Month: March 2014

ICT Assignment

Our schools have started BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). As a substitute i get into a lot of highschool classrooms and this really helps along with an free app called Evernote. Worth checking out.

Keep Calm & Pretend it's in the Lesson Plan

This is the link to my online artefact, which outlines to parents the reasons why I will be using ICT in the classroom. 

http://ellemitchell0.wix.com/ictteachandlearn

 

Enjoy!

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GOLDEN ROD

One of my followers commented that they were involved with teaching reading. I would like to share my experience with a junior high student in my English class.

In the open house before the first day of classes, a mom came up to me and asked if it was acceptable for her son to do his work on yellow paper with blue lines. (Some of you may remember it as “Golden Rod”.) She explained that he had writing difficulties and his printing/writing was better on this type of paper.

This piqued my curiosity. I bought some “Golden Rod” paper and compared writing on it with writing on the white ruled notbook paper usually used in middle and upper grades. The “Golden Rod” was much easier on the eyes and comfortable to use, particularly under bright flourescent lights.

I looked at our text book. Black print on glossy white paper. I had an idea. I purchased from the stationary store enough transparent yellow sheets for the whole class. I asked them to try reading their book with the yellow sheet over the page. About half of them preferred reading with the yellow sheet. About half of that number continued using them. A few took them home with them.

Subsequently, I tried other colors, but yellow seemed to work best. If you have reluctant readers, or readers who get headaches, this might help.

Footnote:  It appears that the Golden Rod writing tablet may no longer be produced and may have been a regional product.  Therefore, a description may be necessary.  The Golden Rod writing tablet was bound yellow paper with blue lines of a cheap stock.  It was primarily used in elementary schools because of its inexpensiveness.  If you do a google search, you will find a paper that is used to show acid or base.  Not what I am talking about, but neat for a science class.  God, I feel old.

My List of Takers

GE, big oil, corporate agriculture, Congress, air lines, railroads, Koch Brothers, and these 20 people who brought down the economy according to Time Magazine. (Please let me know what happened to them?)   Surely, they are in jail or barred from doing business.

Angelo Mozilo
Phil Gramm
Alan Greenspan
Chris Cox
American Consumers
Hank Paulson
Joe Cassano
Ian McCarthy
Frank Raines
Kathleen Corbet
Dick Fuld
Marion and Herb Sandler
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush
Stan O’Neal
Wen Jiabao
David Lereah
John Devaney
Bernie Madoff
Lew Ranieri
Burton Jablin
Fred Goodwin
Sandy Weill
David Oddsson
Jimmy Cayne

COGITO ERGO SUM III

My grandson, picks up my iPad and uses it to hammer the pegs in his toy pegboard.  Should I be angry with him?  No, to him it is a hammering device; to me it is my beloved iPad.

A student doesn’t turn in an assignment in a timely fashion; I see it has a lazy and irresponsible act.  He sees that a greater priority is fixing supper, doing laundry and taking care of his siblings while his mom is at work.

I see an administrator not standing up for his subordinates as an act of cowardice and self serving.  He sees it as guaranteeing that he has a job to support his family.

A politician votes in a way that is contradictory to the needs of his constituents.  He sees it as staying in office so he can continue to serve in the future.

The first step in problem solving is not to look at the facts, but rather at the perceptions of the parties, whether individuals or governments.  If you look at the current problem with Russia annexing Crimea, not from the so called facts, but rather from the perception of the Russian government; you may be able to resolve the issue.  Their apparent perception is that the buffer countries they have always had to protect themselves from the west are disappearing leaving them exposed.

Next time we look at the effect of perception in that most personal relationship: man and woman.

Cogito Ergo Sum II

What these philosophers are pointing out is that perception is reality.  Your perception is your reality; my perception is my reality.  What is real then?

Reality is three fold.  Reality is what I perceive and what you perceive, but it also is what society agrees to call reality.

I am colorblind.  Blue and green are indistinguishable to me.  I would call those colors blue.  My wife is not colorblind.  She would call some of my blue colors blue and she would call others green.  We are both right.  However, if the majority decide that some colors are blue and some are green; for them, I am considered colorblind.  And to that point, each member of the majority would still have their unique perception of what color is blue.

As a practical matter, I act as if I am colorblind.  I ask my wife if my socks are correctly paired by color.  Still in my perception, and therefore in my reality, they all look the same color.

If there is a real reality, it cannot be known since the only way to know is through perception.  If we can internalize this concept, we increase our effectiveness in dealing with our world and each other greatly.

To be continued.

THE CHAIR

file6861241553992     If you have the good fortune to have a girlfriend or wife or significant other, or think you may ever someday be lucky enough to be in that situation, you need to know about the “chair”.

Being with a lady, the time will eventually come where she will invite you to go shopping with her. You will ask her what she is shopping for. She will give you a look like you have two heads and will mumble something about a skirt or blouse or something. Listen up; women don’t shop for something. For them shopping is the end in itself. If you had known that, you would have used whatever excuse you could to avoid “going shopping”.

Well, you didn’t know, and you said “yes”, and now you are in a department store, You are in the ladies department. The nice young clerk has escorted you to “the comfortable chair”. You sit down. You will be there for hours.

You must never, never, never ever sit in the chair. Once you are in the “chair” you are at the mercy of the clerk and your shopper. Side note, if she gets a skirt, she will need a blouse, and a belt, and shoes, and purse, and jewelry, etc. You’ll wish you had packed a lunch and brought an iPod so you could watch a movie. But you didn’t, and so you will sit, and sit, and sit. What to say when she asks what you think of an article of clothing will be another blog. For now, pretend you are choking and wave her back to the changing room.

How do you avoid the chair?

First of all, you really don’t have a choice about going shopping with your significant other unless you want to end your relationship. So, what to do?

Listen carefully.

The first thing you must do is get the lady to say what she is shopping for. This will be very important later. Next you want to know what size she needs. (Don’t ever act surprised about the size or ask her to repeat it unless you want the silent treatment or you’re willing to try and answer the question: “Just what did you mean by that”?)

So, you now know what she is looking for and the size. When she has found an item that she likes, you suggest she try it on in the changing room. She will look lovingly at you for being such a helpmate. As soon as she disappears onto the changing room, you head for the clothes racks which contain the item she was looking for. Once there, you pick three items from the rack in her size and proceed to the changing room. As soon as she comes out, give her your three items to try on. Continue this process until she gets tired. Then,being a supportive help mate, you suggest you get some lunch and head for the nearest sports bar.

You have been a good helpmate, avoided the chair, enjoyed lunch and a drink in a sports bar and can get home in time to catch a sporting event. Congratulations!