My Beauty Best Teacher

Vladimir Putin is going to take back power in Russia, the Middle East continues to collapse, Europe is facing maybe perhaps its worst financial crisis in decades, China continues to build up its armed forces... and President Obama and his administration is putting the pressure on Ford Motor Company to stop running a commercial which is critical of GM and Chrysler for taking taxpayer money and breaking long-established bankruptcy laws in order to stay in business.

Via the Detroit News:

For the only Detroit automaker that "didn't take the money" of the federal auto bailouts, Ford Motor Co. keeps paying a price for its comparative success and self-reliant turnaround.

There's no help from American taxpayers to help lighten its debt load, giving crosstown rivals comparatively better credit ratings and a financial edge Ford is working diligently to erase all on its own. There's no clause barring a strike by hourly workers amid this fall's national contract talks with the United Auto Workers — a by-product of the taxpayer-financed bailout that General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC retain until 2015. And there's no assurance the Dearborn automaker can use the commercially advantageous fact that it didn't "take the money" proffered by the Obama Treasury Department and use it in TV ads angling to sell cars and trucks. Not if the campaign takes a whack at its Detroit rivals and suggests that Ford no longer supports the Obama administration bailouts it backed in public statements and sworn congressional testimony.

As part of a campaign featuring "real people" explaining their decision to buy the Blue Oval, a guy named "Chris" says he "wasn't going to buy another car that was bailed out by our government," according the text of the ad, launched in early September.

"I was going to buy from a manufacturer that's standing on their own: win, lose, or draw. That's what America is about is taking the chance to succeed and understanding when you fail that you gotta' pick yourself up and go back to work."

That's what some of America is about, evidently. Because Ford pulled the ad after individuals inside the White House questioned whether the copy was publicly denigrating the controversial bailout policy CEO Alan Mulally repeatedly supported in the dark days of late 2008, in early '09 and again when the ad flap arose. And more.

With President Barack Obama tuning his re-election campaign amid dismal economic conditions and simmering antipathy toward his stimulus spending and associated bailouts, the Ford ad carried the makings of a political liability when Team Obama can least afford yet another one. Can't have that.

The ad (was) pulled in response to White House questions...

That's right- the White House is busy occupying its time with silencing anyone domestically who speaks out against its policies, even if they are private businesses and they have valid criticisms. The Democratic Party is putting this administration forward as their best choice to continue running our nation- that fact right there should tell you everything you need to know about which party to vote against in the coming 2012 election.

If you haven't heard about Pinterest, or are just too confused about it right now to try it, read on! I want to explain Pinterest and why it can be a useful tool for your classroom.

What Is It?

Pinterest is basically a series of virtual corkboards onto which you can "pin" ideas. One of the fabulous things about Pinterest is that it's online, so no matter what computer you're on, if you have access to the internet, you have access to your boards! I know for sure that there is a Pinterest app for iPhone, too, so people with Apple smartphones can take their Pinterest boards and ideas with them wherever they go. Also, anyone can see your Pinterest pins, and you can see everyone else's. I know that sometimes that "no privacy" thing stinks, but in this case, it may be a good thing. Users can browse pins in whichever category they choose and "repin" to their heart's delight. Not being limited to only yours and your friends' ideas has made this website the prime site for creative inspiration.

How Does It Work?

When you log onto Pinterest, you have a profile, much like you do on Facebook or any other social networking website. Your profile contains all your boards, which contain all your pins. You get to decide how many boards and pins you have, what you name your boards, and what pins you place on each board. Pinterest users have already pinned thousands of great ideas onto their Pinterest boards, and you can access their ideas by either "following" their boards or doing a search across ALL boards in Pinterest. You can "repin" others' ideas and/or add your own new pins from whatever website you want.

If you're trying to add a new idea to Pinterest, you'll type in the URL (or use the special "Pin It!" button that you can place in your internet window's toolbar), select a picture from that page that you'd like to use to best capture your idea, and pick the board onto which you'd like to pin it. You canalso upload your own pictures. It really is that simple!

When you create a board, you have the option of making the board one where only you can contribute or opening it up to the public so that anyone can contribute to it. Be aware that there is currently no "private" option, though, so don't pin anything you wouldn't be comfortable with others seeing!

How Do I Use It In the Classroom?

Personal Use -- You can use Pinterest to make your teaching life easier! Pin all those teacher-blogs you've been following. Pin all the bookmarks you've got saved and visit regularly. Pin classroom pictures. Pin lesson plan ideas. ...Are you getting how versatile Pinterest is?! I have been able to pin SO many fab teaching ideas from other educators on Pinterest. It really does make life easier! In case you'd like to see 'em, here are my classroom boards:

• Decorations
• ELAR
• Gifts
• Holidays
• Management
• Math
• Miscellaneous
• Organization
• Science and Social Studies
• Technology

And I'm sure the list will grow even more in the days to come!

I used to clump all classroom-related ideas into one board labeled "classroom." But I found SO MANY ideas that I wanted a way to organize it more efficiently. So now, I have several classroom Pinterest boards.
Student use/resources -- You can actually incorporate Pinterest into classroom projects and activities! Here are the ideas I've found (or imagined) so far:

