nonsense

The moon is down

2012-01-09T09:45:00.001-05:00

The moon is down
Originally uploaded by tsakshaug

Continuing 366 photos for 2012. Moonset in our backyard this morning.

First meeting of the build season

2012-01-08T10:44:00.001-05:00

First meeting of the build season
Originally uploaded by tsakshaug

Missed a day of photos. Yesterday was the first day of FIRST robotics. After we found out what the game was we worked all afternoon figuring out the game and some possible strategies to use. Good start.

Day 5 colorful cat

2012-01-05T23:42:00.001-05:00

Day 5 colorful cat
Originally uploaded by tsakshaug

Day 5 of 366. This is a drawing that my wife's son's girlfriend's daughter made for my wife. Very nice.

stuff in my pockets

2012-01-04T23:39:00.001-05:00

stuff in my pockets
Originally uploaded by tsakshaug

At the end of the day I empty my pockets, find the usual stuff. Phone, keys, bandana, knife. Sometimes change. Not tonight. Day 4 of 366

Time to put away the grill?

2012-01-03T12:12:00.001-05:00

Time to put away the grill?
Originally uploaded by tsakshaug

This is the first grill to come out in the spring and the last to be put away. Yes, I have multiple grills and smokers. I like this one for quick meals, which is what I would do in this weather. Might be in the 40's by the weekend, time to get some burgers together.

Tea seeping

2012-01-02T14:46:00.001-05:00

Tea seeping
Originally uploaded by tsakshaug

Day two of 366. Sally received some tea for christmas that opens up while seeping. Sort of neat looking

Nuts

2012-01-01T17:03:00.001-05:00

Nuts
Originally uploaded by tsakshaug

Day one of 2012 365 photos. Or photo a day for 2011. We were making cranberry coffee cake this morning. Here are the nuts

Still Looking

2011-11-29T10:35:00.001-05:00

As the one or two readers of this blog know, I am still looking for a job. Right now I am working phone support and making about 1/3 of the money I was making last year, which is really not a good thing. What I am not liking, and I may have written about this before, is how some companies handle their applicants and their hiring processes. Maybe I am a bit old fashioned, but I do like getting some feedback. A couple of weeks ago is a case in point. One night after work, I sent in an application to an outsourcing firm that handles technical support for many well known companies around the world. They called me within 12 hours to set up a couple of screening interviews for the next day. I went in, did well on the interviews, and as I was driving home, they called to tell me that they had sent an online test to me and asked me to fill it out as soon as possible, and could I come for another interview the next day. When I got home from work, around midnight, I did the 24 page test, involving UNIX, windows and other commands, server, SQL and various other questions, I did well, at least that is what they told me the next day during my 2 hour interview and tour. So a few hours later they called and asked if I could have a phone interview with someone from the vendor. My feedback from that interview was good, we even discussed pay and benefits. So after that whirlwind recruiting extravaganza, I hear nothing. I was at their beck and call for two and a half days, and nothing. Not even a letter, Email or voice mail saying "never mind". I am a little put out by all of that. My time is worth something, but they did give me a doughnut, so I guess that paid for it. The pay would have gotten me up to 50% of what I was making last year, which would have been nice. Nothing. Give me some feedback. Is that too much to ask?

What I have learned

2011-11-27T10:15:00.001-05:00

What I have learned in my short career outside of education. Working in a warehouse: Warehouse work may not be good for us folks with ADD. Too many flashing lights. I noticed when working on “the line” with my back turned toward the warehouse, I made few errors, but facing the warehouse...I was too distracted, with the forklifts and their blinking lights zipping around. Too much to take in. Found it was hard to let my mind wander too far while stacking pallets, or whatever else I did, made it hard to enjoy the movies and voices in my head. Phone support: I would think that working with numbers is hard enough without having dyslexia. But reading phone numbers, taking credit card information and writing dollar amounts is very hard with it. I don’t make too many mistakes, and usually it is caught by the system or the customer. It gets worse as the day grows longer. I have also learned that I am not cut out for second shift work. I would prefer going in early and getting the day done. My most productive part of the day is around 10 am, and working second shift means I am just getting some stuff done around the house at that time. It is possible to make it thorough anything.

On Call

2011-11-04T14:53:00.000-04:00

It has been a long and difficult job search, but I have found a job that may be somewhat long term. I am still looking, schools, business and with my current employer. I am happy to be working, and have been working at this position for a month, and still upset that I did not get some of the jobs I interviewed for, but so it goes.

This past spring and summer were taken up by looking for jobs on-line and in the newspapers, remember newspapers? So many applications, so few call backs. Finally in desperation, I went to the local temporary job agency. That was an eye opener into the world of entry level jobs. Part of the hiring process involved a questionnaire, as most do, but this was different. Other pre-employment questions usually involve something along the lines of, ‘have you ever been convicted of a crime?’ or ‘Have you ever been fired?’, this was more interesting, it presented scenarios to react to.

For instance- You have a disagreement with your supervisor do you:
a) Punch him
b) Storm off the job
c) Do what you are told
d) Stay at work, but don’t work hard

If you feel that a fellow employee has disrespected you, you should:
a) ignore it, if it continues, contact your supervisor
b) wait until after work and fight him in the parking lot
c) start yelling at him to draw attention to how bad he is
d) slap him

Have you ever taken drugs or drunk alcohol while on the job?
a) during lunch only
b) only before work
c) never
d) I sneak some in and use it now and then

and so on for about 50 questions. It was strange. But I did pass that test, and got a call to work in a warehouse at $9 and hour. I was there for a few weeks, but was subsequently offered this position, and a $3 an hour raise! I have many stories to tell about the three weeks “on the line” but, may just let them fade away, like my aches and pains from working there.

Now I answer phones.
Talk to people. Someone is paying me to talk on the phone. I really do not like talking on the phone. But you have to do something or it would not be called work. I work for a multi-level marketing firm, actually a subsidiary of them, which sells VoIP services. I work in billing. So I get calls from folks who need to change credit card numbers, stop service, start service, check balances. These are all good calls. We of course get others who are angry when they call in.

I have noticed that some of my co-workers take that type of caller to heart, and start arguing or being defensive. I don’t. I understand their frustration, and manage to keep everyone calm or calm people down. Then after the call is over, I forget it. I average about 50 calls in a shift, and can remember very little about any of them. I wonder how I would have reacted a few years ago, I think I would have been like some of the others and gotten into arguments. Being calm is good for the blood pressure.....

more later

So much to do

2011-08-22T18:36:00.000-04:00

In case the one or two of you that actually look at this blog are wondering. I have a job interview on Friday. It looks like a good job, two small districts share a technology director. That sort of sounded like the beginning of a joke. Both schools seem to have a good amount of technology installed, so it will be interesting to hear what they are looking for, and all that stuff. Hopefully training and working with teachers and students.

While driving I write many blog posts in my head. I usually do not write about religion or politics here, and will try not to. But some politics are popping in my brain wanting to be written. Baseball, now that is what I will write about next, have so many ideas on how to fix the game. Not that it is broken, mind you, but it needs some fixing.

So to let you know what is coming, fair warning.

Time moves on

2011-08-10T12:04:00.001-04:00

It has been a long summer. I have no idea about the number of applications sent out. On the bright side, I now can say I know Articulate and Captivate. I am trying to get in touch with a local company about doing some training for them.

Have gotten a fair number of rejection letters, and several no contacts. Hoping to hear something in a few days. Time is getting tight.

Just applied for a nice job which is in two near by school districts, splitting my time between the two as their technology director. That would be a good job. Small districts. There is always worries about being split, with both groups feeling slighted, but that will work out. Just need to be clear about schedule and responsibilities.

A larger district was looking for a tech director, as a school admin, they re-posted as a civil service job, they have an inside guy they want to hire.

There seem to be a bunch of PE jobs out there this year. Now an then I think about applying to the state and giving them my money for that licence. Then I fight back the urge.

Something will happen in the next few weeks.
I know it will
really

Another week

2011-07-12T22:04:00.000-04:00

Things are moving slowly on the job front. Taught myself Articulate and Captivate, nice programs. Prefer Captivate, Articulate has some clunky features, and does not really look like they have done much updating in 4 years or so. Captivate just seems easier to use, perhaps because it is an Adobe product, and runs like one.
Sent off three examples of my work with these programs to a recruiter, who then sent them off to a company looking for an instructional designer. Will see what happens. Only have about 10 days left of the free trial with both software packages, so need to finish learning what I need to learn.
Have heard nothing back from any school jobs....frustrating.
Keep going through the various job posting to find something new.
Middle of July, September is roaring around the corner. Medical insurance goes to COBRA at that point.
But did have a good week in the mountains last week.

A positive day on the hunt

2011-06-16T22:55:00.000-04:00

Today, no rejection letters or Email. Two somewhat positive contacts, anything that is not a rejection I see as positive. Also found an interesting job to apply for.

I sent a resume to a TV station Monday, today received a letter from them, I fully expected it to be a rejection letter. What it said was I passed the initial screening, and my application was moving forward. That is a positive step. How nice of them to write at this stage too.

Received a call regarding an application for an Instructional Designer position. That was nice. The only problem being is they are looking for someone with experience with a program called Articulate, which I do not have. Other than that it was positive, and he said that there are other positions coming up that I would fit.

So I went to the Articulate web site, it does look like a nice program for working with. Two problems, I don't have $1300 hanging around, and it is PC only, and I have a Mac. There is a free 30 day trial, which I could learn it fairly well, I just need to get ahold of a PC for a month.

Another place is advertising for Vice President for education. I need to print out the paper work and send it on its way.

So all in all a fairly positive day.

Another day, another application

2011-06-15T16:21:00.000-04:00

To keep the many readers up to date....I applied for an Instructional Designer position with Kelly IT services. It would be nice to get a call for any of the applications. At least I did not get a dreaded rejection email or letter today. I really don't call them rejection letters, and have another term for them, but because this blog is listed on my resume, I should not write it out. Maybe after I get a job.
I have some very thin leads to have a look at this afternoon. So off to the search.

I need a job

2011-06-14T20:33:00.002-04:00

Things have been going on in my life making it hard to want to blog, or have the time to blog. Back to doing the blog thing. I hope,

A different focus. I need a new job. Perhaps the trial and tribulations of a 50 year old looking for a job.

These days it is easier to apply for positions, almost like cheating. When I used to move more often, I could find a job fairly quickly, but the application procedure involved a typewriter (!) and sending off money for transcripts and placement files. Now it is look for jobs on the Internet and send off a resume and cover letter. The school systems in the area have a common on-line application where you put in your name for a job and POOF all of your paperwork is sent off to the district. The district then sends off a generic automated email to you. For non-education jobs it is just about as easy.

With this change, I am not being so selective about what I apply for. When it cost money, I would be picky. I think this is happening for everyone else, so the schools and businesses are flooded with applications. Frankly, paying for someone of my age may not be in the budget. Another problem with the flood of applications, sending out notices that you did not get the job are getting rare.

I am casting a fairly wide net. I have applied for science teaching jobs (chem and earth science if you must know), school administrative jobs, IT jobs, instructional design positions, TV news production and editing to name a few. All but one in the Rochester area. I really don’t want to move for at least two years, as my youngest has two more years of high school left, but if I have to I will.

Why hire me? I have experience, and not planning on leaving the area soon, and I plan on working until I am 70. That is another 20 years, by the way. Seeing how the job market is now, I don’t plan on moving to another position in quite some time. I like the concept of staying with one school district or business for a long time. I have made too many switches in the past.

So know of any jobs out there for me?

How do I become a consultant?

Get on the speaker circuit? How do you do that?

