Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Children With Technology


Edna from the whatedsaid blog once again has my mind buzzing with a fascinating set of ideas and values dealing with education. She has introduced me to Dr. Sugata Mitra and his data on technology, children, and learning with children in India. The Hole In The Wall Project shows us the power of what children can learn if they have access to technology. The links below will reveal Dr. Mitra’s work and expand your thinking on children with access to technology. Exciting material!

http://bit.ly/at7MIG

http://bit.ly/beai9V

http://bit.ly/cVGPRL

Image from Hole In The Wall Project web page.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Relationships & Technology


I want to share from a blog I follow “Realizing Your Personal Legend” written by Mike Mansour. The title of his article was “Tribute to a Non-tech Principal”. Mike has served with his principal, Mr. Connelly, for six years. He has a great deal of respect and admiration for his principal even though he is not up to speed with his tech skills.
Technology his changing many aspects of our society from the way children access information to the way teachers need to plan for lessons that will be engaging to their students. I would say Mike and I are both techies but we agree on something that is more important that technology. Mike has expressed it this way, “Mr. Connelly was a great principal because of the relationships he built with our families and the atmosphere of excellence he fostered among the staff.” RELATIONSHIPS
The teachers where I serve continue to hear these words from me each August as we begin another school year. “The most important thing to accomplish with your students the first few weeks of school is to make connections and build relationships.” They know I believe that more significant learning will take place with each child with whom they have a personal relationship.
As educators, let’s be more accepting of our peers. Many teachers that are struggling with learning technology have mastered the relationship piece. I challenge you to embrace them, hold their hand, and show them respect and patience as you model technology for them.
Here is a link to Mike Monsur’s complete article: http://bit.ly/bTLI7t

Monday, June 14, 2010

Priceless Education

How have I missed this youtube video from Lanwithes/Silva for so long? First published in December 2008, it still has a fresh message for all of us in education. Will you deliver a Priceless Education to your students? Making connections and building relationship as we change the world one student at a time!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Daniel Pink Interview

Interview of Daniel Pink from Andrew Keen:
According to Daniel Pink, the author of the New York Times best-selling Drive, the great shift of the early 21st century is from left to right. Rather than a political change, however, Pink's shift is all about the brain. The 21st century, he argues, represents the triumph of our creative right brain skills over the more procedural thinking of our left brain.

So when I met with Pink on a rainy afternoon in Washington earlier this month, I began by asking him whether the new hegemony of right brain skills would represent a new golden age of creativity for both artists and ordinary people. –Andrew Keen
http://bit.ly/djAw7n

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Winning vs Success from John Wooden

On June 4, 2010 we lost a wonderful gentleman and college basketball icon. John Wooden was the head basketball coach at UCLA from 1967-1973. During that time he won 620 games. At one point in time, he won 88 games in a row. He was called the Wizard of Westwood and built one of the greatest dynasties in all of sports. Winning was not his GOAL in basketball or life. Listen to his TED talk on Winning vs Success. Words for all of us to live by!