Halloween

History of Halloween

Check out this cool site about the history of Halloween. Read about why people first started dressing up and what trick-or-treating is all about. Respond to what you learn in your blog. Also, what are your plans for Friday? Are you too old to trick-or-treat or will you? What will your costume be?

Red Ribbon Week

What is Red Ribbon week? Click to find out more about the pledge.

As many of you know, today is the start of Red Ribbon week. Our Red Ribbon activities were kicked off on Thursday of last week with a special guest speaker, Jeff Yaldin. What did you think of Jeff's presentation? What was his message? Was Jeff's speech inspirational to you? Why or why not?

Think about what Red Ribbon week means to you, and talk about some things that you will personally do to help the cause. Do you have friends or know people that have problems with alcohol or drugs? Do you have a problem with any of these things? What will you do this week? Will you take the drug/alcohol free pledge?

Do you think there is a problem in this school with illegal drugs or alcohol? What about with legal drugs? Are students abusing prescription medication like pain killers or anti-depressants?

Let it snow!

I woke up this AM with 2 inches of pow pow on my car, and looked up at the Steamboat ski area to see fully covered ski runs everywhere! I'm getting very excited for the start of another epic ski season. I'm just wondering if we can possibly have another winter (500 + inches) like last years.

I heard someone say the other day that you can tell how harsh the winter will be based on the abundance of bees during the summer. Apparently, the more bees, the more snow. Is there any truth to this rumor?

Do some research, and come up w/ some conclusions about our upcoming winter here in Western Colorado. Do bees have anything to do with it? Are there any other natural warning signs? What are the so called experts saying about the upcoming winter? What do you think?

Joe the Plumber

Who is "Joe the Plumber?"

Why is he all over the news right now?

What question about taxes did he ask?

If you were President, how would you handle taxes? Would you lower taxes or increase taxes? For who? Why?

Check out the article at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/us/politics/17joe.html to get started.

Apple vs. PC

http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/14/apples-all-new-macbook-pro-packs-new-nvidia-gpu-glass-trackpad/

Visit this link and read about the latest from Apple. Apple's brand new laptop looks amazing. What do you think? If you could buy a new laptop today, would you get an Apple or a PC? What advantages do Apple's have over PC's? Which is better for Graphic Design and Web Design? Do some quick research and report back through your blog.

Dance

From Wikipedia... "Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting."

Today's world of MTV and Hip Hop music has shaped the dancing of an entire generation. Walk into any high school party in America and you'll likely find a number of kids "bumping and grinding" on the dance floor. This dance can be seen just about anytime you turn on MTV and check out the latest music video or at the countless music concerts and festivals across the country everyday. Although this dance is very widespread and common to today's youth, it may be considered inappropriate and offensive to earlier generations, especially the parents of these kids.

Do students have a right to freely express themselves through the art of dancing?

Should their be restrictions on the specific type of dancing that they are allowed to engage in during school sponsered activites such as the prom?

How do you feel about a school banning "grinding" at school dances?

Do schools have a responsibility to parents to not allow grinding?

Do you think this infringes upon any of your rights as Americans?

Censorship

Wikipedia defines censorship as "...the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable, harmful or sensitive, as determined by a censor."

Our school district currently has in place a filter on the internet that blocks a large percentage of sites from viewing. All computers in the district are subject to these blocks, including teacher computers.


Do school districts have a responsibility to parents and the local community to filter the internet?

Is the current level of censorship too harsh?

Do the current blocks impede student learning? If yes, how? If no, why not?

Are you in favor of more or less censorship and why? If not, what are your suggestions for change?

Knowledge vs. Imagination

Today we looked at a quote from Albert Einstein who said that "Imagination is more important than knowledge." I think that in today's global world, this statement is more true than ever before. The world is changing and now more people than ever before have access to an infinite amount of information and knowledge right at their fingertips. All one needs is an internet connection and they can visit Google.com and find out literally anything. So why do schools focus so much on having students stockpile loads of data, formulas, and facts in their brains when it's all right there in front of them anytime they need to access it?

As an educator, I strive to emphasize creativity, innovation, and imagination over memorization, regurgitation, and compliance. I think that teachers across the world should really stop and think about what they're focusing on and realize that for today's youth, imagination is truly much more important than knowledge and shape their teaching accordingly.