education & tech

All people interested in education weren't present at the NECC 2008, that's why, still after two weeks we keep reading notes and trying to pick what it's interesting for us. We will pick a post from Bud Hunt from Colorado, where he speaks about the Day of Teacher Play and we've found one of his paragraphs quite not only interesting but philosophical:

Our students need to see us struggle and reach and grow and try and explore and learn and fail and stand back up at the end and say, 'Wow. What’d I learn here?' That’s probably the best motivation for them to get their hands dirty. And we’ve never any credibility if we ask kids to do something that we won’t do.

Isn't that a jewel! How many colleagues are thinking of this. It's human nature to be scared of failing but teachers are humans and then, they are also entitled to fail. Nothing wrong with failing, teachers fail, students fail. The fact of the matter is, we wouldn't the knowledge accumulated today, if scientists were always correct.

I was trying to find a related post in Technorati about Geoff Powell session, What Effective Computer-Using Educators Know about Teaching: An International Perspective and unfortunately we couldn't find any. While focusing on increasing their technical fluency, we run the risk of assuming that all teachers understand foundational learning theory and child-centered classroom practice.

The only record I've found is the liveblogging made by Bud the Teacher. (Bud Hunt).

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I have loved reading some of the questions and answers from A Tipical Thoughts. While blogging and after reading so many stuff from my reader I have learned so much about fellow bloggers and the idea of bloggers like Tipp are of encouragement because these bloggers have opened up to have anything asked about them.

How much you know about a fellow blogger you read almost every day?

So, in Tipp's words "let’s have a go at it!

Ask away people. Any questions. You will get a straight answer, if I choose to pick yours.

Anyone, anywhere can participate!

Friends and family from “back home”, Bloggy friends, Real life friends.

You will probably never get this opportunity again so do it now!

Those of you who are out there who are lurking, show yourselves! I don’t care if you are an old enemy (really there are only about two people out there that would qualify for such a title so what are the odds they are you, no really, try me!), a stranger, someone from way-back, whoever- ask away!"

Just in case, I've wrote something related here.

Video produced and distributed by UTPL under MIRADAS

This is the story of a foreigner in Loja, who discovered that growing older not necessarily means being invisible to the opposite sex.

She went to a party where, for the first time, she received not a glimmer of attention from any man there. She was happily married by then, but still, she remembers how stunned she felt to go unnoticed. Suddenly, she was out the game. After years, she confess, she loves male attention as much as ever.

This was an experience in Loja's (not far from Vilcabamba) not much crowded immigration office. Holding her ticket, she sat for about one hour, resigned to a long wait. A young man, half her age had completed her paperwork and asked her if she was married or single. She said 'single' and watched as he checked the box marked 'divorciada'. Wait. "Actually, I am a widow" she pointed out.

"Oh, seniora", he said, "I am so very sorry. Please accept my profound apology. I have made the most egregious error". Now here he was, spotting her in the back of the room and waving me up to his window. The bunch of visa-seeking gringos parted, then, she floated by, to be received by a courteous Ecuadoran male who took his time explaining the final steps in the visa renewal process. She will be able to come back into two weeks to pick up the visa, he concluded. "Until then", he said, taking her hand in his and cocking his head ever so slightly. "que le vaya muy bien, seniora".

This expression in Spanish means, "I hope that all goes well for you" and it's a standard good-bye in Loja and Ecuador. To the 70 and something old American woman, it feels like a resurrection from the dead. It hasn't been too long ago that she waited in a store in the States and her testimony goes about a middle-aged, balding clerk, who helped a 20-something, long haired blonded pick out a flat TV screen. The clerk was all charm with all information on every set in sight. When she finally got her turn, the employee barely made eye contact and offered minimal data on only the sets I asked about. Of course, she didn't buy a TV and walk out feeling upset and humiliated.

In Loja and the little town of Vilcabamba, She is born again into a world of easy-smiling men who give her a two handed hello or a peck on the check and people who always take the time to chat. Part of all this is custom; regardless of their sex, people stop and exchange pleasantries. A typical "hi, How are you?" flyby is a bad form for Ecuadorean culture; you learn at least to stand still and wait for an answer.

What you can experience down South Ecuador is more than good manners. Men you don't even know smile openly at you, make eye contact and say, "Buenos dias." Occasionally, they will give you a sly up-and-down glance as you pass on the street. The top video, at the beginning shows you the point of view of people living in Vilcabamba and this story reflects how nice and polite Vilcabamba residents are and continue to be.

The other day in Vilcabamba, the man behind the counter at a small hardware store felt free to place some extra gaskets on the hand of the history's woman and declare, "No charge , seniora. I ask only that you return soon to look at me again with your beautiful and rare green eyes around here". She had to laugh at this nonsense.

Remember, if you happen to come to Ecuador, go Loja and ask to be driven to Vilcabamba, you won't see only ancient people but surely you will feel younger as ever!

This post was inspired on the video shown up here and in Remember Sweet Things by Ellen Greene.

Technorati: vilcabamba, loja, ecuador, latin+america

Today as always I was reading my subscriptions in Bloglines and one of the most interesting things I've found is a post about how to keep readership and be happy about what you have say or you've seen in the online highway of information. Many of you dear readers might be thinking how come a person can spend hours and hours reading blogs without substantial information, no pertinent data or simply personal diatribes about innumerable facts that only human beings would be involved in.