I will keep you posted about my progress. By the way, applied for two jobs today, both are for assistant principal.

Oh, here is a resume http://prezi.com/z2mirdioknpi/tsakshaug-resume/

From my son

2011-02-04T12:38:00.002-05:00

This is a post from my 15 year old son. It says many of the same things we have been discussing in education for years. I agree with him through all of this,which is why I stole it without permission. It sounds similar to other posts like this, but interesting to read anyway.

I may be just a student, but I know a few things.

I know that I don’t learn from sitting around all day. I learn from doing.

I know that organization does not imply intelligence.

I know that knowledge is not repetition and recitation.

I know that mathematics is more than worksheets and memorization.

I know that I don’t need fifty notecards to have an idea and an opinion.

I know that I shouldn’t need to study if I learn it right the first time.

I know that I shouldn't have to get help for my weaknesses, because my strengths should make up for them.

I know that homework should not be the same thing over and over again, because I don't learn from repetition.

I know that writing what I learned does not mean I know it, and not writing it does not mean I'm clueless.

I know that I learn best when I’m having fun.

I know that I learn best when I’m forced to think.

I know that I learn worst when I am bored.

I know that I have learned more math in the last two years of Robotics than I learned in ten years of skill-and-drill math classes.

I know that I learned more English by writing than by memorizing vocabulary.

I know that I learned more science from labs than in ten years of structured notes.

I know that I learned more History by watching The History Channel than from ten years of Social Studies classes.

Then again, I’m just a fifteen-year-old student. What do I know?

Working some things out

2011-01-28T20:09:00.000-05:00

And then she threw me out of the car. Out of the car. The day after I had my knee fixed, two miles from the house. No crutches. “GET OUT”, she screamed over the sound of the kids crying in the backseat.
Terror, that’s what it is. I got out to calm the boys down. Started to walk home. Slow walking on one leg. Think it is possible to hitchhike on the main road. The only hill in this town, and I am at the bottom of it.
She has been angry for years, but nothing like this. Pissed at me for hurting my knee and having to get it fixed. Not sure how that could have been prevented. Pissed at her new job. Pissed at her family. Pissed at me. Pissed that when I got home yesterday, I could not cook, clean or watch the boys. She had people coming over for drinks that afternoon and needed help, damn it. “Get off the sofa, vacuum and cook—Now! Get the kids bathed before people come over too. Is the laundry done?”
Today she called to say that her friends from work were coming over for dinner, so I needed to make sure everything was picked up, clean and dinner started. “Go to the store and buy wine and food. NOW! Pick me up from work, NOW! Is all that stuff done? Why not?”
“Rufus just went down for his afternoon nap, and um, I shouldn’t be driving on the pain killers, and my knee won’t bend to get into the car.”
“There is nothing wrong with you! Come get me now!” “You can’t get a ride from your friend who lives next door?” “I don’t have time to contact her, just get me, can’t you understand anything?”
“I really don’t want to wake Rufus, and you can walk home before it is time to get him up”
“Just put him in the car, and get over here. I need you to pick me up, we have people coming over for dinner or did you forget? I bet you didn’t even get to the store to get what was on the list!”
“No, I didn’t get to the store, because I can’t drive with the leg and drugs”
“The only thing you had to do today and you were too lazy and stupid to do it. I think the boys and would be better off without you; you’re like a third helpless child. “
“OK Roo, let’s wake up, and change your diaper. We’re going to pick up Mommy!”
“unnnmmhhhhh?”
“Come on bud, let’s get ready”
“mmmmnnnnnhhh Bb Mdoleode Ieee”
Good diaper clean. Not cranky yet. Time get his brother and get into the car. It hurts to walk down the stairs, holding a kid. Not really safe.
“OK Aaron, Time to get into the car”
“No”
“Aaron, we need to pick up Mommy”
“No, wanna watch Thomas”
Ring
“Where the hell are you?”
“Getting the guys into the car.”
“Hurry up, I need to be home by now, or do we have to stop at the store?”
“Yes, we need to stop at the store, and I need to get Aaron to the car”
“What is your problem? It is not that hard to do, I do it every day with no problems, you are not that helpless, I need your support for this, and you give me nothing, all you were to do was a few things and you can’t do that”
“If you let me off the phone I can get going”
“I thought you said the boy’s weren’t ready and Rufus was asleep, and don’t speak to me like that, I will let you know when I am done talking to you, you don’t tell me what to do, I had to go to work today, and you got to stay around the house all day, I didn’t get to do that, and you throw that in my face like you always do. I really think you need to decide on how you are going to treat me better and give me support, which you never do, and I support you all of the time, give you all that you need and never complain, and here I ask you one simple thing and you fight me about doing that. Do you understand? How hard is it? Just get over here, now!”
SLAM
Now trying to carry two boys at once, on one leg, with one struggling to stay home, both starting to cry, me trying not to. Get them buckled up into their car seats, at least that was never a struggle. Pry myself into the car, and hope I don’t have an accident. Now my mind starts running, images and words. What I should have said on the phone and how she would have reacted. Yeah sure you do it every day, after I wake them up, clean them up, feed them, make lunches, and then pick them up at day care at the end of the day. Nope I never do a thing. Yeah, I didn’t go to work, school ended two days ago. I have the summer off until school starts in August. Was going to teach summer school, but it was more cost effective to stay home this summer. Why the hell did you have to go to work today? Your summer session starts in two weeks and your grades were done for spring semester a few weeks ago. You could have stayed home and done what you did today. What is wrong with me, why can’t I do better? How much can I do? Support? What the heck does she mean? Raffi on the CD player. I can sing better than he can. Wish I could play guitar. Joshua Giraffe, Joshua, Joshua…
“OK guys we’re here! Let’s go see Mommy!”
“Go on up to her office I will be right there”
There she is with Aaron and Rufus all over her, talking cheerfully to our neighbor, both of them walking out of the building.
“Thanks for offering me a ride, but we have to do a few things, see you in a bit!” she calls out.
To me: “I wish you would not let the boys come up to my office like that, I was in an important meeting when they started to bang on my office door, how unprofessional, what do the others in my department think of you for doing that?”
“Could you please drive, I should not be and it hurts to drive with this knee like this?”
“I’m tired of you using your knee as an excuse, I worked all day, I can drive, but you know I am tired. What did you make for dinner? We are having 8 people over you know. “
“I know, and I did not get to the store, and I did not start dinner yet, as I said I could not get to the store and did not know what you wanted me to make”
“WHAT?! We have people coming over in an hour, and you have not started dinner? Did you get the house vacuumed and the bathrooms cleaned?”
“I got some of that done, probably not good enough for you” oops! Should not have added that last part. Dang drugs. The boys start getting upset.
The car slams to a stop, the boys are now crying.
“GET OUT” she screams “Out of my car!”

Working with First Robotics Team 340. Year 3

2011-01-18T16:55:00.000-05:00

As readers of this blog know, I have been working with FIRST Robotics Team 340, Greater Rochester Robotics for three years. In the past I have written about this being real problem based learning, that must have been the theme for the first FIRST year. I am once again amazed with what these students learn and how they go about solving a complex problem in six weeks.

All FIRST Robotics teams found out about this year’s game, Logomotion, at the season kick-off on January 8^th. Our team, for the second year, held a tailgate party in the parking lot of the Theater on the Ridge, one of Kodak’s buildings in Rochester. A freezing good time was had by all. After the kick-off, we went to work.

One of the most excruciating times is the meeting on kick-off day. Excruciating, but necessary. It is then, we go over the rules and discuss what the team will focus on for the build. Brainstorming is never pretty, but it is needed for all to have input. It would be all too easy for the adults to tell them what we are going to build and how to go about it, but that is not the point of FIRST, it is for students to do the work and adults to help and advice. Sort of like some boy scout troops in the world, some are really boy run, others are run by the adults, which do the kids learn more about decision making and leadership? Just as I am sure there are some FIRST teams out there where the adults do all of the work, and the students? I really don’t know.

Last week students started to build prototypes for parts of the robot. This is where they can let their creativity shine. They had several ideas for the “minibot” built and tested, and re-tested. It is nice to see how they learn from problems and make fixes. It looks as if we will have a good minibot to climb the pole at the end of the game. Delivering the minibot to the pole at the end of the game is a future concern. Another set of students have been working on the problem of picking up and delivering the inner tubes to the scoring rack. This group has in turn broken up into smaller groups to work on their ideas. They met last night and discussed their ideas, and showed some rough prototypes. All of these look promising. This piece is critical for the game, it needs to be robust and simple. Weight of the piece is also a concern, as it needs to be lifted about 10’ off of the ground and not tip over the base of the robot.

We have groups working on the frame, programming and electrical components. Programming and electrical are in their own room so they are doing whatever they are doing.

Watching the students grow and learn over the years is fun. My oldest son, who is a senior and also in his third year (there is a connection, you know), is the head of electrical. Seeing him work and plan is great. His knowing so much about electronics is amazing, and this hands on experience will help him next year as he goes off to college to study engineering. A quick disclaimer, he has a wonderful Project Lead The Way program at his school, where he has learned most of this stuff. But seeing him put this knowledge to work is very nice.

My youngest is in his second year of FIRST, and has been working on the part of the robot to pick up tubes. He has good ideas and is working hard to make his the best of the bunch. There are several that are doing the same, and many of them would be good choices for the final pick. I watched him present to the group last night. He has no problem speaking to the group, but has a few speaking and meeting skills that will be worked on over time. He wants to be a teacher, so learning how to speak to a group and have a discussion is a great head start.

There is so much to do and so much to learn. If you have any questions about this experience, let me know, or contact FIRST. There are programs for younger students and smaller schools too. My boys and I helped a school start a FIRST Lego League team, which was a great learning experience for them, and the team learned a lot from them.

PDF to Word - 100% Free! - The Most Accurate PDF-to-Word Converter

2011-01-02T17:11:00.001-05:00

http://www.pdftoword.com/success_page.htm

After spending the day attempting to get a good converter for PDF to Word, I found this. It works well, leaves no watermarks and is FREE!

Another Year, another Dollar

2011-01-01T11:51:00.000-05:00

Good luck to all this year. I hope things all go well for you, and you achieve your goals. I know I have a few goals to work on, and will see how that all works.
Just got back from a road trip with my boys, now 17 and 15. It is nice to have the older one be able to drive, makes these trips less exhausting to do, even though I am driving from the passenger seat. They claim I fell asleep, but I really doubt it.
The whole idea of the trip was to take them down to see their grandparents in Virginia before Eric graduates from high school, after that point, I doubt I could get him to go anywhere. We went now, rather than later, because if we went later something would happen so we could not go.

First the new air and space museum. The gps got us lost, and the back-up directions from google were wrong. But we got there.
Had a good time, many cool things. Free to get in, $15 to park.

Then we went to my parent's house, spent two nights and one day. Just about long enough for the boys. They have not seen the grandparents in several years.
Watched a bunch of football games. Of course I went to bed and missed the end of the UNC game, which I hear was interesting.

We left the next day for home, but went to Luray caverns. We went there when I was little, and it seemed like a good stop. Too expensive to get in, the tour was on headsets, but we had to go with a group.
While we were there, it dawned on me, this is where my parents forgot me when we visited last time. I went to the restroom, came out, and they were gone. They came back for me not too much later, but this was the place.

Now we are home, no worse for the wear. Good to be here

\

What is happening here?

2010-12-24T10:12:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the long absence. I have started a new job, which is really two jobs for the price of one. This has kept me very busy and out of the instructional technology loop for a bit. I am teaching every other day and being a science consultant teacher the other day. Now that the school year is half over, things are settling down and I can start posting once again.
Also something messed up with the link between Diggo and posting to here. I have not had a chance or motivation to see what is going on with it, but have a week off now and can mess with it.

