Were, in a fire of becoming, Laboring to be burned away, Then work, half-measuring, half-humming, Would be as serious as play. –John Hollander, “Adam’s Task” Still tunneling out of the avalanche of semester exams (have I mentioned I love my ninth graders in Western Civ? Exam essay quote: “Without the Reformation, Obama would be planning [...]

Who is Arne Duncan and how will his choice as Secretary of Education affect education in the US (and, for better or worse in this hegemonic age, much of the rest of the world)? I’ve spent so many hours since the announcement reading reactions online that both my eyes and my brain cells are fried. [...]

Announcing… ΨΨ The Winner of the McCain Stump Speech Wordle “Write Your Own Caption” Competition © ΨΨ I am pleased to announce the winner is the very talented Vincent Robletto, whose Kerblotto blog screams “Subscribe” for its verbal and graphic wit and creativity. Vincent’s submission rose above thousands hundreds tens ones of rivals. So, without [...]

I’ve been meaning to scratch this itch of a digitized reading/writing/speaking unit for any school with basic podcasting gear for a while, but have been too busy. Busy with a new job, here in Seoul, writing and announcing radio news. I applied for it a good two months ago, and after a glacial hiring process, [...]

From the “Telling My Students What I Wish My High School Teachers had Told Me” Department: Science is downright sexy. It struck me last week as I watched the following video on CNN about scientist Carl Hodges, of the Seawater Foundation, which I promptly found online, bookmarked on Diigo, and noted: Use rising oceans from [...]

This is just hilarious, and a brilliant idea at the same time: taking the Wasilla Town Meeting minutes (Sarah Palin presiding), and turning them into a one-man drama performance. Do yourself a favor and laugh as you learn about the extent of this woman’s experience, and worse yet, her leadership style.

John Larkin in Oz nudged me to consider playing with the idea he so creatively played with on his own site: “How Far I Roamed as a Child.” John’s post gives the full background of the idea, and a nicely visual guided tour of his own childhood using personal photos and satellite imagery from Google [...]

Alrighty, Mr. Meyer – you’ve won me.  What you’re doing with video is worth it for everybody to watch.  I’m enjoying your questions and explorations, and you’re certainly upping the game. This one’s my favorite so far: dy/av : 002 : the next-gen lecturer from Dan Meyer on Vimeo. I’m hoping to be ready to [...]

Just saw this on Crooks and Liars, and think it’s worth sharing to teachers and students alike. Ira Glass, radio host of This American Life on (the USA’s) National Public Radio, shares how expectations – our own, and others’ – shouldn’t be too high for our media creations, because “it takes years” to bridge the [...]

Life is physically and mentally too cramped for me to write the posts I’ve been planning about Pink’s Whole New Mind and Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody.  I’m tutoring three days a week, finishing up my change of visa status (I never thought I’d need a Green Card, but there it is), and moving into our [...]