@ yes, I forgot my book, the school was locked, then we checked out my last year's algebra book from the converse library.
Meredith Boyce
meredithb104
Looking forward to part 2.‘Juvenoia,’ Part 1: Why Internet fear is overrated | NetFamilyNews.org: "It’s one thing to say that the Internet has dangers on it; it’s a very different thing to say that the Internet increases dangers, David Finkelhor said early in his talk. The problem is, that second view has become the dominant narrative in the public discussion about young people online. The ‘risk-promotion narrative,’ he also calls it, doesn’t say that ‘when kids go online bad things can happen because they can happen anywhere,’ like in a city – which of course is true. What the narrative says instead, and incorrectly, is that ‘intrinsic features of the Internet increase risk and augment vulnerability.’"
I don't think the students will mind or notice much, and it does make a good deal of sense to eat my own dog food if I'm going to encourage students to make use of our school's Google Apps accounts and use Blogger (or Google Sites) as their digital portfolio's home (of course I don't mind if they want to venture out into Wordpress or Tumblr or Posterous land as well). For some reason, this makes me sad in a "but I'm a real geek!" way. It's not that Blogger isn't a proper blogging engine or geeky enough site... but I've always encouraged folks to dive into code and make their own templates or sidebars. Those are possible in Blogger, but it's a little too graphical and "easy" in my mind. I need to get over myself, clearly. Nevertheless, here's to another few good years of GriffinScience.GriffinScience: "Because we'll be using Blogger as a main platform of interaction with the 8th graders next year due to our school Google accounts making that a no-brainer, I've gone ahead and moved GriffinScience from a self-hosted Wordpress install to Blogger."
Go read the whole thing.Science project takes off for Spartanburg Day School students | GoUpstate.com: "Nearly a month of calculated planning and scientific research flew up, up and away Friday afternoon over the Spartanburg Day School athletic fields and into a cloudy sky."
Fascinating read.LRB · Jim Holt · Smarter, Happier, More Productive: "It’s not that the web is making us less intelligent; if anything, the evidence suggests it sharpens more cognitive skills than it dulls. It’s not that the web is making us less happy, although there are certainly those who, like Carr, feel enslaved by its rhythms and cheated by the quality of its pleasures. It’s that the web may be an enemy of creativity. Which is why Woody Allen might be wise in avoiding it altogether."
How We Know by Freeman Dyson | The New York Review of Books: "The information flood has also brought enormous benefits to science. The public has a distorted view of science, because children are taught in school that science is a collection of firmly established truths. In fact, science is not a collection of truths. It is a continuing exploration of mysteries. Wherever we go exploring in the world around us, we find mysteries. Our planet is covered by continents and oceans whose origin we cannot explain. Our atmosphere is constantly stirred by poorly understood disturbances that we call weather and climate. The visible matter in the universe is outweighed by a much larger quantity of dark invisible matter that we do not understand at all. The origin of life is a total mystery, and so is the existence of human consciousness. We have no clear idea how the electrical discharges occurring in nerve cells in our brains are connected with our feelings and desires and actions."
I also have to thank Joe for being one of the inspirations for my own "de-grading" trend in the classroom this year as I continue my search for more authentic learning environments for my 8th graders and move away from traditional grading as a means of assessing what they might or might not be achieving. Instead, we're sending cameras into space. I'll take that trade off anyday.
