NASA Blows Up A Comet In Space With A Rocket

This is an interesting summer science event. Enter this date into your iCal, PDA, cellphone, or jot it on a post-it and stick it on the edge of your monitor.
NASA is sending up a rocket on January 12, 2005 to intercept a space comet that it will blow up. This explosion will be the equivalent of 4.5 tons of TNT. This will enable scientists to view how a comet is made up. Us here on earth will get to watch some unusual fireworks right around July 4 when it's scheduled to explode in space.

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The Education Podcast Network

Check out this short clip of my podcast from David Warlick's first look at my iPod with it iTalk attached. I asked him if I could interview him right after his keynote address and this is what he had to say about podcasting.

The Education Podcast Network is an effort to bring together into one place, the wide range of podcast programming that may be helpful to teachers looking for content to teach with and about, and to explore issues of teaching and learning in the 21st century.
Most of the producers of these programs are educators, who have found an avenue through which they can share their knowledge, insights, and passions for teaching and learning and for the stories that they relish and teach. The directory will grow as more people come forward with their stories and ideas, and we hope that you will start to share your ideas with the larger education community by producing your own program.

I remember walking up to David Warlick at NCET conference in Greensboro, Dec. 2, 2004, where I introduced David to podcasting. I approached him with my Griffin iTalk and shiny new iPod and shoving the device in his face I asked: "do you mind if I record a podcast about your keynote address?" He looked at it and said "what is that"? I still have the .WAV file stored on my PowerBook and converted it to MP3 some time ago. I searched my hard drive and could not find it. I need to reinstall LAMELib on my Macintosh so Audacity can export the .WAV file to MP3 so I can post his initial comments about podcasting and how it fits into the whole picture of digital literacy.

The Education Podcast Network

Self Reflection about Moodling

Warning: This post is a self-reflection of this past semester. I am thinking out loud about our experimentation this past semester with Moodle. One use of moodily I discovered out of necessity was in managing individual instruction. If you find errors in my spelling and or grammar, please over look them. I just typed it as it flowed though my memory. I will go back and look at this post something this summer and edit it, or just delete it. The last six weeks of the school year, we always receive high school students that had been taking difficult courses. For example, in my third period class, I had one student taking Spanish II, one taking Earth Science, one taking Algebra, and one taking Geometry. By law, alternative schools must offer classes that the students were taking at their regular school. So, individualized instruction is a fact or life for the teachers at North hatefully Academy. Of course, I am neither certified nor highly qualified to teach all these singletons as they are referred to sometimes. The moodily website enables me to setup a course and post links, lessons, web pages, share text files, images, video from UnitedStreaming, and things that I not learned how to do still. Even though it is no practical, I would love to access actual teacher lesson plans of the regular schoolÂ’s teacher, an audio of the instructional conversation (the lectures), handouts as files and quizzes. This would constitute a correspondence or distance-learning course. That way, the student could continue working on assignment from their former teachers (in most cases, their classroom teachers had not issue with the student and the reason for them being kicked out of their school was something that happened in the bathroom, parking lot, bus, or somewhere in between). So the teach they had in their regular school actually are concerned about their academic success. We do not have enough technology knowledge for teacher to keep all their pacing guides, lesson plans and such online. Teachers also lack time to post all this information.

Instead, the student is given worksheets and a textbook and must rely on their own reading skills. I had no ancillary materials for these different classes. So, most of the assignment have to come from searching the world-wide-wait. When we are assigned students that are LD in reading, they really have difficult time learning. I can only provide one-on-one instruction to one student at a time when they all have different courses.

I have been working with a neighboring school system to develop a Moodle server. They also have an alternative school. I have a vision of possibly setting up online courses such as these for at-risk students and alternative school students. Not really a virtual high school, but more of a classic individualized class or templates of course activities that can be quickly customized for short term students. I have not really settled on what the Moodle should look like. I have been using a program called learning.com by EasyTech and really like the way it works. It has Flash based lessons and activities that can be printed out ( for reinforcement and self-assessment).

I found this great presentation about Moodle online. It is basically an audio of a guy reading a PowerPoint presentation. I like this because if you need to listen to a particular section, you can click on that part in the menu and go right to that topic. The menu is located on the left hand side of the window. It also has an integrated media player control bar feature. I like this for using a digital projector so I can easily pause and ask or answer questions. Intro to a Moodle Course

The Lab Archive

The Lab Archive Who is the archive for?
Science educators of all sorts: Chemistry, Biology, Physics, etc! Experiments from any field can be posted. The quality of the offerings in each field depends on YOU!
Educators at any level. We'd like to provide experiments for high-school through advanced undergraduate science courses. Again, if the offerings at your level seem sparse, please help us correct this!
What will it cost me?
Use of the archive is free!

Thanks Mike Jones from Pisgah High School in Canton, NC for forwarding this resource to us. Keep up the good work Mike!

Wikispaces � blendedlearning � home

Wikispaces � blendedlearning � home : "Blended Learning in the Knowledge Era
Welcome to the blendedlearning learning space! This space is here to help educators get started with some of the free-and-easy tools of the web - tools that may revolutionise the way we teach and learn."

Check it out today...

Wordpress Blog Sample Site

Wordpress Blog Sample Site Noticed that this site has a link to my Word Press blog and had to give Steve a shout out. Great site. Check out the resources.

USB-powered lava lamp - Engadget - www.engadget.com.

USB-powered lava lamp - Engadget - www.engadget.com.: "We're pretty sure that the sheer geekiness of plugging this into a USB port kills whatever swinging bachelor pad/hippie love nest vibe you might be trying to create, but Lava World International is going to release a tiny
USB-powered lava lamp to commemorate the 40th anniversary of everybody's fave/least fave Sixties artifact."

I had to post this. Just right for destressing after all the high stakes state required testing.

School is Out, Find time to READ!

Gavin
Originally uploaded by The Blake Slate.

It is time for teachers and students to work off some stress. Go for a walk, a swim, a bike ride, or play with your pets. This a picture of one of our family pets. He is chilling at the lake-- in the shade. When the summer temperature hits the 90s and it is too hot to play outdoors, head for the cool AC of the public library and check out a book.

READ something. "The more you read, the better you read."

Adams, Richard                        Watership down          
An allegorical tale of survival in which a band of wild rabbits leave their
ancestral home hoping to build a more humane society.

Alvarez, Julia                            Before we
were free     Twelve-year-old Anita becomes more aware of the boys
around her and of the mounting danger to her family in the Dominican
Republic in 1960.

Anderson, M.T.                        Feed                           
For Titus and his teenaged friends, having transmitters implanted in their
heads is as normal as going to the moon or Mars on vacation. Everyone's
"feed" tells them everything they need to know-- there's no need to read or
write.

Anthony, Piers                        
On a pale horse            Zane shoots Death only to discover he must
take Death’s place.

Austen, Jane                            Pride
and prejudice       Vivacious Elizabeth Bennett is repelled and
attracted by the arrogant Mr. Darcy in this story of their spirited
courtship.

Bass, L.G.                                Sign of
the Qin:  outlaws  of Moonshadow Marsh                     In long-ago
China, Prince Zong, the mortal young Starlord chosen to save humankind from
destruction, joins the twin outlaws, White Streak and Black Whirlwind, to
fight the Lord of the Dead and his demon hordes. “A Chinese Lord of the
Rings.”

