Join Microsoft PIL, Johannesburg, for a webinar series on assessing 21st Century skills starting Wednesday evening 18th July from 6 - 6:30 pm

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6U8v7_oTuNvF2IyeK0otnYjuQPl5wZmDg5Q8fKkOeYj2j45qt9MWMYwQMivV0lF3HoqhMFbZ9Hzg24ya6LDLz1TfTZxRdC4Ltg1ZiSkbPgwxjQ5Q-ZQDK0wQktJ-mfPL7zEHBhhops94/s1600/PIL.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6U8v7_oTuNvF2IyeK0otnYjuQPl5wZmDg5Q8fKkOeYj2j45qt9MWMYwQMivV0lF3HoqhMFbZ9Hzg24ya6LDLz1TfTZxRdC4Ltg1ZiSkbPgwxjQ5Q-ZQDK0wQktJ-mfPL7zEHBhhops94/s320/PIL.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">On Wednesday evening 18th July (and for another four Wednesdays after that) Microsoft Partners in Learning, Johannesburg is running a LEAP21 series of webinars on assessing 21st century skills, from 6 - 6:30 pm using their Lync webinar software. The one on Wednesday 18th is the first in a series on the five dimensions of 21st Century learning. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br />Join ALL the online meetings at this web address <a href="https://join.microsoft.com/meet/v-angels/Q6Z25RJQ">https://join.microsoft.com/meet/v-angels/Q6Z25RJQ.</a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />This webinar series will focus on innovative teaching and learning approaches and how the LEAP21 material supports this. It will be of special interest to teachers who wish to enter innovative projects for the Partners in Learning Forum in 2013. The webinar on the 18th was about ASSESSING COLLABORATION collaboration. The webinar on the 25th July at 6:30pm will be about assessing KNOWLEDGE-BUILDING. </span></div><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">What is LEAP21</span></b><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />LEAP21 is based on the way ITL Research studies and measures innovative teaching practices. LEAP21 asks teachers and school leaders to analyse and 'score' learning activities to see how deeply they integrate 21st century skills, collaborate in designing new learning activities that provide deeper 21st century skills development, examine the impact of these learning activities on students' work, and use ICT as part of the process.<br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">What teachers are saying about this</span></b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Teachers who go through this process say it gives them a clear and practical way to integrate 21st century skills in their own teaching. LEAP21 requires that educators be active and engaged knowledge-builders, adopting and using the very skills they are seeking to instill in their students: collaboration, knowledge-building, self-regulation and assessment (or learning to learn) and use of technology for learning. Through the programme, teachers become learners of their own teaching practices by studying the impact of their teaching on students LEAP21 guidelines help teacherss identify and understand the opportunities that learning activities give students to build 21st century skills. </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Microsoft will be hosting workshops and webinars on LEAP21, focusing on the five dimensions of 21st Century learning.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />The LEAP21 discussion Forum on the Partners in Learning Network <a href="http://www.pil-network.com/Discussion/ccc93868-82a8-4c32-98a3-a8afb555a34b%20" target="_blank">http://www.pil-network.com/Discussion/ccc93868-82a8-4c32-98a3-a8afb555a34b </a>will allow all participants of LEAP21 training to connect and discuss the topic, as well as access the documents needed for the webinar.</span><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Downloads for tomorrow's webinar (25th July)</span></b><br /><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The following downloads will be useful for the webinars</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1) <a href="https://www.box.com/s/344d89224d8d4c77f3a3" target="_blank">Lesson examples</a></div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2) <a href="https://www.box.com/s/d346316edcb3159d2412" target="_blank">How to join a Lync conference call</a></span></div>

Microsoft Join Microsoft PIL, Johannesburg, for a webinar series on assessing 21st Century skills starting Wednesday evening 18th July from 6 - 6:30 pm

On Wednesday evening 18th July (and for another four Wednesdays after that) Microsoft Partners in Learning, Johannesburg is running a LEAP21...

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Common Core Standards: Lessons, Ideas, and Discussions #ccchat

