Where Do Short Pencils Comes From?

Norway princess 'talks to angels' and has come "to understand the value of this enormous gift" and would like to share it with others.

According to the BBC: Norway's Princess Martha Louise says she has psychic powers and can teach people to communicate with angels.
The 35-year-old daughter of King Harald and Queen Sonja made the announcement on a website promoting her plans for a new alternative therapy centre.

She says she realised as a child that she could read people's inner feelings, while her experiences with horses had helped her make contact with angels.

Princess Martha Louise is fourth in line to the Norwegian throne.

The royal palace says it has no official link to the princess' planned alternative therapy centre, the AFP news agency reports.

The princess, who trained as a physical therapist, says on the website for her Astarte Education centre that she has "always been interested in alternative forms of treatment".

Students at her centre, she says, will learn how to "create miracles" in their lives and harness the powers of their angels, which she describes as "forces that surround us and who are a resource and help in all aspects of our lives".

"It was while I was taking care of the horses that I got in contact with the angels," she says.

"I have lately understood the value of this important gift and I wish to share it with other people, maybe with you."

A three-year programme at her centre costs 24,000 Norwegian crowns ($4,150; 3,000 euros; £2,000) per year.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6915262.stm

Published: 2007/07/25 10:15:26 GMT

© BBC MMVII

Strategies for Creating Successful Corporate Partnerships

Building on Chapter Eight of TECHNOLOGY IN ITS PLACE, Chapter Nine by John Richards reflects on the delicate nature of partnerships between schools and the private sector. While endorsing the value of vision-anchored partnerships, this chapter suggests that schools need to approach potential collaborators from a strong visionary and moral base, knowing what they want to accomplish, why, and why it is important.
Cable in the Classroom is broad-bandly discussed. Cable is in the Classroom is a news show boardcasted at 4am by CNN and schools are suppose to record it and show it during the school day. In my school district, we has something similar called "Channel One". "Channel One" is a 15 minute teen-orientated current to the day it is broadcasted with two commercial breaks with teen products (deodorant, acne products and cell phone providers). I personally love the concept. I show it everyday in my Advisory and I only wish I had TiVo so, I could stop and discuss instead of waiting until the production is over. I just love current events with student...especially discussing the war and its issues.
Getting back to the Chapter Nine and private sector partnerships...I truly feel that everything was written pre-9/11. In fact it was. John Richards has great points but, I'm not so sure that the political and economic state of many business are able to donate efforts that are not profitable to their businesses at this moment in time. Case in point, I live within a school district boundaries that employees one of the largest cellphone research and development manufacturers. Unfortunately this company has fallen into third place in the economic world and is experiencing major lay-offs. Maybe these unemployed daddies and mommies would consider volunteering in the local public school but, I don't think it is going to happen. Even Junior Achievements has fallen away from being a strong force in education in elementary schools and part of the reason is because school just don't want the "unknown" people in their schools and interacting with their students. Yo John Richards, it's a whole new world in public school since 9/11.

The Politics, The Politics, The Politics~~~~~Building Public Support

The Politics of Technology Transformation by Isa Kaftal Zimmerman examines political strategies for advocacy and change in local, state , and nations forums in Chapter Eight of TECHNOLOGY IN ITS PLACE. Improving teaching and learning through technology requires attention to politics as well as to pedagogy there definitely no doubt. I never realized how much politics was played in the schools until I joined the educational workforce three years. Most of the time I truly believe that it is not what you know, it's who you know. The structuring and scaffolding of the administration in public school districts is enough for anyone to wonder, how the students even achieve to learn during the school day.
There is no doubt that the times has arrived for more libraries to move from passive to intervention in politics...I mean not taking political sides but, in supplying the information and recorded knowledge students need. Educators and facilitators in schools need to continue to encourage informed and knowledgeable discussions of the public education policy of technology. Town Hall type discussions need to be held covering the technology goals for thiner particular school district and also what's happening in neighboring communities as well as nation and world wide. The technology highway is truly a super expressway and stalling out with outdated technology will not promote World Class Learning nor Intellectual Freedom.
Today, in school technology the question then, is how can we balance our desire for democratic values and the imbalance of power and influence between the school adminstration and the idealism and quest for technology efficiency?

Accessible Computer Lab

Here is a great video to review !
http://washington.edu/doit/video/equal.html

What are the main features of an accessible computer lab?

