This week I am at the Microsoft Partners in Learning serving as a US judge for the International Competition and am blown away from the amazing innovations.
What is most impressive is that although many incredible uses of Microsoft products are included that anything and everything is here. Oddly enough, I have seen Google, Apple, and just about anything as part of a classroom with many learning experiences.
The purpose as judges is to recognize the best 21st century learning in the classroom based upon the current research. I can personally attest that the rubrics have no product bias, although every teacher here uses Microsoft in some way. (but honestly, who doesn't use Microsoft something in their classroom)
I am finding that there are tons of one note uses and the new office 360 has some pretty amazing things built in! Ok, more from me later.
I asked Microsoft Teach Tec Blogger, Rob Bayuk to write a guest post about what is happening here. Here goes.
"Today 100 educators from 25 states arrived in Seattle for the Microsoft Partners in Learning 2011 U.S. Innovative Education Forum (IEF). The IEF is part of a worldwide program designed to shine a spotlight on some of the world's top educators and provide them the opportunity to collaborate, exhibit and share innovative tech-infused projects they've done with students. Over the past year educators applied and these 100 educators were chosen representing all K-12 subjects and grade levels. While attending the event educators will also participate in a number of unique professional learning activities.
Ten finalists from this U.S. event will be chosen to represent the United States at the Partners in Learning Global Forum in Washington, DC in November. The global event is expected to attract more than 700 teachers, school leaders, press and education thought leaders from more than 75 countries.
On the agenda for these teachers over the two day forum hosted on Microsoft's main campus in Redmond, WA will be project exhibitions evaluated by a panel of judges from education and education-related fields, learning excursions to some of Seattle’s best known historical and cultural landmarks such as the Space Needle and Pike Place Market where collaborative teams of educators will create project-based activities based on their experiences, and hands-on technology workshops using Microsoft’s latest programs for education.
The group will also hear two inspiring keynote speeches on Thursday and Friday by Dr. John Medina, author of the New York Times bestseller "Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School and Dr. Jane McGonigal, world-renowned game designer and author of Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World will deliver the closing keynote.
Both of these keynote presentations will be streamed live through the Partners in Learning Facebook page. "Like" the page to watch the streaming and get the details on when these will be streamed live as they will not be recorded. We will also stream them through our IEF web site and if you'd like to follow along on Twitter follow me @TeachTec and watch for #msftpil.
For a summary of the projects that will be exhibited this week checkout this post.
Thanks,
Rob Bayuk
Microsoft U.S. Partners in Learning Team
(aka @TeachTec)"
Cool program. I hope all you innovative teachers out there will consider applying next year!
- Posted using BlogPress from Vicki's iPad
Innovative Educators arrive for the Microsoft U.S. Innovative Education Forum to Share Best Practices
Innovation Clusters and Systems
Continuing our focus on Industrial Clusters,in the preface of an overview document for the recently concluded Innovation Systems and Innovative Clusters in Africa conference it was noted:
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| Image courtesy of Mckinsey & Co. |
...that firms which operate close to related firms and supporting institutions are often more innovative and therefore more successful in raising productivity than firms that operate in isolation. The innovative cluster approach is thus an appropriate and established tool for analysis of industrial dynamics and for policy initiatives to foster innovations, growth and economic development.Consequently, the debate has now moved from whether or not innovative clusters are important, to how to best organize and manage clusters in order to exploit their maximum potentials. Thus, recently hundreds of cluster initiatives have beenMore here (PDF)
launched, involving nearly all the regions of the world except Africa. Is Africa an exception in these global initiatives? An understanding of the concept and the salient features of innovation systems and innovative clusters, and the critical factors for building and improving them are imof these global initiatives.
Daily Education & Technology News for Schools 06/16/2011
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Here is the time to grow Keynote that Julie and I did not so long a go. Was listening to it and I think the message is still relevant. It is about change and a willingness to grow.
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"A new way of learning
Augmented Reality in School Environments
- A European Research Project -
Technological advances in the field of information and communication technologies enable innovative ways to mediate knowledge. Among them, Augmented Reality (AR) becomes increasingly a field of interest.
Integrated in e-learning systems, AR will provide innovative ways to transfer knowledge in education. This is the purpose of the project Augmented Reality in School Environments (ARiSE). The aim is to create an innovative teaching aid, enabling teachers to develop, with a moderate effort, new teaching practices for teaching scientific and cultural content to school classes in an easy to comprehend way. " -
T.S. Eliot's masterpiece is now an app. An expensive app, topping at $13.99 but it has literary experts abuzz. It includes the poem, perspectives, sychronized performances from Eliot (at two points in his life) and other readers, the original manuscripts showing the process of editing the document, and lots of resources and readings. Created by Faber digital it is part of "Faber's mission to re-imagine poetry for the digital age."