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/sites/default/files/images/blogs/69/6a00e54faaf86b883301543215af83970c-320wi" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/sites/default/files/images/blogs/69/6a00e54faaf86b883301543215af83970c-320wi" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scholastic has<a href="http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/classroom_solutions/2011/05/common-core-state-standards" target="_blank"> an excellent article</a> on the shifts by Common Core.<br />Read their article for information. This photo is from that article on Scholastic.</td></tr></tbody></table>I've been collecting common core resources as I research and write for my upcoming book, <a href="http://www.eyeoneducation.com/Collaborative-Writing-Project" target="_blank">Collaborative Writing in the Cloud</a>, from eye on education. The hashtag for this topic on Twitter is #<a href="http://twitter.com/#!/search/%23ccchat" target="_blank">ccchat </a>.<br /><ul class="diigo-linkroll"><li> <div class="diigo-link"><a href="http://www.sharemylesson.com/high-school-us-history-teaching-resources/">500+ High School (Grades 9-12) U.S. History #sschat #ccchat resources via @sharemylesson</a></div><div class="diigo-description">High school US history topics separated by topic and grade level. There are some interesting simulations included in this list of resources.</div><div class="diigo-tags">tags: <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/history">history</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/ushistory">ushistory</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/sschat">sschat</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore">commoncore</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/buffer">buffer</a><br /><br /></div></li><li> <div class="diigo-link"><a href="http://www.sharemylesson.com/high-school-world-history-teaching-resources/">1.3K+ High School (Grades 9-12) World History Activities #sschat #ccchat</a></div><div class="diigo-description">Social studies lessons for high school relating to world history and aligned with common core standards.</div><div class="diigo-tags">tags: <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore">commoncore</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/sschat">sschat</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a><br /><br /></div></li><li> <div class="diigo-link"><a href="http://21cglobal.blogspot.com/2011/10/flat-world-and-our-place-in-it.html">A Flat World and Our Place In It | 21C Global</a></div><div class="diigo-description">Suzie Nestico (Flat Classroom certified teacher and project manager) aligns her Flat Clasroom and NetGenEd projects with Common Core standards.) Here's how she aligned with common core writing standards. I like how she fully discloses to students what she's doing and why as well as providing links and instructions to the students.</div><div class="diigo-tags">tags: <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore">commoncore</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/writing">writing</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/ccchat">ccchat</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclassroom">flatclassroom</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclassroomproject">flatclassroomproject</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/bestpractices">bestpractices</a><br /><br /></div></li><li> <div class="diigo-link"><a href="http://zeitz.wikispaces.com/EIT+Wikibook">Dr. Z - EIT Wikibook</a></div><div class="diigo-description">Dr. Leigh Zeitz shared at ISTE 2012 about his use of Distributed learning Communities to facilitate collaborative creation. Here, he talks about his Emerging Instructional Technology wikibook that his students build. This is an excellent framework for writing, collaborating, and working with technology and was presented as an example of writing standard W.x.6 (the x is the grade level).</div><div class="diigo-tags">tags: <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/writing">writing</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore">commoncore</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/technology">technology</a><br /><br /></div></li><li> <div class="diigo-link"><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/robertsonwriting/home">Roberts On Writing</a></div><div class="diigo-description">My friend Jennifer Roberts is a digital lead teacher in San Diego. She copresented with us at ISTE on Common Core in the Cloud and rocked it. Here's the website she built about Writing Response groups and what she does in the classroom. She's very knowledgeable and I love what she's doing with her students.</div><div class="diigo-tags">tags: <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/engchat">engchat</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/writing">writing</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore">commoncore</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a><br /><br /></div></li><li> <div class="diigo-link"><a href="http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/">NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program</a></div><div class="diigo-description">national Novel Writing month is in November but this website is so much more. I heard Jennifer Roberts share this with our Panel on Writing with Common Core at ISTE 2012 and this website is a phenomenal way to meet the 3rd standard W.X.3 about Writing narratives. Students collaboratively work together. You can do this any time but November is the big emphasis. I think every school should participate in Nanowrimo -- just love it.</div><div class="diigo-tags">tags: <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/writing">writing</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/engchat">engchat</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore">commoncore</a><br /><br /></div></li><li> <div class="diigo-link"><a href="http://email.eyeoneducation.com/public/webform/render_form/g6y2lzuov8o4b4uh1k6xqmy2u68ql/db582c1ea476ab674aff7b00112e2f0b/addcontact">Collaborative Writing in the Cloud</a></div><div class="diigo-description">I'm going to be sharing a lot about collaborative writing and Common Core writing standards. For US educators to start teaching collaborative writing that we're going to have to align and help them understand how it will meet the standards they are using. While this will relate to anyone who wants to use cloud tools, those implementing common core standards will be very interested. This is the form to complete if you're interested in getting a copy of the book.</div><div class="diigo-tags">tags: <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/iste12">iste12</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/iste">iste</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore">commoncore</a><br /><br /></div></li><li> <div class="diigo-link"><a href="http://www.sharemylesson.com/article.aspx?storyCode=50000148">Common Core State Standards - SML</a></div><div class="diigo-description">Common Core information center. Some good resources on Common Core and what is happening with them.</div><div class="diigo-tags">tags: <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore">commoncore</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a><br /><br /></div></li><li> <div class="diigo-link"><a href="http://community.sharemylesson.com/forums/t/14.aspx">Information about Common Core State Standards - Questions about Common Core - Share My Lesson</a></div><div class="diigo-description">Common core forums have been created in the share my lesson website - cosponsored by the aft and tes, this is going to be an interesting place where teachers converse.</div><div class="diigo-tags">tags: <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore">commoncore</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/newapp">newapp</a><br /><br /></div></li><li> <div class="diigo-link"><a href="http://drapestakes.blogspot.com/2012/04/you-yes-you-what-do-you-think-about.html">Drape's Takes: You! Yes, you! What do you think about the Common Core? Here's what I think...</a></div><div class="diigo-description">I read this post from Darren Draper and his response to Utah's discussion of common core standards. Read his thoughts. Here's my response on my current thinking on Common Core right now - I thought I'd put it here. "I think that in terms of the "big picture" of having a common interface - having a common core set of standards makes sense. The states have proven that they can create a convoluted hodge podge of stuff that they really can't keep updated. That being said,I think the question that is coming to me at this point is: who updates common core when mistakes are there and also, does common core PRESCRIBE what to think in some areas like history and science. The math, writing, and reading standards are the first because they make sense and are far less controversial, but even those have been accused of taking kids down to the lowest common denominator and not pushing higher order thinking. OK, so those standards need improvement -- who does it and HOW? WHO is responsible for addressing these issues. I think also, the thought of having science and history for example prescribed to us makes me nervous. I look to my friend Suzie Nestico to help me understand these standards as she knows far more than I do. I find that many standards are now written with an implicit worldview attached and that is what bothers me. I think that it is important to read many different aspects of history and there are aspects of it that are left out in many "versions" of history. Which "version" will we adopt as a country. The very fact it would be so is somewhat troubling to me. I had some history profs in college - if they had their world view imposed upon the rest of us - we'd be far worse off than we are now. So, I think the biggest issues I have are not that we NEED common standards - because we do. Many countries have them. It is who is the governing body? Who is making it up? How will standards be edited? The truth is that the people who control the standards will control much of the thought of the next generation and it is that sort of thing that makes most American's nervous. We've long had independent and diverse states and while common core has its advantages - this one issue of WHO behind the WHAT of the standards has many people (including me) wanting to know more. "</div><div class="diigo-tags">tags: <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore">commoncore</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edreform">edreform</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/learning">learning</a><br /><br /></div></li><li> <div class="diigo-link"><a href="http://www.achieve.org/oer-rubrics">OER Rubrics and Evaluation Tool | Achieve.org</a></div><div class="diigo-description">This tool helps you evaluate Open education tools to see how they align to Common Core  state standards. By using this rubric, you can demonstrate how resources that are free can be integrated into your curriculum. There are 7 of the 8 already created. IF you want to save money while you align standards you must share this with your curriculum directors and administrators. Use this as an opportunity to increase quality AND save money (that is a win for everyone.)</div><div class="diigo-tags">tags: <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/oer">oer</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edreform">edreform</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/savemoney">savemoney</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/curriculum">curriculum</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore">commoncore</a><br /><br /></div></li><li> <div class="diigo-link"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/teacher-one-maddening-day-working-with-the-common-core/2012/03/15/gIQA8J4WUS_blog.html">Teacher: One (maddening) day working with the Common Core - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post</a></div><div class="diigo-description">The Washington Post has a quite distressing bug common remarks about Common Core exemplars. Is going too much by the common core doing to take us down to a lower common denominator than we are at already? I'm not sure but this type of article is very concerning. "Each teacher read individually through the exemplar lesson on Lincoln’s speech. When we began discussing it, we all expressed the same conclusion: Most of it was too scripted. It spelled out what types of questions to ask, what types of questions not to ask, and essentially narrowed any discussion to obvious facts and ideas from the speech.</div><div class="diigo-tags">tags: <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edreform">edreform</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore">commoncore</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/higherorderthinking">higherorderthinking</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/scripts">scripts</a><br /><br /></div></li><li> <div class="diigo-link"><a href="http://www.timesunion.com/business/press-releases/article/Top-Online-School-James-Madison-High-School-3384716.php">Top Online School, James Madison High School, Implements Common Core Standards - Times Union</a></div><div class="diigo-description">This from PR Web James Madison High School, a leading online high school, has proven to be an early adopter among the more than 130,000 primary and secondary schools across the United States. The accredited online high school is one of the first schools to implement The Common Core State Standards."</div><div class="diigo-tags">tags: <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/commoncore">commoncore</a><br /><br /></div></li><li> <div class="diigo-link"><a href="http://www.ascd.org/public-policy/common-core-standards.aspx">Status of State Adoption of Common Core Standards - ASCD</a></div><div class="diigo-description">Current adoption of common core standards on the ASCD website shows that Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Virginia, Texas, and Alaska are remaining as stand alone standards. Arizona and New Mexico seem to have adopted them without issuing an official announcement. I know they are with controversy, but perhaps we should move towards modifying common standards versus going back to a state by state model. Certainly history and science are full of controversy.</div><div class="diigo-tags">tags: <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/curriculum">curriculum</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore">commoncore</a><br /><br /></div></li><li> <div class="diigo-link"><a href="http://elalp.cbalwiki.ets.org/">CBAL ELA Competency Model and Provisional Learning Progressions - home</a></div><div class="diigo-description">This is interesting. ETS has launched a website about: "Educational Testing Service (ETS), the world's leading measurement and research organization, has launched a new website to stimulate discussion, debate, and promote empirical research to help teachers and students meet the goals of the English language arts (ELA) Common Core State Standards." but this is most definitely a wiki (looks like wikispaces.) I find it fascinating that a company would use a wiki because so many have resisted this. I wonder who can join and who can edit. Interesting. It says you can join. It will be interesting to see what they are doing with this. Perhaps some of you common core experts should join.</div><div class="diigo-tags">tags: <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore">commoncore</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/engchat">engchat</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/composition">composition</a><br /><br /></div></li><li> <div class="diigo-link"><a href="http://lordofsurvival.pbworks.com/w/page/19029837/FrontPage">lordofsurvival / FrontPage</a></div><div class="diigo-description">This wiki used at MICDS (a great school in St. Louis where I've been before) is a Lord of the Flies survival game using a wiki. This is a great idea for a lesson plan with collaborative writing as well as understanding the book content.</div><div class="diigo-tags">tags: <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/writing">writing</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore">commoncore</a><br /><br /></div></li><li> <div class="diigo-link"><a href="http://pinterest.com/lianec/common-core-resources">Common Core Resources</a></div><div class="diigo-description">For those who have told me that there is no use for pinterest in schools, here is a common core pinterest curated by Liane Courtney. Most web 2 tools can be useful, it lies in the willingness of users to make them so.</div><div class="diigo-tags">tags: <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/commoncore">commoncore</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/writing">writing</a><br /><br /></div></li><li> <div class="diigo-link"><a href="http://dailycensored.com/2011/11/03/nobel-prize-economist-refutes-david-colemans-crackpot-literacy-theory">Nobel Prize Economist Refutes David Coleman’s Crackpot Literacy Theory | Dailycensored.com</a></div><div class="diigo-description">I've been getting dm's asking me to mention the controversies around David Colement and the common core curriculum standards. The concept that "informational text" is the only thing of value is being questioned. I think that the need for common core is there, but perhaps the standards themselves are at question.  I would challenge educators who disagree with the current common core standards to suggest alternatives. If you look at the major innovations in technology - it happened when a few interfaces were standardized. We do need common standards, I guess the question is if it should be common core or if common score should evolve. </div><div class="diigo-tags">tags: <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore">commoncore</a></div></li></ul><div 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>.</div><div class="zemanta-related" style="margin-top: 20px; overflow: hidden;"><h4 class="zemanta-related-title">Related articles</h4><ul class="zemanta-article-ul zemanta-article-ul-image" style="margin-left: 0; padding: 0;"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 12px; height: 240px; list-style: none; margin: 10px 40px 20px 0px; text-align: left; width: 80px;"><a href="http://vickidavis.me/post/25794593945/collaborative-writing-in-the-cloud-engchat" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0 0 10px 0; padding: 0;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/96219564_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; box-shadow: 1px 1px 3px #999; margin: 0; padding: 0;" width="80" /></a><a href="http://vickidavis.me/post/25794593945/collaborative-writing-in-the-cloud-engchat" style="display: block; height: 90px; line-height: 14pt; overflow: hidden; 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float: right;" /></a></div>

Common Core Standards: Lessons, Ideas, and Discussions #ccchat

Scholastic has an excellent article on the shifts by Common Core. Read their article for information. This photo is from that article on S...