Designing a lab that is universally accessible begins with the physical environment of the facility. Considerations for making a computer lab facility more accessible include the following:

Make sure doorway openings are at least 32 inches wide and doorway thresholds are no higher than 1/2 inch.

Keep aisles wide and clear for wheelchair users. Have protruding objects removed or minimized for the safety of users who are visually impaired.

Make sure all levels of the lab are connected by a wheelchair-accessible route of travel.

For students with mobility impairments, make sure there are procedures in place for retrieving materials that may be inaccessible.

Make sure ramps and/or elevators are provided as an alternative to stairs. Elevators should have both auditory and visual signals for floors. Elevator buttons should be marked in large print and Braille or raised notation and easily reachable for wheelchair users.

Locate the lab near wheelchair-accessible restrooms with well-marked signs.
Service desks need to be wheelchair-accessible.

Provide ample, high-contrast, large-print directional signs throughout the lab. Mark equipment in the same fashion.

Provide study carrels, hearing protectors, or private study rooms for users who are easily distracted by noise and movement around them.
Provide at least one adjustable-height table with easily reachable controls for each type of computer.

Have wrist rests available to those who require extra wrist support while typing.

Keep document holders available to help users position documents for easy reading.

Planning ahead is the key to universal design for and equal access computer lab. The LMC Specialist should be constantly thinking about the patron's abilities and disabilities. Some might be in your face obvious; however, some may not be apparent like low vision or learning disabilities. So keep current on your patrons' needs and make adaptations that will facilitate intellectual freedom in the LCM and computer access labs!

What's a Principal to do?

TECHNOLOGY IN ITs PLACE, once again hits the nail on the head for me in Chapter Seven penned by George S. Perry, Jr. and Ronald J. Areglado. This book was like written for me sometimes I think. Would you believe that the McDonald's Middle School is getting a new principal. Luckily, I have not been able to have lunch with the new Prince-I-Pal. I've been too busy with my blogging, etc. I have had a lot of apprehension, about our new leader since, I feel the school has a lot of excess baggage. Now that I have read chapter seven, I know I will approach any interment with the "new" principal with parade of questions on his leadership and focus. I will therefore, use this blog to post reminders for me when regular school resumes and I'm running around my library media center being LMC Teacher-extraordinaire. Like, ...
#1 How will you (new principal) establish a sense of urgency ?
People need a reason to change.."doing business as usual " sends implicit and explicit messages that reinforce complacency and resistance to change...like duh...
#2 Creating a Guiding Condition.. what is your position of power? what is your expertise? how d you establish creditability? where should I look for leadership?
#3 Developing a Vision and Strategy...clue me in anytime Mr.Principal. I'm probably the most open in this school to off the wall ideas!
#4 Communicating the Vision,,yo Mr.Principal.. do you realize that close to 600 patrons visit the LMC everyday, I have multiple chances to be your Advocate...please keep me your inner-realm.
#5 Empowering Employees for Broad-Based Action...see above. I'm know them all and I hear them coming.
#6 Generating Short-Term Wins.. well good luck here! Change most definitely accelerates the process!
#7 Consolidating Gains to Produce Deeper Change...Celebrations, yep that's the best bet with this group!
#8 Anchoring Change in the Culture...well, you have me for a while! The best advice here is to engage in p\perpetual conversations that are grounded in evidence that change is not only occurring but is serving the vision that drives it!

Now, to conclude let's not forget that the principal's direct involvement does not ensure success, but its absence guarante4e's failure in the quest for improved instruction through technology.

International On-Line Learning ~ Cultural Issues for Educators... and by no means "don't Lego" my eLearning

Jyrki Pulkkinen & Maerja Ruotsalainen couldn't have stated it any clearer than in their opening quote of Chapter Six in TECHNOLOGY IN ITS PLACE, when they wrote, "A cooperative on-line learning environment that simultaneously served diverse cultures and supported multiple approaches to study in several countries both provided benefits and posed difficulties." No doubt, pedagogical functions flow from activities and methods in the learning environment that make learning possible. Despite the many problems that the facilitators and students encountered in the Lego/Logo study most felt that independent, open , and flexible distance learning made sense in principle. And consideration must be made to ensure that participants in extended learning are not disconnected from the real lives of their constituents, the curriculum and organization should be sufficiently flexible to accommodate integration with other aspects of the students' study or work.
I found this article informative but, I also was intrigued that the article was over ten years old. The cited research was also dated in my opinion. The technology of ten years ago ( more like twelve years) and the everyday exposure to technology had to be less effective than what is available today in 2007. I was also disappointed when I went searching for updates on this article. I did not immediately find re-investigations from the Finnish team. I did eventually find an article from 2001 (again six years is a long time in this age of computer technology) and I will summarize Pulkkinen's final comment on eLearning, he believes that research is needed urgently but it should focus also on the broader educational and social developments in a global context.

LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES - Staff & Tech Integration

Recognizing the essential contribution of professional development to integrate technology, Chapter 5 of TECHNOLOGY IN ITS PLACE, launches real-life approaches to incorporating theory and practice of professional development. Preparing and empowering teachers to integrate technology in the classroom is an ongoing process. Continual accessing and refining of technology skills should be top priority. Technology mentors should be a State Standard provided by the school district. Competencies to support staff development should be provided for all educational facilitators. We all know that teachers are essential, but so often the public is not sufficiently aware of their worth. Staff development must be implemented in new ways to interact with and impact the students that they serve. Together as teachers and library media specialists we need to exceed expectations and grow and prosper in technology.
Here in Illinois we have ICE, Illinois Computing Educators there mission Illinois Computing Educators is the leader in supporting and promoting innovative education for all. Their vision is to lead the educational community in enhancing learning through technology.
The Goals of ICE are:
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Support and provide professional development opportunities in educational technology through collaborative communities.
ADVOCACY: Build relationships with other organizations by being the premier education technology visionary and voice for Illinois.
LEADERSHIP: Forge partnerships to advance 21st century digital literacy.
MEMBERSHIP/CHAPTER DEVELOPMENT: Increase ICE membership by creating new chapters and affiliations, attracting new members, and strengthening existing chapters.
OUTREACH/EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS: Become the recognized educational technology portal.
FUNDING/SPONSORSHIPS: Increase funding through partnership, sponsorship, membership and grant writing.
COLLABORATION/INTERNAL COMMUNICATION: Improve collaboration and communication for members through print and interactive tools.
In March 2007, I attended their annual conference in St. Charles, Illinois. This was a jampacked opportunity to attend very informative workshops and lectures. The 2008 conference is scheduled for the end of February. The facilities at the Pheasant Inn Resort no only lends itself to technology; the Mega Center is the perfect location for tech vendors to keep you informed on the latest trends.

Empowerment of Learning

Internalizing information and adapting it into an understood intelligence for recall and application. Universal Design has a flexible method of presenting itself, in order to understand and use in multiple of approaches. Universal design is an approach to designing course instruction, materials, and content to benefit people of all learning styles without adaptation or retrofitting. Universal design provides equal access to learning, not simply equal access to information. Universal Design allows the student to control the method of accessing information while the teacher monitors the learning process and initiates any beneficial method.

http://cuip.uchicago.edu/~cac/nlu/itac/empowerment.htm

Tech & Learning

In Chapter 4 of Technology in Its Place, we travel across the Baltic Ocean to Finland, where a great thinker and professor by the name of Sonna Jarveld offers practical and theoretical guidance to us in struggling America on the pedagogical value of technology investment. Based on naturalistic modes of inquiry, Ms.Jarvela presents concrete examples of qualitative research that have generated persuasive evidence about the power of appropriately planned technology applications to promote learning.
I would like to share a little story with you, when I awake in the morning, two thoughts race through my mind; should I "enjoy" the day or should I "advocate" today? Of course, this is very perplexing and even when I'm in the shower, I am usually still debating this question, but by the time I dry my hair I know the answer! As an Advocate of Technology, I try to stress to everyone I meet in person and virtually, that WORLD CLASS LEARNERS, need the latest and greatest technology available. They also need to be taught that connecting to the internet could be compared to walking down a random street in an unfamiliar area. In both situations, the user need to be aware and cautious. Administrators and educators must have clear visions or perspectives, priorities and a plan. We must prepare learners for participation in an informational and communicational society in which knowledge will be the most critical capital asset for social and economic development. There is no doubt that, educators and administrators need to find better pedagogical methods to meet the rapidly changing world.

Meaningful Learning

Meeting the flow of the formation of personal internalization that is significant with consequences that are important and essential.