If you teach literature or are an edtech professor, it is time to get this on your ipad and put in some serious academic reviews as to the quality of content here. Academicians now have a new place: writing reviews on the iTunes store. We may have an app-full textbook-free future. -
Wordle - Chapter 7 of the Upcoming Clat Classroom Book
A wordle I made of the upcoming Flat Classroom book - chapter 7 of student choice. If you want to know when the book comes out (we'll only use your email to let you know the publish date) you can go to www.flatclassroombook.com - if you're into social media or doing book reviews, you can apply to be put on our reviewers list. (Sorry not everyone can be selected, but please apply if this fits you.)
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TakingITGlobal - TIGed - Projects - DeforestACTION
The DeforestAction project has sstudents create local, national and international entrepreneurial initiatives that protect and regrow endangered forests and create local projects to promote awareness and action.
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Asia Connections - Collaboration with schools in Asia
A ning promoting connections with schools in Asia.
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From Library To Learning Commons.Ny.Slideshare
Lovely slideshow by Valerie Diigs on her school's transformation from library to learning commons. She's been featured in several books and in school library journal.
I think every librarian should be familiar with the learning commons concept to see if there are elements that will work to make your environment more relevant to learners. It isn't whether you like the concept yourself - for libraries to stay funded they must stay relevant. I think learning commons is just one way to do that. Valerie knows far more than me on this topic, so look at what she's done. -
WinDirStat Portable | PortableApps.com - Portable software for USB, portable and cloud drives
Why is your hard drive full? Why does it keep filling up? I use this to help me find those pesky video files that keep FILLING UP MY HARD DRIVE.
Daily Education & Technology News for Schools 01/11/2011
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Microsoft announced their research study on Monday, January 10th that shows that students "can get the skills they need for work and life in the 21st century through school, but in practice, they rarely do.
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10 Takeaway Tips for Project-Based Learning | Edutopia
Project based learning tips - an excellent list to stay on track.
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A good summary of the theory of connectivism.
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A website that some use to collaborate. The tools are free for public use.
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The Innovative Educator: In today's connected world, disconnecting yourself earns you no points
Controversial discussion about an email from a student who received an A- but bragged that he/she deserved an a because he/she did everything without help. What do you think?
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Which 5 books most changed your life? This cool site lets you connect with others who have been shaped by the same books!
Nominate Champions of Quality Education in Africa
From Changemakers:
Welcome to the “Champions of Quality Education in Africa” collaborative competition. We are building a network of innovative education entrepreneurs who are focused on improving the learning of African students. We are looking for entrepreneurial African educators and organizations who are working to ensure that pupils in Africa are learning the reading, writing, math, and critical thinking skills that they need to succeed. If you are a successful and innovative teacher, administrator, or education organization, we invite you to apply...[continue reading]via KenyanPundit
Education Policy in Michigan and How It is Created
One of my brothers recently was invited by the Michigan House Republican Strategic Task Force on Education to come and discuss the long range vision of education policy in the state of Michigan. This special task force composed of Republicans has been touring the state looking for both successes and failures in Michigan's education system. It was on the west side of the state and after talking to my brother about how it went, I have the following comments to pass on to you.
What the task force does is get input from parent teacher associations, student council members, administrator, teachers, board members, and students, from public schools, special education, alternative education, charter and private schools. The end goal is to develop ideas on how to improve the quality of the education system here in Michigan.
The result of these task force meetings is predictable and an indication of everything that is wrong with education in our state. Three hours of discussion produced all the wrong policy suggestions for education, suggestions politicians should not consider. The following account is a way for you to see how policy is created in our state and helpful in developing your own opinions about the future of education.
The first step in the discussion was to answer the question "What is the purpose of education?" Do that right now in your head- think about what you want the education system in our state to look like and do. Is it prepare students for college? Prepare them for future jobs? Mold good citizens? Give all students a broad base of knowledge? Or did you, like most people at this forum, say "everything!" The mission of education needs to be focused, clear, and consistent, and it can not be everything to everybody all at the same time. There is only enough time in the day, only enough resources to spend, and our state needs to think long and hard about what they want the goal of education to be.
In my opinion, our school system should move to a two-tier system- K-8 the goal is to provide a broad range of knowledge for all students, and 9-12 students will either go into a college-prep track or a job-preparation track. That's just my opinion though.
The next question the group that came to this task force meeting was asked is "what are we doing well right now in education?" Think about this question. Education is doing a lot of things well- babysitting students 8 hours a day, running great sports programs, educating a lot of top students, running a good special needs program, helping students learn how to think, giving students opportunities, offering many innovative learning styles, and nationally our K-5 program is the best in the world.
The next question the task force had us think about was "what do you want the education system to look like 10 years from now". I think the overall consensus of the task force was that we want education to do more to teach students critical thinking skills, to learn how to be innovative and creative, to teach entrepreneurship and job creation, and to have students focus more on the career paths that they are headed into after school rather than just focus on school.
The last step is the most important step, and the step that resulted in disaster for this task force and that produced information the Michigan House Republican Strategic Task Force on Education should utterly disregard. The question that was posed to us was "how do we build on what we are doing well to make our education system look like we want it to look 10 years from now?"
