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    <title>Mike Falick's Blog</title>
    
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    <updated>2009-11-18T07:37:00-05:00</updated>
    <subtitle>A blog by a Spring Branch ISD School Board Trusteewww.mikefalick.org
Pd. Pol. Ad. Mike Falick for School Board</subtitle>
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    <link rel="self" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/MikeFalicksBlog" type="application/atom+xml" /><atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="hub" href="http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com" /><entry>
        <title>Shakespeare Searched: A Website Dedicated Solely to the Works of Shakespeare</title>
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        <published>2009-11-18T07:37:00-05:00</published>
        <updated>2009-11-14T13:52:10-05:00</updated>
        <summary>If you like Shakespeare, or if you need to find a particular word within his works, then Shakespeare Searched is for you. From the Shakespeare Searched website: About Shakespeare Searched Shakespeare Searched is a search engine designed to provide quick...</summary>
        <author>
            <name>Mike Falick</name>
        </author>
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="Education" />
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="Web/Tech" />
        
        
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<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://shakespeare.clusty.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href,'_blank','scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false" style="float: left;"><img alt="Screen-capture" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00d8341d88c053ef012875a14400970c " src="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/.a/6a00d8341d88c053ef012875a14400970c-200wi" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; width: 200px;" title="Screen-capture" /></a> If you like Shakespeare, or if you need to find a particular word within his works, then <a href="http://shakespeare.clusty.com/">Shakespeare Searched</a> is for you.  From the <a href="http://shakespeare.clusty.com/">Shakespeare Searched website</a>:<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><p><span style="font-weight: bold;" /><strong>About <a href="http://shakespeare.clusty.com/">Shakespeare Searched</a></strong></p><p> Shakespeare Searched is a search
engine designed to provide quick access to passages from Shakespeare's
plays and sonnets. We cluster search results by topic, work, and
character to make it easy to find exactly what you're looking for. From
something as simple as identifying the speaker of a particular quote to
discovering underlying thematic elements across works, Shakespeare
Searched has you covered. </p><p> This website is not a replacement for a copy of the text.
It provides no analysis or footnotes. It is meant to supplement a
traditional reading of a work. <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p><strong><span />Shakespeare Searched for Teachers</strong></p><p> </p><p>Shakespeare Searched is a great resource for you and your students.
You can recommend it to your students when writing papers to quickly
locate passages that they remember reading but are having trouble
finding. It provides citations for each passage so using what they
found is a breeze. Shakespeare Searched returns only passages from the
works of Shakespeare -- no analysis, opinions, or interpretations. That
means potential issues with plagiarism or uncited sources are avoided.
We provide the text, the rest is up to the student. </p><p> You can plan entire lessons or assignments around
Shakespeare Searched. Have your students search for a subject like
"love" or "death" and then report back on the results. What sort of
topic clusters are generated? Use the tabs to cluster the results by
work to see which play or sonnet a theme appears in the most. Or
cluster by character to see what kind of patterns emerge. </p><p><strong>Shakespeare Searched for Students</strong></p><p> So you read the play and
you're writing the paper but you can't remember where that one quote
you need is. That's where Shakespeare Searched comes in. Just search by
character, work, or a keyword or two and we'll find your quote complete
with citation. For example, remember all that stuff in <em>Romeo and Juliet</em> about thumb-biting? What was that about? <a href="http://shakespeare.clusty.com/search?input-form=simple-billy&amp;v%3Asources=billy-xml&amp;v%3Aproject=billy&amp;query=thumb&amp;character=All+Characters&amp;title=Romeo+and+Juliet">It's all right here</a>. Wasn't that easier than searching through the tiny type in your Shakespeare book? 
 </p><p>
Shakespeare Searched doesn't give you sample essays, analysis, or
anything like that. What it does do is help you generate your own
ideas. Maybe you're having trouble coming up with a paper topic? Need
some inspiration? Search for a particular play or character and check
out the clusters on the left. They give you a quick topical and
thematic overview and are a great starting point. </p><p>
 For example, a search of <a href="http://shakespeare.clusty.com/search?input-form=simple-billy&amp;v%3Asources=billy-xml&amp;v%3Aproject=billy&amp;query=++&amp;character=All+Characters&amp;title=Much+Ado+about+Nothing">Much Ado About Nothing</a>
brings back a "Love" topic cluster with 66 passages in it. Open up that
cluster by clicking on the plus symbol next to the cluster title and
you'll see a sub-cluster for "Scorn." What does love have to do with
scorn? And I thought this was a comedy? Explore the clusters to find
out. Shakespeare Searched helps you uncover these kinds of connections
and gets you on your way to a great paper. </p></blockquote></div></div>
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    <feedburner:origLink>http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/2009/11/shakespeare-searched-a-website-dedicated-solely-to-the-works-of-shakespeare.html</feedburner:origLink></entry>
    <entry>
        <title>Stratford Tennis Coach Frazee Named Coach of the Year by the Texas Tennis Coaches Association</title>
        <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MikeFalicksBlog/~3/aADSQJyPEkY/stratford-tennis-coach-frazee-named-coach-of-the-year-by-the-texas-tennis-coaches-association.html" />
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        <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d88c053ef0120a69f3564970b</id>
        <published>2009-11-16T08:02:00-05:00</published>
        <updated>2009-11-16T08:02:00-05:00</updated>
        <summary>Stratford's Tennis Coach, Rory Frazee, has been named as the 2009 Coach of the Year by the Texas Tennis Coaches Association. From the Stratford Booster Club website: We are thrilled to announce that our tennis coach, Coach Frazee, who is...</summary>
        <author>
            <name>Mike Falick</name>
        </author>
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="Education" />
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="Good Things Happening in Spring Branch" />
        