Tech & Urban-legends

The HAVE-IT ALLs and the GREAT DIGITAL DIVIDE.
On the money once gain, Chapter Three of TECHNOLOGY IN ITS PLACE, tells it like it is "living in the U.S.A.!" Eileen Gallagher definitely, hits the nail on the head as she tackles the challenges of planning for technology in the Windy City. As if Arne Duncan had no idea, Ms. Gallagher depicts systematic links across the urban requirements of funding, infrastructure, professional development, teacher resistance, and community support.
Within the twenty mile holding pattern of the World Busiest International Airport, there is most definitely the "Great Digital Divide" and why is that? Could it because the people we elect to represent us locally are not doing their job in Springfield? Technology is changing the world we live and learn in and the reality of it all is and the speed of change is mind boggling. Technology and skills get out data quickly. Since the school library media center most definitely makes a measurable contribution to the academic achievements of its students, it is a well know fact that students who have well-staffed, technologically current tools and teachers do better in school. This is not rocket-science here. The costs however seem to resemble NASA budgets. The costs of training and upgrading has risen dramatically in the past several years and many libraries cannot afford to arrange for technology training and purchases within the school district's allocations. Small school libraries serving rural communities are most affected and their students often need the technology the most.
This where, I know I can get-up on my "Library Advocacy Soapbox" as a member of the North Suburban Library System's Executive Board of Directors and reply by stating, "WE NEED TO ASK LEGISTATORS TO SUPPORT SCHOOL LIBRARY FUNDING IN THE SECRETARY"S BUDGET AND WE MUST OPPOSE ANY EFFORT TO REDUCE THIS FUNDING AND ADVOCATE FOR NECESSARY INCREASED FUNDING!" We need to ensure that school libraries continue to meet informational needs of all students for today and years to come.

Curriculum Plan for Techful Instruction

John F. LeBaron, editor or TECHNOLOGY IN ITS PLACE, also contributed for the second chapter. His Project-centered curriculum method requires careful, theory-based planning. He applies Senge's (1990) ideas about learning organizations, weaving discussion about the planning process with commonly accepted principles of curriculum development for "technology-rich" environments.

I found this chapter applicable since, we are all seem to be in positions of budget tightening and competing educational agendas and the school library media center more than frequently is seen as a frill. I have found that the LMC is often thought of as the support for the all-important three R's, but not important in itself. I realize therefore, I must provide teachers with an outline clearly presented with standards of achievement and benchmarks for assessing the success of a collaborated projected. This would clearly state and include the learning activities and its integration with the curriculum. I would place emphasis on strategies that develop effective cognitive strategies for selecting, retrieving, analyzing, evaluating, synthesizing, creating and communicating information in all formats and in all content areas of the curriculum. And finally, I would offer leadership, collaboration and assistance to teachers in all disciplines in applying information literacy skills.

Using Tech to Enrich Student Inquiry

I found that Debbie Abilock is right on track with the integration of information literacy and the constructing of avenue for deeper student understanding. It definitely all starts with questions.

Authentic Learning, Integrating Technology and Collaboration when used with the Big6 will no doubt enhance student inquiry. I have found actually seven work for my research process: (1) initiating a research assignment (2) selecting a topic (3) exploring information (4) formulating a focus (5) collecting information (6) preparing to present and (7) assessing the process. No matter if it's 6 or 7 steps, as the library media specialist, I must keep in mind the students' feeling, thoughts and actions at each stage and define the role my role and the classroom teacher's as we together, faciliate research in the library media center with World Class Learners.

Going back to the chapter author Debbie Abilock, she is fantastic! She is no doubt a model and mentor for middle school teachers and library media specialist. Her school in California is for gifted students who have multiple of opportunities and home lives that are committed to education. Her ability to devote time is inspirational for intellectual freedom. Every site that I visited regarding Ms. Abilock showed me that I can do the same for my students!

Practice To Be A Prof

I found this to be a timely and applicable article.
PhD candidates need to realize that it's just not about the research; they need to learn strategies for teaching in diversified methods. Traditional lectures just don't and won't cut it today. All students are capable of learning and teachers need to realize that individual educational paths are here to stay. That's what I love about my position as an educator in the library media center. I have to be capable and responsible to have resources available for each learner. The cool thing about this,is that I am also on the receiving end of the gift of knowledge!

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0628/p14s01-legn.htm

McHoroscope for Aries

Today is a 7. You're gaining a broader perspective. The view's great from the top of the mountain. You can see a new path to success, if you look for it.

McFirst Entry

Everyday, I try to make a diffenece. I live with integrity and always attempt to meet challenges with courage and grace. I believe that a mind stretched will never go back to its orignal dimensions. I try to keep growinging and learning by exposing myself to new information. I find that it's more important to know where I going than to get there quickly.