Spreadsheet Project - Pumpkin Seeds Guy

Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation

Mr. Oliver (the Pumpkin Seeds guy) designed his classroom's activity around a physical item (pumpkins!) with an inherent seasonal/topical quality that could appeal to the kids. Also, they don't realize they're learning math and stats skills when their grubby little hands are coated in orange goo. Hm. Flashbacks to early '90's Nickelodeon.

He had the students (tiny dwarves! freaky mutants!) predict beforehand whether the bigger pumpkins had more seeds, how much the pumpkins weighed, etc. They're too young to put money on it, so hopefully the mere 'prediction' is enough to give them a personal stake in the project. Also, see reference to '90's television above.

It seems that the really successful elements of this project is that each of the above elements of learning is included in the design, and with which you could evaluate the student's learning.

The spreadsheet helped the tiny students to manage data and data analysis that would otherwise be beyond their abilities. The insto-graph is pretty neat as well for being able to display to the kids the data they themselves have gathered.

Netiquette Guidelines for High Schoolers.

Netiquette
Or "How to not look like an absolute tool on the Internet"

1. Srsly, don't rokk teh l33t-sp3@k 2 hard. OR YELL.

2. Be polite and classy- be respectful of other denizens of the 'net. Avoid sarcasm, excessive slang, and jokes - they're easy to misunderstand.

3. Don't share personal information - passwords, your location, etc. Basic safety.

4. Show your sources. If you respond to a particualr passage, quote it in your reply. Don't talk out of your hat.

Shell Game

Ha! Awesome! Turn on the noise for your prize.

Slideshare/ Making a good presentation

So these people seem to never want to TALK to their students. It's all text, with nothing to do but just read them aloud to the punters.

But then there's this one, a simple series of images of Tennyson's "The Lady of Shallot". Waterhouse, Rossetti, even some non-Pre-Raphaelite artists.


The curse is come upon me! cried the Lady of Shallot.

Lady of Shallot

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

HA!

Death by PowerPoint

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: tips powerpoint)

So more or less, write what you want to SAY in the notes bit, and then really enhance that rather than vomit it all up onto the screen. Words should be things that really need to pop, or are hard to spell, etc. How much better does it place people in history to see pictures of them, and life at this time? Think of Ken Burns' documentaries - still pictures which seem to come to life when there's music and speech over them. Suppose, while teaching a segment on nineteenth-c American poets, you include pictures of the Civil War (when appropriate), or cozy, Longfellow-y etchings. Or the illustrations of Abolitionist tracts, or stills for Gone With The Wind? Or haunting fiddle music playing? Or Sacred Harp music, the rawest thing to come out of the 19th century except for Crimea and Jack the Ripper.

Warning: Sacred Harp music. Turn down the sound a bit. Srsly.

Assistive Technology blog.

The changeable overlay of this is really cool, since you could use either upper- and lower-case letters, as shown, but also could potentially include braille or other relief texture to allow it to be better felt by those with sensory troubles.
The lighter touch needed for these keyboards could also be of use to those with minimal movement ability.

More importantly, how great are their accents? I saw 'Southeast', but did not first think of the Surrey and Sussex area.

Microsoft Sam And Lister

I am weirdly in love with the Windows XP Narrator. Even more so the Brit robot dude at spokentext.net. Of course, this may be mostly due to the subject matter I ask them to read to me. Captain Wentworth's letter to Ann Elliot, Jane Austen, Persuasion Ch. 23.

I can't embed it at this time. I'll work on it. It's like an English Steven Hawking, murmuring sweet nothings from the internet.

/swoon

Kashrut

So, I've decided. It's Elul, the month when one is supposed to concentrate on the year, the previous and the next. To think about being a better Jew.
I've kept away from pork and shellfish all this time. It isn't really that hard. Except at Chinese food. Ouch. I've been reasonably good at separating meat and milk. It's a bit tougher, but do-able. I even skip candies with gelatin in them.
But I think it's time for the next step - no non-kosher meat. Which, in Boise, Idaho, makes me more or less a vegetarian. The price of kosher meat is, well, high. Apart from Hebrew Nationals and Sinai Dogs, there's really not much kosher meat in the valley, far as I know.
So, yeah. Difficulty.

The need for cheese

I am a cheese snob. There's nothing inherently wrong with a slice of honest cheddar, I admit, but if it comes in a spray can, it's not cheese. If it's labeled 'American' and has the consistency of some sort of marital aid*, it's not cheese. Cheese can be smooth and creamy, hard and pungent, nutty and spreadable. I want, so badly, to go the Le Café de Paris, get a glass of red, a selection of cheeses (the Roquefort kicked my @$$ last time - I shall prevail), and curl up with my book. Cheese, wine, and a book. What's the matter with America today that I'm considering this to be 'special occasion' fare?

Morbier
Camembert
That other one
Roquefort
Chèvre

And a glass of the Macon Villages, if they've still got it. That's my dream for the afternnoon.


*favorite euphemism of the day.