We're Going to Mars

Today I have the honor of sitting at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena to share in the excitement for the Orion launch. This test flight is the first step in our Journey to Mars.

I will have to write a detailed blog later, but if you want to follow the excitement from all NASA sites, the twitter hashtags are:
#Orion
#JourneytoMars
#NASASocial

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Creating Wonderspaces

Jordan inside the "Daydream v2" exhibit. On Sunday, my daughter and I attended the Wonderspaces exhibit in San Diego. It is described on their website as " a pop-up museum of extraordinary experiences." Each of these experiences was given their own space in which to reside so that each piece could speak its own voice, without the presence of the others. "The Last Word" exhibit As we explored the 16 unique experiences, Jordan and I experienced a range of emotional reactions to the art. In some, we were completely awestruck. In others, we were perplexed. At others, raw with emotions. And in some, we felt playful. "The Last Word," consisting of hundreds of pieces of rolled up paper, allowed participants to leave their "last word" to someone... a way to "recapture what was never uttered" ( website ). This opportunity to peer into the soul of others silenced my mind, and opened my heart to the emotional plight of oth...

The Punctuation in Your Classroom

Photo Source: Flickr, Eric E Castro I learned the other day that ending a text message with a period can be interpreted as insincere. Such a simple, innocuous dot now carries more hidden messages than it was ever intended to convey. Likewise, the messages we think we're sending in our classrooms may not be the messages received by students. Consider these... Time WILL pass, will YOU? Does this imply a nurturing, supportive environment that believes ALL students deserve every opportunity to be successful? I'm not so sure. Students not paying attention in class? Lock up devices. Does this show trust? Relationship building? I wonder if the teacher's device is locked up during meetings as well. Or how about this sign I saw in a classroom: "Work hard in silence. Let success be your noise." A companion sign read, "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." Does this mean we don't value collaboration? Team work? I wonder how...

Be More Dog!

My daughter wrote a blog post about her observations and experiences while serving as the Social Media Director for SDCUE conference. In her post, she reflected on the lack of "teachers eager to keep learning and the ones who wanted to keep up with the new technologies" when she was in school just a couple years ago. She questioned why teachers are "stuck in their ways" and why there aren't more teachers like the ones at SDCUE who want to keep on learning. Maybe it's because those "stuck" (her word, not mine) teachers need to be more dog. You see, dogs are amazed by EVERYthing. A snack is amazing. The UPS driver is amazing. Even a chewed up ball that smells like mud and lost its shape is amazing. They live for the moment, and they aren't afraid to fail. So how can we build the confidence and excitement of our teachers that have not yet channeled their inner dog? What chew toy, adventure, or treat will make them as excited as a dog? Do...

Igniting Awe in Learning

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