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Student Blogs to Effect School Change

saladTired of being forced to eat what she felt were nutritionally sub-par meals at school, a 9-year-old student took to her blog in an effort to draw attention to the issue. It didn’t take long for that attention to go viral as Martha Payne's blog, Never Seconds, was eyed by several media outlets in her native Scotland. The attention grew to the point of a nationally-televised interview with the BBC. She explained how she would take pictures of the meals presented to her with a digital camera and write up a summary of the food including a Food-o-meter rating of how much she likes it, a mouthful count, a health rating and a number for how many pieces of hair were in the food.

She started in April and by May 15, school and town officials were seen leading journalists on tours of the school’s dining area. It was then that Payne blogged that there was a new system for ordering food, and that "cherry tomatoes, radishes, carrot and cucumber shreddings," began appearing in the meals.

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Parent Communication Issues? All you...

Jeff sits down with Syed Balkhi from WPBeginner.com to discuss how WordPress can be used as a communication tool between teachers and parents, as well as how it can be used as a powerful digital portfolio tool.

About...

Free College, With Major Questions

Last week, President Barack Obama traveled to Tennessee to officially unveil his “America’s College Promise” initiative. In visiting the Volunteer State, President Obama pledged to provide two years of community college free for “responsible” students, seeking to build off a similar effort the state had already launched for Tennessee residents.

In the coming weeks and months, we will undoubtedly start seeing more details on the proposal and how it will affect real students, real...

The Global Search for Education: How to...

"I want everyone in a school to experience a sense of joy, and to learn."

-- Mikko Salonen

All schools in Finland are primarily public schools, with cities and municipalities as the proprietors. The reasons for a proprietor to seek school improvement, according to Mikko Salonen, “can include factors such as poor learning outcomes, poor feedback from parents, decreased attractiveness, leadership problems, conflicts among personnel, or...

Happy Birthday, Ben Franklin! (January...

Ben Franklin’s birthday is January 17, 1706. He had lots of sayings on how to live one’s life. For example,” If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him.” He also said, “ An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” Learn about this famous “founding father” of our country with this webquest!

Webquest:
1. Ben Franklin was a inventor, scientist,writer,statesman and librarian. Believing we could save fuel by using natural...

President Obama Proposes Free Community...

Last week, President Barack Obama proposed free tuition to students at community colleges. Students would need to keep a 2.5 GPA to qualify for the free college program.  The President said ”No one should be denied [a college education] because they don’t have the money. I want to bring (the cost of community college) down to zero. I want to make it free”.  President Obama also would include technical training schools, too. At this time, specifics as to how the...

Padlet: Using Technology to Naturally...

Throughout the years, warriors of various cultures considered the sword merely an extension of the arm.

In other words, the two blended together, enhanced each other.

I think the same advice holds true for curriculum and technology. Rather than force technology into the classroom, it should be used more as a natural extension of learning. The technology being used-whether a program, website, or device-should allow students to explore the curriculum in more depth, with more...

Educationally "Full" for the...

Have you ever sat through a professional development training, in which you were familiar with all the information being presented? Remember the intense feelings of boredom and/or frustration (come on, be honest here), the yearning to learn something new, something challenging, something you could use in your classroom?

Many gifted children experience these feelings on a regular basis due to what Dr. Tracy Cross, executive director for the Center of Gifted Education at the College of...

Non-Fiction ELA Lesson: Orangutan in...

I remember a few months ago, a black macaque swiped a camera and took a very cute selfie. A court case questioned the owner of the photograph. Was it the macaque's or the photographer that owned the camera. It was determined that being non-human, the monkey had no rights to "ownership".

What do you think of this new court ruling? Should primates have any rights?

Perhaps, you may find this news story of interest to use in your classroom.

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Share in Class: Learning New Year'...


HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Bonne annee(French)

Frohes neues Jahr(Germany)

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