Blackwood, Gary                     The year of the
hangman           In 1777, having been kidnapped and taken forcibly from
England to the American colonies, fifteen-year-old Creighton becomes part of
developments in the political unrest there that may spell defeat for the
patriots and change the course of history.

Brinton, Elizabeth S.                 My American
Eden:  Mary Dyer, martyr for freedom     The gripping story of a
remarkable woman of faith who dared to challenge the dark side of an
emerging America.

Bronte, Charlotte                      Jane Eyre                    
Hired to teach his daughter Adele, Jane falls in love with Mr. Rochester in
haunted Thornfield Hall.

Bunch, Chris                             Corsair                        
Gareth Radnor is only a boy when Linyati slavers attack his village, killing
or capturing everyone there. Murder, mayhem, and magic all combine in this
rousing tale of pirates and strange beings that view humans as commodities.

Butler, Octavia                         
Kindred                        A black woman living in Southern
California suddenly finds herself cast back in time to the pre-Civil War
South, to rescue a hostile white child who turns out to be her
great-grandfather.

Cadmun,
Michael                     Blood Gold.                 After an
arduous journey, Will Dwinelle and his friend Ben finally reach California
in 1849 intending to bring home the man who betrayed the honor of a girl
back home in Philadelphia, but find themselves tempted by the riches of the
Gold Rush.

Chotjewitz, David                     Daniel,
half-human and the good Nazi (Daniel Halber Mensch)            In
1933, best friends Daniel and Armin admire Hitler, but as anti-Semitism
buoys Hitler to power, Daniel learns he is half Jewish, threatening the
friendship even as life in their beloved Hamburg, Germany, is becoming
nightmarish. Also details Daniel and Armin’s reunion in 1945 in interspersed
chapters.

Cooney,
Caroline                     Goddess of yesterday               Taken
from her home on an Aegean island as a six-year-old girl, Anaxandra calls on
the protection of her goddess while she poses as two different princesses
over the next six years, before ending up as a servant in the company of
Helen and Paris as they make their way to Troy.

Crichhton, Michael                   The Andromeda
strain              A team of scientists struggle to define and contain
a deadly bacteria brought back from outer space by a satellite.

Crossley-Holland,
Kevin           The seeing stone (and sequels)  In late
twelfth-century England, a thirteen-year-old boy named Arthur recounts how
Merlin gives him a magical seeing stone
which shows him images of the legendary King Arthur, the events of whose
life seem to have many parallels to his own.

Crowe, Chris                            Mississippi
Trial            In Mississippi in 1955, a sixteen-year-old finds
himself at odds with his grandfather over issues surrounding the kidnapping
and murder of a fourteen-year-old African American from Chicago.

Crutcher,
Chris                        
Whale talk                    Intellectually and athletically gifted,
TJ, a multiracial, adopted teenager, shuns organized sports and the gung-ho
athletes at his high school until he agrees to form a swimming team and
recruits some of the school's less popular students.

Curtis, Christopher
Paul            Bucking the sarge        
 Deeply involved in his cold and
manipulative mother's shady business dealings in Flint, Michigan,
fourteen-year-old Luther keeps a sense of humor while running the Happy
Neighbor Group Home For Men, all the while dreaming of going to college and
becoming a philosopher.

Dickens, Charles                      Oliver Twist                 
The story of an orphan who is caught up in the life of the streets of London
with a man named Fagin who runs a young gang of thieves.

Farmer,
Nancy                         The sea of trolls            After Jack
becomes apprenticed to a Druid bard, he and his little sister Lucy are
captured by Viking Berserkers and taken to the home of King Ivar the
Boneless and his half-troll queen, leading Jack to undertake a vital quest
to Jotunheim, home of the trolls.

Gavin, Jamila                            Coram boy                  
Eighteenth-century England and a home for foundling and unwanted children
serve as the backdrop for this Dickensian tale of romance, faithful friends,
dastardly deeds, murder, and mystery.

Hayes, Daniel                           The trouble
with lemons            Tyler and Lymie, eighth grade misfits, discover a
dead body in a quarry and work to uncover the mystery behind it.

Hemingway, Ernest                   The old man and
the sea           The tragic yet triumphant battle between an old Cuban
fisherman and a giant marlin.

Hite,
Sid                                   The king of Slippery Falls         
While on a single-minded quest to catch an elusive giant trout,
sixteen-year-old Lewis Hinton’s life in a small Idaho town is turned
upside-down when he learns that he is adopted and might be a descendant of
French royalty.

Hobbs,
Will                              The maze                      Rick,
a 14-year-old foster child, escapes from a juvenile detention facility near
Las Vegas and travels to Canyonlands National Park in Utah, where he meets a
bird biologist working on a project to reintroduce condors to the wild.

Hoeye,
Michael                        Time stops for no mouse (and others in
the series)         When Linka Perflinger, a jaunty mouse, brings a watch
into his shop to be repaired and then disappears, Hermux Tantamoq is caught
up in a world of dangerous search for eternal youth as he tries to find out
what happened to her.

Hoover, H.M.                         
The dawn palace : the story of Medea   Having been trained in
supernatural knowledge, 13-year-old Medea finds herself in a unique position
to help when the Greek hero Jason comes to her father’s kingdom in search of
the Golden Fleece.

Howe,
Louise                           The Adventures of Blue Avenger          
            On his 16^th birthday, still trying to cope with the
unexpected death of his father, David decides -- or does he -- to change his
name to Blue Avenger, hoping to find a way to make a difference in his
Oakland neighborhood and in the world.

Ibbotson,
Eva                           The star of Kazan         “One
foundling girl, two kindly servants, three eccentric professors, a glamorous
stranger, and a mysterious legacy yield a story as frothy and fragrant as a
pastry from Vienna—where this story just happens to be set.”

Jarvis,
Robin                             The dark portal         
While on a rescue mission, a few daring mice journey below to the sewers to
an evil world populated by rats that peel mice before eating them and
worship the Dark Lord.

Jordan,
Robert                         The eye of the world                
As ancient forces of evil converge on three frightened boys -- Rand, Matrim,
and Perrin -- whom can they trust? A witch and her warrior companion? A
storyteller with a past he won’t discuss? A man who hunts with wolves?

Kerr, M.E.                              
Deliver us from Evie                  Sixteen-year-old Parr Burrman
and his family face some difficult times when word spreads through their
rural Missouri town that his older sister is a lesbian.

Kidd, Sue
Monk                      The secret life of bees               In
the summer of 1964, 14-year-old Lily breaks her African American caretaker
out of jail, and the pair finds a home with the Calendar sisters, who keep
bees in a small South Carolina town.

King,
Laurie                             The beekeeper’s apprentice     
Sherlock Holmes meets an intellectual equal, 15-year-old Mary Russell, who
challenges him to investigate yet another case.

Klass,
David                             California Blue:  a novel           
When seventeen-year-old John Rodgers discovers a new sub-species of
butterfly which may necessitate closing the mill where his dying father
works, they find themselves on opposite sides of the environmental conflict.

LeGuin, Ursula                         
Earthsea cycle              An apprentice wizard tries his powers
before he is ready, and has to fight the evil he releases. Book I : A
wizard of Earthsea.

