tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91413516202091670052024-03-05T00:31:44.523-08:00The Kaleidoscope FishbowlElementary Thoughts From A Classroom TeacherRyanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.comBlogger180125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-51422371632652996402015-08-16T13:42:00.001-07:002015-08-17T05:33:03.984-07:00Change Your Classroom Lights<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've had a wide variety of classrooms in my teacher life.</span><br />
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From trailer rooms in Namibia:</span><br />
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<td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIqD_nanwbp9emcJJGUPW4uiPL0hAhRodnnwTl9VbgNdKXRgVbiHD0VQWD4n3ZBW5tEL03_81YAoAo5_1byRh0fP4HPmmwMD8p0hGm-wmevyDl4EMvPPRYlbCKp1TRvjS1oYCIpoauCy8/s1600/inside+ombuumbuu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIqD_nanwbp9emcJJGUPW4uiPL0hAhRodnnwTl9VbgNdKXRgVbiHD0VQWD4n3ZBW5tEL03_81YAoAo5_1byRh0fP4HPmmwMD8p0hGm-wmevyDl4EMvPPRYlbCKp1TRvjS1oYCIpoauCy8/s200/inside+ombuumbuu.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWp9qC15lD1Bdb35MBLtfu67Yd-K1S3vZuWsfrLnIe_5x8ehoeUU8K1iF6TzfzaiWxSjILA1iVxrp0c3FFWS_sVyanFZEvHtH20Z3W9AkgWW7v8EjDN_yDDKuizT5sTHX7G3jdaNXyQG0/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWp9qC15lD1Bdb35MBLtfu67Yd-K1S3vZuWsfrLnIe_5x8ehoeUU8K1iF6TzfzaiWxSjILA1iVxrp0c3FFWS_sVyanFZEvHtH20Z3W9AkgWW7v8EjDN_yDDKuizT5sTHX7G3jdaNXyQG0/s200/FullSizeRender.jpg" width="200" /></a></td>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To rooms in Guinea that have walls painted with blackboard paint:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhszr3YJ0gsaJMw1_BGpr9gsGMPjXHTpCUTfF-6esEYvkhjK8NowjVVV8pB6ChlUSdTCVpUz9Sl8tzlO0NdPzf-xL_NjJqIcmufUOvpjjpdpHAkwhz-wP7XPlZXNVh1MG5PD8NZemEbd3s/s1600/SA-+College+de+Kegneko.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhszr3YJ0gsaJMw1_BGpr9gsGMPjXHTpCUTfF-6esEYvkhjK8NowjVVV8pB6ChlUSdTCVpUz9Sl8tzlO0NdPzf-xL_NjJqIcmufUOvpjjpdpHAkwhz-wP7XPlZXNVh1MG5PD8NZemEbd3s/s200/SA-+College+de+Kegneko.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">and floors painted with human feces</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By contrast my past couple of classrooms have been pretty great. My favorite has been my Kathmandu classroom:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijHuNtOM9upwdKNms9BHwsCKg_xJbnwp8N6j-oGTyoh5vWWCmarIckxhFK2cU2xWPMocoib2OfDMmfPPq8IRRc7O9adX_MXDqSgj7QLnh_AKUGZurW-ivW4g06Brp8nS2P_Y1oQNajGgs/s1600/inside+nepal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijHuNtOM9upwdKNms9BHwsCKg_xJbnwp8N6j-oGTyoh5vWWCmarIckxhFK2cU2xWPMocoib2OfDMmfPPq8IRRc7O9adX_MXDqSgj7QLnh_AKUGZurW-ivW4g06Brp8nS2P_Y1oQNajGgs/s320/inside+nepal.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Fun Fact: </span>When the big earthquake hit a couple of months ago, those fish in the fish tank in the back left corner flung all the way to the front of the room (where the photo was taken). </b></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> My classroom now at ISP is pretty cool. It has some nice corner windows. And a loft.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1do9O8PjLmEHq0c0_TtlkWMfwdHyI2RqkitWqOc6OkS5skeYZH9IQhN0MrQUSHdff3a_HsZ5_uUeaJSaJcqmr-amqC50VAOoqCZlhnKYrd3Vr3RXiCbylEVgnZkZNx_1QQy9Ck-ygLB4/s1600/ISP+Classroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1do9O8PjLmEHq0c0_TtlkWMfwdHyI2RqkitWqOc6OkS5skeYZH9IQhN0MrQUSHdff3a_HsZ5_uUeaJSaJcqmr-amqC50VAOoqCZlhnKYrd3Vr3RXiCbylEVgnZkZNx_1QQy9Ck-ygLB4/s320/ISP+Classroom.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's a good room. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only issue is the fluorescent lighting. That part is gross. And since Prague gets pretty dark in the winter months, the lighting is a big deal. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was scratching and stretching about this until I saw this commercial:</span></div>
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<b>The strange, windowless room with drapes</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I thought this could be the solution! And it probably is. Through my classroom budget, I bought a few overpriced light strips, blooms, and bulbs. Then I put them in and below the class loft.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's not the same as the commercial because I have windows and daylight. It's also the summer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I think it'll be a big improvement to fluorescents.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is the Hue Light system:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Bridge:</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5d7V7V6wnkbQK0NprMLD4evF2uJUlPowv4wx7vP-quZo1RcFCREQjdE9ROE7rmASfoFwssJhHrqBzpFVez-jQbL4ZTk_LR_t_01ROa3PP7fXO0SzGQ30zzdDTHwI2quaEaM4MKjR7Yrs/s1600/bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5d7V7V6wnkbQK0NprMLD4evF2uJUlPowv4wx7vP-quZo1RcFCREQjdE9ROE7rmASfoFwssJhHrqBzpFVez-jQbL4ZTk_LR_t_01ROa3PP7fXO0SzGQ30zzdDTHwI2quaEaM4MKjR7Yrs/s320/bridge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is what makes everything work. The bridge needs to plug into your internet hub. I have a port in my classroom wall that I plug it into. Without the bridge, the lights would just act as... lights.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>The Bulbs</u></b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQSBqDAemo-vjgQdnTl4Gp8c3RiWvRg3sJh-hggkLw690TYDP2sVVbisTUuDH0YTHhAI41CWjE0IpnociPI_-IITGPalt8gcNZ0AEY7G8oopzBtyYYKKb0iOLSIeN_sgD7FuxEtTQmou0/s1600/Hue+Bulb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQSBqDAemo-vjgQdnTl4Gp8c3RiWvRg3sJh-hggkLw690TYDP2sVVbisTUuDH0YTHhAI41CWjE0IpnociPI_-IITGPalt8gcNZ0AEY7G8oopzBtyYYKKb0iOLSIeN_sgD7FuxEtTQmou0/s320/Hue+Bulb.jpg" width="192" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once you have the bridge, you can buy as many bulbs as you want. Each bulb can be controlled separately from your smart device, or grouped together. At the time of this writing, each bulb costs around $20. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only downside is that they aren't super bright. It would be nice if the darker colors would be a little more bold and less soft.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Grade: B+</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>The Blooms</u></b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWVSpN63TOOxiCnUUD6JH-u9qP_64fMyoWsJOECH0AcJBfQaGWK0Uu7nDHEcj99tex0hSiMDdtiJG_5E40q984zReSA9j32Ju8EbgmgnF92zY1UiyIpsUuQtY1L4N79iCeZwDUivSaGpI/s1600/Bloom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWVSpN63TOOxiCnUUD6JH-u9qP_64fMyoWsJOECH0AcJBfQaGWK0Uu7nDHEcj99tex0hSiMDdtiJG_5E40q984zReSA9j32Ju8EbgmgnF92zY1UiyIpsUuQtY1L4N79iCeZwDUivSaGpI/s320/Bloom.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The blooms are mostly for backlighting. They are way too weak to have any meaningful effect in your classroom. They're meant to be used at night, in the living room, highlighting a photo or changing your TV into a poltergeist-possessed TV. If you use them for that purpose, they look pretty cool.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0X6JU81Zsl4r5l_W4QGJ4jaZwILIqQgpLGTn3BIWsHsVPYhlJdUZ9fZATHTnxqQNMds_mEKNHnBCLRCR4SJaDAcVJSIjgwW6ZfGU_K-abc5_ZgZV3q-zD1jIgoUuZVLqJn1aZISF-l4s/s1600/61DEQoanS7L._SL1348_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0X6JU81Zsl4r5l_W4QGJ4jaZwILIqQgpLGTn3BIWsHsVPYhlJdUZ9fZATHTnxqQNMds_mEKNHnBCLRCR4SJaDAcVJSIjgwW6ZfGU_K-abc5_ZgZV3q-zD1jIgoUuZVLqJn1aZISF-l4s/s320/61DEQoanS7L._SL1348_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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They have power cords. At least the ones that I bought. And those just add to the clutter too.</div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Grade: D</span></b></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><u>The Light Strips</u></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQZwOs3-ZQtbAl6PpWp706Rn2H1DEoiUhGvhSIrkTFbchzxIDz6DcYRjlUlWaSDIoxA0oj2a-RlCcUUpe0ElIJ1HFRbuZ9XoVv_vFbhvXA5AxoSpxRACxkSo2_eAnOZPmCWZzFo8dQG9g/s1600/lightstrips.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQZwOs3-ZQtbAl6PpWp706Rn2H1DEoiUhGvhSIrkTFbchzxIDz6DcYRjlUlWaSDIoxA0oj2a-RlCcUUpe0ElIJ1HFRbuZ9XoVv_vFbhvXA5AxoSpxRACxkSo2_eAnOZPmCWZzFo8dQG9g/s320/lightstrips.jpg" width="305" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The light strips have the same problems as the blooms; they aren't so bright, and they have that annoying power cord. But they are so, so much cooler!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgebdaDksf08rKHL63iKgIgFd6x0MnePbhp7ypV5nnrhG7UU_EauLoR4nTkdQuDOAKCRNouZS45EDqL6enCh5zi6bzEd4RIGdWTxiOELh2fGTH4KEh5oUcG_vi-n00J03Y2SrupwmI_sWA/s1600/lightstrips+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgebdaDksf08rKHL63iKgIgFd6x0MnePbhp7ypV5nnrhG7UU_EauLoR4nTkdQuDOAKCRNouZS45EDqL6enCh5zi6bzEd4RIGdWTxiOELh2fGTH4KEh5oUcG_vi-n00J03Y2SrupwmI_sWA/s320/lightstrips+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The first thing that the kids and parents notice in the classroom are the light strips. They really define the classroom atmosphere, even though they don't contribute any meaningful light. At $90 though, their price is crazy stupid. They should be cheaper.</div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Grade: B</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Those are the three types of Hue lights that I have. There's not an "A" grade among them, but that doesn't mean they aren't fantastic. They are. There's just room for improvement.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I haven't used too many iPhone apps with them, but here is what I'm using:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If I want to control individual lights, I use the standard Philips Hue app.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If I want to use a cool color scheme, I use <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/onswitch-for-philips-hue-lifx/id853520339?mt=8" target="_blank">OnSwitch</a>.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5LgxmihEIWL7XX63Tqv7YYk3lfnnEKBOG40cj8zjyW6KRZgJ0QbOpc2ljt5fWd86cG4fR15xdhpSbeoCR4JuH77QZn6Wd7cK1jsK9IRMW_a8wFllPt6wsu6V0ExtzmLYzaMk6XkBtQEM/s1600/color+schemes.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5LgxmihEIWL7XX63Tqv7YYk3lfnnEKBOG40cj8zjyW6KRZgJ0QbOpc2ljt5fWd86cG4fR15xdhpSbeoCR4JuH77QZn6Wd7cK1jsK9IRMW_a8wFllPt6wsu6V0ExtzmLYzaMk6XkBtQEM/s320/color+schemes.jpeg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can decide to program each individual light color too. To do this I use "</span><a href="https://tickleapp.com/en-us/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Tickle</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">", a programming app that resembles Scratch. It not only lets me control the color of each bulb but the time as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I should talk about <a href="https://tickleapp.com/en-us/" target="_blank">Tickle</a> in the near future. </span><br />
<a href="https://tickleapp.com/en-us/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCmI_CqyOaV42QChS4Sm-U-sUNBteT_IeFr5I-i2CRMBI3k9IqbOR0_edPKDYBoHFmslCT4rjdVEHaCzqWCzKT8zmmpSO9JHThJL9AwGX00KYnjqUXe5uwm8h0EulE-qoul3WIJu0AIZc/s200/tickle.png" width="200" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">t's a neat app that does more than just programs light. </span></div>
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<br />Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-39697513629097698412015-08-09T22:40:00.001-07:002020-07-22T06:39:50.644-07:00Kaleidoscope Fishbowl Episode 3 - Dead MetaphorI think I'm getting better at this.<br />
My third episode of my podcast is out. It's a story in Guinea-Conakry. I was teaching in Guinea from 2000 to 2002. On the way, I talk about Jonas Savimbi, Angola, Charles Taylor, and mosquitoes.<br />
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<b>Episode 3 - Dead Metaphor</b><br />
<iframe width="100%" height="300" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/862483759&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true"></iframe><div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/kegneko" title="kegneko" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">kegneko</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/kegneko/the-kaleidoscope-fishbowl-episode-3-guineas-tale" title="The Kaleidoscope Fishbowl: Episode 3. Guinea's Tale" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">The Kaleidoscope Fishbowl: Episode 3. Guinea's Tale</a></div>
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<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/kaleidoscope-fishbowl/id1016202578" target="_blank">You can find it also on iTunes.</a>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-69588062572599368452015-07-22T12:22:00.001-07:002020-07-22T06:25:41.905-07:00Kaleidoscope Fishbowl Podcast: Episode 2 - Poop Needle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
My second episode of my podcast takes place in South Korea. I was teaching in South Korea from 2003 to 2004.</div>
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<iframe width="100%" height="300" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/654908897&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true"></iframe><div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/kegneko" title="kegneko" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">kegneko</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/kegneko/the-kaleidoscope-fishbowl-episode-1-south-koreas-tale" title="The Kaleidoscope Fishbowl: Episode 2. South Korea's Tale" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">The Kaleidoscope Fishbowl: Episode 2. South Korea's Tale</a></div>
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<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/kaleidoscope-fishbowl/id1016202578" target="_blank">You can find it also on iTunes.</a><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">What's the Kaleidoscope Fishbowl Podcast?</span></b><br />
The Kaleidoscope Fishbowl is podcast of rotating, refracted anecdotes and stories of education from around the world.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">What's this episode about?</span></b></div>
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I try to connect the dots between Korea's Seodaemun Prison History Hall...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6C6VYyGrEZANByYyNpIIJzZgtiqcClbaIDXSriFJq9Z0xwK8rS2GhE9QbpxJxGIEIP-pH0EFECk6L7gU-SbnZMy1lFk4vDOF4hOFFsn9Pvjr7a8P9CQ7u_30kyHfhyphenhyphenL-KI65GB5Wkm3Y/s1600/11519279243_8bb1a7971e_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6C6VYyGrEZANByYyNpIIJzZgtiqcClbaIDXSriFJq9Z0xwK8rS2GhE9QbpxJxGIEIP-pH0EFECk6L7gU-SbnZMy1lFk4vDOF4hOFFsn9Pvjr7a8P9CQ7u_30kyHfhyphenhyphenL-KI65GB5Wkm3Y/s320/11519279243_8bb1a7971e_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And the weirdness inside...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUHqfnzed5R5jA7OYRRKpEQ0_eUWA0quTmdepOzk1nL4ktZQo3XnankzYy5cmizGkvDNNs-Yg-tSEQZhFWO7WNgs4MMl045ccF4btscd5fCgLQQ0dfHhESALIIBK-2bE2cStIRRzDyWSo/s1600/11519260546_2851c01ddd_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUHqfnzed5R5jA7OYRRKpEQ0_eUWA0quTmdepOzk1nL4ktZQo3XnankzYy5cmizGkvDNNs-Yg-tSEQZhFWO7WNgs4MMl045ccF4btscd5fCgLQQ0dfHhESALIIBK-2bE2cStIRRzDyWSo/s320/11519260546_2851c01ddd_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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With the Cambodia Killing Fields,</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoF6guYAIUTMWtb9UkHRNGSxkCYB94n7erHg28JviUQrbDx9VV_RwzfZiyyvv08b2Wmzf85OSiTXGnEy7x4UxG58T_YqAUBabo4Lj7kL6nd8g-7fFUk6yuZ1jm7PUZ-brlYsnbGWuU8mg/s1600/9217974438_cf2d91daac_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoF6guYAIUTMWtb9UkHRNGSxkCYB94n7erHg28JviUQrbDx9VV_RwzfZiyyvv08b2Wmzf85OSiTXGnEy7x4UxG58T_YqAUBabo4Lj7kL6nd8g-7fFUk6yuZ1jm7PUZ-brlYsnbGWuU8mg/s320/9217974438_cf2d91daac_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">The children repeating, "1, 2, 3... Smile!" with the mass graves as a backdrop</span></b></div>
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Korean Mascots,</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPObcj3JAczY-bJWCkxIGHEFt1W064BHdSH6-KOFT_c034MIx3qAvHRs1mK89OH3lYzaq_ieUYktXUSh-9g7c8jgbCXGjBfagfwNG7eVldYTXEaqzdJHdhMCsOTVmGSM5s78Wr6A6bxCI/s1600/11520533816_abc1bfa5d5_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPObcj3JAczY-bJWCkxIGHEFt1W064BHdSH6-KOFT_c034MIx3qAvHRs1mK89OH3lYzaq_ieUYktXUSh-9g7c8jgbCXGjBfagfwNG7eVldYTXEaqzdJHdhMCsOTVmGSM5s78Wr6A6bxCI/s320/11520533816_abc1bfa5d5_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">In 2003, this was the mascot of the DMZ</span></b></div>
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The Korean Strawberry Shortcake,</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLj9UXCdlWFQi7CKQ-uFB7cnwSD4nr6sT2gaLRHo2SVn3bYQVtyt4MbfmGxXTa8mUa-wyvVkXEyUtS6rH4kUYfuVyeqxCH-ib5HbXWx08_YrjoM21vcY4dPL5mtyxksRnfc2ZY4659_Xk/s1600/11519241806_3fa54aa611_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLj9UXCdlWFQi7CKQ-uFB7cnwSD4nr6sT2gaLRHo2SVn3bYQVtyt4MbfmGxXTa8mUa-wyvVkXEyUtS6rH4kUYfuVyeqxCH-ib5HbXWx08_YrjoM21vcY4dPL5mtyxksRnfc2ZY4659_Xk/s320/11519241806_3fa54aa611_o.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Actually, a much more successful Strawberry Shortcake than Strawberry Shortcake</span></b></div>
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And my students:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPHQkHfhlCUFdyrcPMMzajIJSavyE1FM2Ge8mZaa5p3eKj5-czeBCu5LMHDRJqTLEykqAzw3DPUjptX18jJdXXyDBGzXtvxaVp3Vq7Y1d8lTENi-Ro3sVGqg95QEv5rNgOoSD2L9dMkDs/s1600/9397083606_4bb54299b8_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPHQkHfhlCUFdyrcPMMzajIJSavyE1FM2Ge8mZaa5p3eKj5-czeBCu5LMHDRJqTLEykqAzw3DPUjptX18jJdXXyDBGzXtvxaVp3Vq7Y1d8lTENi-Ro3sVGqg95QEv5rNgOoSD2L9dMkDs/s400/9397083606_4bb54299b8_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-54139440476074674312015-07-15T11:42:00.000-07:002020-07-22T06:23:24.214-07:00Kaleidoscope Fishbowl Podcast: Episode 1 - Potassium<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I've been a little light on posts this summer because I've been working on a podcast.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRsv44sFJgi4V8_li5lsRGVn7ZmEzfzi8P8n4vwAtal38hcnUtDQlrVfaTqKznGevRGv6_M2e-RAlldYXZntNFGKyyjFqnWsRW6y9ok3Shze6dHjPsb924sWRcV2bxoKhVto1xMk3ZtWg/s1600/Fishbowl+Header+Curve.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRsv44sFJgi4V8_li5lsRGVn7ZmEzfzi8P8n4vwAtal38hcnUtDQlrVfaTqKznGevRGv6_M2e-RAlldYXZntNFGKyyjFqnWsRW6y9ok3Shze6dHjPsb924sWRcV2bxoKhVto1xMk3ZtWg/s320/Fishbowl+Header+Curve.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Last year I wanted to create an education podcast (based on interviews) because <a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-problems-with-teacher-created.html" target="_blank">I was frustrated with the existing education podcasts (based on interviews).</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And I thought it'd be fun.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But scheduling interviews was nerve-racking. It was both a strange and busy year... not at all conducive to scheduling interviews. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This summer I decided to jumpstart the education podcast by reformatting it. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZjIeiru-OEV6yZyG-g6VBj58WU8KkhBoOWXYNMubcuv00NDMZE0RLlw0bAAhLl4D-RIEIxPJ1Ucr7-KF9QwVp-huNsr7no0Ac61E4aRmstY4dnAQ8mFt63na1D29tsq_nuZN_TFIuM4M/s1600/Chicken+Head+Elite+Fishbowl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZjIeiru-OEV6yZyG-g6VBj58WU8KkhBoOWXYNMubcuv00NDMZE0RLlw0bAAhLl4D-RIEIxPJ1Ucr7-KF9QwVp-huNsr7no0Ac61E4aRmstY4dnAQ8mFt63na1D29tsq_nuZN_TFIuM4M/s320/Chicken+Head+Elite+Fishbowl.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">No Interviews. Just Me. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Talking To Myself.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So no interviews.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Just me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Telling stories and talking to myself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But each story has to be something about teaching, or a lesson, or the classroom, or an education system, or an education anomaly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here is episode 1 of "Kaleidoscope Fishbowl". I was teaching math and science at Ombuumbuu Junior Secondary School in Namibia from 1998 to 2000. </span></div>
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<b>Potassium: A story in Namibia</b></div>
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<iframe width="100%" height="300" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/654888587&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true"></iframe><div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/kegneko" title="kegneko" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">kegneko</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/kegneko/the-kaleidoscope-fishbowl-episode-1-potassium-in-namibia" title="The Kaleidoscope Fishbowl: Episode 1. Namibia's Tale" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">The Kaleidoscope Fishbowl: Episode 1. Namibia's Tale</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I definitely want to do the interviews at some point. But in the meantime, I'll tell my stories first. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You can <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/kaleidoscope-fishbowl/id1016202578" target="_blank">find the podcast on itunes here. </a></span><br />
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<b><u>Transcript</u></b>:<br />
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<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<div style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 18px; font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">This is the Kaleidoscope Fishbowl. A podcast of rotating, refracted anecdotes and stories of education from around the world. </span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 18px; font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">I'm Ryan.</span></div>
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<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