1. Ask students to collect ideas/pictures about something in particular that you're studying. Maybe your kindergarten students are studying the letter "a" and will focus on collecting as many "a" items on their personal Pinterest board as possible. Maybe your secondary English students are studying hyperbole, and they need to collect as many real world examples of hyperbole on their board as possible. The beauty of Pinterest is that you can use it to pin anything, so no subject is off-limits!
2. Pin boards full of examples for students to access at home or during class.
3. Pin boards full of educational YouTube videos.
4. Pin boards full of quotes for bellwork or journal writing.
5. Pin boards full of images for bellwork or journal writing.
6. Pin boards full of images to act as anticipatory sets. You could project them in class with the click of a couple buttons, and students can even comment on them to start a discussion.
7. Create a collaborative board and allow ELAR students to pin images of books they liked or would like to read.
8. Create a collaborataive board and allow science students to pin experiments they'd like to try.
9. Create a collaborative board and allow history students to pin historical figures, events, and monuments they'd lik to study (or are studying).
10. Create a collaborative board and allow math students to pin images of careers that use math (to answer the age-old whine of, "why do I hafta knoooowwww this?")
11. Create a collaborative board and allow technology students to pin images of tech tips, tools, or websites that might be useful to everyone in the class.
12. Create a collaborative board and allow music students to pin the images of their favorite artists or albums.
13. Create a collabortive board and allow art students to pin images of their favorite artwork...or upload their own! 
14. Create a collaborative board and allow students to pin images of subjects they'd like to study in any subject!
15. Create a collaborative board and allow students to turn in assignments...? I'm not sure about the logistics of this one, since I know every student would be able to see every other student's work. So, obviously, this wouldn't work for exams. But book reports, projects, presentations, or little homework assignments might work. Since there would probably be no images available, students would need to take a screenshot of their work and then upload it to Pinterest with the link to their actual work and their name at the bottom of the pin.
16. Create a collaborative board and have every student add the pin that connects to his/her online portfolio. It would be an easy way to keep track of everyone's portfolios, and students could check out other student's portfolios for inspiration or motivation.
17. Create a collaborative borad and allow students to pin images of things they're interested in...it might be interesting to have links and visual reminders of how to connect with students. (It might be easier to make lessons relevant if, say, I understand that Hannah Montana is out and The Biebs is in!)
18. Students could take advantage of the Apple iPhone app for Pinterest by using it to snap pictures of things in their day-to-day lives and pin them to a specific board. For instance, let's say that your kindergarten class (the one that's studying the letter "a") has a classroom set of iPod touches and a school-wide wifi connection. Why not send your students on a scavenger hunt for all items beginning with "a"? They could work in pairs or teams and walk the school grounds with the Pinterest app open. When they see an "a" item, all they have to do is snap a picture of it with the built-in camera on the app, and add it to the appropriate Pinterest board. When the students come back to class at the end of the hunt, the teacher can access the boards on her computer and project the results on the wall for everyone to see and analyze.  OR you could make it a competitive scavenger hunt and give each pair/group their own board!
19. Ask students to collect and organize information for, say, a research report. Let's say the students are studying Egypt and must write and present a report over Egypt to the class on x date. Why not use Pinterest to organize ideas? While surfing the web, students could pin useful articles and detailed, accurate pictures onto their Pinterest board. There's no more bookmarking tons of websites or writing down URLs on paper. Users can access Pinterest boards from any electronic device with internet capabilities, so their research is saved and accessible in a variety of places outside the walls of the school. In the event that a resource doesn't have a picture (a requirement for a pin), just take a screenshot and upload it!
20. For group projects, group members can share ideas via collaborative Pinterest boards.
21. Twitter user @teach46 suggests using it for getting-to-know-you activities! I love the idea of students collecting images that tell me (and fellow classmates) more about their individual personalities, family life, hobbies, interests, etc!
22. Twitter user @teach46 also suggests having students pin their personal goals. It would be interesting to have such a visual image of goals at the beginning of the year, and it could it updated whenever the students find a new goal and/or cross off one on the list.
23. Another idea from Twitter user @teach46: use Pinterest in the ELAR classroom by having students create character charts that represent their favorite character in a novel they're reading! I really love this idea, too!
24. Track extra credit points.  For instance, I had an on-going extra credit opportunity in my secondary English class last year. My students were able to earn 2 bonus points every time they brought in a picture or example of something we'd learned in class. If the students had been paying attention, they would've realized they could've earned infinite bonus points in this because examples of our lessons were EVERYWHERE in public! Any time they saw a vocabulary word, author, concept, literary device, etc. that we had studied, they could earn bonus points. My catch was that no two people could present the same example; the first student to get that example to me was the one who got the points. If you had a collaborative Pinterest board (perhaps labeled "Extra Credit" or "Real Life Examples"), students could post those examples to the board and write their name in the description in order to claim the points. Other students would then not only know what examples had already been presented, but they would also be able to access all these real world examples and see how that subject pertains to life outside the classroom walls.
     

How Do I Get Started? 

• Go to www.Pinterest.com. 
• In the middle at the top, there's a big, red button that says, "request an invite." Click on it. 
• Enter your e-mail address into the text box and click "request invitation."
• You should get an invitation to Pinterest in your e-mail's inbox very shortly (if it doesn't happen, e-mail me and I'll send you a request!).
• Click on the link in your e-mail to activate your account. Once your account is activated, you can begin! 
• In the top, right corner of your Pinterest home screen, you'll see three options. The left one will say "add," the middle one will say "about," and the right one will say your name.  Click "add." A pop-up will appear that gives you 3 options: add a pin, upload a pin, or create a board. If this is your first pin, you'll want to create a board.
• Give your board a name and select a category for it. If you want this to be a board only you can pin to, mark yourself as the only contributor. If you want the public to be able to add any pin to this board, mark "me + contributors." Click the red "create board" button, and you're done!
• Once you have a board (or two), you can begin adding pins. You can use the "add" button on the top, right corner and click "add a pin" or "upload a pin" when you find something you'd like to pin. 
• Check out Pinterest's Help section for more concise instructions! :)
• Click on your name (in the top, right corner of the page) and "settings" to adjust the settings. 
• If you have questions, please leave me a comment and I'll see if I can help you!

I'd love to know more of your ideas for using Pinterest in the classroom! I know that once you get the hang of it, you'll want to pin 24/7 like I do! Be careful...it's addicting! :)

Good morning my friends. This morning I'm tired. Are you?

