Liberty Science Center Summer Institute 2010 for Earth Science Teachers (grades 6-9) Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, NJ and the Rutgers Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences are offering a Teacher Summer Institute, 8/9-13, focused on an upcoming research mission to Antarctica to probe the Ross Sea Ecosystem and its tie to climate. [...]
OK- you might be wondering what’s up with the title of this post… My son freaked out this morning when I was blasting Spandaeu Ballet in the car (yes, I LOVE the 80′s ). He begged me to change the channel, and when I asked him why, he said it was because “Boys don’t listen [...]
Well, it’s here! I can already hear the seagulls and detect the faint smell of coconut lotion in the air….That’s right, Summer Break is officially in full swing! That special time of the year that us New Jersey educators try to renew our minds, bodies and our souls. While I hope that the feel of warm [...]
This post isn’t really about technology in the classroom, but it’s an interesting opportunity that I wouldn’t have known about without my robust personal learning network. So, at the very least, it’s a great example of the incredible resources and interesting opportunities you can experience by staying connected with your peers online. I also have [...]
People do their best when they’re doing something they love. In other words we all thrive most when we are in our “Element”. That’s the main idea behind Sir Ken Robinson’s book of the same name. He believes that most peoples real talents are usually deeply hidden & don’t reveal themselves on a regular basis [...]
Kevin Jarrett turned me on to this video that David Warlick recently used at the NJElite Conference in Wildwood, NJ. You might recognize some of the speakers, including Daniel Pink, a former EdTechConnect webinar guest speaker. Basic message: We need to stop “teaching” our students with tools of the past. We EXPECT the latest and [...]
“MySpace/Our Planet” is the first book by the MySpace Community, and though that numbers more than 200 million people over a wide age range, the text is geared toward tweens & teenagers. The idea is to get this crucial group of consumers to reduce the impact of how they eat, shop, do laundry, use electronics, [...]
Wow! Yet another reason why I LOVE the DEN! I just got an email from Dave Solon, an amazing DEN member who was also at the Philly event with Jeff Corwin that I recently posted about. For those of you who don’t know Dave- I hope you get the chance- keep an eye out for [...]
Get ready to soar… The DEN has a limited amount of seats for a private reception and screening for Discovery’s new show When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions’ which details 50 historic years in space on Tuesday evening, May 20th. CA DEN members attended the West Coast Premier last week & said that it [...]
Background Information: While natural disasters, like the recent Cyclone that hit Burma, are not totally predictable, or preventable, one thing we can certainly all be doing more of is urging people to take environmental concerns, such as global warming, seriously and to make sure that we, ourselves, are responsible stewards of our environment. After [...]
Whenever you get a chance, do yourself a favor & check out this Space! What is Space? First of all, it is a GooglePage, so it’s another great example of the collaborate power of Google Applications (GooglePages is still in the Google Labs phase) Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, it is a Student “Project” created [...]
In 1953, Eleanor Roosevelt persuaded the 81st Congress to recognize teachers with a celebratory day all their own. Since then, the date of National Teacher Day has bounced around a bit until 1985, when the National Education Association declared the first week of May National Teacher Appreciation Week and the first Tuesday of that month [...]
Is using technology in the classroom important? Is there really any educational benefit to integrating technology across content areas? In the latest issue of Express, educators speak about why and how they use technological resources in the classroom. As you read throught the articles, think about how much of this you already do!!! Technology and [...]
I just finished reading a great blog post, FROM A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT! This H.S. student blog post (see my earlier post: Learning How to be Unschooly) is right on point with an article I just read about a recent PEW research report (here’s the whole report if you’re interested) on student writing, blogging, [...]
Background info: Earlier this month, on Youth Twitter, a student in South Korea, Soojin wrote, “just my opinion about youthtwitter: schooly. concrete.” Hannah, a student in Philadelphia, answered her on Youth Twitter, “I think Alan’s survey is a good example of how not to be ‘schooly’. Students should ask questions of each other and interact.” [...]
Below is an article from the Asbury Park Press about one of my students: To make a donation to A Brush with Greatness, e-mail stayce1219@aol.com. APP March 25, 2008 Melanie Lauro of Manalapan has grown up hearing her mom extol the virtues of good oral hygiene … so much so that she sometimes got tired [...]
Did We Just Witness a Twitter Marriage Proposal? via kwout A few days ago, lthumann inspired me to get back to twittering (Thanks, Lisa!) and I’m so glad I did How else would I have heard about what could be the next trend in marriage proposals? Where will twitter bring us next? This quickly got [...]
Recently, I took a look back at my notes from Dan Pink’s A Whole New Mind & instantly honed in on his thoughts about Storytelling: “The Conceptual Age can remind us what has always been true but rarely been acted upon- we must listen to each other’s stories and that we are each the authors [...]
Below is a message I received from a colleague after attending the DEN virtual conference last weekend. She’s a Kindergarten teacher in NJ & she said it was ok to share it with you- I’d like to share it for a couple of reasons: 1. It’s always energizing to see digital immigrants thinking & talking [...]
Everyone’s familiar with the old adage: “If a tree falls in the woods & nobody is there to hear it , did it make a sound?” Well, the other day I had one of those Aha! Technology moments that made me immediately think of that saying & tweak it to the following: “If an idea [...]
Starting to think about your New Year’s Resolution? Mine is all about priorities- that is, choosing the right ones Happy New Year- May the greatest of your dreams become the least of your accomplishments this year!
DEN members are a VERY productive group- In fact, you are all just about the best multi-taskers that I know! With all that we do at school & in the DEN, it’s easy to forget that we all actually have lives outside of our jobs too- you know, Moms, Dads, Husbands, Wives- all that good [...]
Just a few of my favorite Thanksgiving “quotes”to help get you in the spirit of the day The pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts … nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving. –H. W. Westermayer Be thankful every day when you get up that you have something to do that day which must [...]
Whether you’re a teacher or the friend of one, I hope you’ll appreciate the analogy. Be sure to read to the end… No Dentist Left Behind My dentist is great! He sends me reminders so I don’t forget checkups. He uses the latest techniques based on research. He never hurts me, and I’ve [...]
What did you dream about as a young child? What do you still dream about today? Is it really any different?… One of our colleagues has the unique opportunity to fullfill a dream held by more people than any of us could possibly imagine- To Carry the Olympic Torch! Linda Bilak, STAR Discovery Educator, is [...]
All rights reserved. Discovery Education is a Division of Discovery Communications LLC. Discovery Educator Network is a service of Discovery Education. Copyright © 2007 Discovery Education.