First-Time Glogging

I had my EFL kids try glogging thier mini research projects last week.  They took no time to figure out how to use a glog and loved the experience!  I highly recommend this medium for publishing work!!  Check them out here and here!

Howdya Like Him Now?

So what kind of “equipment and technology” do YOU think Chavez will ask for in return for his “free” oil to Iran…?

Passing, GPAs, and College…How Disappointing

In reading a recent post by Will Richardson regarding the upcoming Back-to-School speech by President Obama, I have become increasingly saddened by a thought I have been holding onto for awhile now but haven’t verbalized anywhere:  Is “education” only about passing, GPAs, and getting into college?  And if that is what has it become, how will learners today be driven to continue to be learners tomorrow, or the day after that?

I have become increasingly weary of kids asking me what is the least they can do to get such-and-such a grade; of administration telling kids to push for just a few more decimal points in their GPAs; of teachers spending literally months of Saturdays teaching kids how to take the SAT so that they can get a certain score, or if they don’t, then preparing them to take and retake it until they do.

I teach because I love to share thoughts and passions.  Kids don’t want that.  They want to know how they can get extra credit.  Administration doesn’t want that.  They want to be able to show progress on overall standardized test scores.  Parents don’t want that.  They want their kids to get into a “good” school.

So what then DOES it mean to be educated? 

Hugo Chavez, Defender of Democracy

So did I take the crazy pills or did he?!?!?  Chavez, the self-proclaimed socialist revolutionary, called Washington, D.C. this week (note:  in June of this year he accused the U.S. government of attempting to assassinate him…) to complain that the negotiation attempt to restore normalcy to Honduras is “. . . a very dangerous trap for democracy that sets a very grave precedent.”  What the what?!?!  The world does know he’s crazy, right?  It’s not just me…is it?

Please Don’t Drink the Kool Aid

The good news is…I still have access to my WordPress! (Although, it does appear that three out of five providers here in Guatemala have blocked it.)

The bad news is…I’m so distraught and confused and frustrated and just plain ARRGGGHHHH about everything surrounding the situation in Central America right now, that I can’t even put together coherent thoughts to share.  I have been hearing and reading the most ridiculously slanted “information” about the ousted (former) Honduran president, Zelaya, that I almost feel like I’m living in some alternate reality where evil has become good and where, because the pretty talking heads say it’s so, a virus of head nodding and finger shaking has swept the globe…much of it led by people I respect.  It confuses me and pressures me for the first time in my life to want to ask:  who’s passing the Kool Aid?

For now, I start with this article, which should be read and spread to help break this zombie-like trance the world seems to be in now:

Zelaya’s self-serving lawlessness was ignored completely by OAS leadership and, as far as one can tell, by every government in the region that now dares to pass judgment on Honduras’ constitutional order.

My Dearest WordPress: I think we’re breaking up…

It appears that while we have been in Honduras, WordPress has been blocked in Guatemala, where I reside and normally write from.  Today, I am stuck in Honduras with aspirations of returning to Guate tomorrow when, hopefully, normal forms of transportation will resume.  But this may be the last I am able to post here for awhile.  We believe WordPress has been blocked as it had been used by many Guatemalans to spread the word about the political situation there (see earlier entries below).  So…I feel in a bit of super surreal situation:  I need to leave Honduras (for a number of reasons…the top one being, obviously, the political instability here…).  But when I return to Guatemala, I will no longer have the freedom to post anything here regarding the government there or here!  And still the top two world news stories remain…Michael Jackson.   Great.  The irony…I seek refuge from a country in the throws of a military coup in an only-sightly-less-messed-up developing nation which will no longer allow me to voice my thoughts online about either of those real life situations and all anyone on the outside cares about is some dead 80s star.  Frustration reigns.

Struggling with WHY

I tend to believe that if it appears in The Wall Street Journal, it’s fairly  important…

unless, of course, it gets printed on the day Michael Jackson dies.

Today not even Iran matters, much less some place called Honduras…

unless, of course, you happen to be in one of those locales.

