Daily Work: Blogging and Conference Call

Even though I’m at home with Kelli and Holli while they’re here, I had to participate in a conference call for ReadWriteThink, on an evaluation of the various partner sites for attention to issues of multicultural, mulitlingual representation. Most of the phone call consisted of the presenter reading over the chunky report that we had been presented with. Unfortunately, she spoke very softly, so I couldn’t hear her on the speaker phone. I ended up having to tie the phone to my head with a bandana, since it wouldn’t take a headphone and I surely couldn’t hold it to my ear that long. Only 3 hours with a phone tied to my head. What I don’t give for NCTE. (and sorry. there are no pictures)

Other that than, I just spent time with Holli and Kelli, watched and blogged about basketball for GIC, cooked, and fiddled about. Kelli and I had a marvelous day.

Daily Work: Vacation with Holli and Kelli!

My sister Holli and my niece arrived this evening for a short visit. My sister has to go to a funeral tomorrow, and my niece will stay with me. They’ll leave on Sunday morning. I’ve spent much of my time today trying to get things a bit cleaner for their arrival this evening. Baked Chicken Lasagna for them, and have plans for many lovely meals during their stay. It’s nice to have them around, especially since they can carry the heavy things that I can’t. Time to get that box of old dishes down in the basement where it belongs.

In the News: Bill calls for study of media impact on youth

Bill calls for study of media impact on youth—what starts out as a possibily useful study on children and their interaction with multimedia ends on a fairly predictable note: “Mooney said she doesn’t need federal legislation to remind her that television is bad for children. ‘I’m not waiting for better television or a new study,’ Mooney said. ‘Just turn off the TV.'”

In the News: Microsoft to offer free parental Web monitoring

Microsoft to offer free parental Web monitoring—would it be cool if what this says were what it really means? I’d so love for Microsoft to monitor my parents for me. One less thing for me to do.

Really it’s just more in the how to ensure that kids avoid baddies. After all, reading and writing that kids want to do on their own is so dangerous.

In the News: Cyber bullies haunt young online

BBC NEWS | Technology | Cyber bullies haunt young online—even in the UK, it seems, there is fear of online woes. The article ends with simple and obvious advice rather than any kind of complete exploration of how to empower and prepare students who use online resources.
I’m beginning to think that I’m going to have to write the article I want to read.

In the News: Blogs taking a seat in, out of classrooms

Chicago Tribune | Blogs taking a seat in, out of classrooms—basic info on blogs in the classroom. The piece explores the educational value of the tools, but I wish it would more specifically talk about the many horrors of the fearmongers. Ignoring the obvious arguments about security and safety lessens the impact of the pedagogical issues in the article.

In the News: Online Auteurs Hardly Need to Be Famous

Online Auteurs Hardly Need to Be Famous – New York Times—back in the day (a phrase which really only makes the writer look old), folks talked with wonderment of the great abilities of the Web to democratize publishing, given that even a dog can compose a Web site. This article is in many ways the modern revision of that old observation: anyone, it seems, can make a film nowadays.

As articles like this one make broad claims on anyone’s ability to be a filmmaker, we need to continue to interrogate how “anyone” is defined. What socio-economic groups are included and excluded? How is age represented? Who creates which kinds of resources? While “online auteurs hardly need to be famous,” there are still many other things an auteur needs to compose and share works online.

In the News: Students Remember More Ads Than News

Students Remember More Ads Than News—Didn’t we know that kids paid attention to the ads back in the days of Schoolhouse Rock? The question that the article raises for me is what did the researchers ask them. Did they ask them questions that would tell us whether they were paying any attention to the other information on the channel? And as the Channel One CEO Judy Harris points out, the kids weren’t isolated. Did the researchers ask questions to determine other places that they were exposed to the products or services that were purchased?

Regardless the article raises important issues on how we pay attention to what students engage with and why. We need to think more about the literacy skills that students are choosing to engage and how we can harness that power in the classroom.

In the News: The FEMA Coloring Book: Funny, In a Stabbing Yourself in the Eyes Sort of Way

The FEMA Coloring Book: Funny, In a Stabbing Yourself in the Eyes Sort of Way – Wonkette—I don’t even know what to say about this, and I can’t look at it any longer to try to decide.