        
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<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><a href="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/.a/6a00d8341d88c053ef012875a17fb1970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="float: left;"><img alt="Screen-capture-3" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00d8341d88c053ef012875a17fb1970c " src="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/.a/6a00d8341d88c053ef012875a17fb1970c-200wi" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; width: 200px;" /></a> Stratford's Tennis Coach, Rory Frazee, has been named as the <a href="http://www.texastenniscoaches.com/coty.htm">2009 Coach of the Year</a> by the Texas Tennis Coaches Association.</p><p>From the Stratford Booster Club <a href="http://www.shsboosterclub.com/TennisVarsity.html">website</a>:<span class="text"><font color="#003300" size="2"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;"><br /></span></font></span></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="text"><font color="#003300" size="2"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;">We are thrilled to announce that our tennis coach, Coach Frazee, who is celebrating his 25th anniversary with SBISD (23 of these at Stratford), has just been named 2008-2009 Class 5A Coach of the Year by the Texas Tennis Coaches Association.  We have always known that Coach Frazee is the best of the best, and are so excited that the TTCA has recognized his dedication to the sport, our athletes, and our school.   Coach Frazee has always been the cornerstone of the tennis program’s “Tradition of Excellence.”  To paraphrase Coach Frazee, “winning is fun, but there is a lot more to a successful team than what is indicated in the score.”  CONGRATULATIONS COACH FRAZEE!!!</span></font></span></p></blockquote></div>
</content>


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    <entry>
        <title>History Matters: A Useful Website for High School Students and Teachers</title>
        <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MikeFalicksBlog/~3/ZgcVtKEvBQI/history-matters-a-useful-website-for-high-school-students-and-teachers.html" />
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        <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d88c053ef012875a15537970c</id>
        <published>2009-11-15T08:04:00-05:00</published>
        <updated>2009-11-15T08:04:00-05:00</updated>
        <summary>I recently discovered the History Matters website which is designed for high school and college teachers and students to provide a gateway to web resources and offers other useful materials for teaching U.S. history. From the History Matters website: History...</summary>
        <author>
            <name>Mike Falick</name>
        </author>
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="Education" />
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="Web/Tech" />
        