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Library Director – Palmer (MA) Public Library

<strong>Library Director – </strong><span style="color: #48286d;"><strong>Palmer (MA) Public Library</strong></span>. Creative, energetic leader with strong public service orientation needed to direct all phases of operations in a busy vibrant library, recently expanded to 30,000 square feet on 3 floors; experienced staff of 10 FT and 1 PT personnel; serving a town of 12,000 people centrally located in the scenic Quaboag Valley; annual circulation of 161,757 (FY11); member of CWMARS network using Evergreen open source software. Knowledge of administrative practices, budget management, and library technology, plus ability to work well with public officials and community organizations required. Must have MLS degree from an ALA accredited program, plus 5 years minimum experience in a leadership position. Salary range: $58,000-$65,000. Review of applications will begin in July 2012. Send cover letter, resume, and names of three professional references to: <a _fcksavedurl="mailto:presidentppl@palmer.lib.ma.us" href="mailto:presidentppl@palmer.lib.ma.us">presidentppl@palmer.lib.ma.us</a>. Palmer (MA) Public Library web site: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.palmer.lib.ma.us" href="http://www.palmer.lib.ma.us/" target="_blank">www.palmer.lib.ma.us</a>.

Library Director – Palmer (MA) Public Library

Library Director – Palmer (MA) Public Library . Creative, energetic leader with strong public service orientation needed to direct all pha...

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IdeaConnection: Open Innovation success story: Open Innovation: Goldcorp Challenge

<br /> <div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><br /> "The Goldcorp Challenge was launched in March 2000 and 400 megabytes worth of data about the 55,000 acre site was placed on the company’s website. Everything that the company new about the Red Lake mine was a mouse click away. Word spread fast around the Internet and within a few weeks submissions came in from all over the world as more than 1,000 virtual prospectors chewed over the data." There were 100 sites identified, 50% of them unknown to the company based upon this data. Goldcorp became one of the most profitable in the industry. This is an example of open data and collaboration. This type of challenge is being used increasingly as people "crowdsource" as they outsource their problem solving and R&D through the use of challenges. Challenges are also a way for the great, but unnoticed and unrecognized, to rise to the top. What if we opened up data that we collect on students for problem solving?<br/><br />via Diigo http://www.ideaconnection.com/open-innovation-success/Open-Innovation-Goldcorp-Challenge-00031.html<br /> </div><br />

blogger Collaboration EDUCATION evernote opendata tumblr IdeaConnection: Open Innovation success story: Open Innovation: Goldcorp Challenge

"The Goldcorp Challenge was launched in March 2000 and 400 megabytes worth of data about the 55,000 acre site was p...

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A report back on African Education Week 2012

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>Submitted by Janet Thomson, Executive Director of SchoolNetSA</i></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">On 2-4 July 2012 I attended Education Week which is one of the the largest education conferences and exhibitions in Africa. It was held at the Sandton Centre in Johannesburg. This post serves to highlight some of the presentations given during Education Week 2012. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC1MlK7oCcDJ07mzkqrDWmdtbklDmHGdy1DQSvlC2U62sPo9vXYEpBHjogrs03cD9HuNTeRvbiy77ifVepMtad8UUSqLWTTK9ymwm9R-xIoYZbx9yOOi6VHyL7nARHe_cDVS4cz83qIxw/s1600/edweek.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="108" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC1MlK7oCcDJ07mzkqrDWmdtbklDmHGdy1DQSvlC2U62sPo9vXYEpBHjogrs03cD9HuNTeRvbiy77ifVepMtad8UUSqLWTTK9ymwm9R-xIoYZbx9yOOi6VHyL7nARHe_cDVS4cz83qIxw/s400/edweek.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>1) How to use and build online communities <i> </i></b></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><i>by Janet Thomson, Executive Director of SchoolnetSA</i> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The organisers of the African Education Week conference requested SchoolNet to make a presentation at the conference on building and using online communities. Currently SchoolNet is building its SchoolNet Membership community using the <a href="http://e-blogschool.blogspot.com/">SchoolNetsa members’ blog</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/SchoolNetSA">Facebook page</a>, Twitter <a href="mailto:*@schoolnetsa">@schoolnetsa</a> and a host of other online digital media. Furthermore for the past 12 years SchoolNet has been sustaining communities of teachers while they study online courses in ICT integration across the curriculum both in South Africa and in other countries. I presented on this topic at the conference. Here is a link to the presentation. My presentation is embedded below – the notes under each slide provide the narrative (but this will only be viewable if you download the presentation from Slideshare as a PowerPoint). </span></div><div id="__ss_13660838" style="width: 425px;"><b style="display: block; margin: 12px 0px 4px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/Schoolnetsa11/how-to-use-and-build-online-communities-by-janet-thomson" title="How to use and build online communities by Janet Thomson">How to use and build online communities by Janet Thomson</a></b><object height="355" id="__sse13660838" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=jthomson4julyschoolnetsa-120716170950-phpapp01&stripped_title=how-to-use-and-build-online-communities-by-janet-thomson&userName=Schoolnetsa11" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed name="__sse13660838" src="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=jthomson4julyschoolnetsa-120716170950-phpapp01&stripped_title=how-to-use-and-build-online-communities-by-janet-thomson&userName=Schoolnetsa11" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> <br /><div style="padding-bottom: 12px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/">presentations</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/Schoolnetsa11">Schoolnet SA </a>.</div></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Other highlights of the ICT thread of the conference included the following: </span></div><b><br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">2) Enhancing creativity and nurturing innovative thinking skills by the use of interactive mobile technology and Cloud Computing </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></b><i style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">by Gisle Johnsen, CEO, Grieg Music Education & Assistant Professor, University of Bergen, Norway</i><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gisle had been concerned that teachers tend to educate for yesterday instead of creating a society for tomorrow. He felt that creativity was the key to ensuring that civil society remains productive and that we should not just encourage learners to view art in museums or listen to music but to rather be the creators of their own music. Using a library of music for learners to select from that spanned all music genres and through the ages was mind-blowingly creative. The format of the programme is via an animation of a child wandering along a time line of history selecting what she would like to remix from each era or genre to make her own music. Gisle explained that children do not care about chopping up a piece of Beethoven or pasting the drums of Charlie Potts of the Rolling Stones into their highly diverse creations which could include a whole symphony orchestra. We hope to be given access to this online tool at no cost and will endeavour to share this with our SchoolNet member schools. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">3) Do you know the top 10 tools that are free to use?</span><i> </i></b><i style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">by</span><b> </b>Sarietjie Musgrave, Head, ICT Innovation in School of Education, Bloemfontein</i><br /><i> </i> <br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sarietjie selected a few really valuable tools rather than wading through a top 10 list. She explored their use in being supportive to effective teaching, e.g. One Note, Qwiki, and a polling tool.The audience was transfixed by Sarietjie. It was as though they had never thought of using technology at all, let alone these whizz bang fantastic tools. Sarietjie took extra time at the end of the session and spilled over into lunchtime but nobody left – and after her talk she was inundated with questions about the use of the tools and where they could be accessed. </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">4) Practical hands on training session, bring your gadgets & gismos along…Revolutionising classroom practices with Facebook, Twitter and all the other Goobleedees</span></b><i style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">    by</i><b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></b><i style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Maggie Verster, Senior Consultant, The Commonwealth of Learning, South Africa</i><br /><i> </i> <br /><i></i> <br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Maggie presented as usual with great gusto and enthusiasm but for some reason the majority of the audience did not get out their phones and join in. There were some tweets up on the back chat but the delegates to this conference did not seem to be nearly as adventurous as Maggie would have hoped. Nevertheless her presentation was excellent as usual. She used a poll <a href="http://twtpoll.com/2dwqo7">http://twtpoll.com/2dwqo7</a> to ask the question who is going to save our education system – the teachers, the parents, or the Education Department – the audience had to vote and the results refreshed automatically. Maggie extolled the virtues of powerful polling among students or even adult groups of learners. She also extolled the virtues of using the SchoolNet website and blog and webinars – in fact she did this so well during the conference that a few people told me they thought she worked for SchoolNet. </span></div><b><br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">5) Practical mobile learning session: Using tools your learners have </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>by Adele<b><u> </u></b>Botha, Scientist, Next Generation Networks and Mobile research group, CSIR Meraka Institute, South Africa</i></span><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Adele provided an up to date overview of how and why learners are connected to the world of information through the device in their pockets. She sketched out the scenarios in South Africa and the need to embrace and harness the mobile revolution currently happening in the world of learners. She warned that reactive policies such as banning cell phones were not going to work and in fact only serve to further alienate learners from learning. Adele’s presentation contained some hilarious cartoons about evolution and about the use of technology in this day and age and she highlighted some interesting facts e.g. Today’s grade 12 learners had never not had the internet. She was concerned about technology being viewed only as disruptive and authorities taking the view that with cell phone use there is nobody on playground duty. She gave a super example of a teacher with a low end phone with no sim card and how she divided the class into groups who each made video one after the other critiquing and improving it each time – the topic was ‘A dictator’ – so a whole project was created around dictatorship using the video feature of a low end phone with no connectivity and 60 students! They were certainly learning 21^st century skills. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">6) CoZa Cares Foundation and the sustainable ICT school environment</span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">  by Fiona Wallace, Director, CoZa Cares Foundation, South Africa</i></span><br /><i> </i> <br /><i></i> <br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Maggie Verster kept a back chat going throughout this presentation. Fiona spoke about current research into the educational ICT field being conducted by Bridge and funded by Uniforum. She promised that the findings would be shared and would probably be available by the end of Augus.Fiona also mentioned that Coza Cares is working on a portal for teachers to share resources. She also made reference to the Bread bin open source information service. Fiona suggested that connectivity was not necessarily the most important issue in education but that the benefits can be huge – e.g. it can bring the world library into a school. She was excited about the latest developments concerning broadband Internet over satellite – using a company called LiquidTelecom who are currently researching connectivity options for schools. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>7) Teaching and learning to reflect the digital lifestyle of our youth</b></span></div><b></b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>by Michelle Lissoos, Managing Director, Think Ahead Solutions, iSchools Africa, South Africa</i></span> <br /><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Michelle started her presentation with a reference to the fact that the first date that Michael J Fox travels to in the first Back to the Future film was last week – June 2012. The message here was - so the future is now. What was even more interesting for me was that when I mentioned the film to my daughter she already knew about the date being last week but she reminded me that the film maker’s image of the future involved having a fax machine in every room. I am old enough to remember how exciting the invention of the fax machine was so this brought it home to me that no matter what technology we might be wowed with at the moment there is no telling whether it will be around in another 20, 10 or even 5 years. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Michelle referred to the 2013 Horizon Report which documents trends in technology use for school education. It identifies and describes the emerging technologies which are likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, research, or creative expression within education around the globe and makes predictions about their lifespan. It was interesting that SchoolNet SA’s Microsoft Xbox initiative was mentioned in this 2012 report as being significant in its impact on literacy for second language learners in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Back to Michelle - she explained how the iPad had revolutionised access to educational content and had already launched 47 000 <i><u>educational</u></i> apps. She pointed out the even greater advantages of an IPad if connected to a projector - and even greater with connectivity. A video of learners using Garage Band was shown which resonated well with Gisle’s presentation from Norway. There was also evidence that the iPad was reaching non-verbal children and motivating them to speak. Sarietjie also gave this example that she had witnessed with her own tablet when visiting a school with an autistic child who had not spoken before touching that screen. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Those are just a few of the presentations that I enjoyed listening to in the ICT thread of the Conference. Education week 2012 proved, once again, to be a valuable and enjoyable experience. </span></div></div>