Here is the information the task force received, and it is a good lesson on why sometimes special interest groups should not be the ones designing the policies in our nation. The task force was told to drop all standardized testing and to just hand the money to districts with no more accountability. The task force was told that one way to increase the education levels in our state was to give more funding to teachers, have them work shorter hours, and give them more training. The task force was told that students should teach classes, as if they were subject matter and teaching experts. The task force produced a lot of garbage ideas, and in every hearing they conducted they pretty much got the same garbage.
This is why the state should not be trusted with running any sort of service industry. The failures in education are the failures of government planning and funding. The failures of education result from this idea that bureaucrats working in distant locations can issue rules and decrees and that will somehow make things better. And the failures of education and this process demonstrate that a system that ignores values and character will produce a valueless result.
The way to fix education is to increase choice, increase personal responsibility, increase local control, and increase the focus on value and character education. Students need to take classes that emphasise creativity and entrepreneurship and they need to buy into the system by making them realize just how much it is costing them to go to school (or at least their parents need to realize what the cost is for education and then demand the results to justify the cost). Standardized testing needs to be increased, but the information that comes from these tests needs to be disseminated throughout the system and analyzed and studied by everyone- teachers, students, and administrators.
Education needs to run more like a business, with the service provided being learning and the learning delivered by skilled professionals. It can not run like a government agency, answering to dozens of constituents and staffed by bureaucrats.
Please take a moment to look up your state Representative and pass on your thoughts to them about education and the types of policies that you would like to see put in place in this state. If you don't speak up, they will have only heard from others, and those others are pushing groups like that Michigan House Republican Strategic Task Force on Education to put in place policies that will only erode the educational quality of our great state.
UPDATE: Here is a story about the event... notice the utter lack of anything productive or useful mentioned in this article.
Building Technology Villages-AproTech Ghana
In conclusionAt first glance,there’s nothing extraordinary about the shed sitting next to Uncle Joe’s mud brick home in the coastal Ghanaian village of Atabadze.Inside there’s a certain familiarity about the clutter – tools propped up against stacks of roofing sheets and machinery – the kind of organized chaos you’d find in tool sheds and workshops anywhere in the world. But the sheer ordinariness of it of all belies the fact that this is the birthplace of a remarkable and important technology.Those roofing sheets – Uncle Joe made them,out of local river sand,using only his own ingenuity and the electric vibrating table in the corner – he made that too.
Uncle Joe's roofing sheet fabrication facility
Uncle Joe is an innovator.He has brought his community something they never had before:a roofing material that is both sturdy and affordable.Before his intervention,his neighbours had a hugely unsatisfactory choice between using expensive,often imported, manufactured materials, or local unprocessed thatch, at a fraction of the price,but at the cost of durability;there was no middle ground.But Uncle Joe was not so sure this was necessarily a matter of ‘either or’; why couldn’t there be an alternative that was both manufactured and local, he wondered.
So he set about answering his own question,experimenting with local environmental inputs and different manufacturing processes.And through his efforts he developed a process to produce roofing sheets from river sand – a sturdy,high quality product The poor need opportunities to generate income and work themselves out of poverty manufactured from a sustainable local resource. To produce these sheets,Uncle Joe even had to build his own electric vibrating table,a vital piece of machinery that blends the sand with a small quantity of cement (added as fixative),enabling the mixture to set.All in all,an unlikely triumph of innovation considering the poor infrastructure and extremely limited availability of capital and manufacturing know-‐how in his rural locality.
Uncle Joe is a prime example of the creativity and dynamism that are blossoming in Africa; one of the manyindividuals and communities championing innovative technologies that,by mobilising local resources to provide essential goods and services,and create income generation opportunities for the poor,can deliver sustainable and equitable ‘grassroots’development across the continent.And yet his story also illustrates the uphill task they face.
For all the originality of his idea and his dedication to implementing it,Uncle Joe cannot currently make ends meet manufacturing tiles – he simply cannot afford to hire the labour he needs to produce viable volumes.Without capital,his operation will not reach a level at which the technology can really impact the livesof the poor.
For the global development community (donors,NGOs,etc) Uncle Joe’s story is one of opportunity: it highlights an opportunity forthem to create the opportunities the rural poor need to work their way out of poverty.To date the governmental and multilateral institutions with the resources and clout to change the lives of those living in poverty have favoured...To make meaningful inroads into poverty reduction in Africa,the development community must foster the growth of robust local industries that mobilise the continent’s substantial environmental resources to meet local needs and create opportunities.Technologies like Uncle Joe’s manufacturing process are the foundation on which such industries are built,and donors should support their development,whether by investing in the entrepreneurs pushing innovative local solutionsor by providing the tools and training rural communities can use to unlock the developmental potential in their local environment.More here
Elearning and global competency #flatclass #globaled 01/11/2012
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Connecting Classrooms with Skype
How this teacher uses Skype to connect her classrooms with others. I like the preplanning - something that needs to be done to be ready for this.
