is that they will help students most by accentuating facilitation of the thinking, problem solving processes that help them learn how-to- learn.

So ends the 2-part article The Changing Roles of Teachers by Stronge, Grant, and Xu.
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One of the first things you'll note about any classroom management strategy, whether it includes a focus on technology or not, is that it really is a good classroom management strategy no matter what's happening in that classroom.
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So begins the instruction in the video Classroom Management in a Technology Infused Classroom by the Waukesha Tech Integration Team.
The article How Deeper Learning can Create a New Vision for Teaching lists the following competencies when defining Deeper Learning:

• Master core academic content
• Think critically and solve complex problems
• Work collaboratively
• Communicate effectively
• Learn how to learn
• Develop an academic mindset

A common thread through these resources is that, while the definition of an effective teacher may be shifting, effective teaching is still at the heart of learning. I’m part of an ISTE certification cohort, and admit to being a little amused that several of my colleagues reference the changes they have experienced in the 7, 12, 15, 20 years since they began teaching. Their individual stories of continuous learning and adaptation are inspiring, instructional, and admirable, and the rate of change they reference is constantly increasing. I find some irony in the recollection that when I first walked into a 6th grade classroom nearly 40 years ago, the one competency on the deeper learning list that I did not even consider was mastery of core academic content. The only content related strategy that I had been exposed to was coverage of the textbook. But I intuitively and intentionally addressed the other competencies through deep questioning, group and individual projects, stimulating curiosity, and encouraging my students to learn deeply rather than broadly.
A watershed moment for me occurred at the annual ISTE conference several years ago when I heard Ian Jukes relate Moore's Law to what he described as the "exponential rate of change" in educational technology. I was able to let go of the concept that I had to keep up with all the new tools and devices.
The exponential rate of change also applies to the amount of information/content in the world. Clearly, the role of teacher as source of content is no longer applicable - if it ever was. But the role of teacher is still significant in the learning process. This quote from Jenny Pieratt's article in a recent edition of ASCD's Education Update sums it up well:  For a new PBL adopter, this instruction may look pretty similar to what was done traditionally—perhaps a science lab, maybe a mini-lesson or short lecture, or even a video or webquest. It is my observation that with more experience designing and facilitating PBL we begin to see less traditional, "stand and deliver" approaches to instruction, but that shift is hard, and we need to give teachers the time and space to let go of the things they behold. As they become copilots to students' deeper learning, teachers will undoubtedly become more committed to nontraditional teaching practices, but we need to be sure they experience success first. Avoiding anarchy by upholding their important role in the process of learning is crucial!