So while “the world” gasps and comes to a screeching halt because of the passing of a pop icon…

the REAL world probably won’t be quite as affected:

Honduras Lurches Toward Crisis

Deja Vu All Over Again

When we were denied bus service from Honduras for this coming Sunday, I decided to do some looking into it.  The “fijese” the kindly bus lady gave was that it was election Sunday.  Curious.  My Google search revealed that general elections in Honduras are held at the end of November (this year specifically on the 29th).  Curiously frustrating.  We really needed to get back on Sunday.  After a day of searching from here in Guatemala,  a country that shares a border with Honduras, these have been the first and only articles I have been able to find that explain what the big ruckus is about:

Thousands March Against…

Does Honduras Need…

Still curious.  Still frustrating.  And concerning…obviously enough so to cause Hedman Alas to cancel bus services for that day.  And even more so, begging this question in my mind…does a country have to possess either oil or nuclear capabilities to have its crisis noticed?

How Surreal was Your Day?

Mine couldn’t have been more so:

At 8:20 as the church service started, so did the earthquake; like all good Central American dwellers, we waited for the shaking to stop and then moved on.

At 9:00, I listened to a message given to English-speaking Christian church-goers about how not to be gripped with fear while living in one of the most dangerous countries in the world, which incorporated the Islamic proverb:  Trust God, but tie up your camel.

At 9:45, I left church to see someone’s private security guard in the parking lot making sure that that someone could be inside listening to a message about not being afraid without being afraid.

At 10:00 I boarded a city bus to sit behind the military personnel posted there so that gang members might not attempt to kill the driver.

At 11:00, I participated in a protest for justice and listened to people around me chant:  “no tenemos miedo…no tenemos miedo”  (we are not afraid…we are not afraid) as a number of them were flanked by personal security.

Once I digest all that, I’ll have more to say about the protest itself…

The List List Part Deux (Just in Time for Vacation)

A second edition of lists that have flittered through my twitter (which isn’t really as racy as it sounds!).  And, again, I haven’t had a chance to work my way through all of these, but I  have high hopes to do so now that it’s “vacation” and I have all kinds of “time on my hands”…

Please peruse and use!!

How to Effectively Listen on Twitter:  Ok, this one isn’t so much a list of different things as it is tips presented in list form…still good enough to make The List List Part Deux!

80+ Videos for Tech & Media Literacy:  Any type of list by Alec Couros automatically makes my List List…Part Any!

PurposeGames:  Another disclaimer here…technically this is a whole site where you can both play and create educational games, but the games are then kept in lists… .  Either way…looks good!!

7 Habits of Highly Effective Twitterers:  7 Habits of Highly Effective Twitterers written by a “Social Media Strategist” … (I didn’t even know that was a job!)

9 Free Tools for E-Learning:  Like above…pretty much what it says…9 Free Tools for E-Learning

50+ Google and Yahoo Search Shortcuts:  Again…self-explanatory yet quite helpful!

Word Play: A huge list of sites that feature fun with words.  It’s a monster…but at least they’re all in one place!!

10 Awesome Flash-Animated Interactive Websites:  There are 1o…topics ranging from science, social studies, health, music, writing, and more!

8 Habits of Highly-Effective 21st Century Teachers:  Thank goodness for these descriptive and straight-forward titles!  This one from Interface Magazine

30 Twitter Tips for Teachers: You got it…30 tips…for teachers…in regard to the use of Twitter

Teacher Clicks: Twitter in the Classroom:  Now stick with me here…this is a list of lists and article about how and why to use Twitter (in the classroom .

100 Awesome, Free Web Tools for Elementary Teachers …

Keyboarding Games:  This is a gi-nor-mous list of games just for practicing keyboarding skills!

ICT Mindtools:  ICT tools that engage users in higher order thinking

8 Tips for Super Searching: How to search and get what you want when you want it!

Amazon’s 25 Software Bestsellers and Their Free Equivalents:  Haven’t looked through all yet, but am totally psyched about this one!!  (Just Say “No!” … to Microsoft that is)

100 Terrific Productivity Tools:  This one claims to be for the “bored or unemployed,” but I feel fairly certain there’s gotta be something there for everyone!

(Most of the above came courtesy of Diana Dell, one of my favorite follows on Twitter!  Thanks, Diana!!)