The Secret Life of Bees

Here is the link to Will Richardson's site about The Secret Life of Bees that he mentioned in the book. For anyone who has not read it, it is a wonderful book and I think it should be added to all high school modern lit. classes. What an exciting time this must have been for these kids to actually interact with the author! I'd love to have that kind of motivation for my class!

http://central.hcrhs.k12.nj.us/bees/

Responsible Educators

So, I just finished reading the first chapter of the text and I can't help but reflect on a point that Richardson made. Do we have a responsibility to teach proper Internet use and safety when we know that the majority of our students are publishing online? Is this one of those things that should be worked into the curriculum at each level like sex education has been? Or is this something that should be left to parents to sort out? (Much like we expect parents to teach manners?) Are parents the best people to teach this when many of them may not have access to the technology that their children are using?

I feel like a freshman!

Wow. Up until three days ago the terms wiki, podcast, and blog were quite foreign to me. I feel a bit like I've been buried in an underground bunker for about six years and I've reemerged to find the world has not stopped for me while I've been raising my kids. I'm sure I'm not the first person to feel this way and I won't be the last, but can anyone out there please humor me by agreeing that a lot has changed in education while I've been away?
My first impression of bloggers was that they must be some pretty conceited individuals if they thought that their every thought was worthy of publication, but after reading some of the material online I can see some great potential for this technology. Huh. I was wrong and mainstream America was right. Maybe I need to stop relying on Sesame Street for world news.