Thankfully (tongue-in-cheek), the education realm is not the only place PowerPoint is abused…here is today’s Dilbert-enjoy!
Note that you may have to click on the comic to see the last frame – you will be taken to the Dilbert site.
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A Short List of Favorite Books
My favorite books of all time have three things in common – two of those things are more relevant than the third:
- They are short in length
- The information/story presented is right on
- They are all blue (like I said, not as relevant) (at least I do not think so)
On this list for a long time now have been Johnathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach, and How a Writer Works by Roger Garrison. An addition a couple of years ago was The North Star by Peter Reynolds. The most recent addition is my just completed read of Doug Johnson’s Machines are the easy part; humans are the hard part.
Johnson knows ed tech, and the role it SHOULD play in education, extremely well. The book itself is a testament to the new world of technology, as he self-publishes it on Lulu.com. Its available as a free download there in .pdf, or for a mere $12 for the print book (well worth it).
The book is a series of observations (rules, laws…) on technology in schools, sorted into categories. Most if not all are very obvious, but delivered in a straight forward, funny style that commands attention. For example, observation number 21 states, “Beware the law of unintended consequences.” One of the provided supporting examples to this observation is, “Ask that all work be word-processed, and paper and toner bills sky-rocket.” A second provided example is, “Give parents real-time access to their children’s progress, and teachers become overwhelmed with e-mail.” Obvious, yes, but put in a way to diffuse the issue, and make light of what really matters.
Reflecting on my short list of books, I dusted off the Garrison since its been a long time since I have read it. One of my favorite items in there is the Buzzword Generator (p. 41). Its a fun nonsense tool that helps you create three-word, seemingly important, phrases. It has made parallel reciprocal mobility something for everyone. 🙂
Check out any of the above mentioned books and others on my Shelfari page.
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What in the Wordle Does This Mean?
Thanks to Doug Johnson and his Blue Skunk Blog, I just learned of a neat tool, Wordle. You can paste a blob of text, or enter a URL, RSS feed, or Del.icio.us user, and see a word cloud created based on the content provided. The resulting image can be customized by color and shape.
When I entered the URL for this blog, here is the result:
So it appears I talk about software quite a bit. I like that students shows up quite a lot. Open and source appear more than I would have expected, but I like that too. I wish that learn, learner, and learning were in more abundance.
This is a neat, informal, assessment of what the blog has been about. I probably do talk alot about software since its easy to write about new tools (like Wordle…). I like to think I focus more on learning, but its so easy to get caught up in the tools. What in the Wordle does this mean? What fun food for thought…
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On Making Software Accessible
I’ve been listening to the NECC (National Educational Computing Conference) podcasts available free via iTunes. David Thornburg, leading thinker and educator, spoke in a presentation titled, “Open Minds, Open Education, and a View of Open Culture.” The focus was on 1:1 programs for students and open source software.
The quote that jumped out at me was near the beginning:
“Singe platform software is anti-child.”
Pow. Ouch. Absolutely right. I’ll be the first to admit I have a personal preference for some software apps that are on one platform but not another (e.g. Visual Communicator and iLife). However, anytime a piece of software, be it Windows-only, Mac-only or even Linux-only, is used with students, it will prevent the home use of that software by the student if they have another platform at home.
To that end, open source, cross-platform software solutions that students can download and use at home for free will do more to break down the walls of technology than pretty much any other technique we can try. In the best case scenario, time using technology in a class setting is far less than in a home setting (unless in a 1 to 1 program). If the software is accessible anywhere, the benefits go up dramatically.
This year we are installing many more software programs that are open source cross platform (OSCP?). Two examples are OpenOffice, much like the Microsoft Office suite, and GIMP, which is very similar to Photoshop. I plan to make a concentrated effort to help our students realize the power of these accessible programs.
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Hello Crew!
Hello video announcements crew! I just finished a workshop at Amherst Middle with Mr. Z. on using Visual Communicator. Click on the video below to see some of what I learned.
Get the Flash Player to see this content.Let me know what you think, and see you in August!
