All Blog Posts (9,941)

Kudos to you if you made it past the 2 minute mark; it's not that hilarious or entertaining.  Sure it's stupid, but think about what the kids are trying to do: use a computer to order a pizza.  They know the sequence of questions typical in a pizza order: where do you live, what is your phone number, what would you…

I just started reading the book Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath which is about why some ideas take off and others don’t. It’s actually blowing me away. The thought of making an idea stick is not just for advertising people but it should be on the minds of anyone trying to get a point across. For example if you are a teacher presenting to students or a student doing a presentation, an entrepreneur selling a new concept or trying to…

Amigos:

¡Me encantan las tapas! Estas son las pequeñas porciones de comida que los españoles salen a comer. Algunas tapas populares son la tortilla española (que se hace de huevos, cebolla y papas), el jamón, el queso, los calamares fritos y las aceitunas.

Tu amiga,

 …

Our district is about to embark on building a new high school. We are looking to build it to be flexible and also be able to foster interdisciplinary project based learning. We are thinking about building around pods of classrooms with a common area. If anyone has completed a new high school or also in the planning stage could share their plans or thoughts it would be much appreciated.

Thanks, Ben

I’m going out on a limb here. Should I get an iPhone?

I’ve been weighing this question since Verizon announced it would be offering the iPhone back in February. Regardless of whether or not Apple is in my near future, what is certain is the fact that I need a new cell phone. I suppose I’m not at all embarrassed to say that I am still using my LG flip phone from 2007. It has done me well. As the day approaches where I will have to retire its 15 second video recording…

So you just got done with a three-week unit teaching Frankenstein to your 11^th grade students. You are extremely proud of how focused your students have been with such a challenging book. You also pat yourself on your back for being able to engage your urban students for the entire three weeks. Within your plans your culminating project is to actually show the movie to your students. However, after all your hard work you are a little reluctant to loose the…

Do you think that integrating Smart Board technology is beneficial to kindergartener and first graders? Yet, would it be more beneficial to intergrading touch screen computers as a learning center in kindergarten and first grade classroom.  Personally, I would like to see both technology used in the classroom. However, we all know that founding can be an issue. The technology provides the students with interactive hands on learning activity. Share your views on how would used the technology…

I work as a District Information Security Analyst for the 11th largest K-12 District in Florida!

I'm presenting at Info Sec World 2011. Session B3  April 19. Building a Comprehensive Security Awareness Program on a Budget.

With Zero day exploits, drive by downloads user awareness and education of cyber threats is now more important than ever! Just last year A New York City School District was attacked....…

Are you a new teacher? Are you struggling with discipline and classroom management?

To many teachers, discipline means to punish, but does punishment transform the misbehavior? Does it work?

Discipline means to teach. Rather than detention and missing recess, positive child guidance focuses on both the weaknesses and strengths of each child and then teaches the specific skills necessary to be successful in the classroom. It is time to discard the traditional paradigm…

Are you using one of these education-specific Social Learning applications?

Last week’s article, “Facebook in the Classroom. Seriously”, was the first in a series focused on the use of social networking tools in the classroom. I am writing this series of articles as part of…

Dear all,

The grade 5 students at Hong Kong Academy are undertaking their Exhibition projects. These projects try to solve real world problems that they have selected themselves. The students are trying to collect as much primary research as possible. One way we are doing this is through questionnaires. Below are links to all of the questionnaires. We are looking for as many…

We have finally started the process of Exhibition full steam ahead.  It's only 5 weeks away (plus a week of break)!  The students met their mentors for the second time on Wednesday and it was again a positive meeting.  The mentors were happy to see that the students had acquired much more information on their topics and were now able to discuss what they were researching and even framing their inquiry around key concept questions. 

We all keep emphasizing the central idea and having…

Reading by the end of 3^rd grade is critical for success in school and in life. After 3^rd grade, the focus shifts from learning to read to reading to learn. Research shows that students who haven’t mastered basic reading skills by the end of 3^rd grade—whom we call ‘striving readers’—are less likely to get on track and keep up with their peers’ academic achievement. Research also shows that striving readers after the primary years are more…