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Flat Classroom Projects: Applications Open Now
If you want to look into a Flat Classroom project for your school, applications are open. Our goal is to be the best collaborative learning experience where students co-create and collaborate together. We have projects for all ages and we're totally teacher run (most of us are full time and do this on the side or have classrooms in the project.) Find out more or ask me questions if you need to.
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Template projects | British Council Schools Online
The British Council Connecting Classrooms program has free projects for global learning on their website. It also has a way to find links with schools. I like that you can download templates.
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Projects on Skype in the classroom | Skype Education
Here are projects from Skype in the classroom. Posted by teachers. A lot of teachers are looking for people to Skype with. There should be a better way, but kudos to Skype for doing this.
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Amy's Travels Project:Connecting Children Through Global Awareness Literature | Skype Education
Skype in the classroom has lists of projects that you can do with Skype. This is very innovative. Here is one using the Amy's Travel's multicultural children's book.
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Partnership for Global Learning Annual Conference
This is just after ISTE. I hope that many of the ISTE people will be able to go there and vice versa.
Asia Society's Partnership for Global Learning Annual Conference will take place June 29-30 at the Brooklyn Marriott in New York City.
The two-day event connects educators, business leaders, policymakers and resource providers to share best practices, build partnerships and advance policies to ensure the next generation is ready to lead in an interconnected world.
This year's theme is "Pathways to Global Competence" and the four conference strands are:
Innovations in Teacher Practice
Exploring the Global Issues of Today
Going Global Through Technology and Media
Assessing Global Competence Through Student Work -
Worldwide list of reading/literacy charities 2012 | Playing by the book
A list of reading and literacy charities worldwide for 2012. This author has spent a lot of time compiling the list and asks for your feedback. Hope you'll help. We should NEVER throw away books, there are a lot of people who need them. In fact, I tend to not want to throw them away now anyway because I'm not replacing them like I used to. It is a bit scary.
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A program from Neustar to Kentucky schools about Digital Citizenship. Lots of people are jumping on this "bandwagon." I think my biggest concern is that:
#1 It needs to be "real" and not based on preachy scare-based tactics
#2 Students should talk with those who share the program - if it is just videos and worksheets, that doesn't cut it.
#3 To talk about and learn social media, you should be doing it. (That is what we do on Digiteen.)
a major new initiative to bring social media digital literacy education to students across the state of Kentucky through a program called “My Digital Life.” Neustar will partner with EverFi, Inc., a leading education technology company, to provide this innovative, online student experience to all Kentucky schools interested in teaching and certifying their students in digital literacy skills and responsibility. Most importantly, Neustar’s partnership is making the cutting-edge program available free of cost to the schools and state.
Bulungula Incubator
From their website:
The Bulungula Incubator is a non-profit organisation which aims to incubate brilliant rural development projects. Our vision is:
To be an innovative agent in the creation of vibrant, sustainable, rural communities.
We aim to achieve this through partnering with the Nqileni community, other NGO’s and innovative thinkers to find synergies between the traditional rural African lifestyle and culture, and external technologies and innovations.
via Blacklooks
Daily Education & Technology News for Schools 08/02/2011
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The winners from the Microsoft innovative educators forum with descriptions. there are some great projects here.
Attracting Girls to Technology and Science: Pat Yongpradit, a program that works.
We don't know why so many intelligent, smart young ladies steer away from technology and science-related fields.
We don't know why one of the highest growth industries in the world that allows the excellent to telecommute from home and gives some of the greatest flexibility in work hours doesn't attract more young women.
But, lets start with something we do know. We do know that teacher, Pat Yongpradit, winner of Microsoft Innovative Educators Forum last October in Cape Town, South Africa, is attracting young girls into his Computer Science program through an after school video game programming club.
Meet Pat, a young teacher introducing young girls into the exciting field of Computer Science.
I spent some time interviewing Pat last October in Cape Town and want to share his interview here.
If you've got a story like Pat's, please take the time to apply for Microsoft's Innovative Educator Forum. The applications are due on May 15th. It is an excellent program (and John Medina is keynoting this year's conference.)
I apologize that I misspelled Pat's last name. I couldn't post this video this morning because of Blogger's extended outage and just got back to my home computer now. I will fix his name and reupload, but want his message to get out while there is still time for you to apply to this incredible conference!