We've got the Flat Classroom projects - the 3 we are currently running, kicking off right now and it takes a lot of energy and effort to get things going, even though we have fantastic project managers and jam up teachers. It is easy to put names and numbers on  a web page but to aim towards 100% collaboration by all students is a goal that requires quite a bit of work.


My List is a Nightmare
Needless to say, my list was becoming a nightmare. Lists are nightmares anyway. The are consistent reminders of all the things I haven't done.

I'm reading the book Personal Kanban: Mapping Work | Navigating Life and it makes a heck of a lot of sense to me. Attracted by the mention of one of my favorite concepts, Kaizen, or the process of ongoing improvement. I am attracted by a method that is less about the method and more about the tasks at hand.

I used Franklin Covey for years until I had children. When I had children my task list multiplied exponentially. Then, I tried to keep using it only to find that 70 things copied over and over. I found that I was spending 30-45 minutes a day just planning the next day when I could have spent that 30-40 minutes actually doing something. Besides that, everything was an "A."

I've used so many apps that it is ridiculous but right now I just have TOO much to do. I'm a huge Home Routines fan and use that for my routines every day. (See the Routine of Being Amazing.) In fact, that app is top right on my home screen on both my iphone and ipad and now that it syncs I'm thrilled.

But, I need a way to process.


Freeways are Parking Lots when they are at 100% capacity
One of the points made in the book is about freeways. A freeway becomes congested at 65% capacity. Why do we wonder why we are paralyzed when we are running at 100% capacity?

Is 100% capacity an achievement or a death sentence?

Visit Kanban 101 for more about this board.

The biggest thing that has always bothered me about all the task methods out there is this concept of bandwidth.

Sure, I can use your tool and make sure I know what I need to do. But if it isn't humanly possible to do that then why do I bother using your tool. The Getting Things Done method doesn't have a place or way to let things fall of your list.

If I were unmarried and living alone, I might could get everything done but now in a job with lots of gray area in terms of responsibility and a life with three teenagers and Flat Classroom projects and two books -- it can't be done.

Personal Kanban
Head over to the personal kanban site to see how a typical chart looks. My chart has 5 categories. On Deck, Today, in Process (only 3 at a time there), the Pen (a holding pen for what I'm waiting on) and Done. I have one for school on my whiteboard there and the other one is on 2 plastic pages in my circa planner with mini-sticky notes.

At the end of the day, I'm writing every thing that was DONE in my planner and reflecting on how I could have improved the process. I got a lot done yesterday and actually reflecting on how I could have improved it!

I can look back and see what I accomplished yesterday! Imagine that!

Productivity Processes Should Evolve with Us
I got more done yesterday than I have done in ages. I'm still learning, but just wanted you all to know that I think that there are some different ways of planning out there than "everyone" is using. I've designed my own planners for quite some time and use my own personalized planning pages in my circa planner for the last 6 months. But now, I feel I am evolving again in my productivity mechanisms. When I "arrive" - I'll let you know.

Busy Days but Memorable Days

Meanwhile. Time to head to school for Homecoming, the mini parade, to feed to football team at 3:30 pm, help the student who is playing music for the game go over the plan one more time, go to the football game, the "get dressed" party, the after the kids leave party, chaparone the dance and then maybe sometime tonight at 2 am I will go to sleep.

These are the days, but I wouldn't trade these crazy days for anything on this planet. My life is full of laughter, hard work worth doing, and changed lives if I'll just pay attention and love on these kids.

Remember your noble calling, teacher, and remember to look at your routines and how you handle the one-time to do's to make sure that you're focusing on the to-do and not the to-do system.

Have a great day!

• The Global Classroom Project

  Some of our certified teachers are helping on the organization team for this new project. It is exciting to see global collaboration take off.

  tags: Education globalcollaboration

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

The recent decision by the Obama administration to ask the Supreme Court to rule on Obamacare is the kind of high-risk action that only a desperate political man would make.

The New York Times:

The Obama administration asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to hear a case concerning the 2010 health care overhaul law. The development, which came unexpectedly fast, makes it all but certain that the court will soon agree to hear one or more cases involving challenges to the law, with arguments by the spring and a decision by June, in time to land in the middle of the 2012 presidential campaign.

The Justice Department said the justices should hear its appeal of a decision by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta, that struck down the centerpiece of the law by a 2-to-1 vote....

...The three federal courts of appeal that have issued decisions on the law so far have all reached different conclusions, with one upholding it, a second — the 11th Circuit— striking it down in part, and a third saying that threshold legal issues barred an immediate ruling. A fourth challenge to the law was heard last week by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit....

....The petition from the 26 states and a second one, from the National Federation of Independent Business and two individuals, sought review on the issues they had lost in the 11th Circuit. The administration’s brief and those of the plaintiffs mostly addressed different questions and talked past one another. Each side now has a chance to respond and tell the court its views about whether the issues identified by its adversaries warrant review.

But almost all of the usual signs indicate that the court will agree to hear at least one challenge to the law: a federal appeals court has struck down a major piece of federal legislation, the lower courts are divided about its constitutionality, and all sides, including the federal government itself, agree that review is warranted....

If Obama had waited for the legal process to play out, it may well have been 2013 or 2014 before the Supreme Court weighed in on his signature piece of legislation, and in the meantime he could continue to claim that he passed a major law that addressed a key policy issue and tout all the benefits of the law (especially since all the benefits kick in immediately and all considerable and nation-crippling drawbacks kick in later and really start to destroy our nation the longer it is law). Oh, there would be Republicans and Tea Party people upset that he passed it into law- but they are going to be upset that he passed it into law, whether it stands or is overturned. The very confusion of it legality is the very sort of thing that a Saul Alinsky acolyte like Obama should be able to use to his advantage- he thrives on the sort of division, confusion, and double-speak that you can hear every day on left-wing talk show stations.