Southern Wal-Mart Car Repair

2010-08-24T20:00:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I miss living in the south, not this last week when the heat and humidity have been oppressive in Virginia, other than the weather there are things I miss, more people than things. My wonderful wife and I are down here visiting my parents, and are fixin’ to head home soon. Before embarking on a trip, I like to check the fluid levels on my car, and with this being a new-to-us car, I wanted to be sure. Everything looked good, but the brake fluid was a bit low, so I thought I would head on over to the Wal-Mart and pick some up.

Folks, let me tell you, their ain’t nuthin’ like workin’ on a car in a Wal-Mart parking lot in the south. Having that I have not lived below the Mason-Dixon line for about 15 years, I forgot. I think there are guys that hang around in their pick-up trucks waiting for a hood to open, so they can help out. That has got to be the answer. Not really, lots of guys tend to sit in their cars, havin’ a smoke with the air conditioning on while the wife goes in to pick up some things. Just happens their car tends to be a pick-up. (Further south it is referred to as a pick-’em-up truck.) Anyway.

So I wandered out of the store with my brake fluid, and popped open the hood. In the time it took me to break the seal on the fluid, a guy had moseyed on up. “Havin’ problems?”, “No sir, just adding some brake fluid.” “Brake problems eh? Don’t want to mess with that, they makin funny noises?”, “Nope, just need to add this here fluid.”

A side note to the the designers of the 2003 Ford Windstar, why the heck did you put the brake fluid reservoir in such a spot that you cannot get to it without making a mess, much less able to pour anything into it, can’t even see a way to put a funnel there. I mean, this is perhaps the first car I have owned that I can get to the transmission fluid stick without burning my hand, and the brake reservoir is under the dashboard?

Back to the story.

As flies are attracted to certain things, guys are attracted to other things.

Guy 2: Need a jump? I got my cables in the truck
Guy 1: Naw, he’s havin’ brake problems.
Guy 2: I don’t like workin’ on these new cars with all the computers and stuff on ‘em.
Guy 1: Yeah, it’s gettin’ so that ya can’t do nuthin’ to your car.
Me: yup
Guy 2: yup

By now I filled the reservoir, and was trying to close the hood.

Guy 3: Problem?
Me: Well...
Guy 3: Usually the problem is that the terminals on the battery are dirty, just need to take a wire brush to up and clean it right up, got a brush right over there in my truck.
Guy 2: Naw, his brakes are ruint. (ruined, as it tiir runit- your tire is flat)
Guy 3: I got a guy that works on Fords, does I good job, want me to give him a call?
Guy 1: Really who?
Guy 3: Jimmy..uh..can’t remember his name, used to work down to the Midas down over
Guy 2: Smitty?
Guy 3: He opened his own place where the old BP used to be..
Guy 1: Yeah, Smitty
Guy 3: I can get you his number if you need, might need a tow over there if your brakes are bad.
Me: No, just topping off my brake fluid, not a problem really. But thanks for your help.
Guy 3: hey your battery terminals look good, you should be all set to go, give it a try.
Me: Uh, thanks guys. I appreciate your help.

I put down the hood, started up and eased away from the conversation.

Where as usually in my neck of the woods, you can have your hood open, holding onto jumper cables, and you still have to ask for help, or just call AAA.

One day I helped a guy get his car started, and someone came sheepishly over and asked if I could help her with her car, spent a fair amount of time that day in the parking lot.

Hey Audi designers- Why the heck is the battery hidden? Had to get her owner’s manual to figure out where it was.

Diigo bookmarks for today 07/01/2010

2010-06-30T20:32:00.001-04:00

World Savvy: Think Beyond Your Borders
Tags: international, education, collaboration, global, non-profit
45 Minute Program Successfully Preventing Sexting and Cyber Bullying
Tonight was very, very powerful and informative. Both kids thanked me for taking them after complaining beforehand that they already knew all that stuff. Thanks IROC.
Tags: sexting, cyber, cyberbullying, parents, teachers, education, school, parenting, teens, kids, family

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 06/30/2010

2010-06-29T20:31:00.001-04:00

ISTE Learning
Tags: education, iste, learning, web2.0, professionaldevelopment, curriculum, bestpractices
Emerging Top 100 Tools for Learning 2010
Tags: tools, web2.0, education, learning, technology, collaboration, resources, edtech, list
Open Studio
Tags: art, teaching, art_education
Teachers Report Educational Benefits of Frequent Technology Use
Teachers who use technology frequently in their classrooms perceive greater benefits to student learning--particularly learning 21st century skills--than teachers who are less frequent users. That's one of the major findings from a K-12 technology study released Monday by researchers out of the Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership at Minnesota's Walden University.
Tags: reports, school2.0, ICT, education

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Diigo bookmarks for today 06/29/2010

2010-06-28T20:31:00.001-04:00

Go Out With Gowalla
Another location based site. To use it on a handheld - install the device. It does work on wifi devices. (My itouch works.)
Tags: education, geolocation
‘Generation V’ Defies Traditional Demographics
"Generation V is not defined by age, gender, social class or geography. Instead, it is based on achievement, accomplishments and an increasing preference for the use of digital media channels to discover information, build knowledge and share insights."

Additionally the percentages that create content, contribute, etc. affects classroom and project planning. Do we allow students to "lurk"

Findings about these Generation V segments:

* Up to 3% will be creators, providing original content. They can be advocates that promote products and services.
* Between 3% and 10% will be contributors who add to the conversation, but don’t initiate it. They can recommend products and services as customers move through a buying process, looking for purchasing advice.
* Between 10% and 20% will be opportunists, who can further contributions regarding purchasing decisions. Opportunists can add value to a conversation that’s taking place while walking through a considered purchase.
* Approximately 80% will be lurkers, essentially spectators, who reap the rewards of online community input but absorb only what is being communicated. They can still implicitly contribute and indirectly validate value from the rest of the community. All users start out as lurkers."
Tags: education, learning, web3d, virtualwords
Discovery Education: Web 2.0 Tools
Lots of incredible tools from Discovery education.
Tags: education, web2, learning, all_teachers
A Small Byte of Twitter
Nice overview of Twitter and how it can be used as educators both personally and in the classroom
Tags: Twitter, education, classroom, pln, network, microblogging
Online Learning (Rowman & Littlefield Education)
I've known Leslie Bowman for over a decade. She's a great online teacher. Her book is filled with the wisdom of experience. Check it out! ~ Dennis

"Online education programs at the high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels represent one of the fastest growing trends in education today. However, online classes are completely different from any other educational endeavor and require a new set of skills. Bowman, who currently teaches online undergraduate and graduate courses, and her fellow contributors provide an excellent down-to-earth guide for anyone who is thinking about or participating in an online education program. This well-written and understandable book covers some theories of learning styles but focuses on the nuts-and-bolts skills needed to be successful. Each chapter explores a particular aspect of learning online and gives practical advice about how to participate successfully in an online learning environment. Verdict: Bowman and the other contributors have several years' experience helping students learn online, and their perspectives make this a practical and helpful guide to a prevalent and growing practice."— June 2010, Library Journal Starred Review "
Tags: e-learning, online education
YouTube - TEDxLaguna - John Moravec - Leapfrogging toward knowmad society
John Morvec's excellent presentation about future of society and education!
Tags: youtube, tedxlaguna, leapfrogging, Leapfrog, knowmads, knowmad, tacit knowledge, John Moravec, Moravec, Society 3.0, sosiaalinen media, video, learning, education, yhteisöllinen media, teaching, web2.0

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 06/28/2010

2010-06-27T20:32:00.001-04:00

100 Apps for Tech-Savvy Teachers
Tags: tech, education

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Diigo bookmarks for today 06/27/2010

2010-06-26T20:32:00.001-04:00

Charles Leadbeater: Education innovation in the slums | Video on TED.com
Why and How we need to reform education
Tags: education, innovation, leadbeater, charles, TED, technology
Kidscapism : Simulated Email System for Students
Tags: education, email, writing, languagearts, learning, teaching, students

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 06/26/2010

2010-06-25T20:32:00.001-04:00

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 06/25/2010

2010-06-24T20:31:00.001-04:00

Welcome to Schoolr. The only resource you'll need.
Google, Dictionary.com,Thesaurus.com, Wikipedia, Acronym Finder, NCSU, unitconversion, Bablefish, and Wolfram-Alpha.

Click on the MORE link for more options.
Tags: Converters, citation, citations, conversion, converter, dictionary, education, school, search, student, students, teachers, tools, translation, translator, reference, research, searchengine
The You Can Handle Them All Web Site--a discipline and behavior management resource @ www.disci
Tags: Administration, discipline, behavior, teaching, school, reference, Education, classroom, management, ClassroomManagement, classroom management
Education World ® - Curriculum: National and State Standards
National Standards /COS
Tags: COS, national, Education, standards, curriculum
50 Open Source Tools That Replace Popular Education Apps — Datamation.com
For this list, we've collected educational apps from a variety of categories that can replace popular commercial software. In many cases, the open source options listed here offer features that aren't matched by their closed source counterparts. And while we limited our list to 50 apps, you can find many more on the Web.
Tags: education, tools, opensource, apps, alternative, applications
The Beginner's Guide to 21st Century Teaching and Learning
Tags: education, edtech, 21st, skills, technology, educational, Internet, web-based, activities, teacher, resources, learning, tools, professional, development, integrating, teaching, authentic, articles, Century, Learners, web, 2.0, apps, collaboration, e-book, new, teachers

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 06/24/2010

2010-06-23T20:32:00.001-04:00

Shorpy Historic Photo Archive | Vintage Fine Art Prints
historical photos. Might be good for writing prompts
Tags: photography, photos, blog, culture, education, writing, prompts, literature, history
Interactives . The Rock Cycle . Introduction
interactive rock cycle
Tags: science, rocks, geology, rockcycle, interactives, education
Five Reasons Why Continuing Education is a Positive Career Step
Many people make a decision about jobs and careers after leaving high school or college, some based on clear goals and others on need. However, there are many varied and often uncontrollable reasons why these initial occupations do not last. This leads to five reasons why continuing education must be considered as a positive investment for achieving success in a chosen occupation

Tags: five, reasons, investment, in, careers, continuing, education, job, skills, changing, jobs, career, dream, earning, potential, adult
The Innovative Educator: 5 Steps to Harnessing the Power of Cells in Education Today
The five steps are:

* Step One: Teacher Use of Cell Phones for Professional Purposes
* Step Two: Teacher Models Appropriate Use for Learning
* Step Three: Strengthen the Home-School Connection with Cell Phones
* Step Four: Students Use Cell Phones for Homework
* Step Five: Students Use Cell Phones for Classwork
Tags: cellphone, mobile, professional_development, teaching, learning, education2.0, Education
Ideas and Strategies for Using Voice Thread in Science and Math
Are you searching for a way to share documents, presentations, slideshows, or a series of photos or images with your students?

