Toxic use of Social Networking

"A Scottish teacher who posted messages discussing her pupils on a social networking website is being investigated by her employers."
This makes my stomach turn. There is nothing more toxic than teachers bashing students in a teacher's lounge or FAC...to think of doing it in a social networking platform is mind blowing to me.
Read the article here; I'm not sure where most people fall in this debate, but I can rest easily knowing that there is something wrong with the idea of using this platform for these types of posts. Am I missing something here?

We all have bad days as teachers, some are bad weeks, or even months, but if we reflect on our management, plans, and style,I think we can usually look inward and find some answers and solutions.

As an aside, what are the policies that your school or district has for facebooking or tweeting during work hours? Must be work related? Or banned altogether? I'm usually not in favor of blanket "bans" I think reponsible use should be expected and responsibility demonstrated through the use, but these types of stories worry me.

How would you build a school today?

This is an article from Contemporary Issues in Tech and Teacher Education. If you get a chance to read this article I'd love to know what others think. Since this blog is primarily an opportunity for me to sort my ramblings and reflections though I'll give it a go.
One thing as a teacher that has advocated for technology in schools that I find exciting is the influx of cash dedicated to meeting the needs of today's digital citizens and 21st century learners. Granted the 21st century started 10 years ago, but the idea is sound and the effort is inspiring. I'm glad that more schools are getting labs and wireless access and SMART boards, video cameras and more to use in their instruction. I've seen the results in standardized tests from my class support this use and I know that the engagement level is tremendously high in classrooms where this is taking place. The artice starts off with this nugget,

"We have a unique opportunity in education today. Massive funds are pouring into the technology infrastructure of K-12 schools. It is estimated that $7 billion a year is being spent to equip schools with infrastructure, networking activities, and hardware.The investment of resources on this scale is comparable to the space program. The process of building this infrastructure is similar to launching a rocket in education. Now that we have launched that rocket, we must learn to fly. That may seem backwards, but it is often the ways things work"

What I am fearful though is that we've outpaced or jumped ahead of our own learning curve. We have technology and tecahers not knowing exactly how to use it. In a recent blog I wrote about Bob Marzano and his "ideal integration" model. We need training and sound instruction before we can expect success to come form this new method or delivery of pedagogy.

This is one of those posts that I hope to revisit over and over again, because there is so much here....

Skype in the classroom

Working with great teachers all the time has spoiled me rotten. Learning from the best teachers and thinkers is something that I am thankful for every time I open up my tweetdeck, or Google Reader.
It was just this week that I found the power of Skype in the classroom and it was because of connections and learnings I've made via Twitter.

Bud Talbot is a professor at CU and I've followed his posts and tweets for awhile now. I was lucky enough to connect with him at #COLEARNING in February and since then kept in contact. We teach Forces and Motion in 6th grade and I was hopeful that he may be able to share He's one of those guys that when you talk to him he challenges your thinking and teaches you, without making you feel like an idiot.

I sent Bud my benchmarks and standards that we are hoping to address by the end of the year, and he knocked it out of the park. He took upwards around an hour, answering questions, giving a demo, and addressing everything I imagined and then some. The kids first glimpse at this powerful interactive video conferencing with a profession went amazingly well.
Thank you so much @Bud_T

The Value of a Buck...

photo courtesy of somegeekintn

"Kids don't know the meaning of a dollar!"
"All my kids do is spend...spend...spend!!!"
"My kids can't save a dollar to save their life!"

As a teacher I actually hear this quite a bit! It was just recently that I thought maybe I should look into this more closely. Let me give you some background. Last week Kenzie's Papa sent her $5 in a card...we're talking cold hard cash. :) She's 3 and has wanted a new Leapster game for awhile now and after the last purchase maintained her interest for a staggering week (sorry "Wall-E" she didn't get it.), I put my foot down and said no more game until your birthday...a couple weeks away; what can I say she's my first born and I'm a push over.

So we gave Mackenzie the money in the hopes that our words and a little discouragement from wasteful spending would be enough to teach her the meaning of a dollar. OI know it's ridiculous, but I'm a teacher...we don't just stop at 3:00 :) She spent that $5 as fast as you probably think she did.

Then when another $10 spot came in a get well card I explained, "well if you hadn't wasted the other $5 you'd have enough to buy the Leapster game you want. Tough Love DADDY-STYLE!

After the tears and the laughter from my wife that I actually thought I had won some battle subsided, I realized that this problem will not stop because of my pearls of wisdom. So, I went looking for web options like the e-dork-dad I am. Here's some great sites I found that help kids learn the value of a buck from Toddler to High School Age kids.


LEARN TO SAVE Toddler
PLANET ORANGE Elementary
KIDS BANK Middle School
BANK HS High School