Lubar,
David                            Wizards of the game                
Eighth grader Mercer, whose passion is the fantasy role-laying game Wizards
of the Warrior World, hopes to use a fund raiser to bring a gaming
convention to his middle school, but instead he attracts four genuine
wizards who are trapped on Earth and want his help in returning to their own
world.

Mori,
Kyoko                            Shizuko’s daughter       After her
mother’s suicide when she is twelve years old, Yuki spends years living with
her distant father and his resentful new wife, cut off from her mother’s
family, and relying on her own inner strength to cope with the tragedy

Napoli, Donna
Jo                     Bound              In a novel based on Chinese
Cinderella tales, fourteen-year-old stepchild Xing Xing endures a life of
neglect and servitude, as her stepmother cruelly mutilates her own child’s
feet so that she alone might marry well.

Nicholson, William
                   The wind singer            After Kestrel Hath
rebels against the stifling rules of Amaranth society and is forced to flee,
she, along with her twin brother and a tagalong classmate, follow an ancient
map in quest of the legendary silver voice of the wind singer, in an attempt
to heal Amaranth and its people

Nix,
Garth                                Shade’s children           In a
savage postnuclear world, four young fugitives attempt to overthrow the
blood-thirsty rule of the Overlords with the help of Shade, their mysterious
mentor.

Ortiz Cofer,
Judith                    The meaning of Consuelo          Coming of
age in the 1950s, when American influence threatens to dilute Puerto Rico’s
traditional Spanish customs, as well as to harm its fragile ecology,
Consuelo watches her family being torn asunder—much like the island itself.

Paulsen,
Gary                           Soldier’s heart              Eager to
enlist, 15-year-old Charley has a change of heart after experiencing the
horrors and mental anguish of Civil War combat.

Peck,
Richard                           The last safe place on earth      
Fifteen-year-old Todd sees his perfect suburban world start to unravel when
his little sister has her mind influenced by a member of a fundamentalist
sect and he begins to notice signs of censorship in his community.

Pope, Elizabeth
Marie               The perilous gard          In 1558 while
imprisoned in a remote castle, a young girl becomes involved in a series of
events that leads to an underground labyrinth peopled by the last
practitioners of druidic magic.

Pratchett,
Terry                        The colour of magic                 
Twoflower, an insurance salesman, sells insurance to an arsonist, is rescued
by the Wizard Rincewind and tours Discworld.

Rees,
Celia                               Witch child                   In
1659, fourteen-year-old Mary Newbury keeps a journal of her voyage from
England to the New World and her experiences living as a witch in a
community of Puritans near Salem, Massachusetts.

Smith,
Betty                              A tree grows in Brooklyn         
Story of Francie Nolan growing up in the Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn from
1902 to 1919.

Spinelli,
Jerry                            Stargirl                         In
this story about the perils of popularity, the courage of nonconformity, and
the thrill of first love, an eccentric student named Stargirl changes Mica
High School forever.

Tingle, Rebecca                        The edge on
the sword In ninth-century Britain, fifteen-year-old Aethelflaed,
daughter of King Alfred of West Saxony, finds she must assume new
responsibilities much sooner than expected when she is betrothed to Ethelred
of Mercia in order to strengthen a strategic alliance against the Danes.

Tolan,
Stephanie                       Surviving the Applewhites        
Jake, a budding juvenile delinquent, is sent for home schooling to the arty
and eccentric Applewhite family's Creative Academy, where he discovers
talents and interests he never knew he had. Newbery Honor.

Turnbull,
Ann                            No shame, no fear        In England in
1662, a time of religious persecution, fifteen-year-old Susanna, a poor
country girl and a Quaker, and seventeen-year-old William, a wealthy
Anglican, meet and fall in love against all odds.

Twain, Mark                            A Connecticut
Yankee in King Arthur’s Court   A Connecticut  Yankee with a perfect
knowledge of machinery is transported back in time to the Court of King
Arthur.

Verne, Jules                              20,000
leagues under the sea    Captured by the megalomaniacal Captain Nemo,
the central characters of this tale travel in an early submarine while
trying to plot their escape.

Wallace, Rich                           Shots on
goal                While pursuing his goal of helping his soccer team
win the league championship, 15-year-old Bones tries to deal with his
resentment of his best friend, on whose girlfriend he has a crush.

Whelan, Gloria             Homeless bird             
When thirteen-year-old Koly enters into an ill-fated arranged marriage, she
must either suffer a destiny dictated by India’s tradition or find the
courage to oppose it.

Woodson, Jacqueline                Miracle’s boys             
Twelve-year-old Lafayette’s close relationship with his older brother
Charlie changes after Charlie is released from a detention home and blames
Lafayette for the death of their mother.

Yolen, Jane                              Briar Rose                   
Grandmother Gemma always told the story of Briar Rose, and after she dies,
her granddaughter discovers that Gemma was a real-life Sleeping Beauty, a
Holocaust survivor.

 

SHORT STORIES:

Crutcher, Chris                        
Athletic shorts : six short stories

Johnson, Angela                       Gone from home
: short takes

Salisbury, Graham                    Island Boyz :
short stories

Appelt, Kathi                            Kissing
Tennessee and other stories from the Stardust Dance

NON-FICTION:

Bausum, Ann                            With courage
and cloth:  winning the fight for a woman’s right to vote

Bryson, Bill                               A walk in
the woods : rediscovering America on the Appalachian         
                                                Trail

Hoose, Philip M.                      The race to
save the Lord God Bird

Krakauer, Jon                          Into thin air

Nelson, Peter                           Left for
dead : a young man’s search for justice for the USS
                                                Indianapolis

Pelts, Kathy                             
Discovering Christopher Columbus : how history is invented

Philbrick,
Nathaniel                   Revenge of the whale : the true story of the
Whaleship Essex    

Shulman, Mark                     
  Attack of the killer video book: tips and tricks for young directors

POETRY:

Appelt, Kathi                            Poems from
homeroom : a writer’s place to start

Nye, Naomi Shihab                  19 varieties of
gazelle : poems of the Middle East

Stavans, ed.                              Wáchale :
poetry and prose about growing up Latino in America

BIOGRAPHY:

Allen, Thomas B.                      George
Washington, Spymaster:  how America outspied the British
                                               
and won the Revolutionary War

Bolden, Tonya                          Wake up our
souls:  a celebration of black American artists

Gingerich, Owen                       The book
nobody read:  chasing the revolutions of Nicolaus
                                                 Copernicus

Howard, Arlene                        Elston and me
: the story of the first black Yankee

Jiang, Ji-Li                                Red
scarf girl : a memoir of the cultural revolution

Man, John                                Gutenberg :
how one man remade the world with words

 

Survived Another Year

By most measures of success, just making it to the end of a semester is a major accomplishment. One of our teachers resigned mid-year, and the interim teacher that replace him was...well, I think some things are better unsaid. In the local newspaper, a comment was printed that inferred our school was being under utilized. Politics? Newspaper what publish ignorant statement like this are examples of a Bully Pulpit. This term stems from President Theodore Roosevelt reference to the White House as a "bully pulpit," meaning a terrific platform from which to persuasively advocate an agenda. Is this agenda to segregate, isolate, or selectively educate? Our public schools are just that- public. Public education can not refuse to teach children just because they exhibit anti-social behavior. Can local edicts circumvent Federal laws and the rights of all to satisfy a few?

