Ida blew through here, and took a good chunk of the coast with her.Leslie and I walked down the beach to see what we could see (every one of our walks is different).I found an old, male horseshoe crab turned upside down at the edge of the bay, digging its tail into the new sand, trying to flip itself back over.This is an unremarkable story for most, but it mattered to me, and it mattered to him.Finding a live horseshoe crab is a rare event in November. The fellow has descended through a few million generations of similar critters, and here he was at my feet.I come from a much shorter line of…
Selected by nashworld
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Science teacher
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November horseshoe crab
14 Nov 2009 | 2:42 pm -
Dancing with the stars
14 Nov 2009 | 3:03 amWhen someone says, "Science teaches such and such," he is using the wordincorrectly. Science doesn't teach anything; experience teaches it.Richard Feynman, 1966 NSTA Convention, NYCI live in New Jersey.If you spend an hour or two watching the sun rise, you'll notice that it rises sideways here.If you watch the stars looking east, they rise sideways as well.A huge problem with what we call science education is that we think we've educated our children because they "know" the Earth spins on its axis, and that it revolves around the sun.Yet the few that notice the stars, the curious ones, are… -
Amygdalin
12 Nov 2009 | 5:36 pmFive years ago tonight, a self-described Christian missionary ran my sister off the road, and a few hours later she was dead.A couple of months ago I finally tore up the letter in which he explained that God's will can be incomprehensible.I get angry when people try to explain the incomprehensible.So I am going to sit here and eat an apple that came from the same place she now rests, and will rest.The apple's existence is inexplicable, as is that of the bee that fertilized it. The stuff of apples, an impossible blend of what we breathe out every few seconds, water and carbon dioxide joined by… -
Stemming STEM education
6 Nov 2009 | 3:37 pmI am a science teacher; the STEM movement gives me job security. If I wanted job security, I would have remained a pediatrician in north Jersey--given the way we treat kids, especially poor kids, I would have always had business.STEM, of course, stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It has its own coalition, its own journal, and has endeared the folk in power (first Bush, now Obama). It puts the sexay into nerd-dom.But it's a farce.People in power (Presidents, Generals, CEOs) would like to remain in power--it takes a special kind of warped person to gain that kind of… -
Electrostatic magnetic ion attraction: The ADE 651
5 Nov 2009 | 5:19 amA story ran in the New York Times claiming that the Iraqis are using divining rods at checkpoints--a "small hand-held wand, with a telescopic antenna on a swivel" can apparently detect bombs.Since the device employs the principle of "electrostatic magnetic ion attraction," it must be effective.I'm still not convinced this is not an April Fool's prank with a calendar problem, but I guess if the world's leading expert on bombs (just ask him) tells you a divining rod can detect bombs a kilometer away (as well as ivory and truffles) and only costs $16,000, well, I got to have one!It's worth it…
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Blue Skunk Blog
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Be it ever so humble...
19 Nov 2009 | 4:22 amAs usual, I woke up this morning at 2:30. It's my best worrying time. For the past four weeks or so, I've spent these dark hours staring at the ceiling and thinking about: Revising workshops and presentations and maximizing school visits. How to minimize the risk of delayed or cancelled flights. If I packed enough clean underwear and socks. How best to support the folks in my district when I am gone. What to do if I caught H1N1. And experiencing flitting general nervousness about zombies, the IRS, and my third grade teacher. This morning I fell back to sleep rather quickly since my worry list… -
"You no longer have a choice" Guest post: Mary Mehsikomer
16 Nov 2009 | 9:19 pmMy friend and colleague, Mary Mehsikomer, a "recovering" state department of education worker and now gainfully employed as a telecommunications cluster director, sent this thoughtful response to "Wherre are the others?" She kindly agreed to let it me use it as a guest post. I was in a workshop a few years ago where a trainer was working with a group of teachers and showing all the wonderful things that can be done with Google Earth and other online tools to make learning more engaging for students. One of the teachers said, with no small amount of exasperation in her voice, "look, I have two… -
Who owns your lesson plans?
16 Nov 2009 | 12:05 pmIn the NYTimes article, "Selling Lessons Online Raises Cash and Questions," Winnie Hu details a niche market I'd not thought much about. (Thanks to Ernie Cox on AASLForum for the pointer to this.) Have you as a great teacher created a great lesson plan or teaching materials? Sell them online to other teachers. I am not quite sure how to feel about this. Our profession seems to be one that shares freely and openly by nature, but has no qualms about buying text books or other teaching resources from commercial vendors. It's easy to say that those materials created during one's off-hours should… -
Warsaw impressions
15 Nov 2009 | 9:37 pmThe guide pointed out these now sealed holes in Lubomirski's bathing pavilion, a lovely 17th century building in Warsaw's Lazienki Park, during the first stop of the tour and asked why they were there. Flag poles? Something from an earlier structure? No. They were holes for dynamite charges placed by Nazi's at the end of WWII meant to completely destroy the building. While they didn't get the chance to set these charges, the Germans did destroy 85% of the buildings in this city and kill over 50% of its civilian population. Building in Wilanow Palace gardens You wouldn't know that 60 years… -
Scott Adams's questions
12 Nov 2009 | 8:54 pmDilbert cartoonist Scott Adams writes an insightful and humorous eponymous blog. After a day of making decisions with only part of the information he felt he needed, he recently asked, "How do you make descisions with incomplete knowledge?" It made me reflect on all of the little rules one develops over the years for handling decisions without the benefit of sufficient data. You always start with the easy questions, such as... What do the experts say you should do? How much experience do the experts have with this question? Does the expert have a conflict of interest? What's the worst thing…
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The Fischbowl
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A Good Day
19 Nov 2009 | 1:41 pmAnne Smith’s English Literature class recently discussed Act III of Hamlet with Debi Ohayon’s AP class. Not that unusual, perhaps, except that Anne’s class is here at Arapahoe in Centennial, Colorado, and Debi’s class is at The Lovett School in Atlanta, Georgia.Anne tweeted out that she was looking for classes that might be interested in interacting with her class around Hamlet, and Laura Deisley – who’s the Director of 21st Century Learning at Lovett (great job title, btw) – responded that she knew a teacher that might be interested. Anne’s students are pretty comfortable… -
Copyright: Living Life Against the Law
18 Nov 2009 | 1:52 pmLawrence Lessig (now at Harvard) has another thoughtful presentation regarding copyright that he gave at EDUCAUSE 2009. He makes a compelling case about how "things have changed" but that our copyright laws have not kept up with those changes. In the past, "copyright had a tiny role." He quotes Jessica Litman:At the turn of the century [the last century, not this one], U.S. copyright law was technical, inconsistent, and difficult to understand, but it didn't apply to very many people or very many things. If one were an author or publisher of books, maps, charts, paintings, sculpture,… -
What Makes a Chat a Chat?
18 Nov 2009 | 1:39 pmI had the opportunity last week to participate along with the amazing Jim Burke from English Companion in an Education Week/Teacher Magazine chat on Social Networking and Teacher Professional Development. I hope some people found it useful and I appreciate the folks at Education Week/Teacher Magazine that put this together. None of the rest of this post is meant to disparage those folks, but simply to ask the question: What makes a chat a chat?We used CoverItLive for this and Jim and I were fed questions throughout the hour long chat. People in the chat submitted a question, the moderator… -
Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation (2010 Edition)
17 Nov 2009 | 6:03 amI'm pleased to announce that the 2010 Edition of Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation will be hosted by Loveland High School on February 20, 2010. Like the original in 2008 and the 2009 Edition, this year's get together is free.What is Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation?Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation is a one day conference/meetup for teachers, administrators, students, school board members, parents and anyone who is interested in education. It will be held on Saturday, February 20th, 2010, from 8:00 am until 3:30 pm at Loveland High School in Loveland, Colorado, USA (different… -
Diigo Ideas: Results from my Earlier Post
9 Nov 2009 | 12:53 pmI posted a couple of weeks ago asking how you used Diigo instructionally, and asking folks to complete a Google Form to share how they used it. Here’s a quick-and-dirty Google Site I created for a brief lunchtime staff development session on it. It includes the embedded results from the Google Form in that previous post. (Note: that Google Form is still active, so you can still add to the results.)