conferences A report back on African Education Week 2012

Submitted by Janet Thomson, Executive Director of SchoolNetSA On 2-4 July 2012 I attended Education Week which is one of the the largest edu...

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the crowd is turning

I have a very demanding audience. And they are getting antsy.<br /><br />They are 4 and 1.<br /><br />We started out the summer with a bang doing a million fun things; zoo, pool, playdates, museums, camps, trips. But we've started to loose our fizzle.<br /><br />We went from dancing in the streets.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL_oXhz2wCJDbXnS5RvDx0FJALUlS0fTC4MfRZJE2ojCD7zRobst7JEo8BfEFkzQmKpBXPV41j1RPHL7F9VFlJMhXapiRtUKXvd4QCpJ9Rt0hOrHesTpaboW9EsSsZpY8_0uNXuvK4_mFu/s1600/AmeliaStreet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL_oXhz2wCJDbXnS5RvDx0FJALUlS0fTC4MfRZJE2ojCD7zRobst7JEo8BfEFkzQmKpBXPV41j1RPHL7F9VFlJMhXapiRtUKXvd4QCpJ9Rt0hOrHesTpaboW9EsSsZpY8_0uNXuvK4_mFu/s400/AmeliaStreet.jpg" width="257" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white;">To doing this.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDkyowKWTO3OLaSJhT7Tk5YXJs5jH945hQpKcorfR-ptAcGHylHWtH9DeGXnSVsqP8vFT5Y9jp_CFwzamPiA-u2Pi9frtDZAt0crzjgHaky2WRJQgHY5IZegkypTJCfPzwqN8TQ_H8Nexh/s1600/EveandZoey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDkyowKWTO3OLaSJhT7Tk5YXJs5jH945hQpKcorfR-ptAcGHylHWtH9DeGXnSVsqP8vFT5Y9jp_CFwzamPiA-u2Pi9frtDZAt0crzjgHaky2WRJQgHY5IZegkypTJCfPzwqN8TQ_H8Nexh/s400/EveandZoey.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white;">They are starting to turn on me.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCUI5ztK1-jarcVOTqooLgNu4nIVtsjTv1tgv6lIW-AreCBE34SSky10pKPr0vwP_d3TMvKETBkVi_SGV46yrPnTHsyzup2PGGAyn9Xqbf0SWvq9dUAzjA-t2Z3eMDeO7c_wI5n4u_HU1H/s1600/Unhappygirls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCUI5ztK1-jarcVOTqooLgNu4nIVtsjTv1tgv6lIW-AreCBE34SSky10pKPr0vwP_d3TMvKETBkVi_SGV46yrPnTHsyzup2PGGAyn9Xqbf0SWvq9dUAzjA-t2Z3eMDeO7c_wI5n4u_HU1H/s400/Unhappygirls.jpg" width="275" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;">So this week I'm pulling out every Pinterest trick to get back to this.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLB-TliyvuLhr3PG0b666js4bfANV7McxhByqaQcaZV9ki8aAuUtHZFFuZMrPE4rZMIyIkIcVk5XzXFRwvOfUe2XmLQQ99A54RQV9ED4pQLbmzgPSVr85KV6P49Bb3l66VD6XQTb0H2qe3/s1600/HappyGirls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLB-TliyvuLhr3PG0b666js4bfANV7McxhByqaQcaZV9ki8aAuUtHZFFuZMrPE4rZMIyIkIcVk5XzXFRwvOfUe2XmLQQ99A54RQV9ED4pQLbmzgPSVr85KV6P49Bb3l66VD6XQTb0H2qe3/s400/HappyGirls.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>How do you deal with the summer slump? How many trips to Target and Michael's can you make in a week? Have you heard of any summer camps for moms? I would be happy to be sent away for a week.

the crowd is turning

I have a very demanding audience. And they are getting antsy. They are 4 and 1. We started out the summer with a bang doing a million fun th...

