Today's archidose #619

Here are some photos of the Department of Islamic Art at the Louvre in Paris, France, by <a href="http://www.rudyricciotti.com/">Rudy Ricciotti</a> and <a href="http://www.bellini.it/">Mario Bellini</a>, (2012), photographed by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruamps/">Laurent Ruamps</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruamps/8012373544/" title="Département des arts de l'Islam- musée du Louvre [2012]- Paris by RUAMPS ©, on Flickr"><img alt="Département des arts de l'Islam- musée du Louvre [2012]- Paris" height="399" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8441/8012373544_a82b91255b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruamps/8012233305/" title="Département des arts de l'Islam- musée du Louvre [2012]- Paris by RUAMPS ©, on Flickr"><img alt="Département des arts de l'Islam- musée du Louvre [2012]- Paris" height="449" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8454/8012233305_d616dea28d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruamps/8012310916/" title="Département des arts de l'Islam- musée du Louvre [2012]- Paris by RUAMPS ©, on Flickr"><img alt="Département des arts de l'Islam- musée du Louvre [2012]- Paris" height="800" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8306/8012310916_308f5ea50d_c.jpg" width="628" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruamps/8012429063/" title="Département des arts de l'Islam- musée du Louvre [2012]- Paris by RUAMPS ©, on Flickr"><img alt="Département des arts de l'Islam- musée du Louvre [2012]- Paris" height="458" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8180/8012429063_710106a9c9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruamps/8012498518/" title="Département des arts de l'Islam- musée du Louvre [2012]- Paris by RUAMPS ©, on Flickr"><img alt="Département des arts de l'Islam- musée du Louvre [2012]- Paris" height="461" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8042/8012498518_f925fb4da1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just:<br /><blockquote>:: Join and add photos to the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/archi-dose/">archidose pool</a>, and/or<br />:: Tag your photos <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/archidose/">archidose</a></span></blockquote>

Today's archidose #619

Here are some photos of the Department of Islamic Art at the Louvre in Paris, France, by Rudy Ricciotti and Mario Bellini , (2012), photogr...

Read more »