Then Voice Thread is the free Web 2.0 tool for you and your students (teachers can register for a free education account).
Tags: math, teaching, strategies, problem, solving, project, based, learning, science, technology, integration, in, education, voice, thread, web, 2.0

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 06/23/2010

2010-06-22T20:32:00.001-04:00

www.weareteachers.com - WeAreTeachers Home
Tags: resources, teachers, socialnetworking, Education, web2.0, professionaldevelopment
Siemens We Can Change The World Challenge
Tags: environment, challenge, science, education, green, ecology, siemens, grants
Professional Development Improves Student Achievement
It is no surprise that professional development improves student achievement. This incredibly well written piece is something to use and give to those who think that cutting teacher professional development is the first thing that should happen when budgets tighten. A great PDF to give your school board.
Tags: education, research, professionaldevelopment
The iPad could be the best mobile accessibility device on the market
Right now, the iPad is being hailed as the best mobile device for the blind because it has voice enabled navigation. This article discusses the iPad, the Kindle and accessibility issues and information on both.
Tags: education, accessibility, differentiation, edu_trends, bestpractices
I AM A LIAR!: Recap
This is a fascinating approach to teaching. This teacher used the blog to write things that may or may not be true and the students had to respond. What a challenge to the students!

Truth be known, in reality, we all make mistakes and none of us is right all of the time. This teacher just put that on the table and it welcomed disagreement from the students. Take a look at this blog!
Tags: education, learning, blogging

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Diigo bookmarks for today 06/22/2010

2010-06-21T20:32:00.001-04:00

Grammarly - English grammar checker, proofreader & plagiarism scanner
Grammar checker, plagiarism detection, vocabulary enhancement and more!
Tags: grammar, Writing, Resources, education, plagiarism, Language-Arts, english, all_teachers, middleschool

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Dick's Sporting Goods Follow-up

2010-06-21T20:07:00.002-04:00

Last week I wrote about a visit to Dick's sporting goods and the bad service I received there. Today they sent out an Email to me,

Dear Ted,

Thank you for contacting Dick's Sporting Goods Customer Service.

It is always our goal to ensure our customer's satisfaction by offering
quality brand products, store services and the best customer care to all
of our customers. We regret to learn that your recent visit with us did
not meet your expectations. We would like the opportunity to discuss
this with you further. Please contact us at 1-866-xxx-xxxx.

Best Regards,

Jennifer

So I gave them a call today. I fully anticipated nothing. Calling the number I felt as if I were falling into voicemail hell, with 8 options before finding a person. None of the options given had any of the needed titles, until reaching the "press zero to talk to a human". After getting a person, they connected me with Jennifer. After a few moments she remembered my blog post, and was ready to discuss the issue. Really there was not much to say, she was a good listener, and really didi not offer any excuses for what happened, a few of the early questions I thought were heading that direction, but it was all good. I was not really mad, or looking for anything from them, just wanted to explain the problems we ran into.

So she said that they would contact the local store manager and he could check the security tapes to see who should have been doing what and where. We shall see what if anything happens from that point.

Jennifer was great, thanks for her help.

Diigo bookmarks for today 06/20/2010

2010-06-19T20:32:00.001-04:00

Blogging About The Web 2.0 Connected Classroom: The #Edchat Special Conversation With Howard Rheingold Wrap-Up
Tags: critical, thinking, ct, education, learning, students, teaching, all_teachers, bestpractices
Russel Tarr (hitlerhead) on Twitter
Russell Tarr is doing this -- it is a history project. If you tweet a message to him, he will answer it.
Tags: education, history

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Diigo bookmarks for today 06/19/2010

2010-06-18T20:32:00.001-04:00

Solvr - Private and collaborative problem-solving | Brainstorming | Discussions that lead somewhere
free, secure, problem solving for you and your group
Tags: collaboration, brainstorming, problem, education, solving, tools, problem-solving, all_teachers, bestpractices
Historypin | Home
“Historypin is a like a digital time machine that allows people to view and share their personal history in a totally new way.
It uses Google Maps and Street View technology and hopes to become the largest user-generated archive of the world's historical images and stories.
Historypin asks the public to dig out, upload and pin their own old photos, as well as the stories behind them, onto the Historypin map. Uniquely, Historypin lets you layer old images onto modern Street View scenes, giving a series of peaks into the past.”
Tags: history, online, tool, maps, photos, service, googlemaps, interesting, educational

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Diigo bookmarks for today 06/18/2010

2010-06-17T20:32:00.001-04:00

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

A trip to Dick's Sporting Goods

2010-06-17T10:41:00.004-04:00

I sent this to the customer service department of Dick's Sporting goods, after a visit last night. We were there just under an hour, but it seemed much longer. Any similar visits for you?

Not too many years ago we had a good sporting goods in the Rochester, NY area named Galyan's. They had personable and knowledgeable employees, who were there to help. It was rare to be in a department and not have someone speak to you and offer help with five minutes of your arrival. I went to this store quite often, to get camping equipment or other similar items. The employees were able to help compare items and give advice based on their own experiences. Each department knew their stuff, if they were new, they would get help. I bought many items from this store, including a couple of Yakima car rack systems. The sales person was able to discuss how to install the rack, and offered help in doing so. Then Galyan's was bought out by Dick's. I jokingly asked the employees if they were learning how to disappear as part of their transition to Dick's. That turned out to be somewhat prophetic.

Last night, June 17, 2010, I decided to go to what used to be the Galyan's store to see if they had any Q-clips for the Yakima racks, as I recently changed cars, and needed new clips. I first called, and asked if these were in stock or carried by the store, and received a vague answer, that they may but really I had to go in to see. I was nearby so I went in. Upon entering the store, my wife asked what we took to be the greeter, where the Yakima accessories could be found. She was met by a blank stare and a confused answer, obviously he had no idea what she was talking about. We went upstairs to where we thought we could find what we wanted, and found several pieces of Yakima and Thule racks scattered about the camping, bicycling and water sports areas. We poked around a bit, keeping an eye out for an employee to ask about the Q-clips. We found an item that we were not looking for, which was on clearance as it was a returned item, opened the box and inspected it for a good amount of time, and still no employee to be found to ask about it. After deciding to purchase the item, we went back to were we suspected the Q-clips might be found, still looking for an employee. I noticed during this time, people looking at tents looking as if they had questions to ask someone, others testing bicycles with questions, and yet others in the fitness area wanting to buy items. There were no employees to be found on that side of the floor. Suddenly wandering out of the break room came 3 uniformed employees and another guy, we were within a few feet and called out for help. The 3 uniformed employees continued to wander away sipping on their drinks. The other gentleman stopped, and explained he worked in another store, but could help us. Let's call him Dave. My wife was able to ask some questions, and get some generic answers, but this not being his store he was unable to give full answers. He helped my wife, while I was dodging bicycles ridden by customers, awaiting someone else to show up. Dave thought the one guy assigned to the area was helping someone load a weight set into their car.

After awhile a free-range employee wandered by. I asked her about the Q-clips, she made vague gestures toward where I was, and called someone on her radio then disappeared, saying that the person in fitness would be right back. Not sure if I scared her, as you know clerks in the wild can be rare animals and spook easily. Being on the verge of shouting at the top of my lungs "Does anyone work here?", the guy working the area appeared. Lets call him Mark. Mark was very helpful, he answered my question about Q-clips in a few seconds, with a simple, no, not at the store, maybe on-line. My wife and Dave re-appeared, and Mark took over with her. As I said Dave was the most helpful person there, and not an employee of the store! I am not saying Mark was unhelpful, he was very nice, and spent some time with us, as other customers looked longingly at him.

With our business done, we went to the checkout with our purchase. As we descended the escalator to the main floor we saw several employees in the shoe department and golf department, generally standing around talking to each other. We noticed three registers open, one customer at one of the registers, the other two cashiers were standing talking and two other employees were sitting on the counter talking to the cashiers. The cashier asked the usual "did you find everything you were looking for?" She seemed shocked that we said, no, and that it was even harder to find help where we were. She mused that perhaps everyone else was helping other customers. She did not seem to like the response that there were no employees up there to help the many customers, so no, they were not helping others. Meanwhile the guys who were sitting around started to move around doing some busy work, such as checking empty trash cans, and rearranging bags. Maybe they felt that they needed to at least appear to do something.

Just a typical evening at Dick's. Similar events are not uncommon in the Henretta, NY store, and were not uncommon when they were in competition with Galyan's. But with the competition bought up, why bother with doing any service? I know you are aware that there many alternatives to traditional stores, as your company runs an on-line store also. If not for face to face contact with a knowledgeable person, why go into stores? I have not bought any camping equipment at Dick's as CampMor has a good on-line store and a phone number to reach people that know what they are talking about. When I returned home, I got online and managed to order the Q-clips I needed in a few moments, no waiting. By the way, the Dick's site does not carry the clips either.

Diigo bookmarks for today 06/17/2010

2010-06-16T20:32:00.001-04:00

5min - Find the best how to, instructional and DIY videos – Life Videopedia
5min Media is the leading syndication platform for broadband instructional, knowledge and lifestyle videos. Our library includes tens of thousands of videos across 20 categories and 140 subcategories, which are professionally produced and brand-safe.
Tags: video, educational, elearning, service
Searching in the Classroom - Twitter-Google Timelines
Tags: twitter, education, learning, classroom, technology, google, history, timelines, search

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Diigo bookmarks for today 06/16/2010

2010-06-15T20:32:00.001-04:00

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 06/15/2010

2010-06-14T20:32:00.001-04:00

Free Technology for Teachers: Free eBook - 20 WEBTOOLS Applied to Teaching
Tags: teaching, web2.0, technologyintegration, education, Resources, tools, Free

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 06/14/2010

2010-06-13T20:31:00.001-04:00

Wikibooks
2,469 free e-books and counting
Tags: wiki, books, education, ebooks, reference, learning, wikis
TeachersFirst: Wiki Walk-Through
Tags: wiki, web2.0, wikis, tutorial, education
The Language of Reform - Bridging Differences - Education Week
Tags: reform, language, education, professionaldevelopment, all_teachers

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Diigo bookmarks for today 06/12/2010

2010-06-11T20:32:00.001-04:00

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 06/11/2010

2010-06-10T20:32:00.001-04:00

TextRunner Search
TextRunner searches hundreds of millions of assertions extracted from 500 million high-quality Web pages.
Tags: assertions, searchengine, educational, search, text
International Engagement Through Education: Remarks by Secretary Arne Duncan at the Council on Foreign Relations Meeting | U.S. Department of Education
Speech given by Arne Duncan, May 17, 2010 regarding international collaboration and engagement in US Education
Tags: international, education, collaboration, engagement, global, DoE

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Diigo bookmarks for today 06/10/2010

2010-06-09T20:32:00.001-04:00

Branches of the Government
Tags: loc:us, interactive, game, educational, government

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Diigo bookmarks for today 06/09/2010

2010-06-08T20:32:00.001-04:00

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 06/08/2010

2010-06-07T20:32:00.001-04:00

Does the Internet Make You Smarter? - WSJ.com
Tags: technology, article, education, intelligence, learning

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 06/07/2010

2010-06-06T20:32:00.001-04:00

Interactive Weather for Kids - The Weather Channel Kids
Tags: educational, weather, kids
McGraw-Hill's AccessScience Encyclopedia of Science & Technology Online

Over 8,500 online articles from the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology 10th editionResearch Updates from the McGraw-Hill Yearbooks of Science & Technology110,000+ definitions from the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms15,000 illustrations and graphics, and bibliographies containing more than 28,000 literature citationsContent contributed by more than 5000 researchers, including 36 Nobel Prize winnersBiographies of more than 2,000 well-known scientists from the Hutchinson Dictionary of Scientific Biography®The latest news in science and technology from Science News® and ScienCentral® videosContinuously updated, fully-searchable, media-rich content, terms, images and videosadded illustrations, animations, and image galleriesquestions answered in our weekly Q&AAccessScience puts the most useful and up-to-date technology to work for you: in addition to fast, sophisticated search capability, you'll find RSS feeds, Flash® animations, image galleries, podcasts, videos, and more, with our enhanced search engine making discovery of this wide range of information easier than ever.
Whatever you need, AccessScience is designed to help:
For StudentsData, tables and tools linked directly from topic home pages, so you're never more than a few clicks from the answers you needEssay topics to guide research and reportsFor EducatorsHigh quality images and illustrations, downloadable to use in PowerPoint presentationsStudy Center offers curriculum-oriented tools, Flash tutorials, and study guidesFor LibrariansLibrarian resource center highlights news and features, research tips and tools, easy-to-access online user statistics reports, and much moreSearch by content type, collection, topic or sub-topic, with semantic search, corrective spelling, results filtering and saved search criteria
Tags: encyclopedia, science, dictionary, educational
Explorations Through Time
A series of interactive modules that explore the history of life on Earth, while focusing on the processes of science. Each module contains suggested lesson plans and an extensive teacher’s guide.
Tags: geologic_time_scale, timeline, interactive, online, education, tool, site:edu
The Field Museum's On-line Exhibits
As an educational institution the Field Museum offers multiple opportunities for both informal and more structured public learning.
Tags: geologic_time_scale, timeline, interactive, online, education, tool, history

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Diigo bookmarks for today 06/06/2010

2010-06-05T20:32:00.001-04:00

Op-Ed Columnist - Race to Sanity - NYTimes.com
The Obama administration’s education policy is a model of balanced governance.
Tags: washington, education, standards, school, students, academics, government, programs
How to do Well in an Online Class in Distance Education Courses
Enrolling in a distance education course can raise many concerns, with how to do well in an online class being a leading cause of for this anxiety. Avoiding this apprehension requires a good understanding of the process of using the computers during online classes. This also leads to the need for preparation, planning, and developing an understanding one’s ability to learn and study.

