Improved technology played a big role in the identification of the two primary suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing.
Law enforcement officials were deluged with digital images and video after asking anyone who was in the area during the event to submit them. Traditionally it would take hundreds of officers countless hours to examine all of that media, but new versions of facial recognition technology have made that task much more manageable.
CNet explains how this tech works: "The software, which can help pick a person out of crowd, looks for differentiating features -- from the shape of a mouth to the ridge on a nose to the distance between a pair of eyes.
3VR in San Francisco has developed software that extracts information from video and then makes it searchable for its clients, which include retailers, banks, security firms and law enforcement."
TEACHING KIDS THAT THEY HAVE A HISTORY USING THEIR FAVORITE CHILDHOOD TOY
When you think of your childhood~ does one toy or stuffed animal or other item~ comes to mine? Mine was Pinkie. Pinkie is beige(so go figure the name I chose as a little girl). My mom had to sew her eyes and nose back on a number of times and the stuffing got squashed when I dropped it in the street and a car ran after it before my dad heroically rescued Pinkie for me.
In the beginning of...
Parents and educators are encouraged to participate in a series of free webinars provided by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) that help to educate on the effects of prejudice and bullying on children.
The ADL belives that by educating parents and teachers about anti-hate values, children can be more educated and open-minded when it comes to living their lives. By...
In the news. Here is a short activity to start a class.
I can't even imagine surfing down such a wave of water!
Burle has surfed into the record books by hanging ten down a wall of water estimated to be 100 ft. tall! The beach at Nazare, Portugal,Praia do Norte, is famous for their REALLY big waves and Burle hit the jackpot thanks to the St. Jude storm that had recently hit the European area. Currently, the record for surfing the biggest wave, was done by Garret...
In recent blogs~ Ive elaborated on Common Core~ school wide programs~ and other complex topics.
But this week~ lets keep it simple and talk about potato chips.
In truth~ I want to share strategies and ideas for making your independent reading sessions for gifted and all students come alive~ and for teachers to avoid those session from becoming too monotonous and predictable.
If one of our goals as educators is to foster a love of reading~ then we must challenge...

The fall issue of the Big Deal Book of Technology for K-12 Educators featured Education World, and we couldn't be more honored.
The downloadable eBook of the fall issue:http://bigdealbook.com/ebook
Our entry is on page 47 in the Fantastic Free Finds section.
The Big Deal Book of Technology for K-12 Educators is a semiannual print and electronic...
A pumpkin grown by Tim and Susan Mathison,Napa, California, has smashed the record for its mammoth size. The giant pumpkin weighed in at 2032 pounds! Grown in 105 days, the pumpkin surpassed the 2012 record pumpkin of 20089 pounds. Photograph from http://napavalleyregister.com.jpg)
Pretend you are a pumpkin sitting on a front porch on...
Teaching elementary students, as young as first grade, to research is no easy task. It requires enormous patience, persistence, and a belief in your students.
Training children to be young researchers provides them with all kinds of skills, which will help them succeed in college and the workplace.
Research skills have found their own place in the national Common Core English Language Arts standards, which requires students to conduct short and sustained research projects....