Sunday, December 13, 2009

PLN27

In the article "Interstate reopens near Springs after crash" The Denver Post" explained that there was a car crash at about 10:30 this moring and that the highway was closed but then reopened just before 11:30 this morning. The cause of the accident and the number of vehicles involved is still unknown. What do you think may have caused this crash?

PLN26

In the article "Five hurt, one arrested in Grand Junction shootings" Tom Mcghee from the Denver Post explained that 5 people were wounded after a shooting early on the morning of December 13. He also stated that the police have a suspect in custody. Acording to the police, this shooting was not random. What do you think might have caused this shooting?

PLN 25

In the article "Denver police shoot, kill man after reports of gunfire in residential area" Tom Mcghee from The Denver Post explained that early on the morning of December 13, Denver police shot and killed a man who the police claimed was firing shots while walking along a resedntial street. The man has not been identified and it is unclear if he was exchanging shots with the officers. The only known information of the suspect is that he was a hispanic male and was wearing dark clothes. Do you think it was okay for the police officers to have shot and killed the man, even if he was not exchanging shots with them?

PLN24

In the article "Tiger Zoo" Bill Simmons explained the Tiger Woods situation. He explained that tiger was in a car accident at 2:30 A.M. on December 3rd. He explained that Tiger was backing out of his driveway and he hit a tree. He then explained that Woods wife smashed all the windows out to save him and pull him out of the car. Some critics believe that she did this for other reasons. Many critics also claim that Woods may have had to much to drink, or taken some kind of pain killers and that is why he crashed. What do you think caused Tiger's car crash?

Sunday, November 29, 2009

PLN23

In the article "It Was Amazing" Mr. Fisch talked about how Kristin Leclaire, a 10th grade teacher, has her classes read "The Kite Runner" Every year. But this year Rob Dodson, a milatary officer stationed in Afghanistan, contacted her. She asked if he could come in and talk to her classes. He said he would do it. So he came in and spoke to them. It had a huge affect on them and Mrs. Leclaire says that if you ask anyone in her class they will enthusiasticly say it was amazing!

PLN22

In the article "Giving More Than Thanks" Mr. Fisch explained something that he did this year and last year. He explained that this time of year is the time to celebrate hollidays and a time to give and to give thanks. So Mr. Fisch decided to donate $25 to an entrepreneur but he also purchased two $25 gift cards and gave them to two members of his PLN. He then incouraged then to give those gift cards to an entrepenuer of their choice and to purchase two $25 gift cards of there own and give them to two members of their PLN.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

PlN20

In “Wonder Women gone Country 09-10" Smith explained how her English nine honors class gets a set of new SAT preparatory vocabulary words every week. And with these words they come up with things like bumper stickers or pickup lines. This is all part of helping them learn the words which they are expected to know by the end of each week. But Smith explained that the most exciting idea yet was a Wonder Women Country song. She said that they had a little bit of time to figure out the lyrics and then practice the song. Then they had to record the songs for her. What do you think are some affective ways of learning vocabulary words?

PLN19

In "Neither Snow nor Rain nor....tonsils" Mr. Fisch explained how Mrs. Moritz daughter had just had her tonsils removed. Mrs. Moritz, being the good mom she is, decided that she needed to stay home with her daughter during this ruff time. But also being the good teacher she is, she knew she needed to see what her class was doing and how everything was coming along at school. So she scheduled her class to do a fischbowl with live blogging over Fahrenheit 451.So she participated in the blog and also she used a Skype to view the class to make sure everything was going well. Do you think this is an effective tool to use for when a teacher or even a student is absent

Monday, November 2, 2009

PLN18

In Mr. Fisch's article "Anne Smith- One of Twenty to Watch" he explained that our extremely talented teacher Smith has been honored by The National School Boards Association’s Technology Leadership Network (TLN) as a part of the annual "20 to Watch" list. The TLN explained that she gives her students the opportunity to demonstrate their thinking and sets the expectations of her students very high. They explained that her technology sets these expectations high. They also explained that these high expectations are indicative of her leadership. Congrats Smith!

