Headline Poem 12/16/14 -- I will never

Art by Mark Olmsted 

Tonight, I wrote a poem inspired by this art piece by Mark. I'm curious to see what he thinks, and how what I see merges with his truth. 

I will never 

I can stand on the cliffs of injustice and point my fingers 

ten or two. 

I can use your jaw that drops 

when I walk by 

to wipe up 

what's left of me and you. 

But there is   no   way, 

even at my lowest 

when I can hardly believe 

we ever tried to merge our souls,

that I will let you 

trick me with your 

condescending birds 

and 

letters put together 

to make 

twisted lines of graffiti 

and hollowed out words. 

     

       I will never 

worship the ground you piss 

on as long as you

crookedly 

live. 

Headline Poem 12/14/14 -- capsized

Art by Sandra "Sasha" Moreano 

Today's poem is inspired by another piece of art by Sandra Moreano. Here is a link to her website where I found this beautiful painting -- http://shashasclips.blogspot.com/2014/12/gelli-prints.html.

capsized 

the storm came 

out of nowhere 

    to tip over 

      our boat

which  

would have been     

okay 

       if we were prepared 

to do more 

than float 

       but we weren't

       and so 

we sank         

minute by minute 

        until eventually 

        our little vessel 

            capsized 

             with us 

                in it

10 Ways to Get Started with Technology, Today!

Teachers and administrators want to integrate more technology into their classrooms and schools. This is an overwhelming, but exciting challenge. What is the best, most supportive, and least intrusive way to do this (today)? 

Here are a few ideas:

1. Create a welcome video for students and families to view before the first day of school. If you can, start a blog, and add it there.

2. Take one project that you enjoy, and use a Web 2.0 tool for the creation, collaboration, publication, and presentation. Looking for a project? Check out The Buck Institute for Education website for ideas.

3. Create a Personal Success Plan for yourself and students. If one goal is to gain confidence with technology, put yourself in the learner role, and seek out mentors. Model curiosity. 

4. Join Twitter. It is a bit overwhelming at first, but it is a great professional development tool. You can find me @courtneyhanes.  

5. Explore ways to connect and collaborate for yourself and your students. Here are a few places to start: Tween and Teen Tribune-Online newspapers for students, ePals-A global community, and great resource for connecting with classrooms around the world, Edmodo-A secure social network for teachers and students, and of course, Blogging!

6. Take students on a Virtual Fieldtrip. 

7. Use Skype and Google Hangout to communicate with students, families, colleagues, and guest speakers. 

8. Check out TED and TED-Ed.

9. Let students bring their own devices into the classroom and use them (Quick BYOD video).

10. Learn as much as you can about changing the way we teach and the way our students learn. Start with Stop Stealing Dreams by Seth Godin, Sir Ken Robinson's Changing Education Paradigms, and Dr. Yong Zhao.

It doesn't matter where you start, just that you do. We do not want our students to use technology because we told them to. Same rings true for teachers, parents, and administrators. We want to share, collaborate, and evolve together, and because we see the benefits. 

Have ideas to add? Leave a comment and let me know!