But Obama has decided that his Presidency is such trouble that the only way he can win re-election is if the Supreme Court swoops in and validates his signature law, and then he uses that to trumpet that he is right, because the man has no humility and loves nothing more than to trumpet himself (don't believe me- read his books).

Legal Insurrection has the following analysis, which I largely concur to:

From a purely political viewpoint, it is more important that the Supreme Court hear and decide the case prior to the 2012 election than it is which way the Court rules.

While of course throwing the mandate out is my strong (overwhelming) preference, politically for Republicans I don’t think it makes a huge difference which way the Court decides the case, as long as it decides the case prior to the 2012 election.

If the Supreme Court finds the mandate to be unconstitutional, it will deflate Obama’s presidency. In one fell swoop, the entirety of Obama’s agenda will come crashing down. It will be a political and personal humiliation.

If the Supreme Court upholds the mandate, Obama will be able to crow a little, but such a decision will leave the majority of people who hate the law with but one alternative: Throw Obama and Senate Democrats out in November 2012.

A pro-Obamacare ruling prior to the election will motivate the Republican base like nothing else, and will bring the independents along. If you thought the summer of 2009 was hot, just wait until the summer of 2012 if the only way for the nation to get out from under Obamacare is at the ballot box in November.

Legally, Republicans can lose in the Supreme Court on the Obamacare mandate. Policitally, Republicans cannot lose, so long as a decision is issued prior to the November 2012 election.

The only way that this doesn't become a winning play for the GOP is if they go with Romney, in which case the advantage may be negated whichever way the Court rules because Obama can successfully compare his plan to Romney's plan (although Romney's plan is legal and is the kind of experimentation that one expects from states, whereas Obama's plan has to be illegal and is the kind of overbearing tyranny one expects from dictators).

Regardless, the actions of Obama are to be applauded today- we'll now know sooner rather than later if the federal government has the right that I buy a shiny red ball, if it has the power to make me buy a GM car because it wants to support the union, we'll know if the government can stick a gun to my head and force me to buy solar panels or wind turbines, and we'll know if the government really has the power to take part of my salary that I work for and labor for to do whatever it tyrannically wants to do. Obama has made a gutsy call, because he is terrified that people are finally starting to see that the Emperor has no clothes, and actually our nation is better for him doing that.

Today, I would like to announce that I've signed a contract with the Lifetime Channel and will become one of the bloggers for their morning show, the Balancing Act. Cool Cat Teacher is still here and I'm writing about educational topics and you'll keep getting what you've been getting here. As soon as my blog goes "live" over there, I'll write for a slightly different audience - primarily women - about balancing your life and also pull in my parenting and classroom experience.

Additionally, over here, about once a month, you'll see me share some of the things going on in Lifetime's Balancing Act show that relate to you as they have a whole segment every Friday about the classroom and education, the Parent/ Teacher corner and are part of a campaign called the "war on obesity." Two things which I'm passionate about. This will bring Cool Cat Teacher to a wider audience but also let me write about some other things I've been wanting to share but didn't really feel were appropriate to the context of my blog.

This is exciting for me and has been in the works for some time. It means that the show can call on me as a resource if they wish, but most importantly that my passion of writing can spread past this blog. I can also share YOUR stories with a wider audience that needs to hear about the GREAT things happening in classrooms around the world. 

Vote for a Spring of Hope to Help Drill Wells in Africa
Today, I'd like to share something that is totally in with you all and I hope you'll help me get out the vote for A Spring of Hope. A Spring of hope was founded by Brittany Young when she was just a senior in High School. It raises money to drill wells in rural Africa. This frees the women and children of the community to be able to go to school and work because much of the burden of getting water is literally on their shoulders. (View the documentary and look at their current projects.)

Of course, feel free to donate or let your classroom raise money for a well, but right now, they are up for the Chase American Giving Awards. If they get enough votes, they will win 1 million dollars towards the drilling of wells in Africa.

Could you imagine what this one award could mean to the whole continent of Africa?

So, if you are able and have a Facebook account, please go out and vote for "A Spring of Hope" on their Facebook page and spread the word with your tweets. This is the kind of volunteerism that we can all do as can our students.

Thank you
Thank you and I look forward to sharing more with you as it fits with the mission of Cool Cat Teacher! The fact is that every one of you who subscribes to my blog, reads what I write, comments, likes me on Facebook, or follows me on Twitter has "voted me up" to let opportunities like this happen.

I am very grateful to all of you reading this for truly you are part of this story. The fact that some anonymous teacher in south Georgia can have the dream of STAYING IN THE CLASSROOM and still be able to reach a wider audience with cool projects, books and blogs and speaking is a dream come  true. I don't have to leave the classroom in order to have my dream and it is my goal to help as many of you and as many good causes as possible to reach their dreams as well. Thank you, my friends.

Now, off to Homecoming week. Today is Geek Day! Guess I don't have to dress up -- much. ;-)

• Education Week Teacher: How Jay-Z Can Help Us Remix Education

  Article in edweek about innovation (using rap music and Jay-z as the interesting backdrop) and wrapping up with a well needed discussion about teacherpreneurship.

  tags: Education teacherpreneur innovation

• Teachers see change coming in Common Core State Standards  | ajc.com

  Article about Georgia Dept of Ed rollout of common core standards and their self admitted botched rollout of state standards several years back. The worst issue from my discussions with Georgia Public school teachers was the attempt at Math I, II, III, an attempt to combine Algebra, Geometry, Trig and Statistics. Not only did the teachers complain but so did parents. I know of several math teachers who quit over this. This is what happens in experiments like this. Standards sound great but who writes them? What happens when they are cumbersome? Look at technology standards which many (including me) think are way too heavily influenced by industry.

  tags: Education common core standards

• Emory student charged in New York SAT test cheating case  | ajc.com

  How many schools would have the integrity to investigate discrepancies in the sat. An Emory University student flew home several times to take the SAT for six students who paid him more than $1k a piece to take the test, according to charges filed this week.

  tags: Education sat

• AwayFind - Product Tour

  This service is another that I am seeing people use to help manage overburdened email accounts or for people like me who teach all day.

  tags: Education productivity

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

President Barack Obama is going to drop the most money ever in the history of campaign spending in this coming election- likely far in excess of a billion dollars. A small amount of that money will be spend on positive advertisements- ads which show Obama giving good speeches, receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, making the call to take out bin Laden, etc- but the majority of the money will be dedicated to hit pieces against the GOP candidate. Most of the ads will be phony made up charges accusing/implying that the GOP candidate is racist, or obstructionist, or against the working man, or radical/extreme, or a tool for some sort of sinister plot. But the people who run Obama's campaigns are not fools, and will do some research on their opponent, and honestly they're not clever or creative, so they'll just recycle old arguments.