Here are a few thoughts on methods for obtaining good discipline.

It can be argued that the most important aspect of good discipline in a school is assertiveness. Assertive administrators and teachers who set clear boundaries, praise children for appropriate behavior, and whose punishments are perceived as "fair" by the children, tend to have a calm atmosphere and good academic results. Praise in a whole other issue. I will cover that in another post.

On the other hand teachers and administrators who are not assertive tend to have variable boundaries, such as ignoring a behavior one day then blowing up in rage at the same behavir the next day, giving inappropriate punishments such as a long detention for a minor infraction (like spitting), or allowing the pupils they perceive as "good" or depending of factors like race or who their parents are or if they are good at sports, to get away with behavior that "bad" pupils are punished for. Such practices have been found to create a frantic or uneasy atmosphere in the classroom, usually leading to the teacher being disliked by the pupils and less learning being achieved.

Alligator Photo

This is a picture of an alligator I made Sunday, May 15, 2005. I know, it is not National Geographic quality. I was riding down the road, near my lake house and saw this alligator in the creek and pointed the camera out the window and snapped the shot. I was near Big Creek at Lake Waccamaw, North Carolina.

Click this image to see a larger image of the gator.

Open source software for Windows - The Unofficial Microsoft Weblog

Teachers love FREE stuff. I found this on DIGG and thought it was worth remembering so I included it in my blog.
Open source software for Windows - The Unofficial Microsoft Weblog - microsoft.weblogsinc.com _: "Open source software for Windows

Posted May 2, 2005, 9:08 AM ET by Scott Granneman
"One thing that people tend to forget is that open source isn't just about Linux. Apple uses open source stuff in
its products - like it's kernel & web browser for instance - and even MSFT has released a couple of things as open
source (and I'm not talking about their shared source license, which doesn't even deserve consideration). In
addition, there's actually a lot of great open source software that runs on Windows. When I use XP, for instance, I
don't use IE; I use Firefox. I don't use Outlook or Outlook Express; I use
Thunderbird. I don't use Office; I use OpenOffice.org."



Here are some other great open source apps I use on Windows:"
for his list, visit Scott's blog.

Take the Teach42 Survey

Ok, I need some help. I read on Teach42, a blog that and podcast from a leader in educational technology, Steve Dembo. He has setup a survey on his blog at
Teach42 » The Teach42 Survey

I need you to take this survey. He is not going to sell your info to spammers, and is not selling anything. What do I get out of it you ask? He holding a drawing for a free Flickr Pro account and my students would really enjoy posting images next year on this wonder online service. So, check out this link at Teach42 » The Teach42 Survey, and take the survey.

Study Habits

Way back in April 2004, more than 90,000 students nationwide completed the first annual High School Survey of Student Engagement (HSSSE, pronounced “hessie”), creating the largest national data base on high school student engagement.

After skimming through this research, a light came on. We are not teaching our students in our alternative program how to study. I personally realized that I have had extremely low expectations. I have not assigned a homework assignment in a while. This has to change.

This brings me to one skill I am going to focus on next school year in my classroom: Study Habits.

A general rule of thumb regarding doing well in college is that students should spend two to three hours outside of class for every hour in class. Yet, more than half of the HSSSE respondents (55%) said they devote a total of three hours or less per week to preparing for all of their classes.

Macworld UK - Experts warn of iPod hearing loss

Ok, now I understand why I have been experiencing a ringing or tinnitus in my hears after listening to my iPod or Shuffle while working out. I tried to use my iPod to drown out the TV noise in the gym. However, when I do not wear my ear buds, I feel much more relaxed and can rest better. Maybe it is in my mind, but I have to admit that the problems of noise polution is driving my away from the gym. My ability to hear is very important as a classroom teacher. Sure it is cool to wear the iPod around but I have to amid that tinnitus is something I want to avoid.

Macworld UK - Experts warn of iPod hearing loss

Computers 'should track truant pupils'

We contacted this British company today to see it their product is available here. Could this help in our school? Not really. The kids we have that are really difficult to manage, do not seem "parents" to contact via telephon, much less email. However, the other features like weekly reports may help identify students that need to be referred to an alternative school setting. Could be interesting.
Computers 'should track truant pupils': "Tuesday, 3rd May 2005
Computers 'should track truant pupils'
TEACHERS should use computer tracking systems to combat truancy and bad behaviour in schools, education secretary Ruth Kelly says.Under Labour plans, parents will be sent text messages or e-mails from schools telling if children misbehave or skip lessons.Ms Kelly wants to see more schools using IT programmes to give parents 'real time' information on their children amid growing concerns over standards of behavior said: 'We are seeing an improvement in the tackling of persistent truancy.'But I want schools to use the new hi-tech options available to monitor attendance and get parents to help improve their children's attitude."

Teachers Drive the Curriculum

After attending the Distinguished Teacher Forum in Raleigh, the dismal news that our state's educational budget is some where between a rock and a hard spot, I have tried to spend time thinking about the issue. I have read several articles and talked to our administrators and everyone seems to have thrown up their hands. In a recent discussion with Steve Dembo, I told him about how much I had been using Moodle http://moodle.org , to try to meet the needs of my students. I mentioned that my students were creating a Moodle course glossary of terms we use as a learning tool in their online community. He recommended that I try including podcasts or MP3 files of the definitions for non-readers. I have been trying to get my mind around what strategies, and skills students would have to master before this would work.

Then while reading my Bloglines RSS feeds this morning, I noticed that South Africa has begun a WikiBook The textbooks on this site are all released under an open content license that means that they are free forever. No one can keep you from using these materials, modifying them or distributing them. Also, the license guarantees that any works that are derived from these materials will be similarly free to modify and distribute, forever.

Could this save our state millions of dollars each year-- probably not, but it has tremendous potential. Teachers love this four-letter word: FREE. Four years ago, I began participating a project known as EarthView. Teachers from across North Carolina participated in field trips in the summers to visit and study environmental and geologic issues. The sessions were lead by authorities in those issues. We interviewed Feldspar mine executives in the Blue Ridge Mountains, visited granite mines and lakes and swamps in the Piedmont, and dug sand trenched to study layers of sand on the Outer Banks. Teachers learned about how to create project-based learning activities. This information would have been a great idea for a WikiBook project. The participants could have contributed their activities. New teachers never have enough help meeting the demands of learners.

This needs to be written into a National Science Foundation grant. Hope someone steals this idea. Hum, maybe I need to get of my lazy tail and do it.

If you have ever had to inventory hundreds of mold covered five-year-old textbooks, you will love this new WikiBooks project from South Africa. The time is right. Tight budgets, high stake testing, retaining teachers is critical factor, NCLB requirements for highly qualified teachers in every classroom are looming.
Check this out.

