Becky_L_Perkins : Biography project with QR Codes! Gaston county among unhealthiest counties in NC GASTON COUNTY, N.C. -- New rankings show Gaston County is among the unhealthiest counties in the state. According to the rankings from the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Gaston County slipped five spots in a statewide ranking of county health outcomes, from seventy-sixth to eighty-first out of 100 counties. Health outcomes are the quantification of illness and early death in a community. However, in a ranking of health factors, which measures the infrastructure and resources necessary for communities to be healthy, Gaston climbed four spots, from sixty-fifth to sixty-first. The health department is leading a team of agencies trying to come up with new ways to fight obesity in the county; Girls on the Run is a character building program that tries to teach kids about fitness early in life. Kathleen Boyce, the director of the program for Gaston County says she was not surprised by the county health rankings.
Exactly What The Common Core Standards Say About Technology The Common Core Standards, the national academic standards for K-12 schools in the United States, have now been adopted by 47 of the 50 states in the U.S. This makes them the pre-eminent source of what is being taught in the vast majority of public schools in America. Much has been made in the blogosphere and across social media of the changes compared to former academic standards that were dictated at a state level. Reactions usually involve the added demand these standards place on text complexity and general rigor. Since they’re only available for English-Language Arts and Math, it’s difficult to get a full picture for how they will impact public education, but some inferences can be made based on the set of ELA standards. TeachThought’s focus is on the intersection of education and technology, and the Common Core certainly takes aim at in-depth student technology use. Common Core Standards W= Writing RI= Reading: Informational SL= Speaking and Listening W.4.6. RI.8.7. SL.11-12.2.
Skilled, LIterate & Fluent in the Digital World I have been intrigued with the relationship of being skilled, literate and fluent in the Digital World for a while. We are focusing at school to look through the lens of fluency using technology as tools (e.g. using the iPad as the device and apps as the tool to achieve fluency), not as the end. I am wondering if the word “fluency” in the digital world, sparks the same thoughts or activates the background definition in other educators? I have heard others in the edubloggersphere use the word “workflow” instead of “fluency”. Workflow is defined by Wikipedia as: The sequence of industrial, administrative, or other processes through which a piece of work passes from initiation to completion. The word “workflow” c-o-u-l-d work, but still does not sound right. fluency- workflow? Looking back at my train of thought, I started by looking at the flow between the skills needed to become literate in order to move on to become fluent. Like this: Like Loading...
Becky_L_Perkins : I will be, will you? #blperkins... Lessons These lesson plans were perhaps the most popular activity for last year's Digital Learning Day. The links provide a ready-made activity that you can use with your students on Digital Learning Day and beyond. You will see that each lesson includes a full lesson plan and a short video introduction from the Digital Learning Day teacher who submitted the lesson. If you plan to use a lesson on Digital Learning Day in your classroom or school, make sure to add this activity to our map. I Am Malala In this innovative lesson plan, students explore the power of social media in calling for change, while also improving their understanding of various cultures and social issues that impact other parts of the world. Video Introduction Lesson Plan Activity Rubric Inquiry-Based Research This great lesson has students practice online research skills by playing timed trivia games. Video Lesson Plan Experiencing Poetry through Photo Story Video Introduction Lesson Plan Biomes and Ecoregions