Other videos from this Conference:
Moleihi Sekese: Integrating Technology with No Electricity? #msief
Shout Learning: Listening to the Organizers #msief
Handheld Video Games: Excellence in Prantica Das' Classroom in India #msief
My Study Mate: Students in Ireland Hand Coding and Maintaining a Video Sharing Site #msief
Got a Great Project? Share!! #msief
Microsoft VP Anthony Salcito: Getting Technology to the Next Classroom #msief
South African Teacher, Naomi Julius: Meet the Rose that Blooms Among 500 Students and 14 Teachers
Six and Seven Year Old Boys Collect 8 tons of waste in "Trash to Treasure" #msief
Production, not innovation, will win the Future
No country has been more innovative in the past thirty years than the United States. The reason America is increasingly losing out and lagging behind is that it lacks production. And that lack of production capability is now also leading to a decline in innovative capability... if Obama wants to win the future for America he'll need to reverse his priorities -- focus less on innovation and exports and more on domestic production that can competitively substitute for imports.More here
Top 10 Coolest (Mostly Free) Things for Teachers from Microsoft
1. Kodu Game Lab
This handy Game lab that lets you design X-box style games on your PC. (There is also a Kodu game for the X-box.) I find it interesting that the installation DOES NOT require admin privileges on the computer.
The reason this is my #1 favorite is that it has changed the life of my daughter. I've always known she was good at technology but she's never found anything that really sparked her interest. She was inhaled with Kodu Game Lab from the moment she opened it as part of the Digiteen Action project her team is doing and started writing video games after barely out of the tutorial. Kodu isn't super-simple and yet in some ways it is when you have a bent in this direction. She made several games and finally created "Coin Dozer" and we've installed it on the other computers in the lab. They are using it to teach mouse and arrow key functions to kindergarteners as part of their project that will teach technology and digital literacy to kindergarteners.
Cost: Free
It is free and I think every computer lab should install this and that parents who have gamers at home that they wish would consider programming should put this on their home computer and encourage their kids to play around.
2 - Kinect for Windows
Yes, the super cool Kinect device for the Xbox is headed to Windows. I'm quite fascinated by the potential to use this to navigate the Microsoft World Wide Telescope (if light conditions will allow it.) We'll see some interesting things here. The demo video shot by "Channel 9" has some cool things.
Cost: ?
3- Microsoft World Wide Telescope
One of my favorite things from MSIEF in South Africa was the time spent with the people running this program. You can make a homemade planetarium for your school and use a simple projector with an inexpensive mirror and your kids can navigate and explore the stars in ways that your local planetarium cannot begin to allow. All this for less than a thousand BUT the World Wide telescope is FREE.I think that shop classes should be building these and that schools strapped for funds in their science programs should definitely download. Every science teacher covering astronomy needs this on their computer. Comparable to Google Sky and yet it is far beyond what Sky can do. Try it and download it.
Cost for Software: Free
Homemade Planetarium: Around $500 plus some building know how and a ton of binder clips. ;-)
4 - Windows SkyDrive
This means that if your student doesn't have office at home that they can have limited functionality to edit and work on the document from their web browser. This includes a whopping 25 GB of storage. I upload more than my powerpoints, etc.
Create team folders to share documents, etc. It is obvious that what Microsoft calls "cloud power" is part of their future strategy. I believe this will be good for all of us who use their operating systems and computers.
Every high school student and teacher should have one. Schools should create shared files. The advantage of this over Dropbox is that I find that this handles the sync process a little bit better. I've had dropbox get "unsyced" lately - if you're not opening the latest copy, Skydrive will tell you!
Cost: Free
5- Microsoft Office One Note
I love my Evernote but One Note is different. It is the most intuitive notetaking system for students that I've seen. I'm not really sure that Microsoft has really understood what a gem they have in this tool but they seem to be getting it. With the release of the OneNote app for my itouch and the One Note sync capabilities this is a super-powerful tool for business and schools - nothing even comes close.
You can grab screenshots (this feature was added to Powerpoint and Word 2010 but I saw it in One Note first.) You can also record the audio that goes along with the text. (I like the Livescribe pen best for this, but it is a handy feature.) There are tons of "to do list" features not available in Evernote (although the Egret List app lets you harvest the Evernote list feature - evernote itself doesn't.) There are cool tagging and studying feature. Honestly no one else comes close.
Cost: Pay for software. iPod app is free. Sync is free.
6 - Windows 8 Touch Capabilities
I haven't been excited about a Microsoft OS since Windows 3.1 and then 95. I was thrilled with the stability and deploy-ability of XP. Vista had some cool things. Windows 7 is really great - but has significant issues on my M90z touch screen computer. After talking to some of my inside sources and blogs, I am hugely excited about Windows 8 both for the touch capabilities and because I think Microsoft is back moving in exciting direction (of course brought on by the very competitive nature of technology today AND economic struggles hitting everyone.) No longer resting on their laurels, I think they are becoming fierce competitors (again.)
Cost: not free
7 - Microsoft Innovative Educator Forum
I believe competition is good for companies and it is obviously good for Microsoft. With incredible programs like their Microsoft Innovative Educator Forum (I highly recommend competing for this - Applications are due May 15).
This is the most diverse gathering of educators around the world that I have attended, largely because Microsoft flies the winners from their areas to the international competition. You get teachers in huts in africa with no electricity doing powerful things on cell phones, teachers from Arab countries collaborating and promoting peace and pride, and US educators like Pat Yongpradit who are interesting girls in computer science through after school game programming clubs. The closing ceremonies were so very touching. Some great work is being done through this program.
