-
Connecting to the iTunes Store.
Lit2Go on iTunes U. Opens in iTunes http://bit.ly/cSOLs4
-
Summer Books That Make The Critics’ Cut
Summer Books That Make The Critics’ Cut http://n.pr/bYXstl
-
“: : “MacBeth Act 5, First dra
“@OverheardSoho: @MrBoffly: “MacBeth Act 5, First draft – “Run, forest, run”” I wish I’d thought of that! Seriously, I really do.
-
Pandora Rolls Out Its Slick HTML5 Player To All Users (And No More 40-Hour Cap!) | TechCrunch
Pandora Rolls Out Its Slick HTML5 Player To All Users (And No More 40-Hour Cap!) http://j.mp/qOTVrK
-
Know high school girls into computing? Award for Aspirations in Computing applications open on 9/15! More info here: http://ow.ly/6vnrW
-
“Essential to a student’s growth as a Web researcher is learning how to properly attribute the information used when composing reports. Use this guide for lesson plans and insight into how to teach students to avoid plagiarism in Web research and to find resources for understanding and detecting plagiarism.”
Monthly Archives: September 2011
Diigo Links (weekly)
-
@danamhuff Great goals! Do you have these on 1 page? Have 6 trait links here: http://t.co/359B7vR7 SB: http://t.co/73WgJrIz
-
How Should We Deal With Anonymous? | Shakespeare Geek
The right way to discuss Oxford, Anonymous, and the Authorship Question http://t.co/AXeshyO
-
9/11 Memorial | StarTalk Radio Show
My first-hand account of 9/11/01: bit.ly/oo5O4w A Cosmic Perspective: bit.ly/9iyotA And @StarTalkRadio http://t.co/xN21zMz
-
Paper load tip: For final drafts, focus comments o
Paper load tip: For final drafts, focus comments on what students should do in their NEXT paper.
-
Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature – Home
This exhibition looks at the world from which Mary Shelley came, at how popular culture has embraced the Frankenstein story, and at how Shelley’s creation continues to illuminate the blurred, uncertain boundaries of what we consider “acceptable” science.
Adobe Influencer Program
As you probably know if you read this blog regularly, I have moved into a new role as Technology Integration Specialist at my school. When Adobe approached me and invited me to participate in their Influencer program, I readily accepted because I want to learn a great deal about some of their products, especially Flash, Dreamweaver, and and InDesign. I had so much trouble with Flash when I was creating my project as a student in grad school, and I wish I had been able to ask their experts for help then! I also had a great deal of trouble with InDesign last year as my students were using it to create the newspaper. Adobe has been really great about reaching out to me and offering assistance, but it’s a case of not even knowing where to begin. Furthermore, I have been so swamped learning the ropes in my new position and supporting my faculty with training that I haven’t had much time to play with their Master Collection 5.5 suite.
To that end, I am asking for your help. If you are curious about Adobe and would like to learn how to do something, can you please leave a comment describing what you’d like to learn how to do? I have access to Adobe experts, and it seems a shame not to take advantage of their willingness to help.
Thanks in advance, folks.
photo credit: kevindooley
Diigo Links (weekly)
-
Efficiency Trains You to Use Windows and Microsoft Office Keyboard Shortcuts
“Windows: Efficiency is a free program that trains you to use keyboard shortcuts in Windows and Microsoft Office (2010 and 2007) Word and Excel. The app shows you the keyboard shortcuts associated with your mouse movements to help you learn them. “
-
Dear Potential Boosters: Can you get my child as e
Dear Potential Boosters: Can you get my child as excited about reading and writing as you have about selling sausage and wrapping paper?
-
High School Shakespeare : Results! | Shakespeare Geek
Most taught Shax in high school? @ShakespeareGeek has the results – http://t.co/jz37uTR + what folks wish was taught – http://t.co/6zkrn3S
-
Technology in the Classroom Is NOT the End Goal « Education Stormfront
This is spot on. We focus on the tools and expect miraculous results rather than focus on what we want to achieve and choosing the tools that will help us achieve it.
-
My Homework Debate page: http://t.co/C0kUNTV #rethinkinghomework #sschat
-
Cool Cat Teacher Blog: My Google+ Lesson Today Turned into a Bigger Lesson than I planned
Vicki shares how she turned being publicly called out for a grammar mistake into a teachable moment.
-
Cool Cat Teacher Blog: On Leadership
This post of Vicki’s really resonated with me. It was something I needed to read right now. Thanks, Vicki.
-
Trackable Dynamic QR Codes – TrakQR
“TrakQR is an exciting new service that allows you to create, manage, and track your own dynamic QR codes. Forget about all those static, feature-less QR code generators out there. We let you point your QR codes anywhere you want, anytime you want and track their progress through real-time analytics and instant scan notifications.”
-
Have you all seen Citelighter yet? http://t.co/1gD1mAp #research #education #writing #k12 #edtech #edchat
My Kids are Students, Not Fundraisers for Your School
My husband and I went to Maggie and Dylan’s curriculum night on Thursday. Before we could meet their teachers, we had to sit through the PTA’s harassment over the school fundraiser. I was angry about it, but a series of tweets by @paulwhankins today made me mad about it all over again because he gave some articulation to what I was feeling. The PTA representatives pointed out the number of students who had sold junk for the fundraiser versus the number of students in the school, presumably to make us parents feel guilty enough to push our kids into selling junk, and they also pointed out they are only 1/3 of the way to their goal. In the weekly newsletter, we learned the sales period is being extended so that the goal can be met.
Having taught for some years and also having been a student, I know how these things work. They ply kids with junk prizes to sell their junk and make them feel like it’s one of their responsibilities to raise money for their school. As Paul astutely pointed on on Twitter, there are a lot of adults in the school who can write grant proposals or even post on DonorsChoose.org. Why we have to make children feel like they have to sell junk or they don’t care about their school, I can’t understand. I would have less a problem with a PayPal donation button on the school’s website than with this sort of fundraiser.
It may seem weird, but I exclude Girl Scout Cookies from this sort of ire. I think because the emphasis is less on crappy prizes (and theirs are crappy, too), but some things I think Girl Scouts get right about these fundraisers that schools get wrong include the following:
- The product has appeal. I think the cookies are overpriced, but for a once-a-year treat for something I can’t really get elsewhere, it doesn’t bother me. I can buy cheese logs, frozen cookie dough, and wrapping paper much cheaper elsewhere, and the only incentive I have to buy from the schools is to support the schools.
- At least in my daughter’s experience, there has been no pressure to be responsible for selling. My daughter’s troop leaders have established cookie accounts. Money the girls raise by selling cookies goes into those accounts and is used, if the girls wish, to pay for activities, such as camping and trips. They are not made to feel as if they are letting the troop down or causing the troop not to be able to do something by not selling cookies. They are encouraged to sell, but they aren’t guilted into it.
- The prize is not the goal. Girls can earn prizes for selling cookies, and they’re as unimpressive as prizes for any other fundraiser, but the goal is to raise money for activities (which is the point of fundraisers), and my daughter’s troop leaders, at any rate, make that clear in the minds of their girls. And their troop sold the most cookies of any troop in our city, so something about the approach is working. My kids never know why they’re selling products for the school—only that that should.
I am certainly not anti-technology, and I support my school raising funds to purchase interactive whiteboards. I love being able to use one at school, myself. But I think there are vastly better ways of going about it than to push fundraisers on our kids.