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<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 18px; font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">South West Africa, a territory of mostly desert with a long stretch of treacherous coast, had a tumultuous 100 years leading up to its independence. It is an area scarred by the first genocide of the 20th century. Between 1904 and 1907 about 100,000 Herero and Nama died during the rebellion against their German colonial rulers. </span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 18px; font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">After World War I the territory was passed to South Africa and subject to their Apartheid policies. By 1966 the liberation movement against South Africa, led by SWAPO, was in full swing. When Angola became an independent country in 1975, supported by both the Soviet Union and Cuba, it offered SWAPO the use of its land to aid their guerrilla campaign.</span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 18px; font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">It's one of the curiosities of the cold war that South Africa, in an effort to maintain its grip on its territory, found itself fighting not only SWAPO, but almost 20,000 Cuban soldiers... in Angola to keep its territory.</span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 18px; font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">International sanctions though probably were the major reason why South Africa ceded control.</span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 18px; font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">And in March, 1990, the territory known as South West Africa officially declared independence from South Africa... and the country of Namibia was born. </span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">A year later, English became the only official language of Namibia, and became the new medium of instruction in schools. This not only acted as a bridge to the several regional dialects in the country, but the young government also no longer wanted to be tied to Afrikaans, the language of their oppressors. In many aspects of life and culture, Namibia was trying to reinvent itself.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 18px; font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">8 years later, I'm teaching 9th grade science in Oshifo, a tiny, dusty Northwest town in Namibia, 5 kilometers from the Angolan border. </span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 18px; font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">This story isn't about the Herero Genocide. It isn't about Apartheid, and it isn't about South Africa fighting Cuba. </span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 18px; font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">This was just the background noise that laid the base for a small internal explosion, which then led to a small external explosion, which gave away to a core memory.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 18px; font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">But some of the details of the memory escape me. </span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">For starters, I don’t remember this girl’s name.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">And I don’t understand what she’s doing here in my classroom door. I thought I had made it clear yesterday that none of my kids should be late to this class. Yet here is this girl who I have no name for, walking in seven minutes late, grinning wide and no big deal.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">One thing I do know is that this girl does not speak five words of English. Her dialect is Ovambo. </span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">I cup my hand around this-girl-who’s-name-I-can’t-remember’s shoulder and lead her back to the door, not sure what my next step will be as my principal steps in. He’s a short man, round and bald, and his skin is milky sienna. He has a moustache and quick, rapid speech. I like him a lot, but this is the first time he’s been in my class. He asks me if this girl-whose-name I-can't-remember is just arriving. </span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 18px; font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">I nod in answer to his question and watch as his face tightens. He orders this-girl-who’s-name-I-can’t-remember to stick out her palms. When she does, my principal takes out a truncated rubber hose from his pocket.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">Before I figure it out, he lifts the two-feet piece of rubber above his head, and brings it down hard against the girl’s palms. She winces, surprised and defeated, and before I can process what is happening, he's already raising the piece of hose and quickly whacks her hands again. And again. Each stroke harder than the next. Each stroke makes his face tighten in determination even more.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">The rest of my students have their heads down. My mouth is twisted and my eyes are a meter wide.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 18px; font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;"><em style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">What the hell is happening? </em></span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 18px; font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">My thoughts twirl and spin around, bumping and crashing into each other. They flip and twist to the mayhem of the rhythm of hard rubber on bare flesh. I am lost and confused by the unnatural percussion, and so I walk away, but only as far as the end of the classroom. And then, trapped in this space, I have no choice but to turn around and walk back towards the front.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 18px; font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;"><em style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">And maybe I could stop this. Maybe I could say…</em></span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">And then it was over. Mr. Savimbi tucks his hose back in his pocket and adjust his pants. He lets me know reassuringly that if I have any more problems with tardiness, just send the students to him. I nod a weak little nod as he rushes out the door.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">My thoughts are still crashing into each other, and I need to heal at least some of the defeat that is lingering in my classroom. This-girl-who’s-name-I-can’t-remember is rubbing her palms as she finds her desk. She sits down in her seat, her grin long gone and her eyes full of water. She isn't crying though. She’s been through this before. But she is broken and the air in the classroom is toxic and I absolutely need to make this better for her and for me and for everyone.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">I rush to the front of the room and announce to my students to take out their notebooks and date a new page. I’m pretending like absolutely nothing had just happened. But my crashing thoughts are already forming a plan in my head: <em style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">I can’t address this directly. I’ll move on. I’ll make it better through my treasures. I know how to fix this and to avoid this. I know how to usurp the abuse without usurping my principal. I can still save this girl from this memory. I have my treasures. This’ll work.</em></span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">As I hear the rustling and opening of notebooks, I dig into my book bag for my amazing treasures I had found last week.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">The school is about three kilometers of sand from the village. When the children aren't there, it looks like several abandoned trailers. Some of the trailers are set up as classrooms, and some are empty and dilapidated. Most of those empty rooms are filled with broken pieces of cement from the crumbling walls, and rusty sheets of corrugated tin roof clogging the ground. That’s all I thought there was in those wrecked rooms, until I found the kids playing soccer with a piece of shrapnel that looked like the casing to a mortar shell. </span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">The remnants from the SWAPO revolution were everywhere here, and the kids absolutely should not be playing with old artillery. Undiscovered land mines and undetonated artillery shells were a real threat. I asked the soccer players where they got this dull gray mortar shell as I confiscated it. The children pointed to one of the abandoned buildings, and I’ve been scavenging the crumbling remains each evening ever since. I was looking for any shrapnel. I didn’t want the children to play football with bombs, but I still thought the spent munitions were mysterious and historical and just plain cool, and I was willing to forget they were kind of dangerous because I wanted to use them as pencil holders and paper weights. But it wasn’t until last week that I found my treasure. Behind a sheet of roof, stacked neatly in a corner, were seven large cardboard boxes. I kicked away a triangular chunk of cement, and lifted up the top cardboard box. <em style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">It was heavy. </em>I set it down carefully on the ground. Inside, in neat little rows, were 12 one-liter bottles of concentrated hydrochloric acid.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">I looked up at the other half dozen unopened boxes. I grabbed the next one, set it down, and peered inside. There they were, staring back at me: 12 one-liter bottles of hydrochloric acid. I spent the next 30 minutes unpacking and exploring these mysterious boxes. In the end I had discovered over 50 liters of acid, a small box of about 21 test tubes, and two small yellow plastic containers, filled with oil and what looked like clumps of metallic clay. On one of the lids, in faded black marker was written, “Na”. A capital "N". A lowercase "a".</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">It took me a second to realize “Na” was not an Ovambo word. It was a chemistry word! I honestly did not know what I could possibly do with even a small amount of acid, but I knew the exact purpose of this sodium! </span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">I stacked the boxes back in the corner as best I could, rushed to my Nalgene bottle, unscrewed the top of one of the containers, and pulled out a small glob of shiny, oily clay. I ripped a very small piece off, and dropped it in my water bottle. There was an immediate fizzle and puff of smoke.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 18px; font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">Just Beautiful.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">I took a bigger piece this time, and dropped it in the bottle.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 18px; font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">The mettal fizzled. Then it popped. And in a puff of smoke, it was gone. </span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<br clear="none" /></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 18px; font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">Vapor hovered and swirled over the surface of the water in the bottle, and the lump of clay had disappeared completely. It was divine!</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">And it would be my science lesson. I would keep the container that I’d already opened as my personal treasure of chemistry joy, and use the second container, which looked pretty much the same except didn't have the "Na" on the lid, as my treasure for the classroom.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">So when this-girl-who’s-name-I-can’t-remember was nursing her red and swollen palms, I was fishing out my treasure reserved for science class: the yet unopened plastic container with globs of metallic clay swimming inside.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">After a quick introduction to the class on what my treasure was and balancing the equation of sodium plus water on the board, I had the stage set to make everything right again in my classroom kingdom. The sodium-water reaction would be so beautiful that it would completely trump the ugly reaction of my beloved principal.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">I walk over to this-girl-who’s-name-I-can’t-remember. “Okay. Come up here,” I plead. “Show us what happens.” I hover over the girl as I say this. I don’t want there to be any misinterpretation. This-girl-who’s-name-I-can’t-remember needs to have the best part in the production.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">Bur right now, she’s not moving.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">She doesn’t understand. Her eyes are locked into mine, questioning, asking what other punishment she needs to endure today.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">This is too important for me and for her to let this opportunity pass. I need her to do this- I need her to be the lead scientist in the greatest chemical reaction this rural African community has ever seen. I’m going to make this hour right for someone.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">So I break my instructions down. I asked the girl to stand up, and she does. I asked her to follow me to the front, and she does. On my desk, I have a knife and a bowl of water. I picked up the knife to cut the soft clay-like metal.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">As I back up to the far end of the classroom, I give her instructions. I turn around so that I can see her and my entire class. To the last student, eyes are transfixed on the front of the room, and they are hypnotized with anticipation.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">This-girl-who’s-name-I-can’t-remember figures out what I want her to do after I mime it a few times, and she holds the sodium for a few seconds over the bowl of water. Then she lets it drop.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 18px; font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">There’s a small tongue of fire.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">Then, in an instant, the tongue arches up, expands, and explodes in a brilliant spray of yellow and orange. A deep and sudden boom Is followed by my double realization that a) the unlabeled sodium container was actually potassium, and b) it had just exploded in this-girl-who’s-name-I-can’t-remember-but-was-just-abused-by-an-indignant-man-with-a-ru<span data-mce-style="font-size: 18px;" style="line-height: 1.571428em;">bber-hose’s face.</span></span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">Time stopped.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">There wasn’t a sound. The class was stunned and the girl was shell-shocked.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">‘That’s it,’ I thought. ‘I broke her. This is over for her, and its finished for me.'</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">Suddenly the class erupts in laughter. And then this-girl-who’s-name-I-can’t-remember first broke into a smile, and then started laughing too!</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">The whole class is excited and smiling and rapidly talking in Ovambo. Students begged me to show them again, and this-girl-who’s-name-I-can’t-remember sat down in her seat, grinning from ear to ear.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">There is a lesson here for me I’m sure.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">Maybe it is, “Never judge the contents of a container by the label of a similar container.”</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">Or maybe, “The path to redemption is pot-holed with good intentions.”</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">Or possibly, “Don’t try to overcompensate after the first time you’ve seen corporal punishment in action. You might accidentally practice irresponsible science.” </span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: gotham, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.571428em; margin-bottom: 0.714285em; padding: 0px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: gotham, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" style="font-family: "gotham" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.571428em;">I don’t know. It really could have gone either way for this-girl-who’s-name-I-can’t-remember, but it swung the right way, finally, at least for a few seconds of that day, despite my best efforts to muck things up.</span></div>
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<br />Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-36546768876711526432015-07-05T03:57:00.001-07:002015-07-05T03:58:03.960-07:00RIP Scratch and Makey Makey<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There needed to be some sacrifices. After almost a decade of co-teaching, I had to say goodbye and bury my beloved counterpart:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhttAmoBSn7Wr-jAZYDUUo-tfe8SeSSHX8mrQ4qVdVceoC4vu9zWK2_8qTIv6GZ3gtDIRNWFfkjYdjESUHY3v0WEfwMVVeeXuCoA_v-kfnSLFssVXVH1ZO3J2ggRnVUC_zGvMUQYBmPhs/s1600/RIP+Scratch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhttAmoBSn7Wr-jAZYDUUo-tfe8SeSSHX8mrQ4qVdVceoC4vu9zWK2_8qTIv6GZ3gtDIRNWFfkjYdjESUHY3v0WEfwMVVeeXuCoA_v-kfnSLFssVXVH1ZO3J2ggRnVUC_zGvMUQYBmPhs/s320/RIP+Scratch.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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I've been teaching Scratch since 2007.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
But because we're moving to a 1-to-1 iPad program next year, and because MIT Media Lab can't seem to figure out <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pyonkee/id905012686?mt=8" target="_blank">what this guy figured out,</a> or t<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/705926089/tickle-learn-to-code-using-scratch-to-make-iphone" target="_blank">his Kickstarter campaign figured out</a>, it looks like I've said goodbye to my favorite elementary programming tool for a while.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To mourn and celebrate, I decided to pull together several of the things I like to do in Scratch with 4th graders.</span><br />
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Here's the funeral memorial video:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/121588743?color=8cc440&title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2012/05/3-great-ways-to-integrate-scratch-into.html" target="_blank">I've talked about most of these projects before.</a> And there is actually a <a href="http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/guide/files/CreativeComputing20141015.pdf" target="_blank">Scratch Guide</a> and <a href="http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/guide/files/CreativeComputing20140820_LearnerWorkbook.pdf" target="_blank">Learner Workbook</a> that's worth taking a look at if you still have access to laptops. I've <a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2012/06/10-ways-i-tried-to-enhance-my-classroom_15.html" target="_blank">often pulled a few ideas from earlier versions of these documents</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But enough digression! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is so much more mourning and wailing to do. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because I not only have to say goodbye to Scratch, but to Makey Makey as well.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO8WGztUPPMDErLmD656_STblIXH6YjyHgK_Lbbkl5bu9MnHlg7t3G0Y6f10mHEOO4hydxPkxlJb7aRDkeqzoTaXpo5CPzYLrq-kE3nfS4o6-2_x1eRTgDP-_T837CzNH2cM-98U45Iaw/s1600/makey+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO8WGztUPPMDErLmD656_STblIXH6YjyHgK_Lbbkl5bu9MnHlg7t3G0Y6f10mHEOO4hydxPkxlJb7aRDkeqzoTaXpo5CPzYLrq-kE3nfS4o6-2_x1eRTgDP-_T837CzNH2cM-98U45Iaw/s400/makey+photo.jpg" width="295" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>You bastard</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So here's another funeral memorial video:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/121590287?color=8cc440&title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know there is a way <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSQgLFbnZ9Q" target="_blank">to connect Makey Makey and iPads,</a> but I probably won't do it. So RIP Scratch and RIP Makey Makey. You were pretty good. </span><br />
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<br />Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-48727957412551085212015-07-01T13:16:00.002-07:002015-07-02T09:35:00.838-07:00Minecraft, Microsoft, and Education: A Dysfunctional Polygamy Made In Heaven<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">It's summer!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A time to enjoy so many flavors of equality!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm8gof1K2oaSo8xZHfgX_zdCzwGW54HtIk8BPQ5JzVdllfGSzXikbRF4HkbYhVQfrNNrIx6voxj7cHYZ0V5287n5DG9XOuMbj_dKxjjwBsp2qe_iSLqAWLLiv5ecb9ku4BT77f8yyaGw4/s1600/equality.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm8gof1K2oaSo8xZHfgX_zdCzwGW54HtIk8BPQ5JzVdllfGSzXikbRF4HkbYhVQfrNNrIx6voxj7cHYZ0V5287n5DG9XOuMbj_dKxjjwBsp2qe_iSLqAWLLiv5ecb9ku4BT77f8yyaGw4/s400/equality.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">This was the most pertinent image I could find</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">when I Googled "Affordable healthcare act, gay marriage, confederate flag"</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Summer also means that it's that special time of year when I can write again. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm excited too, because after a fairly professional and technical stagnant 2014-15 school year, 4th grade at ISP is ringing in the new school year with a 1-to-1 iPad program... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...A mere 5 years since the iPad was launched, </span><a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jun/18/local/la-me-ln-lausd-chooses-ipads-for-pilot-20130618" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">2 years since the Los Angeles school district adopted them,</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.scpr.org/blogs/education/2014/08/25/17202/la-schools-cancel-ipad-contracts-after-kpcc-publis/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">a year since the Los Angles School district abandoned their iPad program</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, a</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">nd only </span><a href="http://www.cultofmac.com/319552/la-school-district-wants-multimillion-dollar-refund-for-failed-ipad-program/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">a handful of months since the Los Angeles School district asked for a refund.</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I say this without hyperbole or sarcasm: I'm pretty excited.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On a slight tangent, check out this magic trick: </i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(brought to you by <a href="http://graphicpush.com/apple-ipad-advertising-35-superlative-garbage" target="_blank">graphicpush</a>)</i><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Behold! A typical Apple advertisement...</span></b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzC7nFiZty9Rz5KWMTAZwVyEubpJMl0-aqEUPYZuGBfo7736Nloz8X_36XS0XAYSurnZhl4bALk9MSX8K-SeUmdq6DPDN7hgKX5dpI5tuwuxx7OazG0YEUb3iKyk9oQ8qjfTjTqnObFo4/s1600/iPad+hyperbole.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzC7nFiZty9Rz5KWMTAZwVyEubpJMl0-aqEUPYZuGBfo7736Nloz8X_36XS0XAYSurnZhl4bALk9MSX8K-SeUmdq6DPDN7hgKX5dpI5tuwuxx7OazG0YEUb3iKyk9oQ8qjfTjTqnObFo4/s400/iPad+hyperbole.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Now choose a hyperbole...</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Any hyperbole will do!</span></b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLBfxqHju-gEkO31-cftrbUWZzR9f_ig-AQYQjkYvnjHMNM5iyPgrZjLvnm92c9UsZcn-RL7s3aau7PsZlEtQ97DwcNvG5KT9jUthUkLShhppzBW9wJNTR-UZ9PraDVIJvbt2OUEJBv4M/s1600/iPad+Hyperbole+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLBfxqHju-gEkO31-cftrbUWZzR9f_ig-AQYQjkYvnjHMNM5iyPgrZjLvnm92c9UsZcn-RL7s3aau7PsZlEtQ97DwcNvG5KT9jUthUkLShhppzBW9wJNTR-UZ9PraDVIJvbt2OUEJBv4M/s400/iPad+Hyperbole+2.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihRCOqLR1WaKBroaDeuF8pHbo36sNZd-OTuE2FCBwouWb5194EQnFn9yK-WqskCTFRITODaoCmx3hN19isKVRUx2Mk9uLcE7HbVmcGharY-vvMHow0uLcU07bTgd9ipuLjB2ezQXh7Jyk/s1600/poof.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihRCOqLR1WaKBroaDeuF8pHbo36sNZd-OTuE2FCBwouWb5194EQnFn9yK-WqskCTFRITODaoCmx3hN19isKVRUx2Mk9uLcE7HbVmcGharY-vvMHow0uLcU07bTgd9ipuLjB2ezQXh7Jyk/s200/poof.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC2r_AyrFAfmua_GtDO-_HFGa_68PLh9jVVlib5AYHd2icxmBepPfNtieRwCw_lv3GqDvWOClAarWe9SxFlvrnJOwlxaZ4BKwWN3kZvRW976ULLBelJbIa929GqPWwrd1c_h8OZtPkEzI/s1600/iPad+Hyperbole+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC2r_AyrFAfmua_GtDO-_HFGa_68PLh9jVVlib5AYHd2icxmBepPfNtieRwCw_lv3GqDvWOClAarWe9SxFlvrnJOwlxaZ4BKwWN3kZvRW976ULLBelJbIa929GqPWwrd1c_h8OZtPkEzI/s400/iPad+Hyperbole+3.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because 4th grade at ISP is going to a 1-to-1 iPad program, this summer is a rebirth of sorts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's a time to say goodbye to some old friends (<i><a href="http://wiki.scratch.mit.edu/wiki/Scratch_on_Tablets" target="_blank">Scratch</a>, get your act together</i>).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And a time to try say, "hiya" to some new ones that look kind of old...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxobdsigBapKot114yXYyGRO8wqQGpHt6TiY8DA-NbZ_4Kok-5tApA7fmbql-vTAiOTIopANUPwRpj2dkT1KvlT9i48xAbUcxqA8zgd6xyrsUWFRn6Sv6d_tnrY0Q_8_T9hru1fBbZrj8/s1600/pyonkee.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxobdsigBapKot114yXYyGRO8wqQGpHt6TiY8DA-NbZ_4Kok-5tApA7fmbql-vTAiOTIopANUPwRpj2dkT1KvlT9i48xAbUcxqA8zgd6xyrsUWFRn6Sv6d_tnrY0Q_8_T9hru1fBbZrj8/s1600/pyonkee.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pyonkee/id905012686?mt=8" target="_blank">C'mon. Seriously?</a></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So this summer I'm both sad to say goodbye to my old app friends, and</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> excited to </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">try out new ones. Of course I'm looking</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> at several <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE11_5Spq1I" target="_blank">possibly-maybe</a> dead-end relationships.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_96_Hm3gRbd8k0vqQ1BTr9GbXFvyQAL_dPHTnvANm6xtHQa77JcDWhCnv2F62vf_-mxhmLURidEKUVGaelSGbNn5ZatpiXh5759qTaTvabGjuTQcr9XI16q0znlryuH3FXTlVRT_HpNM/s1600/Duff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_96_Hm3gRbd8k0vqQ1BTr9GbXFvyQAL_dPHTnvANm6xtHQa77JcDWhCnv2F62vf_-mxhmLURidEKUVGaelSGbNn5ZatpiXh5759qTaTvabGjuTQcr9XI16q0znlryuH3FXTlVRT_HpNM/s320/Duff.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Only one of these is a teenager. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Rub the right one</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">and get three wishes. </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To help celebrate this intro to summer blogging, and this transition between old-tech tools and slightly-less-old-tech tools, it was only fitting that I saw Microsoft promote Minecraft in Education on my PLN yesterday.</span><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZVZm85lI5QI" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was geeked to see this pop up in the education circles of social media. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For one, I had completely forgotten that Microsoft had bought <b>Minecraft</b>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I also think it's important to point out that Microsoft isn't offering <b>Minecraft</b> as an education tool in this video. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instead, it's asking if <b>Minecraft</b> is an education tool. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And if it is, please let them know how to use it as such. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now I'm sure as an educator I could peruse <a href="http://minecraftedu.com/" target="_blank">minecraftEdu,com</a> instead of relying on Microsoft promotional videos and feel a little more satisfied. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But that's what the summer is for!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the meantime, I'll leave you with this parody exalting Microsoft as both a leader and innovator in the tech world:</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5R4KJAGqd1Q" width="560"></iframe>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">See you soon!</span><br />
