September 2011
56 posts
With Personal Kanban you CAN! →
Good morning my friends. This morning I’m tired. Are you?
We’ve got the Flat Classroom projects - the 3 we are currently running, kicking off right now and it takes a lot of energy and effort to…
Lifetime Channel Deal; Please Vote for Spring of... →
Today, I would like to announce that I’ve signed a contract with the Lifetime Channel and will become one of the bloggers for their morning show, the Balancing Act. Cool Cat Teacher is still here…
Epic →
My son has been looking for epic music on youtube and listens to these amazing one hour mixes of music while he is writing papers for his honors English class. I’ve embedded the video below and…
How Micromanagement can take a Leader's Eye off... →
I couldn’t believe my eyes. As I drove up to the stadium for the second time Saturday night, there was our 18-0 state winning football coach grilling hamburgers before the game! SHOCK!
Daily Education and Technology News for Schools... →
Welcome to FolderBoy Interesting website that organizes tasks by folders. I will try this out. tags: Education productivity lists Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite…
Rock, Paper, Ebook: The Next Evolution of Reading... →
School Library Journal had an article yesterday on how Overdrive now is compatible with the Kindle. Overdrive is a popular ebook “check out” service used by many public and some…
Little Things Mean a Lot →
This is the view from where I sit right now. I am taking up money at the softball gate in 90 something degree weather in the hot blazing sun. Or I was a minute a go. A Little…
4 tags
7 Reasons We Like 7 Reasons →
Psychology today has a great article on 7 reasons the human mind likes 7 reasons. There are some interesting neurological reasons. Great read.
4 tags
Bio- human links to electronics are coming →
“Proton-based transistor could let machines communicate with living things”
This sort of thing is closer than you think and raises all sorts of ethical questions we should be discussing now. I recall a case I wrote for my students that went something like this:
“What would happen if Xmen were real. If you knew that you could be stronger with a robotic arm - would you rather...
2 tags
“People who smile radiate a beauty whose home is heaven. Smile today #teachers.”
– Vicki Davis, Cool Cat Teacher
3 tags
On this day in history →
On this day in history from the New York Times #education
2 tags
“Everybody is somebody. Anybody who thinks somebody is a nobody is somebody...”
– Vicki Davis, Cool Cat Teacher
Thanks for Teaching Us: Share and Join In →
Take time to thank a teacher…publicly. Now you can. The website www.thanksforteaching.us lets us thank our teachers publicly. I just love this website and wept as I perused the first…
4 tags
5 tags
Pew: One-third surveyed prefer texting to talking →
73% of Americans send and receive text messages and 31% prefer a text message - just over half prefer a voice call. Increasingly, linking with cell phones links to a person’s behavior and sphere of learning. Want them to remember that test tomorrow? Send a text?
infoneer-pulse:
More of us are letting our thumbs do the talking.
According to a new Pew study, 83 percent of American adults...
3 tags
Novice Teacher: How to survive your first year of... →
One thing I love about Tumblr is how many first year teachers are sharing and talking. I find that being on Tumblr helps me remember what it is like to be a desperate, exhausted, overwhelmed, exhilarated first year teacher. Here’s to you teacher!
adiemtocarpe:
novicephoenix:
There’s no getting around it. Your first year of teaching will be a series of ups and downs. That’s because...
2 tags
2 tags
What did the buffalo say to his son when he...
lifeofpraise:
Bison.
A little school humor.
Daily Education and Technology News for Schools... →
Valve offering original Portal for free until September 20 | TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog The physics game “portal” is free until sept 20. Download now. tags: Physics …
2 tags
High school bans makeup, removes mirrors to crack... →
girlwithalessonplan:
Just adding:
The local youth detention center houses students for everything from probation violation to kids who literally have no where to go due to custodial issues.
They have a ban on make up AND hair styling products.
So what happens is the girls keep a stash in their lockers with flat-irons and such, and they’ll scurry to the bathroom first thing at school and get...
2 tags
3 tags
Rural schools draw support from their communities →
world-shaker:
This ended up being far more interesting than I expected, and really covers some of the issues that rural schools in particular face. Are any of you out there from/teaching in an rural school?
Great article about rural schools.
1 tag
Daily Education and Technology News for Schools... →
Adobe Photoshop Touch apps for iPad now available in Apple App Store « Adobe Nordic Blog iPad PhotoShop Touch apps. tags: education adobe Posted from Diigo. The rest of my…
2 tags
Tears...
diaryofafyt:
Not mine though. It’s worse, two student’s broke down into tears today due to stress. I forgot how rough of a transition it can be to go from elementary to middle school. Or in our case, a middle and high school combo.