        
<content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/">
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/.a/6a00d8341d88c053ef012875a154e8970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="float: left;"><img alt="Screen-capture-1" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00d8341d88c053ef012875a154e8970c " src="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/.a/6a00d8341d88c053ef012875a154e8970c-200wi" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; width: 200px;" /></a> I recently discovered the <a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/">History Matters website</a> which is designed for high school and college teachers and students to provide a gateway to web resources and offers other useful materials for teaching U.S. history.  From the <a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/">History Matters website</a>:</p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><em>History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web</em> was first developed 
 in 1998 by the American Social History Project/Center for Media &amp; Learning, 
 City University of New York, and the Center for History and New Media, George 
 Mason University, with initial funding from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. 
 Over the past several years, it has become a highly regarded gateway to web 
 resources as well as a repository of unique teaching materials, first-person 
 primary documents, and guides to analyzing historical evidence for high school 
 and college students and teachers of American history. In January 2005, the 
 American Historical Association awarded <em>History Matters</em> the James 
 Harvey Robinson Prize for the site’s “outstanding contribution to the teaching 
 and learning of history.” In April 2005, the New York Public Library selected 
 the site for its “Best of Reference 2005.” You can read a more detailed overview 
 of the site, <a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/expansion.html">here</a>.</p><p class="intro">Here is a list of our current features:</p>
<ul id="list_more"><li><a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/manypasts/">Many Pasts</a>:
contains 1,000 primary documents in text, image, and audio that
emphasize the experiences of “ordinary” Americans throughout U.S.
history. All of the documents have been screened by historians and are
accompanied by annotations that address their larger historical
significance and context. <a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/manypasts/">Browse</a> a list of documents sorted by time period, beginning with the earliest. Or visit the <a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/search.php">Advanced Search</a> to quickly locate documents by topic, time period, keyword, or type of document.</li>
<li><a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/makesense/">Making Sense of Evidence</a>:
helps students and teachers make effective use of primary sources.
“Making Sense of Documents” provide detailed strategies for analyzing
online primary materials (including film, music, numbers, photographs,
advertisements, oral history, and letters and diaries) with interactive
exercises and a guide to traditional and online sources. “Scholars in
Action” segments show how scholars puzzle out the meaning of different
kinds of primary sources (from cartoons to house inventories), allowing
you to try to make sense of a document yourself and then providing
audio clips in which leading scholars interpret the document and
discuss strategies for overall analysis.</li>
<li><a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/wwwhistory/">WWW.History</a>:
is our annotated guide to more than 850 useful websites for teaching
U.S. history and social studies. We have carefully selected and
screened each site for quality and provide a 1-paragraph annotation
that summarizes its content, its strengths and weaknesses, and its
utility for teachers. Information is provided on the type of resource
(text, images, audio, and video) available. <a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/wwwhistory/">Browse</a> sites by topic and time period or look through a list of some of <a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/wwwhistory/">our favorite sites</a>. Or visit the <a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/search.php">Advanced Search</a>
to quickly locate WWW.History sites by topic, time period, keyword,
kind of primary source, or type of resource. We also include extended
scholarly web reviews as a regular feature of History Matters. In
collaboration with the Journal of American History (JAH) we review
approximately 25 websites per year. The reviews are co-published by the
JAH and History Matters and appear in both venues. The <a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/webrevs.php">archive page</a> offers all featured web reviews.</li>
<li><a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/refdesk/">Reference Desk</a>:
provides annotated links to resources on standards, citing and
evaluating websites, and understanding copyright and fair use laws as
they apply to the use and creation of educational materials on the web.</li>
<li><a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/talkhist/">Talking History</a>:
History Matters organized 25 online forums with leading historians and
teachers about the teaching of major topics in U.S. history—from early
settlement to the Vietnam War. Those discussions are archived here and
contain many useful teaching suggestions.</li>
<li><a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/syllabus/">Syllabus Central</a>:
provides annotated syllabi that offer creative approaches to teaching,
with particular emphasis on innovative ways of organizing the U.S.
Survey and integrating technology. Teachers reflect on how a social
history approach, active learning techniques, and web-based resources
and new media have affected their teaching and their students.</li>
<li><a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/studhist/">Students as Historians</a>:
presents examples of the kinds of projects history students, from high
school to graduate school, have done on the Internet. Projects range
from oral histories or essays with web links to visual essays or
exhibits. <a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/studhist/">Browse</a> the full list or visit the <a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/studhist/">Advanced Search</a> to locate student projects quickly by topic, time period, or keyword.</li>
<li><a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/studhist/">Digital Blackboard</a>:
provides successful web-based assignments—some we have developed
ourselves, others developed by such groups as the Library of Congress
and the National Archives—as practical models for integrating new media
into the classroom. <a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/studhist/">Browse</a> through the full list or visit our <a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/search.php">Advanced Search</a> to quickly locate assignments by topic, time period, or keyword.</li>
<li><a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/secrets/">Secrets of Great History Teachers</a>:
In these interviews distinguished teachers share their strategies and
techniques. Good teaching is more often honored in rhetoric than
reality. And great teachers are generally known locally within their
own schools, but less often to a larger group of national colleagues.
Our goal in this section is, in part, to identify and honor those
people who have taught with excellence, dedication, and distinction.
But more than that, we believe that these teachers have lessons to
offer the rest of us.</li>
<li><a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/puzzled/">Puzzled by the Past</a>:
Between 1997 and 2003, History Matters presented historical puzzles and
quizzes. We are no longer adding new puzzles, but we include here an
archive of 20 past puzzles that can be used in classrooms to inspire
creative thinking and challenge assumptions.</li>
<li><a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/pmeetsp/">Past Meets Present</a>:
was a feature of History Matters between 1998 and 2001. In it,
historians offered their views on the relationship between current
events and larger historical themes, between the past and the present,
placing some of the most controversial political and social topics of
the day in historical perspective. We have not continued this feature,
but we include an archive of past commentaries on such topics as
capital punishment and gun control.</li>
</ul>
 