<br />Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-42653247617465257652015-04-05T09:44:00.002-07:002015-04-05T09:51:29.599-07:00Clone Zone: Put Your Content On Any Website You Want<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The world of digital literacy just got murkier. Today <a href="http://techcrunch.com.clonezone.link/clonezone" target="_blank">I learned about Clone Zone</a>, a website that allows users to annotate any website they want.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5-TDZJIyop-rbWujjFcyGlCI1QEdsJjU_WKtH6_X4LjYXOVOxjAVFrpfqv2lQvIMflBuL73E_TvOUaY-u375olkTKpDFmbUKj7vnf5a5Ys9PI6vsKCoCUSpotm4OonrmUo0slNwx5XAI/s1600/clone+zone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5-TDZJIyop-rbWujjFcyGlCI1QEdsJjU_WKtH6_X4LjYXOVOxjAVFrpfqv2lQvIMflBuL73E_TvOUaY-u375olkTKpDFmbUKj7vnf5a5Ys9PI6vsKCoCUSpotm4OonrmUo0slNwx5XAI/s1600/clone+zone.jpg" height="96" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This means that you can change any online newspaper to your version of <a href="http://www.theonion.com/" target="_blank">The Onion</a>.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLpZHM4NE3aQVcihVskDmmb7cSZXuiClh4mSHa_1ShffzqpK5i9MtFloLPlzsk4cgY_Gfxz9Gv4Rui_SpXcmmGAuEOdGn91HMLJwbfAd3hnnqABo_myly0vZaz7sb-00PO673BQdTAbRE/s1600/USA+Today.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLpZHM4NE3aQVcihVskDmmb7cSZXuiClh4mSHa_1ShffzqpK5i9MtFloLPlzsk4cgY_Gfxz9Gv4Rui_SpXcmmGAuEOdGn91HMLJwbfAd3hnnqABo_myly0vZaz7sb-00PO673BQdTAbRE/s1600/USA+Today.jpg" height="168" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://usatoday.com.clonezone.link/Easter" target="_blank">A USA Today Paper I Made</a></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I used the existing photos from the USA Today website in the above example, but I changed the text. If I wanted, I could have changed the photos as well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's great for teachers, but probably not-so-great for Facebook users. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVqX94W6id-K2NP9wh0t3RWIjuRDGCMe-lSSnfWuoPdYEG6-6N_uHQukWBenfuhkC2AE4Lp36u7ChA-bSZ7Lv0gmgn1CEO9fIhK_dlcTKY8gujbsKU_dlJAC74lIrZyDfqaR5pEx3Gvd4/s1600/harry+potter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVqX94W6id-K2NP9wh0t3RWIjuRDGCMe-lSSnfWuoPdYEG6-6N_uHQukWBenfuhkC2AE4Lp36u7ChA-bSZ7Lv0gmgn1CEO9fIhK_dlcTKY8gujbsKU_dlJAC74lIrZyDfqaR5pEx3Gvd4/s1600/harry+potter.jpg" height="320" width="262" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Full Disclosure: </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">I'm Not Sure The Comments To This Fake Article Aren't Fake As Well</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Besides the fun of making your own fake content, there's a lot of potential to teach digital literacy with <a href="http://clonezone.link/" target="_blank">Clone Zone</a>. Now teachers can stretch their students' digital literacy muscles even more with customizable websites that can look like anything the teacher wants.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This means it's now a little easier to customize my resources when teaching about online authorship and content. </span><br />
<iframe allowtransparency="true" height="413" src="//www.pearltrees.com/salamanca/teaching-research/id6806813?embed=2&d=201504051250" style="border: 0px;" width="560"></iframe><span style="color: #818181; display: block; font-size: 13px; padding-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.pearltrees.com/salamanca/teaching-research/id6806813" style="color: #818181; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank">Teaching Research</a>, by <a href="http://www.pearltrees.com/salamanca" style="color: #818181; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank">salamanca</a></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The one thing that doesn't seem possible yet with <a href="http://clonezone.link/" target="_blank">Clone Zone</a> is to change the links of the webpage. If users (teachers) could do that, they could create a whole online ecosystem for digital literacy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday <a href="http://clonezone.link/" target="_blank">Clone Zone</a> went into closed Beta, and if you want to try it out, <a href="http://techcrunch.com.clonezone.link/clonezone" target="_blank">check out the link</a> to find out how to sign up. </span><br />
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<br />Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-28740414469959972562015-03-15T05:22:00.001-07:002015-03-15T05:22:24.766-07:00The Right To Vote: A Case Study In American Territories<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A governments' authority comes from the will of the people. People must show what they want their government to do by voting. Everyone has the right to vote.</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.8500003814697px; line-height: 23.1000022888184px;">For several posts<a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.cz/2015/02/introducing-case-studies-for-universal.html" style="color: #771000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"> I'm featuring case studies that illustrate an article from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a> that children and adults find interesting and illuminating.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.8500003814697px; line-height: 23.1000022888184px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.8500003814697px; line-height: 23.1000022888184px;"><br />The goal is to identify examples that I can use with my 4th grade class. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUN_cFWsqbWfCMOO8yhkY0yMjbSOLzCTCJsSMur0I7_fwB-7Zr6urm5t_3JAQgoqNiCC2G4vMXAm2FEaE3ibXEEEBq0gR1vZUKtujtRQ5MjjVnQZ1hM-Sa3F6_Np8tZPRsw7z99lIq6GM/s1600/Slide15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUN_cFWsqbWfCMOO8yhkY0yMjbSOLzCTCJsSMur0I7_fwB-7Zr6urm5t_3JAQgoqNiCC2G4vMXAm2FEaE3ibXEEEBq0gR1vZUKtujtRQ5MjjVnQZ1hM-Sa3F6_Np8tZPRsw7z99lIq6GM/s1600/Slide15.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I get the Czech Republic version of HBO, and can never really figure out when anything is on. I think John Oliver is on at sometime, but I'm not sure. But there's Youtube, and there's this brilliant critique of US citizens who aren't allowed to vote. John Oliver brilliantly critiques the hypocrisy and ignorance that much of America has with its territories. </span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CesHr99ezWE?rel=0" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not all of our territories allow even citizenship though. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you're born on America Samoa, you're a US national, but not a citizen. As John Oliver put it, "they can't run for president, serve on a federal journal, or, depending on where they live, even become a public school teacher." Yet they serve on our army, where a commander-in-chief who they couldn't possibly vote for, send them to war. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">America Samoa, y<a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-right-to-country-sea-gypsy-case.html" target="_blank">ou belong in my "right to country" post.</a></span>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-1032157000541395892015-02-22T04:17:00.000-08:002015-02-22T04:24:50.940-08:00The Right To Not Be Bullied: A Cyber-Bully Case Study<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">No one is to be hurt or to be punished in cruel or unusual ways.</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>
For several posts<a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.cz/2015/02/introducing-case-studies-for-universal.html" target="_blank"> I'm featuring case studies that illustrate an article from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a> that children and adults find interesting and illuminating.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
The goal is to identify examples that I can use with my 4th grade class. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2R3JBUHQsg6OoeRmKosau1Gv5OeeAPdcDYHsciTf9HlsWjpzc_V3LQIhvOnZuLe3Yn7J3xrlIciFBteGY7dcaRyYxXP82eauoZwruzJHrG90v8BPLabrNZVFMlQBtlvj8ynNXqhjJomM/s1600/Slide05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2R3JBUHQsg6OoeRmKosau1Gv5OeeAPdcDYHsciTf9HlsWjpzc_V3LQIhvOnZuLe3Yn7J3xrlIciFBteGY7dcaRyYxXP82eauoZwruzJHrG90v8BPLabrNZVFMlQBtlvj8ynNXqhjJomM/s1600/Slide05.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most kids hear this right and immediately think of physical pain. I think this right can be a gateway into bullying in general, and specifically cyber bullying. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyone who has read my blog on a regular basis...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWpwOt3wuAxQkRI2D2GcdHxQrsrMAgrsG5OeOGnVulb3zPKKrzYkklC-KyQ84fEKyKHDRurtOnLQiZ1gkbxalMF0qd_n-FBiezc75DlyHLWyB13lssIuoNNc-cz8f1bQLepk-GLx2gEX4/s1600/aged.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWpwOt3wuAxQkRI2D2GcdHxQrsrMAgrsG5OeOGnVulb3zPKKrzYkklC-KyQ84fEKyKHDRurtOnLQiZ1gkbxalMF0qd_n-FBiezc75DlyHLWyB13lssIuoNNc-cz8f1bQLepk-GLx2gEX4/s1600/aged.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b> I'm looking at you, me</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...knows that I'm really interested in teaching digital literacy in elementary school.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There's <a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/07/a-case-for-expanding-digital-literacy.html" target="_blank">this post</a>, for instance. Or <a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2012/12/updated-workshop-presentation-for.html" target="_blank">this one</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Case Study 1: <a href="http://www.npr.org/2015/02/13/385794689/how-to-grow-a-bully-lullaby" target="_blank">Invisibilia: How To Grow A Bully</a></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second half of <a href="http://www.npr.org/programs/invisibilia/" target="_blank">Invisibila's</a> episode "<a href="http://www.npr.org/programs/invisibilia/385792677/our-computers-ourselves?showDate=2015-02-13" target="_blank">Our Machines, Ourselves</a>" details the story of Pete, a commuter on the N train in New York. Here's a quick summary:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pete was fed up with rude behavior he saw on his daily commute. He decided to start a twitter account to capture the rudeness and to vent his frustrations.</span></li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5g9XvY1xvbhk3tvnjSaua-THvg_fGDnwospL20fmeCI-KOlonlCEr05lnFwg9eWxhYF0VhTuFmsLK8HshDHWBBBS6sTJBwDBCtLGwTx-uBlyET1V5ZFFB0pB_YSf-ic1k-Z30AeF-LiM/s1600/twitterpic+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5g9XvY1xvbhk3tvnjSaua-THvg_fGDnwospL20fmeCI-KOlonlCEr05lnFwg9eWxhYF0VhTuFmsLK8HshDHWBBBS6sTJBwDBCtLGwTx-uBlyET1V5ZFFB0pB_YSf-ic1k-Z30AeF-LiM/s1600/twitterpic+1.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">For example spreading your legs so that the person to your right is smashed against a pole.</span></b></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pete didn't find rude behavior all the time, but he wanted to keep his twitter account active, so he also snapped and posted photos of people who looked strange, or was caught doing something embarrasing, or didn't fit his definition of normal.</span></li>
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<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What started out as a way to expose bad behavior became an outlet for bad behavior. In short, Pete became the cyberbully of the N Train.</span></span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pete didn't stop when his anonymity was exposed and fellow N Train commuters encouraged each other to snap photos of Pete on the N Train and post them online. Instead that kind of energized him even more.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What made Pete eventually stop posting was a moment of self awareness. He realized that his online activity was making him angrier, not calmer, as he was constantly looking for things to be outraged by. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are a lot of teachable moments in that story. But another strong aspect about this episode is that <span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://www.npr.org/programs/invisibilia/" style="color: #333333; line-height: 29.0020027160645px;" target="_blank">Invisibilia</a><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 29.0020027160645px;"> talked to Dr. Ryan Martin, the </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 29.0020027160645px;">chair of the psychology program at UW-Green Bay</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 29.0020027160645px;"> and Arthur Sa</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 29.0020027160645px;">ntana from the University of Houston. They identified specific ways interacting online is different than interacting offline:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>1) O<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 29.0020027160645px;">nline you are primarily communing through text. </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 29.0020027160645px;">So we don't have these social cues. We don't have inflections of voice. We don't have facial cues</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 29.0020027160645px;">.</span></b></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.livescience.com/44494-human-facial-expressions-compound-emotions.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT7iCl8ug1rJ3bfDs3s-pBOggyRjEnZXZrPTEaissXs-LxU03qExI9vBNbk1qouOkmOEuPMQiFJW8iawJRPZuHd5C9z_byyiwj1ECW5xHIfl4WZgbQD3k1cnvn_-qz1SMHCedvu_2ZO6M/s1600/facial+cues.jpg" height="200" width="176" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 29.0020027160645px;">2) Online it is easier to go through the process of <i>d</i></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 29.0020027160645px;"><i>eindividuation</i>, which apparently is a word. It means l</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 29.0020027160645px;">osing one's self-awareness in a group setting.</span></b></span><br />
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<a href="http://1000weirdfacts.com/tag/deindividuation/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfjKvMgnhq05JeBrlp1JwOJJyKL5VKN6MvYT1odZvfW_naF99RqdzVAMGaufu3FetISj1cfKxSFMD07q3JvAdFK7JffNdDESKixNV_tW6qDiQQEjN40b17_tUTQdtIQLIkbJqY7LziiqQ/s1600/deindi.jpg" height="232" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 29.0020027160645px;">3) Online there are </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 29.0020027160645px;">time delays. So you can drop something into the world and not stick around to see how it lands.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 29.0020027160645px;">4) Online i</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 29.0020027160645px;">nteractions are taking place through a screen. They can all feel like a game.</span></b></span><br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life#mediaviewer/File:Second_Life_11th_Birthday_Live_Drax_Files_Radio_Hour.jpg" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWUFwkPR_8ZVlgXLa9dEuyHZjQZesFXex2LFqdCiAZPYouRrpOyn_I5qNeMXwV78hR00Azi5-9RPlkMZs_Rhawg1ilCg-JmkFvvZFLFZRuZblAmk3PDc5S7PaFM2u7cVLsyacsBkrxE4Y/s1600/second+life.jpg" height="208" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And often times they are a game</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 29.0020027160645px;">5) There's </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 29.0020027160645px;">anonymity</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 29.0020027160645px;">, which Santana found makes you nearly twice as likely to be cruel.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 29.0020027160645px;">6) </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 29.0020027160645px;">We are more likely to retweet or share things that are angering than anything else. </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 29.0020027160645px;">This comes from a study that classified the emotions of more than 70 </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 29.0020027160645px;">million tweets. What they found is that anger spread faster online than joy or sadness or disgust. </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 1.706;">The problem, says Doctor Martin, is that over time, using that online vent to cure your anger </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 1.706;">actually makes us more likely to become aggressive later on.</span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204795304577221164189123608" target="_blank">WSJ</a> makes a parallel to Catholic confession</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 29.0020027160645px;">All of these fac</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 29.0020027160645px;">tors lead to something called the <b>online disinhibition effect</b>. Which, according to Wikipedia means </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">a loosening (or complete abandonment) of social restrictions </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">and inhibitions that would otherwise be present in normal face-to-face interaction during interactions with others on the Internet.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">Louis C.K. did a bit about it on Conan. It certainly isn't suitable for an elementary classroom, but I think his point hits home. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">This clip is only watchable with a US based IP address: </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next case studies are some grown-up conversations about cyber bullying. The specifics aren't meant to be used in an elementary classroom, but the broad strokes of each case are important to address. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Case Study 2: <a href="http://www.onthemedia.org/story/31-race-swap-experiment/" target="_blank">TLDR's Race Swap</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">TLDR has had a couple interesting episodes on online bullying. "Race Swap" has the following synopsis:</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whether you think the internet is a great or terrible place is partly a reflection of which parts of the internet you choose to visit. It's also a reflection of who you are, and how people online react to you. Mikki Kendall is a writer who deals with an extraordinary amount of trolling and vitriol online. Mikki is a black woman in real life, and she created an experiment to see how her online life would change if she were a white man. </span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The episode details the totally different reactions Mikki Kendall receives depending on whether she portrays herself as a black woman or a white man. It's astonishing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">TLDR also made <a href="http://www.onthemedia.org/story/little-shts/" target="_blank">this episode</a>, where a video game reviewer learns that one of her vicious trolls is just 12 years old and tracks down his mother. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Case Study 3: <u>This American Life: </u><a href="http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/545/if-you-dont-have-anything-nice-to-say-say-it-in-all-caps?act=1" style="line-height: normal;" target="_blank">Ask Not For Whom The Bell Trolls; It Trolls For Thee</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is one of the most interesting This American Life episodes I've heard. Here's its synopsis:</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">Writer </span><a href="http://lindywest.net/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #e24329; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Lindy West</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"> has been harassed by hundreds of trolls online. But only one ever apologized for his remarks. Lindy began to wonder, could he explain why trolls choose to be so cruel?</span></span></i><br />
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<br />Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-80388727349849110292015-02-21T04:59:00.001-08:002015-02-21T04:59:40.813-08:00The Right To Country: A Sea Gypsy Case Study<!--StartFragment--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i>No person or people shall have their
nationality taken away from them. This means everyone has the right to belong
to a nation. And they also have the right to change their nationality, if they
want to.</i></span><!--EndFragment-->
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For the next several posts,<a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.cz/2015/02/introducing-case-studies-for-universal.html" target="_blank"> I'll be featuring case studies that illustrate an article from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a> that children and adults find interesting and illuminating.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The goal is to identify examples that I can use with my 4th grade class. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTQmM0I9GQDriAs-qXNAhiweEOUQggQ5-Mdb8eQ9czLZ_2-RJ3At6FkpZSo6qKi3A2ygH-59HhcV9R7YydFvMEmlWlWMCLC6ZH2V0OB3gTdmO_DCENX3f8jhMRPGaA_P0TCMMWRwolzN8/s1600/Slide10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTQmM0I9GQDriAs-qXNAhiweEOUQggQ5-Mdb8eQ9czLZ_2-RJ3At6FkpZSo6qKi3A2ygH-59HhcV9R7YydFvMEmlWlWMCLC6ZH2V0OB3gTdmO_DCENX3f8jhMRPGaA_P0TCMMWRwolzN8/s1600/Slide10.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 26th of this December marked the 10 year anniversary of the Boxing Day Tsunami that ended 230,000 lives. I was living on Ko Phayam at the time, a small Thailand island about 300 km north of Phuket, and when the wave hit, I should have been swimming, because I swam every morning. Except not on the 26th, because I took a boat to the mainland to pick up my brother at Ranong’s airport. The boat reached Ranong, and the wave reached the island about a half hour later. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The months that followed was an interesting time for relief work, as the world pulled together to help and support affected regions in as many ways as there were ruses. Michael Douglas, for example, decided the best way that Hollywood could help was to give a million baht directly to the now deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Foreigners eager to assist paid shady, fly-by-night NGOs for the privilege to pick up garbage on the beaches as the locals sat on their porches and watched. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the more interesting predicaments I saw was on the small island of Kho Lao. The island was comprised of a steep hill, surrounded by a narrow shore. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Kho Lao. The school is on the left.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was kind of a problem for the island inhabitants, because it meant that anything they built jutted out into the sea on stilts and wooden planks. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The island held two villages positioned on opposite ends and split by the mountain that made crossing the island on foot essentially impossible. One of these villages, the Thai side, has a school. It could potentially teach around 200 students. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Thai side of the island</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The other village, I’ll call it Morgan village, did not. If children want to go to school from Morgan village, a small boat picks them up everyday. At the end of the school day, they are taken back. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Morgan village was not made up of Thais. They were a settlement of sea gypsies, until recently nomadic on the water. Sea gypsies had no nationality, even though generations have lived on and around the shores of Thailand, and many had permanent residence on the banks of Thailand. The Thai government allowed sea gypsy children to attend Thai schools, but they weren’t citizens. Morgan village wanted citizenship- a fact confirmed by a quick glance around the village- every house and boat has a Thai flag hoisted above it. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Sea Gypsy side of the island</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The village looked like a forgotten beachside carnival. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the Thai government hadn’t granted that privilege yet. As a result, the sea gypsies were foreigners in their homeland, among some of the poorest people in Thailand, save for the illegal Burmese immigrants. Without country or education, they had slipped into a level of poverty and hygiene that is at once horrific and heart-tugging.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In theory the children in Morgan village could go to the Thai village school. But there were several obstacles. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Transportation was one. Although it is only a five minute boat ride, there was only one small long-tail available to transport the children to and from school everyday. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another obstacle was food. But not in the way you may think. A relief organization has decided to supply the sea gypsy children with a lunch program directly in their village. This took away the one motivation poor, uneducated families have for sending their children to school- the promise of lunch. With lunches being given directly to the homes, no one saw the need for school. The few students that were going to the Thai side for school just stopped going. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Free lunch from an NGO took away the incentive to go to school</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So this was an interesting problem. Actually a problem within a problem. Problems that as a foreigner and a guest of the island I could not fully comprehend. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But stripping the problems within problems away, what's interesting about this to a 4th grader studying "The Right To Country," is that there are people that are born without a country. Until recently they couldn't go to school. And even then because they don't get any type of government support, there's a cycle of poverty that is very difficult to break.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-20669312579276874862015-02-19T13:01:00.000-08:002015-02-19T13:04:33.020-08:00The Right of Responsibility: The Miami Gardens Case Study<i><span style="font-size: large;">People have duties toward the place where they live and towards other people who live with them.</span></i><br />
