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Archive for the ‘Musings’ Category

Is The Earth Warmer or Cooler? Some Evidence

09 May

north-69212_640Despite that Al Gore declared this topic closed, there is much information that can be debated, with proof of global warming or cooling based on facts and science. Consider:

  • We are living in an abnormally cool period since the earth’s average surface temperature for most of its history averaged 22 Celsius compared to the present 14 C.
  • Ice ages occur at approximately 250-million-year intervals.
  • Fossil evidence suggest that during the Mesozoic Era (230 to 50 million years ago) the earth was 10 C to 15 C warmer than today.
  • One million years ago the current ice-age (Pleistocene) began.
  • Glacial stages last more than 100,000 years and are interrupted by interglacial stages that last about 10,000 years.
  • We are now living in an abnormally warm period compared to the earth’s average temperature for the last one million years (during which glaciation has prevailed).
  • The current interglacial period has been subject to climatic changes on a smaller scale than the change from glacial to interglacial but still large enough to disrupt civilizations.

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-8 technology for 15 years. She is the editor of a K-8 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum, and creator of technology training books for how to integrate technology in education. She is webmaster for six blogs, CSG Master Teacher, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, Cisco guest blogger, a columnist for Examiner.com, featured blogger for Technology in Education, IMS tech expert, and a monthly contributor to TeachHUB. Currently, she’s editing a techno-thriller that should be out to publishers next summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.

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Dear Otto: I need reading resources for ELL/ESL

23 Apr
tech questions

Do you have a tech question?

Dear Otto is an occasional column where I answer questions I get from readers about teaching tech. If you have a question, please complete the form below and I’ll answer it here. For your privacy, I use only first names.

Here’s a great question I got from Shelley:

tomorrow is a half day planning day so I can’t wait to look at all of the websites you have for 1st grade. I’m wondering what recommendations can you give for ELL/ESL students? One of my student’s home language is Spanish and the other home language is Pashto. Thank you for any recommendations!

I found three websites that share story books in lots of languages:

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Must Read Books Before You Go to USNA

30 Mar
book

Photo credit: Public domain

The Naval Academy covets well-rounded individuals, someone who’s as physical as they are intellectual, able to communicate and defend their nation with equal aptitude. About a year ago, I posted a list of books to be on the

reading list of any high school student with aspirations of attending any of the military academies. Keep that list in mind as you read this list, put together by authors. You’ll find many similarities.
TOP TEN WORKS OF THE 20TH CENTURY

  1. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
  2. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  3. In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
  4. Ulysses* by James Joyce
  5. Dubliners* by James Joyce
  6. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  7. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
  8. To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
  9. The complete stories of Flannery O’Connor
  10. Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov

TOP TEN WORKS OF THE 19th CENTURY

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7 Technology Tools Every Educator Should Use–the Movie

28 Mar
black-29986_640

Click for full list of resources

A month ago, I wrote an article about 7 technology tools that have made a big difference in my classroom:

I posted it on TeachHub and they turned it into a movie. Take a look:

 
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Humorous and Inspiration Quotes–Part II

04 Feb

funny quotesHere’s the second half of this post (click for Part I).  Keep these in a file on your desktop. Visit when you’re stuck. You’ll find inspiration for a character, motivations, or just a clever turn-of-phrase (which you can’t copy, but can be prodded with). Enjoy!

“Vote early and vote often.”

- Al Capone (1899-1947)


“If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?”

- Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)


“Few things are harder to put up with than a good example.”

- Mark Twain (1835-1910)


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17 Topics to Teach K-8 About Digital Citizenship

22 Jan

digital citizenshipEducation has changed. No longer is it contained within four classroom walls or the physical site of a school building. Students aren’t confined by the eight hours between the school bell’s chimes or the struggling budget of an underfunded program.

Now, education can be found anywhere, by teaming up with students in Kenya or Skyping with an author in Sweden or chatting with an astrophysicist on the International Space Station. Students can use Google Earth to take a virtual tour of a zoo or a blog to collaborate on class research. Learning has no temporal or geographic borders, available wherever students and teachers find an internet connection.

This vast landscape of resources is offered digitally (more and more), freely (often), and equitably (hopefully), but to take that cerebral trek through the online world, children must know how to do it safely, securely, and responsibly. This used to mean limiting access to the internet, blocking websites, and layering rules upon rules hoping (vainly) that students would be discouraged from using an infinite and fascinating resource.