<p class="intro">List of <a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/all.php">all History Matters documents</a>.
</p></blockquote></div>
</content>


    <feedburner:origLink>http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/2009/11/history-matters-a-useful-website-for-high-school-students-and-teachers.html</feedburner:origLink></entry>
    <entry>
        <title>Stratford vs. Katy</title>
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        <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d88c053ef0120a69f22cc970b</id>
        <published>2009-11-14T12:29:00-05:00</published>
        <updated>2009-11-14T14:33:15-05:00</updated>
        <summary>Interested in the game today but unable to make it to watch in person? You can follow the action online at this link (you will need Windows Media Player to listen).</summary>
        <author>
            <name>Mike Falick</name>
        </author>
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="Current Affairs" />
        
        
<content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/">
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><a href="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/.a/6a00d8341d88c053ef0120a69f23b7970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="float: left;"><img alt="Screen-capture-2" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00d8341d88c053ef0120a69f23b7970b " src="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/.a/6a00d8341d88c053ef0120a69f23b7970b-200wi" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; width: 200px;" /></a> Interested in the game today but unable to make it to watch in person?  You can follow the action online at this <a href="http://icecast1.tsrnsports.com/streams/stream-01.asx">link</a> (you will need Windows Media Player to listen).</p><p /></div>
</content>


    <feedburner:origLink>http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/2009/11/stratford-vs-katy.html</feedburner:origLink></entry>
    <entry>
        <title>Recap of the Board's November 9, 2009, Workshop Meeting</title>
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        <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/2009/11/recap-of-the-boards-november-9-2009-workshop-meeting.html" thr:count="0" />
        <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d88c053ef0120a69e8cda970b</id>
        <published>2009-11-14T11:50:20-05:00</published>
        <updated>2009-11-14T11:50:20-05:00</updated>
        <summary>Our Board held its monthly workshop meeting tonight. Here's a recap of the issues discussed and actions taken on tonight's Agenda We had three discussion items on tonight's agenda. The first item was a discussion of the 2008-2009 Audit and...</summary>
        <author>
            <name>Mike Falick</name>
        </author>
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="Board Meeting Recaps" />
        