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Uncomfortably Numb

<i>Written on June 16, 2011. I saved this post for when this book goes live so the whole thing would be real to you. These are my thoughts typed at 2 am on the last night of the last deadline of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0132610353/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0132610353&linkCode=as2&tag=httpwwwbrighc-20">Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=httpwwwbrighc-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0132610353" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />. Now, I'm working on<a href="http://www.eyeoneducation.com/Collaborative-Writing-Project" target="_blank"> Collaborative Writing in the Cloud</a> and am rereading because I'm reliving the same thing.</i><br /><i><br /></i><br />I'm sitting here about to watch today turn into tomorrow for the fifth day this week as the final manuscript for the <a href="http://www.flatclassroombook.com/">Flat Classroom Book</a> is combined in Adobe Acrobat Pro.<br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUw60fVdsdpnkpncQ3mP2djqdI_-3GtSX3Kx6MX7Ok5n3GjDG9PaN87UUU2JD8f5diongUJOwQxci6mL5BRhrUuI06UUivYH0veLrTZss3qqMzUV8lUruKqb2CfePHMdJZ3akG8V4Kk_zu/s288/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUw60fVdsdpnkpncQ3mP2djqdI_-3GtSX3Kx6MX7Ok5n3GjDG9PaN87UUU2JD8f5diongUJOwQxci6mL5BRhrUuI06UUivYH0veLrTZss3qqMzUV8lUruKqb2CfePHMdJZ3akG8V4Kk_zu/s288/3.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo snapped after weeks of<br />no sleep as I prepared to<br />overnight Flattening Classrooms,<br />Engaging Minds to Pearson.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I'm too tired to reflect right now. I've always romanticized authors. Alone in some cabin nestled amidst the Rocky Mountains all alone with a typewriter working away at some book that's going to change the world and inspire the millions. With a dog sitting on his feet and a fire crackling in the fireplace, he swigs a perpetually full cup of eternally warm coffee as the words flow. Everything comes so fast it is ready for the publisher and he's starting the next book in his mind before this one is printed.<br /><br />Alone. Wow.<br /><br />That is about the only thing in this picture that is accurate. <b><span style="font-size: large;">Alone.</span></b><br /><br />I'm too tired to really explain it. That probably explains a lot.<br /><br />The best explanation is from Jeremiah:<br /><blockquote>"<span class="versetext" id="jer20-9" style="display: inline;"> his word is in my heart like a fire,<a href="http://draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19732346" name="2"></a> a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in;<a href="http://draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19732346" name="3"></a> indeed, I cannot."</span></blockquote><br /><span class="versetext" id="jer20-9" style="display: inline;">Some people tire of writing. For those of us who love to write, that would be kind of like getting tired of breathing. We have to get those words out. When they flow we know and we're afraid to stop.</span><br /><span class="versetext" id="jer20-9" style="display: inline;"><br /></span><br /><span class="versetext" id="jer20-9" style="display: inline;">We don't sleep. We don't eat. We don't do anything but sit and write and proofread and fix and write and crash the computer and when we can't take it any more we crash for a moment just to pop wide awake two hours later knowing we have to start over.</span><br /><span class="versetext" id="jer20-9" style="display: inline;"><br /></span><br /><h3><span class="versetext" id="jer20-9" style="display: inline;">Epic Movies<br /></span></h3><span class="versetext" id="jer20-9" style="display: inline;">The great movies of history and obscure tv shows have kept me company. Gone with the Wind, about 30 episodes of Numb3rs (it doesn't distract me, I've seen them all twice anyway), the Christian classic <a href="http://www.faithlikepotatoes.com/Faith_like_Potatoes/Faith_like_Potatoes.html" target="_blank">Faith Like Potatoes</a>, and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082158/" target="_blank">Chariots of Fire</a> (three times at least once a day.)</span><br /><span class="versetext" id="jer20-9" style="display: inline;"><br /></span><br /><span class="versetext" id="jer20-9" style="display: inline;">I like Chariots of Fire because each runner is driven. So driven that all they focus on is that one thing. Their families get mad at them. They are misunderstood. People tell them to stop. Lots of people don't even like them, but they go anyway. </span><br /><br /><span class="versetext" id="jer20-9" style="display: inline;">There are some quotes that really speak to me. This fire I have in my bones. I won't presume to call it a gift, really, more of a calling. A purpose:<br /></span><br /><span class="versetext" id="jer20-9" style="display: inline;"><br /></span><br /><blockquote>I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure. <br />— <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/802465.Eric_Liddell">Eric Liddell</a> Chariots of Fire</blockquote><br />Gosh, sometimes I wish I was really noble. But then, when I realize that if I follow God's calling on my life; His purpose, that I am noble. You are too. He made me to write. I've been doing it since Mom gave me my first journal when I was 8. Why have I always written? I don't know. It was rarely fiction, though. It was observations on life, poetry, non fiction. Wrangling words to unleash some new fine shade of meaning like an artist trying to make a new color no one had ever seen before. Somehow when I write I feel His pleasure.<br /><blockquote><br /><b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002027/">Harold M. Abrahams</a></b>: If I can't win, I won't run! <br /><b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000481/">Sybil Gordon</a></b>: If you don't run, you can't win.</blockquote><br />It is a struggle. Wanting to do your best is not the same as being the best. But it is kind of like grades - you should do your best and if you are first then glory be - if you're not, say oh me and do better next time. But you have to realize that once you've given all you've got that is enough. It has to be.<br /><br />When I've given all I can give then I'll know I've lived all I could live. I pray when I die that I'll not have one more word left to drip from my calloused fingers but that every word God called me to write will have been poured out of my tired body.<br /><blockquote><b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002027/">Harold M. Abrahams</a></b>: I will raise my eyes and look down that corridor; 4 feet wide, with 10 lonely seconds to justify my whole existence. But WILL I?  </blockquote>This is the one that breaks my heart. Abrahams and Liddell are such a contrast in characters! Such different people! Abrahams runs to win (and because he has a chip on his shoulder) and Liddell runs because he feels called. If you've read my blog you know that I was very much shaped by my middle school years.<br /><br /><h3>Thoughts in the Night</h3>For a while I actually believed I was worthless and no one would ever like me. That insecurity comes back to haunt me.<br /><br />When I'm sitting with all of you at the edublogger cafe at ISTE and I see one of you and feel like you are actually happy to see me, it feels surreal sometimes. I felt the same thing at Georgia Tech. Every once in a while I think some guy in the corner is going to speak up and tell everyone to let me know that it was all a big joke and that no one really liked me anyway.<br /><br />I had way too many people who used me in middle and high school. They'd use me to help them with their grades or to do something and once it was over, they'd cast me aside and I'd realize that I was used yet again.<br /><br />That is why I'm so distrustful of people sometimes. I like real people who care about other real people. The kind who look you in the eye. I get so many emails now. People wanting to guest blog. People pretending like they read my blog when I know it is just a form letter - pr firms sending me their press release like they are some long lost friend. People who just want to use me for this blog or Twitter or whatever.<br /><br />That's why my "old friends" have such an advantage. The "big time" presenters who were nice to me when I wasn't cool and the cat was something I fed every morning before I went to school. Those are the people I trust.<br /><br />Some "famous" edtech gurus wouldn't talk to me until I had 10,000 people reading this blog. Sure, I'm cordial, but you're not going to see me sitting cosy because that would be using them and that stinks.<br /><br />People like <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/alfredth/" target="_blank">Alfred Thompson</a>, <a href="http://davidwarlick.com/wordpress/?page_id=2" target="_blank">David Warlick</a>, and <a href="http://www.downes.ca/" target="_blank">Stephen Downes</a>, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.mguhlin.org/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Miguel Guhlin">Miguel Guhlin</a>, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.speedofcreativity.org/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Wes Fryer">Wes Fryer</a>, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://cheryloakes50.blogspot.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Cheryl Oakes">Cheryl Oakes</a>, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://wearejustlearning.ca/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Sharon Peters">Sharon Peters</a> who like newbies and are kind, these are people I appreciate and have my loyalty. But I also make a lot of new friends like <a href="http://murcha.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Anne Mirstchin</a>, <a href="http://www.angelamaiers.com/" target="_blank">Angela Maiers</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/andrewko888" target="_blank">Andrew Ko</a>, <a href="http://teachersignite.opusworks.com/page.asp?wrk=1&bhcp=1" target="_blank">Anne Ostholthoff</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/rksalerno/" target="_blank">Kirby Salerno</a>, <a href="https://plus.google.com/110296413253774728146" target="_blank">Pooky Hesmonhaulgh</a>, <a href="http://blog.web20classroom.org/" target="_blank">Stephen Anderson</a>, and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/#/cybraryman1" target="_blank">Jerry Blumengarten</a> who are just kind, helpful, hard working people. <i>(And so many more, I'm not naming - please don't be upset if I left you out, it was a matter of time and top of mind.)</i><br /><br />Then there are some people who love newbies but are reverse snobs and if you get a certain number of followers they drop you. That hurts. They think you think you're too big for your britches, and quite honestly, I know I went through a phase where I was too big for my britches: literally and figuratively.  But my friends loved me anyway and knew that I'd come back to center and that I'd realize that in the grand scheme of things I'm no big deal. The big deal is if I can use the blessings of your friendships and following to help others and bless the world. That would be a big deal. Unforgiveness for the inevitable screw up hurts but I have to forgive anyway. Their bitterness will only hurt them.<br /><br />Then there are those who are your friend till you screw up. Unfortunately, we all screw up. Or, I should say fortunately, because then you find out who your true friends are.<br /><h3><span style="font-weight: normal;">Numb and Pondering Something Dumb</span></h3>Well now, I'm numb. I'm exhausted. I don't know what this book or I will become but I do know that it will go to print. Once I sat at my computer looking at all the files wondering what would happen if I just selected all the files and pressed delete and moved on with my life. In many ways we are afraid to put ourselves out there.<br /><br />We know that we will have misspelled some words and said something not quite right for that one person who doesn't publish anything and has made a career of semantic debate with little meaning.<br /><br />I'm numb. Uncomfortably numb. In many ways, I hope this book will make people uncomfortable and let them be no longer numb to the great wide world out there.<br /><br />Now the veil has been drawn back of what authoring is really about. A tiring, lonely, messy, exhausting business. And yet, it is the calling of my life and I will write rigorously until my fingers freeze in rigor. It is what I was made to do. I love it. Thank you to all of you who have made it possible by following this blog and telling others. <br /><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_c.png?x-id=c6b1f31b-50f1-4327-9a89-4356ba29d0a3" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div>

Uncomfortably Numb

Written on June 16, 2011. I saved this post for when this book goes live so the whole thing would be real to you. These are my thoughts type...

