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/

• SEGA Tech »

A great article, I don’t want to look busy, sums up our
preoccupation with being busy perfectly.

Our culture is obsessed with being busy. When’s the last time you
asked someone about their job or life and they didn’t use the word
busy? It’s worn like a badge of honor. To even hint you might not be
busy, conjures up visions of laziness and lack of ambition. As we plan
various activities and events for schools, I’ll often hear, “that’s a
busy time for schools”. Tell me when it’s not a busy time?

Google, at Google For Educators, is now offering educational
resources for using Google products in the classroom:

Google recognizes the central role that teachers play in breaking down
the barriers between people and information, and we support educators
who work each day to empower their students and expand the frontiers
of human knowledge. This website is one of the ways we’re working to
bolster that support and explore how Google and educators can work
together.As a start, we’re inviting you to share your best ideas for
using technology to innovate in the classroom. To your left, you’ll
find a teacher’s guide to 12 Google products, including basic
information about each tool, examples of how educators are using them,
and lesson ideas. You’ll also find lesson plans and videos from our
partners at Discovery Education focusing on two of our most popular
teaching tools: Google Earth and Google SketchUp.

When I first read it I was expecting a more general view of Internet
resources that may be used in the classroom, but limiting it to Google
products still gives teachers and students some very cool software they
can use. Google Earth is talked about a lot, but I think a lot of people
are missing out learning opportunities that can take place with Google
SketchUp.