An article I just have to park here

So, my students don't know how to search for relevant information.

Well, duh.

Ok, so here's an article suggesting ideas about what I can do about it.

something to keep me happy ... sort of

http://issuu.com/richardbyrne/docs/10_awesome_android_uses/40

iPad .... project?

I like my iPad. I need you to know that first of all. I use it in my daily life, I use it in my professional life, I use it in my fitness life ... I use it everywhere. I use the iOS stuff .... a lot.

I run with my iPhone, I teach with my iPad. I write with my Macbook and blog with all of them. My kids read books, I can supervise what my 9 year old is doing in the basement. I can make sure that my digital life is more secure with this "stuff". I use the iPad to turn the channel on my tv.

I like them, and I've spent a lot of time learning how to use them.

To that end, I've tried to teach my fellow workers on how to use them. Weekly "Lunch and Learn" sessions for free. No one comes. It's disheartening. Being the only guy who knows how to use something, leads a lot of others around me to think that I am an idiot. After a while, there's a chance .... I might start to believe them.

I'm hoping that if you are reading this, you want to link up and do some work together using this iOS technology. Maybe we can even open a few eyes along the way.

Drop a comment below, I'll get an email and we can go from there.

This guy looks cool.

OK, so I'm floating around in the Twitterverse .... (is that me writing like that?) and I get a tweet about this dude:

The Radical Tactical Shift.

Seems he's ... well, a lot like what I am looking at as "good" in teaching.

Check it out. And go for it.

and this looks like good advice, too.

Have an iPhone ... try these apps

I've got an iPhone ... an iPhone 3G ... so it can't do some of the cool stuff:



but I can do a lot of stuff with it. I like Comic Life for doing this stuff:

In any case, there are a lot more things you can do with an iPhone and an iPad than I can really put here. I know that there are people out there putting blog posts together for us to read. Here's one more.

I already know you know

I already know you know that left unsupervised, the average high school student will goof off and do nothing for you in a classroom.

Want "proof"? Here ya go.

That being said, I try really hard not to let my students loose on a computer lab without any guidance. I'm not an optimist at heart when it comes to letting people "just work on stuff on their own" ... I know better. Direct supervision is so necessary it's almost scary. Some call me Big Brother when I get into the Computer Lab ... but it's either that or I have to listen to that Arnold sound board ... again.

Direction with a requirement to have something produced in a set period of time is what needs be done. Vague and overly happy sounding instructions are not what I see working in my classroom. Heck, there are days when I have to get my "Kindergarden teacher" voice going just to get them off of Facebook.

Finally, I'm trying to think of something positive to end with here. I think that there is something positive we have to do ... like hook up with this guy...

Finally here is another link about iTunes.

Are you Pre-Digital?

I read this blog post this morning after coffee and a run. I do wonder sometimes if I am merely replacing one older technology with another, or am I doing something truly different in my teaching.

Makes one wonder, makes one wonder...

Of course, you can always ask ... can Twitter be used to in a classroom?

And you could read what the Ontario College of Teachers has to think about the matter, too... and also here...

and then there is this link all about helping schools understand social media better.