December brought a break in my Sunday Salon series, but I'm back now to share a
sampling of what I've read online the past couple of weeks.
Since starting this curated bi-weekly post, numerous individuals have contacted me to share what they like best about what I've been reading, and they've also been sharing their own reading lists with me--making this an ideal learning/sharing opportunity.
Education
Teachers Know Best: Teacher's Views on Professional Development from Impatient Optimists
Obituary for John I Goodlad, Progressive Educator
A Valerie Strauss article in the Washington Post from a blog post by Peter Green in which he writes about The Biggest Public Education Win of 2014.
Valerie Strauss also published an article that includes a piece by Pasi Sahlberg reflecting on the question--What if Finland's Great Teachers Taught in America? This article left me feeling inquisitive and wishing I could talk to Sahlberg.
Student athletes in Utah attend a public charter school designed to support their interest in competitive winter-sports. The Heroes of America's Only (free) All Winter-Sports School
by Heather Hansman left me thinking about other schools we might design
focused on allowing kids and teens to pursue their own interests.
I found A New Brand of Superintendents and their Visions for 2015 encouraging since the focus was on providing more distributed leadership and opportunities for teachers.
From School to Shining School: 52 Stories from Educators Across the U.S. in an interactive map format.
Read about a new library focus in this Kentucky Teacher Magazine article titled No More Shushing in these School Libraries.
Technology
How My Mom Got Hacked by Alina Simone in The New York Times chronicles a real story of a woman whose computer files and photos were held hostage until she paid the ransom (via her daughter's assistance) in bitcoins.
Why, and How to Teaching Computer Hacking by Rachel Williams explores a new computer science curriculum.
I enjoyed this question--What's the Impact of Overzealous Internet Filtering in Our Schools.
For two reasons, this article BCTC's Hour of Code Program Was a Hit with Students. 1) I, too, participated in Hour of Code at
a different local school, and 2) some of the students highlighted in
the article here are from a school across town where I used to teach.
Te@ch Thought Blog offered a post titled Start Something: 13 Digital Strategies for Teacher Collaboration.
Hiking and Adventure
An avid reader of adventure travel for the past 20 years, I found a new type of adventure travel to read when I learned about a couple of climbers free-climbing the Dawn Wall in Yosemite National Park. This article introduces life when Hanging Out 1,200 Feet Up.
I'm planning a vacation for my family to Colorado (and maybe a day trip to Wyoming) so I was looking at hiking trails that might allow us to day hike a tiny section of the Continental Divide Trail. This site offered useful reading about Steamboat Springs Hiking Trails.
Section Hiking is Hard by Jennifer Pharr Davis serves as a great reminder that I better be thoughtful as I plan our tiny hike.
The Continental Divide Trail: A Long Way from Nowhere by Julie and Matt Urbanski is a blog post about their hike. I read their entire book last year, but enjoyed this blog post this week.
Miscelleaneous (But very intriguing reads extremely worthy of mention here)
Wal-Mart an Economic Cancer on Our Cities is well worth a read if you care about small businesses and economics in your area.
Personally, I'm driven to continue with my work in education because I'm passionate about issues of equality. The article Inequality and the American Child speaks to many of the concerns that keep me going in my work.
The beautiful
photography of dessert art drew me into this blog post. For complete fun
and appreciation for art, check out Brain Pickings and an article
titled Modern Art Desserts From Mondrian Cake to Matisse Parfait.
Playlist: TED Talks to Watch With Kids includes 11 different talks on a variety of topics, all with kids as the speakers.
100 Years of the Christmas Truce. Longing for a New Narrative on the Public History Weekly site.
