November 2009 Blog Posts (118)

Another Reason We NEED Our "Social" Tools

I haven't written here in a long time, and I don't usually cross-post. But this time, it's different. Here goes:

Unless you live in a vacuum, you know what happened at Ft. Hood, Texas yesterday. Tragedy for those there, tragedy for all our military forces everywhere, as they are, truly, a band of brothers and sisters who normally trust each other with their very lives. Yesterday, that trust was betrayed.

News reports were as chaotic as the scene, as the networks struggled… Continue

Added by Linda Loder on November 6, 2009 at 8:00am — No Comments

Is the Race issue dead?

I think people have become numb to the issue of race in our schools. And to bring it up, I think people just roll their eyes and feel a bit exhausted by it all. It's like we've all heard about the Achievement Gap and we are all familiar with Kozol and we are all aware… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on November 5, 2009 at 6:49am — No Comments

Nov 5: Guy Fawkes Day (U.K., England)

05 nov 09

Guy Fawkes Day (UK, England)

This is also known as Bonfire Night. Guy Fawkes was a leader of a group of Catholic men who, on this day in 1605, were plotting to blow up the king and Parliament but were arrested in time. The English and Irish burn bonfires topped by a figure known as the guy. West Indians from the Bahamas and Barbados celebrate it as well.…

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Added by Eric Snyder on November 5, 2009 at 2:00am — 1 Comment

Who should be held accountable for students breeching Internet safety measures on school-issued laptops? The parent or the school?

This was a recent issue brought up by a mother located in Fullerton, California, who discovered her daughter was speaking to an online stranger and was able to access pornographic websites on a school-issued laptop by connecting to their neighbour's wireless network. The mother feels that the school did not install adequate Internet safety software.

School-issued laptops, as much as any other wired technology, can be a gateway that leads you to inappropriate content that is available… Continue

Added by Kiwi Commons on November 4, 2009 at 12:30pm — 2 Comments

The billions on national standardized testing that will be spent... and the profits.

This article in Education Week calls attention to potential "conflict of interests" between educational publishers and those that are behind the scenes of the national standards push.

Essentially, here's the thrust of the article...

The Literacy Research Association sent a letter Oct. 21 to the groups overseeing the… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on November 4, 2009 at 7:38am — No Comments

The Networked Teacher of the 21st century

Talking about the outcoming event: "Educational Social Networking for Professional Development" I'd like to share one of my favourite posting.
Hope to receiving your comments and keeping ongoing communication.
Let's networking!

Added by Victor Hugo Rojas B. on November 4, 2009 at 6:18am — 1 Comment

Heart rate variability with Biocomtech

Under resting conditions, the ECG of healthy individuals exhibits periodic variation in R-R intervals. Heart rate variability refers to the beat-to-beat alterations in heart rate. This term has become widely accepted though in practice, one usually measures the variation in the beat-to-beat interval rather than the variation in the instantaneous heart rate. Heart rate variability is a measure of variation in…

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Added by neil johnson on November 4, 2009 at 4:07am — No Comments

Nov 2: Bunka No Hi (Japan)

2009-11-03 - Bunka No Hi (Culture Day)
A national holiday dedicated to the love of freedom and promotion of Japanese culture.

Added by Eric Snyder on November 3, 2009 at 7:01am — No Comments

My Decision If I Were Principal (Part VI)

Ultimately, if I was a principal charged with the task of distributing my teachers, I think I'd try the following...

(Caveat: my thinking below is just part of the reason why I have little desire to be a principal in this day and age. I mean hats off to the people that tackle this task -- it's crazy, grueling, almost thankless work -- but the way you are almost forced to think doesn't seem like it always harmonizes with the way I believe kids ought to be taught or… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on November 3, 2009 at 6:30am — 1 Comment

Taking Courses Online Are Preferred By High School Students Nowadays

macon.com: FORSYTH — Mary Persons High School is too small to hire someone to teach Chinese to the lone senior who wanted to take the course this year.

But the school managed to work around it. During second period, senior Christopher Kennedy takes the class online via the state’s “virtual school.” and it will not cost him much debt consolidation to take this course online than a… Continue

Added by ConorK on November 2, 2009 at 10:00pm — No Comments

Is the Race issue dead?

Added by Alan Sitomer on November 2, 2009 at 2:13pm — No Comments

We Gotta Lotta Pink Elephants (Part V)

Okay, I had to take Halloween weened off to digest everything. (Plus, a pumpkin's worth of candy. And my daughter thought I was making her look all cutesy for her sake. HA! It was a ruse to dupe my unsuspecting neighbors out of their chocolate! Worked like a charm, too.)

Anyway, so what have I learned?

Well, we gotta lotta pink elephants.

Pink Elephant example: When an admin makes the master schedule it seems they pretty much go along with the… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on November 2, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Learning about Interactive Whiteboards for the Classroom

Examining the “State of the SMART(board)” in education.

Back in April, I researched and blogged about interactive whiteboard tools that are available as online applications. These are great tools for the classroom that are quick and easy to implement, and best of all, they are free or low cost. However, the functionality available with these applications is only a fraction of… Continue

Added by Kelly Walsh on November 2, 2009 at 6:24am — 2 Comments

Gaming and Education - Rethinking the Rules

Reposted from Meg's Notebook

We decided to explore these articles because of a recent announcement by our board to investigate and pursue the opening of all-boys schools (see article). Our board sees this as a means of dealing with the falling grades and general behavioural issues of boys in our schools. We're sure that this solution will work for… Continue

Added by Meg H on November 1, 2009 at 8:00pm — 1 Comment

Teaching in the Digital Age Post

I found the articles very interesting. I think it is very important for me to keep in mind how student learning is changing very quickly. The article by Prensky opened my eyes to how much teaching and student learning has changed. After reading this article I believe I am a digital immigrant. There is so much I do not know and understand about the use of technology. I believe I do some things in the classroom that will help my digital native students learn but there is so much more I need to do… Continue

Added by Chris Neal on November 1, 2009 at 6:06pm — No Comments

Virtual Ethnography

I'm currently writing a short treatise on the Ning platform and its users and how they make use of this social network community. If anyone is interested or want to chip in a few comments feel free to do so.

Added by Henry Keil on November 1, 2009 at 2:00pm — No Comments

peace and prosperity

Subject Peace and Prosperity

Dear President Barrack Obama

The Great Leader of the World

I Agha Dilbar have sent Mr. President 100 registered research Letters (1000 new ideas to develop America and to Change the World for Peace and Prosperity) through Embassy of USA Islamabad till today and also direct sent these registered Letters to Whitehouse Washington DC 20500.These letters have been written on the guidelines of CHANGE WE NEED. And these letters are about the Common Men… Continue

Added by aghadilbar on November 1, 2009 at 11:30am — No Comments

Teaching in the Digital Age

Teaching is becoming a whole new ball game. Many students are coming to the classroom with an extensive background in technology. The digital natives are savvy in many different forms of technology and are craving technology based learning. I myself would say I am a digital native. I grew up in the time of internet and cell phones as well as multi-channel cable TV. I would say that at this point in my teaching career that it has given me a heads up in my building as an educator. People tend to… Continue

Added by christopher mcdonald on November 1, 2009 at 9:24am — 1 Comment