Tonight, @bethstill retweeted this story: http://www.omaha.com/article/20100130/NEWS01/701309895 (fixed link)

This small Nebraska high school had raised over $5000 for their Junior-Senior prom. But, they decided NOT to spend the money on the prom this year, but rather to donate it to the Haiti relief fund, instead. That just... it just really gets me. We all know what a big deal the prom is, right? Yet, this group is giving it up. AND, they don't want anyone else to pay for their prom, either, as that would defeat the purpose. They're giving up their prom for the Haiti relief efforts. Are you noticing a lump in your throat, now, too?

The next time you're around someone who bashes teenagers, tell them this story. And there are so many more like this. I don't know anyone in that school, but I'm so VERY proud of them. So very, VERY proud.

I like this idea. Teams of 5th graders studied the Dewey Decimal system and then worked collaboratively to create Wordles to identify the kinds of books in each category.

Wanna see? Here they are.

Congratulations to Amy Soule, the librarian, for the idea and for encouraging the students along the way.

I thought it was interesting that in tonight's State of the Union address, President Obama said that he'd settle for nothing less than a World Class Education.

I've heard that somewhere before.

"After 30+ years in the field of education I'm now on my own, doing what I LOVE to do - talking about how technology can enhance teaching and learning. I've been around since Commodore 64's and DOS 1.0 and I've seen it all. Now that the world's information is in our pockets I think that the purpose of schools has changed. In this "flat world" it is imperative that we step up to create a world class education for our students. Say it with me. "I DEMAND A WORLD CLASS EDUCATION FOR MY KIDS!"

I'm in good company. :)

This evening a question was put out on a listserv that I belong to, and I thought it was an excellent one. The idea was this: "We need examples of your best lessons."

What would go through your mind if you were asked that? Would you think, "Well, I could submit a few, but I'd have to fix them up a bit." or, "I'm not really sure if anyone would think that this was a good lesson.", or, "I wonder if I could have done a better job reaching higher in the Bloom's scale?" or, "Is this lesson really challenging enough and worth of a student in this grade level?" Do you have any second thoughts? Do you look at your lesson through a different lens? Really? If the WORLD could see it?

As an instructional coach that's what you encourage your teachers to ask themselves all the time, isn't it?

I think it's a great exercise. Before settling on ANY lesson plan, ask yourself, "Would I change any part of this lesson if I were going to submit it for global review?"

How many lessons of yours wouldmake the cut without even so much as a second glance - just to be sure?

GEEZ!!! I can't believe this happened. Take heed!!!

I was sitting in an excellent live presentation and as it was wrapping up I was TRYING to hurry and paste the following quote into the chat. "Printing was considered vulgar and only for the poor. Many aristocratic bibliophiles refused to disgrace their collections with the presence of a non-manuscript text. It fell to the lower classes to recognize the importance of the printing press. And they did - by the end of the fifteenth century, more than one thousand printers had printed between eight and ten million copies of more than forty thousand book titles."

However, as today was also the announcement of Apple's iPad, and since folks had been passing around that video about it - the really crude one - I had IT in my clipboard instead of what I had TRIED to copy - that quote. Since I wanted to get it into the chat before everyone left I pasted and hit enter  - and THEN realized what I had pasted.

To anyone who may have been embarrassed by it I am truly sorry. I wonder if Kelly will EVER forgive me!

Shoot me NOW!