Google Announces Fourth Quarter And Fiscal Year 2007 Results*

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The Artistry of Teaching: And a few thoughts from the Blue Man Group

Most days I feel like a blue man making music out of some pipes and sticks! Great teachers make beautiful music without the resources. Trail blazers use a medium that others do not use... I mean how many rock bands are there? But these guys put on blue heads and use pipes and make music.I think we need to look at things a little differently sometimes. See your uniqueness and lack of resources as an opportunity, not a curse.Can...

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Finding Japanese contacts for Carlene

I love to pass along letters from teachers (when I can.)Carlene in Atlanta has a request:"I am interesting in connecting with someone with knowledge of Japanese Medieval times related to the gardens, temples, etc… If that is not possible, then I would like to address the cultural aspect of Japan. My students would be asking questions about Japanese’s food, clothing, and lifestyle. If all possible, linking everything to Japanese...

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Motivational Monday: Are you an Iron Man or Woman?

My friend Scott Rigsby is going to be on the Wow2 show tomorrow. I went to high school with Scott (he is 1 year older) and is the first double amputee to complete an iron man in the world. (that is 2.4 miles, 12 mile bike ride, and a full marathon!) He has an inspirational story. If you have someone in your life or work with students with any type of physical disability, he is an inspiration!We're going to talk about how the...

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How would you use cell phones to bring Web 2.0 to Cambodia?

My friend Beth Kanter and I have been talking about this project for some time. Beth is an amazing resource (and award winning blogger) for nonprofit fundraising using all types of Web 2.0 tools and I highly recommend her blog. So, today, as part of her efforts to help a rural Cambodian school, I'm making an unusual request of you, the readers...

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eLearn's 2008 predictions and my response

In response to eLearn's predictions for 2008, ( hat tip to Karl Kapp and Stephen Downes) I had to leave a comment that I share with you. Although the "experts" cited are all amazing, it struck me that teachers continue to be "at the bottom of the food chain."Here is my prediction:I think it is very important to include classroom teachers in these discussions. I was bothered that no "experts" of that nature were included. So,...

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Warning: Blogging & Twittering may be harmful to your health

An interesting article from LifeScience highlighting studies equating technology addiction to that of being addicted to drugs. In fact, the article says:"* Another research paper, published in 2007 in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology by a psychiatrist at Tel Aviv University, recommended that Internet addiction be regarded as an extreme disorder on par with gambling, sex addiction and kleptomania."Honestly, I think that...

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Is Science, Math, and Technology truly for All?

Note to my readers: This entire post is written by and is the opinion of Louise Maine as a blogger that I have been mentoring. If you quote this article, please link to her post above and cite her (except as noted where I have added my comments.)Is Science, Math, and Technology truly for All?simulpost with Hurricaine Maine by Louise...

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Tom Hoffman about Essential Schools 10 common Principles

Since Tom Hoffman has never liked me too much, I dropped by his session to learn more. I want to understand his viewpoint and see if there is something I'm missing in my own learning.This session has a wiki and focused on discussing the The Coalition of Essential Schools 10 Common Principles and School 2.0.I watched the ustream (which took a while to get up) and watched Ryan Bretag's live blog (until it started playing music!)The...

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Opening Keynote: Educon

Photo from Will Richardson.I'm amazed at how Ryan Bretag is live blogging the keynote using the tool Coveritlive.com. I'm watching on ustream.Here is the transcript of the ustream chat of those of us watching.9:39 mediasnackers : hey all :) 09:39 JackieB : @coolcatteacher - There's a max? 09:39 fsinfo : http://www.iceberg.org - IL-TCE conference...

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Overview of Friday at Educon

No, I am not at Educon. Snuggled in my south Georgia home, I'm reading posts from yesterday and wanted to bring out the highlights (since the people there will be too busy to do so.)Friday was basically the tour and getting to meet people at the social at the Franklin Institute with most eating dinner at the hotel at an "Asian Fusion spot" during which they had great conversations as well.However, if you look past the normal...

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Go to Educon this morning: 10:00 EST! FREE ONLINE & LIVE!

If they could hear me up there in Philadelphia at Educon, they'd hear me clapping my hands.The Educon page over on edtechtalk is beautifully primed and ready for the meetings that will take place a scant hour and a half from now. This is the conference I've always dreamed of, put on by a bunch of folks who believe in the future of education....

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Are Webkinz just Crummy or a Tool to Use?

David Warlick's great spam blocker ATE my comment but I just had to respond to his post and the growing comments about his thoughts on Webkinz today in Are They Working on Their Reading?"Again, it’s critical that children learn to sing, play with other children, build with blocks, play in the sand, and read books. But I wonder how learning to read, within the context of these online experiences, might differ from how we traditionally...

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Horizon Report 2008 is available now for download

Although the report will officially announced on Monday at Educause in San Antonio, the Horizon 2008 Report is available now for download and the Horizon Project wiki is available for viewing.We're planning some new amazing things for the April/May Horizon Project (see last year's project.)In addition to analyzing the MetaTrends of the last 5 years, this report outlines the major emerging technologies for college level education...

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The Frustrations of Finding the Audio & Video for Student Films

OK, so I have a little money -- not a lot, but a little. (Around $2000 give or take.)I need to get:A Camera -I have one with DV tape but it is terrible to get onto the computer and keeps dropping frames. I WANT one with a hard drive (they just go for longer) and am very interested in the Canon HG10 AVCHD 40GB High Definition Camcorder...

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Great Conversation with Kim Cofino from Thailand

Kim Cofino, 21st Century Literacy Specialist at the International School Bangkok, Thailand was the interviewee in an amazing conversation about change, social networks and how she ustreams her teacher professional development.The show links are at http://del.icio.us/WOW2.0/wow2_20080122.She is using a ning with her 5th graders and loves it! Hear what she says about the teachers and their thoughts!Several links you may want: ...

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A reminder of our changing world

I received a reminder from an alumnus of my school Westwood.I received this e-mail last week from alumnus Oliver G.and he gave me permission to share it.Dear Vicki,You probably don't know me as I'm a not so recent graduate of 1991. The reason I'm contacting you is that you can imagine my surprise as I'm reading through Friedman's book The World is Flat and find a section in there about Westwood Schools in Camilla, GA.It was quite...

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Free Yugma Premium Account for Bloggers

Another great reason to blog is that I get great things for my classroom and to make me a better teacher. For my classroom it has been $80,000 worth of grants, funding, software, and services over the past year. Here is one for all bloggers from Yugma:Therefore, effective today, and running until January 31, 2008, we’ll be donating sponsored Yugma Premium accounts to bloggers who ask. Each sponsored account will be good for...

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She's no longer "hiding behind her blog"

I'm so proud of Reflections 2.0 for going to her principal about her blog. Her original post Hiding Behind My Blog was concerning because it shows much of the prevalent thought of educators and I wrote Why Should You have to Hide Behind Your Blog.Read her great new post: Came Clean I'm Coming Out! in which she says:"I had to struggle with what I’d do if my administrator said she WASN’T ok with me blogging publicly and in any...

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