Tags: distance, education, online, course, computer, and, software, learning, studying, how, to, do, adult, learners, style
Debbie Meier and the Dawn of Central Park East by Seymour Fliegel, City Journal Winter 1994
Tags: progressive, education, school, design
Examples of Student Innovation - home
Tags: student, examples, learning, Education, all_teachers, bestpractices

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Diigo bookmarks for today 06/05/2010

2010-06-04T20:32:00.001-04:00

home — The Gateway to 21st Century Skills
Tags: education, teaching, reference, technology, tools, resource
Symphony of Science
a site designed to deliver science knowledge by music. Nice Mash-up
Tags: music, education, learning, all_teachers, techintegrator, elementary, middleschool, science, language
How the Finns got it so right - Best education system in the world
Tags: education, finland

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Diigo bookmarks for today 06/04/2010

2010-06-03T20:32:00.001-04:00

Young Epidemiology Scholars Competition
Guidance Counselor Alert:

"The YES Competition was established in 2003 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the College Board to inspire talented high school students to apply epidemiological methods to the investigation of public health issues and, ultimately, encourage the brightest young minds to enter the field of public health.

The Young Epidemiology Scholars (YES) Competition, the nation’s leading public health competition for high school students, has opened the application process for its 2010-11 Competition. The online registration, guidelines and a new YES project guide are now available online at www.collegeboard.com/yes. The deadline for entries is 9 AM EST, February 1, 2011."

I do wish that they would have multimedia as a part of this competition as some of the best competitions out there engage this medium. However, this is something that those going into health should look into.
Tags: education, scholarship

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Diigo bookmarks for today 06/03/2010

2010-06-02T20:32:00.001-04:00

Life Science Reference - Biology Online
Tags: biology, dictionary, resource, lang:en, meta, science, education
History of Flight, Aviation, Space Exploration | AirSpaceMag.com
Smtihsonion's air and space museum online. videos and other resources
Tags: education, science, air&space, museum, resources, space, flight
Science NetLinks: Resources for Teaching Science
Science NetLinks is part of Thinkfinity, a partnership between the Verizon Foundation and 11 premier educational organizations. The Thinkfinity partners include the AAAS, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Council on Economic Education, the National Geographic Society, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the International Reading Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, and the Literacy Network.
Tags: sceince, education, activites, tools, resources, k-12
Social Learning Academy
The Social Learning Academy is intended for learning professionals - in Workplace Learning and Education - who are new to social media and would like to find out more about the different social technologies and their application to learning.
Tags: education, educators, social media
Brainology
This is an outstanding article about motivation and learning and proof that intelligence can be developed and grown.
Tags: education, learning, brainology, motivation
Fuel the Brain | Educational Resources and Games
It is our dream that teachers won’t have to hunt and search for activities for hours or spend a fortune on materials. We hope to continue to build this site until it is a comprehensive collection of teaching materials across several grades. The site currently focuses on kindergarten-third grade objectives. We have begun with mathematics but will continue to create across subjects.
Tags: education, activities, elementary, k-6, interactive, games
Free Science Books and Journals | Sciyo.com
Sciyo.com is a fast-growing open access scientific publisher, enabling barrier-free access to the latest research developments, knowledge and ideas within the field of Science and Technology.
Tags: education, research, primary source, science, documents
WordSteps
WordSteps is a place for people to learn foreign words and keep their vocabularies in fit condition. Here you can not only enrich your vocabulary, but you can also track your progress and recall the words you could forget.
Tags: education, lote, verbs
How Much Has TV Changed Since 1926? A Lot. | SterlingSatellite Blog
Did you know it took 13 years for television to reach 50 million users? TV has evolved from the time it started with just a few programs airing each day into 24/7 news and hundreds of stations to choose from.
People didn’t immediately embrace the new technology though. 10 years after its debut in 1936, the head of 20th Century Fox Darryl F. Zanuck (seeing TV as a competitor to movies) famous last words were predicting it would not catch on. He said he thought “People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.”
Tags: education, television, history, timeline
Gaga for Librarians - Funny Video for Educators
Tags: education, video, school, technology, resources, tools, librarian, research
TechConnect
TechConnect is a peer networking community for Education Information Technology (IT) Professionals. Members log on to exchange knowledge, ask questions, and share experiences with other Education Information Technology peers. Connect to colleagues, create interest groups, and access member-only resources. The TechConnect community is developed and focused specifically for Education Information Technology Professionals (private school as well as public school) and is only offered to those users.
Tags: education, techconnect, technology, IT
How to Create Screencasts for Teaching and Learning Using Jing
Have you ever wanted to create short “how to” video for your students to use for homework, remembering facts, and solving math problems.

How often have your students stated, “I could not complete the homework assignment, because I could not remember the steps and no one could help me.”

Well the answer is to create a screencast or video for posting on your class wiki or blog for students to view at home or anywhere else they have web access.
Tags: educational, technology, how, to, create, jing, Math, online, tools, Science, screencasts, videocasts, web, 20

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

A Story About a Hat

2010-06-02T14:10:00.002-04:00

Part of my life in the spring is track and field. I ran in high school, coached for a few years and now officiate. Officiating is fun, and is a good break from life, generally the kids are good, and the atmosphere tends to be low key...with the exception of some coaches.

Part of officiating in NYS, we need to wear a uniform, as any sport officials wear uniforms. Ours are tan pants, white shirt with logo, blue jacket with logo, and a hat with logo. The hat is optional. I bought a hat last year, I was very happy. I like wearing hats, it does surprise people that I am not bald.

So the beginning of the season starts, I have all of my stuff, shirt, jacket, starting pistol, whistle, clipboards, rule book, measuring tapes, but no hat. Where is my hat, I searched, and searched, why it was not with my other stuff I do not know. Dang it! I am also too cheap to buy a new hat, why spend another 20 dollars or so, when it is here somewhere. So, I told my wonderful wife, that I would probably find it the day after the season ended. I made it through the season without a hat. I did not find it the day after the season, but two days after the season ended.

Where was it? Why in a box in the garage. Why not? Started to clean the garage, going through stuff, and there it was, with tie-down straps and some plastic. I cannot figure this out. I think it must have tried to run away, and only made it that far, or the squirrels thought it was a big blue nut, and put it with their stash of black walnuts. Would say that life can be funny sometimes, but that was not funny. Sort of.

Diigo bookmarks for today 06/02/2010

2010-06-01T20:32:00.001-04:00

100 Great Tech Talks for Educators | Best Colleges Online
Great list of videos
Tags: education, video
Technological Literacy « Sean Banville's Blog
Two questions sprang to mind upon reading Tom’s words:

1. How literate / illiterate am I?
2. How literate do we need to be?
Tags: shifting-education, studentteacher, leadership, Admin, mycomments, newliteracy
How is Continuing Education Evolving to Meet the 21st Century Demands
The future of continuing education is still evolving. Who knows how all the technological applications and demands on adults will change as we move further into the 21st Century. Remember where education was just 50 years ago or even 20 years ago.

Tags: continuing, education, outlook, future, just, in, time, learning, do, it, yourself, colleges, universities
5 Top Things to Consider During Continuing Education Efforts
How to build professional, personal, social, and lifelong learning networks is the focal point of this post.
Tags: continuing, education, outlook, future, learning, 5, professional, network, social

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 06/01/2010

2010-05-31T20:32:00.001-04:00

Museum of London - Street Museum
Streetmuseum is a new (and free) augmented reality iPhone app created by the Museum of London that allows you to browse historical photographs in various parts of the city.
Tags: augmented_reality, iphone, software, history, london, museum, free, educational, loc:gb, lang:en

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/31/2010

2010-05-30T20:32:00.001-04:00

altastic - stuff for ALTs
Sentence Scrambler
If you have a bunch of sentences and you want to scramble them for use in the traditional exercise of narabikae, look no further than this wonderful tool.

ABC Flashcard Viewer Thingy
A flashcard viewer, designed for the interactive whiteboard. You can display the letters A to Z in upper- and lowercase, with or without guide lines. All movement can be controlled via the arrow keys and/or the alphabet keys on your keyboard. If you want a local version to use on your own machine, you can download it here.

What's this?
If you have access to an interactive whiteboard, this is a fun(?) game. A peculiar image is displayed, and students try to guess what it is. You can choose which images you want to show, and you can change the question and answer formats.
Tags: online, tool, sentence, scrambler, alphabet, education, language

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/30/2010

2010-05-29T20:33:00.001-04:00

A Lifetime of Color - Home
Tags: education, Interactive, color, Artist, web2.0, a, technology, of

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/29/2010

2010-05-28T20:32:00.001-04:00

OLogy
Tags: education, students, science, teachers, teaching, interactive, museum, elementary, history
Escaping the Echo Chamber | Jason T Bedell
Nice post about how to evangelize advanced tech to fellow teachers
Tags: education, technology, sharing

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Moving on

2010-05-28T14:07:00.002-04:00

The end of the school year is almost upon us. Having taught for about 25 years, my year is based on the school calendar, New Years day is in September (or August depending upon what state I am living in at the time). This is also the last few days working the job I have held for the past nine years. My previous length of time at a job record was four years, but we were moving around to different areas before moving to New York State. This is the first time I am leaving a job not due to a relocation. It is hard, and looking back at what I have accomplished here makes me feel as if I have a good body of work. The question is where will I be next year at this time?

Where I now work is difficult to understand, but let me give it a shot. In New York, we have educational agencies called BOCES (Board Of Cooperative Educational Services), where districts can pool resources and buy services. I am a BOCES employee, but I only go to the BOCES a half of a day each month, otherwise I am "in district". What that means is I am in a school district full time, as their director of technology. But not really, I am a teacher on special assignment (TOSA) from BOCES. What that means in real-life depends upon whom you talk to. I was hired as an instructional technology specialist, who was to train teachers and work with them to integrate technology into the classroom. My job description changed within of 2 hours of starting the job, when I was asked to fix a computer, I really did not know how to, but figured it out, from then on, the majority of my work has not been training, but actual computer and network stuff. Mostly I am self taught on these things, as when asking BOCES for technical training, I was told that it did not meet my job description, so they could not send me, while asking the school district, I was told that they agreed I needed to go to the training, but that BOCES would have to pay for it. It is amazing what you can learn by trial and error and more error, and reading, and researching and more reading.