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AFRICA and the USA

<h1 class="h1" style="color: blue; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: x-large;">USA increases its presence in Africa "the rising continent", while Europe keeps on underestimating it until its too late to take advantage, for "frontier" markets of today's AFRICA will be the emerging markets of tomorrow.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span></h1><h1 class="h1" style="color: blue; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span></span></h1><h1 class="h1" style="text-align: center;">  <span style="color: red;">AFRICOM Expands Mission In Africa</span></h1><h1 class="h1" style="text-align: center;"> <span style="color: red;"> </span></h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="266" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZBSd1onaNWs?feature=player_embedded" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="320"></iframe></div><h1 class="h1" style="font-weight: normal;"> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In 2012, SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA is rapidly coming of age as an economic region and as an investment destination. The so-called "frontier" markets of today's AFRICA will be the emerging markets of tomorrow.</span></span></h1><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Over the next five years, according to the IMF, seven economies in SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA are expected to be among the ten fastest growing economies in the world. In 2011, the economy of GHANA grew by 13.7%, while ETHIOPIA'S grew by 8.5%. Elsewhere, the MOZAMBIQUE economy grew by 7.5%, NIGERIA and ZAMBIA by 6.8%, and the Democratic Republic of CONGO by 6.5%. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /><div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">AFRICA IS FORECAST TO EMERGE AS THE FASTEST-GROWING REGION IN THE WORLD OVER THE NEXT 20 YEARS.</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Seeking economic ties with the continent augurs well for the future, both for AFRICA and the USA. AFRICA is forecast to emerge as the fastest-growing region in the world over the next 20 years. To realize this growth, it will have to nurture a number of key competitive advantages: the world's richest mineral and energy deposits, the most arable land, and what is predicted to be the </span><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">youngest population in the world by 2050</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">. </span></span></div></div>

AFRICA and the USA

USA increases its presence in Africa "the rising continent", while Europe keeps on underestimating it until its too late to take ...

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NO NEW REVELATIONS BY BBC

<br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">On <u>17 July 2012</u> <b>BBC</b> wrote:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">SYRIA: ASSAD REGIME 'READY TO USE CHEMICAL WEAPONS'</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The most senior Syrian politician to defect to the opposition has told the BBC the regime<b> <u><span style="color: red;">will not hesitate to use chemical weapons if it is cornered</span></u>……….. </b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18864629"></a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The rest of the article seems a “Psy Ops” style assumptions in line with British doctrines regarding Syria. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It needed an defected Syrian ex - ambassador telling mainstream media this revelation!!!!!!!!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Read full article under: <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18864629">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18864629</a></span></span><br /><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">On <b><u>7 of July 2012</u> Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring</b> wrote:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">UNLIKE IN EGYPT AND LIBYA, THE SYRIA’S ASSAD REGIME WILL LEAVE WITH AN IMPACT, IF TOPPLED…….</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times","serif";">One should not underestimate SYRIA threat of using its bio chemical weapons arsenal if pushed into the corner</span></b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times","serif";">.</span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";"> This could also have devastating consequences for TURKEY. The fact that SYRIA possesses these Bio chemical weapons is probably the main reason foreign intervention by western powers is put on hold, for it would affect the entire region.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Read full article at: <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/turkeys-sunni-crescent.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/turkeys-sunni-crescent.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">See also: Useful excuse for foreign intervention: Syria’s bio – chemical weapons arsenal?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">and</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/06/syria_11.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/06/syria_11.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">BBC seems a bit late with its revelations. To go further back:</span></span></b></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">On <b style="color: red;"><u>8 of March</u></b><u style="color: red;"> <b>2012</b></u><b>Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring</b> already reported that <b>Syria does possess bio chemical weapons and <span style="color: red;">that sooner or later they will either be used by Assad, if pushed into the corner</span></b>,<a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/03/given-fact-syria-does-possess-chemical.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/03/given-fact-syria-does-possess-chemical.html</a>, or by western allies, in favor of toppling the regime, as a “Psy Ops” tool to either increase covert operations, or to justify a full out military intervention. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">On <b><u style="color: red;">20 of March 2012</u>Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring reported:</b> Syrian Missiles will pre emptive any military intervention. See: <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/03/syrian-missiles-will-pre-empt-any.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/03/syrian-missiles-will-pre-empt-any.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>

NO NEW REVELATIONS BY BBC

On 17 July 2012 BBC wrote: SYRIA: ASSAD REGIME 'READY TO USE CHEMICAL WEAPONS' The most senior Syrian politician to defect to the ...

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Recipe: Potato Torta with Romesco Sauce

Doesn't the name of this recipe sound super fancy?  Well guess what?  It's not!<br /><br />I made this breakfast dish last week and it was simple to prepare with easy on-hand ingredients (at least in my kitchen). <br /><br />This recipe comes to you from the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Weight-Watchers-PointsPlus-Power-Cookbook/dp/B006KHWHI0" target="_blank">Power Foods Cookbook</a> by Weight Watchers.  I've loved the few recipes I have made out of this book thus far.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2yWq-i599sA0elbAGCuLxg7c8qubxj9NwpqeV6D4BclY6s5K5olvfDQE5d3KOoyBTLFPxnKeTOp_Iuy8GJgoUAMp1NFy3EIgRuZSDXIdRkVORkUI2HR10nnF3RHT30kn304B3RZUYlEE/s1600/potato+torta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2yWq-i599sA0elbAGCuLxg7c8qubxj9NwpqeV6D4BclY6s5K5olvfDQE5d3KOoyBTLFPxnKeTOp_Iuy8GJgoUAMp1NFy3EIgRuZSDXIdRkVORkUI2HR10nnF3RHT30kn304B3RZUYlEE/s400/potato+torta.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Unfortunately the picture doesn't quite do it justice! <br /><br />I've included the recipe in it's entirety below.  I will say this - it's an extremely versatile dish that can really go many directions.  I left mine as-is but next time I will add some spinach and protein into it to bulk it up, but you could get really creative with your add in's.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><div style="color: #351c75;"><b><u>Potato Torta with Romesco Sauce</u> - <i>4 PointsPlus</i></b></div><br /><i>Ingredients:</i><br /><ul><li>12 oz small red potatoes, sliced</li><li>1/2 c chopped roasted red bell peppers, drained (not oil packed)</li><li>1 small tomato, quartered</li><li>2 Tbsp slivered almonds</li><li>2 Tbsp orange juice</li><li>1 small garlic clove, chopped</li><li>1/2 tsp smoked paprika</li><li>1/4 tsp ground cumin</li><li>1 c Egg Beaters</li><li>1 Tbsp minced fresh chives</li><li>1/4 tsp salt</li><li>1/8 tsp black pepper</li><li>1 Tbsp olive oil</li></ul><br /><i>Directions:</i><br />1. Bring potatoes and enough cold water to cover to boil in medium saucepan.  Reduce heat; partially cover and simmer until potatoes are fork tender, about 6 minutes. Drain.<br /><br />2. To make the sauce, combine roasted peppers, tomato, almonds, orange juice, garlic, paprika and cumin in food processor and process until smooth.  Set aside.<br /><br />3. Whisk together Egg Beaters, chives, salt, and black pepper in medium bowl.<br /><br />4. Heat oil in 12 inch nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add potatoes, spreading them in a single layer, and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes (do not stir).  Turn potatoes, keeping them in a single layer, and cook until lightly browned 3-4 minutes.<br /><br />5. Pour egg mixture evenly over potatoes.  Reduce heat and cook, covered, lifting edges with spatula once or twice until eggs are set 4-5 minutes.  Cut into wedges and serve with sauce.<br /><br /><span style="color: #351c75;">Serves 4 (cut into 4 wedges)</span></blockquote>I actually loved the potato "pie", but didn't much care for the Romesco sauce.  Now, I also don't like tomatoes, which is a base for that sauce.  Joel, however, loves tomatoes, and also didn't care for it.  We both thought it tasted too garden-y fresh.  Yes, apparently this can be a bad thing.  <br /><br />Next time I would add in some vegetable (a 0 PointsPlus one) and perhaps some turkey bacon or turkey sausage.  It would certainly affect the PointsPlus value depending on how much you added in, but I think it would make this dish even better!<br /><br />Enjoy! <br /><br />

Weight Watchers Power Foods Cookbook Recipe: Potato Torta with Romesco Sauce

Doesn't the name of this recipe sound super fancy?  Well guess what?  It's not! I made this breakfast dish last week and it was simp...