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Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech
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Why Audience Matters
20 Nov 2009 | 5:46 amCross posted at The Tech Learning Blog This facebook/twitter posting by Chris Lehmann got my attention. It's hard to argue with that statement and it raises some interesting questions and implications. It reminded me this cartoon by Hugh MacLeod (warning, Hugh as an affection for the f-bomb) It's powerful statement warning about our ability to connect and yet wallow in shallowness and fluff. While I concur with Chris's concern I also think it's important to explore the nature and purpose of audience. Placing a clustr map on your blog or receiving a comment from someone on the… -
Robbing Students and Teachers of Joy
2 Nov 2009 | 10:02 amMaybe I'm just too lazy or unimaginative so I stole the title of my last post to make this one. Whatever. I'm not sure why but this topic runs pretty deep with me. I found Alfie Kohn's article this morning on twitter (I like the fact that he brings back stuff from the archives, I wish more people would do that. Old is not bad) and thought I'd highlight a few gems found inside it. While I recognize many peoples opposition to Kohn's highly progressive, Deweyesque slants, I find myself more in agreement with him than opposition. In the case of this article, I find it hard to… -
Robbing Students of Recognition
30 Oct 2009 | 3:44 pmCross Posted at the TechLearning blog Our district uses its front page to post success stories from our 40 schools. These range from academic achievements to athletic accomplishments of school teams. Schools post the stories to their own Website and submit them to me to post to the district page where generally there is more traffic. This one was sent to me earlier in the week. Tanner Spencer from Craik, SK, attended team Canada's World Junior top 35 camp in Orlando, Florida from October 5th to October 15th. Tanner is the youngest Saskatchewan player ever chosen to go. The… -
Podcast 47…When You’re Not the Smartest Person in the Room
29 Oct 2009 | 6:00 amThis is the audio and the slides from a presentation for SIAST Virtual Campus. When You're not the Smartest Person in the Room View more documents from shareski. You can subscribe to my podcasts in itunes. -
Follow up to a Rant
26 Oct 2009 | 8:41 amLast week I posted a rant entitiled, "We have to Stop Doing This to Teachers". I lamented about a number of conversations with teachers about the struggles of doing good work and dealing with change. Anytime you tag your post with the word "rant" it usually means there is some unfinished thoughts. (I guess you could say that about every one of my posts) Rather than commenting on each person, I thought I'd highlight some of the more salient remarks and perhaps add some commentary of my own. Alan writes: I am less sanguine about the consensus for change. Competing…
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NPR: Education
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Chicago School Board Chief's Death Raises Questions
20 Nov 2009 | 9:54 amMichael Scott was found shot in the head Monday, his body partially submerged in the Chicago River. The medical examiner ruled the death a suicide, but so far police have not reached that conclusion, and there's widespread disbelief among the mayor and others that Scott would have killed himself.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
Students Rail Against University Of California Fees
20 Nov 2009 | 4:47 amUC regents, meeting at UCLA, approved fees that will bring the average annual cost to about $10,300 — a threefold increase in a decade. In protest, University of California Berkeley students barricaded themselves in part of a campus building on Friday.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
Students Protest University Of Calif. Fee Hike
20 Nov 2009 | 3:00 amThousands of University of California students converged on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles Thursday, as regents adopted a 30 percent fee hike. It's one of the latest signs of California's continuing economic crisis. UC officials say, faced with a huge deficit of their own, they have no choice but to raise the fees. Many students say they can't afford to pay more.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
University Of California OKs 30 Percent Fee Hike
19 Nov 2009 | 3:07 pmIn Los Angeles, University of California regents adopted a 30-percent increase in tuition in the face of a huge system-wide deficit. The vote came as thousands of angry students converged on the UCLA campus in protest.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
U of Cal. System Boosts Fees 32% To Fill Funding Shortfall
19 Nov 2009 | 1:41 pmStruggling to operate the nation's largest public university system as state lawmakers have failed to meet requested funding needs, the University of California Regents approved an overall 30 percent fee increase that will be spread over the current and following academic years.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
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Dangerously Irrelevant
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UCEA Week 01: I gave a bad presentation yesterday
19 Nov 2009 | 8:01 amI gave a bad presentation yesterday. It wasn’t bad because I had poor content or delivery. It was a bad presentation because I didn’t sufficiently account for the needs and understandings of my audience. Let me explain… I’m in Anaheim, California for the annual conference of the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA), which is the primary association for educational leadership faculty members at large research institutions. In other words, UCEA is the organization for professors that prepare school principals and superintendents. I currently serve as UCEA’s… -
"You're fired. I only want people who already know how to do their jobs."
16 Nov 2009 | 3:09 amBack in July I said that I was concerned that we never seem to hold folks accountable for being self-learners. I also noted that In many job sectors, employees are expected to keep up with relevant technologies or risk job loss. When do we require that of K-12 and postsecondary educators? At what point do we say to them “No, we’re not training you how to use this. It’s easy enough for you to learn on your own. And if you don’t, we’ll find someone else who can.” Many of you chimed in and shared your own thoughts on this topic. Apparently, now Dilbert has too: When will we,… -
3 MINUTE SURVEY: Why isn't your school organization making more progress?
13 Nov 2009 | 3:51 amWhy aren’t schools making more progress when it comes to effective implementation and integration of digital technologies? Here’s what K-12 educators usually tell me when asked (list is in no particular order): Lack of adequate funding Unsupportive state / federal legislators Teacher / union resistance Lack of professional development Ineffective leadership Lack of time / space within curriculum Accountability demands of NCLB Parent / community resistance I’m curious about your own situation. So I created a 3–minute survey! Simply click, drag, and drop the items to reorder them. Take… -
The (un)certainty of professional persistence
6 Nov 2009 | 7:13 amThere has been a lot of good discussion on my post about the future of books, libraries, librarians, and schools (thank you, everyone). In addition to the comments on the post itself, there are some excellent thoughts elsewhere as well: Flat World Library Corporation Dangerously irrelevant libraries Ten hard questions Random questions on future libraries by Scott McLeod I was struck, however, by something that Erin Downey said in her own post: What has, does, and will distinguish us from [coffee shops, community centers, and Internet cafes] are LIBRARIANS. Your barista doesn't know… -
Data-driven decision-making resources from CASTLE
4 Nov 2009 | 3:32 amI have done a lot of work over the years on various data-driven decision-making projects. I've taught courses, given workshops, delivered multi-day institutes for state departments of education and corporate partners, and written book chapters and white papers.I collected some of the highlights of that work on my new DDDM page here at Dangerously Irrelevant. Resources include some of the products from my work with Microsoft, the American Psychological Association, the Chicago Public Schools, the Minnesota Department of Education, and others. I hope these are useful to you. Happy reading!
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Generation YES Blog
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NAEP Technological Literacy Framework Feedback Opportunity
19 Nov 2009 | 10:19 amI’ve mentioned before that I’ve been serving on the NAEP Technology Literacy Assessment Planning Committee. (Post: NAEP Technology Assessment 2012) Now it’s your turn. The current draft of the framework is available for public review and feedback at www.naeptech2012.org. You can download the framework from the Outreach section of the website and provide feedback using the online survey link. In addition to feedback on the framework as a whole, the project is asking for specific input on a title for the assessment. It has been suggested that “Technological Literacy” may… -
Celebrate creativity and innovation at NYSCATE
16 Nov 2009 | 1:18 amThe New York state educational technology conference, NYSCATE (Nov. 22-24) always has a top lineup of speakers and keynotes. This year is no exception. The featured keynote is Sir Ken Robinson, a world-renowned advocate for creativity and innovation in learning. I’ll be there as well, participating in the Constructivist Celebration, two sessions, and a panel. My Monday session is on teacher professional development in a “technology ecology,“ and on Tuesday the topic is games in education. The panel will tackle an intriguing question – What does it mean to be literate in the 21st… -
Speak Up 2009 – add your voice!
