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Archive for July 2007

Great Venus Flytrap images

July 22, 2007 by jmmblake.

North Carolina (The Green Swamp, Appalachians)

Great images to use as writing prompts in the classroom. These could be used in a podcast in the science classroom. Also, as part of a Voicethread learning activity. Maybe have the students post the images (if we can ask and receive permission to use these images online first). Closeup images this nice are really fun to look at for students. In Voicethread, have the students each record a comment or fact about the Venus Flytrap plant and draw using the annotation feature in Voicethread to label what they are talking about.

Posted in Podcast, Earth Science, Middle School Science | Print | No Comments »

Teacher bugging of colleague bugs me

July 22, 2007 by jmmblake.

A news story from Flushing, Michigan caught my attention this morning. The incident seems to have been centered around a dispute between a middle school science teacher’s child and another teacher. I say– Oh, my Lord to this one. The science teacher seems to have placed a wireless listening device on the back of the chair of the other teacher. This is high tech spy novel stuff. The science teacher ended up apologizing to the “fellow teacher” and following her plea of no contest, was sentenced to six months of probation and 75 hours of community service and fined $250. This was a reduced sentence from attempted eavesdropping, a misdemeanor with up to a year of jail time.

I feel bad for the kid in this story. I am sure she never wanted mom, the science teacher to bug the other teacher’s desk. What did her mom not believe that she had a problem with the teacher? Was the teacher that big of a butt hole? Why was the principal not in this deal? Was the school so large and relationships between teachers so crappy that this cound not have been worked out with conferences and friendly conversation?

TALK TO EACH OTHER PEOPLE!

I would have never taken my fellow teacher to court of an electronic bug, I would would have been so mad, I would have probably gotten fired myself from such a sneaky act. I am not sure what I might have done. It would not have been as civil as taking the teacher to court. But, in the country, we sometimes settle disputes with a more physical edge.

I am not happy with this and I think the principal should have been more proactive. The article says nothing about what all went on in the school as far as mediation of this episode. In our small district, the Superintendent would have been involved from the beginning. Let me guess, Flushing, Mich, and a middle school, it probably have over 2,000 students. Folks, this just goes to show that big schools spell trouble with a T. But what do I know, I am just a teacher.

The last thing I have to say about this article is that a comment that was posted really got my goat:

Hockeytown_Blueliners

She got PAID leave for breaking the law?!?!?!? Typical of the education system. Teachers are already overpaid, now they get rewarded for being an idiot. I always wanted to be a teacher and get overpaid for working half a year..but I’m not lazy enough.

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 1:33 pm

“Teacher are already overpaid”. What planet is this commenter from? And to say that teachers “get overpaid for working half a year”. I am not sure how ignorant this person is, but it sure shows. Honeytown_Blueliners you must live in a van down by the river. People, teachers do not work half the year. When teachers go home, their day just begins. We have lesson plans, papers to grade, parents to call, extra curricular duties like clubs, athletic events, coaching, parking lot duties at dances, ball game duty, School Improvement committee meetings, Positive Behavior training, bus duty, professional development meetings that last ’til after 5, continuing education, recertification, preparation for open house, parent nights, graduation duty, prom decoration committee, exceptional children IEP meetings, parent conferences and on and on… After a school year, of this, on top of teaching those Hockeytown_Blueliner’s and or his/her darling children about the finer points of how to use the Periodic Table or AP Calculus based Physics, I say to Hockeytown_Blueliner– You can’t do nothing but complain in a post to a newspaper article online? Talking about lazy, get involved in your community, volunteer in a school near you this coming school year. Walk through the metal detectors and by the gang graffiti into the more than likely crumbling building and see what is going on– if you are not too lazy.

Teachers make a difference. Even when things go so bad, there are still thousands of teachers in the classroom every school year. I will not try to quote the wonderfully strong words of the former educator and poet Taylor Mali has to say about what teachers make. If you have not seen it or heard about it, read the transcript at this location. Or better yet, read about Taylor Mali on his web page. If you have PayPal, buy the pen he sells for teachers and give it to your favorite teacher.

In the end, teachers are just people. Parents will do almost anything for their children. This case is just a tip of the iceberg for what is going on in the lives of all our students. It is a challenge that we all need to work on.

Posted in Editorial | Print | No Comments »

File this under: Keep You Up At Night?

July 18, 2007 by jmmblake.

This is too weird. Had to post this on my blog.

FBI’s Secret Spyware Tracks Down Teen Who Made Bomb Threats

FBI Spyware in a Nutshell

The full capabilities of the FBI’s “computer and internet protocol address verifier” are closely guarded secrets, but here’s some of the data the malware collects from a computer immediately after infiltrating it, according to a bureau affidavit acquired by Wired News.