        
<content type="html" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/">
&lt;div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 13px; font-family: Trebuchet MS;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/.a/6a00d8341d88c053ef0120a69e8945970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="float: left;"&gt;&lt;img  alt="SBISD Seal" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00d8341d88c053ef0120a69e8945970b " src="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/.a/6a00d8341d88c053ef0120a69e8945970b-200wi" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; width: 200px;" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Our &lt;a href="http://www.springbranchisd.com/districtleaders.htm"&gt;Board&lt;/a&gt; held its monthly workshop meeting tonight. Here's a recap of the issues discussed and actions taken on tonight's &lt;a href="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/files/agenda-.pdf"&gt;Agenda&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We had three discussion items on tonight's agenda.&amp;nbsp; The first item was a discussion of the &lt;a href="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/files/2008-2009-audit-and-comprehensive-annual-financial-report-for-the-year-ended-june-30-2009-.pdf"&gt;2008-2009 Audit and Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the Year Ended June 30, 2009&lt;/a&gt;.  While the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) itself will not be presented until the Board meeting on November 23, 2009, our auditors gave the District a clean bill of health.&amp;nbsp; I will post the CAFR as part of the November 23, 2009, Board Meeting Recap.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Our second discussion item concerned the &lt;a href="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/files/2010-2011-middle-school-and-high-school-program-of-studies-guide.pdf"&gt;2010-2011 Middle School and High School Program of Studies Guide&lt;/a&gt;.  As regular readers of this blog know, Spring Branch was involved in lobbying for the changes to the graduation requirements contained in House Bill 3 passed during the 81st Legislative Session last Spring (see this prior &lt;a href="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/2009/08/during-the-81st-legislative-session-completed-june-1-2009-the-legislature-passed-house-bill-3-see-these-prior-post-hou.html"&gt;post&lt;/a&gt; for more information).&amp;nbsp; In order to add structure to these changes, the District has created suggested &lt;a href="http://cte.springbranchisd.com/career_clusters/career_clusters.html"&gt;career clusters&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; While not mandatory, these &lt;a href="http://cte.springbranchisd.com/career_clusters/career_clusters.html"&gt;career clusters&lt;/a&gt; will, at the student's choice, provide the opportunity for students to choose courses based on a student's interests or career goals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Our final discussion item on the Agenda was a presentation of the &lt;a href="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/files/schematic-designdesign-development-for-the-new-spring-branch-elementary-school.pdf"&gt;Schematic Design/Design Development for the New Spring Branch Elementary School&lt;/a&gt;.  The .pdf of the schematic design can be viewed by clicking &lt;a href="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/files/spring-branch-ss-and-dd-book-_presentation-version.pdf"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.  Even better, click the video below for a 3D animation of the design.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;object width="425" height="344"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gPdWcTNy6EM&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gPdWcTNy6EM&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
</content>


    <feedburner:origLink>http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/2009/11/recap-of-the-boards-november-9-2009-workshop-meeting.html</feedburner:origLink></entry>
    <entry>
        <title>TED Video of the Week: Ian Goldin: Navigating Our Global Future</title>
        <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MikeFalicksBlog/~3/3cOi3c2RsK0/ted-video-of-the-week-ian-goldin-navigating-our-global-future.html" />
        <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/2009/11/ted-video-of-the-week-ian-goldin-navigating-our-global-future.html" thr:count="0" />
        <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d88c053ef0120a69e9bf6970b</id>
        <published>2009-11-14T10:56:55-05:00</published>
        <updated>2009-11-14T10:56:55-05:00</updated>
        <summary>This week's TED Video of the Week is from Ian Goldin, whose talk is entitled the "Navigating Our Global Future." From the TED website: As globalization and technological advances bring us hurtling towards a new integrated future, Ian Goldin warns...</summary>
        <author>
            <name>Mike Falick</name>
        </author>
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="TED Video of the Week" />
        
        
<content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/">
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p style="text-align: justify;">This week's <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/ian_goldin_navigating_our_global_future.html">TED Video of the Week</a> is from Ian Goldin, whose talk is entitled the "Navigating Our Global Future." From the <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/ian_goldin_navigating_our_global_future.html">TED website</a>:</p><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><p>As globalization and technological advances bring us hurtling towards a
new integrated future, Ian Goldin warns that not all people may benefit
equally. But, he says, if we can recognize this danger, we might yet
realize the possibility of improved life for everyone.</p>