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For the next several posts,<a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.cz/2015/02/introducing-case-studies-for-universal.html" target="_blank"> I'll be featuring case studies that illustrate an article from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a> that children and adults find interesting and illuminating.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The goal is to identify examples that I can use with my 4th grade class. </span><br />
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There is a lot of topical and recent fodder I could have pulled for this one, but last week's <u>This American Life</u> is possibly the least grey. In the second part of their two part series "Cops See It Differently," they feature the strange, awful case of Miami Gardens, Florida.<br />
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<a href="http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/548/cops-see-it-differently-part-two?act=1#play" target="_blank">Cops See It Differently Part 2, Act 1</a><br />
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The episode is called <u>Inconvenience Store</u>. Instead of trying to summarize it, I'll let <u>This American Life</u> summarize it. The following is an extended excerpt from the accompanying transcript:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">(Miami Gardens is) a city of about 110,000 people with a lot of crime, a higher murder rate than Chicago or New York or Miami. In fact, it used to be part of Miami-Dade County and broke off in 2003. It became a separate city, started their own police force after that, partly because the Miami-Dade cops hadn't been so responsive to the community.</span><br />
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And at first, apparently, people loved the new cops. Miami Gardens is an overwhelmingly black community. Its leaders are black. They had a black police chief. Residents called the new cops the bumblebees because they seemed to be swarming everywhere and people liked that.</div>
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And, really, it just took a couple years for it to become a total mess. (T)he best illustration of how bad it got happened to two men-- the owner of a convenience store called the Quickstop and one of his employees. </div>
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Back in 2008, right after the city launched its new police department, officers stopped by and they talked to the owner of the Quickstop, a guy named Alex Saleh. They asked him if he wanted to partner with the police in a new initiative called The Zero-Tolerance Zone Trespassing Program.</div>
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Alex says he never had any problems inside his store. But under the program, the police would keep an extra eye on the Quickstop and on the parking lot, and if they thought something was up, they wouldn't have to wait for Alex to phone in a complaint. They could stop and question or apprehend someone if they felt they had cause. </div>
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Alex says he'd be standing right there in the store, right behind the counter, and officers would ignore him and tell his customers to put down their things. Then they'd take the customers outside and line them up against the wall. The customers were always black. The officers were almost always white.</div>
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Before long, it wasn't just the customers being questioned. The police started including a guy named Earl. Alex paid him to do odd jobs around the store. One night, right before closing, Alex sent Earl out to the parking lot with a broom and a dustpan. When he didn't come back, Alex want out to check on him.</div>
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That incident with the police, where Alex walked outside to check on Earl at the end of the night and found only a dustpan and broom, that happened two more times that month.</div>
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<b style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">Surveillance video of Earl Sampson under arrest for trespassing at the store </b><b style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">where he works. </b></div>
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Each time the police picked up Earl, they'd book him into the county jail. He'd spend the night there, go to court the next day, and there he'd be given a choice. Plead guilty to trespassing and get out of jail right away, or he could fight the trespassing charge, but it would be a hassle. And it would be expensive. He'd have to hire a lawyer and post bond and wait for a trial date. So Earl always pleaded guilty.<br />
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Three years into the program, he had been arrested 63 times and stopped another 99 times. On the police reports, the reason was almost always the same. Earl seemed, quote, "suspicious." Suspicious while waiting at the bus stop or playing basketball for buying food or walking to a public restroom-- only once did Earl run.</div>
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In the arrest report, the officer wrote, quote, "Earl stated that he was running because he was tired of the police arresting him for no reason." After that, Earl says it was just easier to give himself up.</div>
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By 2012, four years into the zero tolerance program, the violent crimes that people were most concerned about had not dropped. In fact, murders had increased, and so had assaults. Though burglaries were down, and vehicle thefts fell by half.</div>
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Way in the back corner of the store, at the end of an aisle, there's an 11 by 11 foot room built out of plywood and sheet rock. And inside that room is a mattress and a sink for Earl to wash up in. If you were picking up laundry detergent or toilet paper, you'd be standing right next to where he sleeps.</div>
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But even that didn't prevent the police from coming in and getting Earl. Not long after his room was built, he got arrested again for trespassing at the store. Earl didn't immediately take a plea this time. Alex doesn't know why, but Earl spent 20 days in jail. And the judge issued a stay away warning from the store.</div>
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<i>(Finding no recourse through legal channels, Alex went to the Miami Herald)</i><br />
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One of the <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Herald's</i> reporters, Julie Brown, pulled records that showed police had arrested Earl at least 62 times for trespassing.</div>
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Most of the citations were issued at the Quickstop. And overall, Earl had been stopped and questioned more than 250 times. His criminal record was 38 pages long.</div>
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Miami Gardens only has 110,000 people. And the number of stops that had occurred over a five-year period was 99,980... Compare that to the city of Miami-- it has a population four times as large as Miami Gardens-- over the same period of time, they had only made 3,753 stops.</div>
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More than 11,000 of the stops were for kids. Kids who, in the field contact reports, were labeled suspicious while doing things like playing freeze tag, riding bikes, swimming at pools, or hanging out a public park. <br />
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(<i>Here are some examples cited by the program):</i><br />
<span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Five years old this kid is, and it says, the listed subject was fitting the description of the suspect in the area of a burglary.</span><br />
<span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Here's another one. This kid was seven years old, stopped for being a suspicious person. Officer says in the remarks, "I was dispatched to the above location. Several subjects, possibly selling narcotics. This subject was observed in front of this location. And pat searched was conducted after consent... No wants nor warrants were found. </span><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">It says here in the physical characteristics that this seven-year-old had a slight beard.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So how would I use this case study? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm not exactly sure. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But at the very least it is an extreme illustration of when a society doesn't value a right to responsibility.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the next several posts,<a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.cz/2015/02/introducing-case-studies-for-universal.html" target="_blank"> I'll be featuring case studies that illustrate an article from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a> that children and adults find interesting and illuminating. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The goal is to identify examples that I can use with my 4th grade class. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvpv9zXY-RhT3aGcE1ylWEx1RwLFcXDKFGLr6Z5M4Dj77JLhDna4tvtJYV3lSK7cJk9lhiobaoXhsAkhob238X1-KpEQ28BvTrFfzw7dhgjO_Kco5HNsTfkBmW1pwH29N9sSTs8FyIDlU/s1600/Slide12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvpv9zXY-RhT3aGcE1ylWEx1RwLFcXDKFGLr6Z5M4Dj77JLhDna4tvtJYV3lSK7cJk9lhiobaoXhsAkhob238X1-KpEQ28BvTrFfzw7dhgjO_Kco5HNsTfkBmW1pwH29N9sSTs8FyIDlU/s1600/Slide12.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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I used to work at the Walgreens in Ballard, Seattle in the winter of 2002. I worked the graveyard shift as a stock boy and cashier. Maybe it was because of the time of the day that I was hanging out in Ballard, but to me it seemed kind of run down, and kind of full of a lot of working class alcoholics. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Google's Street View of That Walgreens Today</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Around 2005, long after I left, Ballard was in the midsts of unprecedented development and growth. Condominiums started springing up, and a developer wanted to make shopping center on an industrial block where <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Macefield" target="_blank">Edith Macefield</a> lived. The developer offered about 7 times the value of Edith's house so they could tear it down and build their shopping center, but Mrs. Macefield refused. So the developers decided to build their shopping center around her.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It made <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-woman-who-wouldnt-sell/" target="_blank">national news</a>. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSDBsgoXd3VPIadRIGpQhCWBnsphUqqAIUJwSLJ8Gl4jLgLxnoczejD0y3fSsBWigYieBWcH7XHBWB7-kWDlyPaxR0oynqc6Y2XiCdkrTRYlNhEFvVjp4k9RR3tAv9K38KvjQyokJqd9g/s1600/edith-macefield.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSDBsgoXd3VPIadRIGpQhCWBnsphUqqAIUJwSLJ8Gl4jLgLxnoczejD0y3fSsBWigYieBWcH7XHBWB7-kWDlyPaxR0oynqc6Y2XiCdkrTRYlNhEFvVjp4k9RR3tAv9K38KvjQyokJqd9g/s1600/edith-macefield.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Edith Macefield's house surrounded by the shopping mall</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Edith Macefield passed away in 2008 when she was 86 years old, but the podcast <a href="http://99percentinvisible.org/" target="_blank">99% Invisible</a> featured her situation in an episode called <a href="http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/holdout/" target="_blank">Holdout</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What's interesting about this case of property besides that Mrs. Macefield didn't want to sell, is that if it wasn't for Barry Martin, the shopping center project's superintendent, she might have been forced to anyway. He began a relationship with Mrs. Macefield during the construction of the shopping center. He ran errands for her, and made himself available to her at all hours of the night. He believes that if he wasn't watching out for her, the powers that be would have put her in a state run facility. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Edith Macefield became a kind of symbol to our right to property. There's even a tattoo in honor of her, her stubborness, and this right:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>The rest of the body is a flesh-colored shopping mall</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This case study doesn't cover <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eminent_domain" target="_blank">eminent domain</a>, which I guess is covered in the "unless there's a fair reason" portion of the right to property. But it would also be interesting to see if 4th graders believe that eminent domain is a fair enough reason to take someone's property away. </span></div>
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<br />Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-82210744319684112272015-02-16T07:49:00.003-08:002015-02-17T03:21:09.488-08:00Introducing Case Studies for The Universal Declaration of Human Rights<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are about to begin our Rights and Responsibilities unit of inquiry in 4th grade.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have the following enduring understandings for this unit:</span><br />
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<li style="box-sizing: content-box; list-style: disc inherit inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People can contribute responsibly to their communities.</span></b></li>
<li style="box-sizing: content-box; list-style: disc inherit inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People all have rights and responsibilities as citizens of the world</span></b></li>
<li style="box-sizing: content-box; list-style: disc inherit inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People’s actions have an impact on how human rights are met.</span></b></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I use the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as one of the backbones of this unit:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>One of the backbones. It's a multi-backbone, single-eyed cyclops-hydra thingy.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been trying to compile interesting case studies that showcase when these rights are violated. And I thought I'd spend my next few posts outlining what I've found. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you have any suggestions as I get the ball rolling, please leave your thoughts in the comments. </span>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-46983276514309048022014-12-06T14:55:00.000-08:002014-12-06T15:04:51.382-08:00Can We Teach Innovation?Ever since <a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/04/showcasing-4th-grade-innovation.html" target="_blank">last year's 4th grade tech fair</a> I've been thinking about this idea of innovation. Can it be taught? What does it mean? I probably need to reverse those two questions to answer them.<br />
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I wrote <a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/04/teaching-innovation-part-1.html" target="_blank">a few</a> <a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/04/showcasing-4th-grade-innovation.html" target="_blank">posts</a> <a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/04/makey-makey-in-classroom-innovation.html" target="_blank">about</a> <a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/07/kitty-city-cats-meow-in-teaching.html" target="_blank">it</a>.<br />
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We have a tradition at the International School of Prague- a Tech Fair for 4th grade- where students and parents are invited to come and share in the students' research on an aspect of technology. Last year I wanted to bend it more towards showcasing an innovation, but I think there is a lot of room for improvement.<br />
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I was initially thinking about a Maker Faire. Something like this:<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="360" scrolling="No" src="https://vialogues.com/videos/embedded/7706" width="540"></iframe>
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With about 1/1000 of the people and options.<br />
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Speaking of that video, I can't possibly think of Flushing Meadows without thinking of this:<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">You complete me</span></b></div>
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But there was something else I was thinking about with innovation. It was sparked by this TED talk:<br />
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I was thinking about this remixing, iterative process with my own work.<br />
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One of my "Eureka" moments, which I realize is <i>very</i> relative, was when I envisioned the plot of a children's book in graduate school. While I was trying to fall asleep one night in Ann Arbor, I had a kind of a half-awake dream, which led to a story where every time the protagonist acted sheepish, a giant hand would appear and drop a full grown sheep on the boy.<br />
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The boy would feel the entirety of the impact.<br />
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And he kept accumulating sheep until he found the confidence to stand up for himself. <br />
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Unfortunately the consequences of the new found confidence was tragic. That's kind of how I write stuff, which is derivative of everything I've written since 7th grade. </div>
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But that character was taken from another story I had written while I was teaching in Guinea:</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b> That story was a little stranger</b></span></div>
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I thought that "Sheepish" was an original story. But the graphics (because I can't draw) and the genre are completely derivative... and iterative, and each incarnation is an advancement of an idea I had when I was 13 years old. </div>
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Then last week I saw this video:<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="360" scrolling="No" src="https://vialogues.com/videos/embedded/16060" width="540"></iframe>
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I love the idea of this.<br />
The idea of structured innovation with their game cards seems very intriguing. I went to <a href="http://brooklyngamelab.com/tagged/structure" target="_blank">Brooklyn Game Lab's website</a> and found some examples:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4nIpiSpS2mLrJIL8ZJcioU3LXKPkOiwe582ybtzVAdDn1MLverX8fn88XCmn7xUCBAhhkkC4QJNrzOeQXs0AdoFs2LrcYUe2In_C_E1eCVCV7vbKP2JD_OhxW6xUnyZTnYfBE4tS8V7Q/s1600/Game+Lab+Filled+In+Cards.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4nIpiSpS2mLrJIL8ZJcioU3LXKPkOiwe582ybtzVAdDn1MLverX8fn88XCmn7xUCBAhhkkC4QJNrzOeQXs0AdoFs2LrcYUe2In_C_E1eCVCV7vbKP2JD_OhxW6xUnyZTnYfBE4tS8V7Q/s1600/Game+Lab+Filled+In+Cards.png" /></a></div>
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I also loved the revelation that feedback feeds innovation. This gave me the idea of instead of a summative assessment, an innovation-based Tech Expo could be formative. Whatever a 4th grader decides to present- a board game, a comic, a Scratch video game, or whatever, they can use the Expo's participants to improve their innovation.<br />
They can try out their games.<br />
Or read their comics.<br />
Or eat their new recipes.<br />
And fill out comment cards that can be used to improve their innovations. A Tech Expo would then be one step, instead of a final presentation, for a student-centered project.<br />
In any case, this is just a seed of an idea. Maybe my fourth grade team and I will be able to develop it further in the coming days. Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-32116696108178724132014-11-30T10:43:00.004-08:002014-11-30T10:43:41.802-08:00The History of Everything In 45 Minutes<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Elementary lectures are tricky.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You're not really supposed to do that if you're an elementary teacher. Give 'em a quick mini-lesson and send them on their way to do something a bit more productive than sitting.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCAUycDsNNLp6mIpox4yRmSTyJBbCzEsGSyJYQ1UMn6Dmfj7GmYMiKIuw-pkvzE6M1iemEQlMZG6HIZIec5EPXcb0V8i2jgw0ocM3GhULnN-1vvDOMI1CdYF0caZceIJngj3p6dTjbZws/s1600/lecture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCAUycDsNNLp6mIpox4yRmSTyJBbCzEsGSyJYQ1UMn6Dmfj7GmYMiKIuw-pkvzE6M1iemEQlMZG6HIZIec5EPXcb0V8i2jgw0ocM3GhULnN-1vvDOMI1CdYF0caZceIJngj3p6dTjbZws/s1600/lecture.jpg" height="220" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Unless you have a bunch of scribbling behind you. </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But once in a while a good chunk of lecturing can make kids more curious, more excited, and more ready to learn. If you have the right kind of student, a "<a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2012/11/explaining-6-stages-of-moral.html" target="_blank">6 Levels of Moral Development</a>" lecture can be pretty enlightening. Personal connection stories can also be successful. So if I'm teaching personal narratives, I often share stories like <a href="http://planetpivo.tumblr.com/post/75160173061/if-you-ever-find-yourself-wandering-into-bars-and" target="_blank">this one</a>, or <a href="http://planetpivo.tumblr.com/post/78990062985/white-shadow-indian-pale-ale-white-shadow-a-beer" target="_blank">this one</a>, or <a href="http://planetpivo.tumblr.com/post/78650799077/dangerously-close-but-no-cigar-imperial-pale-ale" target="_blank">this one</a>, minus the beverage review.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last year fifth grade was learning about Malaria, and <a href="http://planetpivo.tumblr.com/post/90857890907/if-ideas-are-wings-then-dead-metaphor-is-the" target="_blank">I can ramble about that one too</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But with all of those I can bring personal experience into it, which makes it infinitely more interesting to my target age group.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2RFfCw4bKsn0GqlLq7MHGoqN_iXVW6EZXaudHkvm8xBLtzjm5uhxlPqUg9BVK47Luof5iDIxix5hNB9kVi6-mL-kx1l4wnh_C25pGNb7JrWQgZNrsPi3JX0muJKO6k_FwyIzzSmZYowU/s1600/personal+life.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2RFfCw4bKsn0GqlLq7MHGoqN_iXVW6EZXaudHkvm8xBLtzjm5uhxlPqUg9BVK47Luof5iDIxix5hNB9kVi6-mL-kx1l4wnh_C25pGNb7JrWQgZNrsPi3JX0muJKO6k_FwyIzzSmZYowU/s1600/personal+life.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">You're not my target age group</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I tried something a little different. We're starting a new unit in 4th grade on Technology and Innovation. I asked the kids to write down what they thought technology was. Here are all their responses squished into one:</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"Technology are things that need electricity, for example computer, iPad, iPhone."</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is probably has something to do with how we use the term in everyday life, and a lot to do with us just finishing a unit on electricity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I decided in order to tell the story about technology, I'd have to go back to the development of us and our migration. And to tell that story, I might as well talk about the distinction of the dinosaurs so that people could have room to evolve. And what the heck, let's just start at the Big Bang. I decided to consolidate some of my favorite resources and condense them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here we go:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since we've been studying number lines, I wanted to demonstrate a timeline of the universe up until now. <a href="http://www.chronozoom.com/#/t00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/t48fbb8a8-7c5d-49c3-83e1-98939ae2ae67/td4809be4-3cf9-4ddd-9703-3ca24e4d3a26/t096717fd-64db-4416-92a7-6d35c83777d5@x=-2.2075712030610178e-16&y=0&w=1.0340425531914887&h=1.9945681920492266" target="_blank">Chronozoom</a> has a decent one. But I wanted to show our history more tangible than a quick zoom, and less tangibly than <a href="http://www.nthelp.com/eer/HOAtimetp.html" target="_blank">using toilet paper</a>. It turns out that this Crash Course in Big History #1 squeezes all history into 13 years:</span><br />
