December 2009 Blog Posts (102)

Meeting with the Big Kahunas at the State Department of Education

Earlier this week I flew up to the Department of Education in our state's capital, Sacramento, to get formally introduced to the new 2010 California Teacher of the Year Award winners.

Let me tell ya, it was ROCKIN'!!

In attendance: Jack O'Connell, the state Superintendent of Education, former Teacher of the Year Award winners from days gone by (that's how I got an invite; it's like the only real Skull and Bones Society to which I belong... and it's WAY COOL!)… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on December 5, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Getting the most from your textbooks

http://jovanmiles.net/2009/12/05/making-the-most-out-of-your-textbooks

I was a bit harsh on textbooks in my last post. In a perfect world all teachers would be creators of the content that they use in their classrooms. This isn’t a perfect world. Modern classroom teachers are often responsible for so many other things these days that writing the content to be used in your class is impossible. Time… Continue

Added by Jovan D. Miles on December 5, 2009 at 5:02am — No Comments

Using Health assessment tools for evaluation of the effects of therapeutic treatment

Using Health assessment tools for evaluation of the effects of therapeutic treatment

How to get an objective assessment of the effects of a selected therapy? Can any known health assessment tools serve as an adequate instrument to evaluate such effects?

Health assessment is the key to evaluating the effects of an administered therapeutic procedure. The traditional… Continue

Added by Aldreech Chappel on December 5, 2009 at 2:21am — No Comments

Dec 5: Pakjesavond (Netherlands)

2009-12-05 - Pakjesavond (The Netherlands)

In the Netherlands, Saint Nicholas' Eve (December 5) is the chief occasion for gift-giving and the evening is called "sinterklaasavond" or "pakjesavond" ("presents evening"). The name Santa Claus supposedly derived from older Dutch Sinte Klaas.

Source: The FullCircles Multicultural… Continue

Added by Eric Snyder on December 5, 2009 at 2:00am — No Comments

Conference presentations

This last month has been a really busy one with three conference presentations given. They are added below:-

1."Connecting an early years classroom" at Slide to Open, VITTA, Melbourne

2. "Beyond classroom walls" at LT2009 in Moolaba, Queensland

3.… Continue

Added by Anne Mirtschin on December 4, 2009 at 1:00pm — No Comments

hi~~

Added by 焦煤 on December 4, 2009 at 5:55am — No Comments

Guidelines and Safety Measures for buying iPhone Insurance

Because the iPhone is an expensive mobile phone, it is highly recommended for any owner to get iPhone insurance to reduce his chances of embarrassment in case of any unexpected theft, loss or damage. Insuring your iPhone against these unexpected factors is a safety measure that many experts advise and this is why most people buy iPhone insurance - to stay on the safer ground.

However, insuring your iPhone against mechanical, environmental and other factors is not a hectic task. There… Continue

Added by gaurav shastri on December 3, 2009 at 8:59pm — No Comments

How do we Integrate Project Based Learning +Constructivism + Web 20 Applications + Rubrics?

Here is my shot at it.
From the Global Learning Framework Course... Free We are looking for feedback

Added by Richard Close on December 3, 2009 at 7:00pm — No Comments

10.5 Million preK-12 Students Will Attend Classes Online by 2014

According to a new study by the research firm Ambient Insight, the number preK-12 students who will take some or all of their courses online will increase from 2 million to 10 million by 2014. MORE...

Added by Shawn Roner on December 3, 2009 at 2:32pm — No Comments

Learning not Teaching

I have spent the last few days reading about how we need to re- define instruction for the 21st century. I think the better question is, how do we learn in the 21st century? Today, it is not about how teachers teach and students process that information. It is about how each of us receives that information and what is done with the information received. We are no longer passive recipients of information that is handed down from the experts but actively involved in creating the… Continue

Added by Patty Cantrell on December 3, 2009 at 1:41pm — No Comments

social media policy

I am in search of information regarding social media policies from different organizations. Any guidance would be appreciated.

