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« Previous EntriesThoughtcrime: The Board Game
Sunday, January 29th, 2012If you teach 1984 and want to try the game, you can follow the link below. I was hoping the final product would be a little cheaper (even with its steepish price tag, my profit is about $1.00 per unit sold). But I think it might be a blast for British literature students, AP literature [...]
When the Bad Guys Win: No More Ethnic Studies in AZ
Monday, January 16th, 2012A recent
My iChristmas, Or Some Thoughts on the iPad Tablet
Wednesday, December 28th, 2011One of my former students, now the Technology Coordinator at Meadowbrook Elementary, was kind enough to lend me an iPad 2 over Christmas break. Her name is Megan Bowen, and she is also contributing to a book about first-year teaching that I am editing with my colleague Lindsay Ellis. Megan spent her first year in [...]
Digital Text Intervention with Hackasaurus
Monday, December 5th, 2011I just heard about the educational tool Hackasaurus (Mozilla) at NCTE. The tool reveals the code behind web pages–the html and css make up the text and images of any given page. Any browser offers something similar (just try viewing the source), but Hackasaurus takes it one step further: it lets you change pages and [...]
What I Learned at NCTE 2011
Sunday, November 20th, 2011My stay at NCTE 2011 was uncharacteristically brief–only two days at a conference that lasts almost a week. Still, I attended some valuable sessions, networked with friends, and got a better idea of how to pitch a new book I’m working on. A few random observations from my experience at the centennial convention: Graphic novels [...]
Remember When Sharing Was Simple?
Thursday, September 29th, 2011Call me slow. Or call me old. But I just can’t figure out the new Facebook feed, lists, and real-time ticker. Don’t get me wrong: I understand how it works in theory. What I don’t have, though, is an instinctive feel for the new interface. Now I am never quite sure who is getting what [...]
Show Me, Just Don’t Friend Me
Sunday, August 7th, 2011I’m a little behind on the news, but this Wall Street Journal article caught my eye last week. Missouri is poised to become the first state to ban “friending” between teachers and students. The law (called the Amy Hestir Student Protection Act), which takes effect later this month, restricts private online communication between a teacher [...]
R.I.P. Google Plus
Monday, July 4th, 2011It might be premature to bid a final farewell to Google’s latest attempt at social networking–the Google Plus Project. After all, it’s not even out of beta yet. And I don’t even have one of the exclusive invitations to try it out. But be assured, Google Plus will join the ranks of Orkut and Wave [...]
Some Innovative Web Projects, Spring 2011
Monday, June 6th, 2011This spring, my 311 students have the option of creating a class management site, a content resource, or a original work of media. They are showing off their stuff today in class, but here’s the preview. Brittani Sticker’s Class Management Site Sarah Welch’s Class Management Site Matt Golzynski’s Class Management Site Beccah Rathaus’s ToonDoo Abby [...]
Blankets by Craig Thompson Beautiful, Sad
Sunday, May 22nd, 2011This graphic novel has been around for nearly a decade, so I am a little late to the party here. I’ve seen Blankets mentioned on many top ten graphic novels lists, and I finally got around to reading it today. It was worth the wait. Blankets is a terrific graphic novel about first love and [...]
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