edulicious

The photo shows members of one of the world’s last uncontacted tribes, who were spotted and photographed from the air in a remote corner of the Amazon rainforest near the Brazil-Peru border.

I’m assuming this tribe has seen high flying airplanes and now, since they are shooting at it, a plane or helicopter that is carrying the photographer but… this is amazing. Who knew that there are still tribes living in this world that are totally primitive. It is pretty upsetting that most of these tribes are in jeopardy of going extinct due to “modern” man’s meddling. Read more here

I came across a blog post the other day that discussed the possibility of having an annual report card for school teachers.

I’ve given some thought to the notion of report cards for teachers. The school board and superintendent along with the teachers union can work together on the design. One important function of the report card would be to communicate the “teacher’s results” to the public (that is once we determine what the results should look like and from what they should be derived!)

Now I’m not a fan of report cards for students for a variety of reasons so I will remain very skeptical about report cards for teachers. Now, this being said, the issues I have with report cards are that a) they don’t tell you very much; b) they don’t accurately assess ability; and c) people tend to “fixate” on them even though they are not helpful (a) and not accurate (b).

I guess I’m not sure to what problem a “teacher report card” is the solution. Is it to hold “bad” teachers accountable (good luck defining a “bad” teacher)? Is it to help the teacher to identify areas of need (according to whom)? Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. I’m all for helping ALL teachers become better at his or her craft, I just don’t think this would be a logical way to go about doing it.

I just signed up for a summer class. It think it is really important that educators (teachers, et. al) have the opportunity to be a student as often as possible. The shift in perspective (from teacher to student) allows you to reflect about someone else’s teaching (the good and the not so good), as well as get the opportunity to (possibly) struggle as a learner. Take note of the strategies that you use to overcome any learning difficulties and share these with your students and colleagues when you get a chance. Remember, the class you take does not have to be professional development, take a photography class, learn a language, whatever. Just remember to reflect.

Let’s face it… video is an amazing medium and one with which youth has totally embraced (see: YouTube). We should be encouraging our students to take a camera with them when they go out on the weekend and create and edit short films. It is an amazing way to unleash creative talent that might be unused or underused during the school day (unfortunately).

Web video does not have to look bad either. Check out Vimeo for some really high quality (both resolution and art) video. This one is one of my favorites and I suggest going right to Vimeo to watch it in high-def.

Six Tickets Please from Clem Kasinskas on Vimeo.

Wow! how is that for a (potentially misleading) headline? This story in Popular Mechanics goes something like this. Legislation dictates that we stop analog broadcasts real soon. The public must know about this. The government spends $1.5 billion to tell them. Now this is the part that I picked up on in this article (which you should look at, it is good in places)

it’s illuminating to put the government’s $1.5 billion allocation in perspective. Consider: The proposed 2009 federal budget for adult basic and literacy education is $574.6 million.

Hmm. Read into this what you will. (see what I did there, I said “read into it” and we were talking about TV… forget it).

So, I’ve gone through the phase of subscribing to all the blogs and tweets I like to read. The ones with the great ideas, latest tech news, fascinating philosophical discussions, Obama updates, lesson plans I *have* to try, and much more (too much, I dare say!). No, now I have a new problem.

By self-selecting all my news and information I have successfully eliminated all the news and ideas with which I don’t agree! I’m reading opinions that support my political, educational, and religious viewpoints - not to mention my technical (apple) and musical (pitchfork).

So, I hereby pledge to add to my Netvibes some opposing viewpoints (Does Fox News have a blog?) in an effort to solidify my own! (and I encourage you to do the same).

Self-selectors of the world… don’t unite! Instead, expand your horizons (and which one of these twitter accounts is the real John McCain?)

You can make a strong case that reading a variety of education related will make you a better educator. On this note, how much do you do every week to keep up?

Ok, I was on Fujistu’s website today and it asked me to click on my “region of the world” in order to provide me with the proper service. Without looking I moved my mouse over to the left side of the globe and… WHERE WAS THE USA? Well, someone moved it to *gasp* the other side of the world.

I guess it is important to note that other places might want to put themselves front and center. An important reminder for me, I thought I would share.

Google has released version 4.3 of their popular Earth program. Students love this application and will play around with it for hours. Teachers can use this application as a digital globe or even as an interactive “poster” when introducing a new topic or fostering class discussion. Mr. Dippold was using it the other day during his discussion of the situation in Darfur (students were comparing Darfur to the Holocaust) and students were able to see first hand the terrain and lack of water resources in that region. Well, 4.3 is more powerful and realistic than ever. Take a look… seriously, this video (from Google) will amaze you. Good on you Google!

Now that I’ve ponied up the $30 for an “all access pass” on Animoto they decide to give it away for free to educators. Let me explain, Animoto has always been free, but the free version has some limitations on it. For $30 you can upgrade to the “all access pass” that removes the limitations. Educators can get this version for free. Oh, well, I still think it is worth the $30! If you have not seen Animoto, it is a really slick way to create a multimedia slide show to promote student work or a variety of imagery. The example below showcases a bunch of wonderful dioramas created by 7th grade students at my school.