Added by Kelly Schermerhorn on December 3, 2009 at 10:38am — No Comments

teachers > textbooks

The structure of the typical middle grades math textbook follows this basic outline:

1. Vocabulary review

2. Brief explanation of concept.

3. 2-5 very specific examples of the concept in isolation.

4. 1-2 very specific examples of the concept in a problem solving situation.

5. 20-50 problems that mirror the examples.

The problem with this structure is that if teachers simply "taught the text(test)" students would have almost no… Continue

Added by Jovan D. Miles on December 3, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

Doctor Schmoctor

The New York Times just published an insightful piece on how "teenagers are different".

Not to cast aspersions on this fine journalistic institution, but "No Duh!"

And then, in the field of adolescent brain biology, the Times just reported that a gent named Dr. Steinberg recently won the $1 million Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize for his work in this field of… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on December 3, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Lifestyle on the net

Hi all, i want tell about astaga!com lifestyle on the net. already many know going to these cool sites exist in a variety of information that is accurate, it's what his present benefits of such sites for our lives? Well of course very much, and certainly also has a great influence on our life journey, the existence of astaga!com lifestyle it is very helpful at all in our growth, as gitu loh age was… Continue

Added by Kerja Keras adalah energi kita on December 2, 2009 at 10:41pm — No Comments

Christmas At School

This Christmas the southeastern New Brunswick, is having an impressive list of upcoming concerts and events at their schools.

Here are some that is posted at canadaeast.com:

* Bernice MacNaughton High School will present a performance of the Irving Berlin musical White Christmas Dec. 9, 10, 11, and 12.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students and are on sale at the school office. The… Continue

Added by ConorK on December 2, 2009 at 10:35pm — No Comments

Single Sex Classrooms: Is what's old new again?

In a "what's old is new again" type of teaching thrust, some schools are going old school and dividing kids by gender in the classroom. Here's an article from the L.A. Times about an academy in our city that seems to be happy with the results of separating kids in this manner.

Me, I am not really sure how I feel about this.

Now first, let me say that I was… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on December 2, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Dec 2: Full Moon [Blue Moon]

Dec 2nd is a full moon.

Two full moons in December 2009... Dec 2 and New Year's Eve, Dec 31st. The second full moon in a month is a BLUE MOON.

The next BLUE MOONS will be:
2012: August 2, August 31
2015: July 2, July 31

Added by Eric Snyder on December 2, 2009 at 6:25am — No Comments

The Fine Art of Working With a Translation Agency

It sounds so simple, doesn’t it?

You have some words in Language A which are in dire and immediate need of being seamlessly transformed into Language B. Perhaps it’s a website, or an Annual Report. A birth certificate or an academic paper. A legal document or a love letter.

And your priorities are quite clear: fast, perfect and, most importantly, cheap. Received wisdom, however, holds that you can have one, maybe two, of those qualities, but never, ever, all three.

I shall, of… Continue

Added by daniel fernandis on December 1, 2009 at 10:08pm — No Comments

Hello world! A reading question.

Ogenki Desu ka?!!

I am living in Tokyo and starting the SQ3R method in class tomorrow, but am wondering what other people use in their classrooms? Looking forward to connecting with those who have thoughts on teaching reading / writing.

Ja ne. Arigatou Gozaimasu!

Added by Claire Santana on December 1, 2009 at 7:30pm — No Comments

The "sex ref" softballs my freshman boys wallop out of the park.

How come almost so many things a teacher can say at the front of the room during instruction can be twisted by freshman boys into some sort of sexual reference?

For example, I just used the phrase "he stiffened up" in a class of freshman (referring to the emotion of fear in a piece of lit we were reading)... and BAM, out came the giggles.

Har-Har... he 'stiffened' up. 10 kids laughed.

Of course, as soon as the words left my lips, I knew I… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on December 1, 2009 at 6:30am — 2 Comments