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The Age of Common Sense

In the Information Age we are in dramatic need of some intelligence to it all. Information is everywhere, but where is the common sense?<br /><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBf9LZtfAKr80O47sGVk-TL4auyWYdU7q30bdrQTRp2lNBhrt-uT69w4k0wqPLPNaMK7JiEhcwnZqiPJdphy8rEC0DBErUldEowsMKx12JQhWqImzzpQ0OGv2yc-9bBAnVpDLgwOT3kbrr/s1600/iStock_000020672296XSmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBf9LZtfAKr80O47sGVk-TL4auyWYdU7q30bdrQTRp2lNBhrt-uT69w4k0wqPLPNaMK7JiEhcwnZqiPJdphy8rEC0DBErUldEowsMKx12JQhWqImzzpQ0OGv2yc-9bBAnVpDLgwOT3kbrr/s320/iStock_000020672296XSmall.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">iStockPhoto - used with permission</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h3> Does all the stuff make sense?</h3></div><div>In the 1990's we all hit WalMart and the mall with our credit cards and started organizing our stuff only to realize that we didn't need all that stuff. Our closets were overflowing, our waistlines were growing, and our debt was showing. More didn't improve our lives and we should have known better, but we didn't.</div><div><br /></div><div>When the Internet came along we started shopping online, racking up more debt all the time and losing ourselves in the wonder of the new library of Alexandria for hours at time.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then, we connected with friends and thought that more was more again and the more friends we had  online somehow the more legacy we had. The more we shared, the less privacy we had. We were "liked" for goodness sakes, didn't that count for something?</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, we can connect via our cell phones and smart phones. Every second we can be in touch with who had a baby, who got a promotion and who is on vacation. But more isn't more. More connections mean less time, less flow state, and less focus.</div><div><br /></div><div>We can stream, find, connect, and remind ourselves 24/7 to do more and be more. But 1000 apps reminding me to do 10 things is just keeping me from doing those things I need to do.<br /><br />When Kip turns me loose to blog, he says "do your stuff" and that is often what it is -- stuff. Not one specific thing but a thousand tiny things.</div><div><h3> Making sense</h3></div><div><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/AVvXsEii3G4qCrhzRtkEKkOhepzR542gK0_fX-CTP6t_LCTqCqzBCGK8kPcniytS9enAJNCKL0flVjsWL-xIEQYGczrPj7WF7CmkPZgufoFPsYraURG5XLpWZlrWE975lgCPS2z17yQ7ZbIFMWSU/s1600/img_0046_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii3G4qCrhzRtkEKkOhepzR542gK0_fX-CTP6t_LCTqCqzBCGK8kPcniytS9enAJNCKL0flVjsWL-xIEQYGczrPj7WF7CmkPZgufoFPsYraURG5XLpWZlrWE975lgCPS2z17yQ7ZbIFMWSU/s320/img_0046_01.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My youngest son and I went rafting a few weeks a go.</td></tr></tbody></table>Life is beautiful, fun, and a blast but those moments are often best when I get offline, away from all of this and make sense of things. </div><div><br /></div><div>Marketers have gotten so incredibly good at targeting me that my inbox is full, customized ads show up on the side of every website, and hyped up product launches make me think I have to have that or this new apps. My kids buy music and tune out or get psyched for something big while I buy an app so I can squeeze one more ounce of something out of this life I'm trying to live.</div><div><br /></div><div>So many people blame everyone else. In the US we have 2 political parties sworn to fight to the death but if they don't back off and start to work together, they'll find they didn't kill each other but rather, the nation they supposedly love. The truth is power is what people love and importance and being "followed" and "liked" and whatever narcissitic mess someone else can invent in order to make us feel important and like our life of more is not really worth less.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Wisdom doesn't guarantee you popularity, just legacy. </b>We need more wisdom and a good old healthy dose of Grandma's common sense.</div><div><h2> The Age of Common Sense would be a blessing</h2></div><div>Common sense. Good, plain old common sense. We've had the Industrial Age and the Information Age. We can often be defined by the age in which we live. </div><div><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="http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/Big-80-s-Hair-the-80s-300441_308_194.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/Big-80-s-Hair-the-80s-300441_308_194.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">via <a href="http://www.fanpop.com/spots/the-80s/images/300441/title/big-80s-hair-photo" target="_blank">fanpop</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>All the stuff sprayed on my hair didn't make me prettier in the 80's,<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/apreche/130101390/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="closet by Apreche, on Flickr"><img alt="closet" height="320" src="http://farm1.staticflickr.com/50/130101390_06e986247d_q.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>the stuff in my closet didn't make me happier in the 90's,<br />nor did all the bookmarks in the 00's,<br />nor did all the friends in the 10's,<br />nor do all the connections nor the fact that I can tweet from the bathroom just before I hop in tub.<br /><br />What has made me happier is getting offline for longer periods of time, looking people in the eye, spending my mornings on my knees asking God what I should do with my day, and applying common sense before I buy another app, before I go shopping or before I spend a dime or my precious time on anything.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>If I could name an age and wish it upon us, it would be the age of Common Sense. </b>The whole world is being seen in "shades of grey" - and this attitude of "what is right for you may not be right for me" is crazy -- murder is wrong and so is lying and stealing.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqSzdIP9Esi9WuSNPQznhfoIaFSJtbjgQAlqStFfr09Z15XY80F5ps1lpe4oAUSLpOvWn2e8fm5wukhut30fl_fGkuMG36BAY_6AisCE2YfiCAg0E40rIJaldCkX_2edRaxU1hX2A4jyOc/s1600/iStock_000005946391XSmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqSzdIP9Esi9WuSNPQznhfoIaFSJtbjgQAlqStFfr09Z15XY80F5ps1lpe4oAUSLpOvWn2e8fm5wukhut30fl_fGkuMG36BAY_6AisCE2YfiCAg0E40rIJaldCkX_2edRaxU1hX2A4jyOc/s320/iStock_000005946391XSmall.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Freedom has always come at a price and every human being on this planet deserves respect as a human being but not necessarily the right to be heard. Some people are crazy and others are crooked and their ideas and ideals don't belong alongside great men and women of history. </div><div><br /></div><div>As I am inundated and my inbox is full, I'm feeling completely and utterly rebellious. I think common sense has gone out the window but I'm not just going to whine about it. <span style="background-color: white;">So, I'm proclaiming my own age of common sense including:</span></div><div><ul><li>Time with family, in nature, exercising, reading, and talking to people are just as important as online time. </li><li>I will not elevate a person who is not there over a person who is right there. I will pay attention to people. People are important. I will be PRESENT.</li><li>I'm just not going to get hyper over anything NEW because it is new. I'm not a fangirl who worships any person or gadget or app, that is ridiculous.</li><li>I will look for people who are up front about who they are, their motivations and even their beliefs. We've been in a time of "abstaining" - no one wants to tell anyone what they believe because we're to the point that some people think "if you're not like me, I'm not going to follow you." I will look for honest, truthful people and work hard to be one myself. I will keep following people who are different from me, that is OK.</li><li>I will be minimalistic in the apps, alerts, and streams I allow into my life but intentional about participating where I want to be. If I can't use my iPad because I'm being alerted that Talking Tom needs to be "fed" then that is over the top.</li><li>I'm a human being not a human doing. Being is as important as doing and vital to my own sanity.</li><li>I'm going to go with the research that the fountain of youth is exercize. Mrs. Grace Adkins who is 80+ now rides her bike for an hour 6 days a week. She's de-aged 15 years, has lost 20 pounds, and still comes to work 5 days a week. She feels better than most 50 year olds I know. I'm going to work out an hour a day 6 days a week, no matter what. Tweeting another tweet and blogging another blog isn't going to make me live longer, exercise can.</li><li>I want to find people who have common sense and wisdom but also let them be human's who mess up. I'm not going to run away from a person because they screw up once. This "disposable people" society is ridiculous where people mess up and can never be forgiven. I guess it makes people feel better than a great person who messes up but part of my faith is the belief that I can be forgiven and have the ability to start over at any moment in my life.</li><li>My followers, friends, and those I follow are a cool, fun, powerful way to interact but I will not give them more importance than my husband or children. </li><li>Helping others live their dreams by being helpful and shining the spotlight on greatness wherever it is, is a lasting legacy.</li><li>A cell phone in my hand does not excuse rudeness. I will not stand up in front of people who are there in order to capture a moment for those who aren't. Manners start with me.</li><li>Complaining about everybody else is a sorry way to live life and will make me bitter and worthless. I will be the kind of person I think this world needs and ask God to give me wisdom to do that.</li></ul><div>What would you add to the age of common sense? I wish we could start using more of it.<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/AVvXsEigT6f0jFxCLy3YN8E5mQoahcCYZRpvVHMoN5hO5hDjCUACWvZwy6ZKlISwtV4a00OphvESmrBKyShJmIV6uFJ0OyJYWKedLCgBtT3UEeivRDCAsT8mPohcaJcchRfKhj3pPxeJQhd8oz79/s1600/Zipline+2012+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigT6f0jFxCLy3YN8E5mQoahcCYZRpvVHMoN5hO5hDjCUACWvZwy6ZKlISwtV4a00OphvESmrBKyShJmIV6uFJ0OyJYWKedLCgBtT3UEeivRDCAsT8mPohcaJcchRfKhj3pPxeJQhd8oz79/s640/Zipline+2012+(1).JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some would say ziplining isn't good common sense. But that is not what I'm talking about in this post. Common sense is that I left my iPhone behind and enjoyed every "wahoo" and "wow" on this trip. Common sense is taking time to go to the mountains with your family even if it means you lose a little privacy. Common sense is living your life offline as well as online and encouraging others to do the same. For life to be sweet, it takes more than a tweet. Get out there and live it!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div></div>