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/South_African_Curriculum

Georgia school reduces suspension for student’s call from Mom in Iraq

This is a must read for all administrators and teachers. Seems that now if your student has a cell phone in your class, and the darn thing rings in the middle of a test, the kid can tell you "it is my mom, she is on duty in Iraq." If you do not let them answer it or send them to the office, all heck may break loose. So who is to blame here? Cingular for selling them the phone--oh no! Dad for not modeling proper cell phone etiquette and to turn them off when calls can "get you suspended." Maybe mom. She may need some US Gov’t approved training on how to interpret time zones? Who knows, this is the craziest thing I have read about all week. Suspend him so he can take mom's call. Happy Mother's Day!!! If your mom is not in church, or attending a concert and if you are lucky for her to be alive and able and willing to talk to you, GIVE HER A CALL. Be sure to check those tricky TIME ZONES. Georgia school reduces suspension for student’s call from Mom in Iraq - Engadget - www.engadget.com /

Teaching Ideas & Resources - TES - The Times Educational Supplement 2

After reading this article, it made me think about what our school spends annually for software. My question is could I teach my students how to use open-source software? Could my students pass the very important computer skills test required by North Carolina if they only used open-source software? Would it save schools that much? Schools would have to consider one main cost- professional development. In order to teach students, teachers have to be trained to use open-source software also. My school has a class set of texts, specifically written for learning disabled students. These texts were provided at no cost to our system through a grant. If we switched to open-source software to replace our Microsoft products, it would cost more money. Our school has a very competitive pricing of Office. I was surprised how cheap the license costs compared to single user retail prices. So, as a classroom teacher, I would rather keep Microsoft products. I once heard an administrator say: " the only person that likes change is a baby, and they have a wet diaper."

Teaching Ideas & Resources - TES - The Times Educational Supplement 2

LifeDrive Mobile Manager

This is my next tech gadget.
palmOne LifeDrive Mobile Manager appears on Amazon - Engadget - www.engadget.com /

I think I could really use this one. I will wait for the price to drop around Christmas...

Sharing the Kool-Aid

koolaid01
Originally uploaded by TheArtGuy.

Using technology to reach at-risk students is not to hard to do. First, pick out the "flavor" you like (Apple or PC), then add just the rigth amount of cool water (professional development), then pour in the Kool-Aid (tech support, computers, software, Internet, Blogs or podcasts), then add the sugar to taste (teacher's excitement and nuturing), then stir (as the Nike ad says--JUST DO IT). Very one enjoys the rewards. SHARE THE KOOL-AID.

Podcasts in Education...share the Kool-Aid

koolaid02
Originally uploaded by TheArtGuy.

Podcasts, am in awe of Steve Dembo. He is so cool. I had to copy and paste this on the READ/WRITE WEB. I will have to work on those this summer. We have 13 days remaining in this school year. Next week, our 12 middle schoolers take the North Carolina EOG test. Oh, yeah, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Then those that do not make a at least level III, will be remediated and offered a retest.

Kitchen Science?

This really happened! Sunday, while preparing for our family lunch, my mother noticed that the electric skillet she had cooked the roast in was cooling. She asked me to take the lid off. I pulled, and tugged, and used a screw driver. It would not come off.

This really happened! Sunday, while preparing for our family lunch, my mother noticed that the electric skillet she had cooked the roast in was cooling. She asked me to take the lid off. I pulled, and tugged, and used a screwdriver. It would not come off.

Well, we tried cooling it with water in the sink. And that did not work. Then, my wife, a librarian, Googled: Pot lid stuck. The web page it pointed to was something about Kitchen Tips. They said to reheat the pot and when it came to a boil the lid came right off.

There is some real good science here. I have not taught chemistry in many years, but after my wife told me about the tip from the web page, it hit me. It is a perfect example of the Gas Law. Take a look at this Java applet to visualize the science the experienced first hand in the kitchen today. Move the temperature slider to the right and notice the increase in pressure. This is what happened to the pot my family was using to cook the meat in. As the meat cooked in the pot, the temperature increased. This volume of the pot remained constant. However, when the temperature of the pot was reduced, the pot's lid was not removed and (volume remains constant) the pressure inside the pot dropped. This is caused when the number of collision between the molecules in the pot were reduced. Let collisions of molecules produced let pressure. This caused a vacuum to be formed inside the pot sealing it. We could not break the seal with screwdrivers, knife blades or anything we tried. I wish I had my digital camera to take a picture of what it looked like. Turning the heat back on the pot called the molecules of gas to increase their kinetic energy. This increase in temperature increased the pressure inside the closed cook pot. We noticed that steam was coming out of the pot after about 4 minutes of heating. The lid was easily removed.

Conclusion: If the Volume of a gas remains constant, and temperature is increased the pressure increases proportionally to the increase in temperature.

Greetings from Raleigh...

Monday, April 25, 2005 has been a full day for this old country boy. It was day of professional development. The presenters at this year’s Distinguished Teacher Forum were among the best I have even attended. The day started with a wonderful breakfast buffet. We were treated to scrambled eggs, bacon, link sausage, and fruit-juice of your choice, coffee, and good ol’ hot runny grits. I looked for some country biscuits, but did not see any and was too polite to ask if they had left them in the kitchen. My mama always told me—“Son, it you don’t see it, don’t ask for it.” She would have been proud of me for holding my tongue. If I would have been at home in Chadbourn, I would have been fine with a bowl of 2% milk and raisin bran cereal.

After breakfast, around 8:30 am, we were off to concurrent sessions. The first one I attended was titled: “Integrating Science in the Middle School Inquiry-Based Science Class. Fellow talented educator Tommie Evans presented it. She is the Piedmont-Triad/Central Region Teacher of the Year 2004-2005. Tommie’s handout is a wonderful resource. After listening to her presentation, I know what activity I want to try with my middle school science students the last few weeks of school. I have to try Water Rockets. She told us that her students have been “doing them for the last 12 years and has yet to find a group of students who do not love it and learn a lot from it.” She pointed us to a website www.nerds.com as a resource for the materials we need for this activity. I was impressed with her lab activity sheet for this activity. In addition to Tammie’s lab activity worksheet, she also presented ideas on how to use science lab notebooks in the middle school inquiry-based science class. This handout blew me away. I have to start using them with my alternative school science students. It is a perfect way to document and access their science skills. Her science lab notebook ideas appear to require students to develop organizational skills and force them to write, graph, sketch and label diagrams, and much more. The 8 clear steps she presented in her presentation help students to see how real scientists record their work. Best of all, she provided participants in her work session with photocopies of actual student work. Lat but not least, Tammie surveyed how her school uses a thematic approach to teach ecological topics. Her students read HOOT by Carl Hiaasen and integrate math, social studies, language arts and PE in this science concept. Great job Tammie! You made my day.

I attended several other sessions during the morning. In up coming blogs, I will share some of the other excellent sessions.

Saturday- Finally

I jumped out of bed this morning and walked the dog. It was beginning to drizzle rain and the wind was blowing. Just glad I am not in the NC mountains. They are forecasting snow. It is April 23! I thought it was Spring. I am heading to the coffee pot. I need some motivation.

Today, I will participating in a field test for some national teacher testing program. I think it is a bunch of horse hocky, but they are crazy enough to offer to pay me to take a test. I know I am a terrible test taker so my lack of knowledge and horrible test taking ablility. I jus hope they do not have a spelling part on it-- haha!

Teaching is running in place....

I recently came across the following poem that Jim Brooks, a distinguished English teacher in Wilkes County NC wrote about. He had tucked away the summer after his first year of teaching. After the first time he had seen it since he heard the poet read it at a summer seminar years ago. Even with only one year of teaching behind him, Jim was struck by the poem's truth and insight. I appreciate it all the more as a veteran of the classroom and want to share it with you. It is taken from the book, Vein of Words , by Jim Wayne Miller , a wonderful teacher in his own right.

