Is America Regressing?

I have been taking a course through Teachers without Borders and one of our discussions have focused on the school culture in our area of the world. While my particular school culture has been a positive one, I had alot of trouble answering the particular question due to the recent turmoil concerning public teachers. Each day I wake up determined to do a good job, a great job, and am faced with a public that simply has disdain for the job I do; how can students respect their teachers when their parents believe that we are the cause for all the evils in the world? My foreign students tell me that they would never disrespect a teacher for fear of punishment and they are shocked by the attitude of American kids to their teachers. Are we regressing?

Has Education Become Less Important?

There has been such a backlash in this country lately concerning public education that I have been left to wonder if we are becoming a country that simply does not care about educating everyone. In my American Ethnic Lit class I teach about the beginning of public education in this country and how the US could boast of being the one place where everyone could be educated. Are we moving to a place where only those who can afford school will be able to go to school?

Second Life

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~mpepper/slbib

Although many of my colleagues questioned the wisdom, I have used Second Life in my composition classroom before. While it is a viable way to engage students and to allow for 24/7 lectures, the problem really lies in a school's ability to handle the bandwidth required to run the program. In addition, one must insure that students don't move into worlds that are inappropriate (pornographic). The site above has a wonderful bibliography that is broken into categories including research, pedagogy and general.

Why We're Mad

http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/02/20/ravitch.teachers.blamed/index.html?hpt=T2

A great piece by Diane Ravitch that explains why teachers are so totally enraged by recent events.

Wisconsin....

The rallies occurring in Wisconsin have me riveted for two reasons:

1. I work in New Jersey where the governor is determined to do exactly what the Governor of Wisconsin is doing.
2. My union, NJEA, has been essential in insuring that our pensions have been protected.

What will happen if this country stands by and allows our unions to be destroyed? Teachers work incredibly hard for incredibly low pay and have one focus - their students. Are there bad teachers? Sure. Are there more good than bad? Absolutely. It is time to stop demonizing educators.

Co-Teaching

Last week I had a meeting with three colleagues and two deans concerning a proposal that I had drafted on co-teaching. The concept is to bring together three disciplines - English, Sociology and Psychology - in the creation of a course where students would be engaged in all three. Students would remain in one classroom for a period of three hours and each professor would switch on the hour; thus, students would experience all disciplines. From a standpoint of education, this learning community is a great idea; however, it is a logistical nightmare.

How do we test new methods when we are faced with such insurmountable odds?

Ning

Before the folks at Ning decided to charge for their service, I used to use it all the time in class; now I have to think before I use a resource that costs money. However, I did find some interesting links thanks to Jenny Luca's Wiki (jennyluca.wikispaces.com):

English Companion Ning: http://englishcompanion.ning.com
Classroom 2.0: http://classroom20.com

Do you use Ning in your classroom? Why/why not?

Death from YouTube

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/world/middleeast/06face.html?_r=1&hpw

The above is a must read article on the role of Facebook and YouTube in the Egyptian revolution. Here in America we take for granted our right to use these sites while in many countries placing a video on YouTube is akin to a death sentence.

To Wiki or not ot Wiki

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1830262

So should students be allowed to use Wikipedia as a source in research papers? Personally I always check out the bibliography on wiki pages as a source for additional resources but tell my students never to quote a wiki. Should this still be our stand? Currently I am taking a free collaborative learning class via Wikieducator and find that alot of educators are turning to wikis as viable sources. The controversy remains...

My First Attempt at a Podcast

http://ellenedutech.wikispaces.com/Audacity+Podcast

So now that I know how easy this is, I am going to do them for my online class - so much fun!

Egypt and Social Networks

Copyright CNN.com

The news coming out of Egypt should remind us of what it means to be a citizen of a great democracy. Egyptians are fighting for many of the same rights that our forefathers fought for during the revolution; what makes it so different is the advent of social networks and micro-blogging. Twitter and Facebook help to create a global community where those living in conflict can share their experience in real-time; this fact has become so important that when this ability is removed, citizens revolt. Could you live without your social networks, your micro-blogs, your cellphone?

Ohio Prosecutes Woman For Putting Kids in Better School

Akron, Ohio has prosecuted a woman who used her father's address to ensure that her children went to a better school http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/01/26/ohio-mom-jailed-for-sending-her-kids-to-a-better-school/.