It didn’t work.

Best practices now suggest that instead of cocooning students, we teach them to be good digital citizens, confident and competent in 17 areas:

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And Navy Air is Born

15 Nov

Naval Aviation was born unofficially November 14th, 1910 when Eugene Ely took off from a wooden platform installed on the scout cruiser USS Birmingham (CL-2) and landed safely on shore. Back then, it was called Bureau of Naval Weapons. Since 1966, it’s been known as the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) and is headquartered in Patuxent River, Md., with military and civilian personnel stationed at eight locations across the continental United States and one site overseas.

NAVAIR’s mission is to provide full life-cycle support of naval aviation aircraft, weapons and systems operated by Sailors and Marines. This support includes research, design, development and systems engineering; acquisition; test and evaluation; training facilities and equipment; repair and modification; and in-service engineering and logistics support.

Here’s a peek into the world of Navy Air personnel:

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Successful USNA Graduates

08 Nov

The Naval Academy is one of the finest educations in the country, if you’re looking for a science background (everyone

Logo of the Naval Academy

Logo of the Naval Academy

gets a BS), a massive work load that must be done in a short amount of time (while holding down a part-time job–yes, you’re paid for the labor), the requirement to incorporate physical with mental calisthenics. The result often is a successful national leader. Specifically:

Who are some of these people?

  • Alan Shepherd, astronaut
  • Jimmy Carter, president
  • Roger Staubach, football
  • Ross Perot, business leader (and presidential candidate)
  • James Stockdale, Medal of Honor recipient and prisoner of war
  • Chester Nimitz, warrior
  • John S. McCain, warrior
  • John McCain, warrior and prisoner of war
  • Oliver North, Vietnam vet

Not too bad of company to keep, huh?

Follow USNA or Bust on Twitter


Jacqui Murray wrote Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a tech columnist for Examiner.com, Editorial Review Board member for ISTE’s Journal for Computing Teachers, Cisco guest blogger,IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything. Currently, she’s editing a thriller for her agent that should be out to publishers this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office, WordDreams, or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.

 
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5 Great Reasons to Build Your Writer’s Platform Yourself

18 Sep
Credit: Nemo

Build your platform the best way you know how and be OK with that

Let’s start by clarifying who I’m talking to today. If you write to create a memory for your family or to get something off your chest–those are valid reasons, no problem with them. You’re just not an audience for this article. But if you write because you want to be heard, or you need a bit of extra money and writing sounds like the way, or you want to be remembered for something other than being little Joey’s mom (or dad), read on.

If your writing requires an audience, that means you need a platform. What is a ‘platform’? According to Nathan Bransford, literary-agent-turned-author, “platform is the number of eyeballs you can summon as you promote your book. That is who follows your blog, who friends you on FB, who’s in your G+ circles, who invites you into their Twitter streams, who participates in your PLNs. It can also include book signings, radio and TV appearances, seminar participation, guest articles, newsletters, and any sort of guest appearances. To create and grow your platform, you’ll want to:

  • define yourself as the unique writer you are.
  • focus on that image without diluting it.
  • reach out to as many people as you can

Does that sound simple? Yes, of course it does. All I’m asking is that you know yourself, be true to yourself, and don’t be afraid to share it.

You say it just isn’t that easy? You’re right. The ‘knowing’ is the easy part. The ‘doing’ is what’s hard, and it takes a lot of time. Which is why there are hundreds–thousands?–of publicists out there that will do this for you. They’ll profile you, box you up, sound bite your personality and writing expertise, and then spread the word.

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New to technology? Follow my classes

06 Sep
class wiki

My daily class activities

Each week of the school year, I post what I’m teaching on a grade-specific wiki. It tells viewers what lesson I’m teaching in the K-5 curriculum (sorry, this isn’t available for 6th grade currently) and how I blend the authentic tasks, essential questions, big ideas, and student-centered projects into my class. I also include add-on lessons sparked by the skills learned in the curriculum, student resources, parent resources, favorite links, and whatever extras helped students provide evidence of learning in this particular week. Here are the links to my wikis, by grade level:

Right now, they’re open to view, but September 10th, they be available only to those who have signed up. Why?

  • I want you to be comfortable asking questions
  • I want you to be able to chat with other who are also following the SL technology curriculum, see how they address any prickly parts

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