PLN17

In the article "Did I Say That" David Warlick explained that he came upon an article that explained that teachers are not good unless they understand how to use technology. The thing is that his name was all over this article. He explained that he did say that teachers are better when they can use technology but he didn’t think it made them a bad teacher. Do you think it makes a teacher better if they know how to use technology?

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

PLN16

In “National day on writing” Karl Fisch explained that today is the first and hopefully annual National Day of Writing. He then went on to explain that one of the smartest people he knows, Kylene Beers, has decided to create her own blog. Mr. Fisch explained that Kylene is very good with reading and writing and she always does very thoughtful work when writing. Kylene explained in one of her blogs that blogging does not come naturally for her. Mr. Fisch agreed and said that blogging most definitely did not come naturally to him and that it does not come naturally to most people. He then explained that blogging is very good though. He explained that it allows for a chance to interact and to talk and compare and discuss issues with others. So my question is, do you think blogging comes natural to you?

Monday, October 19, 2009

PLN15

In the article “Our Googley Advice” Mr. Peter Drucker, a management guru at Google, explained what companies are looking for in an employee. He explained that he looks for many factors, but he primarily looks for 5 things. He looks for analytical reasoning. This means that if a problem or issue arose, a person should be able to reason with what that person knows instead of what they think they know. Next he looks for communication skills. This means that the information a person receives is useless unless they can communicate their conclusions. Next Drucker looks for willingness to experiment. This means a person should be willing to experiment their theories and except the evidence even if it’s not what you wanted. Drucker also looks for team players. He wants people who will work together and perform together very well. Finally Drucker looks for someone who has passion and leadership. He wants a person to be motivated by a sense of importance about what you do. So in conclusion, Ducker looks for many different qualities in a person but to him these are the most important. What do you think are some qualities someone should have to be successful?

Sunday, October 18, 2009

PLN14

In the article “Rigor Redefined” Tony Wagner explained about how he went to many different people to find out what most companies look for in hiring young employees. He explained that a student needs to learn seven survival skills to make it in life. First and foremost he explained that a student should have critical thinking and problem solving. This means that a student needs to always be thinking about how they can improve their company’s products or services. A student also needs to learn how to ask the right questions. Nest Wagner explained that a student should learn collaboration and leadership. Christie Pedra, a CEO of Siemens, explained that teamwork is no longer just about working well with the people in your building but rather working well with everybody that you work with all around the world. Mike Summers, senior vice president for global technology at Dell, explained that students just out of school lack leadership skills. He says that they lack the ability to influence. Next Wagner explained that students should learn agility and adaptability. He explained that most jobs today will not be around tomorrow so adaptability is very important. The 4th skill that Wagner explained is Initiative and entrepreneurialism. This means a student needs to at least try to do something. Even if you do not think you know how, doing it and failing is better then not trying at all. Next Wagner explained that a student needs to be able to effectively communicate orally and by writing. This means that a student needs to learn to communicate his information. The information you collect is useless unless you can communicate it. Accessing and analyzing information is the next skill Wagner describes. He explained that 21st century employees have to manage a lot of information daily and that a student needs to learn how to process this information correctly. Finally Wagner explains that students should learn curiosity and imagination. He explained that the people have learned to ask great questions are moving up in our environment quickly because they solve the biggest problems. So in conclusion, Wagner researched and found that these are the seven most important skills that a student should have. What are some important skills you think are important to be successful

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

PLN13

Typing on a keyboard rather than writing with a pen has made me a different writer. It has improved my writing because when I type I can check my spelling and grammar. Also typing helps me think about what I am writing because I have to write slower and I have to think about what I am typing rather than just rushing through it. So in conclusion, typing on a computer has made me a slower but better writer.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Pln9

In the video, "Did You Know 4.0", Karl Fisch explained that most people are not using the traditional advertising ways like newspapers but instead they are using tv's and computers.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Pln2

In the article "Women raise bar at colleges", Tamar Lewin talks about how women are out performing men, both in enrollment numbers and honor degrees.

Pln2

Pln1

In the video "Did you Know" By Karl Fisch, he talked about how the world is growing and that not just america is growing.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009