Unplugged

Remember when phones were tied to locations instead of people? We had home telephones. When I called your number, a telephone in your house would ring. If you were there, you could answer it. If you weren’t, a machine would answer and let me record a message for you. Then, when you came home, you could listen to the message. When you call my home … Continue reading Unplugged

Moodle Sandbox

Fairbanks Technology Coordinator BJ Thaman posted this message to the Tech Coordinators’ listserv this week: We are in the beginning stages of creating a Moodle site for our district.  We hope to use this site for both classroom enrichment and professional development.  I noticed that the official Moodle homepage has a Moodle Xxchange where people contribute lessons for all to use and modify.  It sounds … Continue reading Moodle Sandbox

Don't Click That Link

We received a request to unblock a web site yesterday. The justification went something like this: I received an email message containing some inappropriate content. The message said that I had signed up to receive this content, but this must be a mistake. I tried to unsubscribe, but when I clicked the link, the site was blocked. Please unblock the site so I can unsubscribe … Continue reading Don't Click That Link

New Textbooks

“When I finally write my textbook, this is how I’m going to explain systems of linear equations.” Mr. DeLorenzo was always deviating from the textbook in our Algebra II class. “Forget what the book says, and listen to this.” He had a plan for just about every topic. Having taught Algebra for more than twenty years, he knew how to a explain it in a … Continue reading New Textbooks

Feed Me

RSS takes three tries before you start to understand it. The first time, it goes completely over your head. The second time, you start to get some kind of idea what they’re talking about. The third time, you start to really understand what’s going on. It’s a lot like photosynthesis, or trigonometry, or irregular verbs in romance languages, or all of those other things I … Continue reading Feed Me