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Great post by Ben Grey on his participation in Constructing Modern knowledge - he hits several things including the fact that many at the conference said that computer programming should be mandatory for all students and a presenter who said that the problem with today is that too many people have a voice. My comments from Ben's blog are below. Great conversations happening here! Programming - OK, on the programming thing, here are my thoughts. In our curriculum our objective is not as much a specific LANGUAGE. One year I may use HTML with Javascript, this past year I used LSL - what I want kids to know that when they encounter programming and coding that there are certain conventions. Some are case sensitive, some are not. How do you find out how to add to what you know about programming? Do you know where to go to find prewritten code? Can you hack it to make it work to do what you want it to do? We spend about a week - two weeks but I require they know how to handcode hyperlinks and images - they are just too important. But to take 12 weeks or 6 weeks to learn a whole language - yes maybe some value - but to me the value is HOW is the language constructed or built. What are the conventions and how do I educate myself if I am interested in pursuing. What comes out of this time is kids who say either "I never want to do that" or "this is really cool, I love coding." They are doing very simplistic work (although the LSL object languages were pretty advanced) but since we don't have a full course nor time in our curriculum, I do see this as an essential part of what I teach. I'm not teaching it for the language sake but for the sake of understanding the whole body of how languages work - we talk about the different languages and what they are used for as part of Intro to Computer science and have an immersive experience. To me, this is somewhat a comprimise between leaving it out entirely or forcing everyone to take 12 weeks of it. I

Try some fab Things To Do, from weather projects to things you can take part in.

This interface maybe good for teaching as starters Goby is a search engine that's all about exploring new things to do with your free time, from a weekend adventure to the vacation of a lifetime. Goby can introduce you to exciting new things to do, or help you find new places to try old favorites. Bottom line: we want to help you have fun.

My ninth graders have completed a module documenting how to do various tasks in OpenSim, the virtual world we use that is hosted by Reactiongrid. This wiki has the links, instructions, and other pages with tutorials on how to do various items. I was assessing this today and thought I'd pass it along as there is some great information to show you how to do things. (If you are a beginning second lifer you may also learn some things.)

Cool webinars and expert activities. I just love these -- go to this website and sign up! Dr. Wayne Clough, former president of Georgia Tech (my alma mater) now runs the smithsonian and they are doing some of the coolest things! Here is a list, but go to the website to join in. " Day One: Understanding the American Experience Tuesday, 13 April 2010 11:00 to 11:50 am EDT How do we change a stereotype? 12:00 to 12:50 pm EDT What can science tell us about American history? 2:00 to 2:50 pm EDT What does clothing communicate? Day Two: Valuing World Cultures Wednesday, 14 April 2010 11:00 to 11:50 am EDT Who owns music? 12:00 to 12:50 pm EDT What happens when a people meets its past? 2:00 to 2:50 pm EDT How does design solve everyday problems? Day Three: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe Wednesday, 28 April 2010 11:00 to 11:50 am EDT Are there other worlds out there? 12:00 to 12:50 pm EDT How have we imagined other worlds? 2:00 to 2:50 pm EDT How do we grasp the vastness of the universe? Day Four: Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet Thursday, 29 April 2010 11:00 to 11:50 am EDT What do modern animal bones tell us about biodiversity? 12:00 to 12:50 pm EDT How can we learn about nature's most elusive animals? 2:00 to 2:50 pm EDT How (and why) do we count living things?"

The two things that have had the biggest impact on me as a teacher, are blogging and Twitter.  Blogging helps me to realize what I actually think.  It's the digital version of talking things out.  And Twitter keeps me fed.  For the past four months, the learning curve has been so sharp, that at times, I feel like I'm drinking from a fire hose.   But it has challenged me, and made me a better teacher.

Homeworkopoly is a fun way to encourage children to do their homework! Here are some basic instructions, but feel free to use your own judgement and change things around to suit your class needs. We have tried to leave off negative things such as "Go to jail" in order to keep this experience as positive as possible.

Ponoko-design-technology-teachers-take-note

This is an older post but really resonates with me. (Isn't it funny how you can read something from a while back and re-learn all over again some really cool things.) I had to laugh and remember - this was during my first year of blogging and everything is STILL TRUE about blogging. Gotta love this amazing blogging thing that lets us re-invent and re-learn about ourselves over time.