Cost: Your time to apply
8 - Windows Live Moviemaker
Some great improvements here, still not able to do chromakey and although iMovie smokes it, you can't beat it for a free, easy to use Movie Making program for the PC.
Cost: Free
9 - Free Teacher Tools
There are tons of free things that you can now get on their teacher website although some are add ins for existing programs.
- Mouse Mischief Add in for Powerpoint (some hardware needed i.e. the Mice)
- Office Add in for Moodle
- Math Add in for Word and One Note 1:1 laptop programs should look at adding this over the summer for use in math class with some cool graphing capabilities. A must install for math teachers.
- Chemistry Add in for Word - You can put chemical equations, etc. in more easily. A must-install for chemistry teachers.
- Some cool graphics/ video capabilities with PhotoStory and Autocollage. PhotoStory was my entrance into multimedia and a nice segue into the cool things we're doing now.
- I have to admit I don't understand all the cool things I hear you can do with PhotoSynth as it lets you explore places in 3D. I just haven't used it yet but have seen cool things.
- Some other tools are on the teacher download site as well.
10 - Alfred Thompson, my go-to Microsoft Blogger
Since I'm talking Microsoft, I have to put a word in for my friend Alfred Thompson. A big teddy-bear of a man, he was one of my first readers and commenters and has always genuinely been my friend before I was Cool Cat anything.
I sat with him at the first edubloggercon and we had great conversations. He has a talent for writing and is my go-to guy for anything Microsoft. The people at Microsoft will tell you that I am bullish on Alfred because he is the "real thing." A real person with a heart for kids and the classroom and, quite honestly, a huge fan of the company he works for. The kind of "salt of the earth" guy who should be escalated and recognized for his talent and good heart. Follow Alfred on blog and Twitter. He is a great guy and a wonderful resource of information on Microsoft. I find his content "real." I follow people not companies and he's someone I trust.
There are a lot of other great bloggers for Microsoft - and he was kind to me (like David Warlick was) when I had nothing to offer but skin, bones, and a whole lot of questions. I have to put in a word for him because he loves real teachers and I gotta put my money on that kind of person.
A Note from Vicki about this post.
Lots of new things from the trusty, faithful things you've used for years. Let's not let the war between Microsoft, Google, Apple, Adobe, Facebook, et.al (expect posts about them in the future) keep us from looking deeply and breathing in the really cool innovations that are happening in these many places. The truth is, few of us are all in the camp of any one company - at least we shouldn't be (unless we work for one of them.) There is room in the educational pond for many to make money and I'm of the opinion that competition benefits everyone. The exciting thing about education right now is that limited funds will force us to consider what REALLY works and start cutting out the fluff.
Full disclosure, Microsoft sent me to their incredible MSIEF (Microsoft Innovative Educator Forum) in South Africa last year. I do have friends at Microsoft. They do not pay me nor have they in any way. ;-)
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Overview The Teen-Centered Book Club: Readers into Leaders (Libraries Unlimited Professional Guides for Young Adult Librarians Series) 
Vibrant, dynamic teen book clubs—the kind teens eagerly anticipate and attend session after session—are teen-centered. With innovative, pragmatic ideas that will attract and retain teen readers, this guide provides everything you need to run a successful, teen-centered book club. Covering every step, from planning and promoting to how to prompt discussion and keep it civilized, this is a one-stop source for the teen book club leader. Dozens of reproducibles for teens include book lists, ground rules, and book-based activities. The book even has directions for evaluating your club and lists of resources for more information. Whether you're starting a teen book club, trying to revive a flagging program, or wish to build on past success, if you're involved in a teen book club, this guide is a must.
What's the difference between a teen book club and an adult one? Too often, the answer is Not much. Like so many programs for teens, traditional book clubs tend to be scaled-down versions of adult clubs. If book selection, taboo topics, and logistical details are the most important things that set your teen book club apart from an adult one, you could be missing a huge opportunity. Vibrant, dynamic teen book clubs—the kind teens eagerly anticipate and attend session after session—are teen-centered. They're not merely by, for and about teens, but are grounded in the admittedly radical idea that the club is not primarily about library programming or even about books (!) but is all about teens—their interests and needs, their social habits and styles, their initiative. Books are the medium and the club is the method to achieve the ultimate goal of developing teen readers and leaders. Furthermore, the teen-centered book club has huge potential to further a whole range of library goals, from bringing more teen patrons through the door, to building community-wide awareness and support for the library itself. What sets this book apart from the typical book club guide is that it is the only guide that addresses the unique constraints of public and school libraries—budgeting, impact on the facility and the collection, and potential attempts at censorship, to name just a few. It's also the only guide that takes a teen-centered approach, putting front-and-center the idea that, as with so many other things, book clubs for teens are not merely scaled-back versions of adult clubs. Whether you are starting a club, attempting to revive a flagging program, or building on past success, this manual offers you innovative, pragmatic ideas that will attract and retain teen readers. Grades 6-12.
