What’s all the fuss about the iPad?

Here is a video that wraps up the iPad announcement. It looks like a fun toy but the price is not justified. (Click Here)
I found a video that sums up the negatives of the iPad. I never thought anything about Hitler was funny, but the creators of this video but a humorous spin on the drawbacks of the iPad using a clip from a WWII movie. Warning: Vulgar and inappropriate language (all in subtitles). (Click Here)
I seems like Apple is trying to fill the small gap between a netbook and the iPhone, while adding a Kindle like reader. Is it cool? Yes. But I do not think it will catch on like the iPhone because I do not think there are that many customers looking for a device to fill this gap.

Balance

Balance. I remember hearing back in my education classes as an undergraduate that we all need to strike a balance between school and family. At the time I didn’t think it would be tough. I am now realizing it is very difficult. My wife and I have been arguing about how I have been at school at night more than at home. Track season is coming up and that takes up even more of our time. Sometimes I feel that extra effort as a teacher and coach is a noble cause, but my relationship with my family suffers. With one 15th month old, one on the way, an upcoming track season, an ill father, two new classes to teach, and these classes are making it tough to find the right balance. Something has to give. How do you find balance?

Race to the Top

Edutopia has new poll asking “Should teacher unions support their state's Race to the Top efforts?” I do not know if I support the Race to the Top because I, along with most, do not understand what is in the proposal or what will be in it. However, I know my local union opposes it. It seems like most union members become very defensive when they hear ideas regarding evaluations and performance pay. I can understand the fear of losing your job and performance pay might seem unfair depending on the group of students you have. But we all know that some teachers are better than others. And we all know some underperforming teachers that just do not care enough to improve their methods. What can a school do about them? We can offer carrots or sticks. It is not clear if the Race to the Top will include rewards and/or consequences. Either way, I do not worry about such proposals because I think good teachers should be rewarded and ineffective teachers should be held accountable. I am not saying teachers should be fired for bad test scores in a single year, but hopefully underperforming teachers can be identified to be provided resources to improve their methods. What do you think? Do schools need carrots or sticks to encourage better teaching? Or do schools need something else?

Google Street View

Today I enjoyed this article from Stephen Shankland on CNET’s website. The article is about using Google’s Street View feature in the U.K. Google Street View is a feature on Google Maps that allows you to virtually stand on various points along hundreds of thousands of miles of roadway. In fact, I, or anyone else, can virtually stand 50 feet from my house and look at my house from various angles from the road. Kind of creepy.
Even though it seems strange that a car equipped with automatic cameras took pictures of my house that I can now see on the internet, I am still a fan of Google Street View. Before class starts many of my students virtually tour places around Michigan, but also other places around the globe. Google Street View is now even expanding to include historical sites that are not accessible by car using a peddled version of their camera system. I encourage you to take a look.

My favorite teaching tool - CamStudio

CamStudio is an open source screen capture software. Let me say that again. CamStudio is a free application that allows you to record whatever is on your screen and even audio at the same time.
Some of you may be thinking I am referring to TechSmith’s Camtasia software. Camtasia is the more full featured $300 big brother that allows you to edit the audio and video. I don’t think having a few extra options and a video editor makes it worth spending $300. Record with CamStudio and edit it with Windows Movie Maker for free. Or spend less than $100 and buy Sony Vegas and have a superior video editor.
Back to screen recording. Last year was my first year as the technology teacher. Day after day I would demonstrate how to use a piece of software just to have students ask me questions like “how did you do that thing again?” two minutes later. I was thinking maybe they could take notes on all the steps or I could print directions. Students do not want to take notes in a computers class, and paper directions are a poor and expensive choice. What to do? Enter CamStudio. I recorded what I was doing and uploaded it to youtube.com for my students to watch individually. I immediately saw several benefits. Students could see and hear. They could pause, rewind, and reply anything I did. Absent students could watch from home or immediately catch up the next day. And watching YouTube in class is just fun! For the most part it works really well. The only downside is that sometimes I don’t feel like a teacher if I am not demonstrating live. On some project days I don’t talk for more than 30 seconds to the whole class. I mostly work one on one with students finding mistakes or clarifying instruction.
I wouldn’t recommend doing this for a history or science class, but when showing students new complicated software I find it very quick and effective.

Maybe setting the bar to high?

The last week has been crazy in my classroom. Last year I assigned students to complete their website/portfolio over the last 7 school days and it went pretty well. I did have some students finish early and they seemed to shut down a little early. So this year I added an “independent study project” on top of their portfolio to fill in any down time. I am now debating if it was a mistake due to time constraints. Not only is it stressing my students to get it all done in time, it is stressing me out even more since I worry for about half of them getting it done. I will have a lot of upset parents if I give them an incomplete or “E” on their report card.
However, I am seeing about 20 kids at lunch and after school working very hard.
A few students are even doing movies that appear to take much more time than the other projects options, but are having a ton of fun. I strongly encouraged them to film everything outside of class, which I think has given students more freedom and flexibility. Some students made costumes for their silent film, while another made a ShamWow infomercial in front of a green screen.
Even though it is stressful, I am seeing great results and I feel good setting the bar high, even if I have to be a step they can use.

Only two days left to work and it seems like some students are only half way. Some students are planning coming to class Sunday afternoon and Monday before and after school. Wish us luck.

Have you ever questioned assigning too much?

Videogames helped a teen lose weight?

Wired.com has an article about a high school teenager who lost 150 pounds in 18 months. Surprisingly, he attributes his success to his love of video games! He thought of his diet as a video game in which calories and exercise was all about earning points and defeating the enemy every day.
I think this is a good example of how students can learn and apply what they know and enjoy about technology to help better themselves in real life. We all know that connecting what students know to new material is crucial to student learning. This student knew video game strategy and applied it to dieting with great success. What can we do to tap into what students know and love about technology?

Google drops China

I recently read the article “Only Google Could Leave China” from wired.com and was shocked to hear that Google is leaving. Not only is China have the largest population in the world, the country’s middle and upper class is growing and is becoming more and more connected every day. Hard to believe an established corporation would leave more than one billion potential customers. Google reportedly made more than 500 million dollars there last year but the company made over 22 billion dollars last year worldwide, so maybe it isn’t a huge lost.
Financial concerns aside, some view this as a hit to the humanitarians who relied on Google for communication. Google did censor search results after the Chinese government asked them to. Even still, Google never fully gave in to Chinese demands and was seen as a helpful to those trying to get their message to the world.
Google never had physical servers on Chinese soil that could be taken by the government, but the continued cyber attacks on user accounts and even stealing Google source code must have been to large of a risk to continue operations.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

I recently looked at this Edutopia's poll and the comments on how schools should observe MLK Jr. Day. I know many schools do have the day off. I wonder how many family's actually do something to honor MLK or serve others? When I was in school at Fowler and now as a teacher at PW we do have class. As a student I do not remember our school doing anything out of the ordinary except for maybe the History teacher mentioning something at the beginning of class. I also recall fellow students complaining that they should have the day off. Only because they wanted to be home. I do not remember an official response but the consensus among the students was that we do not have MLK day of because we do not have any Black students. I now believe that is the exact reason why as a community we need to take note of Black history and do something to honor those who gave their life to the cause. But what to do?

What does your school do? or should do?