</blockquote>

<p /></div><object height="326" width="446"><param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff" /> <param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/IanGoldin_2009G-medium.flv&amp;su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/IanGoldin-2009G.embed_thumbnail.jpg&amp;vw=432&amp;vh=240&amp;ap=0&amp;ti=665&amp;introDuration=16500&amp;adDuration=4000&amp;postAdDuration=2000&amp;adKeys=talk=ian_goldin_navigating_our_global_future;year=2009;theme=the_rise_of_collaboration;theme=bold_predictions_stern_warnings;theme=speaking_at_tedglobal2009;theme=what_s_next_in_tech;theme=new_on_ted_com;theme=technology_history_and_destiny;theme=rethinking_poverty;theme=unconventional_explanations;event=TEDGlobal+2009;&amp;preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512x288;" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" bgcolor="#ffffff" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/IanGoldin_2009G-medium.flv&amp;su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/IanGoldin-2009G.embed_thumbnail.jpg&amp;vw=432&amp;vh=240&amp;ap=0&amp;ti=665&amp;introDuration=16500&amp;adDuration=4000&amp;postAdDuration=2000&amp;adKeys=talk=ian_goldin_navigating_our_global_future;year=2009;theme=the_rise_of_collaboration;theme=bold_predictions_stern_warnings;theme=speaking_at_tedglobal2009;theme=what_s_next_in_tech;theme=new_on_ted_com;theme=technology_history_and_destiny;theme=rethinking_poverty;theme=unconventional_explanations;event=TEDGlobal+2009;" height="326" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="446" wmode="transparent" /></object></div>
</content>


    <feedburner:origLink>http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/2009/11/ted-video-of-the-week-ian-goldin-navigating-our-global-future.html</feedburner:origLink></entry>
    <entry>
        <title>Regular (nearly daily) Blogging will Resume Now</title>
        <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MikeFalicksBlog/~3/So-S9-HjUSA/regular-nearly-daily-blogging-will-resume-now.html" />
        <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/2009/11/regular-nearly-daily-blogging-will-resume-now.html" thr:count="0" />
        <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d88c053ef012875a0bda6970c</id>
        <published>2009-11-14T10:27:19-05:00</published>
        <updated>2009-11-14T10:27:19-05:00</updated>
        <summary>Sorry for the recent lack of posts. Regular blogging resumes now.</summary>
        <author>
            <name>Mike Falick</name>
        </author>
        
        
<content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/">
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Sorry for the recent lack of posts.  Regular blogging resumes now.</div>
</content>


    <feedburner:origLink>http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/2009/11/regular-nearly-daily-blogging-will-resume-now.html</feedburner:origLink></entry>
    <entry>
        <title>Book Recommendation: Mitch Albom's "Have a Little Faith"</title>
        <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MikeFalicksBlog/~3/uDvZOvSdCDs/book-recommendation-mitch-alboms-have-a-little-faith.html" />
        <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/2009/10/book-recommendation-mitch-alboms-have-a-little-faith.html" thr:count="0" />
        <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d88c053ef0120a6461416970c</id>
        <published>2009-10-17T00:07:31-04:00</published>
        <updated>2009-10-17T00:08:52-04:00</updated>
        <summary>I just finished listening to Mitch Albom's new book, "Have a Litte Faith." As with his prior books, Have a Little Faith is an excellent read that I highly recommend. From Mitch Albom's website: Albom’s first nonfiction book since Tuesdays...</summary>
        <author>
            <name>Mike Falick</name>
        </author>
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="Books" />
        
        
<content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/">
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><a href="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/.a/6a00d8341d88c053ef0120a6461364970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Half" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00d8341d88c053ef0120a6461364970c " src="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/.a/6a00d8341d88c053ef0120a6461364970c-200wi" style="width: 200px;" /></a> <br /> I just finished listening to Mitch Albom's new book, "<a href="http://mitchalbom.com/books/node/5515">Have a Litte Faith</a>."  As with his prior books, Have a Little Faith is an excellent read that I highly recommend.</p>

<p>From Mitch Albom's <a href="http://mitchalbom.com/books/node/5515">website</a>:</p>

