One of my guilty pleasures is watching Antiques Roadshow on PBS. There’s something oddly satisfying about making completely uneducated guesses about an item’s monetary value only to find out moments later unsatisfyingly how uneducated you really are. The most disappointing for me has always been hearing just how out of my price range the artwork […]
Learned helplessness: a behavior often seen when an individual believes they have no control over the outcome of a situation, regardless of the reality of their perceived control. “The motivational effect of learned helplessness is often seen in the classroom. Students who repeatedly fail may conclude that they are incapable of improving their performance, and […]
© Justin Haney 2016 (CC BY-NC 4.0) “Work smarter, not harder.” There are few combinations of words that will raise hackles more quickly among teachers than the command to “work smarter”, as if we had never considered the idea. The problem is there’s more than a sliver of truth in that infamous business credo. We […]
NASA and Mars Exploration On July 20, 2016, US scientists celebrated the 40th anniversary of reaching the surface of Mars with Viking I. Forty years later, a new generation of scientists and engineers are up to their elbows in development and planning for an even bigger vision. NASA has plans to have astronauts orbiting Mars […]
I’ve been a librarian for 13+ years and I’m still learning every day. Through trial and error on the job I’ve learned about Follett’s Destiny circulation system. I’ve learned that Shel Silverstein books will never go out of style. I’ve learned that the right book at the right time in the right kid’s hands will […]
excerpt from “How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life” by Peter Robinson Chapter One Journal Entry, June 2002: Over lunch today I asked Ed Meese about one of Reagan’s favorite jokes. “The pony joke?” Meese replied. “Sure I remember it. If I heard him tell it once, I heard him tell it a thousand times.” The […]
In an effort that represents ISTE Teacher Standard 3 (Model digital age work and learning; 3c: Communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital age media and formats) my district utilizes Blackboard Connect: K-12 ConnectED’s automated phone system to communicate with parents and guardians via phone and […]
Guiding Question: What resource is available to assist with managing multiple social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc.; and multiple accounts within each)? On a related note, what are the best practices for utilizing social media tools in the classroom? It’s become apparent that I need a better system for managing multiple social media accounts, […]
ISTE Teacher Standard 3: Model digital age work and learning Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society. According to Wikipedia, Twitter debuted online in July 2006. More than ten years later, in September 2016, I finally joined the Twitter universe. The connection to ISTE […]