328 Credits and Counting...Happy Birthday, Mickey Rooney!

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwGgDCHZ6vOEIJ7ZsnGmbs2oh1hTlAhR7m1iHb9VrLxoT0OSr43APCOWEgbJ14ePT-iXGWwLHSGrAHPgkZkr_Y4Ttftbx0D9GsSUUCaZIxre7w7dHr9AL_UFTy_0Wj7145F6hiZ-93-Cc/s1600/Mickey+Rooney+Collage+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwGgDCHZ6vOEIJ7ZsnGmbs2oh1hTlAhR7m1iHb9VrLxoT0OSr43APCOWEgbJ14ePT-iXGWwLHSGrAHPgkZkr_Y4Ttftbx0D9GsSUUCaZIxre7w7dHr9AL_UFTy_0Wj7145F6hiZ-93-Cc/s1600/Mickey+Rooney+Collage+2.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Mickey Rooney, who celebrates his 92nd birthday on September 23, has spent 90+ of those years in show business. Born into a family of vaudevillians, he came closer to actually being "born in a trunk" in the back of a theater than even his frequent MGM co-star and pal Judy Garland. His stage debut came before he was 18 months old.</span></span><br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Mickey's mom always thought her boy had star quality and hustled him to Hollywood in the mid-'20s in hopes that he might be selected for the "Our Gang" series. Though he auditioned, it didn't work out and he later ended up making his big screen debut in a short titled <i>Not to be Trusted </i>cast as a midget.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1rZuUtqbpy7aXaOo9Rr1hV7ZphlI8wGeQvyRUPD2aYdWFYgpWpzBusty3-TE_DAYiDQP45907x5NJtz3JsSt8BI0LGzbndpggkFbfzP4ZDcuKJYiGlRp1c33JyjZ6rE4j73FlaCirHhA/s1600/mickey+mcguire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1rZuUtqbpy7aXaOo9Rr1hV7ZphlI8wGeQvyRUPD2aYdWFYgpWpzBusty3-TE_DAYiDQP45907x5NJtz3JsSt8BI0LGzbndpggkFbfzP4ZDcuKJYiGlRp1c33JyjZ6rE4j73FlaCirHhA/s320/mickey+mcguire.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Mickey McGuire"</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Mickey has not always been Mickey. Originally Joe Yule, Jr., he took the name by which he became known for nearly nine decades from his first breakthrough movie role. In 1927 he was cast as comic strip character Mickey McGuire and starred in the part for a series of 78 comedy shorts from 1927 - 1934. He briefly changed his name to Mickey McGuire but for legal reasons was forced to drop the surname. It was then that he became Mickey Rooney.</span></span><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9_Bj-jTprhBsg6-gg18ExYx-rPVKUrx7lw2rQJRD4C2IG2GhV-48OkQb4Caq-8b93yHNhObmt2_csiVHk5TzW_PeZA04bRi7P6mU7R1xWvAJCKeCQI4XD_0jlQPzJ2OOPsC4k3z2SMp0/s1600/Blackie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9_Bj-jTprhBsg6-gg18ExYx-rPVKUrx7lw2rQJRD4C2IG2GhV-48OkQb4Caq-8b93yHNhObmt2_csiVHk5TzW_PeZA04bRi7P6mU7R1xWvAJCKeCQI4XD_0jlQPzJ2OOPsC4k3z2SMp0/s320/Blackie.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The two 'Blackies'</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">One day in 1934 producer David O. Selznick happened upon young Rooney competing in a ping pong match - and putting on quite a show for the crowd. Taken with the boy's showmanship and charisma, Selznick arranged for him to be cast as "Blackie as a boy" in the MGM hit <i>Manhattan Melodrama</i> (1934), starring William Powell, Myrna Loy and Clark Gable (who portrayed "Blackie" as a man). Soon Mickey was signed to a long-term contract with the studio. In 1935 he was given a small part in the Jean Harlow vehicle, <i>Reckless</i>, appeared as "Puck" in the star-studded Warner Bros. production of <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i> and was cast in the MGM adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's <i>Ah, Wilderness!</i> as Lionel Barrymore's mischievous youngest son, Tommy.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Roles in the Jean Harlow hit <i>Riffraff </i>and the Freddie Bartholomew vehicle <i>Little Lord Fauntleroy </i>would follow in 1936, and in 1937 he would once more portray Lionel Barrymore's son - this time in <i>A Family Affair</i>, as Andy Hardy to Barrymore's Judge Hardy. The film was so successful that it begat 15 sequels. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Beloved as the Hardy series was from the late '30s to mid-'40s, there was more to Mickey Rooney's filmography during this period than Andy Hardy. Among the other popular films that fueled his ascension to #1 box office star in America from 1939 - 1941 were <i>Captains Courageous </i>(1937), <i>Boys Town </i>(1938), <i>The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn </i>(1939), <i>Babes in Arms </i>(1939) -  for which he received a Best Actor Oscar nomination, <i>Strike Up the Band </i>(1940) and <i>Babes on Broadway</i> (1941). In 1938, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences honored him with a "Juvenile" Oscar. From 1942 until he went into World War II service in early 1944, Rooney </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">cranked out three more Andy Hardy sequels, </span></span>received his second Best Actor nomination for his starring performance in the film adaptation of William Sorayan's <i>The Human Comedy </i>(1943) and co-starred with Elizabeth Taylor in <i>National Velvet</i> (1944). During the war he entertained troops in the U.S. as well as in combat zones and worked for American Forces Network radio. </span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/X2PKTEgsvBQ" width="420"></iframe><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">  <span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The Human Comedy </span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(1943)</span></span></span></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Like the other top male stars who left movies for the the war, Mickey Rooney returned to a changed Hollywood.  Many of the most successful films of the post-war era were markedly dark and serious -  <i>The Best Years of Our Lives, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, All the King's Men, Sunset Blvd., A Streetcar Named Desire</i>. And TV was on the near horizon, portending more change to come. Rooney's first film following his war service was <i>Love Laughs at Andy Hardy</i> (1946), with Bonita Granville. But audiences had moved on from that particular brand of Americana and he would struggle to keep his career afloat. He would do admirable if overlooked work in early '50s noir (<i>Quicksand</i>, <i>The Strip, Drive a Crooked Road</i>), and earn a Best Supporting Actor nod for his portrayal of an American soldier serving in Italy in <i>The Bold and the Brave </i>(1956). He ventured into live television, appearing on various anthology series of the time, and garnered an Emmy nomination for his performance in "The Comedians," a <i>Playhouse 90</i> drama, in 1957.</span></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBziYoNcE2HKaSWBU-llZxvtytFQwjQQ_KhEGmotM4gNuDV0_2ysjsKFAonx1Ql1tIa7uppEDeA-xF7q7E35Dzop3xswvcpwsPds9XK85gAnKphds_K8KYAYrINE2CYMWwmAbpW8-8xMo/s1600/quicksand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBziYoNcE2HKaSWBU-llZxvtytFQwjQQ_KhEGmotM4gNuDV0_2ysjsKFAonx1Ql1tIa7uppEDeA-xF7q7E35Dzop3xswvcpwsPds9XK85gAnKphds_K8KYAYrINE2CYMWwmAbpW8-8xMo/s400/quicksand.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jeanne Cagney and Mickey Rooney in <i>Quicksand  </i>(1950)</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Rooney would work primarily in TV through the '60s, but would also turn in a gritty performance in the 1962 film adaptation of Rod Serling's teleplay <i>Requiem for a Heavyweight</i>, a searing drama co-starring Jackie Gleason and Anthony Quinn. He also appeared, along with a boatload of great comedians (Sid Caesar, Milton Berle, Phil Silvers and Jonathan Winters), one Broadway diva (Ethel Merman) and a revered dramatic actor (Spencer Tracy) in the classic 1963 comedy <i>It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World</i>.  And he had a supporting role in a premier romantic comedy of the early '60s, <i>Breakfast at Tiffany's </i>(1961). Unfortunately, his over-the-top turn as Audrey Hepburn's Japanese-American neighbor, though performed exactly as director Black Edwards requested, did not age well; eventually Edwards apologized for the characterization.</span></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqFuKqRpo6Z0Q19QCmMTZyH6189Fwzq2AMHpBAO1Gji3RUtHGEpsEpH1pr6J2EkXEOxZuhWfF_F7j9Fz5ppoPwZFZ7nY5yc1dn61fTx7Jt53dKlaqsikjQNysw2u5P460-Eo-OrcBkJ7U/s1600/Requiem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqFuKqRpo6Z0Q19QCmMTZyH6189Fwzq2AMHpBAO1Gji3RUtHGEpsEpH1pr6J2EkXEOxZuhWfF_F7j9Fz5ppoPwZFZ7nY5yc1dn61fTx7Jt53dKlaqsikjQNysw2u5P460-Eo-OrcBkJ7U/s400/Requiem.