Blog Archives

Links of the Day: December 23

12/22/2016

In the News:
The state of Arizona is getting ready to drop Common Core (Merry Christmas kids) and institute its own standards. Among the new requirements is a mandate for students to become proficient in cursive.

If I may editorialize for a moment: this is a terrible idea. Cursive is harder to read, harder to write, and next to useless in the age of computers. The process of learning it is rote and intellectually unstimulating, and frankly our students deserve better. Hey Arizona get with the program! We're heading into 2017, not 1957.

Learning and Leading:
Just in time for the holiday break: TeachThought examines 5 ways teachers can communicate with students outside the classroom. Method #5? Blogging.

Fun Friday:
As we say goodbye to 2016 here are 52 things we learned.

Happy holidays everyone. See you next year.

Links of the Day: December 20

12/19/2016

In the News:
The state of Alabama has raised its graduation rates by an astonishing 17% in the last five years. Analysts credit the turnaround to flexible scheduling, improved record-keeping, second chance programs and, umm... cheating.

Learning and Leading:
Edutopia asks where do introverts fit into group work?

Curriculum and Cool Stuff:
Chemistry: What's the deal with revolving doors? Turns out they were invented to reduce energy loss and kill the tradition of men holding doors for women.

Art/Earth Science: Today is the winter solstice. To celebrate, here are 10+ before and after photos of winter's beautiful transformations.

Links of the Day: December 16

12/15/2016

In the News:
Remember the video I posted Wednesday of all those poor suffering people in Aleppo? Well, there's always more to the story. It turns out they're all activists with mainstream media primetime access, so you shoudn't believe what they say.... Or should you? (Hint: Check the source.)

Tools and Tech:
Want to prepare for the SAT or ACT without breaking the bank? Check out PrepFactory.com. It's an easy-to-use study site with practice tests, games, and step-by-step tutorials, all for the unbeatable price of $0.

Fun Friday:
Seniors: Did you Saturday Night Live made a parody of Serial a couple years ago?

Links of the Day: December 15

12/14/2016

In the News:
What does vaccinating cows have to do with a girl's education? Quite a bit actually. Tracing the connection is an interesting exercise in the scientific method.

Learning and Leading:
The "adult coloring" craze is coming to high schools. Supporters claim it de-stresses students. I say color me skeptical (get it?), but if you're willing to give it a try I'll supply the materials.

Curriculum and Cool Stuff:
Health/Biology: The Cleveland Clinic has a cool infographic on what the color of your snot means.

Links of the Day: December 14

12/13/2016

In the News:
Former Texas governor Rick Perry has been nominated to lead the Department of Energy - a department he once famously forgot he wanted to eliminate:

After four years of civil war, the Syrian Army is poised to recapture Aleppo. Conditions in the city are desperate, and The Guardian gives voice to just a few of the individuals trapped inside:

Curriculum and Cool Stuff:
Math/Economics: We've all wondered, what would happen if someone tried to buy all the possible PowerBall combinations?

Links of the Day: December 13

12/12/2016

In the News:
The Post-Standard profiles some creative projects taking place in the Syracuse schools.

Learning and Leading:
Viva la Revolucion

Curriculum and Cool Stuff:
Technology: Can robots encourage people to treat each other better on Twitter? The short answer is yes, but only if the trolls think it's a white guy with a lot of followers.

Links of the Day: December 9

12/8/2016

In the News:
Last spring an Afghanistan war veteran was fired from his cop job for not shooting an armed suspect. The facts of the case seem simple, but the country is still debating whether the officer was wise or reckless.

Learning and Leading:
From Edutopia, an inside look at an award-winning maker program.

Fun Friday:
Make your own Trump tweets.

Links of the Day: December 8

12/7/2016

In the News:
One last story about Pearl Harbor, a touching one that takes us a little closer to home.

Learning and Leading:
From Adam Ruins Everything, a funny video about the terrifying cost of "free" websites. Personally I don't find the cost high enough to stop me from using them, but anyone who uses the Internet should be aware of

Curriculum and Cool Stuff:
Music/Communications/English: This video about hidden messages in the music of Harry Potter is worth 8 minutes of your time.

Links of the Day: December 7

12/6/2016

In the News:
Today is the 75th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and for the first time a sitting Japanese prime minister will visit the site. Don't expect him to apologize though.

Tools and Tech:
Richard Byrne highlights an interactive website that takes you through the stories of Pearl Harbor survivors.

Curriculum and Cool Stuff:
Global/Economics: And in modern East Asian power dynamics, here's a profile of "the $100 billion Chinese-made city that 'scares the hell out of everybody.'"

Links of the Day: December 6

12/5/2016

In the News:
Being bombarded with information all the time, it's easy for us to forget the human impact of events we hear about in the news. These sad stories about Aleppo and the Oakland warehouse fire helped me remember.

Learning and Leading:
Fake news stories on the Internet have been... let's charitably say "problematic" recently. School Library Journal offers some helpful tips for teaching students how to avoid being taken in.

Curriculum and Cool Stuff:
Math: What you could buy with $241 trillion. (If you're not going to read the story, at least skim through all the pictures.)