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<u style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quick Notes:</span></u></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- If everything that we know can be compacted into 13 years, then 13 years ago our universe was born from the Big Bang.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- The first stars and galaxies were born about 12 years ago.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Earth formed about 4.5 years ago.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- 4 years ago, the first single-celled life formed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- 6 months ago, multi-celled organisms sprung to life.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- The dinosaurs went extinct 3 weeks ago.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Humans and chimpanzees split from their last shared ancestor 3 days ago.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- The first homo sapiens appeared about 50 minutes ago.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- We left Africa 26 minutes ago.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- We invented agriculture 5 minutes ago.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Ancient Egypt was 3 minutes ago, the Black Death was about 24 seconds ago, and World War I was 2 seconds ago. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Big Bang and the Formation of the Universe:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's David Christian on the TED stage roughly talking about the same thing. By the way, did you know that the moon was formed because the Earth collided with something about the size of Mars? That's in a later video but that tidbit fits better here.</span><br />
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<u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quick Notes:</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Everything came into existence with the Big Bang, about 13.7 billion years ago.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- The universe is tiny, smaller than an atom, incredibly hot, and expanding.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- 380,000 years later (twice as long as humans have been around) atoms were born. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Stars started igniting into existence about a 200 million years later. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- When large stars die, they create the elements that are found on the periodic table- the ingredients that were necessary for our solar system to be born, 4.5 billion years ago.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- The goldilocks conditions for life are: the right amount of energy, diverse chemical elements, and liquids. Planets are great for these conditions. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- 6oo million years ago, multi-celled organisms appeared.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- 65 million years ago, the dinosaurs were wiped out by an asteroid- great news for a mammalian ancestors. That event gave mammals the breathing room to evolve. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Earth, not to mention the life that's contained on it, is a relatively new phenomenon. And it's constantly changing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can throw in a gif of plate tectonics to illustrate that:</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.divediscover.whoi.edu/images/tectonics-pangea-animation.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.divediscover.whoi.edu/images/tectonics-pangea-animation.gif" height="168" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I care more about how life has changed in this lecture on this History of Everything in 45 minutes, so I have to choose my battles. Sometime before the dinosaurs, in the Paleozoic period, giant insects were everywhere. Why aren't there giant insects any more? The prevailing theory is that they were conducive to an oxygen-rich atmosphere. With that oxygen started to dissipate, insects couldn't grow to their massive size anymore.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then the dinosaurs. Did you know that the amount of time horned dinosaurs were around is longer than the amount of time since their distinction? Speaking of distinctions, this explanation from Radiolab is almost as amazing as it gets:</span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quick Notes:</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Sometime between June and July 65 million years ago, a meteor the size of Mt. Everest hit southeastern Mexico at about 20,000 mph. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- If the dinosaurs had the right kind of eyeballs (they didn't) and they were watching this asteroid fall, they would have seen an atmospheric hole rip through the daytime air, revealing the stars behind it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- The asteroid hit the earth with an explosion of a hundred million megatons. To put that in perspective, 2 tons of TNT will bring down a building. 15,000 tons of TNT was dropped on Hiroshima, a current Hydrogen bomb is a million tons of TNT (1 megaton). To destroy the entire planet, you'd need 110 quadrillion megatons (100 million times 110 million) of TNT.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- The sun's temperature is about 5000 degrees. The point of impact would have been about 20,000 degrees- 4 times hotter than the sun. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- The asteroid ploughed 20 miles into the earth, and because of the temperature, it turned all of that rock it touched into a gas. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- That gas-rock shot into the atmosphere. Some of it escaped to the moon and beyond, but about 90% of it was held onto by Earth's gravity, spreading around the Earth. The gas cooled, and condensed it into little droplets of glass the size of sand. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- There are now trillions of droplets of glass falling around and in the earth's atmosphere, burning up and creating the most magnificent meteor shower ever.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- For each droplet of glass burning up, it's depositing a little bit of heat into the air. Since there are trillions of these things burning up, the heat deposited in the atmosphere is growing and growing, turning the sky red. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- The temperature in the atmosphere grew to the temperature of a pizza oven (1200 degrees). At this temperature, no matter what kind of skin or scales you had, your blood would start to boil. All dinosaurs everywhere died within two hours of the impact. <i>What would have been more amazing is if the trillions of pieces of glass fell from the earth atmosphere and shredded up everything.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Ocean creatures within 300 feet of the surface would have also died. Anything below that could have survived.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Dirt makes a good insulator. You only need a few inches of dirt for protection. Any animals in the ground would have survived. Somewhere in a little hole in the ground on that day was a furry animal that was your great great great great (times a lot) grandma.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/08/science/common-ancestor-of-mammals-plucked-from-obscurity.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0" target="_blank">Our great great etc. grandma</a></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The dinosaur extinction gave way for mammals to evolve, until evolution spit out us in Africa. </span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quick Notes (<a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/louise_leakey_digs_for_humanity_s_origins" target="_blank">from Louise Leaky's talk</a>)</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- We are an upright, walking, big-brain, intelligent ape. We are one species of about 5500 mammalian species on the planet now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- We are one species of at least 16 upright walking apes that have existed over the past 6 to 8 million years. Neanderthals existed for about 500,000 years before us, and early Homo Sapiens actually lay with them. However, we are the only upright walking ape that exists today.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- We've only been around for about 200,000 years. Technology has removed the checks and balances of our population growth. We're the only animal that makes conscience choices that are bad for our survival as our species. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the past 150,000 years, here's one theory on how we spread:</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/113202346" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<b style="font-family: Times; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">From http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/journey/</span></b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quick Notes (<a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/spencer_wells_is_building_a_family_tree_for_all_humanity?language=en" target="_blank">from Spencer Wells' talk</a>)</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- 200,000 years ago we were all dark skinned in Africa. Melanin, the skin pigment, protected us from the sun. How we adopted and changed our skin color in such a short amount of time is still a mystery.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- We all share a single ancestor, Mitochondria Eve, who lived 200,000 years ago and who is the mother of all of us today.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- What's even more amazing is that Mitochondria Adam lived about 60,000 years ago. Which means that all of our diversity is only 60,000 years old.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- We started to leave Africa around 60,000 years ago, because of the weather. It was the worst part of the last ice age. Africa wasn't covered in ice, but it was drying out. Ice sucks moisture out of the atmosphere, and the Sahara was much bigger then.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- The human population around then was around 2,000. We were nearly extinct. And we are highly inbred because of this low population such a relatively short time ago.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Mt. Toba didn't make anything better. The largest volcanic eruption over the last 20 million years in Sumatra created a global nuclear winter.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Language and becoming more social as a species allowed us to survive.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On our incremental migratory journey, farming and boats let us spread out further. And now I'm at the point in our story where I have planted a few seeds of what else technology could be. <span style="color: #333333;">In the coming days we'll make a list of some possible technologies, group them, take a field trip to The National Technical Museum in Prague, and refine our definition. Eventually we'll get to a working definition used by this guy:</span></span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/GS1xL1qcBa4?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But that's another story.</span><br />
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Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-36083670174091598792014-11-03T09:49:00.001-08:002014-11-03T13:15:36.791-08:00Understanding Current Electricity With Conductive DoughI've noticed something about myself. Between August and October, I don't write much here.<br />
<br />
I blame school.<br />
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If I had a regular reader of this blog, I would apologize profusely. But since this space likes to pretend it's part of the deep web, even though it isn't, I'm not sorry at all.<br />
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I blame this blog.<br />
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You hear that blog? I'm not impressed with your superpower choice.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlcLBEN6SY-zNI7bJ3VVpMRN2AVSiiPXFjnP146RCqgIYA42FVHEc4N8mdgoVt9w6m2Qo9XPYv0q7naY-GtgxLEzWS52s2tuUWbnh_JVGl7CsIkoJ2D75_lXA9yz4lYQPrOLRZTELYZPQ/s1600/icebergdeepweb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlcLBEN6SY-zNI7bJ3VVpMRN2AVSiiPXFjnP146RCqgIYA42FVHEc4N8mdgoVt9w6m2Qo9XPYv0q7naY-GtgxLEzWS52s2tuUWbnh_JVGl7CsIkoJ2D75_lXA9yz4lYQPrOLRZTELYZPQ/s1600/icebergdeepweb.jpg" height="211" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>When choosing between <a href="http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/178/superpowers?act=1" target="_blank">the superpowers of invisibility or the power of flight</a>, this blog has chosen invisibility</b></span></div>
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Onto the program!</div>
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After practicing extensively with batteries, lights, wires, and circuits in general, last week my kids made a batch of conductive dough. Why? Well, making food-like products is a great math unit in measurement. Also the dough replaces wires in a traditional circuit, and it's a challenge to extrapolate what the kids learned with current electricity and wires and apply it to another substance. </div>
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How do you make conductive dough? From the <a href="http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/apthomas/SquishyCircuits/conductiveDough.htm" target="_blank">squishy circuits website</a>, mix together:</div>
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1 cup of water,</div>
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1 and a half cups of flour,</div>
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1/4 cup of salt,</div>
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3 Tablespoons of Cream of Tartar or 9 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice,</div>
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1 Tablespoon of Vegetable Oil,</div>
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And maybe some food coloring</div>
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I gave all the groups a tablespoon, and asked them to choose and rationalize their second measuring tool; either a cup, a 1/2 cup, or a 1/4 cup.</div>
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Most groups chose the 1/4 cup. Yay!</div>
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For an extra challenge, I asked a couple groups to make two servings in one batch.</div>
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I'm dealing with a small sample size, but it seems like every year two things will happen:</div>
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1) One group will totally not follow the recipe, and</div>
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2) Another group will spill their contents on our carpeted floor. </div>
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Both problems are salvageable. The former can be corrected by adding extra water and burning it off while it bakes, and the latter problem can be remedied by scooping it back in the bowl. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjljHOr7sATMhW08QF3S2Lso-LYGBvZzqMPUlN2cctGJhXnMWSGltXCtuavqiUhN2MaqGsVVx3z5sC2fUkoV5fds47flQTer4nZKh451PTyXcnMRuzconEoxWTGo3_AyOtK71gGxiVxQtk/s1600/conductive+dough.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjljHOr7sATMhW08QF3S2Lso-LYGBvZzqMPUlN2cctGJhXnMWSGltXCtuavqiUhN2MaqGsVVx3z5sC2fUkoV5fds47flQTer4nZKh451PTyXcnMRuzconEoxWTGo3_AyOtK71gGxiVxQtk/s1600/conductive+dough.jpg" height="264" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">The end result... before it was cooked, and after it was scooped back in the bowl</span></b></div>
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But before we try to figure out how conductive dough works, I give them this photo problem:<br />
In the picture, all components are working. The batteries, bulb, wires, and holders all work great. But the light isn't on. Given what you know about electricity and how it flows in a circuit, why doesn't this circuit work?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvzN4pBGOgy3qEC3NYwD2NE12tUWDCeptd703ZvG1x9KnbQB7ELzD5Rf4eGLWl5Z4DaD54cVpHVP2OoKmhDI1UIkUyCOXhyTG-hJLlqUenck4k8vbw8Ob7KuhLWnpRAfs6KOQj7ld8JRg/s1600/Image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvzN4pBGOgy3qEC3NYwD2NE12tUWDCeptd703ZvG1x9KnbQB7ELzD5Rf4eGLWl5Z4DaD54cVpHVP2OoKmhDI1UIkUyCOXhyTG-hJLlqUenck4k8vbw8Ob7KuhLWnpRAfs6KOQj7ld8JRg/s1600/Image.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">The crossed wires might be confusing, but that's a red herring</span></b></span></div>
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I don't really expect many to figure out what's wrong even with an extensive knowledge of the tools here and a passing knowledge of current electricity.</div>
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The reason is because of that red bulb holder. The two pieces of metal are touching, and electricity will always follow the path of least resistance. It's much easier for current electricity to go through a conductor such as metal than a resistor like the bulb. So it takes the easy path. The bulb has no current passing through it to light and heat the filament inside. </div>
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It's a point I'd like the children to internalize. To check if they do, next I give them a glob of conductive dough, a battery pack, and an LED. I ask them to think about this picture, the problem, and the solution, and to extrapolate that knowledge to make a squishy circuit.</div>
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They planned it out, made a diagram, drew the path of electricity to the squishy circuit, and most came up with is some variation of this:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn8F5gvoR0OWBeudnsR6A6FMue4Urg350lZ9nm4QtPEzgsBXH4Slsshre4hYyqN6oZWd_lOuGzDu0WGz4P_sHK7IJnsvaLObQrIzmVOcmMo9NijllOyXFOrYBlnejxS5xNbAhOu_7Z_J8/s1600/2014-11-03+16.44.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn8F5gvoR0OWBeudnsR6A6FMue4Urg350lZ9nm4QtPEzgsBXH4Slsshre4hYyqN6oZWd_lOuGzDu0WGz4P_sHK7IJnsvaLObQrIzmVOcmMo9NijllOyXFOrYBlnejxS5xNbAhOu_7Z_J8/s1600/2014-11-03+16.44.15.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Ryan, I think the bulb is broken"</span></b></div>
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So I brought them back to the first photo, emphasizing the path of electricity. Then asked them reconsider their squishy circuit. Most then were able to see the problem in a different way, and their trial and error had a lot more purpose. Eventually they reached a conclusion: You have to force the current into the bulb, and sticking it into the conductive dough just won't work.</div>
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What does work? This:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOqXnSU1PfWG3Jd-hL-w0bItHs5pRn8fV8ADAZ1xX2nClVFRKi-8OzkTyWfylYha6o6tAlmWSEr18TIhqY7deVKET-Mlkbggpjgfx2oQ02YEyapl9bz2Opte1g5NOb89Vq-S9pibHV7D0/s1600/2014-11-03+16.44.48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOqXnSU1PfWG3Jd-hL-w0bItHs5pRn8fV8ADAZ1xX2nClVFRKi-8OzkTyWfylYha6o6tAlmWSEr18TIhqY7deVKET-Mlkbggpjgfx2oQ02YEyapl9bz2Opte1g5NOb89Vq-S9pibHV7D0/s1600/2014-11-03+16.44.48.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>"Huzzah!"</b></span></div>
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I love this lesson. I love not only playing with other materials out of the students' comfort zone, but extrapolating lessons from one set of materials and applying it to another set. If only there was some sort of non-messy liquid conductor that could pose the same kind of challenge through extrapolation...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNe2kl4uiCIg0C6F4Svi5D91qoQO0oQt2VftKkfgtZkF8Mm_b3MpCfIk_Agxxfs69KQaWW0UrKxDmpzOeyY8FZzk4bQHZWfj2gvPO-r9G17kgUArGPO398EF8uMyxkYliWqgZJ6JBIkKU/s1600/circuit+scribe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNe2kl4uiCIg0C6F4Svi5D91qoQO0oQt2VftKkfgtZkF8Mm_b3MpCfIk_Agxxfs69KQaWW0UrKxDmpzOeyY8FZzk4bQHZWfj2gvPO-r9G17kgUArGPO398EF8uMyxkYliWqgZJ6JBIkKU/s1600/circuit+scribe.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">oh, wait.</span></b></div>