<blockquote><p>Albom’s first nonfiction book since <em><a href="http://mitchalbom.com/books/node/3856">Tuesdays with Morrie</a></em>, <em><a href="http://mitchalbom.com/books/node/5531">Have A Little Faith</a></em> begins with an unusual request: an 82-year-old rabbi from Albom’s old hometown asks him to deliver his eulogy.<br />
<br />
Feeling unworthy, Albom insists on understanding the man better, which
throws him back into a world of faith he’d left years ago. Meanwhile,
closer to his current home, Albom becomes involved with a Detroit
pastor – a reformed drug dealer and convict – who preaches to the poor
and homeless in a decaying church with a hole in its roof. <br />
<br />
Moving between their worlds, Christian and Jewish, African-American and
white, impoverished and well-to-do, Mitch observes how these very
different men employ faith similarly in fighting for survival: the
older, suburban rabbi, embracing it as death approaches; the younger,
inner-city pastor relying on it to keep himself and his church afloat.<br />
<br />
As America struggles with hard times and people turn more to their
beliefs, Mitch and the two men of God explore issues that perplex
modern man: how to endure when difficult things happen; what heaven is;
intermarriage; forgiveness; doubting God; and the importance of faith
in trying times. Although the texts, prayers and histories are
different, Albom begins to realize a striking unity between the two
worlds - and indeed, between beliefs everywhere.<br />
<br />
In the end, as the rabbi nears death and a harsh winter threatens the
pastor’s wobbly church, Albom sadly fulfills the last request and
writes the eulogy. And he finally understands what both men had been
teaching all along: the profound comfort of believing in something
bigger than yourself.<br />
<br />
<em>Have a Little Faith</em> is a book about a life’s purpose; about
losing belief and finding it again; about the divine spark inside us
all. It is one man’s journey, but it is everyone’s story.</p></blockquote></div>
</content>


    <feedburner:origLink>http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/2009/10/book-recommendation-mitch-alboms-have-a-little-faith.html</feedburner:origLink></entry>
    <entry>
        <title>Fox 26 Highlights Stratford's Upcoming Production of The Wedding Singer</title>
        <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MikeFalicksBlog/~3/YgXTAnIp78s/fox-26-highlights-stratfords-upcoming-production-of-the-wedding-singer.html" />
        <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/2009/10/fox-26-highlights-stratfords-upcoming-production-of-the-wedding-singer.html" thr:count="0" />
        <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d88c053ef0120a6460544970c</id>
        <published>2009-10-15T23:39:00-04:00</published>
        <updated>2009-10-15T23:39:00-04:00</updated>
        <summary>Fox 26 reported live from Stratford on Thursday morning on the upcoming production of "The Wedding Singer." From the Fox 26 website: 'The Wedding Singer' with Gleeful Cast Updated: Thursday, 15 Oct 2009, 11:42 AM CDT Published : Thursday, 15...</summary>
        <author>
            <name>Mike Falick</name>
        </author>
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="Good Things Happening in Spring Branch" />
        
        
<content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/">
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><a href="http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/morning_news/091015_stratford_senior_high_school_the_wedding_singer">Fox 26</a> reported live from Stratford on Thursday morning on the upcoming production of "The Wedding Singer."</p><p>From the <a href="http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/morning_news/091015_stratford_senior_high_school_the_wedding_singer">Fox 26 website</a>:</p><p>'The Wedding Singer' with Gleeful Cast</p><p>Updated: Thursday, 15 Oct 2009, 11:42 AM CDT<br />Published : Thursday, 15 Oct 2009, 11:42 AM CDT</p>


<div class="story last"><p>HOUSTON - Part of the appeal of FOX network
hit show "Glee" is that the characters might remind high school
students of their classmates or remind parents of their classmates or
themselves when they took part in the performing arts.</p> <p>Each week FOX 26 Morning News will present a high school musical in the Houston area.</p> <p>FOX
26 Morning News Extra anchor Ruben Dominguez visits Stratford Senior
High School in the Spring Branch Independent School District where Cece
Prudhomme is acting as musical director for the student production of
"The Wedding Singer."</p> </div><p /><object data="http://www.myfoxhouston.com/video/videoplayer.swf" height="377" id="video" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450"><param name="movie" value="http://www.myfoxhouston.com/video/videoplayer.swf" /><param name="FlashVars" value="&amp;skin=MP1ExternalAll-MFL.swf&amp;embed=true&amp;adSrc=http%3A%2F%2Fad%2Edoubleclick%2Enet%2Fadx%2Ftsg%2Ekriv%2Fwildcard%5F5%2Fdetail%3Bdcmt%3Dtext%2Fxml%3Bpos%3D%3Btile%3D2%3Bfname%3D091015%5Fstratford%5Fsenior%5Fhigh%5Fschool%5Fthe%5Fwedding%5Fsinger%3Bsz%3D320x240%3Bord%3D770530284455692400%3Frand%3D0%2E8593339154289565&amp;flv=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Emyfoxhouston%2Ecom%2Ffeeds%2FoutboundFeed%3FobfType%3DVIDEO%5FPLAYER%5FSMIL%5FFEED%26componentId%3D130806793&amp;img=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia2%2Emyfoxhouston%2Ecom%2F%2Fphoto%2F2009%2F10%2F15%2F091015stratford%5Ftmb0001%5F20091015110232%5F640%5F480%2EJPG&amp;story=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Emyfoxhouston%2Ecom%2Fdpp%2Fmorning%5Fnews%2F091015%5Fstratford%5Fsenior%5Fhigh%5Fschool%5Fthe%5Fwedding%5Fsinger" /><param name="allowNetworking" value="all" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /></object></div>
</content>


