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Added some annotations to this -- I highly suggest that bloggers don't close comments! The conversation belongs to all of us and should take place anywhere it takes place. See Kate's blog for more.

I don't think it is necessary to close comments -- I'm frustrated I cannot respond to Kate's note about closing comments!

Added some annotations to this -- I highly suggest that bloggers don't close comments! The conversation belongs to all of us and should take place anywhere it takes place. See Kate's blog for more.

Close reading, a key practice for Common Core teaching, is discussed here through six simple steps.

Focus on close reading in Common Core.  Many fear teachers are not prepared for this dramatic a shift where the textbook is the first, sole focus.  

Great post on whether or not to use FB in the classroom and teacher/student interaction in the 21st century.

"Kara Swisher August 2, 2011 at 11:08 am PT According to multiple sources close to the situation, Ning has been talking recently to a large pool of companies about selling itself, including Google and Groupon, as well as to a number of private equity companies. Interest has been both incoming to and outgoing from Ning. The talks around the fate of the high-profile social networking platform - co-founded by Silicon Valley icon and investor Marc Andreessen - are still early and might not result in a sale, although a number of sources said the company was being valued at up to $150 million. That price is well below previous loftier valuations for Ning and would mean only a break-even for investors, who have put close to $120 million into Ning since it was founded in 2004."

"What Makes a Great Teacher? Image credit: Veronika Lukasova Also in our Special Report: National: "How America Can Rise Again" Is the nation in terminal decline? Not necessarily. But securing the future will require fixing a system that has become a joke. Video: "One Nation, On Edge" James Fallows talks to Atlantic editor James Bennet about a uniquely American tradition-cycles of despair followed by triumphant rebirths. Interactive Graphic: "The State of the Union Is ..." ... thrifty, overextended, admired, twitchy, filthy, and clean: the nation in numbers. By Rachael Brown Chart: "The Happiness Index" Times were tough in 2009. But according to a cool Facebook app, people were happier. By Justin Miller On August 25, 2008, two little boys walked into public elementary schools in Southeast Washington, D.C. Both boys were African American fifth-graders. The previous spring, both had tested below grade level in math. One walked into Kimball Elementary School and climbed the stairs to Mr. William Taylor's math classroom, a tidy, powder-blue space in which neither the clocks nor most of the electrical outlets worked. The other walked into a very similar classroom a mile away at Plummer Elementary School. In both schools, more than 80 percent of the children received free or reduced-price lunches. At night, all the children went home to the same urban ecosystem, a zip code in which almost a quarter of the families lived below the poverty line and a police district in which somebody was murdered every week or so. Video: Four teachers in Four different classrooms demonstrate methods that work (Courtesy of Teach for America's video archive, available in February at teachingasleadership.org) At the end of the school year, both little boys took the same standardized test given at all D.C. public schools-not a perfect test of their learning, to be sure, but a relatively objective one (and, it's worth noting, not a very hard one). After a year in Mr. Taylo

The comprehensive virtual tour allows the visitor to take a virtual, self-guided, room-by-room walking tour of the whole museum. The visitor can navigate from room to room either by using a floor map or by following blue arrow links connecting the rooms. Camera icons indicate hotspots where the visitor can get a close-up on a particular object or exhibit panel.

The comprehensive virtual tour allows the visitor to take a virtual, self-guided, room-by-room walking tour of the whole museum. The visitor can navigate from room to room either by using a floor map or by following blue arrow links connecting the rooms. Camera icons indicate hotspots where the visitor can get a close-up on a particular object or exhibit panel.

Many people have not read the Youtube Community Guidelines. You should report any videos that break these rules to youtube - everyone should have a youtube account and be able to do this. Today, a student had a bad video linked to hers -- I had to go to another place to report the other video but you can do this! Guidelines: "Don't Cross the Line Here are some common-sense rules that will help you steer clear of trouble: * YouTube is not for pornography or sexually explicit content. If this describes your video, even if it's a video of yourself, don't post it on YouTube. Also, be advised that we work closely with law enforcement and we report child exploitation. Please read our Safety Tips and stay safe on YouTube. * Don't post videos showing bad stuff like animal abuse, drug abuse, under-age drinking and smoking, or bomb making. * Graphic or gratuitous violence is not allowed. If your video shows someone being physically hurt, attacked, or humiliated, don't post it. * YouTube is not a shock site. Don't post gross-out videos of accidents, dead bodies or similar things intended to shock or disgust. * Respect copyright. Only upload videos that you made or that you are authorized to use. This means don't upload videos you didn't make, or use content in your videos that someone else owns the copyright to, such as music tracks, snippets of copyrighted programs, or videos made by other users, without necessary authorizations. Read our Copyright Tips for more information. * We encourage free speech and defend everyone's right to express unpopular points of view. But we don't permit hate speech (speech which attacks or demeans a group based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, and sexual orientation/gender identity). * Things like predatory behavior, stalking, threats, harassment, intimidation, invading privacy, revealing other people's personal information, and inciting others to commit violent act

