• Oct212009
    Web Applications are Changing School

    POSTED AT 08:41 PM

    Folks, it really is different out there. I can blog, microblog, tweet, IM, chat, skype. There are so many more ways to communicate.

     
     
     
    • I can create my flash cards online and study them from home.
    • I can make videos to talk to my students who might be sick at home, or to pass on a lesson.
    • I have digital lockers for my students so they can save their work and not worry about losing or forgetting it.
     
    • I can write books online and post it so my friends can look at it as if it were a virtual book.
    • I can make book trailers (just like movie trailers but for books.)
    • I can study with a group of friends.
    • I can create a wiki for students to study together.
    • I can write to people in other countries.
    • I can learn a language online.
    • I can walk in a virtual world online.
    • I can build cities online.
     
    You get what's going on here?
     
    This is not the way things were when we were kids. And it's not a bad thing! I am amazed with all the many more ways I can teach.
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    May192009
    Every Pencil has a Few Stories to Tell

    POSTED AT 01:22 PM

    There are some pencil facts out on the internet that claim that a pencil can be used to write about 45,000 words, to write a line the length of 35 miles, and that the average pencil can be sharpened about 7 times. Those sure sound cool, but I don't think they have ever been put to any kind of test.
     
    So... I was thinking for this year's NaNoWriMo I may consider handwriting my novel!!! That's crazy, I know!!! But I would write the novel with one pencil, and I would keep track of how many times I had to sharpen my pencil. The only thing I'm not going to do is measure the miles of writing. Two out of three ain't bad. This experiment is going to be physically painful. Writing 1,900 words a day will hurt. A lot. I also will not enjoy counting all the words I write every day. And I won't be able to get officially acknowledged as a NaNoWriMo Author if I don't use their official online word counter. That's going to be a bummer. (I like being an official winner.) Maybe I won't do this as a NaNoWriMo experiment. Maybe I'll just do this during the summer, for fun. That's right. I like to write for fun!
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    Apr222009
    I Still Play with Words

    POSTED AT 01:22 PM

    I was driving home last weekend, and I remember passing a van that had this phrase on the side: Tall Grass Guy. At a glance, I knew it was a lawn maintenance service, but then my brain started to play with the phrase. Just where am I supposed to put the emphasis?
     
    Is this a guy who will cut the tall grass?  Tall Grass Guy
    OR
    Is this a guy who is tall and calls himself the the Grass Guy?  Tall Grass Guy
     
    I'm tempted to call the guy to find out. It's a silly notion. I won't actually do it.
     
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    Feb272009
    A Teacher's Work is Never Done

    POSTED AT 11:41 AM

    The Project: 4 papers, 5 weeks.
     
     
    The Result: 122 Students x 4 =
     
     
    I'm a little tired, but I like reading through their work. I'm behind, but I'll be done this weekend. Hurray for caffeine!
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    Feb162009
    This is Why Lessons Should be Interesting

    POSTED AT 01:46 PM

    I found this poor little bear by my doorway. It didn't hurt anyone. Look at that cute little face. But a student was bored, so the bear had to pay.
     
     
    Teachers, only you can put an end to this. Be interesting!
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    Feb022009
    Teaching Styles According to the Movies

    POSTED AT 11:00 AM

    One of my favorite teacher movies is The Karate Kid. That's right, that's a teacher movie. Mr. Miyagi rocks! His entire approach to teaching karate is hidden within typical chores that his student must endure. It is only later that the karate is revealed.
     
    Okay, so it's a corny, corny movie. I still like his teaching style. Another movie I like is Dead Poet's Society. The literature teacher is a quirky, engaging character who breathes life into books and poetry. He makes the boys wake up and realize that written works are about life and living. I don't agree completely with his work, but the movie didn't really focus on that.
     
    What other movies are there? Are real teachers like the teachers we see in movies?
     
    Mr. Holland's Opus - He wasn't going to be a teacher, but he remained one.
    To Sir, with Love - He was strict with rough kids and they loved him for it.
    The Substitute - He fills in at a rough school and relates to what the kids experience.
    Dangerous Minds - She believed in the rough kids, and they rose up to that.
     
