Joel Zehring › Comments

"I was trying to complete my presentation on a very compelling book that my wife bought for me: Made to Stick. This timing was very fortunate for my presentation because TEDx provided so many great examples about how to make ideas ‘Sticky’. I thought I would use the S.U.C.C.E.S.s acronym used by the book to illustrate some of my key take-aways from TEDx Ottawa" - Joel Zehring

"Here's my definition: A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another. If the consumer (whether it’s a business, a buyer, a voter or a donor) doesn’t pay a premium, make a selection or spread the word, then no brand value exists for that consumer." - Joel Zehring

Very fun and informative video on making movies. Made by a VISTA for 4-H. - Joel Zehring

"Harness the power of the Internet... wisely. WISE is a simple yet powerful learning environment where students examine real world evidence and analyze current scientific controversies. Our curriculum projects are designed to meet standards and complement your current science curriculum, and your grade 5-12 students will find them exciting and engaging. A web browser is all they need to take notes, discuss theories, and organize their arguments... they can even work from home! Our Teacher Area lets you explore new projects and grade your students' work on the Web. Best of all, everything in WISE is completely free." - Joel Zehring

"The following write-to-learn activities have been excerpted from Writing Across the Curriculum's Resource Binder for participating faculty. Many of the activities listed are so common in composition theory and pedagogy that their original source cannot be traced. If you know the origins of these activities, please contact the site manager so permission to publish can be requested and proper credit given to the original creator in our next site revision. - Joel Zehring

"I happened to have fallen in love with teaching in the 1960s: the three-ring circus of school life with its many interactions and stimulating conversations. I think schools matter a lot. But I hate the pretense that our relatively poor performance on tests is due to bad teachers, unions, and "government" monopolies, rather than a whole set of policies abandoned and a whole new set pursued over the past half-century." - Joel Zehring

"1) What is Google Apps Education Edition? 2) Why Google Apps? 3) What other schools are using Google Apps for Education? 4) How much is Google Apps for Education? 5) Will there be advertisements with Google Apps? 6) How much storage do users get with Google Apps Education Edition? 7) What is the uptime for the Google Apps email? 8) What's the difference between Education Edition and Premier Edition? 9) How secure is Google Apps? 10) Are nonprofit organizations eligible for Education Edition? 11) What is Google Message Security for K-12? 12) Do I qualify for the free Google Message Security promotion?" - Joel Zehring

"1) What is Google Apps Education Edition? 2) Why Google Apps? 3) What other schools are using Google Apps for Education? 4) How much is Google Apps for Education? 5) Will there be advertisements with Google Apps? 6) How much storage do users get with Google Apps Education Edition? 7) What is the uptime for the Google Apps email? 8) What's the difference between Education Edition and... more... - Joel Zehring

"A genius has three abilities, which are actually the union of amateur and scientist: 1. to know the state of the art, what is known and what is not known. 2. To be able to think "out of the box". 3. To be disciplined enough to concentrate on the tedium of a formal investigation of his wondrous speculations." - Joel Zehring from Bookmarklet

"Wow. BurtF dropped some excellent knowledge on this comment thread. B+. Great post and great question, Matt. I especially like the simple and extremely accurate images. Back in the day, the primary goal of school was to sort students into categories for easy filing into various social strata. Grades were very well suited for this task. Straight "A" students got into college, "C" students became salesmen, and "F" students became the Gomer Pyles of towns without lovable, haphazard mechanics. Nowadays, we have this pesky little thing called NCLB, and an even peskier thing called a moral compass. Sorting students is no longer an acceptable outcome. We've come to realize that publicly funded institutions should benefit the entire public, and we're slowly realizing that labeling people can be very detrimental and lame. Bottom line, teachers should be excellent collectors of evidence. Quantitative or qualitative, classwork or homework, old media or new media, a good teacher documents..." - Joel Zehring

"Castilleja School is Moving to GMail and Google Docs Why are we doing this? There are many reasons. The pros and cons are outlined in the document below. Take a look, too, at our implementation timeline. The following table uses what we call the PIN process: Positive, Interesting, and Negative. The idea is to list positive and negative attributes of the proposed change, and also collect items that are neither positive or negative, but interesting or open questions. " - Joel Zehring

"Schools work best when teachers collaborate with one another to identify students who need extra attention or a different program or to mentor weak teachers; schools work best when they collaborate around common goals. Schools are not trying to build a better mousetrap. They are trying to educate our citizenry." - Joel Zehring

My comment: "I would add to any list describing the internet that it's not done yet. It is not a perfectly cooked casserole sitting on the window sill to cool. The internet is a half-baked mish-mash of servers, fiber, copper, radio waves, protocols, services, content, and users. Before we fashion our schools in the image of the almighty internet, let's remember which institution was in existence first. It's not hard to determine the chicken and the egg in this scenario, and the egg may not even be hatched yet. Perhaps the internet as we know it today is just a small stepping stone toward something that we can't even fathom. If this is the case, then we should be growing students and institutions who can act from deep purpose and exercise wisdom, discernment, disciplined thought, and disciplined action, no matter the medium." - Joel Zehring from Bookmarklet