If Mitt Romney runs against Barack Obama, Obama will run the following advertisement (or some variation of it). It was originally produced by Ted Kennedy, who knew how to win office even though he murdered people. Kennedy beat Romney in a 1994 Senate race (17 years ago) by attacking Romney’s record at the consulting firm Bain and Company. See, Romney is a savvy and skilled businessman, and that's his biggest draw- but if voters can be convinced that he made his money by firing poor workers and leveraging government handouts so he could make millions, than his biggest asset for office can be considerably weakened.

Here is the video that Mitt is going to have to figure out how to counter if he runs for President against Obama:

My son has been looking for epic music on youtube and listens to these amazing one hour mixes of music while he is writing papers for his honors English class. I've embedded the video below and played it while writing this post.





(Equally breathtaking are the graphics which the YouTube creator says he made with "alphacoders." )

Do we have epic moments?

I had one Sunday as I ran at the school. I looked over the school, snapped a picture of a tremendously beautiful cloud and posted it to the school's Facebook page.

Listening to this music inspires me to be more. It helps me realize that I am pushing forward towards something excellent.

As I ran 2 miles last night between dropping my son off at Tae Kwon Do and our Flat Classroom Certified Teachers meeting, I was listening to another song, Citizen Soldier, and a line intrigued me because it made me think of so many of you teachers I know:

"The strongest among you may not wear a crown."

Yes! This is you!

We know that teachers are front and center of a debate raging across continents about what a good education looks like and who is going to "find" the magic formula.

The magic formula doesn't exist because I doubt you'll ever be able to mass produce greatness unless....

Unless teachers and parents concentrate their very being on finding the greatness within every child. Concentrate on HOLDING THEM ACCOUNTABLE and teach them self discipline and hard work.


So many people want something for nothing. 
 They want a great education for all students without having to spend money...without having to work hard... something that every person can do.

Greatness isn't easy. Epic isn't manufactured; it is earned one bead of sweat at a time.

I remember two years a go our football team was struggling - we lost all but two games and the ones we lost were less than 3 points a piece. It was a struggle and hard. But the boys and coaches decided to start coming in and working out at 6 am three mornings a week beginning in January. Voluntary choices to become better.

We are now 18-0. We won state football last year and are working hard to go for it this year. It is becoming epic.

Epic doesn't just happen. It is often born out of incredible failure. IN fact, if you're already good or great - getting greater may not be as epic as if you are at the very bottom of everything and fighting merely to stay alive.

We dream of epic. 
We hope for epic. Epic is something we all want to live.

But teachers, listen to me now (and I hope you're listening to that music too) - you have the ability for your career to be epic. You can be a hero. Go into that classroom and teach every period you are assigned to teach. Don't sit down. Never read a magazine.

Stay engaged with your class. Don't go behind your desk while you have students. Your job is your students - TEACH. When you disengage, you zap the life out of the room. Be part of the learning process. IF they are working, you should be working the room. If they are reading, you should be moving through the room seeing if they have questions. Read with them in the circle - the same thing. Be approachable.

At the end of my life, I hope and pray that there will be many students and teachers, educators and parents who have been encouraged to see the nobility in what we are doing every day to raise a new generation to inhabit our world. What can be more epic than that?

Now I must depart, my friends, for hills and vales unknown.
I am not on a battlefield and yet I pray for greatness to be shown
amid the learning, energy, and excitement in my students' minds.
Insurmountable it seems to reach them all, I'll leave none of them behind
but will look within their very heart to find what each does best
I'll contemplate those "showing out" and ponder them as I rest.
I'll love them and give myself until my life is done
if any life can be epic, a teacher's life is the one.

Be noble. Do RIGHT by your students. Be EXCELLENT. Work HARD. Never quit. Be a great teacher. I'm proud of you.

• Sendoid - Instant, Private, P2P File Transfers

  A new private way to share files. (Hat tip Julie Lindsay.)

  tags: education p2p filesharing web2 edu_newapp

• AppleInsider | NFL's Buccaneers equip every player with an Apple iPad 2

  NFL teams go with ipads for players instead of paper and playbooks. They like the feature of being able to wipe the ipad if it goes missing (try doing that with a paper playbook.) Cool.

  tags: education sports

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

In 2001, George W. Bush proposed a major change to education law called The No Child Left Behind Act. This piece of legislation was supported with extensive bipartisan support in Congress and leading up to its implementation and passage there was extensive debate regarding this bill- people were given an opportunity to discuss it, come to grips with it, and properly weight its merits and problems.

NCLB at its heart was a deal- education would be reformed by putting in place at the federal level higher standards and the establishment of measurable educational goals, and in return Congress would dramatically increase the amount of amount of federal funding for education, increasing it from $42.2 billion in 2001 to $54.4 billion in 2007. In return for states developing assessments in basic skills to be given to all students in certain grades, the federal would expand funding for reading programs and Title I programs which benefit disadvantaged children, and would considerably expand funding for IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education) to support education. That was the bargain made, after considerable discussion and debate- money in exchange for accountability.

