Many of you will no doubt come across websites today that are blacked out. Many members of the internet are on strike to bring awareness to two impending bills before the US Congress and the Senate. They are SOPA (stop online Piracy act) and PIPA (Protect IP act). Though most support the enforcement of copyright laws as these names imply these bills if they become law are not quite what the name implies, they are much more complex. Wikipedia has…
We have all come across people who make decisions based on the belief they have a good understanding of the situation but who really do not have a clue. They just plow right on ahead. Some people, I think, are just honest souls who really believe they have a good understanding of the situation and are doing their best to do the right thing. You cannot know or foresee everything and mistakes do happen. Others I believe posses an ego…
Once upon a time when I taught in Jordan there was a very remarkable young women who attended our school. Even back then you just knew she would do great things. Please take the time to watch the news feature that was aired today on CBS. If you feel inclinded to lend a hand and help build the school please donate online at www.fugeesfamily.org or Text FUGEES to 20222 for a $5 text donation.
I have to admit there are times I long to return to the classroom. Once upon at time I was a middle school science and math teacher. Over those 2 decades my curriculum hardly changed, in fact for 15 years (4 schools, on 3 continents) I taught with the same edition of a Prentice-Hall science series. Periodically I had to adjust the wording and format of the curriculum to reflect the edu-speak of the day – changing from aim, to…
Yesterday I dropped my son off at camp and was catching up with old friends. I was asked several times about what I did. The conversation usually starts as follows. “What do you do?” “I am an educator.” “What do you teach?” In my head I say, “People” but my mouth says “I work with students and teachers on how to use a variety of tools to research, communicate, collaborate and share information.” Long ago I learned to skip the…
My father shared with me an article, India Graduates Millions, But Too Few Are Fit to Hire, from the Wall Street Journal. It discusses that many of the graduates from India’s colleges are not prepared to work in India’s business and engineering fields. Even call centers are finding it difficult to fill jobs. We have all heard “India has more honor students then we have students.” It does not matter how many ‘honor’ students you may have if they cannot…
A few weeks back I spent a lot of time at the skating rink at our annual skating competition. There were parents from a variety rinks in attendance. The conversation in the stands was not only about skating but about grades. I few moms were sharing about the report cards that had just come out and were comparing ‘war’ stories. As an educator my ears picked up and I joined in. From the discussion I heard the typical comments. So…