Teaching
is running in place
with weights on your feet.

It's an old injury
that never heals and so
I go into each hour still
sore from the last exercise.

Loving the possibilities
of wood slender shapes,
wings, visions of flight
frozen in seasoned stock
dry and durable I work
in a sultry greenhouse air,
sculpting in ice

Shapes that melt in the mind.
I write on water, I sweat
and always come away wet
behind the ears.

Sunday Reflection Time

While everyone is asleep here in the my home, I am trying to think about how many times I missed up this past week. My students are entering their last grading period for this school year. Science class with my middle schoolers has been a challenge. I now have the largest number of students in one class that I have ever seen in four years at our alternative school. Every class is extremely difficult. I have two students with technicians. The technicians job is to help monitor the student's personal behavior. My room is very small and with all the other students, the addition of two adults makes my room wall-to-wall students. I understand I will be getting another student this coming week. The thoughts of getting one more added to this class is horrifying at best. I am not sure how I am going to survive this last six weeks.

I have always considered myself as a creative problem solver. I have my work cut out for me. Looking at the diverse nature of these challenged learners, I have not idea which way to head. We have been learning about light and sound. I think I need to pick a theme in science that I have enough hands-on materials to use. I have more students now that I have computers, so I am not really excited about using them. Maybe I need to set up a schedule for students to work on computers, while others work on activities. I have not tried that. Not sure how to manage it.

I could have the students create a movie about sound and light.

Let's work on that idea.

Franklin St. crowd

Franklin St. crowd
Originally uploaded by RossWhite.

Tarheels Win National Championship! Wow. Congrats to Coach Williams and all the team. Hate we missed the party on Franklin Street. I liked this one so I decided to blog it so I can look at it later...Thanks Ross White for being their for this old Alum.

--Class of '78

Quotation of the Day

"Education costs money, but then so does ignorance."

Claus, Sir Moser (b. 1922), German–born-British academic, Warden of Wadham College, Oxford. Daily Telegraph (London, August 21, 1990).

Vacation is Over--

Well. I have not posted anything on this site since last Saturday. I have been resting my brain. Not completely resting, but I have just not put any energy into thinking. Unless you consider picking out which pair of blue jeans to put on as a major negociation. Teaching is stressful because we are constantly making decissions. Hundreds of decissions per hour is not unrealistic. Which student to help next, who needs remediation, what worked the last time a student had trouble with understanding plate tectonics, how long should we spend on faulting, why does Johnnie hate Billy, did you turn off the coffee pot at home...

So, it is time to think about exactly what we can fit into the last seven weeks of school. Pacing guides work fine when you have average students. I have not looked at it in a while. We cover as much material as we can. If my students have not mastered a concept, I reteach it. We use multiple strategies to cover the topics. Time to write some lesson plans.

Monday will be a double-whammie: Daylight Savings Time started Sunday morning, our body's time clock tells us that it is 6 AM, but we feel like it is still 5 AM. Plus, we have been out of school on break and the students have had no one telling them to do a thing. Blogging is hard work, but teaching is ten times more challenging.

Technology Blackout Day

About the Day
 
Imagine one full day without technology...

The lesson plans, activities and supporting materials within their Website will help you and your students take a journey through time that examines the impact of technology on our society. Imagine the impact that technology will have on students entering the 21st century workforce and the possibilities inherent in a technology literate society.

Modern technologies have revolutionized business and enhance teaching and learning with data driven decision making, curriculum management for individualized instruction, and online learning that helps close the achievement gap and builds teacher quality and retention.

Hopefully through partisipating students, teachers and parents will realize the importance of technology today and it's growing impact on students entering the 21st century workforce as well as the obvious possibilities if our nation develops (delete fully)a technology literate society. The Imagine A Technology Blackout Day can be a short exercise on April 20th, or a more comprehensive process of self exploration throughout the course of a few weeks or a month. Prizes will be awarded randomly to participants who submit their results on or before May 20th, 2005.

Beginning with a brief overview and technology timeline, your students may develop their own definition of technology and analyze the impact that innovation has had on their daily lives and our nation. Addressing state standards in social studies and language arts, Imagine A Technology Blackout Day will also reinforce efficacy, innovation, traditional literacy and technology skills.

Participating in this important excercise is FREE! It is a great way to introduce the topic of technology's role in society and offer some exciting changes to win great prizes when you submit your results!

NWA Science Students Investigate Light and Sound

March 22, 2005 Dr. Loren Winters and Dahl Clark of North Carolina School of Science & Mathematics (NCSSM) Physics Department, held my NWA middle school science students and later that afternoon my Photography in Science class spellbound. Dr. Winters teaches a physics course at NCSSM titled High Speed Photography. We demonstrated how electronic triggers are used to study motion and sound. In my middle school science class, we prepared for Dr. Winters' visit by studying how observations contribute to evidence of scientific knowledge. We studied basic characteristics of sound. In the demostration, Dr. Winters enhanced the student's basic understand of the characteristics of sound and showed them how the energy of the sound waves created by the pop of a balloon is transfered to a microphone and amplified to trigger a camera flash. Using a digital camera, images were analyzed the next day to the amazement of the students they were are to see even more details of the motion.

Photography in Science students videoed the demonstration and captured still using QuickTime Pro. They then used the stills to produce iMovies about what they observed. Click Here to View Slideshow

Using a Positive Preventive Briefing With Alternative School Students

I have been reading and reflecting on how we discipline or attempt to correct inappropriate behaviors. In an alternative school setting, we have to think outside the box. In searching for ways to meet the increasingly violent nature of students we are required by law (which is another RANT all together and not something I want to be publishing my opinions on) to serve. I ran across this description of a prevention or intervention strategy. An effective technique for avoiding discipline problems is the technique of “Positive Preventive Briefing.”

In such a “briefing,” a teacher offers advice and reminders to students in any situation in which judgment and experience indicate the possibility exists for problems. In reflecting on how I "react" to inappropriate behavior, I think it would help if instead of being sarcastic with students, I need to ask the student to step in the hallway with me and address the behavior immediately with that student. In my positive preventive breifing, calmly explain my expectations. Students we have are always defensive and may not even want to step outside. So, what else can I do? Maybe I could give them a colored card. Yellow means they are being warned. Three yellow cards during the period means they recieve a red card and will be referred to the principal. Hum, can I keep up with this? Probabaly not. Could I use a clipboard and a check list? Oh, better still, give them a "check on the board". Something will work. I need some "best practices". HELP! Post a comment if you have experience working with behaviorly challenged middle and high school ages students.

The objective is to teach acceptable behavior in specific situations when students might not know exactly what is expected of them. This makes sense, but when do I teach? Maybe I should not worry about teaching and go back to school to earn a degree in criminology.

I read that Positive Preventive Briefing should not not confused with the common “teacher warning.” Opps, got me. Colored Cards are classic teacher warning techniques. I have to remember when I am briefing students, a positive attitude is maintained. That is difficult at best. I have to approach the situation from the standpoint of “what students need to learn—and what the student can expect to happen.”