Since this post is already creating a stir, I'm bookmarking it to track it. This is my ponderings from the Georgia Tech Football Game vs. Miami about how blogging is like football.

account training becomes an added advantage if you do not wish to hire your personal accountant to manage your accounts. Accounting involves a lot of activities like book-keeping, preparing balance sheet, maintaining tax records and payroll and so on. There is no way you can avoid these tasks. Every functional organisation has to stick to these activities for the smooth functioning of the firm. Many organisations in the past have suffered from enormous losses only because their employees did not have the required accounting training and thus were unable to handle the accounting services and important financial documents and statements. For overall success, any firm should have a firm grip over the company's accounts and financial position. You can do a lot of things to ensure you are always informed about your company's financial position. First and foremost, you can ask experienced professionals from your company to undergo accounting training courses. By brushing up their knowledge through accounting training courses, these professionals will be in a better position to handle the accounting of the firm. Another option you have is to outsource the task to outside professionals who are competent enough to handle the accounting job. Apart from this, you can also hire accounting firms who can assure you transparency in all the dealings apart from impeccable services. By outsourcing your work to an outside firm, you can save a lot of time of your firm which can be utilised for other management tasks. However, you have to be ready to shell out a bomb to avail of these services and hence it is always a good thing to have your company's own professionals well versed in this task. Once your company professionals go through competent accounting training courses at a reputed accounting training centre, they can be ready to handle different tasks like preparing sales tax reports, creating monthly or mid-monthly reports, calculating reports with perfect sales figure,

Suzie Nestico is our project manager for this semester's Flat Classroom project and is doing an incredible job. She is a history teacher and is doing work at her Pennsylvania school to align everything with common core.Here,you can see her transparency with her students about each aspect of the FlatClassroom project, what they are doing, and how those things are aligned with what they need to know. While she very humbly pointed out to me that her blog is just beginning and still a work in process with some things to iron out - it is a great example of how global collaboration, common core, and core courses can go hand in hand.

Writing Teacher Shannon Carey is teaching writing this year with an edge. Using the idea of "writing as resistance" she's helping kids find their voice on hard, tough topics and daring them to write great things. Read this blog post for ideas and to see some cool things you can do to challenge great writing.

Great information shared by Bob  Sprankle on why you should use Scratch with kids. If you work with elementary curriculum or teach in an elementary STEM or computer lab read this. "THIS is the true intent of Scratch. Mitch Resnick made Scratch with his team at MIT. The team is (purposefully) called "The Lifelong Kindergarten Group" because in kindergarten we are allowed (or used to be allowed) to try things out, build things and knock them down, make a mess, experiment, fool around with tools, CREATE! Resnick says that we should be allowed to be working like that ALL the time -for our entire lives-because that is HOW WE LEARN BEST. It is the natural way the brain operates."

"We all hide things. From our friends and even from ourselves. Because of this, the pupils showing clear signs of distress and of need of social and/or emotional support are probably only a fraction of the real need at any one time. We also all experience difficulties at times, yet the object of our distress is often fleeting, or in hindsight trivial in the grand scheme of things. However, many of the young people we teach have chronically stressful situations to deal with on a daily basis, both at home and at school. This can exhibit in the classroom as anxiety, poor concentration or disruptive behaviour."

"Despite the prevalence of depression in the population, the devastating impact it can have, and the rise in public awareness in recent years, schools (and society at large) still find depression a taboo. Something which is often ignored and misunderstood. Where support is available wonderful things can happen mitigating some many of the pressures when the black dog comes barking. While a societal shift is needed, there are many, often small things that educators can do to help those who need help."

"When I look at my timetable for the week, it isn't the recorder practice which happens next door first thing every Monday morning which fills me full of dread, nor the infamous Friday afternoon slot which brings about a sense of foreboding. My true timetable terror occurs shortly after school on a Wednesday afternoon. The (unrelenting) weekly staff meeting should be a time to coordinate with colleagues, create inspirational ideas for the way ahead, and take key decisions for the future of the school. A chance to bring clarity to the chaos, and move the things forward."

So often when we talk about schools, students, parents and teachers, we discuss things in arm-lengths type of way. We discuss how they need to have richer and more meaningful learning experiences, how we need to provide them with the opportunities to use the technological tools in authentic learning experiences. What we don't discuss is how schools need to be places of living not just of learning. They need to be places of community where children can experience life-lessons not just academic lessons. The story that follows is about one such event that took place at our school this past year.

Learning analytics are underused but will be one of the most important tools in our online toolbox. Once we grasp the importance of these, we will be demanding more and more intelligence on behalf of the learning analytics that we use to support elearning, apps, and all of the things our students use as part of their learning toolbox. Reports from Educause

If you want to learn some very cool things here is a synopsis of watching more than 70 hours of TED talks with links. I love these types of summary posts (any wonder?)

I really enjoyed reading Jan NOrth's post about the 3 things she believes about all students.