11 Nov 2009 | 5:34 pmSpeak Up 2009 will be open until December 18, 2009! Over the years, the annual Speak Up project has collected and reported on the views of over 1.5 million K-12 students, teachers, administrators and parents representing over 18,000 schools in all 50 states. Speak Up data represents the largest collection of authentic, unfiltered stakeholder input about education, technology, 21st century skills, schools of the future and science/math instruction. Sign up now for student, parent, teacher surveys. This won’t take long and EVERY VOICE COUNTS. Sylvia -
Students are not the enemy part 2
7 Nov 2009 | 1:29 pmThe response to the last post Students are not the enemy has been pretty overwhelming. The NYSCATE wiki for this presentation: The Enemy Within: Stop Students from Bypassing Your Web Filters has been edited by several people with very cogent comments asking the company and presenter to rethink a declaration of war on students. My original posting was not a criticism of NYSCATE – which is one of my favorite ed tech conferences. Vendor-led sessions are a fact of life at any conference, often informative, and NYSCATE does a good job of identifying them as such. A quick search on the Google… -
Students are not the enemy
6 Nov 2009 | 6:20 pmThe upcoming NYSCATE conference includes this session. The Enemy Within: Stop Students from Bypassing Your Web Filters So this session (by a security software vendor) sets up students as the enemy. The job is not to educate the people who come to this session or help schools provide the best educational Internet experience (by those same evil students.) No, the idea is to create a climate of fear, demonize students, and imply that there is a war between students and IT administrators. And why not? You need weapons to fight a war. Fear the children, buy our stuff. Kids are not the…
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Teach42
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Mobiles to Help Learning? High School in UK says OK
25 Oct 2009 | 10:30 amImage via Wikipedia Via @TerryFreedman: Looks like Notre Dame high school in the UK is taking the bull by the horns and moving forward with an initiative to allow the use of mobile phones for educational purposes during class time. Assistant headteacher Paul Haigh said mobiles, MP3 players and gaming devices were “untapped resources” for teaching and learning. “We realise as a comprehensive state school we could never afford to buy every student all the IT and mobile devices we would like them to have. He added: “But most students own many of these devices anyway… -
If you Tweet, will anybody hear it?
20 Oct 2009 | 10:10 amImage via Wikipedia I think that many people (myself included) that share sites like Twitter at conferences inadvertently do our attendees a disservice. In the effort of attempting to demonstrate how wonderful, simple, powerful and dynamic it is, we make it seem much more effortless than it really is. For example… How many times per day do you see somebody say, “Give a shout out to the people in Nepal who are attending my presentation about social networks about using the Luge to teach physics!” And then 30-40 people reply with a hearty “Hello”. So attendees… -
Ted Talks… for Kids
13 Oct 2009 | 8:01 amLooks like TEDxSMU has organized the first ever Ted Talks for kids. TedxKids was the first of its kind and invited local students to share their thoughts in the TED format, as well as attend presentations. The organize of the conference had this to say: “It’s important to get kids interested at an early age and one of the hopes is that TEDxKids will be a meaningful experience for both us and other kids.” The event was a couple of days ago and as of now, there haven’t been any videos released from it, but I did find this blog post mentioning it. On Friday, the TEDxSMU team also… -
WAVE to the ITEC conference
12 Oct 2009 | 7:57 amNot sure if this is going to work, but going to try to embed in a Google Wave for following the ITEC conference. Unfortunately, yes you do need to already have a Wave account to see it, but them’s the breaks. Looks like it works! If you can’t see it, I apologize. But these are the eggs we’re cracking to learn how to make an omlette! -
CDWG presents: Dembo and Davidson on Web 2.0
9 Oct 2009 | 9:53 amSpeaking of tools (no pun intended), Hall and I had the pleasure of spending a few days in Discovery’s green screen studio recently to create a series of videos focusing on Web 2.0. They’ve been released as part of CDWG’s Conquering Technophobia mini-site, which has the videos we created as well as a slew of resources for teachers who are looking to learn more about new technologies. I have to admit, we had an absolute blast creating these. Hall is a creative genius and really had some wonderful vision for how to make these fun yet informative. We broke Web 2.0 down into 6…
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Bud the Teacher
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Digital Is. Or Isn’t. Or Always (Never?) Was. Or Not.
18 Nov 2009 | 8:59 pmI spent today engaged in some work with the National Writing Project and several of their thinking partners at the Digital Is . . . Convening event, a day of structured thinking and looking and conversation about what it means to write and teach writing at a time of such profound technological change in the world and, perhaps, our schools. It was a classic NWP event, in the sense that there was a good collection of really smart folks present as well as thoughtful processes and protocols to help us have productive conversation and inquiry time. What follows are a collection of the thoughts… -
The Week in Tweets for 2009-11-15
15 Nov 2009 | 9:15 pm@johrt Good idea. How's Friday look for lunch? I'm available most of the day. in reply to johrt # A nice surprise was waiting for me when I got to work this morning. Thanks, @hickstro. Looking forward to it. http://twitpic.com/ovuor # @brueckj23 Build the subgroups as calendars and attach/subscribe them to the master, perhaps? in reply to brueckj23 # @hickstro Think we should? Tomorrow and Wednesday are very flexible. in reply to hickstro # RT @BadAstronomer: "Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known." #CarlSagan, 1934 – 1996 # So. Yeah. That was Monday. -
Superheroes
11 Nov 2009 | 5:18 pmAni reminded me tonight, as we were driving to an event, that today was November 11th. She’s been working on her calendar at preschool. “Veterans Day,” I told her. “Do you know what that means?” “Yeah.” She answered without hesitation from the back seat of the dark car. “It’s the day for when superheroes save our city.” I let that sit for a moment. Not quite. But as I thought about it, and the fact that she’s four, I couldn’t bring myself to correct her. There will be time later for deeper conversations, for more… -
The Week in Tweets for 2009-11-08
8 Nov 2009 | 9:15 pm@wbass3 Likewise. in reply to wbass3 # T-Minus Two days until DLC. Deep breath. # @techsavvyed Digital Learning Collaborative. Although I like yours, too. in reply to techsavvyed # I'd like to talk to the folks who made it dark this early. Soon. # RT @Franki22: RT @buffyjhamilton: Brilliant post: "Robbing Students and Teachers of Joy" by Dean Shareski: http://bit.ly/5n1rY (Yes.-Bud) # @beverson I like driving to work in the dark. It's the driving home that's horrible. And you're welcome. Glad that worked. in reply to beverson # Some meetings look more fun than… -
The Week in Tweets for 2009-11-01
1 Nov 2009 | 9:15 pmOrange glow behind us lighting up the fresh white snow on the mountains in front of us. # At the doctor's. Time for a physical. There is a gown on the table. Uh oh. # Looks like I'm good for another 30,000 miles. # RT @cshirky: "IT doesnt typically help forge new acquaintances; it mostly helps communicate with existing ones." http://bit.ly/zceII # @vgloucester I always try to tie new accounts to existing authentication services. More accounts, same credentials. in reply to vgloucester # @robwall That's because it is. in reply to robwall # Reviewing DLC applications with…
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Moving at the Speed of Creativity
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Oklahoma Bears, Tar Pits, Mountains, Girls Circles, and Marriages of 70+ years
20 Nov 2009 | 6:31 amCross-posted to the Storychasers blog. This week Oklahoma educators participated in our 29th “Celebrate Oklahoma Voices” workshop since 2008, and created some fantastic digital stories about the history, geography, and people of our great state. Did you know Oklahoma is home to a growing black bear population and just had its first open hunting season for bears this year? Brad Hill used photos from his own game camera to create the 1 min, 17 second video, “Bears of Leflore County.” Find more videos like this on Celebrate Oklahoma Voices! When you think of tar pits, you… -
Thoughtful teachers need to engage students collaboratively across the web
18 Nov 2009 | 6:31 pmThis is an excellent thirteen minute video of ideas from Alan November about transforming our schools into the learning spaces we need in the 21st century. Find more videos like this on NL Connect Among many things, Alan says: We need to redefine learners as contributors. This requires a fundamental shift in our thinking about schools. The toughest part is not teaching teachers to use technology… What I can’t do in an afternoon is help people become comfortable with shifting control… Global communicator, global researcher, tool builder, and internal collaborator (with Google… -
K12Online09 LAN Party #3 Tonight! (22:30GMT/ 3:30pmPST/ 4:30pmMST/ 5:30pmCST/ 6:30pmEST)
18 Nov 2009 | 2:02 pmPlease join educators worldwide TONIGHT/TODAY on November 18, 2009 at 22:30GMT/ 3:30pmPST/ 4:30pmMST/ 5:30pmCST/ 6:30pmEST for a live event of the 2009 K12Online Conference On November 18, the K12Online Conference is hosting a LAN party from 6:30PM to 8:30PM EST. We invite everyone to gather at the LAN party site with colleagues in order to view two past conference presentations and then engage in lively discussions in the EdTechTalk chatroom. The following presenters will be in attendance. 6:30 – 7:15pm Second Life: K-20 Educators Exploring Virtual Worlds – Panel Kevin Jarrett… -
We must re-imagine our school cultures and end the madness of high stakes testing / standards-based reform
18 Nov 2009 | 12:50 pmGreg Thompson in his post, “The Landscape of Educational Culture” has it right. We must re-imagine our schools and end the madness of high stakes testing as well as “standards-based” educational reform. He writes: We can’t have both. We can’t create a thriving, innovative, creative, vibrant learning environment and pair it with common standards supported by textbooks and assessed by standardized tests. The two ideas are diametrically opposed. To waste time and money attempting to force these two into a relationship would be as futile as Romeo and Juliet’s parents… -
Google Buys Gizmo5: More VoIP calling and videoconferencing power headed our way soon
17 Nov 2009 | 9:46 pmLast week Tom Krazit reported for CNET that Google has confirmed its purchase of Gizmo5. This was confirmed on the official Google Voice blog the same day. The old Gizmo Project website (www.gizmoproject.com) now directs to Google (www.google.com/gizmo5) and new memberships have been temporarily suspended. According to Tom’s article: Gizmo5 is a Web-based VoIP client that lets you make phone calls over the Internet, similar to programs like Skype. It’s based, however, on an open standard called SIP that fits a little better into Google’s worldview, rather than Skype’s…
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The Thinking Stick
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Make students your fans!