What exactly have I accomplished in my time here? Looking back, I would say quite a bit, but remember in 2000, school technology was not where it is today. The school network consisted of a mish-mash of different types of switches, most 10-100, but several 10. The standard teacher computer was the iMac 500 or 5000 some of which worked usually. We had our own Email system, a rudimentary web page and a 56K dedicated network connection. My projects that first summer included setting up our first Project Lead the Way (PLTW) full of PC computers and a new high school lab full of iMacs . I quickly learned about setting up accounts on servers, network software, installing software, setting privileges on computers and servers. That was an intense summer. I managed to get set up and everything working for the beginning of the year.

Today the physical infrastructure is much improved. All of the network switches are gigabyte, the buildings and closets are all connected with fiber optic cable. Our network connection is also fiber, run to the phone company. We now have two PLTW labs, all of our elementary school classrooms have at least three computers, with two mobile labs available for use in the 18 classrooms. Each high school classroom will have new computers this summer, and a second mobile lab. All of the district classrooms have SmartBoards installed. We have a ubiquitous wireless network, a Voice over IP phone system, and a modern security camera system.

Then there is software. The student information system was unlicensed, as was the Email system, and most of the other software. Our offices were using Microsoft Works 2.0 for most of their applications, where the teachers were using Appleworks. At that point MS works 2.0 was no longer supported by Microsoft, but I had to make it work, because it is what they used. Bringing all of these up to speed was a fight, both with the users and the business office to understand that software is not free. We now have a good student information system, legal software and up to date MS Office software.

These were great leaps forward for the district, and I think I am leaving with the school having the ability to do just about any technology integration into their classrooms. I wish that I could have done more integration work, but it is difficult to schedule if the Email or network suddenly go bad and needs fixing. In the past few years, seeing the teachers needing less hand holding on projects makes me feel good about the work.

When I started this job, the superintendent was of the opinion that he hired competent people to do do their jobs, he was open to listening to new ideas and handed off projects with the understanding that they would get done before the deadlines. I felt my opinion mattered and I was making a contribution to the district. He made me feel as if I were a member of this community. He would treat me as if I were a district employee, and said that the only difference was where my paycheck came from.

Feel free to ignore the next two paragraphs.

A few years ago he was replaced by a micro-manager. I do not work well in that environment. Jobs will be done before the deadline, but my having to submit detailed time lines on the completion of these jobs, I feel was, well a waste of my work time. I know what I am doing and how things work, however micro managers like to question everything, and need to be taught what and how things work. They also tend to pick up on the latest buzz and what to implement whatever it is without knowing really what it is. For example we spent a few meetings talking about centralized printing, with me attempting to tell him we do it already. He had heard from others superintendents on how much money it saved. We already do it. I was to contact the tech directors from other schools on centralized printing, and you know what, we were well ahead of the others on that. We already do it. Finally it sunk in, that we already do it. Already.

I no longer feel a member of the community, and this has been told to me loud and clear. I am not a district employee, nor should I even act like one.

The last two paragraphs can be ignored

I still have a job. I will be teaching at our local BOCES. I am looking for another job either in school administration or as a technology director. I may leave the education field. Right now I am keeping the "new" job, but am somewhat disappointed in this move. I have a few applications out, and a couple of interviews lined up. I really can say I enjoyed this job, the last two years have been difficult, but it is still a great job and the teachers, students and staff have been great. Anytime you leave a job it is hard, I should be used to it as this is my sixth school district, but it never is really easy.

Thanks for letting me get this off my chest. Thanks to my Personal Learning Network (PLN) for the support and suggestions in writing this. Thanks to my family for all of their support too. Something good will come of this, heck this is the first summer I have had off in several years!

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/28/2010

2010-05-27T20:32:00.001-04:00

Miss Baker's Biology Class Wiki
This site is maintained by Ms. Baker and her biology students. We live in the Northeast U.S. and blog about anything biology-related.
Tags: wiki, biology, school, SCIENCE, web2.0, education

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/27/2010

2010-05-26T20:32:00.001-04:00

How to Become an Athletic Trainer
Work environment, job outlook, and education requirements are provided for anyone interested in continuing their education for entry into this career field.

Tags: athletic, trainer, continuing, education, ceu, job, outlook, healthcare, work, environment, federal, financial, aid, colleges, universities

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/26/2010

2010-05-25T20:32:00.001-04:00

Student-created content and a big weird thang « Lisa’s (Online) Teaching Blog
Tags: education, pedagogy, content, source

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/25/2010

2010-05-24T20:32:00.001-04:00

Using Moodle: teaching with the ... - Google Books
Tags: teaching, moodle, resource, teachers, education, guide, tool, technology, professionaldevelopment, techintegrator
Making the Most of Wikis in Your Science or Math Classroom
Wikis are the most popular Web 2.0 tool being used in science and math classrooms. Based on a survey of readers – 43 percent use them to support their teaching and student learning.

A Wiki is appealing, encourages participation, supports collaboration, and promotes interaction by students who love to use technology.

By the way – this includes most students today!
Tags: algebra, chemsitry, education, techmology, physics, podcasts, real, world, math, Science, teaching, and, learning, web, 2.0, wiki

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/23/2010

2010-05-22T20:33:00.001-04:00

LectureTools
LectureTools provides a range of student response options plus it allows students to
Take notes synchronized to lecture slides,Draw on and save the instructor’s lecture slides,Pose clarifying questions that can be answered asynchronously during class or after class andSelf-assess their understanding during lecture.
Tags: online, tools, education, lecture, upload, slideshow

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/22/2010

2010-05-21T20:32:00.001-04:00

Anki - friendly, intelligent flashcards
Anki is a program which makes remembering things easy. Because it is a lot more efficient than traditional study methods, you can either greatly decrease your time spent studying, or greatly increase the amount you learn.
Tags: education, flashcards, study, software, studying, application, multiplatform
TakingITGlobal - Inspire. Inform. Involve.
We enable a collaborative learning community which provides youth with access to global opportunities, cross-cultural connections and meaningful participation in decision-making.
What We Offer:
Global online social network and hub for civic participationContent & tools for educators to facilitate rich, interactive learning experiencesOutreach & Collaboration tools for events, networks, campaigns, and causesResearch, development, and sharing of best practices on youth engagementFacilitated learning experiences through workshops, webinars, and e-courses
Tags: socialsoftware, community, education, tool, workshop

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/20/2010

2010-05-19T20:31:00.001-04:00

NachoFoto - Realtime Image Search Engine
Find relevant images of Trending Topics in realtime
Tags: photos, news, information, education

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/19/2010

2010-05-18T20:31:00.001-04:00

Sumanas, Inc. Animation Gallery
Sumanas develops animated tutorials in a variety of formats for many scientific disciplines.
Tags: education, science, animations, biology, chemistry, astronomy, statistics
TimeGlider: Web-based Timeline Software
web-based timeline software
for creating and sharing
history and project planning
Tags: education, timeline, planning, web2.0, history
TALL blog » Blog Archive » Does the Technology Matter?
current
Tags: technology, education, teaching, pedagogy, blog, opinion

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/18/2010

2010-05-17T20:32:00.001-04:00

Goofram - Search Google and Wolfram Alpha at the same time!
Search results that are a mash up of Google and Wolfram alpha
Tags: education, search, data
PikiFriends
a free, easy and safe "Pen Pal" tool to connect students grades 6-12 with others around the world
Tags: education, pen pal, 6-12, connections
Media Fluency: NITLE Summit 2010 « Gardner Writes
Tags: Gardner, media, fluency, NITLE, literacies, education

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/16/2010

2010-05-15T20:33:00.001-04:00

Images from the History of Medicine (IHM)
The Image database, Images from the History of Medicine (IHM), is an online picture database of nearly 70,000 images from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) History of Medicine Division's Prints and Photographs Collection. IHM includes portraits, photographs, caricatures, genre scenes, posters, and graphic art illustrating the social and historical aspects of medicine dated from the 15th to 21st century.
Tags: history, image, resource, medicine, science, education
Quizinator for Teachers, Instructors, and HomeSchoolers
Create, Store, and Print worksheets, studysheets, exams and quizzes online.
Tags: quizz, editor, online, tool, education, maker
News: No Grading, More Learning - Inside Higher Ed
Tags: grading, assessment, learning, teaching, education
WNY Education Associates » When Kids Say No to Facebook
Is Facebook good tool to use in schools?
Tags: Facebook, education, social media, teachers, kids
sleeping alone and starting out early: principles for ethical educational research
1. We exist in the service of the communities we work for.
2. We exist to serve the needs and interests of the communities we work for.
3. It's our job to represent our work in ways that support ethical decisions by policymakers and external stakeholders.
4. All educational research is social activism, and all educational researchers are social activists.
Tags: ethical, education, research, community, serve

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/15/2010

2010-05-14T20:32:00.001-04:00

Lure of the Labyrinth
Tags: stem, math, education, algebra, pre-algebra, middleschoolmath
SignApp Now - Simple Sign Up Sheets
simple free and easy way to make sign up sheets.
Did I say free?
Tags: education, signup, lists
STEM Collaborative.org - Home
Tags: resources, collaborative, stem, math, education, technology, games

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/14/2010

2010-05-13T20:32:00.001-04:00

YouTube - SearchStories's Channel
Tags: google, youtube, searchstories, search, DigitalStorytelling, teaching, web2.0, education
Online Learning Startup Udemy Launches With Plans to "Democratize Online Education"
Tags: online, education, distance, e-learning, edupunk, future, edFutures
KNIGHTTIME
Non traditional approach to literature. Just received this in my inbox:

" We, The Hazardous Players, have been building a fantasy adventure where we plan on constructing multiply narratives using various media: writing, audio performance and art, (eventually video), to create a story that is an expanding fantasy for children and adults. Though we realize this is a nontraditional approach to literature, we do see that this could be a unique way to tell a story, harkening back to the time of episodic adventures on the radio. "

Couldn't students do this as a semester or shorter project?
Tags: education, literature
A Dual Coding Theoretical Model of Reading
I used this research in writing a grant for securing Amazon Kindle's and using their text to speech feature to help students with reading comprehension.

Citation:
Sadoski, M. & Paivio, A. (2004). A dual coding theoretical model of reading. In R. B. Ruddell & N. J. Unrau (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (5th ed.) (pp. 1329-1362). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Tags: education, reading, reading_teacher, learning

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/13/2010

2010-05-12T20:32:00.001-04:00

Science News, Articles and Information | Scientific American
The web site of Scientific American
Tags: education, science, technology, journal, research
PhysicsCentral: Learn How Your World Works
How the world works, a look at physics
Tags: education, physics, science
DNA Interactive: Discovering the DNA Structure and beyond
site dedicated to DNA
Tags: DNA, education, biology
Learn and think about Robots
All about robots
Tags: education, robots, science, technology
A Teacher's Guide to Generation X Parents
"How to work with well-meaning but demanding moms and dads."
Tags: parents, teacher, education, school2.0
Student Voices | Learn Science at Scitable
Student blogs about science
Tags: education, science, blogs
PhysicsCentral: Physics in Pictures
Learn how the world works, This is a section on Physics in Pictures
Tags: education, science, photos, physics

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/12/2010

2010-05-11T20:32:00.001-04:00

Admongo, the government video game that teaches kids about the perils of advertising. - By Seth Stevenson - Slate Magazine
Persuasive game about, er, persuasion
Tags: gaming, game, government, USG, advertising, education, children, kids, K12

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/11/2010

2010-05-10T20:32:00.001-04:00

Home - U Tech Tips
Tags: software, wiki, resources, education, web2.0, tech, technology, all_teachers, techintegrator, professionaldevelopment, digitalcitizenship
Obama bemoans 'diversions' of IPod, Xbox era - Yahoo! Canada News
US President Barack Obama lamented Sunday that in the iPad and Xbox era, information had become a diversion that was imposing new strains on democracy, in his latest critique of modern media
Tags: Internet, Television, Psychology, Education, society

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/10/2010

2010-05-09T20:31:00.001-04:00

Jason Ohler : Education and Technology :: Art, Storytelling, Education and Technology
Tags: digitalstorytelling, education, resources
50 Free Open Courseware Classes for Special Education Teachers
As you plan what you're doing this summer - here is a list of 50 opencourseware summer courses for special education teachers.

