How Will Your Celebrate?

Many of us are entering the final weeks of our Lesley Master's program. As we approach graduation day, how do you plan to celebrate this significant achievement? For those of you that still have a few more courses, what will your plans be? My family and I will be heading up to the Boston area to celebrate my daughter's graduation from the University of New Hampshire. It just so happens that she is graduating the exact day and time that I'm supposed to walk for my graduation ceremony. Obviously, her ceremony will take president. When I return to Atlanta and the school year is over for my day job, I will celebrate with friends and fellow classmates. So,let's here about your party plans!!!

A Birds Eye View for Nature Lovers!

OK... How cool would it be to watch an actual live feed camera positioned 80 feet up in tree and also pointing down into a bald eagles nest? Well, I'm a real nature lover and was shown this site in school last Thursday. One of our first grade teachers had it up on her active board and was discussing with her students how bird feathers repel rain. They had been watching the live feed for several days and had watched the three baby eaglets peck their way out of their eggs. I have been sneaking peaks of the fascinating footage when ever I get a chance. You will either be in aw or bored to death. However, think of the potential learning opportunities that could evolve as more or these live feeds become available to us via the Internet is incredible. This is yet another area of virtual learning at its best! Click on the link below and find the image of the bald eagle with the red banner in the top left corner. Click on it and enjoy. Oh, and don't forget to turn your volume on and enlarge your screen!

UStream.TV

Will Public Libraries Disappear?

Another change that may be happening in your state due to budget cuts is the closing of our public libraries. In our county, they are considering closing 13 of our 17 public libraries. I know that ebooks are gaining in popularity, but will they also contribute to the digital demise of our library systems? As a parent, my daughters and I have found memories of visiting the local library for “story hour” and happily coming home with an arm or two full of books. Will the digital native children of today tune in to a virtual library and view books being read instead? Just as we are concerned about their gaining social skills by attending "mortar and brick" schools, will this be yet another opportunity missed? Maybe because I’m a digital immigrant, I’m feeling tugs at my heart about this possible loss. I’ve attached several links that address this possibility.

Is It Time to Rebuild & Retool Public Libraries and Make “TechShops”?

Are Librarians Totally Obsolete?

Cobb residents fight to save 13 libraries

The Kindle3site.com

Have you heard of K-12 online learning?

Just a few days ago, I saw a TV commercial about K-12 .com online learning. Have you ever seen an advertisement about a school on TV? Well, it was new for me and very timely considering the original topic of my blog. Even though I have brought up other ideas or concerns, we are still participating in a form or online learning each time we post information. Anyway, K-12 is an example of a successful online learning opportunity for students and has a great success rating by both parents and students. Here is a quote from one of the articles that I will provide a link for.

"Online learning through virtual schools is one of the most important advancements in attempting to rethink the effectiveness of education in the United States. The virtual school provides access to online, collaborative and self-paced learning environments—settings that can facilitate 21st-century skills. Today’s students must be able to combine these skills with the effective use of technology to succeed in current and future jobs."

I also thought that this comparison was interesting:

"the operating costs of online programs are about the same as the operating costs of a regular brick and mortar school." The report found:

"For a full-time program, results from the panel suggest that costs range from about $7,200 to about $8,300 per FTE… Full-time programs can be more expensive than those serving students on a supplemental basis because these schools are typically responsible for special needs students and for adhering to state and federal accountability requirements (including granting credits, testing students, making AYP, etc.). In addition, local virtual schools are more likely than state virtual schools to provide computers and Internet connectivity for their students, which can result in higher costs per pupil."

Check out the links below for more information about the K-12.com and some positive research.

K-12.com press information

K-12.com online learning

Have you heard of phlogging?

Check out this new Web 2.0 tool called Ipadio that can take blogging, geotagging, tweeting, etc. to an new level.

"Today’s posting reviews an amazing, yet simple piece of technology that involves the use of cell phones, internet, and computers. It’s true, mobile technology is playing an increasingly large role in the classroom. It is becoming a reality that most students have a phone of their own. Perhaps it’s time to harness the power of the phone in order to engage students in their own education? Introducing Ipadio, a technology that just might be the right tool for enhancing and improving the learning process in a very unique way."
The following links will give you more information:

21 st Century Technology and Learning

Ipadio is LadyGeek App's of the Week!

After checking it out, share some ideas of how you could use it in your classroom.

Year Round Schooling???

Our school system is currently using a balanced calendar this year allowing teachers and students to have a week long vacation about every six weeks. Many say that this type of calendar is getting closer to a year round schooling format. Some parents and teachers feel that the students are in a constant pre-vacation or post vacation mode and therefore are not retaining as much knowledge. Others feel that it gives educators a time to recharge. What are your thoughts about year round schooling? What do you feel are the pros and cons regarding its implementation? Here are some links that may help with your thoughts:

Year Round Education

National Association for Year Round Education

What would you do?

Near the end of last year, I came home and saw that my neighbor was re-landscaping his front yard. However, the landscape workers were also removing the ivy from the back corner of my property. I informed the workers that the ivy was on my land and that I had not given them permission to remove it. They said that my next door neighbor had requested that they clean up the area. However, this neighbor had never called me to discuss his "landscape changing" plans or request permission. My reaction was to knock on the neighbors door,but I was told that he had just got out of the hospital after having a kidney removed. Well, they sodded the land and the next day I spoke with the mans wife. She said that they did not like their young boys(that I happen to teach!)playing in the ivy because of snakes. So, they just decided to remove it and that it might have been a good idea to call first. Some of the sod is on my land and some is on theirs. Now that it is spring and the grass is growing, I have noticed that they are mowing all of what they sodded. What are your thoughts about my not so neighborly neighbor? I have included an Animoto video to show slides of my situation.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.