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jackie Gleason and Mickey Rooney in <i>Requiem for a Heavyweight  </i>(1962)</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Though the glory years at the top of the movie star pile were over, Mickey Rooney continued on as a journeyman character actor. In Carroll Ballard's stunningly beautiful <i>The Black Stallion</i> (1979), Rooney portrayed aging horse trainer Henry Dailey, a role for which he received his second Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. Both the film and his character recalled <i>National Velvet</i>, and footage of Rooney as jockey Mi Taylor in the earlier film was used in <i>The Black Stallion</i> to depict the trainer's previous career as a rider.</span></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKmzDCW17mDUYpBDmgVaQPcXGW70ill7XrWsj8xSb3cdbBPkf8DKCLk8NUU38659MVJhv6JACMfONYORlYvHFezZr_0_YsNUwTTZi0L8HGdFBwWk3RQwGdTzes1L7S1XdhICZ_V4Fy2jQ/s1600/Mickey+Rooney+83+Oscar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKmzDCW17mDUYpBDmgVaQPcXGW70ill7XrWsj8xSb3cdbBPkf8DKCLk8NUU38659MVJhv6JACMfONYORlYvHFezZr_0_YsNUwTTZi0L8HGdFBwWk3RQwGdTzes1L7S1XdhICZ_V4Fy2jQ/s320/Mickey+Rooney+83+Oscar.jpg" width="259" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">for "50 years of versatility in a variety of memorable film performances"<small></small></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In October 1979, Mickey Rooney took to the stage with Ann Miller in the Broadway production <i>Sugar Babies</i>. For his performance he earned a Tony nomination and won the 1980 Theatre World Special Award. In 1981 he was cast in the title role of <i>Bill</i>, a TV-movie based on the true story of a mentally handicapped man, and won a Best Actor Emmy for his performance. He was Emmy-nominated for his portrayal in the 1983 sequel, <i>Bill: On His Own</i>, and was awarded a 1983 Academy Award in honor of his 50 year film career. <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Born to entertain, he says he fell in love with the spotlight before he could walk or talk, when he first crawled from the wings to center stage. He was a natural for movies and grew up in front of a camera. A whirlwind of energy onscreen, he could dance and sing and put on a one-man show. And he proved to be a fearless dramatic actor with a gift for naturally disappearing into character. </span></span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">He has never stopped working - whether TV, voice or film work  - and has enjoyed the pleasure another hit movie, famously appearing with Dick Van Dyke and Bill Cobbs as one of a trio of aged and larcenous security guards in <i>Night at the Museum </i>(2006).<i> </i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">He was interviewed by Turner Classic Movies' Robert Osborne for an early (1997) "Private Screenings" segment and appears at TCM-sponsored events (he'll be a special guest on TCM's 2013 Classic Cruise to Grand Cayman and Cozumel). He has also been outspoken on the subject of elder abuse and in 2011 testified before the Senate Special Committee on Aging.</span></span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">What more can be said about a living legend? I'll leave the last word to Cary Grant, who described Mickey Rooney as "the most talented actor in Hollywood." </span></span></span></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpWIj_tdQ0uX0IwU9xtAmyNdRgE_geXwaDfs6mw0XtZPn0k1bTfKzEHABGh0xNFbZmRWrLOMK2KkabDJ_TYr2XWY3sMp3UCQbPu1ADibt0ZVKIq5xWDk8G2fgMfiYPFTc3Ohq1cUXfXSg/s1600/Mickey+Rooney.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpWIj_tdQ0uX0IwU9xtAmyNdRgE_geXwaDfs6mw0XtZPn0k1bTfKzEHABGh0xNFbZmRWrLOMK2KkabDJ_TYr2XWY3sMp3UCQbPu1ADibt0ZVKIq5xWDk8G2fgMfiYPFTc3Ohq1cUXfXSg/s400/Mickey+Rooney.JPG" width="322" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When James Montgomery Flagg finished this charcoal sketch of Mickey Rooney in October 1941, he showed it to his subject and cracked, "There's the brat!" Rooney grinned and agreed, "Yessir -- one hundred percent brat!"</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><u><b>Sources</b></u> (click on title for link):</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.mickeyrooney.com/" target="_blank">The Official Mickey Rooney website</a></span></span></span></b><br /><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><a href="http://filmnoirfoundation.org/sentinel-article/MickeyRooney.pdf" target="_blank">"Fate Slaps Down Andy Hardy: Mickey Rooney After MGM"</a></span> by Jake Hinkson</span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>

