This summer I have been teaching Project Based Learning to a small group of 7th & 8th grade boys at a camp in Philadelphia. My classroom is a Study Lounge in a dorm with a dry erase board that barely erases, desks with chairs attached and carpeting throughout. I have been teaching an Ecosystems unit…
Cell Phones as Tools in the Classroom (?)I was directed to a blog post today by Larry Ferlazzo through a tweet: I was intrigued by the fact that Larry was not a supporter (as most of my Twitter PLN members are) of cell phone use in the classroom. So, I visited Scott McLeod’s post to…
After listening to a story on All Things Considered about Amazon pulling copies of George Orwell’s 1984 off of its Kindles this past week, I pondered what this might mean for ownership of digital electronic books and further down the line how this would affect personal freedoms and censorship. For those of you who may…
After talking about if for months, I finally took the first step and started a Ning for Philadelphia Teachers! A Little Background In a district as large as Philadelphia (over 270 schools & about 180,000 students), it easy to feel isolated. I know it sounds crazy, but the larger the system, the more out of…
I recently attended an Elluminate session with Di Benard, hosted by Edublogs about protecting your Digital Identity. I logged into the room, not knowing exactly what to expect. I came out with my head spinning (in a good way!) As a member of the first generation to use computers in the classroom, I have been…
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once and while, you could miss it.” — Ferris Bueller, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off So yesterday I decided to go “Off the Grid,” or “OTG,” as I called it on Twitter. I got the idea from Vicki Davis‘ blog post in which she stated…
In a recent blog post, Scott McLeod asked “15 questions to ask about the technology leadership in your school district.” Many of his questions got me thinking about how we plan for technology in our schools and in our districts. Many of the questions of leadership can be solved through good planning. (you can read…
When I read Scott McLeod‘s call for a Leadership Day, asking bloggers to reflect on and advocate for preparing our students with 21st century skills and improving student outcomes, I was very excited. What a great idea to have everyone reflect on the same topic in their blogs. We were guaranteed to get many different…
“Gotta drink this life in… it is not going to last. Remember it and use the appropriate technology for the moment you find yourself in right now. Technology used well should bring us together, not drive us apart.” – Vicki Davis After reading Vicki Davis‘ post reflecting on how we need to use the right…
Why KIDO’Z? KIDO‘Z is free browser for kids that allows parents to set controls and comes ‘pre–loaded‘ with icon links to many G–Rated, kid–friendly websites such as PBS Kids, Discovery Kids, Poisson Rouge and FunBrain. The web browser is available in 17 languages and is a free download from the website. Intended Audience KIDO’Z is…