17 Nov 2009 | 8:12 pmTeachers face a dilemma with Facebook. Do you or don’t you become fans with students past and present? It’s a topic that has come up in some of my sessions and a discussion that we’re having here at our school at the moment. But, I think I’ve found the answer to having your private Facebook stay private with your friends and family and also allow students to connect to you in the most popular social-networking site to date. The solution: Start a fan page Jeff Utecht on Facebook It’s rather easy to do and it allows students to still feel connected to you, their… -
When kids lead the way
17 Nov 2009 | 12:21 amI believe that part of my role, or any role of a teacher with a Personal Learning Network, is to use that network to spread the word when good things happen with your students. The Operation Smile group here at ISB continues to find ways to spread their message about their trip, about what they learned, and what you can do if you want to take part. Last weekend Ciel, a student on the trip sat down and decided to create a video. But as she said on the Women of the Web 2.0 podcast “I put it on YouTube because I wanted to spread the message.” This is the now third video created by… -
Why Facebook is Unblocked at ISB
12 Nov 2009 | 11:07 pmI thought I would share an e-mail that was sent from our department today to a parent who had raised a concern about Facebook being unblocked at school. A very well thought out e-mail from the group. Chad Bates did most of the work with Dennis, Kim and I adding our two cents in as well. Dear Parent, Thanks for your email, you raise an issue that schools, teachers, parents and workplaces are currently grappling with i.e. weighing the benefits of social networks against the concerns. When considering the relative merits of Facebook, there are some very obvious negative uses as well as positive… -
When did content trump learning?
9 Nov 2009 | 7:09 amI know it sounds like such a stupid question….and maybe content has always trumped actual learning but I continue to find myself in conversations that end with: “I’d love to do so much more, but we have to cover all this content and I just don’t have time.” Why is that? Why is content…which is now available anywhere and everywhere still what we feel like we have to do as teachers. I hate to say it but I think I got out of the classroom just in the nick of time. I would be considered a horrible teacher today. We use to go off on tangents in my classroom that… -
Videos that speak to the heart
9 Nov 2009 | 3:38 amSupport Operation Smile and the 6th Graders at ISB by donating here http://www.tinyurl.com/isboperationsmile There are days like yesterday when everything comes together technologically that allows you to create some of the most amazing artifacts. Yesterday The Thinking Chick (my wife) sat down at around 2 o’clock and started working on a video that she wanted to create about her recent Operation Smile trip to Surin, Thailand with 9 middle school students. 8 Hours later she had created what I truly think is an amazing video capturing students feelings and reflections about the trip. I…
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Antonio Viva
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edSocialMedia Bootcamp Keynote St. John’s Prep
15 Nov 2009 | 4:28 amA word of thanks to the folks over at WhippleHill Communications for streaming my keynote at the edSocialMedia Bootcamp at St. John’s Prep in Danvers, MA. Over 20 independent school professionals in all areas of advancement came together to learn and discuss the power and potential of social media in our schools. Enjoy! You might also be interested in.. Your Neighbor’s Story Are we ready? edSocialMedia Bootcamp, Montclair Kimberly Academy A Conversation About Social Media & Education Social Media in Education Videocast from TABS -
A Conversation with Michael Stoner
27 Oct 2009 | 10:44 amA few weeks back I was contacted by Michael Stoner, one of the partners at mStoner, a leading edge marketing and communications firm based out of Chicago. Michael was researching and writing an article for the January 2010 issue of CASE Currents Magazine. We spent part of a late afternoon on the phone talking about topics ranging from social media, to marketing and communications and trends in these areas with respect to the independent school world. I really enjoyed getting the chance to speak with Michael and encourage you to consider reading the post he wrote about WA Mash. Random Posts… -
Presentation to WA Board of Visitors
14 Oct 2009 | 7:25 amI was recently asked to make a presentation to the Academy’s Board of Visitors on Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century. The focus of the presentation was to provide a context of how has the purpose of school changed, what skills, attributes and experiences do students need to be successful and how do we better understand these digital natives as unique learners. It is my firm belief that schools should focus on fostering creativity, collaboration and courage in our students and provide ways for them to demonstrate what they know and understand beyond the traditional assessments and… -
Sharing thoughts on 1 to 1 Laptop Learning
8 Oct 2009 | 8:17 amI was recently inteviewed by members of Worcester Academy’s Board of Visitors regarding 1 to 1 laptop learning. You might also be interested in.. “Equity, Access, and Opportunity” – Harvard Education Letter EduCon 2.1 Sunday Morning Reflections 21st Century CIOs for 21st Century Schools Second Life Pow Wow… Presentation to WA Board of Visitors -
Monday Morning Meditation – A Great Revolution
14 Sep 2009 | 8:28 amI came across this great quote by Daisaku Ikeda, who is president of Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a Buddhist association which claims 12 million members in 192 countries and territories, and founder of several educational, cultural and research institutions. I was searching this past weekend for some inspiration around the idea that change in schools is not a “revolution” but an “evolution.” I think those of us who work in schools often struggle with helping create change. I have heard educators describe schools as “change adverse” and I struggle with…
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Weblogg-ed
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What Does “Getting It” Mean, Anyway?