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<br />Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-19441736729172835652014-08-23T08:52:00.000-07:002014-08-24T06:42:18.259-07:00Why Libraries Shouldn't Replace Books With eReaders... Yet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This year for April Fool's, NPR had the best joke ever. They posted the following headline on their Facebook page.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBmuXviaSy9HDbD9fc4-Z4F1431_U4p_55_vz3agUGYRrHrqD240mRdmItQErraoN7p68QcL3i18B58i6i61NcOsSJuueyAIh1YnVEffTtGD_eLsmMVYFtUopw0Rlbr2mcomvo_cvPZ5A/s1600/npr-april-fools.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBmuXviaSy9HDbD9fc4-Z4F1431_U4p_55_vz3agUGYRrHrqD240mRdmItQErraoN7p68QcL3i18B58i6i61NcOsSJuueyAIh1YnVEffTtGD_eLsmMVYFtUopw0Rlbr2mcomvo_cvPZ5A/s1600/npr-april-fools.jpg" height="312" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When you clicked on the link, they showed this:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKAnYIGHDbNN-6qK4Xd0AB-X7EgZ7b_4AtSup3ujMsin2TMuwft0OMA7ArFE6QRBpX7eerodpEdOfVXuFXJLcT3aDJ_GQzPOfLToojDkBnl7xP7MSIYOCME-18NV15bSdC9XXGfqa7rSQ/s1600/npr-aprilfools2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKAnYIGHDbNN-6qK4Xd0AB-X7EgZ7b_4AtSup3ujMsin2TMuwft0OMA7ArFE6QRBpX7eerodpEdOfVXuFXJLcT3aDJ_GQzPOfLToojDkBnl7xP7MSIYOCME-18NV15bSdC9XXGfqa7rSQ/s1600/npr-aprilfools2.jpg" height="283" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What made this so brilliant is that NPR was suspecting "that some people are commenting on NPR stories that they haven't actually read." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">True to form, Facebook followers started commenting on a fake story about how Americans don't read with comments about how of course Americans read. If the commenters would have actually read the article though, they would have learned that it was fake.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi29Zpxn1vvdeThXObkSSypSxhvQayXnxH-LenhUJV_KhsI-Kzp42W9tJbwel2gNQ3lwCouBxZZwjlFEMf3zKpNihLZxbSpxlIrEGXTfIPKB2BQZIyPsmhvY9cBLgZ0iN6F7UmWj1J373M/s1600/npr-aprilfools3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi29Zpxn1vvdeThXObkSSypSxhvQayXnxH-LenhUJV_KhsI-Kzp42W9tJbwel2gNQ3lwCouBxZZwjlFEMf3zKpNihLZxbSpxlIrEGXTfIPKB2BQZIyPsmhvY9cBLgZ0iN6F7UmWj1J373M/s1600/npr-aprilfools3.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="http://uproxx.com/uncategorized/2014/04/npr-april-fools-day-prank-facebook/" target="_blank">Thank you, uproxx, for breaking this down</a>.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In our school there is a small discussion beginning about whether or not we should replace our library books with eReaders. I'm not very involved in this discussion, but I think the arguments for more eReaders in libraries seem to be as follows:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1) In the long run it's much cheaper.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2) It saves space.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3) It's the same user experience as a book.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can't argue with point one or point two. My problem is with point three, because there doesn't seem to be any long term data to support it. And just because reading on a screen <i>feels the same</i> as reading a</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> book, that</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> feeling is not evidence that it is in fact the same experience. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyUu0rApGy5zCRnCF3KSr-zxkCYyd3490Fwoow2QG9S4NuXyWMLLritSKeK-B-BA7kfJzqchZ2-6QnkY-8WWxFAEGAcJdCvNrs9vDi36LdzrhYpzNM7ej3jNNxcOIxV3NhgW11B1eN5qg/s1600/fox+warm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyUu0rApGy5zCRnCF3KSr-zxkCYyd3490Fwoow2QG9S4NuXyWMLLritSKeK-B-BA7kfJzqchZ2-6QnkY-8WWxFAEGAcJdCvNrs9vDi36LdzrhYpzNM7ej3jNNxcOIxV3NhgW11B1eN5qg/s1600/fox+warm.jpg" height="220" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">It feels cold outside so Fox scientists have disproven global warming</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For me though, reading on a screen has never has felt the same. I've read eReaders for enjoyment and for learning, I've read silently and have tried read alouds using eReaders. It's felt convenient for sure, but it's not as enjoyable for me as holding a book. Luckily I'm not the only one. There seem to be at least a couple of <a href="http://www.challies.com/articles/the-perfect-technology" target="_blank">old</a> <a href="http://thoughtcatalog.com/matt-quinn/2014/01/why-i-dropped-ebooks-and-embraced-a-perfect-technology-in-its-original-and-most-meaningful-form/" target="_blank">farts</a> like myself who also don't feel the same experience when reading an eReader as when reading a book. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"But you're old, guy." says You.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know. I just said that. And I understand that I don't get it. But I do understand the developmental stages of literacy</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, and what seems to have been missing from the conversation is that even if teenagers and adults get the same understanding when reading an eReader or a book, they've already made the shift from </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">learning to read</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">reading to learn</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Elementary children have not. And we can't lump all readers into the same category, disregarding where they fall on a literacy continuum.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Except now there seems to be some research that supports that we don't actually read eReaders the same as we do books, regardless of what stage you are in your development.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I recently listened to episode 59 of <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/gist.html" target="_blank">The Gist podcast</a>, "We're Terrible At Reading Online." Maria Konnikova writes for the New Yorker. Last month she wrote the article "<a href="http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/being-a-better-online-reader" target="_blank">Being a Better Online Reader</a>." The conversation about her research starts at the 11:46 mark.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's a summary of the conversation between the host, Mike Pesca and Maria Konnikova:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maria Konnikova:</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Reading on a screen (whether its online or with an eReader) is a different physiological process. We tend to skim on a screen way more than on paper. We process and encode text differently depending on the medium. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maria Konnikova: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The traditional book format has been shown as one of the best ways for our eyes to read.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maria Konnikova: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even e-Ink- the closest electronic thing we have to ink- causes us to read and process differently than a book.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maria Konnikova: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When testing reading comprehension, researchers have found that the medium matters a lot. Reading the exact same short story, responses were much more accurate after reading the story in a book than after reading it from an eReader. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- <b>Mike Pesca</b>: Is it possible in the future that eReaders can equal text in terms of reading comprehension? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Maria Konnikova</b>: The straight answer is we don't know because there is no long term data about this, but it can certainly evolve in a way that takes all the above points into account and making a better medium than a book.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-<b> Mike Pesca</b>: So is the statement, "Reading on paper leads to better and deeper comprehension than reading on screens" BS? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Maria Konnikova</b>: For now, that's not BS. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/being-a-better-online-reader" target="_blank">Her article</a> goes deeper into her thinking. Maybe we need to teach reading on a screen as a new skill and perhaps separate skill- a skill that emphasizes developing our attention. This is a point I agree with and <a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/07/a-case-for-expanding-digital-literacy.html" target="_blank">I've made before.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She points to several studies that show there is no difference between reading on a screen and on paper, but also points out there is no longitudinal data to support one side over another.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And that's really the overall point I'm trying to make too. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Without longitudinal data I don't see how we can take the leap from the lion's head and risk replacing books with eReaders in a library.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><img alt="Indiana Jones Leap of Faith" class="gif gifview" src="http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view5/20131231/4940578/indiana-jones-leap-of-faith-o.gif" height="300" title="Indiana Jones Leap of Faith" width="400" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We just don't know what the effects will be yet. eReaders are cheaper and easier to store, and these are powerful motivators. But when we don't have the long term research to back up any claim that it's best way to serve developing readers, it doesn't matter how cheap or easy to store they are. </span>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-2551061006282500682014-08-17T00:12:00.000-07:002014-08-17T00:13:31.853-07:00What To Expect When You Are Expecting 9 Year Olds<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"My ninth year was certainly more exciting than any of the others. But not all of it was exactly what you would call fun."</span><br />
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- Danny, the Champion of the World, by Roald Dahl</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Danny, surrounded by his dead birds</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So begins the "Nine-Year-Olds" chapter in Chip Wood's <u>Yardsticks</u>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think it's perfect.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVu9ye544YNZgiAEwKPJSfnsJ_qGBKvu9vUhssxlKcj2KWJ6FRN-EkIMAsm77DQBGNIYV7tayHRfyg9JBfQgANiOpaopAo_63qxf42K3IaFfbdOFXM-ZSAWMGVrYEEHlghzNROzAIYxCY/s1600/yardsticks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVu9ye544YNZgiAEwKPJSfnsJ_qGBKvu9vUhssxlKcj2KWJ6FRN-EkIMAsm77DQBGNIYV7tayHRfyg9JBfQgANiOpaopAo_63qxf42K3IaFfbdOFXM-ZSAWMGVrYEEHlghzNROzAIYxCY/s1600/yardsticks.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every year at back to school night I spend a chunk of time with parents talking about nine-year-olds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then I talk about ten-year-olds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then I talk about how I plan to spend 4th grade helping with that transition. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is one of the few constants in my practice from year to year, so I thought it was time to make this into one or two blog posts. At the very least it will be a good online reference... for me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Onto the show!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've had about a decade to compare Chip Wood's observations with my own, and although by its very definition, its inaccurate to generalize, I'd say a few of his generalizations about 9 year-olds are pretty accurate.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxsuHrfl4XiFMii3UK0w-oQ5M6Zy1dFeAlsbqKrRNW6DPozjvigU-OJfoeLJQJ2lDpDpBfytrz7re2rtuyFwj0Iql02yvhWzgbUoViQrpKQ_GF_uYTBvgTNZzpoieeDy_7QwPkB4FmhaU/s1600/chip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxsuHrfl4XiFMii3UK0w-oQ5M6Zy1dFeAlsbqKrRNW6DPozjvigU-OJfoeLJQJ2lDpDpBfytrz7re2rtuyFwj0Iql02yvhWzgbUoViQrpKQ_GF_uYTBvgTNZzpoieeDy_7QwPkB4FmhaU/s1600/chip.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are the points that not only ring true but are important puzzle pieces in a 4th grader's year. Also, let's do this rainbow style:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gross Motor Ability</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>- Likes to push their physical limits, whether challenging themselves, racing each other, or trying to beat the clock.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How this translates: Whether we want them to be or not, kids at this age are really competitive.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>- Restless; can't sit still for long.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">How this translates: This is a great age for learning by moving and doing.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cognitive</span><br />
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>- Needs homework related specifically to the next day's work; often asks the teacher, "Why do we have to do this?"</b></span><br />
<u style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How this translates: </u><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a tough age for longer projects that span over the course of several days or weeks, but that's a skill to learn. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>- A good age for scientific exploration. They are intellectually curious, but less imaginative than at eight.</b></span><br />
<u style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How this translates: </u><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">You have to push them a little more with their scientific inquiry, and experiments take a little longer than you'd think since it's sometimes challenging for them to think out of the box. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>- Takes pride in attention to detail and finished work, but may jump quickly between interests.</b></span><br />
<u style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How this translates: </u><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">"Style over substance" can be the mantra. They'd like to spend more time on the presentation than the research.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>- Beginning to see the "bigger world," including issues of fairness and justice.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><u>How this translates: </u></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">I've always thought that fourth grade was the perfect age to start asking tough questions and looking at some difficult realities. Not everyone gets it, but this is the age that is good to start planting the seeds of a larger world view.</span> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Language</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>- Sometimes reverts to baby talk</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><u>How this translates: </u></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Every year this is true for a handful of students. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Social-Emotional Behavior</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>- Very competitive- adult's sense of lightness and fun can help them relax.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><u>How this translates: </u> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Remember that "gross motor ability" trait of needing to push their limits? I think at least some of this stems from a need for competition. It crops up in all sorts of ways, like the point below.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>- Likes to work with a partner of their choice- usually of the same gender. Begins to form cliques</b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>How this translates: </u></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think every age group likes to work with a partner of their choice. The important point in this one is that cliques tend to form, and I think it's largely because kids at this age can be competitive. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>- In groups may spend more time arguing about facts, rules, and directions than doing the actual activity.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><u>How this translates: </u></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Want to try a new student led game in the last half hour of the school day? Better carve out another chunk of time, because they could spend the original time allotment arguing about slight nuances in the rules. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>- Likes to negotiate. This is the age of "Let's make a deal"</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><u>How this translates: </u></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Turn that negotiating power into an asset. Introducing debate in 4th grade can be awesome to witness. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>- Generally worried and anxious</b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>How this translates: </u></span></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's a terrible age for timed and standardized tests. Stress can easily turn to tears and even depression. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would also like to add that this is the age of "What if...?"</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>- Very self-critical, and critical of others (including adults)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><u>How this translates: </u></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">I've only had a couple of classes that's been critical of adults on a regular basis, but I've seen it happen. But being self-critical and critical of others is a constant.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>- Tend to give up on tasks</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><u>How this translates: </u></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">You have to baby sit a little more than you'd expect for kids this old.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll try to write a post about 10 year olds next, and how 4th grade can be an awesome year to bridge the gap between the two ages. </span><br />
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Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-28949898025647408002014-08-06T01:01:00.000-07:002014-08-06T01:07:42.469-07:0010 New Ways I Used Tech In The Classroom This Year (Part 2)<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To complete my 2013-2014 reflection of the top 10 new ways I used tech last year, here are my last five ideas for the classroom. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you missed the first five, <a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/08/10-new-ways-i-used-tech-in-classroom.html" target="_blank">you can find them here</a>. If you already slogged through the first five and are ready for more then I applaud your masochistic tendencies.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Just hang in there buddy.</span></b></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/04/makey-makey-in-classroom-innovation.html" target="_blank">5) Makey Makey and Programming</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last year <a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/04/makey-makey-in-classroom-innovation.html" target="_blank">we used Makey Makey with Scratch</a>. This year <a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/07/how-ill-make-classroom-makerspace-this.html" target="_blank">I plan to have Makey Makey be a big part of my Makerspace during choice time</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And since I already talked about both of those things, I'd like to take a brief tangent with this:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My first thought was, "What the hell?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My second thought was, "Great. More little things I have to blow my money on." Because it looks pretty awesome. <a href="https://littlebits.cc/cloud" target="_blank">You can either buy a starter bundle of 6 modules at $99, or 2 modules for $59</a>. Ridiculous. I'd love it for Christmas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"><span id="goog_1388649824"></span>4) E-Choose-Your-Own-Adventures with Google Forms</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span id="goog_1388649825"></span>I came up with this project partly because I wanted to use Google Drive in an interesting new way, and partly because it seemed like a project that was super high on the Bloom's Taxonomy Pyramid.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCxTVkc3EnL0x5jgJqIdfHoe_-lfsJ4TBWt3kHUzdCaVruKVtxbnsCL-GNjPsiNAuyEG343ONX1RGhyphenhyphenWZuSbom-vc2s79zMuafYfFoDYMgfNhZellI2CsFJgw0HWdOGFIcfU3B7UARU-o/s1600/pyramid+scheme.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCxTVkc3EnL0x5jgJqIdfHoe_-lfsJ4TBWt3kHUzdCaVruKVtxbnsCL-GNjPsiNAuyEG343ONX1RGhyphenhyphenWZuSbom-vc2s79zMuafYfFoDYMgfNhZellI2CsFJgw0HWdOGFIcfU3B7UARU-o/s1600/pyramid+scheme.jpg" height="320" width="295" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Oops. This Mr. Bloom Taxonomy's Pyramid Scheme.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ignore that last pyramid. Here's the right one:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzRKaePSLjhvmjRPDGwcwkQFacwjRCPEqN52v-Y9C-KOunkNubSi627-32GFF_KUEG-iQIJ54XxuQLIdb3CPAeGuUeqPpk0SA2WhCbqWmY7CfWvvFtvYloS1wt4ngkdsy4AWx_PwOiLss/s1600/blooms_new.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzRKaePSLjhvmjRPDGwcwkQFacwjRCPEqN52v-Y9C-KOunkNubSi627-32GFF_KUEG-iQIJ54XxuQLIdb3CPAeGuUeqPpk0SA2WhCbqWmY7CfWvvFtvYloS1wt4ngkdsy4AWx_PwOiLss/s1600/blooms_new.png" height="274" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Mr. Bloom's Taxonomy Pyramid.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What's great about designing your own Choose Your Own Adventure based on real life scenarios, is that you have to imagine the consequences of various decisions. What's really challenging about designing your own Choose Your Own Adventures is that exact same thing. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I haven't quite complete my blog series about this yet. I <a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/04/how-to-design-choose-your-own-adventure.html" target="_blank">first talked about the genesis of the idea</a>, and then <a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/05/how-to-design-choose-your-own-adventure.html" target="_blank">showed how to build it in Google Forms, peppered with my usual Google grumbles of disappointment</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I haven't talked about yet was what my class did next. Briefly, I gave them a list of invasive species and the effects that they've had on their new environment. Then I told them that for the next story, the character they will design will be an exotic species peddler. Each choice in the story would be between one invasive species or another. For example:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Your name is Jack Silver: Adventurer, Traveler, and a lover of all life. You love plants and animals so much, that often times you can’t help but give them away. You love to travel to new places, explore exotic plants and animals, and sometimes you bring them back home. Sometimes you give them away to friends and neighbors. And sometimes, you sell them. This helps you travel to more exciting places!</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>You walk into your hut, and see a letter on your bed. It’s from your sister. You open the letter and pull out a card.</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>IT’S RICK’S BIRTHDAY!</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>The card says. </b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>“Oh dang!” You cry out. “I completely forgot about my nephew’s birthday.” Unfortunately you are 3000 km away and won’t be able to visit him on his birthday. But you can give him a birthday gift! </b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>You have several boxes full of interesting animals you collected on the floor. </b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>“Hmmmmm…” you think to yourself. “What present should I give my nephew?”</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>A) You decide to give Rick a two lovely cane toads. </b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>B) You decide to give Rick a few chirpy birds called Starlings</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: normal; white-space: normal;">Each path needed to have the animal transported from its native habitat to a foreign habitat. The animal then needed to escape into the foreign ecosystem, breed, and take it over.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: normal; white-space: normal;">There were no "happy" paths, only less invasive ones. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because that's life, kiddo. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJCY3MsNz28Kpog-IfJ0SHoiE7xa9VhlPDIJuFZP7IS25yhfl57QNvVcuY-rSxZpo9qEbFKMP5KQn1A-uWi1h5h-LHKfnNxd_E4yX3ucINh7zFCqT0tyXAPdREX85SECCCXF4cGk64I0/s1600/poorly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJCY3MsNz28Kpog-IfJ0SHoiE7xa9VhlPDIJuFZP7IS25yhfl57QNvVcuY-rSxZpo9qEbFKMP5KQn1A-uWi1h5h-LHKfnNxd_E4yX3ucINh7zFCqT0tyXAPdREX85SECCCXF4cGk64I0/s1600/poorly.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">You chose... poorly.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dead ends to the story occurred when the reader chose to peddle the more harmful species. Students had to determine which species was most harmful based on their research.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There's a lot more to write about this project- how I structured it, what went right, and what was challenging for the kids. But I'll save that for a later post, because it's way past time for #3.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/04/creating-unit-resources-just-for-parents.html" target="_blank">3) Professional Development For Parents</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I love being a teacher for lots of reasons. One of those reasons is that I get paid to constantly be learning. But why be a hoarder? I go through so much content, that I might as well curate the best of it and offer it to other grownups. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6eGWxp3ic8FSzUifUJJIt_N70warWkpJMZtHZLzFXBEdpACoOy85gAAdJrr87AppijXmGAOkRw2VBEHVv6tLPd_1u123K8vK-n6lk-o2iGFHMZk3bqSGrWP2MteHEsu6OGfy1EQW1GbA/s1600/learnist-logo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6eGWxp3ic8FSzUifUJJIt_N70warWkpJMZtHZLzFXBEdpACoOy85gAAdJrr87AppijXmGAOkRw2VBEHVv6tLPd_1u123K8vK-n6lk-o2iGFHMZk3bqSGrWP2MteHEsu6OGfy1EQW1GbA/s1600/learnist-logo.jpeg" height="200" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That was the thought anyway when I decided to use Learnist to keep cool things I found just for adults. The content was based on topics that we were studying in class, but were specifically for grown-ups. I thought it was a cool idea that I'll try to expand this year. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Learnist is an imperfect platform, but it's much prettier than Pinterest, and <a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2012/07/choosing-online-class-hub-beautiful-ones.html" target="_blank">I'm all about using and promoting web tools that are designed well</a>... as well as <a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2012/07/choosing-online-class-hub-google-sites.html" target="_blank">tearing down the web tools that look awful</a> (Seriously, Google? I wrote that post in 2012 and Google Sites looks just as terrible today as it did then).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">2) Student-created news shows with iMovie for the iPad.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's one I haven't written about before.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the beginning of the year, the students and I put together a news show called "Good Morning Praha." The students created the content, but I helped them edit it. Half way through the year we got iPads, and editing had a much smaller learning curve. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the end of the year, some students decided they wanted to create their own news show again, this time appropriately titled, "Good Evening Praha." And this time they did everything. They thought of the content, filmed and edited it with the iPad. They were already familiar with iMovie on the laptop, and I maybe spent a total of 5 minutes showing them some of the editing features of iMovie for the IPad. The rest they figured out for themselves. </span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/98024453?