• IP address

• MAC address of ethernet cards

• A list of open TCP and UDP ports

• A list of running programs

• The operating system type, version and serial number

• The default internet browser and version

• The registered user of the operating system, and registered company name, if any

• The current logged-in user name

• The last visited URL

Once that data is gathered, the CIPAV begins secretly monitoring the computer’s internet use, logging every IP address to which the machine connects.

All that information is sent over the internet to an FBI computer in Virginia, likely located at the FBI’s technical laboratory in Quantico.

Posted in Editorial | Print | No Comments »

Almost Free Stuff for Science Teachers

July 16, 2007 by jmmblake.

I know bloggers are not suppose to post stuff like this. But if you have any science teaching friends, please share this info with them.

ALEXANDRIA, VA - In support of Earth Science Week 2007 (October 14-20),
the American Geological Institute (AGI) is publishing its “The Pulse of
Earth Science” Toolkit to enable teachers, students, and the public
alike to actively participate in this year’s event.

This year’s Toolkit includes a wide array of resources, including a new
edition of its popular Earth Science Calendar filled with activities and
important geoscientific dates. These activities, supplied by AGI member
societies and other organizations, engage students in learning about the
earth sciences. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has provided both
“Facts on Disc,” a CD-ROM which includes all of the USGS fact sheets
from the last twelve years and the brochure “USGS Education Resources
for Teachers.” The Toolkits also contain materials from NASA including
the CD-ROM “Exploring Ice” and an “Earth and Space Explorers Series”
poster. ESRI has provided a copy of its “GIS Solutions for Education”
CD-ROM. NOAA is also providing information on student opportunities and
careers within the earth sciences.
read more…

Posted in Editorial | Print | No Comments »

Skype on a cell phone near you?

July 11, 2007 by jmmblake.

This is be nice: When in DC, I would not use my cell phone due to my local plan and roaming charges. My daughter travels and she will be trying to call her friends all the time from out of state. She needs her own phone line, but until then, this would help. The only problem is that her friends would have to use Skype on their computer. Hum, I need help figuring this out…

Nokia says adds Skype to N800 Internet tablet | Technology | Reuters

Nokia, the world’s top cell phone maker, said on Wednesday it has made Skype telephone services available on the Nokia N800 Internet tablet.

Posted in Editorial | Print | No Comments »

Wireless Devices and Field Trip Adventures

July 11, 2007 by jmmblake.

The Best FCC Regulation, Ever ~ Chris Pirillo

The Best FCC Regulation, Ever July 11, 2007 at 2:07 am · in Communication · Comments New rules could rock wireless world, literally: Coming soon could be a wireless broadband world in which consumers get to pick any smartphone or other device and load any software on it - not have to take what the wireless carrier wants to sell.

Dude. DUDE?! This can’t be true. I simply can’t believe that this is actually (possibly) happening. Of course, I’d imagine that Apple’s lobby won’t let it fly - but if they really, truly cared about users - as they claim - they won’t have a problem in opening up a little bit more and playing along with the rest of the consumer electronics world. The carriers and phone manufacturers must become more interoperable.

This would be great for when students are away from school or on their way home on a school bus. However, in a recent conversation with a middle school teacher, she told me why this is not such a great idea. My fellow educator told me that a group of middle school students participated in a field trip to a North Carolina city. Their educational goal was well documented and communicated with parents and students. Students asked permission to carry their Sony PSP and Nintendo DS gaming devices to play on the bus ride. When the students got bored walking around the scheduled educational venue, the middle schoolers began to explore on their own. They used their DS and PSP wireless Internet access to access their own entertainment. Mark one up for “disruptive technology”. Lesson learned: wireless Internet on cell phones would be very disruptive on a school field trip. FaceBook, YouTube, AOL Music. I can hear it now– “HEY! we are on school field trip…if you wanted to just play on the Internet you should have stayed home.”

While attending the Model Schools Conference, I keep hearing that educators need to focus on Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships. My question is this: How can educators motivate students to use their problem solving skills when learning about how to analyze variables in scientific investigations?

Until I can get a handle on the pedagogy– Sony PSP and Nintendo DS are not welcome on any of my potential field trips.

Posted in Editorial | Print | No Comments »

Using Excel to Make Posters

July 7, 2007 by jmmblake.

This is a great idea for summer projects. If you have a few minutes, and you want to knock out a few room rule posters to print when you get back to school, watch this video for instructions. The video shows how to use Excel to create classroom posters. I had an idea to use a digital camera the first day back and photo the students in my class and make a poster to put on our bulletin board. Thinking about a title for the student photo poster. Here is the results of my brainstorming: