Igniting Awe in Learning

Come mothers and fathers,  Throughout the land And don’t criticize What you can’t understand Your sons and your daughters Are beyond your command Your old road is rapidly agin’ Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand For the times they are a-changin’ - Bob Dylan My daughter is dual enrolled in high school and college. Today was her first day of the Spring term for her college class. I'm jealous, because she chose "History of Rock Music" for her history elective. To spend time learning about Jimmy Plant, Ringo Starr, and Janis Joplin instead of reading the Louisiana Purchase agreement? Heck yea, sign me up! In my mind, I pictured her walking in to an eclectic environment hosted by an aging wannabe rock star, or perhaps even Jack Black. I expected to walk home to a daughter spouting off about hidden messages in lyrics, or sharing about the seedy underworld of the British rock movement. Or perhaps we'd argue if the Beatles h...

Have students who  struggle reading? The iPad can help with that. Text to speech is  built in to iOS 8. Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Speech

Photo from: http://eatingacademy.com/ There is a saying amongst the Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineers: "If a test works you get an A, if it fails and you learn, you get an A+" Do we teach students that failure + learning equals an A+, or do they stop at failure?

I mentioned in my last post that I am at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena today as a kick off #NASASocial event for the Orion launch. The Orion launch marks the start of our journey to Mars; the next step for humans to explore the solar system. I had the privilege of asking a question live during the event, which was shared on NASA TV. My question was about how the different NASA satellite locations, like JPL, contributed to the Orion launch. I won't go in to the answer, except to say that the different locations, with different expertise, provided some of the technological advances and component pieces for Orion. Why is this important? Because it stresses the importance for students to learn the 4Cs. Obviously, collaboration is critical for NASA to undertake this important mission. Not only are they collaborating with their own personnel, but they are also collaborating with commercial flight companies, like Boeing and SpaceX, and local, specialized business...

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

On Saturday, my daughter and I will be featured speakers at the San Diego Computer Using Educator's Tech Fair. I'll write an in-depth discussion of our presentation afterwards, but for now, I am posting the link to our presentation for those who would like a copy. http://app.emaze.com/962692/cue?utm_source=systememail&utm_campaign=sharepresentationnonuser&utm_medium=view-link#1 (Sorry - working on my iPad so I can't make a short hyperlink)

I was lucky to catch the #SSDChat tonight, which was all about homework.  I will admit - I don't find much use for homework at all. I find it only serves to reinforce the good, and further alienate the struggling.  I bring this up here because I am worried that the push for digital learning is sending the (wrong) message that access to a device means teachers can expect students to complete more work outside the classroom. We've all heard it - "24/7 access to content," "classroom without walls," and "anytime, anywhere learning." What we need to remember is that access to a digital device does not inherently make the learning more relevant or accesible any more than access to a mechanical pencil might. Students have a life outside the school. For some, it's soccer, plays, music lessons, Boy Scouts, etc. For others, it's domestic violence, poverty, working parents not at home, or unsafe environments. Equity is not just about access t...