Quill Pens and Powdered Wigs in Today's Classrooms

Students learn to read, write, add, subtract, multiply, and divide in grammar school.

Twitter's 140 characters are not the end. They are the means.

Thomas writes a draft of the Constitution, he uploads the doc. file to Slideshare: He clicks the T and it uploads to Twitter.

George sees the Tweet, clicks the link and the file appears. He wants to Share this with his Facebook friends around the colonies. He copy-pastes the twitter link to his Facebook page for his friends. His colonial rebellion group page on Facebook. A thumbnail comes up. This thumbnail is a miniature of the doc. file.

John sees this on the group page and clicks the thumbnail. He reads the draft. Under the comments page he adds his views on the matter.

Those who have a problem incorporating technology into the classroom should go back to quill pens, powdered wigs, and candle light. They have no business in the classroom.

Did I hear someone say Visit Williamsburg? I believe there is a website for that.

Regards,

Slim

P.S.

Again? Still! Sometimes when I eavesdrop on the conversations about social media and technology, I get the feeling that people are getting their information from my Grandfather. That would not be a problem if I were 8 yrs old, but I'm 58 years old.

A bit of History for the slow folks:

The world is flat. You'll fall off the edge.
It'll never get off the ground. If God wanted me to fly, he'd have given me wings.
"The motor car? Noisy, smelly, toy for the rich. It'll never replace the horse."
Talkin' Pitchers? People don't want all that chatter, they want to see real acting.

51% of Americans 12+ years old are on Facebook. Factor out the number 12-22 and find the number of adults. (Something for math class.)

Social Media is the Medium: Greater than the sum of its parts.
http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2011/03/social-media...

The Virtual Classroom: Class Reunion Highlights.
http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2011/03/thye-virtual...

And, of course, Edison invented the light bulb by candlelight.
http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2011/03/edison-inven...

And for those concerned with Social Studies and Global Politics, Current Events and Economics:
http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2011/01/egypt-and-ot...

Don't "Get Real". Get Virtual.

"At last: I have a Twitter account, a Facebook account, a Linkedin account, a SlideShare account and a Blog. Finally I feel like a virtual person. For a while, I didn't think I was going to make it." -- Slim Fairview

Regards,

Slim


(By the way, I've been on-line since the 20th century.)

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to clap some erasers.

Slim

Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview


mail slimfairview@yahoo.com

Allergic to Peanuts or to Good Manners?

Allergic to peanuts or to good manners?

Hey Florida, et. al.

In my Beaver Cleaver childhood, we left our lunch outside in the cupboard. We washed our hands. These were neither politically correct nor politically incorrect. They were not compliance with the ADA. They were not political issues, social issues, legal issues, or hygiene issues: they were not issues at all. We simply left our lunches in the cupboard and washed our hands. How did normal behaviour become so controversial?

When new neighbors moved in, I asked the parents if their child had a peanut allergy. Why? Because after work, I would mix a martini, make half a peanut butter sandwich and go out into the back yard. If we met over the fence, I did not want my sandwich to be the cause of an allergic reaction.

Maybe we can resolve the dispute my falling back on that old canard: Good manners?

Regards,


Slim

mail slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview