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This survey shows that iPad with the $199 price tag is a 'serious" contender for the ipad. I had someone ask me about Kindle fire vs. iPad. Definitely people are comparing it. Personally, I think it is going to take an OS update the droid system because every time I've used a droid anything the touch hasn't been responsive, but that update is coming.

If you run a computer lab, you would do well to train your students how to use a portable fire extinguisher. This training video is one you can use. Forward this to teachers and those with computers, in particular.

This site provides a flash back into historical events across the globe. The images go along with Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire".

An interesting article that examines the recent events of Rhode Island school district firing teachers and how effective that really is. Teachers need parents support.

According to an ancient Greek philosopher, scientist and healer all matter is comprised of four elements: earth, water, fire and air and associated these four elements with gods and goddesses of Greek mythology. In more contemporary cosmologies these elements have been used to relate and contrast ideas of substance, feelings, energy and thought respectively.

Okay, it's kind of a given for why we need to make sure great teachers keep teaching America's children. If you've had a great teacher, you know what I mean. If you've had a bad teacher, you know what I mean. StudentsFirst argues for the end of last in, first out, which is a firing policy based on seniority. If teachers are going to be fired, the last teachers hired have to go first.

"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

Students need to understand that NOTHING, I repeat NOTHING Is private. Great case study about how 140 characters got someone fired before they were even hired.

Once bullying is successful it rapidly becomes a habit - neurons that fire together, wire together - address it when it begins.

"Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), which stood up for Quenette's"

Funny... when you treat children with dignity and create beauty around them, they tend NOT to act like criminals. Create a school environment that's like a prison, and...

A quick fire game to learn the alphabet. Choose the correct next letter to gain points. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/English

Ted live subscription for your school? You can get a virtual seat at TED talks (it includes a Kindle fire - no one is sure why.) This is a great overview from Edudemic.

A fun art site where you can design a virtual plate and fire it in a virtual kiln. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Art%2C+Craft+%26+Design

"These are interesting findings. It's a really cool academic study. It's a freakin' amazing data set! But these findings cannot be immediately translated into what the headlines have suggested - that immediate use of value-added metrics to reshape the teacher workforce can lift the economy, and increase wages across the board! The headlines and media spin have been dreadfully overstated and deceptive. Other headlines and editorial commentary has been simply ignorant and irresponsible. (No Mr. Moran, this one study did not, does not, cannot negate the vast array of concerns that have been raised about using value-added estimates as blunt, heavily weighted instruments in personnel policy in school systems.)"

If you have a Kindle fire or kindle and want to send articles, there are many ways to send articles there. Tinderizer is one of them. My favorite iPad RSS reader Mr. Reeder will send to Tinderizer ( and Diigo and Tumblr which is why I use it.)

Not sure how I missed the April announcement that Read it Later has been rebranded as Pocket but I kept seeing "pocket" in my RSS readers, Zite, etc. and got curious. Pocket (theh competitor to instapaper) allows you to save websites you see on your mobile device to read later like a magazine on devices like your ipad, droid device, kindle fire, or even your web browser (if you read on your laptop still.) I've seen many use this on their laptop and send it to Pocket or Instapaper to read on their ipad later.

Listen up: nothing is ever free! If you're gong to take a MOOC or other course, you have far less accountability and must have far more discipline. Maybe paying for college classes is more paying for someone to hold your feet to the fire. But the failure rate in these MOOCs is atrocious. If you look at the cost per passing student, it might just be back up there at the regular credit price. Nothing, I repeat NOTHING is free and that ESPECIALLY includes education. Read this article and discuss. What do you think, what is the place for MOOCs? (If you write on your blog, please leave a link in the comments so others can see.)

Erin Klein shares her principles for setting up an effective classroom design with tips especially relevant to elementary teachers. Filling the wall full of charts and clutter from floor to ceiling isn't only a problem with the fire marshall but may actually be making it harder for students to learn. Listen to this awesome conversation to learn more.