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&color=8cc440" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next year because the iPad makes this so much easier, I'd like the students to produce more of these during our choice time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/07/tellagami-green-screen-world-adventure.html" target="_blank">1) Digital Stories with Tellagami, a Green Screen, and iMovie</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2012/01/phil-clinton.html" target="_blank">I've made digital stories with my class before</a>, but Tellagami gives an added layer to storytelling. This particular project was way too big for any movie editing app that lets you incorporate green screen, so I had to use iMovie on the laptop to put everything together. But my hope is that <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/green-screen-by-do-ink/id730091131?mt=8" target="_blank">DoInk</a> will soon be able to handle slightly more robust projects in the future. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And... we're done.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whew!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the way, did you see those littlebits Cloud modules? Crazy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-92154918454347078872014-08-03T03:25:00.001-07:002014-08-03T03:32:25.242-07:0010 New Ways I Used Tech In The Classroom This Year (Part 1)<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the past few years I've written an annual post reflecting on new ways I've used tech in the classroom the previous year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> But this year... I'm doing the same thing.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiSRTdXmLPAnqbyA6nI6zp2jBkwyqOW8Czjqcdtm1vWvno3koTggXRUvP6drgUNoVQ0uVqTyqR5sORg_KyM5w4m8_pqA1kOvFNmX7frP-hdvgeJl_4um9dQoNh_zjfWWJL8bIg7pY53Zk/s1600/astronomical+clock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiSRTdXmLPAnqbyA6nI6zp2jBkwyqOW8Czjqcdtm1vWvno3koTggXRUvP6drgUNoVQ0uVqTyqR5sORg_KyM5w4m8_pqA1kOvFNmX7frP-hdvgeJl_4um9dQoNh_zjfWWJL8bIg7pY53Zk/s1600/astronomical+clock.jpg" height="278" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">And this monstrosity keeps ticking away</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the 2011-2012 school year, I wrote a series of posts <a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2012/06/10-ways-i-used-technology-differently.html">starting with this one</a> and <a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2012/06/10-ways-i-tried-to-enhance-my-classroom_25.html">ending in this one</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the 2012-2013 school year, <a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2013/08/10-ways-i-enhanced-my-classroom-with.html" target="_blank">I wrote this post.</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So to kick off the 2014-2015 school year here is the first five of my list of 10 new ways, which are now old ways, I used tech in my classroom during the 2013-2014 school year. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioqtEWerNQ6qXglv67lE4TILR9NW3noZc-kl8DHytafKvFms_YhtoJxZ5EzXiVaaVdFE1Eb3aFiGkysVoU2C6y1Y_KWjKwiRya_p-prAswohn0ZbTItzfZwMR_ecf8sR4mFtYY9zwrZxA/s1600/stairs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioqtEWerNQ6qXglv67lE4TILR9NW3noZc-kl8DHytafKvFms_YhtoJxZ5EzXiVaaVdFE1Eb3aFiGkysVoU2C6y1Y_KWjKwiRya_p-prAswohn0ZbTItzfZwMR_ecf8sR4mFtYY9zwrZxA/s1600/stairs.jpg" height="304" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Got that?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/07/4-apps-to-make-personal-learning.html" target="_blank">10) Expanding my PLN</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the link above, I share the tools I use on my iPad to consolidate my PLN: Zite, Bloglovin, Feedly, and Flipboard. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZimCZUOV3KuX9IVM0uew4wDVp5lTCgPMr4X6XdBThO7iwmeyOtQT3yPkOHKVTrkHhFZbOL04RQ3DQH_3nLvATaPc24966BGEMhmiUWFDFmNelompF3OUjGlieqrv1FSjHNeXkWxZV40k/s1600/PLN+Babies.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZimCZUOV3KuX9IVM0uew4wDVp5lTCgPMr4X6XdBThO7iwmeyOtQT3yPkOHKVTrkHhFZbOL04RQ3DQH_3nLvATaPc24966BGEMhmiUWFDFmNelompF3OUjGlieqrv1FSjHNeXkWxZV40k/s1600/PLN+Babies.gif" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>The faceless members that make up my PLN</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aside from that though, I created a twitter account for my classroom, <a href="https://twitter.com/grade4news">@grade4news</a>. I tied an Instagram account to it, and anytime that <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/apps-gone-free-best-daily/id470693788?mt=8">Apps Gone Free</a> or Appsfire notified me that there was a decent grade-level education app that was free, I tweeted it there. Now the number of parents that actually looked at the twitter feed was about zero. Still, I'll keep it going for next year as well. It's fun to do and maybe it'll become a thing for my parent community. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://getkahoot.com/">9) Playing class review games using Kahoot!</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUo8WCOQdnyrA6UDlLhG-RFddyz28JGsyEBoDJ6jKpmiMFQ_RXUGGImUTc3Ubab3o-lK5qzWB8Vt29-kHMFO51IQGhOsY9Z0HMjJ3Igt-ZV6g0LACFBtBHZ0T2V4E-hvhsSlZtvV0Iq2s/s1600/kahoot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUo8WCOQdnyrA6UDlLhG-RFddyz28JGsyEBoDJ6jKpmiMFQ_RXUGGImUTc3Ubab3o-lK5qzWB8Vt29-kHMFO51IQGhOsY9Z0HMjJ3Igt-ZV6g0LACFBtBHZ0T2V4E-hvhsSlZtvV0Iq2s/s1600/kahoot.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I really like Kahoot! as a review tool, because my kids really liked it. Kahoot! lets you create your own review games. You can show the questions and multiple choice answers on a projector. On each of the kids' laptops (or iDevice), they will see only the symbols for the four possible answers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the whole class selects an answer, the student screen will show them if they got it right, and based on how fast and how correct they were, will show them their place in class. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The teacher's screen shows a "Top 5" leaderboard after each question.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What surprised me was that every review game I made, there was a very different leaderboard of top 5 students each time. What really surprised me was that even my EAL intensive students would consistently show up on the leaderboard. It was huge for their confidence and it was always a lot of fun. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A couple of times, the game would kick a student out for no reason, and then they'd have to wait until the next review game to participate. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One thing I wish Kahoot! would do is to randomize the answers. If we play the same review game more than once, I had to manually switch up the answers so kids don't just memorize the answer pattern. Making this process automatic would save me a lot of time. </span><br />
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<a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/07/9-ipad-apps-for-everyday-classroom-use.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">8) Using my iPad for everyday classroom use</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The link above covers several apps I used for the classroom: Too Noisy (a noise monitor), StrataLogica (a virtual globe), Pinterest (a web curator), Decide Now (a randomizer), Fun Sounds (a sound board), Heads Up (a group pantomime game), Haiku Deck (a presentation tool), and Stage (a document camera app). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/07/4-pretty-good-ipad-apps-for-classroom.html" target="_blank">7) Using my iPad for everyday assessment</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The post linked above features apps I used for classroom assessment: Confer, Notability, Google Docs, and Explain Everything.</span><br />
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<a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2013/12/ipads-in-grade-4-using-aurasma.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">6) Using Aurasma in the classroom</span></a><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The original Aurasma logo</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the most part I really enjoyed using <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/aurasma/id432526396?mt=8" target="_blank">Aurasma</a> this year. I had some problems with the app losing or dropping or not synching links, so I'm going to experiment with <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/layar-augmented-reality/id334404207?mt=8" target="_blank">Layar</a> at the beginning of this school year to see if it's more stable. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is a quick list of how I used <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/aurasma/id432526396?mt=8" target="_blank">Aurasma</a> last year:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2013/12/ipads-in-grade-4-using-aurasma.html" target="_blank">- "Best Part of Me" project for Back To School Parents' Night</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2013/12/ipads-in-grade-4-using-aurasma.html" target="_blank">- Virtual Word Wall with vocabulary words linked to kids acting out their meaning.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2013/12/ipads-in-grade-4-using-aurasma.html" target="_blank">- Virtual Book Reviews, with book covers linked to the children's review of the books they've read.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/04/showcasing-4th-grade-innovation.html" target="_blank">- Kid-created augmented reality comic books and instruction manuals.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To start the next year, I was thinking of having a giant map, like this one in our upper elementary hall:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://jonathanwylie.com/2013/12/06/15-engaging-and-creative-ways-to-use-ipads-in-a-k-12-classroom/</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd like to invite students (4th and 5th graders) to film something about themselves and the place where they are from and link it to the map. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My next post will cover five more new ways I used tech last year. </span><br />
<br />Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-34802397835942817042014-07-31T05:30:00.000-07:002014-07-31T05:30:28.168-07:004 Pretty Good iPad Apps For Classroom Assessment<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've tried my fair share of iPad education assessment tools: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/three-ring/id504311049?mt=8" target="_blank">Three Ring</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/teacherkit/id389584618?mt=8" target="_blank">TeakerKit</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/easy-portfolio-eportfolio/id516212900?mt=8" target="_blank">Easy Portfolio</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/schoology/id411766326?mt=8" target="_blank">Schoology</a>, and maybe some other junk. At some point I should do a review on them. But the short of it is they aren't the four most important apps on my iPad for classroom assessment. These are:</span><br />
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<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/notability/id360593530?mt=8" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Notability</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last year I <a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2013/06/9-note-taking-apps-for-teachers.html">wrote up a review of some possible note taking apps for teachers</a>- apps that didn't require typing, but instead focused on note taking through handwriting. My favorite at the time was Noteshelf, because it's design was the cleanest and it improved my handwriting the most. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So of course since then I've been using Notability for all of my in class notes, especially during book discussions. This is because:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1) My handwriting still looks a little better than my actual handwriting with this app.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2) You can zoom really small on a page. Really small. That means I can fit a lot on the screen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3) Instead of a finite page like on Noteshelf, Notability allows you to continuously scroll down on a page to add notes. This is a big deal when I'm writing fast. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I use Notability more than any other app in the classroom because I can use my finger to write with, and I'm much more comfortable writing than typing on an iPad.</span></div>
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<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/confer/id387777553?mt=8" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Confer</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg039fDjVizZI7isfWmeEshGm-HPRTls3G6ekfWIp_7FhsDIEfCaa7-OCoaxy7mPltIWyucrX5Q32SjPZj5l4ciaEdHWlmPntmQepdQGo8CSg5AGY-96wq9fj_NLbfUPLbdy9mKi0e1l2E/s1600/Confer.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg039fDjVizZI7isfWmeEshGm-HPRTls3G6ekfWIp_7FhsDIEfCaa7-OCoaxy7mPltIWyucrX5Q32SjPZj5l4ciaEdHWlmPntmQepdQGo8CSg5AGY-96wq9fj_NLbfUPLbdy9mKi0e1l2E/s1600/Confer.png" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Confer is an interesting note taking app designed for teachers. It has a lot of room for improvement, but I did use it to consolidate points after summative assessments. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each student has three sections: "Strengths", "Teaching Points", and "Next Steps". </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's nice because after you type something for one student, the same phrase becomes available for the whole class. So for example if I write that one student's strength is "Represent decimals using Base 10 Blocks," then that phrase automatically becomes an option as a strength for all the other students in the class.</span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's how I wish it worked:</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1) If I type something as a student's strength, it automatically becomes an option as a "strength", "teaching point", or "next step." Currently Confer does not do this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2) The organization is built around having multiple classes, with different students in each class. It's a good setup for middle or high school teachers. It's lousy for elementary teachers. I'd like to be able to create one class, then have folders of different subjects for each student. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3) The export options are lousy. I can export an entire class as a spreadsheet, or individual students as an rtf file. I'd like to at least be able to export an entire class as an rtf file. This is because I'd like to be able to use it to help with narrative report cards, without having to retype everything, or having to export 20 seperate rtf files. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On a side note, here's the Confer promotional video. How can someone be smart enough to make an app but then film their promotional video with a vertical iPhone? Turn it on it's side when you shoot video!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the title of this post is "Pretty Good iPad Apps for Classroom Assessment", and indeed with these limitations Confer is pretty good. It could be awesome, but oh well. </span></div>
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<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/explain-everything/id431493086?mt=8" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Explain Everything</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxPCcpb0ORX8kX7fpUCiLtbj7KrUGiUK2HuVOxD2UdPW_nVFhO7S-hBOOx9E8LD09BJZ2bHabXW-4LRt6Hc3Ezi-Cq0Sdj0DuDhvnM3bUzIRSyLR_fonMELzsCKm1FZY3jd9x8__p9uk4/s1600/Explain.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxPCcpb0ORX8kX7fpUCiLtbj7KrUGiUK2HuVOxD2UdPW_nVFhO7S-hBOOx9E8LD09BJZ2bHabXW-4LRt6Hc3Ezi-Cq0Sdj0DuDhvnM3bUzIRSyLR_fonMELzsCKm1FZY3jd9x8__p9uk4/s1600/Explain.png" height="200" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Explain Everything is good because <a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2013/11/using-ipads-in-4th-grade-week-1.html">the kids make their own math tutorials, and then upload them all on a Youtube or Vimeo channel.</a> With those tutorials I can see who is understanding a concept and who isn't. </span></div>
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<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-docs/id842842640?mt=8" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Google Docs</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVgNFH7kWKCR2NlEc8N6i0sDOi87ZSXFwjopAPCYwbK6NV0tsflkxZw3Sm8g-lqxpYcQnlT2GvjYFXTpga9fPz_Esld8BiAHXY2m1yL7qg_M1jwxYmGsm6rV-zATZ8X1QlOW2BKruUCnM/s1600/docs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVgNFH7kWKCR2NlEc8N6i0sDOi87ZSXFwjopAPCYwbK6NV0tsflkxZw3Sm8g-lqxpYcQnlT2GvjYFXTpga9fPz_Esld8BiAHXY2m1yL7qg_M1jwxYmGsm6rV-zATZ8X1QlOW2BKruUCnM/s1600/docs.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When the Google Docs app came out for the iPad earlier this year, I wasn't sure it was necessary. At first it seemed redundant since we already had a Google Drive app. But it works much better. You can write comments and view tables- two things that might have been possible on the Google Drive app and I just never figured it out. But I did figure it out on the Google Docs app, and it's a great tool to use to pull up student's work really quickly in the classroom. </span></div>
<br />Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-62482311996558454032014-07-27T08:50:00.000-07:002014-07-27T08:53:01.256-07:00Wuzzit Trouble: The Future Of Math Thinking and Teaching?<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday I stumbled upon Keith Devlin's presentation, "<b>Using video games to break the Symbol Barrier."</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcS3D-7Sdr8E0qZRNIyKDm1eRkuROIBUIAQMbWHfg4Slr0WTAWg-pXWtbKqVgw_R4E7YFUKN43lKBSmg8NXMtz7ubmF6HIqNPLnWzvtH7NxQUGt9Sm5iawGgALa9HFLZYHHo4moUZ7uK4/s1600/wuzzit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcS3D-7Sdr8E0qZRNIyKDm1eRkuROIBUIAQMbWHfg4Slr0WTAWg-pXWtbKqVgw_R4E7YFUKN43lKBSmg8NXMtz7ubmF6HIqNPLnWzvtH7NxQUGt9Sm5iawGgALa9HFLZYHHo4moUZ7uK4/s1600/wuzzit.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He had several points that I thought were interesting:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1) The complexity of everyday mathematics isn't necessarily because everyday maths is complex. It's because everyday maths relies too heavily on symbols. Everyone can do everyday math. The problem is with its traditional symbolic representation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2) Until recently, the symbols associated with mathematics was a necessary evil. Symbols were the only technology available to store and distribute everyday math. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3) There are now better ways to store and distribute everyday math, that are just now being realized. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4) <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wuzzit-trouble/id600190128?mt=8">Wuzzit Trouble</a>, a free iPad game that he helped develop, was one way he demonstrated a new way of learning math.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is his presentation:</span><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/89583763" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/89583763">KEITH DEVLIN: Using video games to break the Symbol Barrier</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user3917244">Keith Devlin</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't disagree- which I guess means I agree- that symbols get in the way of mathematical thinking. Defining what that thinking is, and how it translates into new learning tools, will be a big challenge in the foreseeable future.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've played <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wuzzit-trouble/id600190128?mt=8">Wuzzit Trouble</a>, and I understand the enthusiasm. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The problem with games that do away with symbols though is that the mathematical thinking involved when solving a game puzzle might not be so easily extrapolated to other platforms that require the same type of thinking. Mastery of a platform doesn't necessarily mean mastery of a mathematical idea. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So symbols have a place. They teach extrapolation of mathematical thinking across multiple platforms. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I don't know. Maybe they don't. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> But in my experience that's mostly true. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then there's the irony... <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wuzzit-trouble/id600190128?mt=8">Wuzzit Trouble</a> wasn't developed without variables and symbols. I know this because all programming relies on variables and symbols.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But this doesn't mean I don't think it's a worthwhile venture. In my next post, I'll look at some math apps that develop mathematical thinking. </span>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-52265357223454469522014-07-22T03:25:00.000-07:002014-07-22T03:25:13.727-07:0010 Great Math Games For The Classroom<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As part of the my continuing "<span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/07/ideas-for-meaningful-choice-time-in.html" target="_blank">meaningful</a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(1)</span></span> <span style="color: #38761d;"><a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/07/setting-up-podcast-station-in-classroom.html" target="_blank">choice</a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(2)</span></span> <span style="color: red;"><a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/07/how-ill-make-classroom-makerspace-this.html" target="_blank">time</a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(3)</span></span>" series, one of my stations will be a math game station. Here then are 10 math games for the classroom... in probably no particular order.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#10 Rummikub</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4eW99gLoaAc7SVKpQCyz8rFHDZXbtvoHhW1t9keZU9fjDnTvzIA6M2MWyNqXT4GA-sZY8BUaCn1IyCxUqW_fF82JFZorSsmxPMAqn7_QssTVxesNsrWF_W_Fh6EVCsURDFCIFe7PqjgU/s1600/Rummikub.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4eW99gLoaAc7SVKpQCyz8rFHDZXbtvoHhW1t9keZU9fjDnTvzIA6M2MWyNqXT4GA-sZY8BUaCn1IyCxUqW_fF82JFZorSsmxPMAqn7_QssTVxesNsrWF_W_Fh6EVCsURDFCIFe7PqjgU/s1600/Rummikub.jpg" height="238" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Math Skills:</span></u><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Combinations</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Putting together and taking apart sets</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recoginizing missing elements of sets</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.rummikub.com/info/Rules.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How To Play:</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Use tiles to make number sets- runs of a single number, or the same color. The goal is to clear your rack of numbers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">#9 Pentominoes & Tangrams</span></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4R-kt8W4VcHJvgzZ2MWTJ3UlkbFvYMtKYkEwuCpt8Oypxjeftk_lGTElmx9MS2hBwm8TBONJfnV0be7Ti-D94azldPxP1OnI9vfAKT3t8G8U5voBGL6ictDw5fMv3-cbx43M2lT23Yg/s1600/PentominoSets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4R-kt8W4VcHJvgzZ2MWTJ3UlkbFvYMtKYkEwuCpt8Oypxjeftk_lGTElmx9MS2hBwm8TBONJfnV0be7Ti-D94azldPxP1OnI9vfAKT3t8G8U5voBGL6ictDw5fMv3-cbx43M2lT23Yg/s1600/PentominoSets.jpg" height="320" width="270" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Math Skills:</span></u><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Spatial Reasoning</span></div>
