Month: November 2012
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Time to SPEAK OUT: Dec 10th OKCPS School Board Meeting
(Cross-posted from ClassenSAS.com) The time has come to “CALL OUT THE TROOPS” of the ClassenSAS PTSA to attend the Oklahoma City Public Schools School Board meeting on Monday, December 10th, 2012 at 5:30pm at the OKCPS Administrative Building: 900 N. Kline. Two different and important issues are on the OKCPS board agenda for December 10th…
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Introducing 4th and 5th Graders to Scratch Software Possibilities
Today and tomorrow I’m co-teaching with Chris Simon at Independence Elementary School in Yukon, Oklahoma, introducing 4th and 5th graders to Scratch Software for the first time. Chris is the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) teacher at IES, which is one of the 4th/5th grade elementary schools in YPS. Both YPS 4/5 campuses have…
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Academic Journal Paywalls are Educationally Counter-Productive and WRONG
The proliferation of “paywalls” for academic journals is educationally counter-productive and WRONG. Today, we accept as “normal” that academic journals charge fees for digital access. In an analog world, when publishers bore tangible costs for distributing paper-based copies of articles, this made more sense. In our increasingly digital world today, however, when the marginal cost…
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Lessons Learned: Hosting & Leading Local Technology Integration Workshops
In February of 2009 I became a full-time, “independent, digital learning consultant.” Since December and January tend to be very slow months for education conferences (and therefore challenging from an income / cash flow standpoint for professional speakers / PD workshop leaders like me) I’ve experimented with a variety of different self-hosted technology integration workshops…
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Using the Daum Equation Editor to Format Math Equations for Wolfram Alpha
Wolfram Alpha is a global game changer for mathematics and computation on par with Google for information access. Every teacher and student, especially at secondary and post-secondary levels, should not only know ABOUT Wolfram Alpha but also how to effectively USE Wolfram Alpha to solve problems. My son (who is almost 15 and in 9th…
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Parody Fest: Goodnight Goon, Dune, Forest Moon, iPad, Democracy & More
Our family members have been fans of “Goodnight Moon” (by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd) for many years. Prior to Christmas last year, I learned about David Milgrim’s clever “Goodnight iPad” book, which he wrote under the psyudonum “Ann Droyd.” There are several other creative parodies of “Goodnight Moon” available in print,…
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Fun Musical iPad Apps
(cross-posted from PlayingWithMedia.com) Yesterday I facilitated an hour long iPad app exploration session for “Tiger Club,” which is an after-school program our church offers for students at Central Middle School in Edmond Public Schools. I wanted to introduce the students to some fun apps which can be used for musical creativity as well as eBook…
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Parent Legislative Action Committee in Oklahoma City on Education Reform: Nov 29, 2012
For the past year, parents in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, area have advocated for public education reform through the Tulsa Area PLAC (Parent Legislative Action Committee). The group maintains an email newsletter (with archives) as well as a Twitter account: @TulsaAreaPLAC. The about page on the Tulsa Area PLAC Facebook page explains they are: A nonpartisan…
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Tough Creative Love: The Why and How of Creative Action
These are my notes from Gregg Fraley‘s closing keynote, “Tough Creative Love: The Why and How of Creative Action” at the 2012 State of Creativity Forum in Oklahoma City on November 13, 2012. MY THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS ARE IN ALL CAPS. Follow conference conversations today on Twitter with the hashtag #SoCF12. You already have enough…
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Breakthrough Thinking by Peter Diamandis
These are my notes from Peter Diamandis‘ luncheon keynote, “Breakthrough Thinking” at the 2012 State of Creativity Forum in Oklahoma City on November 13, 2012. MY THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS ARE IN ALL CAPS. Follow conference conversations today on Twitter with the hashtag #SoCF12. Over next couple of decades, we will be building a world of…