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.

What role will Virtual Schools play in our future?

As our school budgets shrink, technology use increases, iPad apps evolve and our digital native students learning requirements need to be satisfied, will virtual schools be the answer? Please view the following links to gather some information to support your thoughts:

• Whats Next,Virtual K-12 Schools?
  

• Cyber Charter Schools: The End of public Education or a New Beginning?
• Opinion: Virtual schools are a critical piece of education's future
  

• Should All Schools Be Virtual?
• The Complicated World of Virtual Schools
• International Association for K-12 Online Learning