Summary: On Our Mind: iWork ‘09 Update- ePub creation is now possible. Listeners: From the Twitterverse: Advisory: My kids like the 'snowball fight'. Everyone writes something about themselves on a piece of white paper but they don't name it. Then they scrunch the paper into a ball and on the teacher's signal a snowball fight ensues. After everyone's had the chance to throw a lot of paper around ( a few minutes) another signal announces the end of the 'fight'. Each student picks up the snowball closest to them and takes turns to read out the info and maybe guess who it belongs to. Anne De Manser ( http://twitter.com/Aaannne ) Tech Tools: RubiStar Want to make exemplary rubrics in a short amount of time? Try RubiStar out! Registered users can save and edit rubrics online. You can access them from home, school, or on the road. Registration and use of this tool is free, so click the Register link in the login area to the right to get started now. http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php Webspotlight: Science YouTube Videos from Mashable Do you ever stare off into the cosmos, wondering about all the matter and particles swirling about in the universe? Or gaze into the spiraling petals of a rose and contemplate the Golden Ratio and all it connotes? No? Well, take some time out from your weekend of quietly quaffing to think, really think, about why, oh why the forces of nature chose to forge us within this mighty smithy we call life. Strain your mind, dear reader, and test the mettle of your brain fibers ruminating on the fact that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in our philosophy… Or, you could just watch this week’s YouTube ( roundup, the theme of which is science! Take a look down below and get yourselves some education, you desk set daredevils. http://mashable.com/2010/08/27/youtube-roundup-science/ News: Reshirting the Little Ones By PAMELA PAUL Sitting out Kindergarten to gain an advantage. “Redshirting” of kindergartners — the term comes from the practice of postponing the participation of college athletes in competitive games — became increasingly widespread in the 1990s, and shows no signs of waning. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/fashion/22Cultural.html?_r=2 Common Core Standards By Stephen Sawchuk More than two-thirds of the states—including Massachusetts, a state long famed for excellent academic-content standards—have adopted common grade-level expectations, as the movement to align nationwide what students are learning continues to gain steam. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/08/06/37standards.h29.html?tkn=LYQFx%2FKcK6NQoGyVPUaQ1jxL%2BVGTKhbLgyMt&cmp=clp-edweek Class Size. Does it Matter? By Tamara Henry Conventional wisdom says the smaller the classes, the better the education, because teachers can pay more attention to each child. But while smaller classes are popular, decades of research has found that the relationship between class size and student outcomes is murky. http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-08-26-classsize26_ST_N.htm ISTE 2010