Teen Book Clubs offers a fresh new approach for today's teen readers and clear instructions, along with tips and ideas, for building teen-centered book clubs. In 12 brief chapters the book covers: the teen-centered book club: what it is and what it takes to make it work putting it together: planning and putting the plan in action going public: recruiting, boosting visibility, garnering support 15 cunningly creative types of teen book clubs using book club to develop teen leaders scads of book lists, reproducibles, and sample discussion prompters tweaking, troubleshooting, and tips for keeping it civilized evaluations beyond measure resources for more information. Filled with practical checklists, figures, worksheets, and reproducibles, this is the guide that all teen book club leaders should have.
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10 Ways to be Wonderful: Happy Birthday Kip!
As we enter the holiday season, I'm using examples from his life to show what I think helps us all live "a wonderful life."
1 - Put love last and you put it first
Kip makes sure the last thing he says to each of us when departing or going to bed is "I love you." I like to do this too because if something should ever happen, I want each person I love to know that I love them with all my heart. Love transcends crabby moments and petty disagreements.We don't have to be alike to love each other.
When do you say I love you to those you love? Is it often enough?
2 - Know that hard times give you the chance to be a hero
One of the things that totally won my heart was when I was expecting each of our three children. I was not a blushing expectant Mom. I was literally, physically sick 6-7 times a day so that the mere mention of the word "chicken" or certain colors would send me running for the ladies room.
My husband took care of me. Cooked dinner. Brought dinner and never complained once for 9 months x 3 children. He was there. Because of his service, loyalty and total selflessness in those months as well as many other times when I was just having a hard time I totally adore him. He was there for me when I wasn't attractive and not even pleasant to be around. He loved me unconditionally. Such love is rare. So many people want to have the enduring love but don't want to endure when times get tough. Kip is a modern hero in my book because he saved me during some very dark days for me with his kindness and love.
When you have rough times, think of how that person will feel when you make it through that time and stayed loyal no matter what.
Are you willing to go through hard times with those you love? Everyone has them.
3- Have your priorities straight.
Do you know your priorities? Are they good priorities?
My husband does: Creator, Companion, Children, Calling, Church. In that order. He tells us that and he lives it. Many men talk such things. To live with a man who lives it every day is a dream come true.
Wow.
4 - Set your morning routine for greatness
Kip has a morning routine. He doesn't like mornings so it isn't my get up at 5 am routine but it is still a routine that fits with his priorities. Shower. He wakes up every kid in the house and keeps them on time. When he is out of town we miss him because he keeps us all in order. He sits on the edge of the bed after getting dressed, reads his daily devotional, checks the kids grades for email, checks Facebook for some inspirational pages he follows, and heads to breakfast where he reads his daily news on his ipad2. He heads out after knocking on everyone's door to say goodbye and "I love you." His morning routine is a stabilizing force in our household because he is so incredibly consistent.
What is your morning routine?
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| We saw this snail/slug in the mountains and Kip stopped to explain how they move. Their body chemistry. And wouldn't let the kids touch him as he crawled across our path one day on our annual trip to the mountains. |
When my husband says he will be somewhere, he is. He is there. I can count on his word. He keeps his promises no matter what. I need to be more like him as my concept of time is not as good as his and I lollygag sometimes. I've seen him keep his promises even when he realized he made a mistake.
Do you keep your promises?
6 - Never ever quit
I told part of our story of never quitting back in 2007 in Happy Anniversary CoolCat Husband. I was washing the dishes two weeks a go listening to Brian Tracy's book The 21 Success Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires
where Tracy says that his research shows that the average millionaire loses everything 3.2 times. I called up Kip and we laughed together, "Well we only have .2 to go, don't we." We've had layoffs, pecan groves go under water, and me become a stay at home Mom all of which had dire consequences to our checkbook and had us searching the house for quarters to buy milk. Now, we have me staying home to help with tutoring one of our children and not speaking as much this year. These are the struggles of life. It is OK, it is part of life and we will not quit. He has never quit.Do you persist?
7 - Always move onwards and upwards
When Kip was laid off the Monday before Thanksgiving 8 years a go he could have thought the world was over. He applied and applied and went for the jobs he felt called to go for. He kept us in this small town even though it was hard to find an engineering job here. He took an entry level job as an engineer at a local plant even though in some ways it was a step backwards. He is now Engineering manager for the entire plant with over 1/3 of the people in the plant reporting to him.
A few years back, he was faced with having to lay off some people around the holidays. He did everything he could to keep as many of them employed and worked hard for transitioning others. Happily, he's been able to hire most of them back. He had been there and used that experience to help others who had to travel that hard path.
He could have had a pity party but he chose to move on and see it as an opportunity. Because he didn't get stuck in a pity party, he can now have a victory party. Yes, it took time and a whole heck of a lot of very very hard work and still does.
Do you let yourself get stuck in a rut or are you willing to move onwards and upwards?
