When I was younger, I used to ride horses. Every Saturday, my mother would drive us out to the stables and wait while I took lessons. My parents were always waiting for me while I learned new things. They did it silently, and honorably, and without proper thanks. This is what people do for those they love.

The first time I ever got to ride outside, away from the confined ring of the stables with its little jumps and man-made obstacles, I rode a horse named Tarzan. He was properly named. He was tame, but still a beast. He was sweet, but wild. When he whinnied, the whole barn shook.

We went out as a group into the fields. We walked. We trotted. It was a beautiful day. But then something happened that I couldn’t see or hear. Tarzan got spooked. He took off, running.

I tried to slow him…

Adora Svitak: What adults can learn from kids

This video came out a couple of years ago; it was powerful then and still is now.

“…in order to make anything a reality, you have to dream about it first…”

Through the awesome-ness of Twitter I saw @davidwees tweet about this great site: Computer Science Unplugged  I spent some time navigating through this site and I’m loving it!  There are lots of activities to help explain/learn the concepts involved in computers/technology.  It also includes loads of resources for teachers.

The activities are great.  I have used some of these activities in the past (either stumbled on the idea myself or learned from other people), so it’s great to have all of these activities in one place and with added Youtube videos too.  These activities are great as a back-up plan if the computers are “down”, server crashes etc; but they are also great activities to supplement the computer-based learning.  One of the things I dislike about most computer classes is how immobile students are and I think getting students to move around to experience learning is an awesome idea. …

Dear friends.

The poor get poorer, and more get poorer. Meanwhile college tuitions keep rising. Meanwhile the media declare that no one who hasn’t got a BA can possibly qualify for a living wage. Something’s rotten in this proposition. It’s a catch-22. And it doesn’t have to be that way. It isn’t that way in Finland, for example.

Finland didn’t do it overnight, but they built it around critical democratic habits: competence and trust. They didn’t trade off one for the other. They joined competence and trust—just as we do when we hire a baby-sitter. I often go back to this metaphor because it seems so odd that we understand trust when it comes to a babysitter (even when our children are so young that we can’t really get “their side” of the story) but keep looking for a trust-proof solution to system-wide public schooling.

Trust and skepticism go fine…

You Is Beautiful
You Is Smart
You Is Important

I’m sure you recognize these words from the movie & book, The Help. Mae Mobley is a little girl & Abileen, is her nanny. Abileen spends a lot of time reminding her that these words are the truth.

These words were my favorite part of this film. Abileen never stopped saying this mantra to the little girl, even with tears in her eyes as she was leaving for good. Every time I think about the scene I feel a little catch inside myself. Do I need the reminding? Or worse, have I not done this enough for others?

Why do girls think they are not worthy? Let’s break this one down.

Beautiful
Who determines this?
-the mirror
-the media
-inner or outer beauty

Look in the mirror & find just one thing you like about yourself. If you truly believe…

This is what it looks like when a school dies.Read here.

The Austin school board–at the urging of the district superintendent Meria Carstarphen–decided to hand over Allan elementary school to a charter chain called IDEA. She said that IDEA had the formula to raise the academic achievement of the children in that school.

The new charter is supposed to enroll 600 students. Only 77 of the children who previously attended Allan will attend the new charter school. Most people would consider that a vote of no-confidence in the charter, the superintendent who was their advocate, and the school board that acted against the wishes of the local community.

How can the charter raise the academic achievement of the children in the school when nearly 90% of them are not enrolled there any more?

The Austin superintendent of schools was very determined to bring IDEA into the district, despite opposition from…

If you’ve been following my blog or know me personally, you probably have figured out that I am an advocate of the use of ICTs, especially in schools.  I believe that schools should have NO blocks to the Internet.  Here are a few advantages of unblocking the Internet at school:

1. teachable moments – unblocking will allow for educating our young citizens on digital citizenry and online ethics – let’s face it, a good majority of them are online outside of school anyway.  Shouldn’t we be authenticating that experience at school? YES!  Shouldn’t we be taking the opportunity to show them great ways to use ICTs for education, social networking etc?  YES!
2. authenticity – a school with lots of blocked sites shows students that there is a lack of trust and a very narrow minded view of Internet use at the school.  Imagine the average (high school) student who has access to the…