    <feedburner:origLink>http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/2009/10/fox-26-highlights-stratfords-upcoming-production-of-the-wedding-singer.html</feedburner:origLink></entry>
    <entry>
        <title>TED Video of the Week: Beau Lotto: Optical Illusions Show How We See</title>
        <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MikeFalicksBlog/~3/A2VxAwiwcew/ted-video-of-the-week-beau-lotto-optical-illusions-show-how-we-see.html" />
        <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/2009/10/ted-video-of-the-week-beau-lotto-optical-illusions-show-how-we-see.html" thr:count="0" />
        <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341d88c053ef0120a5d93862970b</id>
        <published>2009-10-10T11:45:00-04:00</published>
        <updated>2009-10-11T11:47:29-04:00</updated>
        <summary>This week's TED Video of the Week is from Beau Lotto, whose talk is entitled the "Optical Illusions Show How We See." From the TED website: Beau Lotto's color games puzzle your vision, but they also spotlight what you can't...</summary>
        <author>
            <name>Mike Falick</name>
        </author>
        
        
<content type="html" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/">
&lt;div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"&gt;&lt;p&gt;This week's &lt;a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/beau_lotto_optical_illusions_show_how_we_see.html"&gt;TED Video of the Week&lt;/a&gt; is from Beau Lotto, whose talk is entitled the "Optical Illusions Show How We See." From the &lt;a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/beau_lotto_optical_illusions_show_how_we_see.html"&gt;TED website&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;Beau Lotto's color games puzzle your vision, but they also spotlight
what you can't normally see: how your brain works. This fun, first-hand
look at your own versatile sense of sight reveals how evolution tints
your perception of what's really out there.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;object width="446" height="326"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"&gt;&lt;/param&gt; &lt;param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/BeauLotto_2009G-medium.flv&amp;su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/BeauLotto-2009G.embed_thumbnail.jpg&amp;vw=432&amp;vh=240&amp;ap=0&amp;ti=653&amp;introDuration=16500&amp;adDuration=4000&amp;postAdDuration=2000&amp;adKeys=talk=beau_lotto_optical_illusions_show_how_we_see;year=2009;theme=speaking_at_tedglobal2009;theme=new_on_ted_com;theme=art_unusual;theme=evolution_s_genius;theme=how_the_mind_works;event=TEDGlobal+2009;&amp;preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512x288;" /&gt;&lt;embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgColor="#ffffff" width="446" height="326" allowFullScreen="true" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/BeauLotto_2009G-medium.flv&amp;su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/BeauLotto-2009G.embed_thumbnail.jpg&amp;vw=432&amp;vh=240&amp;ap=0&amp;ti=653&amp;introDuration=16500&amp;adDuration=4000&amp;postAdDuration=2000&amp;adKeys=talk=beau_lotto_optical_illusions_show_how_we_see;year=2009;theme=speaking_at_tedglobal2009;theme=new_on_ted_com;theme=art_unusual;theme=evolution_s_genius;theme=how_the_mind_works;event=TEDGlobal+2009;"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
</content>


    <feedburner:origLink>http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/2009/10/ted-video-of-the-week-beau-lotto-optical-illusions-show-how-we-see.html</feedburner:origLink></entry>
 
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