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What do you think of this?

Danielle, That's precisely the question I want everyone thinking about. We truly focus so much of our energies on getting the format down and getting the "i's" dotted and "t's" crossed, and for many of the students we teach, that is completely necessary; however, as we begin to look at the next phase of what we'd like to do in the district which includes more than just being "proficient" on some state test, can we blend some of the thinking in this post into what we are doing. And as for making people angry, my advice is that you don't get the results you really want without making a few people angry along the way. Not that you try to, but when you know that what you are doing will make your students better, you just go with it.

Pat - I'd love to share this post with the kids or incorporate parts of it. I have to say that the best writing that the kids have done is usually the writing they do when we're in class and they just write. One of the hardest parts of teaching English is having to read 130 well constructed essays that follow the rubric but are so dry and boring that I have to restrain myself from stabbing my eyes out with my pen. It all goes back to the fact that in our H.S. the kids can write a great 5 paragraph essay or write persuasively but they have NO VOICE and I feel that the stress on structure and grammar could be why they have no voice. Interesting - we should discuss this a bit at our next Connections meeting!

Do kids learn to think by reading great literature, doing difficult math and learning history, philosophy and science? Or can they tackle those subjects on their own if schools simply teach them to problem-solve, communicate, use technology and think creatively?

Breaks down money mysteries in kid friendly language

great for budgets and teaching financial literacy

If we ever thought we didn't need to help kids understand context and meaning in media, we were mistaken.

Many of you already do some of these, but still they will help you get your kids from passive to active.

This author brings up the question that I've wrestled with before: just because we can, does it mean that we should? Or should our abilities always go to make us more human?

Did you watch the "This American Life' cartoon? That is exactly what you are describing, where even the premise of creating news shows altered how kids behaved in the face of a situation that called for social action. It raises the question for me of "should the kids know more how to operate the high tech camera, or when to step out from behind it and act?"

Yeah I watched the cartoon and saved it in hopes that I can show it to my students one day and have that discussion. I think they NEED to know how to step out and act - being a good person and citizen should always be number one and if they do that then they will use their technology for the best things! I love these diigo posts - thanks!

This is something we should all watch.

Here are some things to think about...

If you have boys, let them at this one.

Best. Site. Ever.

the week's events in rap format

Excellent site for helping kids with writing from a prompt. Offers word selection or freestyle writing.

You just have to let your kids go nuts with this one.

While unlikely, this just jumps up at me. As Josh wrote in the diigo notes for the page, what if we did this for schools?

Visually pleasing timeline tool

Pick and choose from this list to meet your needs.

I like the use of contagious as a good thing.  Worth the watch.