And now, with no debate and discussion, President Obama has decided without any support from either party in Congress to go ahead and change the deal, and we can only pray that he does not alter it further.

Via The Heritage Group:

“Congress hasn’t been able to do it, so I will.” With this bold statement, President Obama announced last Friday that he would unilaterally replace the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) with conditions-based waivers. Obama’s waiver strategy is an alarming misuse of executive power that undermines the separation of powers.

In and of itself, the use of waivers is not unconstitutional. Congress has the authority to create laws with provisions that allow the President to grant exceptions in certain circumstances. NCLB does, for instance, authorize the Secretary of Education to grant waivers to applicants that meet certain criteria. However, waivers are not written as blank checks of authority for the President to bypass Congress and enact new policy.

In this case, the President is using waivers to rewrite the law. The Obama waivers go far beyond the measures allowed by NCLB. To receive a waiver, states must agree to implement a new set of goals and programs determined not by Congress, but by the White House.

For months, President Obama and Congressional Republicans have disagreed on how to reform NCLB. There are major problems with the law’s intrusive regulations. But the Obama administration decided that the “do-nothing Congress” could not be trusted to act and so the President is acting without them.

But co-opting the waiver power to craft a new laws designed in and implemented by the White House is a departure from the constitutional separation of powers. Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution grants Congress the power to craft the nation’s laws and to reform those laws when they do not work as planned. The executive is authorized to carry out the laws passed by Congress. But this can be quite bothersome for a President if Congress doesn’t see things his way.

The President does have a proper constitutional role to play in the legislative process. The President has the power to veto or sign a bill. Furthermore, as permitted by the recommendation clause of Article 1, Section 3, the President may recommend legislation to Congress. This is does not mean that the President can unilaterally create law as if by royal edict. To become law, legislation (even when recommended by the President) must first pass both houses of Congress and be signed by the President. This process ensures that any law will be subject to deliberation by both the nationally elected President and the Congressmen who are more attuned to the particular interests and concerns of the local communities they represent.

Both congressional Republicans and president Obama acknowledge that NCLB is a flawed law. While it may be tempting to seek a quick fix to this sprawling and unpopular program that avoids a partisan battle, misusing waivers to enact new policy without the consent of the elected representatives in Congress is not the way to address the issue.

President Obama is once again demonstrating his unfitness for office by changing the deal, and this is a bad thing- education will continue to receive funding, but now will no longer have to meet the deal that Congress put in place- rather, they will have to meet the deal that Obama puts in place, conditions that he will establish without legislative authority or approval. This sort of action should be causing libertarians and liberals and conservatives to howl, because it is a slap in the face to democracy, elected government, separation of powers, and our Constitution. His time in office can not come to an end quickly enough.

I couldn't believe my eyes. As I drove up to the stadium for the second time Saturday night, there was our 18-0 state winning football coach grilling hamburgers before the game! SHOCK!

Why would the coach be anywhere but in the locker room? There are tons of us "unimportant" people out here who will grill hamburgers so he can do his important job: coaching the players.

Only one person can be the head coach - him!

Eye on the Ball
Whew! On closer look it wasn't him, but it struck me that I know micromanagers who are the same way.

As I walked into the game, I looked at the two teachers taking the money and pictured the head coach sitting there. As I went to the concession stand, I pictured my shock if he were behind the counter. As I walked up to the press box to help my student who is doing the sound for the games get ready, I pictured him getting ready to call the game and run the clock.

It just wouldn't be possible. Not only would it not be possible but shocks the senses to the point of thinking that if he did this, he'd be fired quickly for not doing the main thing and keeping his eye on the proverbial ball (pun intended.) He wouldn't be focusing on the big picture job of why we are all there.

Details
Details are important. Certainly if someone wasn't taking money or wasn't doing their job in the press box, the head coach would deal with it after the game (he's our headmaster too.) But during the game for him to be anywhere but on the field coaching the players would be coaching malpractice.

Micromanagers
Every day those in a leadership position who micromanage and have to "do" everything take their eye off the ball. Certainly a principal might make a good PA announcer or might be the only one who can keep the third grade in line or may be the only reason that Mrs. Robinson can keep her class in order. But if he's on the PA and always in Mrs. Robinson's class is he doing what he needs to be doing?

When I was general manager at Cellular One, I would answer the front telephone every so often just to see how my front lines were handling things, however, this was not something I did often. If the VP of the East region (my boss) called and I was answering the phone - who was focusing on the big picture? Management by walking around (the 5 minute manager) is great. It is good to be among your people, seeing what they are doing and giving them feedback. My principal is in my room at least 3 times a week and that is GREAT! I love it! (He came in yesterday while we were talking about Google's nGram viewer.)

But he doesn't come in an take over the class. He doesn't have to.

I know a micro-manager right now who has to do everything. This person has to literally control every aspect of her organization. She controls every word in the newsletter, she controls every knob for every piece of equipment in the whole facility. She picks people who will rubber stamp everything she wants. She has a complete inability to trust anyone who might have a different thought than she does.

Her organization is shrinking. She has taken her eye off the ball and is too busy grilling hamburgers and taking up concessions to coach the players in the game of the core mission of the organization.

You Kill Cooperation when You do People's Jobs for Them
The fact is that people who overly micromanage kill innovation and cooperation. What is the point? In the micromanager's organization you can never be the micromanager so why even try. Let them do it.

The organization shrinks and people stop volunteering or doing anything. Why should they? It will just be redone.

We need great teachers in our schools but we also need great leaders. We need leaders who can keep their eye on the ball and focus on the main mission of our schools.

While it is good to know an organization inside and out; if a person thinks he is the organization he is a liar and sadly deceived. The root word of organization is "organ." My son is studying organs in his fourth grade science class and it is amazing how different types of tissues come together to make organs.


Leaders should lead and help us focus our organization on what we need to do as a team to get the job done. A leader cannot do our jobs for us because to move a team ahead it is bigger than just one man or one woman.

