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AND.... My NEW TUMBLR
(some 15+ rated language)
So I am going home for a while, to a place where they only have dial-up. So I need to tether my laptop, so I can use the 3G internet through my mobile/cell phone and have fast internet on my laptop.
Tethering basically uses an existing mobile/cell connection to the internet on other devices. I want to do this because I am too cheap to pay $19 for a 3G USB modem for my laptop.
I put aside half a day to learn about tethering. And it took about 3 seconds. So I thought that was rather good and that I should share what I learned. Because it is so easy really. And you can now use your laptop everywhere and you don't have to limit yourself to Burger King free wifi.
Here's what I did:
Now, I have Windows 7, and it just works. I still haven't installed any drivers for my mobile phone on my laptop and I'm not using any apps or add-ons. It just worked. Which, compared to my usual experience of using computers, is a true miracle. If I wanted a connection with my phone through wifi or bluetooth, I would have to install the phone drivers. But I tend to like cable connections and I like trusting physical connections that I can easily control. But that's just me.
And tethering to my laptop is FAST compared to accessing the internet on my phone. My laptop has a better processor, so it's faster than the phone. I thought it would be slow.
Of course tethering is using the phone connection, so it might be more expensive. But then again a lot of phones have good data deals in their plans, so tethering might be a lot cheaper than buying a separate USB 3G modem dongle thing for your laptop with its own sim card and plan.
This is a tip for teachers, not students. There is very little security in tethering. It just worked automatically, which is good for adults, but a bit scary for students. Obviously if your students tether their laptop internet connection through their personal phones you have no control over their internet access. Which might be a wonderful way to bypass security in your school and bully other children without leaving a lot of traces.
Are you on the Google Education Teacher's email list?
If not, you can see their latest newsletter at http://groups.google.com/group/ccte/browse_thread/thread/b73fa48928002f8...
Features:
100+ lessons for Exploring Computational Thinking. Lessons contain
examples for integrating the principles of computer science in your math,
science, and humanities classroom. Students will learn to analyze data,
create models of understanding, and develop algorithms to experiment and
explore. Teachers with all levels of experience can start using these right
away.
(hint - they aren't really lesson plans at all - just crap)
Hint: It's all pretty crappy. Just Google telling you it's good. But they don't really know what they are talking about. I would rather they didn't do any of this and just deleted their education resources until a community of actual teachers approved it. It looks like a 30 year old nerd who programs search engines is telling you that they know more about teaching than you. And Google=Education. Somehow. It just does. No theory required. You're a stupid teacher and we're Google. We're Google. What don't you understand? We're Google!!!!!
I dare you to find something that's not totally superficial.
I have written about AMAs before (ask me anythings). They are fun and it's basically "modern" internet slang for an old fashioned interview.
So get hip with the cool kids and do some AMAs. Find someone and ask them questions. Preferably someone slightly interesting. Maybe a funeral director. Or a traffic light controller. Someone you have never thought about before.
Read an AMA from a former cat burglar. That was interesting, because my brother broke into people's homes as a child. Well, he broke into our own house. Smashed a window and everything. Pity because he had his own key, and he did have to say hello to my grandmother who was living with us at the time. My brother IS very stupid.
I think interviewing my sister would be fun. She's a career shop lifter. Not very successful because she keeps going to jail, but she thinks she is doing very well indeed. She's trying to sue (who?) after stealing a car and having an accident in it. She wants $50,000 for her neck, which isn't damaged, but she's prepared to lie and say it is. I think it would be fun for students to realize just how stupid most criminals are. Not the psychopaths. They're smart. But they are probably your boss too, so they are harder to identify.
Maybe do it for careers week.
Read some new interesting ones here - http://flavorwire.com/285848/the-most-interesting-non-celebrity-reddit-a...
Oh yeah, edit out the swearing. These are kids talking about stuff off-line from school. They are going to use their own language.
(I like the idea of emails more than an actual visitor. I was in teaching in the city once and we had an elder come to our school, and boy did he have a foul mouth. And he was drunk at 10am. I think my class learned some new words that day. He thought one of my students was a cousin and poked at him while telling him about his father's life. We were all confused. I wanted to tell my Principal "I told you so.")