19 Nov 2009 | 5:09 pmWhile my trip to Australia this last week and a half was primarily pleasure with my family, I did get a few days to work with teachers in Brisbane and throughout Victoria (a la our PLP cohort there), and I had some great conversations about the state of the education world with some good friends. Since the trip also came on the heels of my annual two-day visit to Skywalker Ranch as a GLEF board member, these last couple of weeks have provided a lot to think about, but between travel and exorbitant internet fees and surfing expeditions, not a lot of time to write. (As usual, these days.) One… -
Teachers as Learners (Part 32)
4 Nov 2009 | 3:06 amRecently at the beginning of a day long workshop, I used a Google form to get feedback on this question: If there was one part of your personal learning practice that you wanted to focus on today, what would it be? What questions would you seek to answer? Now I’ll be the first to admit that it’s not a perfect question in terms of trying to get some sense of the personal learning lives from the teachers who were participating. But in the context of a discussion we’d been having about the passion-based learning opportunities that the Web now affords, I was hoping to learn what… -
Teaching, Testing and Counseling
23 Oct 2009 | 2:58 pmIt’s no secret that many of us who had high hopes that the Obama administration would start a meaningful conversation on re-envisioning education are feeling sorely disappointed these days. All of the hoopla over “The Race to the Top” as a catalyst of real “reform” is getting a bit much to take, and to be honest, I’m surprised that more educators aren’t voicing their displeasure at the idea of being paid based on the scores their students make on standardized tests (among other things.) But I have to tell you, David Brooks’ column in the Times… -
On Common Standards
16 Oct 2009 | 5:18 amSo without bemoaning in the fact that I haven’t been able to find any time of late to get to this space to do some reading and thinking and synthesizing and extended writing and that I feel like a truly important part of my life is being slowly and painfully left behind and that there is a post that I really need to write about that at some point sooner rather than later… Tom Hoffman has been bugging many of us to blog about the English Language Arts Standards that are being written by Core Standards group as an attempt to provide some national standardization for ELA (and… -
Don’t, Don’t, Don’t vs. Do, Do, Do
20 Sep 2009 | 6:11 amRecently, I presented at a school on an opening day for teachers where the first thing that greeted everyone on the table in the lobby was an 8-page Acceptable Use Policy which staff members were picking up as they filed into the school. I picked one up too, and when I had a moment I started paging through it, looking at all the ways in which students (and teachers) could get themselves in trouble on the school network. The middle three pages were filled with an A-Y double spaced list (guess they were saving room for one more rule next year) which spelled out the many transgressions that were…
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Drape's Takes
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Those Content To Lurk
14 Nov 2009 | 6:00 amI've added a comment to my recent post about online participation (or lack thereof) that deserves a little focus time on the stage:Upon thinking further about this topic, I've decided to add a few important words to my second category of educator. Originally it read:2. Those content to lurk but still hesitant to contribute.I've edited it to read:2. Those content to lurk but still hesitant (or unable, for whatever reason) to contribute.The fact of the matter is that there exist a very large number of effective educators that are simply not able to contribute in any significantly recurrent… -
Smart Rooms
11 Nov 2009 | 8:53 pmDave Weinberger was right: The smartest person in the room, IS the room. -
Librarians: The Three Types I Still See
10 Nov 2009 | 5:04 pmOne week later, and I'll admit: I'm concerned.Scott McCleod has posted a list of ten incredibly important and equally complex questions about books, libraries, librarians, and schools.Doug Johnson has begun to react to Scott's questions, by stepping back as a (very good) librarian himself and challenging his peers to step up to the plate....how we respond to folks like Scott says a lot about us. Can we explain our values and mission and realities without sounding defensive, self-serving or reactionary? Read the responses to Scott's post, put on your classroom teacher, principal, or parent hat… -
Why I Share
20 Jul 2009 | 6:59 pmDavid Wiley:For me, for my students, and for the informal students who looked in on or participated in the course outside my university, this “open teaching” was better than a two-for-one. It was a thousand-for-one. When the costs of “open teaching” (freely allowing people outside the university to view course materials and informally participate in the course) are so low, I ask myself a question. Do we professors, who live rather privileged lives relative to the vast majority of the planet’s population, have a moral obligation to make our teaching efforts as broadly impactful as… -
Formally Learning Informally
27 Jun 2009 | 7:15 pmWe have it in our power to begin the world over again. A situation, similar to the present, hath not happened since the days of Noah until now. The birth of a new world is at hand.Thomas Paine, February 14, 1776In reflecting over today's version of EduBloggerCon, I'm struck by how important informal learning is to the educational experience of people - regardless of age, race, and socioeconomic status. Strange that it took an EduBloggerCon to help me see it.Nonetheless, today's didactic experience - for me - was a very good one (and it wasn't because of the "sessions"). Rather, the…
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Practical Theory
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Gary Stager: First We Kill the Teacher's Unions
11 Nov 2009 | 12:36 pm[No... he doesn't really mean it.] A little over a year ago, Gary Stager wrote an article for the Huffington Post about the new-found Democractic fascination with bashing teacher's unions -- and why that is about as counter to Democratic ideals as one could imagine. Today, his words are all the more true. Blaming educational problems on teacher unions is even more absurd when you consider that states like Texas have no teacher unions. Is Texas immune from student achievement challenges? Hardly. The larger question is a matter of leadership and employee relations. How does reducing teacher…
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apophenia
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Call for descriptions: online safety programs
18 Nov 2009 | 6:01 pmThe Risky Behaviors and Online Safety track of the Youth and Media Policy Working Group Initiative at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University is creating a Compendium of youth-based Internet safety programs and interventions. We are requesting organizations, institutions, and individuals working in online youth safety to share descriptions of their effective programs and interventions that address risky behavior by youth online. We are particularly interested in endeavors that involve educators, social services, mentors and coaches, youth workers, religious leaders,… -
Web2.0 Expo Talk: Streams of Content, Limited Attention
17 Nov 2009 | 12:04 pmI prepared a new talk today for Web2.0 Expo that I wanted to share with you: "Streams of Content, Limited Attention: The Flow of Information through Social Media" The talk is about the shifts in information flow thanks to new kinds of technology, focusing on some of the challenges that we face because of the shifts going on. Unfortunately, my presentation at Web2.0 Expo sucked. The physical setup was hard and there was a live stream behind me. I knew something was wrong because folks started laughing in the audience. Unable to see anything (the audience, the stream), I found myself closing… -
Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out
8 Nov 2009 | 11:59 pmI am delighted to announce that "Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media" is now in the wild and available! This book was written as a collaborative effort by members of the Digital Youth Project, a three-year research effort funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and conducted at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Southern California. The project was spearheaded by Mimi Ito and my late advisor Peter Lyman. I had the honor of being one of the members of this group and led one of the chapters in this… -
Choosing the Right Grad School
28 Oct 2009 | 12:16 pmLately, I've been getting all sorts of emails from folks applying to grad school who are seeking advice. I noticed that I was starting to say the same thing over and over again so I thought maybe it'd be better off to write some of it down in a more publicly consumable way. So here goes... Choosing the Right Grad School If there are faculty or students out there reading this, I'd love your comments and suggestions too. I know that we all have different advice we give to potential grad students so I know that this isn't the end-all-be-all. Please feel free to comment, send links to your own… -
Some thoughts on Twitter vs. Facebook Status Updates
25 Oct 2009 | 1:24 pmThe functional act of constructing a tweet or a status update is very similar. Produce text in roughly 140 characters or less inside a single line text box and click a button. Voila! Even the stream based ways in which the text gets consumed look awfully similar. Yet, the more I talk with people engaged in practices around Twitter and Facebook, the more I'm convinced these two things are not actually the same practice. Why? Audience. There are two critical structural differences between Facebook and Twitter that are essential to understand before discussing the practices: 1) social graph…
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nashworld
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Tinkering: A “Boys Only” Club?
15 Nov 2009 | 7:55 pmBoys only? According to the NCES, since 2004, girls have -in general- been shown to outdo boys in nearly every measure of academic success. Girls outpace boys on nearly every one of our measures of “winning” when it comes to school. And yet, when push comes to shove on earning degrees in engineering or computer science, boys still outpace girls by margins of 77% and 85% respectively. The overarching assertion: girls don’t tinker. Or at least, they aren’t often encouraged to. Tinker. In nearly every published version, the origin of the word seems to trace back… -
Prior Knowledge and The Flow of Learning
18 Oct 2009 | 7:51 pmEngagement A friend gives you free tickets to an upcoming concert. Although the group is fairly popular, you are not familiar with the artist’s body of work. Assuming you elect to go, what do you do next? Between now and the day of the concert, here’s betting that your old pal Google comes into play at some point. What is the artist’s body of work? For me, iTunes previews would quickly come into the picture. I might even scan the reviews. Then perhaps a dive into YouTube in a quest to actually see the band in action. Maybe even an interview with the lead… -
The End of The Line
2 Oct 2009 | 7:49 amAccording to NOAA, over half of the population of the United States lives within 50 miles of the coastline. This trend holds up over the vast majority of the world, and many countries in East Asia show an even greater build up along coastlines. Humans have, and continue to rely heavily on ocean resources for their livelihood. The continued concentration of human life in these areas creates great stress on marine ecosystems. This fact alone is enough to suggest imminent and increased stress on the natural workings of the world ocean. However, what about the other ~50%? If you live… -
But Math Is HARD
13 Sep 2009 | 8:30 pmSlamming on the brakes Forgive me in advance for the not-so-touchy-feely words regarding our beloved Mother Goose, but this one gave me pause… My two-year-old daughter drug over The Real Mother Goose yesterday as we were playing. I knew we had the book. It was a gift at some point in the last couple of years. However, it has never been one of my favorites. I guess I’m a prude, and for that I’m sorry, but these sing-songy bits of goofiness never did excite me. But hey- what my daughter wants to read… we read. So we read. Actually- even at two, she can… -
From Day One: Information Literacy In Core Content
3 Sep 2009 | 12:52 pmEstablishing tone I believe information literacy is the responsibility of all content teachers. The following piece is a bit about how I tend to kick off a new year, and how to easily aim at info literacy from very early on. As I have said here before, I do not like to go shy into the new school year. Our students are learning from us every second of every day. The real question then is what are they learning. As the lead learners in the classroom, this is under our control. With this in mind, it is my goal to have my students leave the room on that first day with a few things…
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The Edublogger
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Tips For Dealing With Spam Commenters
17 Nov 2009 | 5:40 amLike most bloggers I really love comments. And it’s great to get comments that express concern such as “Sue – you’re back and…not blogging yet?:)”……. only to discover it’s a spam comments. I’ll tell you how I minimize spam comments below – but first a little on the WHAT. What are Spam Comments? The reason why people write spam comments is to provide links to the spammer’s commercial web site; to get you and/or your readers to visit their site. Common spam commenting techniques include: Adding links to their web site in the… -
How To Moderate All Comments and Posts On Student Blogs
12 Nov 2009 | 7:17 amI’m frequently asked ‘how to moderate all posts and comments on student blogs so that nothing is published until approved by a teacher’ because there are situations where it’s necessary. I’ll tell you how to do it below – but first it’s important to mention educators have differing opinions on moderation and use two main approaches: Students are allowed to publish own posts and approve all comments Students posts and comments aren’t published until approved by a teacher There are pros/cons to each of these approaches which I don’t have time to… -
How To Set Up ‘Alerts’ To Monitor Conversations!