Any suggestions from tumblr teachers to help kids feel less stressed and more organized?
Our middle school has everything color coded. Having a binder and book...
6 tags
The Ultimate Guide To Using Twitter In Education →
gjmueller:
In all seriousness, it just may be.
via world-shaker
4 tags
“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to...”
– Robert F. Kennedy.
3 tags
Discouraging news from the world of journalism: →
theweekmagazine:
Narrative Science, a company affiliated with Northwestern University, has devised a new computer software that can write news articles in under a minute. The articles sound like they were written by humans, impressing robotics and language experts. “It’s as if a human wrote it.”
Except… a computer actually wrote it.
Narrative Science says it already has 20 customers using the...
2 tags
80+ Articles about iPads in Education →
world-shaker:
Plethora of resources out here, being updated on an ongoing basis (several at the top of the list were published within the last week).
80+ articles about iPads in education
3 tags
Teachers in Tiaras: Dramatic Play Center →
teachersintiaras:
This was submitted by Kelly F. who is an EC major. Love her ideas!
I would say that the dramatic play center was my favorite to work in. We often used the dramatic play center after we had class story time. In one instance my Co-Op read Goldilocks and the Three Bears. She had puppets to go…
Neat ideas for centers from teachers in tiaras on tumblr. This one is about a...
3 tags
Death, Taxes, and the Poison Pen →
Don’t write when you’re tired. Don’t write when you’re upset. Don’t write when you’ll regret what you said later.
I’m all of those things. September 11th makes us all sad.
Business…
Picking the Perfect Font for Beautiful Designs... →
If it doesn’t look good it isn’t going to get a good grade. No longer in the age of the typewriter, we are now able to choose from many different fonts and sizes. In the case of fonts,…
1 tag
No, Canada! ISPs ordered to out users in Hurt... →
infoneer-pulse:
Canadian Internet users are getting a taste of the P2P lawyering that had previously been confined to the US and UK, as Hurt Locker lawsuits have begun moving up to the Great White North. Three ISPs have already been ordered to disclose the identities of users accused of downloading the film, and if the ISPs decide to comply, there could be plenty more lawsuits.
As noted by...
3 tags
Using Skype as an Academic Tool: Lessons Learned →
world-shaker:
The author’s cool enough to cover using it in several different situations (teacher-student, student-student, teacher-class, etc.). There are some little gems in here.
Lessons learned using Skype in the classroom.
2 tags
100 Video Sites Every Educator Should Bookmark →
world-shaker:
Here’s a sample:
Teachers Domain: Create a free profile on this site and you will get access to hundreds of lessons with accompanying videos, photos and other media.
Meet Me at the Corner: This site offers students educational programming, book clubs, podcasting lessons and even virtual field trips–all great additions to lessons.
Videos for Personal Development: Check ...
3 tags
What's Up With Homophones and Homonyms?
theyuniversity:
Homophones and homonyms - more grammar info.
2 tags
4 tags
“As a Mom it isn’t my job to be my child’s best friend. Sometimes I...”
– Vicki Davis, Cool Cat Teacher
3 tags
2 tags
Class Tools →
One of my favorite sites for creating graphic organizers.
2 tags
“If failure is not an option then neither is success.”
– Seth Godin (via stevekinney)
3 tags
“Children are a gift. Unopened they become tattered and torn with time, never...”
– Vicki Davis, Cool Cat Teacher
1 tag
2 tags
3 tags
“That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings...”
– F. Scott Fitzgerald (via ronk)
The beauty of literature by F Scott Fitzgerald
3 tags
Honors Class Drop Outs
roughdrafts1:
Five students in just one of my classes told me they were dropping my class today. One of them said he didn’t feel like doing that much work. Another one said he didn’t like to read. Others didn’t do the summer work.
They aren’t the only ones.
Rather sad.
Sad thoughts from a teacher about kids dropping out of the honors program. When kids want to check out, they usually do.
2 tags
Positively Persistent Teach: My Teacher Dare Day... →
positivelypersistentteach:
This isn’t something my class struggles with now, but I think it is good to have a few tricks up your sleeve. Here are the answers I received:
pablophonic answered: I used to use a “focus-meter”, get them to focus on random objects for a score, the last object should the teacher. They sit…
Lots of teacher tried answers on what to do when your class gets too...
