SMS Connections

What do you think of this? For the best part of the article, be sure to read the comments.

Interesting article and comments but it all just makes me mad. I work to hard everyday and spend to much time away from my baby to hear constant criticisms about teaching, especially when I go above and beyond to put everything online yet no one ever looks at it. Great now I"m annoyed Thanks Pat :) LOL not your fault.

Danielle, Sorry about that; the intent was not to upset you, but rather to let everyone see that there is a balancing act that is going on all over the country. One of the commentors stated that "this is here to stay, so everyone get used to it," and while I didn't appreciate his or her closed tone, he or she has a point: it's here. Finding a balance between what is communicated, how it is communicated, and how to best maximize the time we spend doing the communicating in addition to the lives that we lead outside of school is now a huge issue. It is now a major discussion point in many of the meetings I attend, and I think the answer will come out after we muddle through it for a little while. There are so many new changes this year regarding openness and transparency, I think we will find that balance after a bit of trial and error with it.

These are fantastic for teachers trying to bridge the gap between subject areas.

These are great for trying to figure out how to pull various subject areas into your classroom.

Interesting research about the new findings regarding the effects of new communication.

I have been thinking about this idea for a while and I am glad to see that Nancy has a great model to follow here.

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!

Some resources here perhaps.

Great discussion activities

This might be useful to those of you who ask your students to design interiors as part of bigger projects.  

Here is a list of projects arranged alphabetically that are currently running worldwide and looking for volunteer classrooms. Do you want your students to be connected globally? Here's your entryway.

Great piece about the concept of bottled water and its rise to popularity. What's the truth?

so cool.

This one is really cool to watch, and kind of presents us with that "Minority Report" feeling.

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

If you need a program that blocks out everything else and just lets you write, this one is beautiful.

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

Here is another interior builder that might work for students trying to create interiors.

Essential reading for anyone teaching students to write today.

Handout for digital writing workshops

Hmmm.  How would this go over with our peers?