July 2009 Blog Posts (175)

Summer WRITING List

I'm borrowing an idea from Scott Filkins as posted on the NCTE blog site. He writes,

"Every school year, I amass an impressive pile of books for my own summer reading... Always more than I can realistically read in a single season, this collection represents the mythic promise of never-ending summer, abundant with time to relax and recharge.

As I look back on my… Continue

Added by Michelle TeGrootenhuis on July 9, 2009 at 6:22am — 1 Comment

Why We Need to Teach Sex Ed in Our Schools

For those who wonder why we need Sex Ed taught in our schools, I offer this story, the tale of the teens who mistook a woman's lovemaking cries for assault and promptly beat the crap out of the man with whom she was amorously copulating.

But the question arises as to which school personnel are qualified to handle such a delicate, senstive class. Good thing we have teachers such… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on July 8, 2009 at 5:01pm — No Comments

At the Core

(drafted recently for a faculty inservice day called This I Believe)

I believe that the most important thing any teacher can do, ever, with no exception, is to learn. I believe it so strongly I want to say it twice, because I recently learned what an effective form of emphasis repetition can be. Are you with me? The most important job of any teacher is to learn. And I believe everyone at some point in their life, or in their day, is a teacher. Don’t you want your doctor, your… Continue

Added by gayle on July 8, 2009 at 2:37pm — No Comments

Confessions of an Emoticon User

I first started writing this a while ago and actually wasn't planning on posting it here, thinking not many would empathize, but then I saw a great comment by Grocheio that was pointed out by Ira Socol, so I guess I'm not alone! Here I go...

Do you ever use emoticons? In case you're not familiar with the… Continue

Added by Chris Fritz on July 8, 2009 at 11:42am — No Comments

" We are more than teachers, much more !" :Reflective Classroom Teacher 3

Teaching is what we do, it is not what we are. That is our uniqueness as humans. This distinction is the truth that allows us to all to break from the herd and discover our unique personalities and develop our individual styles as teachers. We are like all teachers and yet, we are like no other teacher. It is impossible to leave me outside in the hallway when we walk into our classrooms; we teach who we are each and everyday. That being the case, it is imperative that each of us reflects every… Continue

Added by Ronald Bovill on July 8, 2009 at 8:30am — 1 Comment

" A Perfect World": Reflective Classroom Teacher 2

In my perfect world, it would be acceptable to be slightly irregular

and not be marked down.

My wife and I have been classroom teachers for a combined total of sixty years. We have been effective classroom teachers for most of that time but not all. There have been times when we walked into the classroom spiritually bankrupt and on those days; we were not effective teachers. Our spiritual-self was not right on those days and as a result, our teaching suffered. Our values are confused… Continue

Added by Ronald Bovill on July 8, 2009 at 6:00am — No Comments

Cat Online 2009 Preparation: Practice Cat Online Tests, Cat DI & CAT Quant Section

CAT 2009: “Cat goes online in 2009” has been the buzz word. Its just 4 months now to Online cat exam. Everyone is making their plan for Cat 2009 online preparation. The main focus for online cat exams is on IIM cat 2008 cut off, and Cat Online tests. So how to prepare for cat 2009 in remaining four months:

1> First you should know which MBA college you are targeting. Is it out of IIM Ahemdabad, IIM Calcutta,… Continue

Added by Saumil Shrivastava on July 8, 2009 at 1:55am — No Comments

Editing Equations on Web 2.0 Sites

What are your needs for editing and rendering equations or formulae on Web 2.0 sites? Social networks and Web 2.0 sites are the ideal forum for sharing, but they are not geared for academic use. Academic discussions would be considerably improved if Web 2.0 sites would add just three buttons: Superscript, Subscript and Greek letters to the HTML editing toolbar. Perhaps we should ask Ning and other social network providers for better support for this… Continue

Added by Colin McAllister on July 7, 2009 at 7:05pm — 1 Comment

Investigative Searching 20/10

Dennis O'Connor and I have created a new online course in information forensics for students, teachers and librarians. It's called Investigative Searching 20/10, playing off the metaphor of 'better-than-average' vision. When it comes to locating and evaluating information from the Internet, students (on average without training) score in the 40% range. That means that more often than not, they cannot locate and determine the credibility of the author,… Continue

Added by Carl Heine on July 7, 2009 at 3:05pm — No Comments

Honoring the Digital Natives, our Students

A year ago at our school we chose iPod touches as our pilot mobile computing device. We made that decision for a number of reasons but the most powerful decision makers were our students. This was their computer of choice. So many times over the last year I've been asked why we didn't choose another device for our pilot. To our students at our school the choice was so clear, "crystal" as one eighth grader often states.