8 - Channel your energy in positive ways
When he was having a hard time after we lost the pecan grove, I came home and our entire back porch was completely knocked out and Kip was wacking away rebuilding it. After the layoff, he built the most beautiful corner cabinet I've ever seen with his bare hands. In fact, we don't have room for it now and I can't bear to let it go because it represents so much of who he is to me.
Working with wood has always been therapeutic for Kip because he says he can see the impact immediately. It also is a benefit because our children saw their father still working even though he was in the midst of a transition.
But after 3 tornadoes that hit Camilla in 2000, I saw this in action. Kip literally took over the volunteer recovery efforts. We're not really sure how it happened but he was president of the Rotary club and I was president of the chamber of commerce and he showed up at 5 am after it happened in the command trailer and poof. He received many awards for that work and many people here in Camilla know my husband for who he is. When he's upset he doesn't sit around, he does positive things.
When you are upset or anxious, do you have a positive channel for your energy?
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| Taken in the Smoky Mountains. Yes, we laughed. |
9 - Laugh and Laugh
There are so many times when life gets completely preposterous around here that Kip and I just start laughing at the dumbest things. "What can you do?" Is a statement we often say when things get so tough we just can't imagine it could get any crazier.
The best laughs don't come from a movie (although we do love pulling out old Pink Panther, Stooges, or the Great Race movies) they usually come from circumstances. Circumstances that would make one of us angry if we let it.
Like the time in my pregnancy lack of coordination I literally almost knocked myself out with the freezer door. I ended up on the ground when I thought I grabbed the handle for the bottom fridge and hit myself in the head with the top freezer door. It hurt and left a mark. But "what could I do?" We laughed and still do to this day. We still laugh about the worst dish I ever cooked (when my oldest son was 3 - he still remembers it! I do have to admit I wish he'd forget that one!)
Do you relax enough to laugh at yourself and see the funny things in life?
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| South Africa at Microsoft Innovative Educators with Stacey Rainey |
This blog is here because Kip believed in me. The book in January is here because Kip believed in me. My husband believes in me and encourages me.
I'll never forget last year when I was debating if I should take extra personal days and have my pay docked to go to the Microsoft Innovative Educators Technology Conference in South Africa. I was talking myself into not going.
He said,
"Vicki, I know you. I know who you are. I will take care of things at home. You know this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. It fits with your mission of encouraging educators and loving teaching. I believe the people at Microsoft are a top notch company and they'll keep you safe. I think you'll regret it the rest of your life if you don't go. I'm your husband and I'm telling you to take the time, take the pay cut and go. If you don't, you'll have problems living with yourself. I can't let you do that."So, I went, and my life was changed. I found many stories I have shared here, many new friends, and I got to see one of the most beautiful places on the planet.
It was 6 years a go just about right now (my blog-birthday is next week) when I came to my husband after my morning routine and said,
"Kip, I think God has called me to blog. It is crazy. I don't really know what it is, but I have something to do with this and it is an important part of our future."
He said,
"Vicki, I don't know what it is, but if you feel called to do it, know that you have my total support. Do it. Follow it. If you're going to do it, be the very best at it that you can be."
I'm so grateful. By telling me to be my best and do my best - it wasn't a ticket to blindly follow some dream. It was a ticket to excel. To study it. To learn it. Some people think they are helping others follow their dreams with just blind faith. My husband always expects to see actions behind my dreams. He wants to see me live it -not just say it. (That is why I'm very careful to filter things before I take him my dreams!)
I hope that I do the same for him.
Do you support the dreams of others who are closest to you in positive ways that spur them to action?
Perfection is a lie
No, my husband isn't perfect but goodness knows I'm not either.
I'm not writing this to make you sick or jealous. I'm writing this because Kip and I have had times when we had to run through the house finding enough quarters to buy milk. We've had a time when we all bundled up in our winter clothes so we could keep our infernal heater's temperature down 5 degrees so we could save enough money for Christmas. We still have many struggles and dreams as of right now.
We've given up a lot so I could write "my books" as my family calls them. The Flat Classroom book comes out in January. The Common Core in the Cloud Collaborative Writing book (still looking for your collaborative writing stories) comes out in December of next year. Kip has sacrificed as much as I am.
Well, now it is 6:42 am and I hear Kip in the hall waking up the kids. I think I'm in the mood to go give him a hug and tell him how I'm the luckiest woman on the planet to have him in my life.
I hope you'll use this to realize that love is a great thing. It isn't always beautiful, sexy, nice, fun, glamorous where two people sit in a little cafe making moon eyes at each other. The greatest loves are often forged a midst dirty diapers, job loss, insecurities, and reaching for dreams that may or may not ever happen. These are the loves that define you and make you feel like you lived a good life on this planet. I'm grateful every day that the good Lord blessed me with Kip. I've been asking for my husband since I was a child of 10.
Happy (belated) birthday Kip, I love you.
Thank you blog readers, for letting me take a day to make a tribute to my husband and best friend. Have a great day!