So, here we are. Another school year beginning at AHS as well as a new endeavor beginning for me outside of AHS, I am a grad student at the OMET program through Pepperdine. Balancing these two elements of my life, not to mention all the others that I won't mention here, will be a challenge for sure. It seems like the two definitely will overlap: good conversations, lots of thinking,
I am already formulating an action research project where in my English 9 class we are going to get rid of the D. Students will either earn an A, B or C but there will be no D (we are not even considering an F). We have spent some serious time in conversation talking about what constitutes A, B, and C work, and then we are next going to formulate a rubric that I can use to evaluate their work, eventually they will use it to evaluate their work, and compare the two instances. The main objective that I am trying to get across to both myself as well as my students is to really focus on learning and understanding. Are their grades measuring this or am I just passsing them by with a D? Are they letting themselves settle for a D? You can follow my thoughts about this on my grad school blog:
http://myomet.com/blog/index.php?chooseby=user_id&tvalue=545 (the most recent post is about A, B, and C qualities my students created)
Also, here are all of my new class blogs for this year:
http://smith90809.blogspot.com/
http://smith9h0809.blogspot.com/
http://smithewl0809.blogspot.com/
Happy School Year!
Read More
I am already formulating an action research project where in my English 9 class we are going to get rid of the D. Students will either earn an A, B or C but there will be no D (we are not even considering an F). We have spent some serious time in conversation talking about what constitutes A, B, and C work, and then we are next going to formulate a rubric that I can use to evaluate their work, eventually they will use it to evaluate their work, and compare the two instances. The main objective that I am trying to get across to both myself as well as my students is to really focus on learning and understanding. Are their grades measuring this or am I just passsing them by with a D? Are they letting themselves settle for a D? You can follow my thoughts about this on my grad school blog:
http://myomet.com/blog/index.php?chooseby=user_id&tvalue=545 (the most recent post is about A, B, and C qualities my students created)
Also, here are all of my new class blogs for this year:
http://smith90809.blogspot.com/
http://smith9h0809.blogspot.com/
http://smithewl0809.blogspot.com/
Happy School Year!
Lenovo has just released a brand new IdeaPad called the S10. The S10 combines all the great features on the S9 model, but now on a 10 inch screen. The S10 has a great look with a black lid with a white interior. The notebook though really sets a whole new bar for the mini notebook field. A long list of pros include the light weight of only 2.4 pounds, a very roomy and solid keyboard that does not warp or cause you to make mistakes due to the shrunken down size. The Lenovo IdeaPad S10 starts at a remarkably low price of only $429.99, it also sports 3 colors including black, white and red. The specs are not much to marvel over, but are still very good for a mini-notebook with a starting prices of $429.99.
Recently leaked from Dell is their first plans of a mini notebook. The new mini notebook is in response to the growing demand for ultraportable notebooks. The new mini notebook Dell is planning on releasing is called the Dell Inspiron 910 or the Inspiron Mini. The new notebook release was delayed due to a unique keyboard design dell has planned that will remove the function keys from the mini notebook and in turn enlarge the more frequently used keys.
In recent discussions with many of Dells customers, the Senior Vice President for business products group, Jeffrey Clarke, revealed that the number one priority customers looked for in a laptop was extended battery life. In order to meet these desires in a laptop Dell has completely redesigned the Latitude product line and has developed a new power cell technology that will allow the new Latitudes to run continuously for a minimum of 10 hours, and up to 19 hours while unplugged.
With notebook vendor Asus recentrly announcing a line of eco-friendly bamboo-covered laptops, laptop vendor Fujitsu has adopted similar plans and has released its first environmental friendly laptop called the "WoodShell". This portable notebook uses cedar wood and bio-based plastics to form the casing and several other parts. According to Fujitsu, this laptop "is not merely an environmentally friendly tool but an object of enduring style and utility."
The company Impulse has brought a whole new meaning to a cheap mini notebook. Impulses NPX-9000 laptop is the worlds most inexpensive laptop, with a price of only $130. No word on where you can buy this laptop yet, but the specs pretty much show that no one in their right mind would want a laptop this cheap.