Then when I take positive action to emphasize what students should do rather than what they should not do. So, when I ask them to step out side the classroom, my face to face meeting might go like this: Raheem, learning is important and I expect all students to read during silent reading time. However, since you are in the 6th grade and can not read the words on a stop sign, and can not sit still for more than a nanosecond, and you do not have a techician today, it is not your fault.

I need help! Say a little prayer for me. Go HEELS!

Monday's Moodle Update

While tinkering with my classroom Moodle this weekend, I surfed some Moodle sites I had googled. I searched for Moodle+High School. The results for the search did not surprise me as much as confirmed my sneaking suspsion that more and more teachers and systems are considering replacing their static web pages. I have been writing web pages since we had to hand code HTML using a text editor. Moodles still require some knowledge of basic html if you want to include images in your lessons. However, the key change toward Moodles or CMS (course management systems) is a paradym shift. Webpages are nothing more to my students than the page in their textbook. Sure, there are ways to include online tests, video clips, PowerPoint presentations and even teacher made animations, but, the pages have no user logs. I always felt like my hard work creating a web page for my class was basically wasted time in that I never was able to really document time-on-task. Moodle has a feature that logs user access to lessons, and everything the look at on the class site. I subscribe to all discussions and through the magic of Moodle's database, I received emails as documentation of class participation. I can read their posts and provide immediate feedback, or respond when I have a minute.

This week, I am planning to try daily vocabulary quizzes with my middle school science students. I learned last week that they have an extremely limited science vocabulary. I almost passed out when I realized none of them knew the definition of the term: DOME. 8th Graders?- come on this is a crime. So, in order to boost their voc skills, we are going to try Moodle vocabulary quizzes. I will share my reflections of this effort later.

Using Moodle to Support Our Guest Lecturer

My class has been experimenting with using Moodle this semester. We are trying something interesting with a discussion forum. Our students are learning about how scientists use photography in their studies. In one of the listserves I subscribe to I read a post detailing a lecture in a city three hours away from our school. The presentation was a perfect fit for my students in our Photography in Science course- “using high-speed photography.” I had a schedule conflict and could not attend. So, I sent an email to the physics professor and inquired as to the possibility of having the demonstration presented at my school. My mother always told me "you never know 'til you ask." Within a few minutes, I received a very supportive reply. The professor was more than happy to donate time and expertise to students. But, this was not the best part.

In a follow-up email, I mentioned to the professor how our students have been using Moodle. The professor suggested an interesting preliminary activity. So, I have setup my Moodle course so the guest lecturer can set up and lead a forum discussion with my students. I have no idea how this will work, but what a great example of a learning community. Prior to a guest lecturer, my students will be able to ask questions about high-speed photography. This week, my students are researching the historical scientific debate between the Relativity and Newtonian Mechanics and the nature of light and gravity. They are creating videos of this debate.

I will post updates of how this activity comes out...

Testing Mac Mini

DSC00914
Originally uploaded by The Blake Slate.

Mac Mini must have 512 K memory. Apple should not even offer it with 256K. I was impressed with how easy it was to install. If you have a child heading for college in the fall, this could be a possiblity. It runs the Internet like a work horse, Comes with Keynote (exports to PowerPoint with ease) and will not break the back.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Classroom Activity: Using Moodle Forum

My students enjoyed class the other day. We used an activity we called "Who Is It?" Before a get into the details of what pre-class work this Moodle-based activity required, I think teachers need to know that this activity is based on National Standards.

HISTORY AND NATURE OF SCIENCE STANDARDS

In learning science, students need to understand that science reflects its history and is an ongoing, changing enterprise. The standards for the history and nature of science recommend the use of history in school science programs to clarify different aspects of scientific inquiry, the human aspects of science, and the role that science has played in the development of various cultures.

The activity motivates students to find the names of famous scientists using the Internet and their digital literacy skills.

Teacher Preparation

This activity is part of our Photography in Science course we offer here at our school. I have been using Moodle with them for only a week now, and this activity was popular. I picked a list of 8-9 scientists that will be included an up coming series of lessons. In the lessons that will follow, students will create videos of great historic scientific debates. This lesson introduces the names of the scientists and will be used to introduce their contributions to modern science. Also, I created some cleaver hints. I then Googled the list of scientists and located their images or portraits and the hints to make sure they were not too easy. I made a mistake on the first two images, and my students quickly hacked the images to find the answer.

Well, one of them did and the rest of the students copied his answer. I monitored the students while they worked on the first two images and discovered how the "hacker" accidentally uncovered the scientist's name. In hast to create the activity, I used the html code that embeds images from another web page on the Internet. When my student that respectfully call my "hacker" started the activity in our Moodle discussion forum, he copied the image and pasted it to his desktop (using OS X). As soon as he looked at the file icon on the desktop, he noticed the file's name had a name that looked like a person's name. I had pasted two images on Moodle Forums for the students to find. I had to quickly add a third image of one of our scientists to keep them working until the end to the class. To show the "hacker" that his little scheme had been uncovered. As a taunt, I renamed the third image file "somescientist.jpg". That frustrated the class. I did not make fun of the students; I thanked them for helping me learn how to use Moodle. I reemphasized that the Moodle is a learning community and all participants can benefit from the activities, even the teacher.

Students can ask the teacher questions about the person, but they can not ask his name or date of birth. Students spent most of their time searching the web for famous scientists look at their pictures. Hints are important, but trying to make them vague enough that they have to thinks is a challenge.

4Teachers: Tools

This site was mentioned in a educators podcast recently and I just looked at it. This site has been around since 1997. The web designers have been done a really nice job in modernizing the teacher interface of this site. It is much easier to navigate the pages to find their tool resources on the run. I was impressed with the form based Project Poster which provides students with a tool to create and post Web pages for projects. Really neat classroom tool for almost any student! Learning challenged students can use a word processor to spell check and then with a little help, or on their own, copy and paste the info into the form to create their pages.

4Teachers: Tools

"Moodling Around" with At-Risk Students

Well, it is not really a bad thing. This week, I have been really focusing on creating content on my class Moodle. I have spent some quality time reading and writing questions on Moodle.org. The educators that contribute to the forums have a lot in common with me. I noticed that a couple of them teach in the same kids of school environment that I do. It has been a great learning community.

I am not sure how to explain how this Moodle activity works, but I have to try. The concept of activity is simple-- pick a photo of a famous scientist and post it on a page within the course in Moodle. It would take several paragraphs to walk you through exactly how to do this, but is takes only a few minutes to do it after you know what to do. I know, my sentences are run-ons, but I am trying to watch American Idol and type and make sure my daughter's puppy is not tearing up the furniture. I have no quite time to write. No excuses, I could put the dog in the back room, turn off the TV, and “take charge.” My ADD feeds on the chaos.

The famous scientist photo "scavenger hunt" what a great success with my class. I know it was going well in class when no one asked to leave class to go to the bathroom, students asked for more hints, collaborated, self-accessed digital literacy skills, and peer-tutored. Talk about layering skills and making an activity relevant, it all came together with this lesson.

I have to post this in the Moodle Forum, but they will probably delete it or no one will read it.

So, if you are thinking about trying a different instructional strategy with your class and you want to see their faces light up and hear them talking and joking about famous scientists that they had before never heard of, this activity really works.

