Cursive: A 21st Century Skill?

Don't you think that it's fairly certain that handwriting will become a secret language?

Will it happen in our lifetime?  It seems to be happening now.

Enjoy this NYT piece.

Chicago school bans homemade lunches

"The students can either eat the cafeteria food--or go hungry. Only students with allergies are allowed to bring a homemade lunch to school, the Chicago Tribune reports."

"Tucson, Arizona's Children's Success Academy allows home-packed lunches--but only if nothing in them contains white flour, refined sugar, or other "processed" food."

The full blog post from Yahoo! News.

I'm not sure where this is heading, but certainly a bit Orwellian.

10 Tips For Shooting Better Video with Your iPhone | Mac|Life

I like to watch your quick video as much as anyone's. Take two minutes to read this and make them just a bit better.

Secure and Remove your iOS 4 Tracking Information

"Thanks to a little open-source application from the aforementioned data scientists, this database of information can be accessed by end users, simply by accessing files buried deep inside an iTunes backup of your iPhone or iPad. The scary part for many users is that a lost device that’s not wiped remotely via Find My iPhone could also get potentially accessed by a wrongdoer -- or worse yet, most anyone with a bit of knowledge can jump on your computer, fire up iPhone Tracker and see where you’ve been for the last 10 months."

How to Secure and Remove Your iOS 4 Tracking Data | Mac|Life

Intellectual diversity 1

What views do you want your kids' teachers to promote?

What do you have to say about "Education and creating an academic culture of Intellectual Diversity"?

Does a rainbow sticker on a high school classroom door that reads "Safe Space" represent Intellectual Diversity or is it the curtailing of Intellectual Diversity?


Thoughts?

Read this piece for one mans thinking on Intellectual Diversity in education.

Change yourself to change them...kids and money

Show, don't tell children and teens how to take care of money and what it means. Think of what skills you hope they would have and then make changes in your own behavior to model the desired outcomes. Show them with your actions-directly and indirectly-and they'll catch on much better than setting rules and just saying "We can't afford it." I'm going to get going on this right now.

"We pass up opportunities to teach our kids about money when we answer their requests for material goods by saying, “We can’t afford it,” or “We’re not buying it today,” without explaining the reasons behind our decisions. When we usher them off to a table at the fast food restaurant, they don’t see money changing hands and have no concept of the meal’s cost.

"When you’ve emptied your pockets or purse of change, don’t just toss the change in a drawer. This gives your child the message that a little bit of money isn’t of value. Instead, save it in a jar and use it to take the family to the movies, showing that even small amounts of money can add up over time."

Read on...

iPad: Classroom Trial

No. Not in my class (I have no class).  But another James is out there doing the Steve's work with a class of eighth graders and some iPads.  Take a look at his blog.

Of course, while we were all waiting for a /man/ to do it...

What a great post from un-schooled.net!

Montessori in three easy steps:
1. Curiosity
2. No homework
3. Calm and Peaceful classrooms

The first and last are easy to jump on board with.  The middle one, at least in consideration for teens bears a bit more thought.  What is the right type of outside of class work for teens?  Should there be any?  Busywork kills interest for sure.  But so what type of work fosters interest?  The type that is derived from interest!  That's right, we must first discern what the interest is. Once done, an assignment is hardly required for students will work tirelessly on work that feed their interests.


Speaking of bags...you'll want to see this.

What happens at the Motherhood Center in Houston?

The Motherhood Center Website...