    There are so many teacher movies. There's the one with Sean Connery, the one with Hillary Swank , and the one with Danny DeVito. Real teaching is more than what the movies do, but I still enjoy watching teacher movies. What are some of your favorites? Do you have any teachers that remind you of movie teachers?
     
    Would you consider coach movies a type of teacher movie?
     
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    Jan282009
    Don't Know Much About History

    POSTED AT 10:16 PM

    The swearing in of a new president is certainly a momentous occasion... but is it a historic event, or is it an historic event?
     
    Some people favor one over the other, and that means some people are wrong.
     
    When applied, the rule for English states that a historic event is the correct phrase. Why? It's an interesting rule. It states that any word that begins with the sound of a consonant uses a, not an.  (The complementary rule states that any word that begins with the sound of a vowel uses an, not a.) (Note, for example, that ukulele begins with a vowel, but it sounds like it begins with a y, so write a ukulele, not an ukulele.
     
    Confusion arises with the word historic because people want to drop the sound of the letter h. Probably they want to do this because they think it feels strange to make the sound /ay/ so close to the sound /hiss/: a historic.
     
    And yet, consider when someone hears a hissing cockroach. You'll never hear them recall at a later time that they heard an hissing cockroach. You'll never hear someone who witnessed a hippopotamus overturn a boat say that they saw an hippo either.
     
    While researching this phrase, the saddest thing I found online was a blogger who concluded that since he found both phrases used they both must be correct and acceptable! What garbage. That's like saying that I saw cars drive down a road at varying speeds that typically ranged from 45 to 55 and so they must all be correct -- but the fact was the speed limit sign clearly stated 35. Follow the rules! Disobeying them over and over does not make your actions correct. It only means you have bad habits.
     
    We cannot change the rules because we see others breaking them. We change rules when there is a fair enough reason to do so.
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    Jan162009
    Wouldn't it be cool if...

    POSTED AT 01:53 PM

    I'd like to be a dorky online personality. My show would cover the misused punctuation and misspellings of English language that we see all around us everyday. It's the stuff we put up with, but I wish I could correct it in a fun way.
    Picture this: you go to YouTube and you click on a video of a guy asking a person behind the counter if she wouldn't mind talking about the sign that has prices and other information. One word is spelled: Taco's.
     
    The man explains when it is correct to use an apostrophe and when it is not needed. [Insert whatever reaction this creates.] He then produces a new sign for her to replace the old one. He turns the camera on himself. [Insert nerdy phrase or motto.] And the clip concludes.
     
    Yeah, that would be my show. 
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    Dec122008
    21st Century Literacies

    POSTED AT 04:42 PM

    I read another article about how important it is that schools teach kids the skills they need for this century, that we need to stop teaching 20th century skills. Funny thing is these 21st century skills focus on the computer, a piece of technology that has been in schools since the late 70s. (I know. I was there.)
     
    And what are these new skills? Oddly enough, they are also the old ones! In this century we have to teach kids how to think creatively, how to comprehend, how to analyze, how to collaborate, how to evaluate, and how to think critically. All of these skills are outlined in Bloom's Taxonomy, a document that came out of the 70s.

    The job of a public school is to pass on basic knowledge that we can all use, not everything that is available. There are so many things we learn in life that occur outside of our formal education. It is a mistake to want to include so much of the bells and whistles in our schools.
     
    I like how Mark Twain put best: "Don't let school get in the way of your education."
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    Dec082008
    National Novel Writing Month is OVER

    POSTED AT 01:24 AM

    November is NaNoWriMo and I participated again. What a blast, once again, to be able to say: I wrote a novel!!!
     
    Last year, my plans fell apart and my novel never got past 15,000 words; this year, the big picture was fully thought out and the only obstacle was time.
     
    But anyway, I printed a copy and I have it at school. A few kids have started reading it and they like it. It's the most basic thing any author craves -- for people to like our stories. I wasn't ready for the next question, though: when was I going to publish it?
     
    I hadn't thought that far at this point. I mean, yes, I want to publish this story, but that is so far away. There is so much line editing, story editing, character construction, and chapter additions to write still. I've only begun. With so many kids asking, though, I kind of want to rush through this and get it out there.
     
    Is that silly? Yes, it is.

    The story needs a lot of work, but I think I will try to get this one published. It seems like fun and a step in the right direction.

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