Wednesday, December 17, 2014

The Power of Yet

I love the idea of instead of giving an F to a student, we simply say "not yet." It is a small change, but I think an important one. I truly believe the only failure in life is to not learn from your mistakes. If you are learning and growing, then you are on the right track.


 

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Slow TV

I am not sure if this would work anywhere but Norway. Fun to watch.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Being Wrong

This is amazing for so many reasons.  I think it is a great model for what education is at its best.  I love when she said that we not only need to be wrong, we celebrate it.  Our stories depend on wrongness, without them they are boring and flat.  That and the quote from St. Augustine "Fallor ergo sum."  Very deep.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Music on the road and in the air

"The young ones, they don't question their own opinion."  I love this quote.  It is so true that young children listen to music they like, and don't feel like they need to justify their taste.  They like what they like. While it may be incredibly unfashionable to say you like to listen to Barney the big purple dinosaur - not a single pre-schooler watching Barney would care.  They listen to music because it makes them happy and it is an awesome thing to watch someone make music.  So I invite you to listen as if you were 8 years old again.


Thursday, September 25, 2014

Prime Numbers

Prime numbers are such a huge part of theoretical math.  They have an enormous impact on our lives every day however.  Internet security is dependent on monster prime numbers.  I love how enthused this guy is about it.  I promise, he isn't quite as geeky as the title would make him see.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Recovering Like Addicts Unite!

Those who come in my classroom see a poster with the word Like underneath a red prohibition symbol.  This is because as a recovering like addict, I cannot have people abusing in my presence. It is my effort to raise the perceived IQ in my room, as nothing lowers it faster than the abundance of likes in one's speech.  So for all those trying to eradicate the dreaded like in your speech, enjoy.


Wednesday, September 17, 2014

One more reason to read

As if we need another reason, but here it is anyway.  This guy is funny, smart, and poignant all at once.  I love his story and would love to visit the shops.  Well worth the time to watch.




Friday, September 5, 2014

Dialect Maps

So today in Pre-Calc we got a little off topic and discussed how to pronounce root. We decided that root rhyming with boot sounds better than root rhyming with soot.  This reminded me of the dialect maps that made the rounds on the internet a year or so ago.  So for all the word nerds out there, here is a link to the quiz.  Once you take the quiz you can explore the maps and see how you place in the US. By the way, and much to my mortification, it turns out most of my dialect can be traced to Northern Minnesota/Wisconsin.  I think I may need some speech therapy.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-map.html

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Click Responsibly

I have never heard it put so well.  "Clicking is a public act."  The amount of truth in this is a bit scary really.  While it places a heavy responsibility on us, it also empowers us to shape our world.  I like that.  I think we all should take heed and help create a better culture.



Wednesday, August 20, 2014

The Lunch Lady - Our Hero

I love this! There is so much truth, here I can't even begin. Watch the video!

 

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Doof Daily Dirt

Not sure how many Phineas and Ferb fans out there, but I love the show.  My kids and I watch it pretty much every Saturday morning.  My favorite character by far is Dr. Doofenshmirtz.  His brand of evil genius is so endearing you can't help but love the guy.

My daughter showed this video to me, and I love it.  The creators are outdoing themselves with cleverness.  Check out the other Doof Daily Dirt videos as well.  Very witty stuff.


Thursday, April 3, 2014

You are what you like?

My favorite line from this is Facebook users are not the customer but the product. Very interesting questions posed here. And yes, I like curly fries.

Monday, March 31, 2014

Oxford Comma

I am wholeheartedly on the side of using it. I will always add it when editing and will defend its use to my death. Not that I feel strongly or anything. . .

Thursday, March 27, 2014

1 in a million chance

The math here is incredible. As I have often said, it is very hard for humans to understand/comprehend really big numbers. This give us a better sense of that. And, it is just amazing to think about how much Twitter is used on a daily basis.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Where Time Comes From

The science behind this blows my mind.  The most amazing part is when he talks about how 2 clocks 3 meters apart can be measurably different because of the effect of gravity.  I also liked that he gives a nod to the philosophy of time, which can be pretty mind blowing as well.  He can give a definition for a  second, but not one for time itself.  Very cool.



Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Civic Hacking

I love the way the presenter has turned the word hacking around. I think that like so many other things in life, the technology is neither good nor bad, but it is how you use it. Check it out and start civil hacking.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Power of Music

My wife ran across this video the other day when it showed up in her Tumblr feed. I was blown away when I watched. My favorite part was when he said, "I am going to play his love song." The whole story revolves around thinking of someone else and finding ways that you can connect with them. Amazing.

 

Friday, January 17, 2014

Robots with soul

Not only are these robots very cool (and yes, I would love to have one around), they prove a very important point.  The genius of the designer came from his highly diverse background.  If he had chosen to specialize in one area instead of learn about many different fields, these robots would not exist. Think about this next time you ask a teacher "Why do I have to learn this?"


Monday, January 13, 2014

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Never, ever, give up

"Every day of our lives is epic."
"To be is to do."

So much to take from this amazing story.