November 12, 2007 by jmmblake.

The radio alarm clock and wake-up timer on my old-school TV came on as programmed precisely at 6:00 a.m.  I took the dog out in the 35ish degree morning air as he sniffed his way across the edge of the frost covered lawn. The sound of a few early travelers rushing who-knows-where was clearly audible in the cold. The trip was short- Gavin was ready to head back inside for the warmth of the couch and snuggling under my fleece jacket. Coffee would be nice about now. My wife is able to rest. She came down with a nasty cold Thursday, and has been coughing and sneezing ever since. Today, we are attending a grave side service at 1:20 p.m., and then we will be going to Wilmington to eat out. We are celebrating 30 years of marriage today. It seems like yesterday. My words just can not describe it. All the joy, excitement, ups and downs, families, friends and more.

I love my wife. It is a great day to have off so I can spend time with her.

Got to turn off this computer!

Powered by ScribeFire.

Posted in Editorial | Print | No Comments »

October 8, 2007 by jmmblake.

EduCon 2.0 is both a conversation and a conference.

And it is not
a technology conference. It is an education conference. It is a School
2.0 conference. It is, hopefully, an innovation conference where we
want to come together, both in person and virtually, to discuss the
future of schools. We are looking for people to present ideas,
facilitate conversations, and share best practice.

The Axioms / Guiding Principles of EduCon 2.0:

1) Our schools must be inquiry-driven, thoughtful and empowering for all members.
2) Our schools must be about co-creating — together with our students — the 21st Century Citizen
3) Technology must serve pedagogy, not the other way around.
4) Technology must enable students to research, create, communicate and collaborate
5) Learning can — and must — be networked.

Call For Conversations

In
addition to the many informal conversations we believe will be a big
part of EduCon 2.0, we do want structured sessions in the following
broad strands:
School 2.0 — What are the schools we need to prepare kids for the world to come?
Classroom 2.0 — What are the classrooms our students need — today and into the future?
Student 2.0 — How should the student experience change in our schools?
Teacher 2.0 — How should the profession of “teacher” change?
Innovation 2.0 — How do we best act as agents of positive change?
Library 2.0. – What is the role of the library in the future and what does it looks like, act like, feel like?

Conference proposals are due Nov. 1st. Please submit proposals via Survey Monkey — Call for Conversations.

All proposals should include:
Title:
Conversational Strand:
Conversational Focus / Main Idea / Presentation (in 250 words or less):
Conversational Practice –
How will you make this an conversation, not just a presentation?
Skypecast? Conversational Protocols? Building a wiki together? For more
ideas, visit Stephanie Sandifer’s post on Conference 2.0 Resources or the wiki page “Protocols Examples”.
Conversation Website (Optional):
Presenter(s) Names:
Presenter(s) Afflilation:
Contact Email:

Powered by ScribeFire.

Posted in Editorial | Print | No Comments »

September 3, 2007 by jmmblake.

This week in my science classroom, we are discussing the scientific method.  The prompt photo I am going to use is from the cover of the North Carolina Wildlife magazine. The photo shows a bird that appears to have hair instead of feathers. My question to the students is: What is it and why?

We will talk about how to research and gather information about a topic.  I have located several online resources we will use to explore birds.

Our next lesson will build on this concept and add how we conduct an experiment to test for answers to questions. Our students will explore how to use the scientific method to build a better paper airplane.

I will assess their learning with having them complete a concept make on the steps of the scientific method we use in the paper airplane activity.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Posted in Editorial | Print | No Comments »

August 13, 2007 by jmmblake.

While scrolling through the tweets generated today on Twitter, one caught my attention.  Glad2be twittered: “Home from day of ‘laying the foundation’ Pre-AP workshop. Labs were fun, we made Barbie bungie jump.”  Glad2be also commented that there are some different Barbie bungee labs — this one is similar to the one used in her workshop: http://oak.ucc.nau.edu/smg224/401pdfs/BungieBarbie.pdf

This looks like something my students would like.  Commando Ken, or, I have it…Astronaut Ken taking a walk to repair the space shuttle. 

Note to those of you reading this and snickering- they are not DOLLS, they are ACTION FIGURES. 

Powered by ScribeFire.

Posted in Editorial | Print | No Comments »

August 8, 2007 by jmmblake.

Uploaded with Skitch!
The question is, will Thursday’s temperatures actually be higher than today’s?  We will see.   Staying cool, watching STS-118 launch. 

Powered by ScribeFire.

Posted in Editorial | Print | No Comments »

August 2, 2007 by jmmblake.

Time to start making a list of instructional needs and wants.  Put this first item under the wants category.  We looked at a competitor product last year. 

• SMART - AirLiner wireless slate

With the AirLiner slate you can interact wirelessly with your SMART Board interactive whiteboard or Sympodium interactive pen display from 52 feet (16 m) away. The battery-free tethered pen lets you control any software application, write notes and highlight information in digital ink

SMART’s AirLiner wireless slate enables you to teach from anywhere and allows students to interact with information from their seats. Multiple slate users can write at the same time as someone at the SMART Board interactive whiteboard.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Posted in Editorial | Print | No Comments »

August 1, 2007 by jmmblake.

Read the 101 Reasons to Buy A Harley, and have been dreaming about buying a motorcycle for some time.  This is my top 10 reasons, which is an attempt to sort out why I should or should not buy a Harley.  Should I just stay in the ‘frying pan’ of driving a automobile on a highway with a sea of idiots with cell phones stuck in their ears, or hop on a two-wheeler donor-cycle and jump into the ‘fire’?

Top 10 Reasons I want to buy a Harley

• #10 Even an old, beaten up one looks good.  [sort of like old teachers]
• #9   There are thousands of accessories available, so you can make your Harley uniquely yours. [as if I could afford any of them]
• #8   You don’t hear songs about Suzuki’s.
• #7   You never have to explain or apologize for your choice or ride. [exactly! no need of brown paper bags]
• #6   “Arnold” rode one in T2. [”I’ll be bac”]
• #5   Lots of extra protein from those bugs in your teeth.
• #4   Don’t need any weight lifting equipment. Just knock it down and pick it back up. [could save $60 per month by not having to go to the gym ;->]
• #3   “Honey, it’s economical — gets GREAT gas mileage!”
• #2   Because you’ve wanted one since you were 11 years old.
• #1   If you get stuck in boring business teachers meeting, you can always think about that last ride you took.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Posted in Editorial | Print | No Comments »

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.

Powered by ScribeFire.

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

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.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Posted in Editorial | Print | No Comments »

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.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Posted in Editorial | Print | No Comments »