What poems (lyrics of songs?) are on your classroom walls? What words are priming the minds of people who enter your school? Here are some of my favorites

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/sarabareilles/brave.html
I want you to be brave

I use converters like video2mp3.net to
download mp3 files (converted from Youtube videos)
and then those mp3 files are shared with students

To avoid having the lyrics found in a search (the copyright holders tend to want to decide where the words are displayed), I've made screen shots of the lyrics that I have in my classroom.  
The choices appear at the end of this post.

I find that I am a better teacher, more involved, more inspired, more likely to arrive at work whistling when I can see the words on the wall.

You're the twinkle in my eye
Take me across the sky

and

Silver moons and paper dreams
Faded maps and flying things
You're my favorite one-man show
a million different ways to go...  
will you fly me away, Take me away with you... 


Annie Little has created some cute "ditties" that have me dancing across the room.

Search Results

1. 
   

   25 Most Inspirational Songs of All Time | Personal Excellence

   

   personalexcellence.co/blog/inspirational-songs/‎
   

   
   

   by Celestine Chua - in 249 Google+ circles

   Aug 9, 2010 - With hundreds and thousands of great songs out there, it is challenging to narrow it down the list. In the end, I selected the top 25inspiring  ...
2. 
   

   30 Inspirational Songs that Keeps You Motivated for Life - Lifehack.org

   

   www.lifehack.org/.../30-inspirational-songs-that-keep-you-moti...‎
   

   
   

   by Hoi Wan - in 320 Google+ circles

   Mar 22, 2013 - 20 Excellent Websites That Make Your Children Smarter ...Here is a list of 30 inspiring songs that will help you to stay the course and go for it. ... We've all had bad days where everything feels like its on top of you, but think  ...
3. 
   

   Top 15 Inspirational Songs to 

   www.joelannesley.com/.../top-15-inspirational-songs-to-motivate-and-ins...‎
   

   
   

   by Joel Annesley - in 26 Google+ circles

   Mar 18, 2013 - We all are consumers of music. Many of us are producers of music. Some of us have a natural ability with an instrument. Some of us have ...

4. Motivate and Inspire You! - Joel ...

5. 
   

   The 20 Most Inspirational Songs of All Time (as of 2013)

   www.thehealthy.com/the-20-most-inspirational-songs-of-all-time/‎
   

   
   

   Look no further, this article reveals the top 20 inspirational songs of all time - as ...arrangements give inspirational songs the power to motivate, to inspire, and to  ...

Somewhere over the Rainbow

Annie Little and Marcus with that cute song for the Kindle




I want you



Part of Your World (this is an excellent song for its rising sound.


The Ride of Paul Revere *(Up with People)

GO ahead, click here and hear the songs that inspired a 
teacher since 1965

2. LOUIS ARMSTRONG LYRICS - What A Wonderful World - A-Z Lyrics

   www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/louisarmstrong/whatawonderfulworld.html‎
   

   
   

   Lyrics to "What A Wonderful World" song by LOUIS ARMSTRONG: I see trees of green, red roses too. I see them bloom, for me and you. And I think to myself, ...
3. 
   

   What A Wonderful World Lyrics - Louis Armstrong

   www.lyricsfreak.com › Louis Armstrong‎
   

   
   

   What A Wonderful World Lyrics - I see trees of green........ red roses too I see em bloom..... for me and for you And I think to...
4. 
   

   Louis Armstrong - What A Wonderful World Lyrics | MetroLyrics

   www.metrolyrics.com/what-a-wonderful-world-lyrics-louis-armstrong.ht...‎
   

   
   

   Lyrics to 'What A Wonderful World' by Louis Armstrong. .
5. 
   

   Louis Armstrong - What A Wonderful World (Lyrics) - YouTube

   ► 2:18► 2:18

   www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yCcXgbKrE‎
   

   
   

   Nov 25, 2010 - Uploaded by DaddyDJMix

   Good old song of Louis Armstrong - What a wonderful world. Subscribe.

I also like this verse from The Lion King

They live in you
They live in me
They're watching over 
Everything we see

In every planet
In every star
In your reflection
They live in us...  

Let's call on our ancestors to express their hopes and dreams through us.
Let's call on them to bring us the power and focus to deliver and discover our purposes ... and let's put those purposes to work.

Ask former students (part 2): "Avoid asking us to accumulate knowledge that will disappear from our minds in a short time."

...as the student is able to work on a pleasurable environment, her/his motivation and productivity increase...



I asked former students
(a) what do they remember from the classes we had together
(b) what do they recommend for my future procedures
(c) would they like to be virtual mentors?

Here is a reply.

Hello, Mr. Steve! How are you? In my opinion, your teaching method is newfangled and original. And that is the reason I admire it. I have been all my life on a room accumulating knowledge that will disappear from my mind in a short period of time, because they will not be useful for me in a future (and because my memory is finite, of course). But, during the ISP program, you gave us work that was of our interest. In my case, I did an essay related to the Spanish Civil War. I remember that I felt really comfortable doing it. First, because personally, I love that period of the Spanish History, and I never had the chance to study it in depth. Also, because you gave us enough time for finishing it, without an excessive pressure. 

I blindly trust in the effectiveness of your method. In conclusion, as the student is able to work on a pleasurable environment, her/his motivation and productivity increase. Also, I believe that your teaching procedure allows students to focus on the areas of knowledge that are of her/his interest. All these aspects that I have mentioned directly affect the academic results of the students and their self-steem (because they have responsibility). But, what is more important, your teaching methods made classes more pleasant and enjoyable: students were more blissful.

I am interested on receiving questions, and I prefer to get them by e-mail. 

Regards, Pablo.

Pablo Ruiz Rivet can be reached at < pabruri AT  hotmail  D O T  c o m >

Here's a procedure: Ask former students to make suggestions (adapted from Big Picture Schools)

The Big Picture:  education is everyone's business, the 2004 book by Dennis Littky, points out that one of the best sources of teacher training is a postcard sent to former students.  "What worked, what do you wish you had been introduced to or thought about before you left high school?  What should we teachers know about?"

Here's the letter that I sent to some former students.

Hello ISP program students from January 2012

I want to let you know about "what happened to the posters that the ISP students made."  I kept some of the posters.

Other posters found life in books.  I'm showing your work to my new students at Miami Arts Charter  miamiartscharter.net

(A) PENPALS  ... I want my students in Miami to have penpals with people who speak more than one language, so I thought about you.

  

(B)  Thought for the day:   I'm planning to have a channel for the "thought of the day" and other items that will combine "mathforartists"  -- I invite you to visit the channel and the blog and the websites.   Thank you for your time.

As individuals, you remain in my mind as distinctive forces -- your questions and creations pushed me to develop better procedures.   I think you remember that I was trying to create a positive environment for you inside a box.   

CHECKLIST (what are good principles in a classroom?)

a)  let the students make decisions

b)  give them time to complete something that they started.

c)  find a comfortable place to work.

d)  give them work that means something to them.   Ask them to create personal goals and let them work on those goals.

e)  ask students to write about something that they like.

I hope you have found teachers who use these same ideas.   Please write to me with any suggestions about how to improve my classroom procedures.

Do you remember some of the events that you did?   

a)  the old poet who came to the school and EVERYONE was told to go to the gym to listen to the old man?   I thought that some of you might have been bored.   Perhaps I should have exempted you from that activity?

b)  the start of the day?  In that little room with no windows?   

c)  the space on the soccer field where your group sat after lunch?   The school administrators were so worried that you needed to go to "do something productive" and many days we spent an extra 20 or 30 minutes sitting on the grass.   I liked watching you out there.   Sometimes many teachers try to push too much on the teenager's brain.

I look forward to your input and I hope you will write to me with suggestions and comments.

If you want to receive questions from my students at MAC  (Miami Arts Charter), please let me know.   I can ask my students to contact you by email or by facebook -- please tell me your preferred method.

By the way, have you seen the video by Benjamin (with the translation into Hungarian)?

The website that Benjamin translated

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNTD_lFrtnI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-YBbEc8juY

Steve

=======  

Do you see the power of this procedure used at Big Picture schools?  The teachers benefit from the students who send tips about "I never used matrices" and "I wish someone had told me about Daniel Amen's suggestions about how to manage information overload."

The photos that appear here are from the wonderful class that I was given to "manage."   I think they managed to organize how I behaved....

This is a random piece that I posted on the Edutopia facebook page to indicate the power of lecturing less  LectureLess.com

Since using the FLIPPED CLASSROOM, I no longer have a "teacher voice."   Now I randomly and unintentionally whisper to people "...and for class tomorrow, please come in ready to talk about this topic."  

Steve McCrea

RANDOM LINK TO THE FUTURE

More photos from the January 2012 learning experience.

The profiles are Bal____  KN_____  Prin_____  Ope_____
Ref_____  Car____  Comm____  Ris____  Inq____ Thi_____

Send comments to TheEbookman@gmail.com

The profiles are Bal____  Balanced

KN_____  Knowledgeable

Prin_____  Principled

Ope_____Open Minded
Ref_____  Reflective

Car____  Caring

Comm____   Communicator

Ris____  Risk Taker

Inq____ Inquirer

Thi_____ Thinker

A school in California creates a PDF Yearbook -- that's innovative! Digital Yearbooks for schools

Look at this collection of photos from a school in California.  Bravo to the team of students (Greg, Ireland, Rachel and Drake) for pulling together this PDF.

A yearbook

This is a good start.

Here's the procedure for making a fast collection of photos:  record a video.

The photos can be pulled from the video.