Should she go to jail? Would all of us do the same for our children?

IPads in the Classroom

http://gizmodo.com/5742925/why-ipads-arent-ready-for-classrooms-yet?skyline=true&s=i

Great article on using IPads in the classroom. I use my IPad regularly to keep my lecture notes and to update lesson plans; do any of you use the IPad?

State Schools Losing Funding in a Time of Need

Those who work at state funded academic institutions have been anxiously awaiting news of their 2011 budgets; in NJ, we have been terrified that Governor Christie, a man who has an axe to grind with teachers, will cut our college's budget significantly. A recent article in Gawker addresses the fact that more and more students are applying to state colleges due to the economy and yet these schools are cutting budgets. So college will cost more and students will get less - a true lose/lose situation.

Grades

Today I had to finish putting in my final grades for the winter term. As I entered the grades into the online system, I noted that my classes had done extraordinarily well; in fact, my own children asked why I was giving so many As. The reality is that these students worked really hard, never missed class and deserved their grades but I felt a twinge of concern that my dean might ask "Why all the good grades?" Do you become concerned when you have too many As?

Smoking puts DNA at risk in 15 minutes - health - 22 January 2011 - New Scientist

Smoking puts DNA at risk in 15 minutes - health - 22 January 2011 - New Scientist

X17 Online - Celebrity News | Celebrity Gossip | Celebrity Photos & Pics | Paparazzi Photos of Hollywood Celebs

X17 Online - Celebrity News Celebrity Gossip Celebrity Photos & Pics Paparazzi Photos of Hollywood Celebs

George Clooney Has Malaria

During 2010, I had the honor of being a Malaria Griot Fellow for ONE/Malaria No More. One of my primary focuses was creation of a curriculum for students to create awareness of the issues surrounding the disease. A big problem surrounded the fact that many students felt that the issue does not affect their lives, that they could not relate to those who suffer from the disease. Now that George Clooney has made us aware of his own bout with malaria, the disease is suddenly full court press. Why is it that it takes a celebrity to build awareness around important issues?

Kinect Surgery

Today it was reported that students at the University of Washington were able to use the Kinect to assist in surgery. Now I have a Kinect and can attest to its true magnificence as a game unit or exercise tool but surgery? What would you, the patient, think if you saw your surgeon setting up their Xbox and moving so the Kinect could see their silhouette? Interesting how technology is moving us to places we never thought feasible.

Link to SlideShare Powerpoint

http://www.slideshare.net/ellenfeig/fighting-malaria-in-malawi

MLK Day

Today is the day to remember what Martin Luther King tried to teach all of us with his writings and works - peace, love and community without violence.

Ricky Gervais and the Golden Globes

Any of you see the Golden Globes? All I can say is that Ricky Gervais is one brave soul or is it that the Brits are braver than us?

Steve Jobs Takes Medical Leave

Today Gizmodo reported that Steve Jobs is taking a medical leave from Apple. As we know, Jobs has suffered in the past with liver disease which led to a liver transplant. My prayers are with him.

Link to Feedburner Account

http://feeds.feedburner.com/2manysneaks
Link to my Feedburner account

Link to my delicious account:

http://www.delicious.com/ellenfeig

Thoughts on Paul Greenberg's CRM 2011 Watchlist

Thoughts on Paul Greenberg's CRM 2011 Watchlist

Interesting list!

Why Performance-Based Pay for Teachers Makes Sense | Edutopia

Why Performance-Based Pay for Teachers Makes Sense Edutopia

What do you think??

Love the Jersey Shore?

If you love the Jersey Shore, you'll want to read all about it at Gawker.com (see the RSS feed on this blog).

Tablets are the future

Check out the newest tablets at Gizmodo.com. I love my IPad and am sure that some of the Windows OS tablets are going to prove to be pretty awesome as well.

Social, Emotional, and Character Development: The Heart of Student Learning | Edutopia

Social, Emotional, and Character Development: The Heart of Student Learning Edutopia

Interesting Post on Edutopia

Edutopia has an interesting interview with Tim Brennan, founder of the DREAMER Institute for Connective Living. Brennan discusses what I have believed for quite some time - that emotional, social and character development is as essential in one's growth as academic learning. Check out the article link.