Although budgets for PD are being cut everywhere - true professionals ALWAYS develop themselves and it is time to go out on your own! We must always progress or we regress!
Tags: education, professional, development, specialneeds_teacher
10 Online Programs Which Support Learning in Adult Education
Free online technologies are changing adult education by offering the ability to use free online tools to support collaboration and completing class work.

The list is long in regards to the number of online programs which support adult students in their quest for learning in adult education. The sheer number of these online software programs continues to grow almost daily. A review of several of these programs has narrowed the list down to a few which are beneficial to adult students, because they ease their work load and collaboration efforts with fellow classmates.

Tags: online, programs, adult, education, free, technology, smartphone, social, bookmarking, mobile, applications, internet, tools, web, 20
IRIS Ed Online - Online Professional Development
Tags: education, teaching, resources, professional_development, video

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/09/2010

2010-05-08T20:32:00.001-04:00

E-Learning Software and Authoring Tools | Articulate Rapid eLearning
With thousands of customers in more than 75 countries, Articulate is the recognized leader in rapid e-learning software and e-learning authoring tools.
Tags: elearning, tools, e-learning, education, presentation, software
Virtual Manipulatives
nice tool to create, help visualise mathematical problems
Tags: math, visualisation, manipulatives, education, virtual, editor, online, tool

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/08/2010

2010-05-07T20:32:00.001-04:00

"Be the Beat" lesson Plans (Heart Disease)
So many great health and science lesson plans running around. This is from the American Heart Association and is three lessons to help kids. This from the site:

"Sudden Cardiac Arrest can strike anyone, anywhere – and a victim's chance of survival depends on the people around them. Be the Beat offers free games, music, videos and giveaways to educate teens about recognizing a cardiac arrest, calling 911, CPR and using an AED, while they have fun!

Schools play a vital role in this movement to train teen lifesavers. As a complement to your CPR and AED program, or other curriculum, check out our free resources and register now so we can keep you updated on the latest news. Then, encourage your students to play and learn on Be the Beat. Together we can create the next generation of lifesavers!"

With summer approaching in the USA and the inevitable tragic drownings that always happen - your teaching could save someone's life!
Tags: education, learning, health, lesson, plans, all_teachers

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/07/2010

2010-05-06T20:32:00.001-04:00

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/06/2010

2010-05-05T20:32:00.001-04:00

South Korean miracle? - Academic Skills | GreatSchools
Which school system should the U.S. emulate? The main candidates based on test scores are South Korea and Finland, although they have very distinct approaches to K-12 education.
Tags: southkorea, finland, scores, tests, education
How is Continuing Education Evolving - Continuing Education
"The way people obtain their education is changing on a daily basis. These changes are all based on the fact you and I expect to be able to work, learn, and study whenever and wherever we want."
Tags: continuing, education, future, just, in, time, learning, lifelong, web20

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/05/2010

2010-05-04T20:32:00.001-04:00

About Ning - Announcement
From Lucy Gray in my inbox:

"Details are a bit sketchy, but "a major education company" is planning to sponsor Nings for primary and secondary educators in a new plan announced by Ning today. The official Ning pricing plan is in place for paying customers, and another education announcement will happen sometime in the near future"

Look at this page to see the pricing for non-education networks.
Tags: education, learning, ning, edu_news
Dickinson College - Dickinson’s ‘Manhattan Project’
Tags: dickinson, environment, sustainability, education
Narratives in Pencil: Using Graphic Novels to Teach Israeli-Palestinian Relations. Thomas Juneau. 2010; International Studies Perspectives - Wiley InterScience
Tags: education, political_science, international, studies, MEPP, Israel, Palestine, graphic, graphic_novels, pedagogy

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/04/2010

2010-05-03T20:32:00.001-04:00

learning theory - models, product and process
What is learning? Is it a change in behaviour or understanding? Is it a process?
Tags: learning, theory, learning_theory, education, teaching, models, learningtheory, pedagogy
iPod and iPhone | Teaching and Learning in the Digital Age
Tags: ipod, classroom, teaching, learning, education, technology
50 Incredible, Historical Speeches You Should Watch Online | Online Universities
many,many historical speeches
Tags: speeches, history, SocialStudies, education
Get Lessons | Microsoft Mouse Mischief
Here are some lesson plans using Mouse Mischief. In particular I think the Angles lesson plan would be interesting for math teachers but there is also one on apostrophes, colors (for ESL students) and a science one on carnivores, omnivores and herbivores.
Tags: education, learning, powerpoint, edu_news, edu_newapp

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/03/2010

2010-05-02T20:32:00.001-04:00

Host Your Own Webinars | LearnCentral
Tags: elluminate, pd, collaboration, meetings, webinar, webinars, learncentral, education
Education 2.0: The importance of ownership
Tags: education
What are the Future Trends in Continuing Education?
Online technology advances are changing the way adults gain knowledge, as colleges and training programs move away from being the main funnel of knowledge.

Tags: what, are, continuing, education, elearning, future, trends, online, tools, do, it, yourself, learning, networks, mobile
IPL2 -- Subject Browsing
Tags: resources, Teacher_resources, education, educators
Logiciels SVT, Académie de Toulouse, auteur Pierre Perez
Gribouill-i is a portable graphic editor to draw on the screen - for Windows
L'œil et la vision., Cœur2., Planètes 3D... and all the rest are interactive documents.
Tags: education, software, lang:fr, portable, resource, image, science, mswindows

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/02/2010

2010-05-01T20:32:00.001-04:00

Teachers' Guide for the Professional Cartoonists' Index
Tags: education, comics, lessonplans, history, politicalcartoons
Fedena
Requirements: Ruby on RailsDemo: http://www.fedena.com/tour.htmlLicense: Apache License
Tags: opensource, school, manager, software, education

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 05/01/2010

2010-04-30T20:31:00.001-04:00

Students Weigh In On Characteristics of Effective Teachers : Educational Technology Guy
What student think make good teachers
Tags: education, students, bestpractices, professionaldevelopment
Bill Gates speaking at Science Leadership Academy
Listen to Bill Gates speaking at Science Leadership Academy yesterday, April 29.
Tags: education, learning

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 04/30/2010

2010-04-29T20:32:00.001-04:00

Spezify
Spezify is a search tool presenting results from alarge number of websites in different visual ways.
We take web search further, away from endless lists of blue text links and towards a more intuitive experience.We want you to get a good overview of a subject,find useful information and be inspired with Spezify.
Tags: search, searchengine, visualization, visual, mashup, web, education
VocabSushi: The better way to build your vocabulary | Contextual Examples From the Daily News
Build your vocabulary through never-ending games powered with real-world usage and tailored to your skill level.
Tags: vocabulary, English, education, Games, vocab, sat, act, ELA, all_teachers, literature, language, middleschool
Web Comic Strip Creator - Chogger
Chogger lets you create and share web comics online!
You can build comic strips by adding drawings, photos, and speech balloons
Tags: comics, digitalstorytelling, web2.0, comic, writing, education, all_teachers
Portal de Actividades Educativas multimedia - Educaplay
This is in Spanish but some of my friends out there may like this site. This is from one of the founders, Raul, who just sent me an email:

"Greetings, First I would like to congratulate you for your blog, I have seen it recently and I have noticed that you deal with subjects related to educational teaching. Thus, I would like to tell you about a new project that we have developed in ADRformacion. We call it “educaplay”, and it is a platform, completely free, to create and use scorm compatible multimedia educational activities. In this platform you can make up crosswords activities, guessing riddles, dialogues, word grids, etc. In short, we are very excited about the project, we are still in the developing phase and we had thought it might be of interest for your blog followers. Here is the link, http://www.educaplay.com/ "
Tags: education, gaming, edu_newapp
Proloquo2Go iPad Software Gives Voice to the Autistic - ABC News
For those who work with those with autism, this is a report on how the iPad helps those with autism communicate.
Tags: education, autism, edu_trends, edu_news

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 04/29/2010

2010-04-28T20:32:00.001-04:00

The Age of the Essay
Tags: writing, essays, essay, english, literature, culture, education, criticism
educational-origami - Managing Complex Change
Tags: change, technology, ManagingChange, managing, collaboration, educational, learning, plan
Educational Leadership:Teaching for the 21st Century:How to Learn in the 21st Century
Tags: teaching, learning, leadership, education
Microsoft Security Brochures and Fact Sheets
Lots of free downloadable brochures on Internet safety that you can share at your school.

There are some educational highlights on three of our Digiteen teachers. (Julie Lindsay, Suzie Nestico, and Vicki Davis) - you click on "Education Highlights.)
Tags: education, learning, flatclassroom, digiteen, edu_trends, digitalcitizenship
11 Reasons Advanced Technology Classrooms Fail -- Campus Technology
Great great article about why technology integration in the classroom can fail
Tags: education, technology, nell, techintegrator

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 04/28/2010

2010-04-27T20:32:00.001-04:00

bubbl.us - free web application for brainstorming online
a free web application which offers the ability to create a colorful map for writers who like to color code the creative thoughts and processes. This tool also provides the ability to embed in an e-mail to send to publishers or other writers who may be collaborating on the project.

Tags: mindmap, writing, education, thinking
Math Nook - Math and puzzle games, worksheets, teaching tools and more!
Tags: education, children, tools, Nook, math, interactive
Enemy Lurks in Briefings on Afghan War - PowerPoint - NYTimes.com
Powerpoint makes us stupid!- General James N. Mattis
Tags: Powerpoint, bullets, military, education, learning

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

A bit of cybersafety

2010-04-27T13:14:00.002-04:00

I have been working on this site for a few weeks, hoping to build a cybersafety course. Please have a look and let me know what you think. I need ideas of where to go with it, and text to go with the video portions.

Diigo bookmarks for today 04/27/2010

2010-04-26T20:32:00.001-04:00

TrueCrypt - Free Open-Source On-The-Fly Disk Encryption Software for Windows 7/Vista/XP, Mac OS X and Linux
Use this to create an encrypted drive for your financial records if you have them on your laptop! Remember to backup the folder as well! It is free.

I would also recommend this for those who have private files on their computer like guidance counselors.
Tags: education, productivity, opensource, edu_trends
7-12 Student Interactives - UEN
Tags: interactive, technology, education, math, science, social studies, ELA
Project SIKULI
I don't really understand all about this project out of MIT but want to learn more about it. After watching the demo, I can see HUGE applications for IT administrators and support staff who have certain people and machines that need the same repetitive things done that they just cannot remember. Look at this sikuli script feature - it is GREAT!)