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Under Construction – Please Excuse the Mess
I’m tinkering with a new theme, and as a result, lots of things are moving around and are “works-in-progress.” Please excuse the dust – I figure it will take a couple of weeks as I learn how to customize the WordPress templates.
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(pat, pat, pat)…Still Here!
Well, July 1st has come and the blog is still here – woo-hoo! The transition from Teacherhosting to DreamHost is complete.
One of the reasons I like to do the extra work of registering and hosting my own blog is so I can understand and learn about it. The move was not so bad but I have to say I have learned quite a bit about site management in the last couple of weeks.
A tip of the hat and many thanks to Aaron from Clarity Innovations for his assistance during the transition.
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Bravo, Ladies!
Three students from Heim recently won the Generation YES Go Green video contest. In the contest, students were directed to produce a video about how our school is Green and/or how it could be better at it. In the GenYES spirit, all aspects had to be student-driven. I can tell you without a doubt it was, and doing so proves how much our students can do given the right resources.
Once Caroline was approached about this contest by Mrs. Merlino, she immediately enlisted Mary and Kelly to join in. The only time I heard from them is when they needed a resource, or some guidance in how to do something. They did it all, and a fine job they did.
See the winning video at the Generation YES site here, along with the other talented student winners from California. Their videos will be featured at the National Educational Computing Conference in San Antonio June 29-July 2. Bravo, Ladies!
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Moving Day – See You Soon (Hopefully!)
Moving day is upon me. I have to say that in the real world, I do not like moving, and in the virtual world of moving web hosts, I like it equally as little! After receiving word that my hosting service, Teacherhosting.com, is discontinuing service as of June 30th, I’ve been a bit stressed about making sure everything gets moved.
I’m off to work with DreamHost, which was recommended by the folks at WordPress.org. This type of move is really nothing big, but if you’ve never done it, it is the worry that is the hard part.
I’m going to take this opportunity to do the summer “cleaning” of the blog. Over the course of the next month or so there may be some theme changes, content moves, etc. I’m anxious to do my first post after July 1st.
Happy summer…I plan to be back soon!
Image citation:
TheMuuj. Moving truck. Photograph. 27 Jan. 2008. 23 June 2008 <http://flickr.com/photos/themuuj/2224917035/>. -
A True Buffalo Hero
Students, please take note: we lost a Buffalonian yesterday that is worthy of the title “hero.” He was not an amazing athlete. He was not a wizard with business dealings or money. He was a smart, straight forward, honest, hard working journalist, and at the top of his game. Tim Russert is the type of person you should aspire to be like.
I never met Mr. Russert, and since I’m not originally from Buffalo, it may seem strange that I (like many) feel a connection to him. If you read the book he wrote about growing up in Buffalo and his roots in the working class neighborhoods in South Buffalo, you quickly see that he was the epitome of hard work and dedication. Anytime he was on TV, be it Meet the Press, or any number of political shows, he set the bar for journalistic excellence.
Compare his heroism to the typical sports hero. We easily get caught up in the amazing talents of a Bill or Sabre. They are amazing athletes, but many times the surface ability is given more credit than it is due. I certainly could not compete with the likes of Marshawn Lynch on the football field (or any pro sports player), but when his SUV hits a person, and he evades simple questioning by the police to find the truth, it makes my skin crawl (see related Buffalo News letter to the editor here).
I certainly do not want to generalize that sports heros are not great types to admire – I just do not like it at all that the amount of attention, money, and importance placed on sports heroes is disproportionately large. I would love it if we put 80,000 people in Ralph Wilson stadium to hear the Buffalo Philharmonic play Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, with everyone singing the opening motif…(OK, maybe not the best venue for Beethoven, but you get the picture).
Anyway, lets take a little time to stop and reflect on what it means to be great. Tim Russert is everything we should be proud of as Buffalonians, and he is someone any student of any age should aspire to be like when they “grow up.”
Image citation:
Dbking. Russert Russert Russert. Photograph. 14 June 2008. Flickr. 14 June 2008
<http://flickr.com/photos/bootbearwdc/2577089389/>.