Sunday, January 29, 2012

Jack Gantos Interview - Funny


As a follow up to my last post, I came across an interview with author Jack Gantos on the NPR program "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me." His interesting background is the basis for his Newbery-winning book, Dead End in Norvelt. Listen to this funny and revealing exchange between him and the crew at WWDTM.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

2012 Newbery & Caldecott Book Awards


Announced on Monday. Here they are:

John Newbery Medal
Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

Honor books:
Breaking Stalin's Nose written and illustrated by Eugene Yelchin
Inside Out & Back Again written by Thanhha Lai

Randolph Caldecott Medal
A Ball for Daisy written and illustrated by Chris Raschka

Honor Books:
Blackout illustrated and written by John Rocco
Grandpa Green illustrated and written by Lane Smith
Me . . . Jane illustrated and written by Patrick McDonnell

Friday, January 20, 2012

iPad Textbooks v. Textbooks

Click on this iPad textbook link to see how our students will be using technology in school. It is only a matter of time before all students and teachers will be using electronic textbooks. It is only a matter of time before teachers will be writing and publishing their own textbooks. This will revolutionize the way students learn in school,. . . the way teachers teach in school, . . . and the way parents support their children's education at home.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Touch-Free Gesture Controls

If you wonder how our students will be using technology in the next year, check out this 30-second video.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

What Millennials Want

"The makeup of the global workforce is undergoing a seismic shift: In four years Millennials—the people born between 1977 and 1997—will account for nearly half the employees in the world. In some companies, they already constitute a majority."

Quote above from "Mentoring Millennials" in Harvard Business Review.

Read this fascinating article to learn more about Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, and Millennials. The article has a great chart "What Millennials Want."

Saturday, January 7, 2012

"The first . . . "

As I was walking through one of our classrooms my eyes caught sight of this beautiful quote:

The first to apologize is the BRAVEST

The first to forgive is the STRONGEST

The first to forget is the HAPPIEST

When I Googled it, I found it to be on many blogs, but I could not find the source of the quote. Any ideas?

Sunday, January 1, 2012

"Elementary School Leadership . . .

. . . in an Age of Anxiety" is an excellent article by Neal Brown in the Winter 2012 issue of Independent School magazine. Whether you are a head of school, teacher, or parent, you will gain thoughtful, helpful insights into caring for and guiding elementary school children.