walter

a friend of a friend for nearly two decades, walter reminds me that the friend-acquaintance-loved one i take for granted today, will likely become an unavailable resource in time.

there's something larger to discuss here about students as well, those diminutive humanoid creatures that impact us and are impacted by us on a near daily basis, but i can't put my finger on it just yet.

in the meantime, god bless walter (and truman).

big unit

i'm realizing this teaching thing is kind of difficult. being prepared and aligned is a lot tougher of a task than i had previously thought. at this writing, i'm attacking the final assignment of 5012, the unit. it's changed so many times in the past month or so that it's virtually unrecognizable as the unit i started with. it's downright intimidating, like a randy johnson fastball. truth be told, i've never faced a randy johnson fastball, but i am facing this big unit.

more bread when you have a chance?

the ultimate end of education is not a perfection in the accomplishments of the school, but fitness for life; not the acquirement of habits of blind obedience, and of prescribed diligence, but a preparation for independent action. we must bear in mind that whatever class of society a pupil may belong to, whatever calling he may be intended for, there are certain faculties in human nature common to all, which constitute the stock of the fundamental energies of man. we have no right to withhold from any one the opportunities for developing all their faculties. it may be judicious to treat some of them with marked attention, and to give up the idea of bringing others to high perfection. the diversity of talent and inclination, of plans and pursuits, is a sufficient proof of the necessity for such a distinction. but i repeat that we have no right to shut out the child from the development of those faculties also, which we may not for the present conceive to be very essential for his future calling or station in life.
-pestalozzi, letters on infants' education (1819)

don't be stroopid

for those unfamiliar with the test, you're supposed to name the colors of the letters of each word, not the word.

what is experienced is the conflict of two cognitive systems, one reading color and one reading words. somehow it relates to an assignment of endless articles, essays, and performance cycles.

aaaah.

tonight's first guest

cooperating teacher told me of a teaching strategy he once used. a desk, a couch, a microphone, and a guitar. it sounded like a real education. unfortunately, it fell victim to the changing schools of thought.

ladies and gentlemen, please welcome big bill broonzy! hey, hey.

not true; p rox

"wouldn't you like to speak with them before they went to the principal or superintendent? so, please give the course and the professors the respect they deserve."

flashback090809091009andbeyond

epals and voicethread. i was all about them once according to some old twits. i do remember that there was a teacher in providence that used one of them trying to get some correspondence for a class project. also, as i considered the state of unrest in the cohort, specifically around the amount of "busywork" (!?) in 5055, i was reminded of and checked out some older posts. i thought this slogging was something once. i mean i wrote a lot more. and most everyone else (mda/lb aside) didn't, except for the assigned busywork. last week, all i was hearing was the same complaints about pd that i've been hearing for the past three years. the frightening thing is that no one's even employed as a teacher yet.

save coney island!

welcome back

i'm calling this a fine example of a not-so-fine example. the music makes the video.

flatiron

click on this picture to bring it into focus.

having never spent more than three consecutive days in the city, we impressed ourselves with our geographic knowledge. where was that photo we saw anyway? if my recollection is correct, i read that this was the tallest building in the world at one time. but don't take my word for it, you've got an entire worldwide web at your disposal. use it.

wingaersheek

"ended up alone at the microphone"

almost full circle, linearly

watch the other adult (not the teacher), then tell me morning meeting isn't effective.



then, at the end when the video chain appears, see 'did you know' making a cameo, reminding me of how i got here in the first place.

save this space; no swimming and no fishing

as the first commenter notes, this is, in fact, a fangtooth. i believe it's just the head and that small item @ 4 o'clock is its brain. i really have no lasting interest in fangfish. the bigger interest was in saving this random date (july 10) and then i thought of a sign to save it and the sign i thought of was no fishing and no swimming. i'd like to have that translated into spanish if i could.

naturally, when one thinks of no fishing, the thought of fish presents itself. a quick google search of fish gave me this image with which i could then save my space (or date as it turns out). it's amazing how many slogs have employed this image. apparently there is a lot of date saving going on out there.

as you can see, i needed to save this particular date for good reason. how else could i include this image below?



please don't touch the wildlife. (posted 07.10.2009)

zip

what is it about mice and kats?
who knows how bricks move anyway?


racetrack playa, death valley

there's a world

us history

looking for a good history lesson idea, i thought of this crumb comic that i'd seen as a video. of course, why stop at perfection? so, the inclusion of two others that address the topic in different ways. there was a third from bowling for columbine that is certainly worth a view, but didn't fit into my clever red, white, and blue scheme. anyway, visuals rule any learning. what's to learn from crumb's short history? time = history; short or otherwise.

more o' ware (smartest kid)

this should be played at full screen, 

preferably in a residential area.

today i was again reminded of what is and what should be. a speaker at the school told the kids, "whatever it is, keep going at it, keep [expletive]ing going at it." a friend of my classroom teacher, he attended pilgrim high before making his mark in hollywood, realizing recently his lifelong dream of appearing on the cover of fangoria magazine.

meanwhile, my slog seems to have taken on a life of its own, "revealing one earlier event of the evening's entertainment."

if i knew what any of it meant, i'd probably just keep it to myself.

and this is kind of funny.

there's got to be a social studies lesson here somewhere.

once more

8. once, just once.

once again

plog removed by author. 

once

there was a time when staying up late resulted in something i could wholly appreciate. now it just seems like work. even this slog feels more an obligation than a labor of love.

i'm not finished with this thought, i just have other responsibilities...