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<u><a href="http://www.ehow.com/how_8690696_play-pentominoes.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How To Play:</span></a></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are a lot of variations of Pentominoes. One way is p<span style="background-color: white;">lace the pentominoes in the grid so each pentomino square covers one grid square and the shapes don't overlap. You may rotate and flip the shapes. The game is complete when the board is filled with pentominoes and has no empty spaces.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tangrams can be used to make thousands of different figures. <a href="http://lsnepal.weebly.com/tangrams.html" target="_blank">Here are some tangram challenges</a> of possible figures to make. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#8 Yahtzee</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl_PvjY1Ohk2PuUgOi8WMg7pcmAq956X-5wL_Z-AdOTnsIjNgUw3dIpBDKeQlZt3s3ScsJ1skYnH1dl2WIB0X682A0Wkm9ScZC4vnhJE_BG3TdPcZ5gz5Oudvp77rEZ9BrOGo7oRE2xR4/s1600/Yahtzee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl_PvjY1Ohk2PuUgOi8WMg7pcmAq956X-5wL_Z-AdOTnsIjNgUw3dIpBDKeQlZt3s3ScsJ1skYnH1dl2WIB0X682A0Wkm9ScZC4vnhJE_BG3TdPcZ5gz5Oudvp77rEZ9BrOGo7oRE2xR4/s1600/Yahtzee.jpg" height="253" width="320" /></span></a><u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Math Skills:</span></u><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Probability</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Addition, Mental Math</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Comparing Quantities</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/yahtzee.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How To Play:</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Players roll five dice to score points in 13 different cattegories.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#7 Othello</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn2t2sv7WXmWexHgSfyGGP4gxa_rxgCUerz2iUC9CgOx8XNy3LSf0pWparX2f0GpUfaA8CGAJ_tn2KP6WnK0VzqTSuauCw7i_wRmPzuE9ZKGkmQCYOpaNtc4h5Pkscbxs-RCt2cZesQEc/s1600/othello.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn2t2sv7WXmWexHgSfyGGP4gxa_rxgCUerz2iUC9CgOx8XNy3LSf0pWparX2f0GpUfaA8CGAJ_tn2KP6WnK0VzqTSuauCw7i_wRmPzuE9ZKGkmQCYOpaNtc4h5Pkscbxs-RCt2cZesQEc/s1600/othello.jpg" height="267" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Math Skills:</span></u><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Visualizing lines on a grid</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Counting and comparing quantities</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.ehow.com/how_2082738_play-othello.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How To Play:</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">White on one side, black on the other, players take turns place a disk with their color on the board. Any of the opponent's disks that are sandwiched in a straight line between the newly-played piece and a disc showing the same color, are flipped to be claimed by the player.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">#6 Qwirkle</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRGE7-rIdnKVxxVFIeN5Qy-nRqnVhwJaigHdsHlAJn1UIfnlEH3WZiIMed16-oXKehVn5G56pH4PKHSl5araTgS6a1veKNtVO6hwocce7s8s9ojdftTfaXkG3f5o-b11D94-ga8DLhtuw/s1600/Qwirkle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRGE7-rIdnKVxxVFIeN5Qy-nRqnVhwJaigHdsHlAJn1UIfnlEH3WZiIMed16-oXKehVn5G56pH4PKHSl5araTgS6a1veKNtVO6hwocce7s8s9ojdftTfaXkG3f5o-b11D94-ga8DLhtuw/s1600/Qwirkle.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Math Skills:</span></u><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Combinations and comparisons</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.ehow.com/how_2272312_play-qwirkle.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How To Play:</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tiles are arranged in a crossword style. The "words" must have all the same color with no repeated shape, or all the same shape with no repeated color.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#5 Sumoku</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2tTOXVvfGZtT64gpMO6WnGT_D4RgYAAZKCjTVUWOs8xkireC7ZNjE4PMIVGqNTShgMCLFTg6AgJnuIUePbkyWE0nxEem6vcSLOiN-IqZ24AmzqpWIanpG7bdei0FklNwMMbCHqf8QTl0/s1600/Sumoku.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2tTOXVvfGZtT64gpMO6WnGT_D4RgYAAZKCjTVUWOs8xkireC7ZNjE4PMIVGqNTShgMCLFTg6AgJnuIUePbkyWE0nxEem6vcSLOiN-IqZ24AmzqpWIanpG7bdei0FklNwMMbCHqf8QTl0/s1600/Sumoku.jpg" height="205" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Math Skills:</span></u><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Identifying Multiples</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.blueorangegames.com/sumoku/images/stories/sumoku_rules.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How To Play:</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tiles are arranged in a crossword style to be multiples of a key number. The key number is the number rolled on a die.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">#4 Backgammon</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ifPKldPYDyiLS6XOmcn4g5AtiCGN3hxU5hJQrl_Flw9YpOHUecNtM7u7uGUN0QaMffKuiOmdW7Fz-wZkIZQ9D-jf_3FXdG8ppWCXX6Btx8GvzOD2u_YtKCC8aIZi_OxWZRBtW9HO1zM/s1600/backgammon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ifPKldPYDyiLS6XOmcn4g5AtiCGN3hxU5hJQrl_Flw9YpOHUecNtM7u7uGUN0QaMffKuiOmdW7Fz-wZkIZQ9D-jf_3FXdG8ppWCXX6Btx8GvzOD2u_YtKCC8aIZi_OxWZRBtW9HO1zM/s1600/backgammon.jpg" height="184" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Math Skills:</span></u><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Visualizing odds and percentages </span><br />
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<u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How To Play:</span></u><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can't figure out how to write a short description in a couple sentences. So <a href="http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Backgammon" target="_blank">here is how to play</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#3 Mancala</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoGIWxdLfrWr_nwS8lJsBiCsC4S6wqUR8ntRDSd216Ry7lrdNhhcv7lds5ImEHQfGXFgIg1AUPojv_yo21eDRqptFT7qcLrCV-T5wTSGYOVZcRO-7nNXqc5iibM8EJTpeao73jMnwvOEA/s1600/Mancala.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoGIWxdLfrWr_nwS8lJsBiCsC4S6wqUR8ntRDSd216Ry7lrdNhhcv7lds5ImEHQfGXFgIg1AUPojv_yo21eDRqptFT7qcLrCV-T5wTSGYOVZcRO-7nNXqc5iibM8EJTpeao73jMnwvOEA/s1600/Mancala.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Math Skills:</span></u><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Problem solving through visualizing future moves. </span><br />
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<a href="http://boardgames.about.com/cs/mancala/ht/play_mancala.htm" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How To Play:</span></a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 17.920000076293945px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A turn consists of removing all seeds from a pit, "sowing" the seeds (placing one in each of the following pits in sequence) and capturing the opponent's seeds. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#2 Set</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ID_L-mPUH_R7kTKfteHjFcYVGW0s98GnXoDF3NtbJkvgZAklal4giJxyTJkDjOGTXtKXzHMXteehAkGDXEUpaLrSXgXFWVmmW0p7nMBWckX_3yzXYBayBWRcCGK9_zLjuwIM2z0sjFo/s1600/Set.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ID_L-mPUH_R7kTKfteHjFcYVGW0s98GnXoDF3NtbJkvgZAklal4giJxyTJkDjOGTXtKXzHMXteehAkGDXEUpaLrSXgXFWVmmW0p7nMBWckX_3yzXYBayBWRcCGK9_zLjuwIM2z0sjFo/s1600/Set.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Math Skills:</span></u></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Matching Attributes</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.setgame.com/sites/default/files/instructions/SET%20INSTRUCTIONS%20-%20ENGLISH%208.23.11.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How To Play:</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The object of the game is to identify a set of 3 cards from 12 placed face up on the table. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#1 Blokus</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQPBT4j3gQ3lWVErnmls5HN0exAJlMCXBaCUa1GuTbVnXj-lu5sohrgiIaWMByHjn24PnRn5tptHB4tsru4d-MhMYn34o2Mb6TLIHpvRYyTsoIoxVXGkYNnjg0McSHl-ieeKfXGAtpYvU/s1600/Blokus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQPBT4j3gQ3lWVErnmls5HN0exAJlMCXBaCUa1GuTbVnXj-lu5sohrgiIaWMByHjn24PnRn5tptHB4tsru4d-MhMYn34o2Mb6TLIHpvRYyTsoIoxVXGkYNnjg0McSHl-ieeKfXGAtpYvU/s1600/Blokus.jpg" height="320" width="272" /></span></a></div>
<u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Math Skills:</span></u><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Spatial Reasoning</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Blokus" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How To Play:</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 17.920000076293945px;">Order of play is based on color, with blue going first, followed by yellow, red, and green. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 17.920000076293945px;">The first piece played of each color is placed in one of the board's four corners. Each new piece played must be placed so that it touches at least one piece of the same color, with only corner-to-corner contact allowed—edges cannot touch. However, edge-to-edge contact is allowed when two pieces of different color are involved.</span></span>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-24528454555471486212014-07-20T04:00:00.000-07:002014-07-20T04:00:04.034-07:009 iPad Apps For Everyday Classroom Use<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last year was the first year I got to use an iPad in class. I had an Apple TV, iPad stand, </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_5B7MiHHIt7z4gvFCrrbhHjaufW-tXbIVFZ3TxVzHK5i1xwDLDBKoBiahO-DATZGsryiZ8DN0CfICs05jotEE8i9_RvIem77fZMlGAOlrPom_n-YCC_9zNB0xhuihaoiX4LImn7tH6SA/s1600/stand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_5B7MiHHIt7z4gvFCrrbhHjaufW-tXbIVFZ3TxVzHK5i1xwDLDBKoBiahO-DATZGsryiZ8DN0CfICs05jotEE8i9_RvIem77fZMlGAOlrPom_n-YCC_9zNB0xhuihaoiX4LImn7tH6SA/s1600/stand.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and an iPad case that I could walk around with using one hand.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp9paWtpHA9LV-ys7__JMlZV-cDH4KTq2uiUrk21Hirnc8Znkl8DNo2166F_QTHHN2AtJ4A4KHtu570Kq-3bYq93mLNzM9l5AkzucjwIJDeQeVTp-iFghqbFO-z9JclffDJFWtOYkM1CQ/s1600/case.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp9paWtpHA9LV-ys7__JMlZV-cDH4KTq2uiUrk21Hirnc8Znkl8DNo2166F_QTHHN2AtJ4A4KHtu570Kq-3bYq93mLNzM9l5AkzucjwIJDeQeVTp-iFghqbFO-z9JclffDJFWtOYkM1CQ/s1600/case.png" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was great!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a later post I'll talk about the tools I used for assessment. Today I wanted to review the main apps I like for the classroom. </span><br />
<img class="alwaysThinglink" height="480" src="//cdn.thinglink.me/api/image/545545008292298752/1024/10/scaletowidth#tl-545545008292298752;1043138249" style="max-width: 100%;" width="640" /><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//cdn.thinglink.me/jse/embed.js"></script>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#1 Too Noisy Lite</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjv6xpXMkDTIg5jfiYPVdFFYYxEzctsgSTMoFZUXV41m8mBiL_CNrynpWl9T-c64UtPj9mtxs6xhDdjOZvCD7wmL4FbT-Pe3yqbpWof_qcZk1O9EoZs-meuY30lrYZAVdlLSAuBMvdLg4/s1600/Too+Noisy.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjv6xpXMkDTIg5jfiYPVdFFYYxEzctsgSTMoFZUXV41m8mBiL_CNrynpWl9T-c64UtPj9mtxs6xhDdjOZvCD7wmL4FbT-Pe3yqbpWof_qcZk1O9EoZs-meuY30lrYZAVdlLSAuBMvdLg4/s1600/Too+Noisy.png" height="200" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I used this during independent or group work. You can set the sensitivity level, and after an initial period where the noise increases because students want to watch the needle move, that part fades away quick enough.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#2 StrataLogica</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Cxw-qurfcILIq0IRjDuyXjhfqBuLT7VU0rAQFk6PcWsCxkjPvsWNVPlWXWZRwdioTc3yrjkieKuuCc_nAG6hfuKMpr4H2y6GpMTQvl7tiREdbsZnQzHbdHhzJt8WPiiXpx56EMS2mYA/s1600/stratalogica.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Cxw-qurfcILIq0IRjDuyXjhfqBuLT7VU0rAQFk6PcWsCxkjPvsWNVPlWXWZRwdioTc3yrjkieKuuCc_nAG6hfuKMpr4H2y6GpMTQvl7tiREdbsZnQzHbdHhzJt8WPiiXpx56EMS2mYA/s1600/stratalogica.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best virtual globe that I've found, it's cartoonish imagery is really clear on the projector. You can draw on it and put place markers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are a lot of features that I haven't explored yet, but here's a promotional video I found:</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZeBQt1JcIFg?list=UURVH5kXrydhYyK6SWCfarvQ" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#3 Chimes</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgohjWqymkYRX-E_Nyc3an7qw2voaPXYHcDEHHIWq7CGUNJVGgJWqu4O9ZxIEo-iuJY5B0IyO0Mew4TtxKv5rXg0qDgpXRQ7Hw-r-95FvnAOc-litQYUh6rXcbHdZ-0A5u3miLM16b3FJU/s1600/chimes.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgohjWqymkYRX-E_Nyc3an7qw2voaPXYHcDEHHIWq7CGUNJVGgJWqu4O9ZxIEo-iuJY5B0IyO0Mew4TtxKv5rXg0qDgpXRQ7Hw-r-95FvnAOc-litQYUh6rXcbHdZ-0A5u3miLM16b3FJU/s1600/chimes.jpeg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just found this app this summer, but it's perfect for the classroom. I like playing music during work time, but this is a great app for independent reading or writing workshop. It doesn't just produce chimes sounds. It can make bird sounds, thunder storms, crickets, waves, wind, frogs, and owls.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The chimes can me moved with a finger, and they bounce around gently for a while. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#4 Pinterest</span></b></div>
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<img class="alwaysThinglink" src="//cdn.thinglink.me/api/image/545676973360283650/1024/10/scaletowidth#tl-545676973360283650;1043138249" style="max-width: 100%;" /><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//cdn.thinglink.me/jse/embed.js"></script>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's nice to have a central depository for videos. What I don't like about the Pinterest app is that it doesn't play the videos using the full screen when streaming through Apple TV. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#5 Decide Now!</span></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-OocKHbHu8TDHJ52UGqFKXOAMUNhkdn9_GbqnNKIytgn7qDKNQVQGKvHh5brEestSv58XlJko87LmmjMqkw-AE_oFL0e9spD2GulYdkPr0tgppwGigOb-2VuERPpO8gUGWey7CKmi694/s1600/2014-07-13+13.16.04.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-OocKHbHu8TDHJ52UGqFKXOAMUNhkdn9_GbqnNKIytgn7qDKNQVQGKvHh5brEestSv58XlJko87LmmjMqkw-AE_oFL0e9spD2GulYdkPr0tgppwGigOb-2VuERPpO8gUGWey7CKmi694/s1600/2014-07-13+13.16.04.png" height="200" width="150" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A great random name generator, I used this app when I wanted to make random partners or select someone. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#6 Fun Sounds</span></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmm6A4RekKU_uhxwSIJRkSSHPfh0WUSfuIjkyA9gr515T3ln6b2jRwhf-TprFQDWkzQ2JSngelOhb674asKlCoUQXfEzg4EJQtqIOfRHigt3n9P0zKrrm30DRU1tWJv6s0wUoDfP_5aAs/s1600/2014-07-13+13.52.53.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmm6A4RekKU_uhxwSIJRkSSHPfh0WUSfuIjkyA9gr515T3ln6b2jRwhf-TprFQDWkzQ2JSngelOhb674asKlCoUQXfEzg4EJQtqIOfRHigt3n9P0zKrrm30DRU1tWJv6s0wUoDfP_5aAs/s1600/2014-07-13+13.52.53.png" height="320" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've tried a lot of free soundboards. I like this one because I can delete inappropriate sounds. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#7 Heads Up!</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2M4plPHbqtZdTsp2WaEEVMY9p98pxFoSd6TKcqWPvmAuR47YCKxm9bF71QTaRGAkT2xu19LS9dvXxjmJpyZN3jzlCndcF0fWQtu8gH8V751-FKwteKZIfXKrEDBNJtoUqluxXqcdmVjU/s1600/Heads+Up.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2M4plPHbqtZdTsp2WaEEVMY9p98pxFoSd6TKcqWPvmAuR47YCKxm9bF71QTaRGAkT2xu19LS9dvXxjmJpyZN3jzlCndcF0fWQtu8gH8V751-FKwteKZIfXKrEDBNJtoUqluxXqcdmVjU/s1600/Heads+Up.png" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've never been a great manager of the last 15 minutes of the school day. I'm pretty horrendous at managing that time. Usually we're a couple minutes late getting out of class, but occasionally we're early. When I am early, "Heads Up!" is a fun class activity to play.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#8 Stage: Interactive Whiteboard & Document Camera</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF3-8zJ7jUQXReKgzhzrDZOiSPnUUSIySAndZZCDu4tbB74yUsYPLK7QzqDV-IvbtQ0ihLlgZyTbfrQ5QP6-71O_T0nuaLgqkKFSfUYxiKktIkITwdAsQ2GgoD4_7dO4YFukugrvDcmFI/s1600/stage.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF3-8zJ7jUQXReKgzhzrDZOiSPnUUSIySAndZZCDu4tbB74yUsYPLK7QzqDV-IvbtQ0ihLlgZyTbfrQ5QP6-71O_T0nuaLgqkKFSfUYxiKktIkITwdAsQ2GgoD4_7dO4YFukugrvDcmFI/s1600/stage.png" height="200" width="200" /></a>I've gone through a lot of document camera apps, but the one I had the least problems with is the built in camera app that is part of iOS. It's sometimes nice to virtually draw on the image though, so out of the ones that I have played with, Stage seems to be the best. <br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#9 Haiku Deck</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_HcV9MAwxogQjATy32DpKisG_nt8NcFhb5n3qwcPHsJzXc_7Z4IlGfiCzw-xAAgibqSFbUu5WMW1AmWcB1w-US5xjBjKcypXopNmwEM_Z9ejU-wDEm_n-XcoK-0VP5DVidsIoH1PxbOo/s1600/Haiku+Deck.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_HcV9MAwxogQjATy32DpKisG_nt8NcFhb5n3qwcPHsJzXc_7Z4IlGfiCzw-xAAgibqSFbUu5WMW1AmWcB1w-US5xjBjKcypXopNmwEM_Z9ejU-wDEm_n-XcoK-0VP5DVidsIoH1PxbOo/s1600/Haiku+Deck.jpeg" /></a>Haiku deck is a web app and an IOS app. On the web, Haike Deck presentations are nothing special. But they look much cooler on an iPad. I've embedded one presentation below. </div>
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="490" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://www.haikudeck.com/e/gKoOAZHxfy/?isUrlHashEnabled=false&isPreviewEnabled=false&isHeaderVisible=false" width="580"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="font-size: x-large;">Bonus: </b>There are a lot of timer and stopwatch apps in iTunes, but the clock app that comes with IOS works just fine. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm4S-8g3NAKDb-QKfreJU5AOntghNBwsTLiKFQWUlApIvx2wYw5rE39LF52FPoBhNvR1bRnKBAbR6_IVc_HV9waP_BE0uaQwSnczWKRegUqSjL6Vrwtieyok7ws1qfv6WWW0Zqad1XXME/s1600/clock-app.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm4S-8g3NAKDb-QKfreJU5AOntghNBwsTLiKFQWUlApIvx2wYw5rE39LF52FPoBhNvR1bRnKBAbR6_IVc_HV9waP_BE0uaQwSnczWKRegUqSjL6Vrwtieyok7ws1qfv6WWW0Zqad1XXME/s1600/clock-app.jpeg" height="169" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141351620209167005.post-31294535453939193912014-07-18T04:05:00.000-07:002014-07-18T04:05:00.351-07:00How I'll Make A Classroom Makerspace This Year<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is my third post in my series on meaningful choice time, and reflects more of <a href="http://candidlessons.blogspot.com/2014/07/ideas-for-meaningful-choice-time-in.html" target="_blank">what I talked about in the first of this series</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Makerspace station that I will make will have components added on to it incrementally as the year progresses. The first components will be a laptop, a Makey Makey set, and conductive ink. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><u><b>1) Makey Makey & Conductive Ink</b></u></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2tlz-cWrCidSACda_QVIN0Uqx-6lnA-Ugg0S10XP_btmYa1d4OITttuUMDqPCRMf7TR0r0f9JBaByg-6j-8jF-9Zovm-XpQZz5qmyv2kMWomB1ijU5_hrxKeUaktEZFZ-a7OcIYnQQ_g/s1600/makey+makey.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2tlz-cWrCidSACda_QVIN0Uqx-6lnA-Ugg0S10XP_btmYa1d4OITttuUMDqPCRMf7TR0r0f9JBaByg-6j-8jF-9Zovm-XpQZz5qmyv2kMWomB1ijU5_hrxKeUaktEZFZ-a7OcIYnQQ_g/s1600/makey+makey.png" height="214" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I've talked about Makey Makey before, but with the advent of conductive ink pens, I think the projects that can combine art and electronics will really start to open up. You can use a pencil led with Makey Makey, but it's not super easy. Often times my students had to reapply the pencil drawings to get Makey Makey to interact with it. That's because graphite is not a super conductor. I'm hoping that conductive ink will be much, much easier for Makey Makey to form a circuit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Out of the handful of conductive inks out there, Circuit Scribe looks the most promising. It won't be on the market for another month though:</span><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/e0NM1jJbjrM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">While I'm waiting for Circuit Scribe to be ready, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I went ahead and bought a couple of Bare Conductive pens. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">They seem a little more messy, but I think they'll work well with Makey Makey, and fit into what I want this station to be; a creation station that blurs the line between art and technology.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here is the TED talk that shows off Makey Makey:</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/kiUnJ1d8vvw?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Before students are ready to design their own Scratch projects with Makey Makey during the second semester, they can use <a href="http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/223260/">this Scratch resource page of Scratch projects specifically designed to use Makey Makey</a> to interact with projects that have already been created.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://makeymakey.com/gallery/">Makey Makey also has their own gallery of projects</a>, including a <a href="http://makeymakey.com/gallery/?tag=conductive-paint">few that use conductive ink</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><u><b><a href="https://littlebits.cc/kits" target="_blank">2) Little Bits</a></b></u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">During the second half of the first semester we have a unit of inquiry that focuses on electricity and magnetism. During this unit, I'll introduce the second component of the Makerspace: Little Bits</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWvunjkaJAU4C32CzjdWTFHFXBLMjUC_CFrFfvJa5tUODAJIJUhyphenhyphenxnHxLWIgv9AtoSjQYSo8eg3KHaigOO7lUz7DBfxPdoep_-J0Aq0V1-t2Ox-jhvAPTP5gRrszx3L-BFeUm-IqWWw6M/s1600/classroom_set.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWvunjkaJAU4C32CzjdWTFHFXBLMjUC_CFrFfvJa5tUODAJIJUhyphenhyphenxnHxLWIgv9AtoSjQYSo8eg3KHaigOO7lUz7DBfxPdoep_-J0Aq0V1-t2Ox-jhvAPTP5gRrszx3L-BFeUm-IqWWw6M/s1600/classroom_set.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">These are way too expensive! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Even with the educator's discount, they are just way too much money. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As much as I wanted to get a Pro Library of 252 modules, it costs a cool $2,999 with the discount (without it's $4,500). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then next best thing is the Workshop Set of 100 modules. This is $999 with the discount, $1,870 without it. Having played with Little Bits, those 100 modules would be perfect for a classroom. But I can't afford it. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhphVPhil5G9PEQfSis9XNVea_E0ZvVE9IGir_PDZyEcO5bpBPbHGK1dG4jiY-I0y1o72bQZCfm4tBhLu6pX_WRWWZdSAba9r-RoR_9cpjLTSxfmV-v9a0ZJk7hvavrhw9je_t7jMC06Io/s1600/choke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhphVPhil5G9PEQfSis9XNVea_E0ZvVE9IGir_PDZyEcO5bpBPbHGK1dG4jiY-I0y1o72bQZCfm4tBhLu6pX_WRWWZdSAba9r-RoR_9cpjLTSxfmV-v9a0ZJk7hvavrhw9je_t7jMC06Io/s1600/choke.jpg" height="215" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">I'll never have this problem </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(1)</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So I sprung for the "student" set. It used to be called the classroom set, but I can only assume that with only 26 modules, that would mean for many classrooms a single module per student, and you can't really build anything with that. The student set is more appropriately named because despite the claim that 4 to 8 people can create with it, the more accurate number is one. One student. Maybe two. But probably one. It runs $232.90 with the educator discount. But these are so fun... I really wish I had a spare $3000 in my left sock. Here's how they work: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Each module has a specific function, and they're introducing new modules all the time. Like Makey Makey, I can only imagine a fraction of the possibilities. But again, they're too dang expensive. </span><br />
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">3) Squishy Circuits</span></u></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">During our electricity and magnetism unit, the students make their own conductive and insulating dough. We figure out first how to light an LED with the dough, and then with parallel and series circuits. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After that, Squishy Circuits will be an addition to the Makerspace, where they can again combine their knowledge of science with design.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">That LED in his chest is keeping him alive.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here's the TED talk showing off Squishy Circuits.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Those are the high tech resources I'll have for my Makerspace. I will need to see what I can bring in (cardboard, felt, clay, etc.,) to help students create in the Makerspace as well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(1): http://www.brentwoodgazette.co.uk/Silenced-2-3m-taxpayers-cash-spent-gagging-staff/story-19935293-detail/story.html</span>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385805416984563688noreply@blogger.com0