When we first started recommending Firefox, one of the first features
that the students found was the ability to change themes. Unfortunately,
changing a theme is a pretty heavy weight process, requiring a restart
of Firefox. Mozilla Labs has been working on a different theming
process, Personas, which doesn’t require a restart:

Features

• You can select a Persona from the dynamic menus and see results
  instantly without having to discover, select, download or install
  a separate bit of software or code.
• Personas can be added, removed or updated by their designers at
  any time, without requiring a software update.

One caveat, the theme can be changed by the designer at anytime, which
means there is a chance that something inappropriate may be viewed.

The Our Stories™ project helps people share the stories of their
lives, no matter where they live or how their stories unfold. We’re
providing resources to create and share personal stories from all over
the world, starting with children in developing countries who are
using One Laptop per Child (OLPC) computers or those who are working
with UNICEF radio producers to record and share interviews. Children
are asked to record the stories of elders, family members, and
friends.

Take a \$40 Wiimote, an infrared emitting pen and you have the
makings of an interactive whiteboard (No Nintendo Wii required). Johnny
Chung Lee has been experimenting with the Wiimote. The Wiimote
connects to the computer over bluetooth, and inside it is an infrared
camera that can track up to 4 LED sources.

Check out the video of it in action:

Now to find a source for some infrared penlights or make my own and try
this out. With projectors costing less than \$800-\$900 this would be a
very inexpensive way to bring interactive whiteboard technologies into
the classroom.

Reading over at Slashdot.org and the original article at
ScienceDaily it appears that film enjoyment can be contagious:

Over the course of the film, movie-watchers influence one another and
gradually synchronize their emotional responses. This mutual mimicry
also affects each participant’s evaluation of the overall experience
— the more in sync we are with the people around us, the more we like
the movie.

Can this research be applied to the classroom? We’ve all taught at least
one lesson where it seems like everything clicked. The students were
engaged, on task, and excited. Even the most prepared teacher can have a
lesson go south, but it appears that a lesson might be saved by
“groupthink”. By slowly bringing the class on task, it can cause a
snowball effect, not only increasing the enjoyment of the students but
also increasing their retention.

I’m reminded of this post by Miguel Guhlin

In my early years of working with adult learners, I facilitated a
workshop that was everyone’s nightmare class–a cafeteria technology
inservice. In the morning, provide inspiring words about using
technology. In the afternoon, hands-on tutorial. The morning went well
since we had cooperative grouping, activities, etc. The afternoon was
focused on how-to, but I had some physical education coaches that
whipped out newspapers. I was supremely irritated and felt powerless.
It was my first solo workshop for the Education Service Center, and I
wasn’t sure what to do…if I’d been working as a school district
facilitator, I know exactly what I would have done–I’d asked them to
leave. Instead, I put up with them.

Although a teacher can’t “fire” their students, a teacher needs to be
aware of the negative influence those off-task students are having on
the rest of the class.

From PayScale Meeting Miser – Meeting Cost:

Are your meetings worth every penny? Find out with the new Meeting
Miser. Just enter the attendees and start the timer. This handy gadget
knows that time is money and will calculate exactly how much you’re
spending … or wasting.

The site uses actual salary info for your area to calculate the cost per
meeting. I tried it with a typical scenario, 3 elementary teachers and a
principal meeting. The cost came to \$1.41 a minute, or \$84.60 an hour.
An administrator meeting with 4 principals and the superintendent jumps
up to \$2.84 a minute (\$170.40 an hour!). Might be something to bring
up the next time you are sitting in a meeting that isn’t accomplishing
anything.

From the NCS-Tech blog: Meet your “Maker” – Newsletters, Brochures,
Albums and Postcards

Thanks to a tip from my friend and colleague Nancy Sharoff, I am
pleased to tell you about these VERY cool and FREE of course services
offering fast and easy creation of professional looking newsletters,
brochures, photo albums and postcards Who needs Microsoft Publisher??

• http://www.mynewslettermaker.com/
• http://www.mybrochuremaker.com/
• http://www.myalbummaker.com/
• http://www.mycardmaker.com/