Thi s is what they say on their site:

"ikuli is a visual technology to search and automate graphical user interfaces (GUI) using images (screenshots). The first release of Sikuli contains Sikuli Script, a visual scripting API for Jython, and Sikuli IDE, an integrated development environment for writing visual scripts with screenshots easily. Sikuli Script automates anything you see on the screen without internal API's support. You can programmatically control a web page, a desktop application running on Windows/Linux/Mac OS X, or even an iphone application running in an emulator. "
Tags: education, learning, programming, innovation, edu_newapp
Sylvan Dell Publishing - Newton and Me
This is a cool opportunity for teachers who have smartboards -how about pulling this ebook up onto your screen to read together and then take the quiz. This one is free.

In my email:

"Each month, Sylvan Dell will feature a different eBook for free at www.SylvanDellPublishing.com! View the entire eBook in English and Spanish, absolutely free with no login required. Just click and read! April's featured eBook is one of our newest titles, Newton and Me, about a boy and his dog, Newton. Join them as they discover the laws of force and motion in thier everyday activities. After reading, take the quizzes and complete the For Creative Minds activities on the Newton homepage. Great for a fun, educational summer activity!"
Tags: education, learning, literature, elementary_teacher, reading_teacher
5 Trends in Education Technology Leadership -- THE Journal
5 Trends in Education Technology Leadership
SETDA's "National Educational Technology Trends Report" spotlights state efforts to boost learning through the federal Enhancing Education Through Technology program.

By David Nagel04/23/10
Tags: technology, education, instruction, web2.0, leadership, professionaldevelopment
OpenSim Video Tutorials
I just received these open Sim video tutorials from Kate Lumpkin to share with my students. These are very helpful.
Tags: education, opensim, technology
MacICT Virtual Worlds Project (April 2010)
Great presentation overview on slideshare of the MacICT virtual worlds project from Kate Lumpkin.
Tags: education, opensim

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 04/26/2010

2010-04-25T20:32:00.001-04:00

Video Search Engine - Blinkx
If you need video for the web, this handy video search engine is a POWERFUL tool. If you're watching web video on your home tv, it is a great site for that as well!
Tags: education, homeautomation, multi-media, edu_trends, edu_newapp
Deborah Loewenberg Ball
Tags: teaching, mathematics, math, deborah, education, ball
Grockit Test Prep - SAT, ACT, GMAT, GRE, and LSAT
Tags: collaboration, learning, education, social, networking, startups, K12
Watch Jim Henson's The Storyteller Online - Full Episodes of Jim Henson's The Storyteller & More TV Shows Online with blinkx Remote
For those who teach Greek Mythology, you can now watch Jim Henson's The Storyteller on-line. We've been watching this on Netflix over the weekend and my children have been enthralled with stories from ancient mythology. It is a well worth piece. The only note is that in the trailer for one of the episodes there was a tad bit of nudity (sort of) - one of those things to just make sure you screen to make sure it isn't there. It was on the Icarus and DEadelus movie, however, if you fast forward past the intro it shouldn't be a problem.
Tags: education, learning, mythology, literature

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 04/25/2010

2010-04-24T20:34:00.001-04:00

Google Airways - Create a Tour in Google Earth
Tags: googleearth, google earth, technology integration, web2.0, education, technology

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 04/24/2010

2010-04-23T20:32:00.001-04:00

Yong Zhao
Tags: school2.0, youtube, education, technology
A Principal's Reflections
NMHS Principal's reflection from the 140 character conference. Includes video of the presentation w/ Kyle Pace among others.
Tags: 140, Twitter, education, learning, social
Yong Zhao » Blog Archive » Video: No Child Left Behind and Global Competitiveness
Tags: education, video, yong, zhao
Adora Svitak: What adults can learn from kids | Video on TED.com
Tags: education, TEDtalks, inspiring video, edu_news, professionaldevelopment
Stephen R. Covey: Our Children and the Crisis in Education
Tags: education, web2.0, school2.0, leadership, covey
TimeSheet Automatically Tracks Your Time Spent Working - Time management - Lifehacker
This is a pretty cool feature if you work on specific websites for people. It tracks your time on each task. This would also be good to use with students for them to track and understand ACTUALLy how much time they are spending on task and how much off task!
Tags: education, productivity, business, professionaldevelopment
Good teachers help students to realise their genetic potential at reading | Not Exactly Rocket Science | Discover Magazine
Tags: education, reading, genetics
http://www.simplek12.com/internetsafety
Tags: education, internet safety, all_teachers, digitalcitizenship

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 04/23/2010

2010-04-22T20:32:00.001-04:00

New Hampton School - Social Media Reading List
Tags: socialnetworking, education, technology, socialmedia, leadership, administrator
My Four Word Education Plan! « Education On The Plate
"I'm not sure, but..."
Tags: edublog, opinion, education
cloverleafcollaborative / Wallwisher Ideas
Ideas for using a new web 2.0 tool.
Tags: education, technology, nell

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 04/22/2010

2010-04-21T20:32:00.001-04:00

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 04/21/2010

2010-04-20T20:32:00.001-04:00

Education News - Education Life - The New York Times
Tags: openLearning, openEducation, IBSAlert12
Reeko's Mad Scientist Science Experiments - Science Experiments for Kids
Some cool projects here - Source of free science projects and experiments for parents, teachers, and children of all ages.
Tags: experiments, fun, science, projects, education
Student technology assessments are now simple. Finally. | SimpleAssessment
Tags: lessons, technology, assessment, student, education
Higher Education Reimagined With Online Courseware - Education Life - NYTimes.com
Tags: openLearning, openEducation, IBSAlert12
YouTube - TEDxNYED - Dan Meyer - 03/06/10
Dan Meyer teaches high school math outside of Santa Cruz, CA, and explores the intersection of math instruction, multimedia, and inquiry-based learning. Every Math teacher should see this!
Tags: Dan Meyer, mathematics, education, learning, inquiry
Kodu | Projects | Fuse Labs
Tags: kodu, programming, technology, TechinSchools, education
YouTube - TEDxNYED - Chris Lehmann - 03/06/10
Chris Lehmann, principal at Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, challenges educators as we explore the future of education.
Tags: Chris Lehmann, TedxNNYED, education, reform, learning
YouTube - TEDxNYED - George Siemens - 03/06/10
Tags: Athabasca, University, georgesiemens, TEDxNYED, future, education

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 04/20/2010

2010-04-19T20:32:00.001-04:00

WorldWide Telescope
Tags: astronomy, telescope, science, education, web 2.0, tools, learning
SEM Image Galley by ASPEX
This is fascinating.

Ms. Davis, I found your website not too long ago and wanted to tell you that I really enjoy your blog. Loved the posts about your "Daily Spotlight on Education." You make an a lot of important information easy to follow and it definitely seems like you got a great thing going for you. Keep up your great work and best of luck to you in the future. My name is Jeffrey and I'm with ASPEX, a leading producer of Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM) and Microanalysis software. Our company recently kicked off a "Send Us Your Sample" campaign, which allows anyone to mail us an object of their choosing and have it scanned for free under one of our powerful desktop SEMs. Since your blog primarily deals with education, this would be a great opportunity for some of your educators to get some samples done for their class. People can send us a broken iPhone, an old toothbrush, or even a dead insect...anything they want to see a picture of under a powerful microscope. It's pretty cool. Once we receive the samples, we'll notify senders of their results via email. You can view other reports we've done here: http://www.aspexcorp.com/resources/send_sample.html Since we started this campaign, we've seen a lot of interest from professionals, educators and students all around the globe. Given the focus of your website, I wanted to contact you about posting the information about "Send Us Your Sample" on your blog. We have recently posted a YouTube video that shows how we go about sampling and how to demo our SEM. We would love to partner with you to spread the word about this offer in a blog post so more people get the unique opportunity to have something scanned by an SEM. We also have our "Name That Sample" Campaign in which we put up a sample and the person who guesses correctly, or closest, wins a Brand New Netbook! Just another way of interactivity within your blog. Encourage your readers to Name That Sample! We can talk about details if you're interested. Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you.
Tags: science, education, edu_news
Effective Strategies for Increasing Technology Integration by MissCheska
Tags: technology, strategies, integration, education, teachers
Writing Can Improve Reading Skill, Study Finds - Curriculum Matters - Education Week
Specific writing strategies can play an important role in boosting reading comprehension. That's the bottom-line finding of a new analysis of research.

The report, out today from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, says that teachers can improve students' reading skills by having them write about what they are reading, teaching them writing skills, and increasing how much they write.
Tags: writing, reading, education, improve, bestpractices
Poster-Street
Tags: poster, education, resources, technology, tools, posters, poster-street
Panther Country » Looking ahead; part I
Tags: Harry Grzelewski, principal, Looking Ahead, 21st century learning, change, education, administrator, all_teachers, bestpractices, edu_trends, technology
Impact EVERY Student: Simple Strategies That Provide... - Eventbrite
From my email today:

"Turning Technologies, a leader in the student response industry, is sponsoring a webinar, “Simple Strategies That Provide Big Improvement,” that will take place on 4/30 at 2pm ET. It is part of the eSchool News free webinar series. During this workshop, participants will learn how to promote team-based, short-term thought and action, effectively use data to progress monitor student gains, produce immediate and frequent wins, and tools that can help you increase student achievement."
Tags: education, learning, edu_news

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 04/18/2010

2010-04-17T20:33:00.001-04:00

Podcast - Digitize This! Digitizing the Writing Workshop
Tags: writing, education, digitalcitizenship, podcast
Avoiding Continuing Education is Too Costly for Career Success
Recommendations are provided for how to take time to learn new career skills and professional knowledge for advancement or employment in a new career.

Tags: continuing, education, learning, lifelong, linkedin, career, training, tips, for, success, avoiding, skills, mental, processes
Vicarious Learning: Developing Cultural Literacy Through Global Collaboration | Radio TICAL
Here is the podcast I recorded at TICAL in Arkansas with Rowland Baker about vicarious learning and global collaboration. We had a great conversation and I love the example he shares from "close encounters" that makes so much sense!
Tags: education, learning, flatclassroom, inthenews, edu_trends

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 04/17/2010

2010-04-16T20:32:00.001-04:00

Project Implicit®
Tags: implicit, psychology, research, education, science, tools
LearniT-TeachiT
Tags: PBL, technology, lesson plans, education, resource, curriculum
Project-Based Learning | Edutopia
Excellent information on project based learning with a lot of real world examples from edutopia.
Tags: education, learning, projectbasedlearning, pbl, edu_news, edu_trends
Educational Technology Guy: Creating a Personal Learning Network (PLN)
Tags: edtech, pln, technology, educational, socialmedia, web2.0
9 things you should NEVER say to a Professor « "How to do it" with Courtney
Tags: funny, education, students

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 04/16/2010

2010-04-15T20:32:00.001-04:00

News: Who Really Failed? - Inside Higher Ed
This is a travesty
Tags: idiocy, education, LSU, grading, inflation, edu_news

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.

Diigo bookmarks for today 04/15/2010

2010-04-14T20:32:00.001-04:00

Arty the Part-Time Astronaut - Astronomy and space site for kids
Children Astronomy, travel the planets and learn about the space above our heads through activities and games to teach about earth and space science.
Tags: science, space, astronomy, education, elementary
Tinychat - Free online video chat rooms
Tinychat is a dead-simple audio and video web communication platform with a rich API.
tinychat.com provides disposable conference rooms with a simple url for up to 400 people and up to 12 live audio video streams, that just work, no signup.
p2p.tinychat.com easily creates, private, encrypted, person-to-person audio video calls that just work, with no signup.
Tags: education, backchannel, all_teachers, bestpractices, web2, techintegrator

Posted from Diigo. The rest of educators group favorite links are here.