Thanks to John and Tom for pointing me to the new collection of Life photos available through Google Image search.  Both of them ask the same question: what about the copyright? And rightly so since there is nothing on the page itself to help a general user figure it out. The Google blog is excited […]

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A gloomy day here.  The rain brought down the leaves and it is starting to look like winter.  The dogs are sprawled around me, snoozing, and I can’t muster the energy for a thoughtful blog post.  But, I do have a few sites to share on several different topics so here’s the random Friday round […]

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This article from The Miami Herald was featured in today’s ASCD Smart Brief.   Richard Sterling, former director of the National Writing Project discusses the potential for online tools for teaching writing:
Sterling believes blogs, MySpace, Facebook, e-mail, IM and texting all have potential for improving a student’s ability to write. While some critics worry about […]

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It seems I’ve been reading a lot about reading lately.  A recent article in the Chronicle has prompted several bloggers to consider what reading means in the 21st century.   Will Richardson reflected on his own reading practices and what educators should be doing to foster online literacy.   Sean Sharp thought about what online […]

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I attended my first Virginia Educational Media Association conference this week, and I had a wonderful time!  Nothing like spending the day with librarians to boost your spirits.  For the record, there were lots of Instructional Technology Resource Teachers there as well.  The two groups seem to work and play together nicely, and I can’t […]

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I tend to be a loner.  I like to do things on my own, including learning.  Given a choice, I would always choose to work alone on a project or learning activity.  I’m comfortable in my own company.  Working from home has only exacerbated that tendency.
But, yesterday, as I headed out to vote and then, […]

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I’m in the midst of an amazing trip to England that included a visit to Stratford-Upon-Avon, the hometown of William Shakespeare.  On the flight over, I read an excellent biography of the bard by Stephen Greenblatt.  As I read the book and visited the various Shakespeare sites in Stratford, I was reminded how heavily Shakespeare […]

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Despite my techiness, I am, at heart, an English major.  And, after 46 years, I am finally making a trip to the mother land.  I’m spending 16 days traveling in England and Wales, and am just a little excited!
While I will be sending a few analog postcards, I’ll mostly be using online tools to stay […]

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I posted this in the VSTE Ning site where my undegraduates are sharing their learning this semester.  But, I thought it might be of interest to a wider audience.
This semester, I added Voice Thread to my course and I’m glad I did. They are all tied to the Standards of Learning, Virginia’s standards. Most of […]

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I finally got a free minute to look at my “unread” list in Diigo and found this article from a 9th grade teacher in which she describes experimenting with allowing her students to listen to their PEDs* during independent work time. I’ll admit to some qualms about it as I imagined each kid in her […]

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