GingerSnapz!

This podcast is a bit of a deviation from the normal format for GingerSnapz! It is in direct response to the attitude she's seen recently displayed by some in the edublogga'sphere. This attitude seems to be snarky disdain for those teachers and educators who may be showing a bit "too much excitement" for the tool of the week. Ginger offers her snappy opinion toward those who often serve as bellwethers for the 'sphere. Please DO leave a comment on this one!

During the first 4 minutes of this episode, Ginger muses about a conference she's about to attend (http://essdack.org/ttt/), hosted by ESSDACK (http://essdack.org/), the company that runs Turning Point Learning Center. She also considers the beauty of the Flint Hills and the destruction of the June 11, 2008 tornado that hit Chapman and Manhattan, KS the night before. IF you have an interest in a more personal "snap" from Ginger, listen to the first of the podcast. However, at about 4 minutes, she FINALLY decides to get to the point of the grading/assessment dilemma, considering grade cards and the under-motivation and under-achievement that current assessment and grading practices foster. Charlie Mahoney is referenced: http://charliemahoney.com/ and the phone call at the end was from her husband, Eric. Enjoy!

Listen in as Ginger reflects on the iConnect iLearn (un)conference that has been a catalyst in demonstrating how education should be, not only for students, but also professionals. How many times have you sat through a powerpoint from some big-wig telling you to change your delivery model? How many times have they "spiced up" their presentation by having you do some silly little activity that "illustrates" what a student would be doing?! Bah! The iConnect Conference has been a proving ground not only to tech-reluctant or newbie teachers, but also to those in professional development positions; to see that indeed these teachers WILL accept a conference that does NOT provide "sit and get" PD. So now my challenge to you is to put up or shut up! Snappy!

Today, in another in an apparently long series of rambles, I'm contemplating when and how we know when our students are truly thinking globally. The iConnectiLearn ning (http://iconnectilearn.ning.com/), is referenced, where charter schools and other innovators in Kansas public education are invited to connect and learn! Likewise, is it truly when Greenwich Mean Time is internalized? Or is it something else? I'm still thinking...

Tim Holt, based in El Paso Texas, has started a meme, asking what why we feel that educational technology is important for students. I have responded in likely more than 500 words, but I would like to hear your ideas as well. If you'd like to be tagged, let me know. You'll have the full floor! Visit Tim's podcast and blog site here: http://web.mac.com/timholt/Intended_Consequenses/ Tim takes you through the ins and outs of Ed Tech from his unique perspective as a 22 year educator and District Technology Administrator.

This podcast is from last October's KGTC Conference, closing keynote by Linda Geiger, Gifted Education Program Consultant for the Kansas State Department of Education, with an introduction by Judith Lacey, KGTC State Department Liaison Linda did have a visual presentation to go with this, but you'll get the majority of the info from her talk. I'm posting this keynote with her permission; she's an amazing person who wants to bring about change in gifted ed in Kansas, and is passionate about developing teacher's 21st century skills and behavior.

This is an interview I held with Julie Rhodes last October at the annual conference of the Kansas Association for Gifted, Talented, and Creative. Julie and I took some of our Master's classes together and our paths have begun to widen. She's now teaching pre-service teachers at Cowley County; let's see what she has to say about these students' tech readiness to teach our future generation.

Ginger reflects on the creation, boom, and bust of small-town communities and how that may (or may not) relate to professional education communities. This picture is not of Reading, KS, but it is indicative of the boom town age of smaller communities.

Ginger reflects on her day of training and also past experiences with the Health Sciences Story Centered Curriculum from Socratic Arts. Socratic Arts: http://www.socraticarts.com/ Tammy Berman: http://www.engines4ed.org/who/berman.cfm

Today, Ginger's responding to Chris Lehmann's Practical Theory blog article called Teacher Learning, Student Learning and School 2.0. He asserts that we should not be relying on only techies to train teachers, but rather to encourage teachers to train themselves. This is a good thing, and Ginger takes it further by talking about how to encourage teachers' motivation and desire to learn these new tools by prioritizing what other pieces to drop from their repertoire, as well as giving teachers profitable salary schedule horizontal movement. University credit is also a wonderful thing. Correction to be made: Because of her dyslexia, Ginger mis-labeled Chris Lehmann's school. It is the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia. http://www.scienceleadership.org/ You can find a pic and info about this wonderful place at 2¢ Worth, David Warlick's blog:http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/2007/01/10/new-school-sla/ Practical Theory blog: http://www.practicaltheory.org/serendipity/index.php

Ginger connects with a teacher in Australia via Skype and then tells us her impressions. She confesses and exposes some cultural gaffes and breifly hits upon the value of these connections for students. More 'casts will be coming about making connections and the skills afforded to students growing into citizens of the world. Hopefully, you'll be hearing about this from students themselves! I truly am excited to connect with her (and her students)! Referenced: Wizard of Oz http://images.usatoday.com/weather/_photos/2006/07/05/dsongneilsens30.jpg http://www.wendyswizardofoz.com/main.php Cassowary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassowary Poisonous plants of Australia http://www.anbg.gov.au/poison-plants/index.html (ok, the US list is likely longer, but this is ONLY SE Australia) Skype http://skype.com/