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iPhone App Review: LendMe
My husband actually found this app for me as a means to get me salivating for the iPhone G3. He’s been pulling for it for awhile and trying to convince us to switch our plans to make it happen, so
Book Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
You know the old commercial: “You got your chocolate in my peanut butter! Well, you got your peanut butter in my chocolate!” And just like a Peanut Butter cup, it seems that Jane Austin and Zombies go great together. Pride
Student-Designed Schools
This year, my 8th graders all produced a multi-genre project during 4th Quarter that focused on possible careers of their choice. But I went a step further with my 8th grade Honors class. They not only had to research a
TeachersCount.org Second-Career Teaching
So I’ve been a little quiet as of late. After all, it’s been the last two weeks of school and I’m in crunch time on some writing deadlines. In addition, I’ve got to learn some new-fangled strategies using the Interactive
The New Definition of Veteran Teacher
I have been teaching for 10 years. I have mentored teachers, become Department Head, sat on committees, presented at conferences, and taught upwards of 2500 students ranging from 3rd grade to 12th grade. But all of that does not make
The Myth of Summers Off
“So you’re a teacher, huh?” says the umpteenth Joe know-it-all. I know the tone, and I know what’s coming. “Must be nice having summer’s off,” he sneers. I don’t know what mythical job this guy thinks I have, but I
Carnival of Education is in town!
The latest Carnival of Education is in town. I always check out Larry Ferlazzo’s posts for some curriculum innovation as well as Scott McLeod’s just for some new perspectives on ed leadership. And, of course, tweenteacher’s in there as well.
TV Review: Glee (updated)
OK, I admit it. I watched Glee last night on Fox after American Idol just because Ryan Seacrest told me to. Stand aside Lean On Me, Teachers, Dangerous Minds, and Freedom Writers. This new fall program, whose pilot aired last
Merit Pay Nickle-and-Diming
Education Weekly is reporting that there can be negative consequences from some merit pay programs. It cites evidence from the private sector, claiming that offerring extra compensation pay hasn’t worked in the past. Yet ASCD Smartbrief is also reporting that “Obama
Teacher Evaluation meets Survivor
I’m not a big Survivor fan. I mean, I really hate what the people become when pitted against each other. So I don’t watch it…at least not on TV. So when I read Scott McLeod’s post suggesting that school communities
How to Battle Epic Paragraphing
Every year my nemesis rears its ugly head: the epic paragraph. Epic paragraphs are those essays comprised entirely of one mega-paragraph with no indentations to indicate transition from thought thought. I bet you thought your kids were the only ones
San Gabriel Valley CUE Teacher of the Year!
I won the San Gabriel Valley CUE (Computer Using Educators) Outstanding Teacher Award. Hazzah! I’m not sure CUE realizes, however, that my enthusiasm for Ed Tech outweighs my knowledge. My daily calls with questions to the computer teacher can attest
Swine Flu and Test Scores
Here’s yet another reason why test scores can’t be the only way to gage teaching quality. A colleague of mine, a fifth grade teacher, at the UCI Writing Project got a call last night from her automated phone tree saying
5 Things Teachers can do to Improve Teaching
We all know there are many problems in education and not one bullet to solve any one of them. We as teachers can’t do a lot about many of the factors that have huge influence on student success: parental involvement,
Students, Sexting, and the threat to Ed Tech
Thanks to Scott McLeod for Twittering the following article from The Washington Post. It describes a terrible ordeal that an administrator went through battling charges of “failure to report suspected child abuse” and potential child pornography after students were caught sexting on
Twitter as Think Aloud
I was reading through my Digg headlines this weekend, and I happened on this article of the top 10 most extraordinary Twitter updates. I also did some digging (no pun intended) and found articles that range in claiming that there
Fictional Crushes
OK, don’t tell my husband, but I have a fictional crush. That is, I have a crush based on a fictitious character. I think I’ve always had one, but the object of my literary love has always changed with my
Obama’s “Race to the Top”
So US News is reporting that President Obama and the educator leaning out of the sidecar, Arne Duncan, have created “a $5 billion ‘Race to the Top’ fund for states that have made progress on the following fronts: 1) improving
The mythical superhuman teacher
Yes, there are many problems in education. But many of them boil down to the fact that we are a cadre of professionals who are taken advantage of as part of the job requirement.
Spontaneous Public Displays of Art
I can’t wait to show my 8th Grade Honors class this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq6b9bMBXpg. It’s a great display of the act of spreading the arts publicly and on a huge scale. My students have been working all year on their
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