The best and worst Super Bowl ads. – By Seth Stevenson – Slate Magazine: “In another Flo TV ad, will.i.am offers his updated take on the Who’s ‘My Generation.’ Last year, in a Pepsi ad, will.i.am offered his updated take on Bob Dylan’s ‘Forever Young.’ Two points: 1) Corporate America, please end your fascination with will.i.am, and stop enlisting him to desecrate the history of music. 2) Can we all take this moment to acknowledge that it is still possible for an artist to sell out, and that will.i.am is demonstrating this possibility on a near-daily basis?”

Yep.

A Distributed Phalanx of Tablets: “a distributed phalanx of tablets will be far more palatable, more civil, than the walls of laptop screens that are temporarily erected during meetings now.”

“This is one of my fervent hopes for the iPad in school settings. Putting the screens down on the desk changes the shape and feel of the classroom.”

Great mind bend from Frasier Spears this morning.

I hadn’t even considered that design element of classroom conduction.

However, it’s quite true.

Reflections of a Science Teacher: A Dozen or so Charts of Elements: “The Periodic Table of Elements is the chemists main toolbox. There are numerous tables online that can be used by the teacher and the student for learning about the elements of the earth. Here is a bakers dozen of beautiful and useful favorites:”

Perhaps it is the inspiration provided by Oliver Sacks (go listen), but I love the Periodic Table.

I try to pass on that love when we study the Periodic Table throughout my Grade 8 Physical Science class. It’s honestly one of my main goals to get my students interested (and hopefully amazed) by this chart and its implications.

So thanks to Sandra McCarron for collecting these resources into a post. I’ve seen most but some links are new.

“At this point you’ve probably guessed the cause: Incoming ninth-grade boys unprepared for the college-track rigors of high school get slammed and held back for a repeat ‘experience.’”

Interesting piece on the issue of declining male college graduates that points the finger at 9th grade.

Absent from the piece is a realization that 8th grade should (in addition to everything else) be working as a prep for 9-10th grades. As an (avowed lifetime) 8th grade teacher (hey, it’s a calling), I have to wonder why the author suggests we make the series of steps he recommends (including not counting the 9th grade year in GPA calculations) instead of calling for American Middle Schools to rethink the 8th grade year.

God knows Grade 8 needs a reboot in most schools/learning communities/public perceptions.

Personally, I could care less about GPA (don’t tell my daughters I wrote that). I care much more about having my 8th graders realize the wonders and drudgeries of the scientific method that will serve them well where-ever they may go.

So, let’s reinvent 8th grade and give this magical (and scientific) year the dignity it deserves rather than glossing over it as one more step to college freshperson-dom.

Wishful captcha from Facebook.

Teacher applicants outnumber posts | The Augusta Chronicle: “‘It used to be that you were pretty safe finding a job as a teacher. Now, that’s not the case. Not anymore,’ said the 22-year-old, who would like to teach elementary school.”

I’m hearing the same chatter from lots of teacher pals right now.

It’s that time of the year when teachers start (or continue) evaluating (or re-evaluating) their current positions and putting out feelers to see if the grass is any greener the next school over.

However, that free agent scouting activity is much more minimized than in years past. Of course, that’s not completely a bad thing, but it does say something about the economics of the teaching profession when seasoned professionals use words like “stability” and “security.”

I’ve always said it’s good teachers, not good schools, that make the difference. It certainly helps to be equipped and supported by administration and community, but maybe this will help some teachers to realize they can “bloom where they are planted.”

It’s a fatalistic world view, but as our education system continues to crumble along with the post-industrialist mind-view that created this system of false pretenses in the first place.

Again, we need to reboot our education system.

Until then, great teachers need to keep on keepin’ on.

(Thanks to @EdTech4Me for the pointer to the article above).

Teens Just Don’t Blog or Tweet [STATS]: “As my colleague Barb Dybwad also brings up, a teenager’s social circle is far smaller and more closely defined than an adult’s network. Perhaps this is why more closed networks like Facebook are more appealing to teenagers than Twitter, which is a completely public experience. Blogging was a more intimate experience a few years back, which could also explain why more teens have abandoned personal blogs over the last few years.”

Exactly what I’ve observed about my 8th graders.

sorry, but you need to learn how to use the sharpener: “‘But you see what I mean.  I wouldn’t break a pencil and say ‘well that’s not my thing.’ I wouldn’t tell the people in charge that it’s ‘not in my job description’ to learn how to use a sharpener.  After all, these people have to shake out the chalk dust from their erasers, don’t they?  It’s a part of the job.  You learn to use and take care of your tools.’ “

Clever play on tech-phobic teachers.

The Internet vs. Obama – Opinionator Blog – NYTimes.com: “It’s no exaggeration to say that technology has subverted the original idea of America. The founders explicitly rejected direct democracy — in which citizens vote on every issue — in favor of representative democracy. The idea was that legislators would convene at a safe remove from voters and, thus insulated from the din of narrow interests and widespread but ephemeral passions, do what was in the long-term interest of their constituents and of the nation. Now information technology has stripped away the insulation that physical distance provided back when information couldn’t travel faster than a horse.”

Ridiculous logic.

Ridiculous assumptions about the motivations of “the founders” of our country.

And downright dangerous ideology to imagine that Americans having access to information and access to venting frustrations about politicians leads directly to a nation of Tea Partiers.

Great video/conversation for educators on the front lines of the digital divide facing our nation.

Thanks to my pal Wayne Porter for sharing.