commentary editorial Inspiration The Age of Common Sense

In the Information Age we are in dramatic need of some intelligence to it all. Information is everywhere, but where is the common sense? iSt...

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30 days of webtools: #9: Create PDFs from webpages using the Chrome Extension ‘Send to Google Docs”

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Recently I was faced with a problem. Some of the Constant Contact newsletter links that I had placed on the blog no longer worked…they had expired.  I thought the best thing to do would be to convert the newsletters to PDFs and upload them to Box.net with a link to the blog.  But, Constant Contact didn’t seem  to supply any way of converting these newsletters to PDF. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Google Chrome extension – Send to Google Docs</span></b>. <br /><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then I remembered the wonderful free Chrome extensions for Google Chrome. They seem to provide the answers to many a problem. I went to the Chrome Web Store and searched for the ‘Send to Google Docs’ extension…and installed it. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiloTnTsoxqQ0wi5v_8Uj2TAYsbqNdULlmlOkNrYz-IZithNk1DhnaxVZrtNnHKGti4ZLGEHMwWRFI2Xm1GwkkoN8BtwhWBYPjG0RRlOk233obiA_65e_VxnZZen52DDN8K1B_GjA3kI8g/s1600-h/image%25255B4%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOOtCGHPuDf8nbmXG61vxkYsG_TZ89aUzpGcy4M3kCzf1N0azsQe29FWU1rJQ3KO40Ux3wFsc7EnXyThbutg725I04zm2eRtS8ouC_mZ2dbWBmYWjouD2JhAYHUYD9SyPyGarNR6aIqYI/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="361" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It neatly took its place alongside my other Chrome Extensions on the top right side of my Chrome browser. I then did what I had to do and converted the newsletters to PDFs. This is an amazing feature in Google Docs. You can take any web page and convert it to a PDF in this manner. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>How to save a web page as a PDF</b></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><u>Step 1</u>: Find the web page you would like to save</span><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u>Step 2</u>: Click on the installed Chrome extension ‘<i>Send to Google Docs’</i> on the browser bar </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBwL_MGR-3qLD_l2yYGRDfQFH0xvV3TQMOXW-cWEi2Inc_VdUY3Napw4mEkQh1ZAGI5ypzAuowZUIroV4RPf7xr9M23a4YOCFtqbM_jx_cLPhlRTNpxjbihNtxT82OUS5GnJY8Dg5fEpE/s1600-h/image%25255B12%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="30" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMMsCq7-0FfXztL6WZBmaos8lXgUaCN_AosCX6vor6u6wIh79Ub12kMDK_NVEQSPXuGwEAWpvYkERjRDhZGTHWS14jraZW_WVU4eM99iDNFAWb2YhlyExhhkLrItC46wIE2aFq_otyqB8/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The web page will appear in your Google Docs in no time at all.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzV8oP6y_o42j0F-MX15pqHncfa5nfA5bwsGUudgeOsRLPVruFnnl8N4SdqD0swy5tqy1B-jevXh8yBVqQnJYvBHdHToCS7hcGsrInqKe-Htt92Xv8RyQM9AQygbBQbo2ZgOqfRjak1bc/s1600-h/image%25255B9%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW873h-hLr6DL1pE6Txtdi6AZOPB3Sroe5uxiBaHBszNAqf4umDpYi4-4ux-y3VQNB6sda8TmGF5cPU2l1kClNPbPGLMZe3XthLdc5pm07rDNJXVrjbVvuNQhfUF_YlZXAfg1oDdosOdE/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="417" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u>Step 3</u>: You’ll notice at the top of the page in Google Docs that three options are given.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhscGST-h1S5b2GPXZUUxlGu8icmZThQmH8O8PEJY2wNgLDTxGdtTnNAXo_34g42NUCfIROp-IcUdL2iI1TSaxbvbvL5FrbELC1NuicmBdeZMn1WdqX-XycKV7a6sG6-97rL0Nnvh-wztA/s1600-h/image%25255B17%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="56" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Z7F4WaEQOgnLGQ7lyJZY6m2uf4m6cpnuZfT1WBets2ojSiAOeG_yLNFXEAbFU5-Lbgrt0lyxOk2lQvqK9DUsTgTot63hIZJAHpZ6hprbsnzaiGLgSFbIwEpbnsfYRYh7kU2_A5r5e_s/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="406" /></a></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />You can actually do all three! I chose to <i>download the original</i> which it does in a PDF format which is perfect. From then on you can either link the document from Google Docs to a blog, wiki or website or you can upload it to a programme like Box.net to link from there.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So, why not download the Google Chrome extension ‘<i>Send to Google Docs</i>’? It is a marvelous way of saving webpages as PDFs. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">  </span></div></div>

30 days of web tools Chrome extensions create PDFs Web tools 30 days of webtools: #9: Create PDFs from webpages using the Chrome Extension ‘Send to Google Docs”

Recently I was faced with a problem. Some of the Constant Contact newsletter links that I had placed on the blog no longer worked…they had e...

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A chance for your class to be filmed? Read on…

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Recently our Programmes Manager, Omashani, received a letter about the SABC Education Show ‘Mother of all professions’ from Unathi Memela, the Content Producer of the show. The show will be filming in the different provinces and planned to complete Gauteng before the June break.  If you are from one of the other provinces and would like to be considered for this as per the conditions outlined below, please contact Omashani at SchoolNet via the email address on the SchoolNet website (<a href="http://schoolnet.org.za/">http://schoolnet.org.za</a>)</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here is the request:</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">“I hope this mail finds you well. I am urgently looking for interesting stories to profile for  the new season of the SABC Education Show "Mother of All Professions"  The show is looking for exceptional and inspiring people, schools, projects or organisations that are doing exceptional work around education whether in the classroom or in communities. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The theme for this new season is "anyone can be a teacher" and teaching doesn't necessarily have to happen in the traditional classroom. One of the themes that we would like to look at is the successful use of technology in education especially in disadvantaged schools. I came across a very interesting article on the how the use of I-pads have impacted learners in Embalenhle Primary School in Vosloorus. This is the kind of innovative approach to education  that the show is looking to showcase. We would like to profile this school as an example of how technology can help educators in the classroom </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I am hoping you can assist me with putting this episode together. I am also open to any suggestions of other exciting elements (besides the school profile) that you might have that would make this episode exciting. We would like to film this episode before the schools close for the June break.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The episode would be 24 minutes dedicated to showcase ICT implementation in schools.”</span></div></div>

news A chance for your class to be filmed? Read on…

Recently our Programmes Manager, Omashani, received a letter about the SABC Education Show ‘Mother of all professions’ from Unathi Memela, t...

Read more »