Certainly is hard to convince bloggers such as fake Steve Jobs to stop writing facts and colloquial information challenging the most respectable man in the computer business. No word about another top influential blogger in the techie field, Robert Scoble. Tip of the hat. Not to mention young rockies in the amalgam of 68 million blogs according to Technorati. This our Science & Tech showed up a while ago and was written in Spanish at the very beginning. Spanish is the second language where you might find blog info about. English language is the dominant language, no matter what the Chinese bloggers have to say. That was the reason why we had to switch from Spanish to English and many readers come to check what we have to say, sometimes no original content but readable and pertinent. We are receiving hits aver the 100 hundred daily and our MyBlogLog goes right now over the hundreds. Thanks everyone for the dedication you take and come back everyday to check out what's going on in our neighborhood.

TonNet is not moving from Blogger or Blogspot, we prefer them over Wordpress, no matter what the these guys have to complain about our blogs hosted in Blogspot. We will keep reading and writing about what we like: education, hacks, gadgets, technology and all stuff about new developments and progress in the scientific field and technological spectrum. You are seeing new template because we wanted to keep fresh design and easy readiness. You tell, I've already received reports about what it looks like and how easy is now to load this page, well before we decided to show up all post, hem. We've all have discussed how important it is the content and the socialnetworks, with millions of people with access to the online content we have not only to dedicate time to excel content but keep a wide range of social connectors. It is not casual many websites had being created to keep up with the growing market of socialnetworking. Take a look at what's going with Facebook, how MySpace have changed and why Yahoo is struggling to keep up with the collection offresh money.

The problems with GUYS:

* If you TREAT him nicely, he says u are IN LOVE with him; If you Don't, he says you are PROUD.

* If you DRESS Nicely, he says you are trying to LURE him; If you Don't, he says you are from KAMPUNG.

* If you ARGUE with him, he says you are STUBBORN; If you keep QUIET, he says you have no BRAINS.

* If you are SMARTER than him, he'll lose FACE; If he's Smarter thanyou, he is GREAT.

* If you don't Love him, he tries to POSSESS you; If you Love him, he will try to LEAVE you.

* If you tell him your PROBLEM, he says you are TROUBLESOME; If you don't, he says that you don't TRUST him

* If you SCOLD him, you are like a NANNY to him; If he SCOLDS you, it is because he CARES for you.

* If you BREAK your PROMISE, you cannot be TRUSTED; If he BREAKS his, he is FORCED to do so.

* If you SMOKE, you are BAD girl; If he SMOKES, he is a GENTLEMAN.

* If you do WELL in your exams, he says it's LUCK; If he does WELL, it's BRAINS.

* If you HURT him, you are CRUEL; If he HURTS you, you are too SENSITIVE!!& sooo hard to please!!!!!

* If guys read this, they will swear that it's not true.......but if you do, they say you are selfish.....


Hey girls and guys ...tell me what u think of this list?

I was amazed after reading the six pages report that Webblogg-ed mentions. It all has to be with the elite education, yesterday we were talking in Edublogger Event07 about some topics that not necessarily apply to this case but must be considered in the wide spectrum. This is how our traditional school had been evaluating, grading and scoring. We already arrived to a new stage. The new, modern or after 20 century school. We don't need those traditional buildings in order to learn. Yes, I know . You will be saying, but who's going to certify that knowledge? The practice, showing up your expertise, proving yourself you are able to solve a problem!

The experience related in the NYT, is about Senior life in one of the best High School in Boston, the Newton North and what is takes to move up in get enrolled in the Ivy League. Where you are supposed to do well in class but still have time to go out as a normal 18 year boy or girl.

You have to get a elite delivering message if you want to pursue high standard and get accepted in named colleges in America. There is a lot of emphasis on nonconformity and those youngsters need to learn how to live with jam-packed schedule, amped-up multitasking and focus in a very narrow group of the most selective colleges countrywide.

The bar for achievement keeps being raised for each generation, the father of one of those girls said: 'Our children start where we finished.' And Sara Rimer, the author of this article in the New York Times adds: You have to be fluid and highly educated to survive in this new economy.

Should we be slaves of our fate? You have the answer!

Update:
Education Week also has its artcicle College Concerns.

Netvibe is back in business and I've found a portion of philosophy in this particular text:

Go on and cry until your tears run dry.
Go an and cry at broken dreams, it's alright.
Let sorrow have its day and when its gone...

....life will go on.

What will you do. It's mattter of heart, brain or plain love?

The idea was brought in by R. DesRochers and her Funny Monday and I think it is nice to take a smile out of your mouth-face. So, here we go, try NOT to smile.

A man, returning home a day early from a business trip, got into a taxi at the airport. It was after midnight. While en route to his home, he asked the cabby if he would be a witness. The man suspected his wife was having an affair and he intended to catch her in the act. For $100, the cabby agreed.

Quietly arriving at the house, the husband and cabby tiptoed into the bedroom. The husband switched on the lights, yanked the blanket back and there was his wife in bed with another man.

The husband put a gun to the naked man's head. The wife shouted, "Don't do it! This man has been very generous! I lied when I told you I inherited money. He paid for the Corvette I bought for you. He paid for our new cabin cruiser. He paid for your Pittsburgh Steeler Season Tickets. He paid for our house at the lake. He paid for our country club membership,and he even pays the monthly dues!"

Shaking his head from side-to-side the husband slowly lowered the gun. He looked over at the cab driver and said, "What would you do?"

The cabby said, "I'd cover his ass with that blanket before he catches a cold."

Gracias a Manuel Amador descubro el blog de Iván Campana quien haciendo referencia a un libro, extrae una cita que nos deja pensando ciertamente en las ilimitadas capacidades de una mujer:

Una mujer es capaz de cortarte las pelotas, cocinarlas con cebollas y obligarte a que te las comas, sin dejar de sonreír un solo momento

Usted qué opina?