Meme of 4

meme  ['mEm] Function:    noun
: an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture

Tagged by a couple folks, now. I resisted as long as I could. I'm only doing this to be a good sport. Alice! I hate having to look words up. Meme!

Four non-library jobs I have held:
Hod carrier
Laundry delivery driver for nursing homes
Running rod and chain for surveyor
Honey wagon operator

Four authors, books, or series I read over and over again:
Gary Jennings
Michael Connelly
McMurtry's Lonesome Dove series
Mary Renault

Four movies I can watch over and over:
Godfather I & II
Dirty Harry
Music Man
The Man Who Would be King

Four TV shows I love(d):
Clutch Cargo
Johnny Quest
Hill Street Blues
Daily Show

Four places I have lived:
Greeley, Colorado
Menlo, Iowa
Cleveland, Minnesota
Udhailiyah, Saudi Arabia

Four sites I visit/use daily:
Google
Mankato Area Public Schools
Bloglines
Amazon

Four foods I yearn for:
Caramel corn
Pickled beets
Acorn squash
Bratwurst
(All in one tasty hotdish!)

Four inventions I’m grateful for:
Garage door opener
Alarm clock that projects the time on the ceiling
Electronic ignition
Push up bra (Sorry, but I have to be honest.)

Four musical choices for my personal soundtrack:
Just about any Eric Clapton
Just about any Linda Ronstadt
The Tractor's Christmas album
Tubular Bells

Four nouns that describe me:
Skeptic
Storyteller
Optimist
Father

Four EduBiblioBloggers I’m Tagging (sorry, Ladies):
Diane Chen
Francis Harris
Guusje Moore
Amy Bowllan

 Now I have discharged this obligation. Uffdah!

 

Flattening world

In this morning's e-mail:

respected sir,
 we are organising a small book fair at pathsala, a
little village in india. we are publishing your
article 'The Future of Books' from the website in the
souvenir as we saw that "permission to use this column
for non-profit use is freely given". This letter is
for your kind intimation about it.
 Congratulating you for writing such a beautifull
article and your ideas which are expressed so
vividly.

for editorial board,
UDAYAN BOOK FAIR
Pathsala

 Amazing...

Are we moving ahead or backward?

It took me awhile, but I finally found the webpage "77 Ways Teachers Are Using Technology in the Classroom in District 77" I created 10 years ago. What spurred the search was a "gee whiz" article on students following some online expedition somewhere. I thought. "Why are we still exclaiming about things like this after having been doing them for a decade or more?"

As I look at the list, I can't help but think we may well have gone backwards in the past 10 years. The focus in classrooms today is so tight on reading, writing, math and test scores fewer teachers seem willing to try something new (and exciting.)

Plus our tech efforts still seem so scattershot. Why do we not have the same level of sophistication regarding technology and information literacy curricula as we have for reading, math, writing and the content areas - or commitment to implementing such a curricula?

Big sigh... 

(Oh, I finally found this webpage on our isd77 server when I accidentally typed the search term "77 ways" into Google when I thought I was typing it into Spotlight. Amazing.)