Doug Johnson estimates the savings moving to Google apps, Great post for those considering this. Doug says: "These are rough and admittedly optimistic estimates, but I think you can see the general trend. Even if only 50% of my estimated nearly $2M in savings is realized, that averages out to close to $200,000 per year. (Out of a $1.2M budget.) I am not suggesting reducing tech budgets by this amount, but I can sure think of a lot more interesting things (like kids' computers, a more robust wireless network, and more bandwidth) to spend tech dollars on. Yes, I need to pay $7 a year per administrative, possibily teacher, e-mail account for archiving and retrieval. Not bad, though, considering."

"August 15, 2011. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has begun a rulemaking to strengthen and expand their current TV closed captioning standards for both English TV and French TV broadcasts. However, they will not be looking at standards for digital and new media platforms in this process. The CRTC seeks input on:"

This is excellent! It may not be perfect yet, but it's as close as I've seen for collaborative writing assignments. Make sure you watch the tour video to get a sense of how it works. They will be making more enhancements for education soon (no student emails required, and better reports), but even now I think it's excellent! Watch the tour video

This is excellent! It may not be perfect yet, but it's as close as I've seen for collaborative writing assignments. Make sure you watch the tour video to get a sense of how it works. They will be making more enhancements for education soon (no student emails required, and better reports), but even now I think it's excellent!

A nice reflection on what is happening to reading with Common Core. I find the overemphasis on literary nonfiction problematic, unless, the fact that math and history are primarily nonfiction allows literature to remain 60-70% fiction, however, for those schools who just have "reading" in literature (that would be sad), this is going to have issues. This is a great read. "The CCSS mandates that by the end of high school, 70% of what students read should be informational texts -- specifically, complex and non-narrative literary nonfiction. Furthermore, students should be able to identify central ideas and articulate their development, summarize, analyze, draw inferences, identify an author's purpose, evaluate the effectiveness of rhetorical features, and figure out the meaning of words. In short, the CCSS has reclaimed a technique popular in the 1940s, close reading, or sustained interpretation of, in particular, the wording of a text."

this survey for educators, parents, and students closes December 23. Please take the time to join in this online research project for those in the US.

Wow! A simply stunning, fast loading, space 3D simulation of the solar system. Fly between the plants and look at them close up. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Science

An article from Harvard Magazine on the Twilight of the lecture. There are measurable improvements when you move to interactive learning: "Interactive learning triples students' gains in knowledge as measured by the kinds of conceptual tests that had once deflated Mazur's spirits, and by many other assessments as well. It has other salutary effects, like erasing the gender gap between male and female undergraduates. "If you look at incoming scores for our male and female physics students at Harvard, there's a gap," Mazur explains. "If you teach a traditional course, the gap just translates up: men gain, women gain, but the gap remains the same. If you teach interactively, both gain more, but the women gain disproportionately more and close the gap." Though there isn't yet definitive research on what causes this, Mazur speculates that the verbal and collaborative/collegial nature of peer interactions may enhance the learning environment for women students."

This is an online programming suite for kids. It closely resembles MIT's Scratch, but it has improved on a few features and striped away some others. One great feature is that students can sign on with a Google Apps for Education account. Plus, because it is made with HTML5 you can use it on most modern devices, including on Android tablets and iPads. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+%26+Web+Tools

Education is an issue around the world as demonstrated in this video from New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell. They have problems with "reneged deals with Federal and State governments." Education is in flux the world over, lest any one group of educators feel they are being singled out. This is largely caused by the information age. While the industrial age changed how people worked, the information age is fundamentally changing how people learn and those organizations that can adapt and progress will remain. Some towns suffered the loss of factories but kept their schools. What happens when the schools close? Integrate technology, blend learning, or the tightening finances world wide will make it hard for you to thrive in an education landscape increasingly mixed with education technology.