As you begin to say goodbye to this school year, take just a minute to consider next year. Yes, next year. Time marches on faster than ants to a summer picnic blanket. A couple of proactive steps now will do wonders.
School Counselor Shannon Hutton, warns, “kids often get “antsy” about moving to the next grade.” [...]
My favorite TV detective is Adrian Monk. (I love how he still wears his wedding ring long after his wife has died.) He has many, many inductive reasoning skills, but technology has not been a priority.
In a recent episode, Monk told his fellow detectives that an email he received made him “LOL out loud.” =))
In [...]
“Teachers have not changed the way they teach. We are using $2,000 pencils.” Alan November
I don’t want this said about you.
As I type this, my computer freezes briefly and then mysteriously opens another MSWord window and types the rest of the word I had begun.
I should stop using the computer, right? Open the window of [...]
What is so important about web-based learning experiences anyway?
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Classroom Price List
Create a student store where students spend “digital dollars” earned from a variety of appropriate behaviors such as:
questions answered correctly
first to arrive at class and get started working on WarmUp
most questions answered correctly
first to seek out resources
begin a task without prompting
offer help to another
take a risk to be the first to answer a [...]
Learning coaches must love travel. They must love the subtle nuance of instructions such as “Board only when your Group Number is called.” They must love ways to suss out calm amidst the sturm und drang of airports and passengers
That is where my laptop comes in.
Until recently when right at the end of the beloved classic “Must [...]
“Inquisitive minds are the safeguards of our democracy, now and forever.” John Barell
And they also may scare us to quivering mush!
Why? Because our perception is that questions may lead us away:
From the “right” answer-
From the prescribed time allotment-
From our plan and our pacing-
Toward a realm where the teacher is not the all-seeing, all-knowing Carnac of [...]
My thoughts on cleaning are the polar opposite of my mother’s. At my mom’s house, the floor is so clean you can off it. At my house we do, but usually it is usually because the table tops are cluttered and the couch is covered.
Having resigned myself to the futility of Home Spring [...]
Michelle Kaufmann’s blog will inspire you to hug more than just trees. (NOTE: See next week’s Warmups for ideas inspired by my morning with her blog!)
In her April 21 post she shares a video describing ideas for observing Earth Day and invites video submissions of great ideas for celebrating the planet, recycling, not just for a once-a-year event such [...]
My “Top Ten” recommendations center on creating learning for teachers with free websites allowed by school filters.
1. Page Flakes: PageFlakes is an interactive webpage authorship portal. Students love the interactivity and message board options for immediate feedback with teachers. See samples on Plate tectonics and Searching
2. Squidoo: What is Squidoo? an interactive web-editor portal interface with lots [...]
Here are this week’s Warmups. Have a great week!
Week of April 14th
1.) This is tax week. List at least 10 things (not people, just things) that you find taxing.
2.) Not everything we buy has a tax on it. Find and key what items are nontaxable and what items usually are.
3.) This is a week where [...]
Found myself stranded last night coming home from Portales b/c of storms. Catching up on email, I read a notice about a new book, Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure by Larry Smith.Based loosely on the literary legend of Hemingway, challenged to write a story in six words, [...]
Pleasantly stunned is an accurate description to describe the joy of finding PageFlakes unblocked on the school filters of our 4OOPS LinkClickers.
PageFlakes is a free, interactive webpage authorship portal. Simply create a free account and begin your page by choosing from interactive modules called “flakes.” There are thousands of flakes available that make it easy for [...]
Here are this week’s Warmup Prompts. Have a great week!
Week of April 7
1.) Key at 4 things that are great about the month of April
2.) Compute how many days are left until the end of our school year.
3.) Read a story @ Happy News Summarize using one sentence
4.) Create, Compute, Key 4 math [...]
Digital Spring Cleaning
The closest I come to becoming “the doctor is in” is to listen to calls, read emails, offer tissues in F2F to those who have “forgotten” (neglected) “meant to” (neglected), and “thought our IT guys did it” (the blame version of neglected) to back up their
Files, Class Notes, Lesson Plans, Bookmarks/Favorites, MP3 songs, [...]
Dateline, UK: It’s the “British Invasion” backwards!
My Top 10 Tools were included in Jane’s Top 100 Tools for Learning, a roster collected from worldwide contributors. I am #153-a supremely great number! (she even included a picture without Photoshopping it!)
Now Online Here
Jane’s blog is one of the best and first in the blogsphere. Add [...]
Sign up to receive free access to Adobe Photoshop Express during Adobe’s beta* test period.
Photoshop Express takes image editing online with features such as rotating, cropping, adding effects, slideshow options, storing up to 2 gigabytes of images, sharing, downloading, and uploading photos online.
This is an especially great feature for teachers and students who would like [...]
Research validates what teachers already know: integrated instruct makes a difference in learning.
Source: University of Houston. “College Students Score Higher In Classes That Incorporate Instructional Technology Than In Traditional Classes.” ScienceDaily 25 March 2008. 31 March 2008 <http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2008/03/080324125154.htm>.
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Any coaching experience that begins in the echo of a motivating sentiment is bound to be a success.
“To be a star, you have to make the people around you stars.”
I heard Col. Webb say this to a student as I booted my laptop and detangled my cords. A great experience followed. Thank you again for [...]
A talented innovator will be missed.
Others have found better words of tribute at this time than I am able to compose. To read a great tribute click here.
To read Doug’s courageous struggle, click here.
Please remember Doug’s motto: “Tell your family you love them. It’s the only thing that matters.”
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