Kevin's Blog – August 2010 Archive (7)

In my years in education, first as a student, then as a preservice teacher and finally in the classroom, I saw a lot of nest builders. People who sought to build the perfect place for kids to grow. Too often the nest was completed before the chicks arrived..



I remember it like yesterday and it wasn’t one classroom but most of the elementary schools I attended from Texas to Tennessee and… Continue

On December 14th 2008 I posted the Great White Shark video into the ocean of Youtube and wondered if anyone would ever find it, much less watch it. After uploading the video I went back to my regular work and almost forgot that my shark was lurking out there where anyone in the world could see it. Recently I got an email from Youtube, offering revenue sharing for the Great White Shark video.

By this time I had many videos on Youtube and… Continue

In using the iPad for the past few weeks, one of my missions has been to discover the answer to the frequently asked question: Can that thing replace my laptop? I still travel with both the iPad and my 17in Macbook Pro but I’m seeking to fly “iPad solo” soon. There are still things I need that I haven’t figured out how to do with the iPad alone. I Use iWeb to build and maintain my websites and I cannot interface without the design and… Continue

Flying today is increasingly iffy proposition. I mean, what with the economy and the reality that companies and entities are cutting staffs to the bare bones of functionality, what might the maintenance challenges at airlines look like? I look out the window and think about the complex moving parts that must work to keep this craft in the air and I am reminded of our school systems and their challenges to keep flying on dwindling staffs,… Continue

Tim Holt is one of the air traffic controllers of technology at El Paso ISD and as such spends a lot of time exploring new software, devices and approaches to serve his 4500+ teachers, 64,000 students on over 48,000 computers across a very large school district. I recently asked him his thoughts about implementing iPods and iPads within his system and his thoughts have been illuminating as I've explored the idea of using these tools within school systems.



Apple's system is a closed… Continue

I like sports metaphors to make points and I often use one about a quarterback throwing the ball to where the receiver is going to be, rather that where they are standing at the snap of the ball. My point is that as educators we must throw education to where our learners are going to be rather than where they are when the class bell rings.



I believe that many of us are too focused on graduation as a sort of educational end zone. We see the kids score their touchdown in their cap and… Continue

The soap at the Hershey lodge in Hershey PA is missing it’s middle. Since most people waste the middle anyway, they just eliminated it altogether.

These are the hardest times I’ve ever seen in education in terms of budgetary limitations. Good people and programs are being cut all over the country and witnessing this is painful… Continue