Lead!

• Cinch - Create and share micro podcasts, images and text updates on cinch.fm

  A website for creating podcasts from your iphone, phone, or computer. It has a lot of features odeo used to have which was my old podcast channel. I'm working to set up a new one here.

  tags: education podcasting

• K12 Online Conference | 2011 K-12 Online Conference Call for Proposals and Announcements

  K12 online conference is just two weeks after GEC. This is another place where you may want to present as well.

  tags: education learning

• Strands and Submissions - The Global Education Collaborative

  Go here to create proposals for the Global Education Conference for teachers, students, curriculum, or administrators.

  tags: education flatclassroom online learning all_teachers

• Digiteen Dream Team - The Global Education Collaborative

  Many of us are creating proposals for our students to present at the global education collaborative.

  tags: education learning

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Although the media is really playing up the fact that Mitt Romney won the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference straw poll over Rick Perry 51% to 17%, I was there, and the reality is that most of the people there voted prior to hearing either candidate speak and that after hearing both Perry and Romney speak, the race is a lot more even then the margin in the straw poll.

Romney is playing a defensive game, saying all the right things, hitting all the right spots, meeting with all the right people, and clearly is going to attempt to win the Presidency by not making any major mistakes. This might be the way to play it this election, but I doubt it- Obama sounds like he is getting into campaign mode, and although Obama couldn't manage his way out of a paper bag, he can get his hands on a lot of money and win himself office. So the better candidate for the Republican Party might just be Rick Perry.

In a marked contrast to the coached and artificial Romney, Perry is a lively person and is full of personality. He sounds a little bit like Own Wilson with his southern drawl and has a bounce in his step- I see him as a little more of a wild-card in the race, someone who will say some pretty good lines but will also make mistakes- for example, the stuff about not building a fence and providing in-state tuition for people who crossed the border illegally are important mistakes, although in reality these are peripheral to the job of being President.

He began his speech on Mackinac Island at the Grand Hotel by talking about how once America built things- like cars and bridges and beautiful hotels- and if we elect him, "our best days are still ahead of us." I like that idea- that is a marked contrast to Barack Obama, who appears to be trying to play a zero-sum game of class-warfare in America, where he wants to take the existing/shrinking pie and divvy it up to his supporters and allies rather than growing the pie so we all are happy. Perry is patriotic- he said something like 'the greatest nation on Earth is the United States of America'- and I love people who love America.

But what I really liked about Perry was his appeal to Reagan Democrats- although a lot of Republicans who are following the primary are all about picking the best candidate in the primary, in reality the most important consideration they should be thinking about is who stands the best chance of beating Obama. Romney is a good moderate who is business-like and a safe pick, and this gives him a solid edge, but Perry talked about willing over the Reagan Democrats, those people who are still in the Democratic Party even though every year the Democratic Party becomes more militant progressive and socialist. Yeah, the Tea Party might make this GOP not the GOP of your fathers- but the Democratic Party is not the Democratic Party of a generation ago, and having a candidate like Perry in the running who tries to win these Reagan Democrats might be a great asset.

"We will take the boots of over-taxation and over-regulation off the necks of small businessmen and businesswomen" he stated, laying out his theme that it is centralized control and elites in a far away capital who are being a barrier to the progress of America. Restoring freedom and liberty, he feels, will lead us forward better than having government bureaucrats rule over us- the freedom and liberty to make choices and take responsibility from those choices and letting the collective wisdom of the marketplace guide decisions in society will lead to a more prosperous and happy nation. "We don't need the rhetoric of change, but rather a record of change" he declared.

To be honest, his approach is a gutsy approach- it takes courage to let go of power and trust the American people to create jobs and goods and wealth- rather than tell the people what to do with regulations and a controlling tax code, Perry is suggesting that people be free and make decisions freely and that that will result in greater production and wealth. It's a tougher argument to make, but the right one, and I really hope the American people listen more closely to what he is saying.

"There is nothing ailing our nation that freedom can't cure," he said, pointing to crushing debt, increasing regulations, and legislation like Obamacare as the reason why our economy has failed to recover from the 2008 recession. He outright rejected Keynesian economic theory, and it was great to hear a major candidate cite economic theories, because our current President doesn't rely on any sort of economic theories to underpin his policies, unless you consider the mutated and mangled version of Keynesian theory he is ignorantly applying a real policy.

"I will guide this nation with a deep deep rudder," he said- and that to me is perhaps why he moved ahead of Romney as my choice in the straw poll. Sometimes I am concerned that Romney will not steer the ship of state with a deep rudder, but rather a shallow one, and that's okay- with a GOP Congress dominated by the Tea Party, it's okay to go on that current and see where it goes, and after Romney is done America will be a much improved nation. But with Perry, he'll steer our nation in the direction he wants to take it, even if the current flows another direction, and if we do defeat Obama, that might benefit our nation more in the long run.

And as long as Rick Perry keeps rolling off lines like the one he left the lunch crown with, I think he'll be okay- he finished with- "Every day I will try to make Washington DC more inconsequential in your lives".

Google's nGram viewer lets you search over 5 million books for the instances of words. Imagine it as a search engine into the uses of words since 1800.

To better understand it, view the Tedx Boston talk "A Picture is Worth 500 Billion Words" by Erez Lieberman Aiden and Jean-Baptiste Michel.



It is quite interesting and still a big imperfect as the uses of words change so dramatically. You can see that in this search (shown in the chart below) I did for the words school, teacher, and principal. Do we now call principals administrators instead? If we do, then administrator is used in many professions and the results won't just show schools.

Comparing Teacher, Principal, and School and the use of these words in books.

I also find it fascinating in the chart belowwhere I searched for educational technology, project based learning, differentiated instruction, classroom management, class size.

Here we can see that as we talked about class size in the 1930's we talked about classroom management. In the 1970's and 80's educational technology and class size were common discussions and now we are beginning to talk more about classroom management than educational technology as we talk about class size.