Tools for Tech-Savvy Educators

As a classroom teacher, money in not easy to come by. Back in September, our school system awarded Teachers of the Year from each school a modest gift to show their appreciation. As a gadget freak, I immediately thought about buying an iPod with my gift. The fastest way to get my iPod, I drove 56 miles to the nearest Radio-Shack company store and blew my whole gift check. No regrets, not for a second. I use it everyday on my way to and from work to listen to my favorite podcasts. My interest in trying to use it in the classroom has been put on hold. As a teacher in an alternative school, my worst fear is that one of my students would figure a way to releave me of my prized possessions. They are smart and crafty. We have had equipment "spring legs" and dissappear. So, there is no way I would let them know I even have it in the building. I purchased an iTalk while visiting the Apple Store in Durham. Last week, I noticed that Griffin had a neat lapel mic for around $15. LapelMic .

I have been drooling over the 60GB iPod Photo since it made it debute. When the iPod photo was released, it wasn't long before as a want-to-be digital photographer, I was hoping to use the device in my classroom but disappointment that it couldn't transfer pictures from a camera directly to the iPod and then immediately view those pictures on it. You had to process the pictures with a computer first. Now, according to MacWorld sources, Apple has addressed this problem with the $29 iPod Camera Connector. Not sure exactly how the device is suppose to work, maybe someone has some info on that. When this device is released in late March, photographers will be able to transfer and view pictures on the iPod without the need of a computer. This along with the 60GB iPod photo's new $449 should make it a must-have gadget for digital photography enthusiasts. Hum, I better start picking up beer cans and taking them to the recycling center. Oh, I could sell some of my plasma...no...I have it...sell my brain on eBay...I would not get much for that.

List of Links We Use in Photography in Science

Photography in Science
A page of links from the digital library of Mr. Blake's class.
List of Links

John Blake's Class

Student Experts Teach Teachers how to use technology in professional development in Whiteville City Schools. This page contains some still images from our class 2/24/05. A special thanks to Dr. Cris Crissman and Bill Lovin of
MarineGrafics.com
John Blake's Class

EETT money

Subject: EETT money
Sent: Monday, February 21, 2005 6:38:11 AM EST

We have received several letters from LEAs who have already contacted
key legislators about the possible loss of all EETT money. These are
making a huge impact in Washington. But the fight is not over yet. There
is still much to be done before the EETT money is restored to even
a fraction of its original amount.

In a meeting we had last week in DC, it was mentioned that
Congressional staffers are logging each letter and phone call. They do
not believe that they are logging the e-mails, however. They also
reiterated that snail-mail letters are not effective because it takes up
to 3 months for them to get through security measures.
Thus, please get as many as possible of your parents, teachers,
principals, and central office staff to fax letters to your
representatives. We have their attention. Please don't wait!

All e-mail correspondence to and from this address is subject to the
North Carolina Public Records Law, which may result in monitoring and
disclosure to third parties, including law enforcement.


Frances Bryant Bradburn, Director, Instructional Technologies, North
Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 301 N. Wilmington St.,
Raleigh, NC 27601-2825. (919) 807-3292; FAX (919) 807-3290
New mailing address: 6364 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-6364

Cassini Radar Titan Movie

Saturn's Moons Titan and Enceladus Seen by Cassini - Feb. 18, 2005
NASA's Cassini spacecraft has had a busy week, snapping stunning new images of two of Saturn's moons -- smoggy Titan on Feb. 15 and wrinkled Enceladus on Feb. 16.

This animation shows the Cassini spacecraft approaching Titan. The strips of data on the globe represent areas observed with the Cassini radar instrument. The pink swatch is the area observed by the radar instrument during the Oct. 2004 flyby, while the blue area represents the coverage observed during the Feb. 15 flyby. The movie zooms into several interesting areas on Titan, including a giant crater the size of Iowa, an area with bright hills and ridges surrounded by a dark plain, and a smaller crater with a blanket of material surrounding it, possibly due to ejected material being thrown out of the crater after an impact.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument team is based at JPL, working with team members from the United States and several European countries.

Click HERE to check out this neat video

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov.

Credit: NASA/JPL
Cassini-Huygens Home

Researching Digital Literacy

I awoke this morning at 4:00 AM can could not fall back to sleep. Today is an optional teacher workday, so I did not go to work. Looks like my body would have wanted to sleep on a day off. I have so few days off I must have been too excited about not having to go to fight the battles with my "unmotivated customers". Unmotivated customer is my term for adolescent aged children that are assigned to an alternative school for whatever reason. My decade of experience in the retail business taught me some lessons about selling. One strategy that worked great when I ran my sporting goods business was to meet my customer at the door as they came in with a big smile and call them by their name- "hey, Billy Ray, I have not seen you in a blue moon." Then wait for them to say their little come-backs like: "yeah, I been working on that old boat of mine..." Educators say that students "don't care how much you know until that know how much you care" Well that is true, but lately, my people skills have been challenged. I will not get into all the negatives. So, lets change the subject,

As I sit reclined in my living room, watching the Today Show on NBC, and waiting on the dryer alarm to go off, I have my PowerBook running and am trying to gather some information about the topic of digital literacy. I noticed in my Bloglines, that some company as a search/research tool called Grokker. The site caught my attention and I downloaded the demo.

Next step: Use Grokker to research digital literacy.

Digital literacy is "the ability to understand and use information in multiple formats from a wide range of sources when it is presented via computers" [Gilster, Paul. Digital Literacy.  New York: Wiley and Computer Publishing, 1997. p. 1.]

The more I read on this topic, the more frustrated I become. Must be ADD. Distractions are all around. Too much information to focus on. Maybe another day.

I am heading out to check on the dog and return a truck I have been test driving. Teachers do not make enough money to drive new vehicles. I can not afford this 8 year old S-10 with 100,000 miles. I hate trading cars. I need to live in a city with mass transit. No, I just need a Harley. Yeah, that is it. Hum, pull up in the school parking lot on a Hog.

Too much coffee!

The EduBlog now has a K7.Net voice mail

Also, I have an account on K7.Net, which gives me a voice box that produces audio files that I can include in my future podcasts. So give me a call, leave a comment, or even better, a question. Call:
206-600-5105

Digital Literacy

This post on David Warlicks page might keep me up tonight. As I was looking for an interesting way to start my technology training tomorrow, it came to me. Play the video clip to the teachers and then ask the teachers what they think. Then tell them that by searching that all this could be true but who is behind this. My point will be to try to make the participants think about how they are using or not using digtial media in their classroom. Are they preparing their students for the future or teaching them what they had been taught, in the way they were taught. Technology is changing our world reguardless of what we think.
Exactly 2¢ Worth -- David Warlick

Mr. Blake’s ClassBlog :: Student’s Teaching Teachers

Mr. Blake’s ClassBlog :: Student’s Teaching Teachers Thursday marks the beginning of a four session professional development offering at Whiteville High School. Teachers from WHS and NWA have signed up for the training.

Classroom Digital Images Resource

Digital Photography web pageMr. Campbell Price, DPI Technology Consultant, has shared this site with thousands of school children over the years. He emailed me this morning and gave me the link to share with my students. Check out the great landforms and landmarks. Permission is granted for classroom use only. I want to make me a slideshow for a screensaver on my PowerBook.