Mickey Rooney The Lady Eve (author) 328 Credits and Counting...Happy Birthday, Mickey Rooney!

Mickey Rooney, who celebrates his 92nd birthday on September 23, has spent 90+ of those years in show business. Born into a family of vaudev...

Read more »

Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock 09/22/2012

<ul class="diigo-linkroll"> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="https://kindle.amazon.com/work/flattening-classrooms-engaging-minds-ebook/B005PBY6HW/B0072VTFTM">Amazon Kindle: Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds: Move to Global Collaboration One Step at a Time (Pearson Resources for 21st Century Learning)</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Here are some of the public notes of most commented upon items from the book I coauthored Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds. You do have to make your notes public to make posts, but I think that highlights may share whether or not they are public. I like to see the things that resonate.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/kindle">kindle</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/ebook">ebook</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.iboard.co.uk/units">TES iboard: Units of work</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">These are complete mini-topics that are a week's worth of activities and lesson plans on each topic for ages 4-11. This pulls together lesson plans, interactive whiteboard resources, and printables and will be helpful for teachers in a tight or who need to quickly emphasize a topic where they know students have problems.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/elemchat">elemchat</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/lessonplans">lessonplans</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/all_teachers">all_teachers</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.iboard.co.uk/skill-builders">TES iboard: Interactive skill builders</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">These are practice games to give students to practice skills including mental math and phonics.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/iwb">iwb</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/elemchat">elemchat</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.iboard.co.uk/teaching-tools">TES iboard: Interactive teaching tools</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Here are teaching tools that you can use to teach a topic. From piggy banks to teach money to number lines. This is a must use site for elementary teachers.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/elemchat">elemchat</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.iboard.co.uk/activities?utm_source=iboard&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=700-tes-home-rh">TES iboard: Interactive activity finder</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">I love this activity finder at TES iBoard. They have more than 700 free activities that you can use with your Interactive white board for ages 4-11. You can search by topic. If you have an interactive whiteboard, you should use this site. A subscription lets you easily share the activities with your pupils and they can access them anywhere without a log on. That is very useful.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/all_teachers">all_teachers</a></p> </li> </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='http://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.</p>

Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock 09/22/2012

Amazon Kindle: Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds: Move to Global Collaboration One Step at a Time (Pearson R...

