#Hashtag Stew

I'm having some serious conference envy tonight.
Many of the people I follow on Twitter and Plurk are attending the NECC conference in Washington, D.C. this weekend. I am sitting in my study doing math homework as my friends, mentors, and heroes are having a fantastic time meeting face-to-face.
As a teacher in training, I am acutely aware of how much I could learn at a conference of this magnitude. Sadly, algebra and mock lesson plans must take precedence over F2F collaboration.

There is a bright side to staying home. I can watch all of the almost non-stop stream of information coming from NECC by using Tweetdeck and hashtags.



Here is a sample screen shot from my Tweetdeck screen.

I've found some fantastic new education and edtech folks to follow. I almost feel like the guy at the circus spinning plates on sticks. Adding people and answering direct messages before twetdeck updates and gives me more people to follow is almost as addictive as a video game.

Fire up Tweetdeck or any other twitter aggregation tool and follow #necc #necc09 #EBC09 #edubloggercon and see what you find. I found some new friends.

I should stop blogging and get back to writing lesson plans. See you at NECC..... in a year or two.

I could not find the words

Sometimes I just can't find the words to express my feelings.

When I watched this video I discovered on an Alec Couros blog post this week, I was moved.
No -more than that... I was moved, motivated, touched, and more. I felt inspired to comment, but I just couldn't find the words.




Fortunately, someone else wrote a response that comes close to how I feel about this video.

Thank you Scott Floyd for your response to this video and Alec's post.

Please take the time to watch the video and read the posts by Alec and Scott.
It will brighten your day.

Slide to unlock.... at age 2

Photo Credit


Sometimes I am amazed at how flexible the human brain is.

I attended a 2nd birthday celebration for my nephew last week. The event went as most family birthdays usually do.... candles, cake, presents, happy children, grass stained pants, kool-aid stained faces, and an abundance of smiles.

As we were preparing to leave, my nephew got his hands on my brother's iPhone. I was afraid the birthday boy was going to damage the hand-held wonder. WOW, was I short-sighted. What followed was simply amazing.

The boy that had just turned 2 years old was able to unlock the phone, find his favorite song, and play it for me (dancing included). He then searched through several pages of photos to show me one of his favorites. I just stood there in amazement. I had no idea that a child that had just turned 2 was capable of operating such a complicated device.

The event lasted only minutes, but it has lead to hours of reflection.

• What else is a 2 year old capable of that we have never imagined?
• If a toddler can work an iPhone, what can a kindergarten student do with a laptop?
• Are people of all ages capable of much more than we think?
• Why do we prohibit the iPhones and similar technologies in schools?
• What will the next generation be doing at their 2nd birthday parties?

I'm starting to know how my parents felt when my brother and I did some pretty cool stuff with our Commodore 64 a few (many) years ago.

Photo Credit



Where will it go from here? I can only imagine......


What are your visions of the future?
Feel free to leave a comment below.

Finally livin' the life................the Second Life

Ever had a tool in your garage, basement, kitchen, or junk drawer that you knew nothing about? It could be useful and powerful...but you're just not sure how?

That is the way I was with Second Life. A potentially powerful tool that was also confusing and dangerous.

I've played around with virtual worlds in the past, but never found anything other than tweens and fiends. I had to experiment at night or with the door closed so that my children wold not be exposed the bad "adult behavior" that seems to happen whenever a group people meet sans identity. My initial experimentation with Second Life was no different. I felt like giving up, but many of my ed-techie friends kept singing (and tweeting) the praises of the alternate reality SL. I kept working on my avatar and trying to find value, but it was a slow process.

Yesterday things changed in my second life. I attended an online class at the ISTE headquarters. It was way over my head, but learned an incredible amount in a short period of time. The instructor and assistants were fantastic. I made a few friends, learned a few tricks, got help adjusting my avatar, and found some new clothes.

One of my new friends gave me some insight on avatars. She said that all men want to appear as themselves; all women want to look like Barbie. I don't think she is too far off. Here is the latest version of my virtual self:

Have you tried Second Life? It is worth a try if you haven't. There are many education related areas that can help you with your life-long learning.

Here is where you get started. ISTE island is a great place to get your feet wet. Yes, the learning curve is a bit steep, but it worth the climb to the top.

When you get there look me up. ScottShlehart Skytower is my SL name.

Laugh to keep from crying....

I ran across this comic strip today......

(click comic to view full size)

It made me ponder the paradox of technology in our schools.

My local school system is in the process of building a new middle school and remodeling the old high school and middle schools. The have a blog for the public and contractors to use.

Although the corporation office and the superintendent are making a great use of technology and the read-write web, the individual schools are a different story. The gatekeepers have blocked some of the most useful learning tools. Teachers and students have to find 'work-arounds' to access what they need. Substitute teachers have zero web access.

I hope that one day we all can look back on the above cartoon and laugh, "I remember when the useful parts of the internet used to be filtered."


It is hard to build the future when someone keeps locking the toolbox.

Link to original comic

Tattoos and memories and dead skin on trial...

I attended a middle school swim meet a few days ago. I was scanning the crowd of students looking for my son. As I looked over the mob of early teens, I spotted this:

A small tattoo of a star on the shoulder of an eighth grade girl.

I was speechless....then angry....and then concerned.

How did a 14 year old child get a tattoo? An illegal act by a tattoo shop? A permission statement by the girls parents? An in-home tattoo party? A mother-daughter bonding experience? No matter how it happened, the result is the same. The 14 year old girl has a permanent tattoo.

I see the tattoo as a visible reminder of how many activities leave a permanent mark. Your online presence gets colored with indelible ink every time you log on to the internet.

Are you coloring your personal image with ink you may regret someday?
Think before you post...



Photo Credit

Kindergarten Science - Plants! | Mrs. Poulin's Blog

Mrs. Poulin posted a video of elementary students experiencing science 'up close and personal'.

It's worth watching. Please take a look.

Kindergarten Science - Plants! | Mrs. Poulin's Blog

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