9 Nov 2009 | 4:19 amAn important part of my daily blogging routine is monitoring mentions of me or my blogs on the Internet. Yes sounds very vain! And this is why bloggers normally refer to this as ‘Vanity Alerts.’ I’ll tell you how I do it below — but first let’s talk about why it’s a common blogging practice. How Vanity Alerts Work Vanity alerts involve using email alerts and/or RSS feeds to automatically notify you of the use of specific keywords such as your name, your blog’s name, and your blog URLs in blog posts, news articles, twitter….. While this seem… -
Tips For Measuring Post Success: Part 1 Bookmarking
15 Oct 2009 | 5:35 amAnalyzing blog metrics always gives me a headache! But as a blogger it’s important to know ‘Is the content you’re providing is fulfilling your readers needs?” Metrics provide you with insights into how your readers are interacting with your content and the type of content that interests them. Trouble is there’s numerous metrics you can use, each provides different insight and its meaning depends on what you’re trying to achieve from your posts. So lets start by seeing how I use one metric, reader bookmarking, to analyze post performance. My next post will… -
Managing Students on Blogs…What Role Do You Assign Students?
12 Oct 2009 | 6:35 amI’ve been asked a lot lately about ‘roles of users’ and what role should you assign student users on blogs. Unfortunately there isn’t a simple answer because it’s a balance between: How much responsibility you’re comfortable with assigning your students School and District guidelines Providing them with an environment that’s motivating So I’ve decided to explain the different user roles and I’m hoping others explain how they choose what roles they assign students. Roles of Users The five roles for users you can give students on class blogs…
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New Scientist
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'Frankenstein' fix lets asteroid mission cheat death
20 Nov 2009 | 10:37 amThe beleaguered Hayabusa asteroid probe is back on track to return to Earth after ground controllers cobbled together a working engine from two dead ones -
Today on New Scientist: 20 November 2009
20 Nov 2009 | 10:00 amToday's stories on newscientist.com, at a glance, including: the rise of the tiny medibots, the colliders that will follow the LHC, and an interview with Belle de Jour -
Belle de Jour: On science and prostitution
20 Nov 2009 | 9:50 amThe professional scientist and former prostitute Brooke Magnanti told her agent, "If New Scientist asks for an interview, I'll do it." We did ask -
Pickled evidence for evolution
20 Nov 2009 | 9:09 amAnimal specimens preserved in jars look Victorian, but the images in Evidence of Evolution show there's still nothing better for studying new species -
Pickled evidence for evolution
20 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amAnimal specimens preserved in jars look Victorian, but the images in Evidence of Evolution show there's still nothing better for studying new species
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New Scientist - The Human Brain
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Better-looking sportsmen more likely to win
19 Nov 2009 | 10:07 amNew research, along with a Twitter-facilitated study conducted by New Scientist, reveals an important trait of the best jocks: a handsome face -
Gene change in cannibals reveals evolution in action
19 Nov 2009 | 6:27 amDevastating brain disease caused by human cannibalism promoted protective gene mutation to emerge just 200 years ago -
Toddlers insensitive to fear go on to commit crimes
17 Nov 2009 | 3:20 amAdult criminals tend to be fearless, but whether this quality emerges before or after their crimes wasn't clear until now -
NASA to restart primate irradiation testing
16 Nov 2009 | 3:07 amThe effect of space radiation on astronauts is still a big question mark for deep space exploration – primate research is meant to cut it down to size -
Signature of consciousness captured in brain scans
12 Nov 2009 | 11:00 amConsistent patterns linked to awareness of particular images could be used to detect consciousness in brain-damaged people
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neurodudes
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Penn Neuroscience Bootcamp 2010
5 Nov 2009 | 4:31 pm“….a chance for individuals without a neuroscience background to quickly gain a working knowledge of [neuroscience]” ….thought I might have something of interest to your readers, especially those who were trained in robotics. This summer, Penn is hosting our second Neuroscience Boot Camp, a chance for individuals without a neuroscience background to quickly gain a working knowledge of the subject. The program is specifically targeted so that participants can apply this information to other fields. You’ll find the full information below. Please let me know if you… -
Crowdsourcing the Brain with the Whole Brain Catalog
24 Oct 2009 | 9:42 amA very cool article on a new open source, online system to crowd source the assemblage of data in neuroscience from the Voice of San Diego. From the article: Traditionally, the study of the brain was organized somewhat like an archipelago. Neuroscientists would inhabit their own island or peninsula of the brain, and see little reason to venture elsewhere. Molecular neuroscientists, who study how DNA and RNA function in the brain, didn’t share their work with cognitive specialists who study how psychological and cognitive functions are produced by the brain, for example. But there has… -
Henry Markram on TED – video online
22 Oct 2009 | 10:20 amWe had read that Dr. Henry Markram of the Blue Brain project had given a talk at TED (technology, entertainment, design), but the video wasn’t released until this month. This talk is geared towards a general audience, rather than getting into the specific details of the Blue Brain project, as he has before. It is engaging and includes many suggestions towards the future of neuroscience and AI. Watch it online at the TED website. -
Neurodudes is on Twitter
18 Oct 2009 | 1:38 amStephen Larson has decided to try and boost our SfN presence with Twitter. If that’s your thing, feel free to follow us (neurodudes). Since I have never used twitter before, this could be a short-lived experiment but you never know. Hope everyone is enjoying the conference so far (aside from the almost complete lack of wireless!) -
SfN party update
18 Oct 2009 | 1:29 amNeurodudes is out at SfN this year (well 2/3rds of us, at least!) Being from MIT, as I run into old friends on the poster floor, it seems like this year I’m getting asked more about “When and where are the MIT parties?” (which we are known to be epic) than, say, “How’s it going?” or “When is your poster?” You should be ashamed of yourselves! (And, really, don’t you want to hear about our cool images of growing axons? Come by poster B9 on Monday afternoon to see some neat stochastic modeling techniques applied to this data to find some…
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Mind Hacks
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Cold asylum
20 Nov 2009 | 10:00 amNew Scientist has a gallery of striking photos taken from Christopher Payne's book that details his photographic tour of abandoned asylums in the US. In both the UK and the US, and, I suspect, in many other countries, there are numerous unused decaying mental asylums that have become obsolete as 'care in the community' has become the flag under which mental health services have been reformed or ignored. The NewSci gallery captures the faded grandeur of some of these impressive buildings and has photographs of the devices and technology from a psychiatry of a bygone era. As we discussed… -
Feliz Día Nacional del Psicólogo en Colombia
20 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amColombia has an official Day of the Psychologist and you might be forgiven for thinking that it's a self-declared promotional event by the psychology association here, but it isn't, the day is established by law. Article 92 of Law 1090 establishes 20th November as the official celebration. Psychology departments around the country usually celebrate the day with conferences and parties. I was kindly invited to give a talk on the 'Neuropsicología de Alucinaciones' at the four day conference (wow) at the University of Antioquia, so many thanks to everyone who attended. Later on, there is a free… -
2009-11-20 Spike activity
20 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amQuick links from the past week in mind and brain news: -
Time-space fusion
19 Nov 2009 | 10:00 amNeurophilosophy has an excellent piece on 'time-space' synaesthesia where affected individuals experience units of time - such as hours, days, or months - as occupying specific locations in space relative to their own body. The image on the right is taken from a BBC News article on time-space synaesthesia and was drawn by one lady to illustrate how days of the week appear to her. However, Neurophilosophy piece covers two new studies, one on a person with synaesthesia who experiences months in the space around her body in the form of a '7' shape: Michelle Jarick of the Synaesthesia Research… -
Selecting for kuru resistant cannibals
19 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amNew Scientist reports on a new study on how a gene that gives protection against the deadly brain disease kuru became more common in people exposed to the condition through their cannibalistic tradition of eating the bodies of dead relatives. Kuru is a prion disease, meaning the damage is caused by a poorly arranged or folded protein molecule which can trigger the same damaging changes in other proteins it comes into contact with. The condition is related to what we know as 'mad cow disease' and causes a distinctive form of shaking, brain degeneration and eventually leads to death. It was…
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Brain And Consciousness Research
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Monetary gain and high-risk tactics stimulate activity in the brain
19 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pmMonetary gain stimulates activity in the brain. Even the mere possibility of receiving a reward is known to activate an area of the brain called the striatum. -
Researchers find explanation for rapid maturation of neurons at birth
18 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pmSo a baby can detect outside signals, the brain cells use a a "pump" that drains chloride out of newborn neurons, making these highly chaotic, developing cells quiet down. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have figured out the genetic control of the pump in rodents. -
Are teenagers wired differently than adults?