(update, november 11, 2009) "the circle of knowledge commences close round a man and thence stretches out concentrically." -johann pestalozzi

thought finished. for now.

drawerings

not quite sure. life science?

anyway, i been here. so should been you.

no slog like an old slog (a sign of something)

a math problem: of the time between slog (posted dec. 19) and tony wagner's seven skills (posted jan. 4); these kids syndrome (obama@nea) (posted jan. 19) and पॉडकास्ट थिस! (posted jan. 21); (one more for the road) (posted feb. 25) and gran idea (posted mar. 1); or these last two, which posts had the longest gap of time between them?
please show your work.

also, which is greater? my need to be humored or the time spent attempting to humor myself?

hold that thought

this space for rent. (along with another 30+ just like it)
the historic tonight show appearance happens this evening. i remember when nixon did laugh-in. now he's a main character in a decidedly dark movie about superheroes. for lack of anything really to slog about, i went back to the president. okay, not officially the president, but a response to his march 10 speech on education.
I wonder what we'll learn tonight. "look, up on the air!"



thoughts on obama's thoughts (forgive the quick commercial which may or may not be trying to sell you guns)

"but will it sell my guns?"

anytime i take on a new task, my imagination of what it will be usually exceeds the realities of what i eventually encounter. there are times though that what i experience is, in fact, "beyond my wildest imagination."

take this slogpost for example. i just deleted ten minutes of cyber-rambling that i imagined someone might be interested in reading.

someday, someday soon i'm hoping, i'll have another "beyond" experience. maybe i'll post or maybe i'll just enjoy it with the people i love.

in the meantime, have some fun or some learning.

philosophy?

science or math.
your choice.

gran idea

i just watched something excellent. it's about 30 minutes long, so don't watch if you don't have the time. but, it's definitely worth the time. it's about education. oh right, you have to read it.

binta and the great idea (binta y la gran idea)

this is the best version i found on the web, but it's also available on dvd (2006 academy award nominated short films) from netflix or whatever.

the slog marches on.

(and one more for the road)

...to be continued

for your approval

hyperlink method #2

"sometimes, like in commenting, you need to manually enter the hyperlink using html code. don't let that scare you, i've taught it to middle schoolers! just look at this chart." -cool cat teacher


from coolcatteacher blog
post continued on 1st comment. (scratch that, 2nd comment please)

just so

this post is the one that finally knocked the president to older post status. i just liked the picture. (part of the best of 2008 family series of photographs)

full of grace

“creativity is a highfalutin word for the work I have to do between now and tuesday.”
-ray kroc

my only mildly amusing (if that) valentine

xoxo
http://www.cryptogram.com/hearts/

dig if u will the pitcher

this video is a whimsy inspired by the hellomonkey. in practicing our slogging skills, we've been shopping at the cultural exchange. these plants are part of my childhood experience. looking at this video produced a swell of nostalgia in my mind's ocean. i used to watch these things kill stuff for what seemed like hours on end. now i twitter. (ignore that crashing sound. it's just reality scraping me through the surf.)

the fact that it's somewhat educational is a bonus for what's supposed to be going on here at the slog.

what a tool

oxyturtles. (noises here)


play this with the volume blasting! this music is fan-turtly-tastic!

threepost

reading will richardson's book (not just chapter three) i was struck by the thought of how this world of read/write web and its vast potential for classroom learning sounded incredibly similar to a book my kids had to read for school and i read when they were through: ender's game by orson scott card.
in the book, which is science fiction written in 1985 bwwwce (before common era www), all the learning done by students is done over a computer (a holographic screen). ender's family are intellects. his siblings hack into the read/write www, which is only available to high level politicians and academics, using aliases. (nothing as interesting as porkyshin, i must confess) anyway, i'm sure this isn't the only novel to present the present so accurately, but it's the only one i've read, presently.

what's this have to do with a chapter threepost? richardson says it right up front in the chapter, "the process of blogging and my use of the other tools that the read/write web has spawned have not only made writing a daily part of my life, they have changed the way that i read and consume information."

information is the key in ender's game. it is the future. in order to play, and give students the best possible chance of playing as well, we need to be prepared to explain the game to the best of our ability. weblogs are just one playing piece.

slog now or die trying!

पॉडकास्ट थिस!

that title should say podcast this!, but that strange and mystical hindi transformation happens every so often. i like the way it looks, so i'll keep it. (i hope it's not inappropriate)

anyway, podcast this- http://www.bobbybucket.com/podcast/bobbybucket07.mp3

it's a site i found while lost in the web. it's about ten minutes long, but well worth the time, especially for potentially podcasting teachers.

have an obama day.

these kids syndrome (obama@nea)

one of many clips to choose from, but a good starting place. not too long, not wholly original, but a fact that needs attention on a regular basis. i've encountered so many folks with this syndrome, and i fear its spread among the uninoculated. i know syndromes aren't contagious; perhaps virus is a better word. either way, i'd like to welcome mistersenatorpresidentdoctor barack to the slog.

woody & me

woody & me was originally a podcast featuring the vocal stylings of your slog host, porkyshin. however, due to the hierarchy of average bears, snafus, and slogjams, the podcast has been temporarily removed from the slog. please stayed tuned for the next exciting episode.

animal sounds

aural aperitif?



http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/sound-library/index.htm

tony wagner's seven skills

1. problem-solving and critical thinking;
2. collaboration across networks and leading by influence;
3. agility and adaptability;
4. initiative and entrepreneurship;
5. effective written and oral communication;
6. accessing and analyzing information; and
7. curiosity and imagination.

according to mr wagner, the seven skills 21st century students need to learn. there are really more like 12 skills here. someday i hope to understand how to teach any of them.

(retrieved from a MATBLOG reference)