As part of the Arizona Statewide Instructional Technology Project, our Goals are: * To assist public, charter, and private schools by providing workshops on-site*, at our center, and/or tailored to your needs. * To provide training and support services for the integration of technology and real ideas for adjusting instruction approaches to 21st Century Learning. * To assist schools in acquiring effective and efficient instructional practices in all K-12 content areas. * To promote IDEAL (AZ Dept. of Ed's Web Portal of Educator Resources) to all LEA’s in the state and incorporate it into all professional development efforts. * Promote the iSAFE internet safety curriculum, Thinking with Technology and Essentials course work from Intel, and Thinkfinity lesson plan tools. - Joel Zehring

"Money is more than a transfer of value. It's a statement of belief." Time is another very powerful communicator of value and belief. Words and language, too. - Joel Zehring

"...why do I default to Google tools when asked? I thought that articulating my rationale would be beneficial. There's always the concern that someone might think I suggest a service because I like the brand rather than its worth. It's important that my staff realizes that I've looked at all the choices out there and pick what I think is the best fit for them. So here goes..." - Joel Zehring

"At the recent Maine Google Workshop for Educators I promised to post how my district R.S.U. #19 is using Google Apps for Education (G.A.E.) from a long term managerial perspective. We are using Apps for our student's electronic portfolios as well as expansive communication throughout the district. The structure of our district is 5 buildings PreK - 4, two 5 - 8, one PreK - 8 and a 9 - 12 high school. We have under 3,000 students district wide." - Joel Zehring

"The news here is not that people are irrational, giving too much credence to the dramatic and the local and the short-term (that's not news), but that people have added a veneer of scientific rationality to their irrational decisions. Armed with Zagats or internet data or some rumor off Snopes, we act as though now we're supremely rational choicemakers." - Joel Zehring

The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) is a federal law enacted by Congress to address concerns about access to offensive content over the Internet on school and library computers. CIPA imposes certain types of requirements on any school or library that receives funding for Internet access or internal connections from the E-rate program – a program that makes certain communications technology more affordable for eligible schools and libraries. In early 2001, the FCC issued rules implementing CIPA. - Joel Zehring

Collaborating on GApps preso has been fun. I have no idea what response I'll get, but I'm having a great time. - Joel Zehring

"This Google Site is a companion to the Google Tools for School Boot Camp workshop. This hands-on workshop will focus on all the free applications from Google that support teaching and learning. Click on the links below to explore the applications we will learn in this workshop." - Joel Zehring

"In Iraq, where many biblical scholars place the Garden of Eden, Scott Pelley finds a water world where the Marsh Arabs are making a comeback after Saddam nearly destroyed the cradle of civilization." - Joel Zehring

"Sad Trombone... when a rim shot just isn't appropriate. This is a fun and humorous tool to use on those tools in your office." - Joel Zehring

For those times when you need a little comedic punctation and you have access to an internet connected, flash-enabled device. - Joel Zehring

It's a little slow on my old PowerBook, but it's a really nice client for Twitter and Facebook. Lots of preferences for tweaking each account to your liking. - Joel Zehring

"The choice is ours:  We can use technology in schools to support students who dig deep and create knowledge, or we can continue with business as usual, an environment that invites kids to use technology’s power in ways that ultimately hurt us all." - Joel Zehring from Bookmarklet

"I wish there was a literal pipeline where we could just throw all our extra stuff that we accumulate here in America (books, clothes, toys, etc.) and just send it to the places that have next to nothing. Like one of those long, twisted pipes from a Dr. Seuss book." - Joel Zehring

My comment: "Let's not forget, the tortoise wins the race because of character. Disciplined thought and action beat flashy tools any day. Disciplined thought and action don't necessarily exclude flashy tools. There's nothing wrong with online collaboration. The tech-savvy teachers just need to sell it better to admins and fellow teachers. I can almost guarantee that you won't win any buyers if you call them tortoises." - Joel Zehring from Bookmarklet

"What is truly dispiriting about this skulduggery at the Stade de Fraud is that the perpetrator was Henry, an individual admired within an oft-criticised game for possessing principles. Until Wednesday. If hitherto good guys like Henry are sacrificing their scruples on the high altar of "the end justifies the means'', then football really has lost its moral compass. The governing body of the global game, Fifa, must react strongly to an outrage more harmful than Diego Maradona's Hand of God. Maradona was a serial charlatan. Henry was not." - Roberto Bonini from Bookmarklet

Anyone who's ever played football, even at a recreational level, knows that instincts take over in the penalty area. Once in 100,000 times, a handball in the box will result in a goal. This time, it happened in a big playoff. Bad luck for Ireland, not bad morals on the part of Henry. - Joel Zehring

"College prep" should teach students to ask "What do I want college to do for me?" - Joel Zehring

"Arthur Benjamin is a wizard at maths. Literally. At Hollywood's Magic Castle, the world-famous conjurer's club, he wows the crowd by multiplying big numbers — quick, what's 57,682 squared? — faster than you can use a calculator. Here he shares three cool tricks" - Joel Zehring from Bookmarklet