Here's a fun idea. Where would you be if you dug a hole through the Earth and came out the other side?
Take a guess. Hint: You will probably be in the ocean. Do you know how much of the Earth is covered in water? A lot, apparently. But we never represent that on our maps very well it seems. Maybe it's time for a revision lesson with some mapping of area, like tracing the Earth on some paper with little squares and counting the ratio of land:water.
It's an old movie. Like Mame, but for real.
This tragically looks like a grade I taught one year. And I was trying to be strict. Add some fights and the picture would be perfect.
I have a class photo of that year somewhere. It was so bad. Only other teachers would believe me about how bad it was. Any other person would think I was making it up.
Every time I show the photo to someone they point out James. He's about the size of four children put together. Taller than me, and I'm tall. And he was brain damaged and incredibly violent. And physically disabled, but he was like a crocodile in that he could he could take 3 or 4 steps very quickly, lunging at other children. He also had the strength of an ox, being able to lift up a desk and throw it at anyone across the room. He threw it as Jason most times. That was his best friend. I think he was 18 or 19, in my Grade 6-7 class. No-one really knew. I don't think he lived at home. He just walked into people's houses at night and he stayed there until he moved voluntarily. The high school refused to take him as he was intellectually working at a three year old level. His IEP was to put his own name on the disability pension claim form. But that was very hard as paper and pencil sent him into a panic attack.
But he always came to school. I did get two 30 minute visits by a specialist that year. He would have been in a special education unit, but there wasn't any around. Except for the one in our school, about twenty steps away. But the teacher there was a frail old lady and I was a young man. So that was totally fair.
And even from that photo you can smell his sweat.
This is cute. Click on a month and get ideas.
You are of course sent a link to buy a book. But you might have them already.
http://www.seussville.com/Educators/educatorPlanningCalendar.php
AND
Don't forget this old resource. Download the books, audio files etc... It's all there.
Take a look.
At these books.
You'll get hooked.
But it might be slightly illegal because of copyright but I think the books are old enough now, so you probably won't get booked!.
TED-ed continues their series of science-related talks set to animation, with this installment explaining the wonders of the atom. Definitely worth five minutes of your time if you’ve ever wondered how truly small things in our world can be.
Here's a collection of books and teaching resources. About stuff. That's slightly crazy.
If you think the world is controlled by the New World Order, then this is a good collection for you.
I did like the link to the Dr Seuss site, which I haven't seen before. I'm not sure about the lesson plans they make for those books. Interesting though. Is the Lorax really related to the founding of Green Peace?
Anyway, nothing here can be worse than what Hollywood has done to these stories.
Well, this is strange. I never knew much about this author, but I knew he was weird, as I was always a little bit scared of his books as a child. Well, I was very scared and unsettled.
Now I feel bad I never got to know his work better. He's a terribly interesting man.
BONUS: Read 20 of his quotes on http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/maurice-sendak-quotes
He's a genius.
He never had children. I would have loved to be in his family. I think the novel "The Lost Language of Cranes" might be based on him in part.
From what I can tell, this is real. In this instance teachers brought along the drips for students. It must be part of the package for fee paying students.
Read more about it on http://www.buzzfeed.com/donnad/chinese-students-hooked-up-to-ivs-to-study
In the western world we have DMAA, which is the new (and so far legal) underground energy drug. Where Red Bull lasts about 30 minutes, DMAA lasts 5 hours, but only starts after 30 minutes. And it doesn't screw up your mind like meth and it's not addictive like coke. You can notice if students are on it because they break out in crazy sweats. I haven't seen any reports of death, but some people end up in hospital if they take too much.
The scary thing about these new drugs is that they come in base chemical form, undiluted (when you buy them from the internet anyway). And they are really cheap online. You cannot safety "eyeball" these drugs, that is, simply measure out a dose by looking at it. 0.1mg too much and it's too much. And kids are idiots who will take too much.