18 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pmParents have long suspected that the brains of their teenagers function differently than those of adults. -
Pushing the brain to find new pathways
18 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pmUntil recently, scientists believed that, following a stroke, a patient had about six months to regain any lost function. After that, patients would be forced to compensate for the lost function by focusing on their remaining abilities. Although this belief has been refuted, a University of Missouri occupational therapy professor believes that the current health system is still not giving patients enough time to recover. -
Bigger not necessarily better, when it comes to brains
17 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pmTiny insects could be as intelligent as much bigger animals, despite only having a brain the size of a pinhead, say scientists at Queen Mary, University of London.Animals with bigger brains are not necessarily more intelligent. This begs the important question: what are they for?
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Information Literacy Weblog
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RIN report
19 Nov 2009 | 3:43 pmA couple of weeks ago the Research Information Network published a report about the way in which researchers in different life-sciences specialisms used information (one of the key points being that there were differences in practice). They have previously published a similar report about information use in the humanities.Life sciences: http://www.rin.ac.uk/our-work/using-and-accessing-information-resources/disciplinary-case-studies-life-sciencesReports page: http://www.rin.ac.uk/our-work/using-and-accessing-information-resourcesPhoto by Sheila Webber: Sheffield, November 2009 -
Sophie Bury's talk
18 Nov 2009 | 3:42 pmOn October 26-27 we were happy to have a visit from Sophie Bury, from York University in Canada. Whilst she was here she gave a talk based on her research, for our Centre for Information Literacy Research: An Investigation of the Information Literacy Instruction Practices, Attitudes, and Knowledge of University Faculty: Results of a Web-based Survey at York University, Canada . The presentation, and the audio of the talk and subsequent discussion, have now been uploaded.You can find an account of her visit on Sophie's blog at http://sophiebury.ca/ and the slideshow and the audio can be… -
Information Literacy Tutorial
16 Nov 2009 | 3:00 pmThanks to Sophie Bury for highlighting this online tutorial for postgraduate research students and staff which has "Ruth" as your guide (a professional actress, and less irritating than many such guides). It was funded by the Irish Higher Education Authority, with NUI Galway, Trinity College Dublin and University College Cork partnering to produce it. http://www.informationliteracy.ie/Photo by Sheila Webber: Botanic gardens, autumn, November 2009 -
Recent articles
13 Nov 2009 | 1:04 pmAt least recent or fairly recent.- Shenton, A. (2009) "Information Literacy and Scholarly Investigation: a British perspective " IFLA journal, 35 (3). http://www.ifla.org/files/hq/publications/ifla-journal/ifla-journal-35-3_2009.pdf (that's the complete issue, there is also an Editorial about "Reading, Information Literacy and Professional Development"- Koltay, T. (2009) "Abstracting: information literacy on a professional level." Journal of documentation, 65 (5), 841 - 855. "It is found that verbal communication and especially analytic-synthetic writing activities play an important role in… -
Thursday in Information Literacy Week in SL
11 Nov 2009 | 6:18 pmToday there is an orientation event, but this is now full. There are ongoing exhibitions as follows. The pictures are of the HIV and health literacy exhibits. HIV Testing and Information LiteracyKaruna Island is the Second Life sim devoted to celebrating the lives of those dealing with HIV/AIDS and making information, support, and creative services available to them in the SL community. Robin Mochi, Karuna Island Consumer Health Librarian, has created an interactive mindmap on HIV Testing using the SCONUL 7 Pillars of Information Literacy.Location:…
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THE NATIONAL CHILDREN'S BOOK AND LITERACY ALLIANCE
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Susan Cooper Writes Exquisite Corpse Episode Number Four
6 Nov 2009 | 6:15 amExquisite Corpse Fans! Episode Four Now Live!In Episode Three of The Exquisite Corpse Adventure, Newbery winner, Kate Di Camillo left us wondering who it was that took Joe and Nancy's card containing the clue that would unravel their destiny and lead them to The Exquisite Corpse!Well, you will just have to read Susan Cooper's (also a Newbery winning author!) hilarious new episode-- DIG THAT PIG! -- to find out!And if you need further incentive to share the Library of Congress and the NCBLA's reading outreach project with the young people in your life, take a look at Timothy Basil Ering's… -
Young Readers Center Opens at Library of Congress
4 Nov 2009 | 11:35 amCenter Is First in Library's History for Young PeopleThe Library of Congress, for the first time in its history, has a space devoted to the reading interests of children and teens in its historic Thomas Jefferson Building. On Oct. 23, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington welcomed a group of young people, parents, and others to the new Young Readers Center. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and her three children and Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) and his son helped open the new center. M.T. Anderson, who writes books for both children and teens, was the special guest author. He is… -
The Exquiste Corpse Adventure Illustrations Inspire Kids to Create Their Own Art!
2 Nov 2009 | 1:32 pmThe Exquisite Corpse Adventure:Talk Art with Calef Brown! Use The Exquisite Corpse Adventure Illustrations to Introduce Young People to Art in the Classroom and at Home! ... and read a brand new, never before published poem by Calef Brown!!This week we discuss Calef Brown's boldly expressive illustration for Episode Three of The Exquisite Corpse Adventure,"The Found Clue byNewbery Award winning author Kate Di Camillo in the NCBLA's Exquisite Corpse Adventure Educational Resource Center. Besides relating Caleb's illustration to the fine art tradition that uses clowns as a subject matter, we… -
Exquiste Corpse Adventure News!!!
25 Oct 2009 | 9:02 amView the The Exquisite Corpse Adventure Webcast Exquisite Presentation at the 2009 Library of Congress National Book Festival Featuring E.C.A. Contributors-Jon Scieszka, Kate Di Camilla, Nikki Grimes, Megan McDonald, Shannon Hale, and Steven Kellogg! Illustration ©2009 Chris Van Dusen If you were unable to attend the Center for the Book and the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance Exquisite Corpse Adventure launch event this September at the Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington DC, you can watch a podcast of this rollicking event at:… -
Sidebar Sidekick
25 Oct 2009 | 7:58 amJust for Fun-Check out The New Yorker's "Animal Dressed as a Literary Character"Halloween contest photosLilliputians Waiting for DogotIronweed \See more at:http://www.newyorker.com/online/photocontests/critterati_2009
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Literacy Learning
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Your Charitable Giving Can Support Literacy
20 Nov 2009 | 10:26 amAt this time of the year, I'm often asked about literacy charities. "Where could I make a donation that will make a difference in literacy?"I understand the question: with all the charities that are seeking your help at this time of the year, it would sure be nice to be able to help one that helps literacy.If you are looking for a way of helping to create a more literate world, I would recommend a gift to Reach Out and Read.This is a fascinating medical group (I know, it is surprising that this isn't a bunch of reading teachers). Reach Out and Read involves pediatricians in prescribing books… -
Time and Teaching
17 Nov 2009 | 10:16 amI received two recent letters asking similar questions. Both correspondents noticed that I make a big deal about amount of instruction and they wanted to see the research that I rely on when I encourage schools to maximize time.Although there are lots of studies of time and its role in student learning — not just in reading, but in education generally — these studies aren’t always easy to find. If you look up time or amount of instruction in ERIC, there are studies, but you’ll miss out on some of the best examples. You probably won’t find the research on full-day kindergarten there,… -
Why Reading Coaches Often Emphasize the Wrong Stuff
11 Nov 2009 | 10:57 amIf you type “reading comprehension observation” into Google, you get 462,000 hits. Not all of those pages will be instruments for observing how teachers and classrooms support reading comprehension development. But a lot of them are. Some of these instruments are famous, like the CIERA one that Barbara Taylor and P. David Pearson made up awhile back. Others are the brainchildren of small companies or school districts. And t0hey all are supposed to be useful checklists for determining whether a classroom has what it takes.Studies on such instruments suggests that they work—too some… -
Odds and Ends
6 Nov 2009 | 1:28 pmThis has been a very busy week or two, and here it is Friday and I find that I have left some promises (to keep).Last week I spoke to English language educators in Oregon about vocabulary. English learners benefit more from vocabulary instruction more than do native speakers (and it helps us too), and given the role vocabulary plays in reading comprehension, it would be wise if our schools got intensive about teaching vocabulary to such kids. Unfortunately, there aren't many studies to go on, so I rely heavily on the native speakers studies and color my efforts with the bit of information… -
Response to Instruction and Too Much Testing
31 Oct 2009 | 4:37 pmThis week I was honored to speak at the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Oregon. I was asked to talk about evaluation, which is a big issue in the great northwest because of RtI (response to instruction). They are testing the heck out of kids towards ensuring that no one falls behind. It's a grand sentiment, but a poor practice.Teachers there told me they were testing some kids weekly or biweekly. That is too much. How do I know it is too much?The answer depends on two variables: the standard error of meausement of the test you are using and the student growth rate. The…
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FOR-PD Literacy Blog
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RtI Principles
4 Nov 2009 | 6:00 amWe’d love to hear your thoughts on some of the RtI basic principles. Select 3 of the following core RtI principles to discuss: • Frequent and ongoing assessment of all students. • Early identification of learning and behavioral needs. • Data-driven, shared-decision making on intensity and type of interventions. • Continuous progress monitoring of a student’s response to these interventions. • Increased levels of intensity of intervention. -
Collaboration and RtI
28 Oct 2009 | 7:16 amWith regard to RtI, what types of collaboration are taking place at your school between general classroom teachers and speech language pathologists, exceptional education teachers, psychologists, and other relevant personnel and parents in planning programs to meet the needs of learners? -
RtI Survey for IRA Members
28 Oct 2009 | 7:12 amThe IRA Commission on Response to Intervention (RTI) is interested in learning members’ experiences with RTI. Several national surveys have been conducted that reveal the experiences of special education personnel at state and district levels. Certainly the perspectives of special education personnel are important. However, they may not reflect the fact that an RTI approach calls for general education to address the learning needs of at least 80% of students nor the evidence that difficulty with literacy is the reason for 50 to 80 percent of learning disability classifications. To… -
RtI: Data and Appropriate Instruction
21 Oct 2009 | 6:09 amWith regard to RtI, what data or indicators do you use to ensure that some of your students’ difficulties are not due to lack of appropriate instruction? -
RtI and Making Informed Decisions
14 Oct 2009 | 5:21 amResponse to intervention aims to identify students early and thus, maximizing the probability of correcting early deficits and helping all students to succeed. How can using RtI ensure that informed decisions are being made about the instruction students need to succeed and also offer support in closely monitoring student growth?
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Box of Crayons
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Great Work Interview – John McWade
20 Nov 2009 | 3:00 amI remember years ago Tom Peters raging on about the importance of design. And, as usual with Tom, he was right on the money. Because content and knowledge is now ubiquitous and free, design becomes absolutely critical to adding value and creating something of worth. It’s no longer content and then some token thought about design. The design is a significant part of the content. That’s why I’m so delighted to have spoken to John McWade. For decades he’s been at the forefront of design in publishing. He currently publishes the brilliant Before & After… -
Succumb to the crumb
19 Nov 2009 | 9:15 amFollow Michael Bungay Stanier/@boxofcrayons on Twitter So says the tag line for the new Flake ad here in the UK, a picture of the delicious if just-a-little-sweet-for-me-these-days chocolate bar in all its fragile glory up close on the poster. In the Do More Great Work workshop on Sunday, participants spent time identifying their Great Work Project. It’s a process that for many was about finally owning up to the thing they’ve been wanting to get on with for a while, and there was a noticeable relaxing in the room when they finally surrendered to what it was that was calling them… -
Your mission, should you chose to accept it…
19 Nov 2009 | 4:15 amFollow Michael Bungay Stanier/@boxofcrayons on Twitter I actually know a little something about corporate mission statements. About a decade ago, my boss at the time was working on a big pharmaceutical merger. He asked me to come up with a this-will-do-for-now mission statement, and I spent about 25 minutes creating some options and zipped it back his way. Ten years later my words, “help people to do more, feel better and live longer” remain the mission statement of GlaxoSmithKline. (This remains an enduring mystery to me – why the ‘change management… -
Great Work Interview – Robert Fritz
18 Nov 2009 | 3:15 amI have two shelves put aside for my iconic Great Work texts. These are reserved for the books and the authors who I think have written something timeless and significant in how we can show up and do the work we should be doing. Peter Senge’s there. So is Peter Block. And both these guys point to today’s guest, Robert Fritz, and say he’s a giant in this field. Actually, he’s a giant in two fields. He spends some of his time working with large organizations. And he spends some of that time as a composer and creator in the arts field, both making music and making… -
A storm sweeps in
17 Nov 2009 | 1:49 pmFollow Michael Bungay Stanier/@boxofcrayons on Twitter I’m on a train heading for London Waterloo. On my right, sunshine through rag-scraps of cloud, a pale blue sky, puddles shining in the fields. To my left, a row of houses lit by sunshine and framed by the purple-dark of storm clouds. It’s like this at work. Put your focus in one direction and all seems well, things are improving, you can see the opportunities and things are trending upwards. Focus somewhere else and you see the on-coming storm with all the disruption and misery it might bring. Which view is the right one? Do…
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New York Times
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Raymond Carver’s Life and Stories
20 Nov 2009 | 2:42 pmCarol Sklenicka’s biography and a long-overdue “Collected Stories” spotlight Carver’s growth as a writer and illuminate his poisonous relationship with the editor Gordon Lish. -
Movie Review | 'Broken Embraces': Almodóvar’s Happy Agony, Swirling Amid Jealousy and Revenge
20 Nov 2009 | 11:59 amCan there be such a thing as exuberant melancholy? I can’t think of another way to describe the spirit of “Broken Embraces.” -
Movie Review | 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon': Abstinence Makes the Heart ... Oh, You Know
20 Nov 2009 | 11:51 amThe big tease turns into the long goodbye in “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.” -
36 Hours in Rajasthan, India
20 Nov 2009 | 11:29 amThe country is modernizing rapidly, sometimes too fast, but this spectacular old region endures, evoking rulers with giant mustaches and spectacular forts and palaces. -
Michigan Football Facing Hard Times on the Field and Off It
20 Nov 2009 | 9:15 amThe Michigan Wolverines, who play rival Ohio State on Saturday, are 1-6 in the Big Ten and could have their first two consecutive losing seasons since 1963.
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Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger?
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Wut u mean no leevz in da hous?
20 Nov 2009 | 3:00 pmWut u mean no leevz in da hous? Iz mah colekshun! i gotz sum 2 add 2 ur collecshun. Picture by: Lizz Wilson Caption by: SuperPapillon via Our LOL Builder » Recaption This! » View All Captions -
Thanks for
20 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pmThanks for getting all of that cereal out of the way for me. wheerz mah toy surprize? Picture by: dunno source Caption by: adiadv10 via Advanced Lol Builder » Recaption This! » View All Captions -
It’s the
20 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amIt’s the catnip … he’s such a light weight. woo hoo! i c unicornz! Picture by: Peppah Caption by: adiadv10 via Advanced Lol Builder » Recaption This! » View All Captions -
The Parkson’s had no idea
20 Nov 2009 | 6:00 amThe Parkson’s had no idea why they got no trick-or-treaters this year dat meenz moar candee 4 me! Picture by: Tengu-Goddess Caption by: andiijbriggs via Advanced Lol Builder » Recaption This! » View All Captions -
See the Future: Get the Magic Cheezburger!
20 Nov 2009 | 5:59 amLife is full of tough questions: Is Ceiling Cat watching me? Will Basement Cat get me in my sleep? Can I has cheezburger? Fear not: the Magic Cheezburger has the answers! This adorably NOM-able cheezburger is your window into the future (but don’t eat it!!!). It’s like a Magic Eight Ball that brings teh LOLz. And remember: the only place you can get it is online at our LOLmart store!