Digital natives expect their access to information to be mobile;… Continue

Added by Susan Wells on July 7, 2009 at 1:23pm — No Comments

My 3% Pay Cut... What Does It Really Mean?

I was just informed that my pay was being cut 3% for next year. The vote of the school board in regards to the issue of cutting my salary was unanimous. Budget issues. Belt tightening. Everyone taking one for the team.

Things is, I kinda get it. I mean we are facing huge budget issues, folks everywhere are tightening their belts and if everyone doesn't chip in a little, then there is no way to make up for the fiscal shortfall and keep our schools running.

But the… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on July 7, 2009 at 1:00pm — 3 Comments

Assignment 1: Due 9/3/09

A Life In History

Part 1:

Your assignment is to find someone from the Civil War era that is of interest to you.

Post a blog about them. Include who they were, dates, what made their life stand out, locations, Confederate or Union party, and any other information your class will find interesting.

No duplicate people please.

50 pts.

Part 2:

Pick a classmates blog to research yourself. Make a second blog telling us something new about… Continue

Added by Shelly Buechter on July 7, 2009 at 11:36am — No Comments

No student every needs to dissect anything, ever

My blood was a' boiling this morning after reading an article on edweek about an investigation done by the College Board:

... can a student get the same level of experience from a virtual dissection online, without actually smelling the formaldehyde or making a cut?

In recent years, the College Board, which authorizes AP classes… Continue

Added by Marjee Chmiel on July 7, 2009 at 11:29am — 2 Comments

EDW 647 - Internet for Educators (Summer 2009)

the entire class of educators is currently signing on to Classroom2.0

Added by Nazli on July 7, 2009 at 9:37am — No Comments

10 Examples of Useful Second Life Resources for Educators

(Final post in a series on current uses of Virtual Worlds in Education)

This week I will wrap up the series of posts I published throughout June, focused on Internet based Virtual World technologies as they are being used in Education today. As I researched current VW tech options for education, it became apparent to me that Second Life remains the most… Continue

Added by Kelly Walsh on July 7, 2009 at 8:49am — No Comments

Rethinking Minimum Word Requirements

Anyone who's ever had to write an essay with a minimum word requirement understands the frustration of having to fill up pages with BS. I can understand why a lot of teachers impose these limits, but I don't think they have the effect we desire.

Desired Effect:

Students are thorough enough to complete the assignment.

Problem:

The assumption we are making is that there is a specific, optimal range of words for discussing a topic and that we… Continue

Added by Chris Fritz on July 7, 2009 at 8:30am — No Comments

Spheres of Influence

How fun is this?

Three years ago I moved into a position of instructional coach for my building. The majority of my days are now spent as a content-generalist coach focused on helping teachers improve pedagogical skills. Our opt-in model keeps the conversation focused on one thing: pedagogy as opposed to content. This is a very smart model for honing in on the “P” sphere of Mishra & Koehler’s TPACK framework. However,… Continue

Added by Sean Nash on July 6, 2009 at 12:22pm — 2 Comments

Second Life SIG? Please add your thoughts!

Hey, just back and decompressing from NECC09 with a veiw toward NECC10 in Denver. I posted typically rambling thoughts on what I believe is an important topic at http://scottmerrick.blogspot.com/2009/07/on-mall-on-4th-of-july.html on the 4th and would appreciate your input if you are an ISTE member, a Second Life educator, and would like to contribute to the discussion! Thanks in advance!

Added by Scott Merrick on July 6, 2009 at 9:14am — No Comments

The Truth about using Games as a Teaching Tool

Believe it or not, many instructors/managers do not see games as a serious teaching tool. It may be hard to admit, but, in some ways, they’re right! In most cases, their beliefs have been influenced by a variety of factors, the most common of which is their personal experience seeing how games are used in a classroom. To make matters worse, many instructors who use games are unknowingly reinforcing the negatives that so many have about using games.

In this article, I will show you… Continue

Added by John Dillon on July 6, 2009 at 9:00am — No Comments

Teach Lifes Lessons part 5- Dress for Success

Teach Life Lessons-Dress for SUCCESS

If your classes are 55 minutes as were mine when I taught, I suggest you use the last 5 minutes to teach Life Lessons. I know you are evaluated on state or national test score results, but our kids need more. (I often wonder what was Bernard Madoff's (he stole millions from his friends) test score or Marshall Applewhite’s ( Heaven’s Gate Suicide cult leader) test score.

I would like to suggest that you teach “Dress… Continue

Added by William Lambert on July 6, 2009 at 6:08am — No Comments