Differentiated instruction and project based learning are barely a blip. We just aren't talking about this. (Sad.)


Finally, I've been curious about the use of the terms PLN, PLE, PLC - note this is only going through books through the year. When you look at the chart, you think that PLC has been winning out until you look at the types of mentions more closely.

The fact is that PLC are programmable logic controllers and their use has blossomed. Be very careful and look to drill down and understand the meaning of terms.


If you take that chart at face value you will make a WRONG analysis. Instead you have to type the terms themselves. Note that we can only search through 2008 or this number may be different. However, if we look at this, we see that personal learning environment is used more widely with personal learning community and personal learning network not even making a blip.

So, you can't take a search at face value.




We are only at the beginning of our analysis. I would like to know, for example, why William Shakespeare was so incredibly popular between 1940 and 1950.

And when we add William Faulkner why is one favored over the other at different times.


This is a new albeit imperfect literacy but a powerful tool that is now an infant born before your eyes. All types of questions will emerge such as:

• Can we include all ebooks?
• Can we opt in new books so they are automatically included in the results?
• Can you aggregate and compare blogs, news media, and books?
• Can we drill down and include only one genre?
• Could we just use this for research in a certain field, for example?
• Could we aggregate collections?

Researchers, students, teachers, and anyone curious can find all sorts of uses for this incredible new tool. It may challenge your thinking but we are just seeing the beginning of digitization. What happens when paintings are digitized and we can examine trends in the use of color or trends in the use of certain types of materials in art? Topics or themes across art?

The thoughts are limitless but this is a tool I've introduced to my students today. They started by looking up their names and various spellings of their names.

Jennifer Granholm, the Democratic former Governor of Michigan, is exactly right- the United States can learn a lot of lessons from Michigan's government- lessons on what not to do.

Before the Obama years, many looked back at the Bush years and talked about how bad 4% GDP growth and 6% unemployment were, but to be honest, those numbers were never that good in Michigan, which suffered under a single state recession for much of the 2000's and had low GDP growth rates, high unemployment, and bad numbers on everything else. For many years, the people of this great state were told that the reason why Michigan was doing so poorly was George W. Bush's fault- but from 2009 to 2011 Bush was gone and yet Michigan still led the nation in all of the wrong numbers. The reason why Michigan did poorly as a state from 2003 to 2011 was because during this time our state had a progressive Democrat as Governor who put in place the same policies at the state level that have failed so miserably at the national level as well.

Governor Granholm believed that the government should take money from those who are successful and then use that money to pick and choose winners and losers in the marketplace. Her administration decided that what made a company or an industry a 'winner' was not whether or not it was profitable, whether it provided a good that was valued by society highly (as determined by private investment), or whether it was a stable and sound investment. No, under Democratic officials and Granholm, the decision to use the power of government to anoint an industry a 'winner' was made based on political decisions of whether or not that industry or company donated to the Democratic Party, the decision was made based on whether or not the industry or business was deemed 'cool' and 'hip', and whether not the business or industry provided a good or service that the ruling powers liked, whether it was 'green products' or movies.

Using the power of the government to transfer wealth from savers and producers and successful people to those who are spenders and wasters and unsuccessful has a decided effect on an economy, whether at the state level or the national level- it leads to less economic success, more waste, more inefficiency, less jobs, less tax revenue, and a thoroughly lessened society on almost every level. When property is taken and corrupt decisions are made in the government, a state and a nation are not successful.

Michigan showed the entire nation what would happen if those same policies were enacted at the national level- it was a lesson of what not to do. And yet, in spite of this, much like our national leaders that continue to press on in the face of failure, those who inflicted this awful economy on us have no apologies and hold true to their course. President Barack Obama, much like Jennifer Granholm, will not change in any substantive manner and will not alter his policies if he wins a second term.

Jennifer Granholm is coming out with a new book, "A Governor's Story: The Fight for Jobs and America's Economic Future," and in it she gives our great nation of how not to run a state or government or anything at all.

As is typical in a government which inserts itself into the marketplace and plays political games with citizens, the book talks about all of the political gamesmanship and behind-the-scenes deal-making and continual crisis that marked the Granholm years in Michigan. The book argues that government involvement — tax payer money given away in the name of green jobs and pork programs — is essential to economic growth, in spite of the track record that that philosophy has had whenever and wherever it has been tried. They attempt to argue that because another government has (the Obama administration) has awarded tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer money borrowed on credit from China as loans to various industries in Michigan over the last couple of years, this is some sort of an indication of success for their method.

Granholm says "Smart and active government is really what's needed"- as if a small elite class of unconnected politicians working in a capital will be smarter than the thousands of decisions that free citizens make every day in a free market, and as if a more active government will not crowd out investment and decisions freely made by businessman and force them into making unwise and bad investments.

"If you place no bets, you will lose every time," she said, suggesting that the government should use its extreme lack of information about the market and rely on its lack of personal investment in the situation to gamble away taxpayer money at every political or 'cool' industry or company that comes along. Oh, a couple of those bets will win- even a Democrat finds his way out of a recession every now and then- but on the whole, taxpayers will take it on the chin many more times than not, and Granholm and her cronies will walk away with pensions, paychecks, a nice university position, and a new book.

United States, be prepared- Michigan has shown the nation the way, and don't ever forget- Granholm won a second term of office after her disastrous first term saw her destroy Michigan's economy and ruin many lives.

Detroit News provided quotes and source information.

• Welcome to FolderBoy

  Interesting website that organizes tasks by folders. I will try this out.

  tags: Education productivity lists

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Apparently I'm not the only one who feels like a sap in the new Obama-economy for paying my bills, working hard, and saving money. Ray Stevens made a video where he 'wakes up' and realizes the reality of the change that Obama brought to America. It's funny. Enjoy!