Read more »

I dis-like the echo chamber Facebook is becoming

If social media has given us the gift of being afraid to speak the truth in love, then we are a sad lot indeed. Speech isn't free, it often costs our speech of mind, but the flaw may be inherent in Facebook's design. It is designed to make us feel good with the partial reinforcement of being "liked" every time we go there. Every human wants to feel liked, so they are catering to that desire. <br /><br />But liking you as a person and liking what you say are two different things in life.<br /><br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/115916382183421477315/BloggerPictures?authkey=Gv1sRgCNPCp6bK0YDF6gE#5790959530525492706'><img border="0" height="93" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9VIs9tWYcMOcZN3eYtcB6-r8v9HW8XWszFpSiAFmM2jnC1i4-cMvr6WYW9TEMAOFGPkEsqwxSS7LGCUDCJ_q6I1S6pfLxdicDCM99yBzCS0ijKk7HrtMnKIqKRro0C6kh5o1Fy-BYeiwV/s288/4.jpg" style="margin:5px" width="219"></a></center><br />The deafening silence of the lack of respectful discourse on issues that matter is upsetting.<br /><br />We only have a "like" button on Facebook. This is not a good thing for balanced conversation and news sites like the <a target="_blank" href="http://live.wsj.com/video/why-doesnt-facebook-have-a-dislike-button/11AB2B22-D8BA-4725-A0C2-4A47D16C910C.html#!11AB2B22-D8BA-4725-A0C2-4A47D16C910C">Wall Street Journal</a> are carrying stories agreeing with this perspective. There has been a scam running for years claiming to <a target="_blank" href="http://thatsnonsense.com/blog/enable-the-facebook-dislike-button-facebooks-latest-scam/">allow people to install the dislike button</a>. People want to do it, they just can't. <br /><br />People are coming to facebook and getting "liked" and only the most vehement post verbally in disagreement, so then you get everyone who "liked" the post descending and those who didn't like it but couldn't mark the discussion can't follow it. <br /><br />This makes it feel like "me and my buddies agree and you don't, so you're wrong" on almost every issue. No one wants to disagree because they literally know they aren't liked in that group and will be the butt of a group of people who all agree. I know what Zuckerburg was doing, but for meaningful discourse it isn't a good thing.<br /><br />It makes it perfect for marketing. People can easily "like" your product, but to say they dislike it, they have to put it in writing and take the time to comment - something that is easily blocked.<br /><br /><b>We need to be able to follow things we don't like to learn and converse</b><br />Facebook isn't the best place to have conversations and yet so many people are having them there. There needs to be a way to track conversations on topics where you "disagree" and don't "like" but the only way you can follow conversations now is to "like" them which implies agreement.<br /><br />It is all "feel-goody" from a partial reinforcement standpoint but as it relates to real life, it is a lie.<br /><br />The very nature of Facebook is to ostracize and gang up on the dissenting voice. By nature it makes majorities of people who circle around conversations. Just because you have a group of friends who agree with you doesn't make you right. The majority isn't always right either.<br /><br />So, then, you have these odd statements that languish with no likes, but the person who writes them has no idea that the statement is off or offensive. It is good for Facebook but is it good for the person?<br /><br /><b>They liked it, so I'm OK.</b><br />I remember once that a Mom posted horrid things about her 10 year old son on her own Facebook page. In a small town like mine, such things will haunt her child forever. I messaged her privately to mention that I'm not sure she came across as she intended. Her flip response was "well I had a bunch of people like it so it was OK with them, they got it." No they didn't, I heard someone talking about what she said later as shocked as I was that she'd say such a thing.<br /><br />She heard what she wanted to hear. In 4-5 likes out of her thousand something friends, she heard an endorsement. In the quietness of the lack of likes, I saw people mourning for a Mom who put something out there that she'd regret later.<br /><br /><b>Like doesn't mean you're right</b>. It might just mean someone likes you and sympathizes with you - not that they like what you said. The two are so confused.<br /><br /><b>Ranting Encouraged</b><br />Now we're in the political season and I read the other day that a study showed that if a friend rants on Facebook about a political issue, that other friends are more likely to change their mind. So, now, political parties could, quite literally, encourage ranting. <br /><br />There are times to rant, of course. There are issues worth ranting about. But the pure evil of one candidate over the pure angelicness of another are lies. No man is perfect and there are things every candidate has big issues in my mind. Don't give me this "my candidate is a better person than the other candidate" stuff. I want facts and rants are often personal attacks. It is the nature of the political beast.<br /><br />You can like it or you can engage the ranter in conversation if you disagree? Those are your only two choices? Are we all idiots? You never fight an angry man or woman on their own turf and that is what you're doing. Then, you have to ruin your whole day by seeing who said what in the ridiculous escalating conversation that if you ignore, will leave you looking like an idiot. Come on! Who does that unless they just love fussing. I don't.<br /><br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/115916382183421477315/BloggerPictures?authkey=Gv1sRgCNPCp6bK0YDF6gE#5790959550574491330'><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMX1EWQVdB9kmEcfw2lRVSeXNqyw-4ke37AOMBP75-Y0_4W3sMIcIne9U4HDlIGyCUCMoiTb_qhucW6ojEQzn1_WEqTYbKrzCZlKXcUZ53wGvW333c7OriN3qMCxP_ND5IXpstSlFHDIDj/s288/5.jpg" style="margin:5px" width="281"></a></center><br /><b>Conversation Tracking is Great, but why should I have to "like it" to track it?</b><br />The biggest issue I have with Facebook is what it is doing to conversation. With blogging, you have people conversing on both sides. On tumblr, you can converse, but there is no way to really track the conversation.. Facebook is one of the few places you can track a conversation but you have to "like" the conversation to do so. I think this is a flaw in Facebook and needs to be fixed for the good of all of us.<br /><br />I may not agree with a person to want to follow in on the conversation and I shouldn't have to fill up my bookmark bar to do it. <br /><br />I have to "like" a political candidate to follow what he/she posts publicly on Facebook. Really? That is an endorsement. Maybe I want to read and get to know them, but that is going to be hard to do. I guess I can follow them personally, maybe that is what I'm supposed to do. But isn't that still public for everyone to see? Once I like someone, everyone thinks that is a vote, and I'm not willing to do that, especially now that our likes are basically used as advertisements. (Someone goes to a political candidate's page and they'll see their friends who "like" that candidate.)<br /><br /><b>Wake up to the flaws in Facebook</b><br />There are times in my life when I have woken up and realized something is amiss. <br /><br />The way Facebook is designed inherently causes mob behavior and I don't like it one bit. I'm so glad that everyone can feel good about how much they are liked but we have real world problems to deal with and Facebook is where many people go to talk about them. It may not be the best forum for balanced conversations where multiple voices are heard.<br /><br /><b>Facebook is a polarizing influence on society.</b><br /><br />So, talk about issues, but if you want to have real, multiple perspectives, you will have to go somewhere else. The problem is that "everyone" is quite literally on Facebook and so these flaws will continue to influence society in ways that are not for the best - the polarization of people. Right now we need common ground, not a widening chasm.<br /><br />I dis-like the echo chamber Facebook is becoming. So, for now, I'll just leave these wandering thoughts out here on my blog and continue to ponder a social media platform that is good at getting people to come back but may actually be harming the discourse we need to have in society.<br /><br />See Facebook clearly for what it is. You don't have to like it.<br />

I dis-like the echo chamber Facebook is becoming

If social media has given us the gift of being afraid to speak the truth in love, then we are a sad lot indeed. Speech isn't free, it of...

Read more »

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 09/22/2012

<ul class="diigo-linkroll"> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://belkinwemo.tumblr.com">Belkin WeMo</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">I am testing a wemo along with 2 students. If you're a student or teacher, stay tuned to my blog for a very exciting opportunity to test these devices. wemo with ifttt.com is AWESOME and I"m having a blast playing with it.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/wemo">wemo</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/gadget">gadget</a></p> </li> </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='http://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.</p>

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 09/22/2012

Belkin WeMo I am testing a wemo along with 2 students. If you're a student or teacher, stay tune...

Read more »