This is a fabulous visualization from NASA. There are many similar resources but what intrigues me is that this is quick and direct and there’s no question about the data as it’s displayed over time.
You select your concern – Sea Ice, Sea Level, Carbon Dioxide, or Temperature…
… and then you’re presented with the visualization.
Here is the visualization for world temperature.
The first time through, you’ll probably be tempted to just press play and watch the visualization from beginning to end.
The power though is that there’s a little scrubber bar that lets you control your walk through time. This would allow you to stop at a particular year to discuss in class what was happening at that time.
It’s a quick and clear to use resource.
If you’re looking for more, much more, visit the complete NASA Climate Change and Global Warming site here.
What a week! It was so warm hot here. I guess that I can’t complain too loudly though. The Sun Parlor was not the hottest place in the province. It looks like it’s going to get cooler for the weekend. Isn’t that doing things backwards?
This post comes from the mindfulness side of the Stillnesshub blog and written by Safina Hirji.
I’ve read a lot of blog posts recently about how to re-open schools. They’re typically full of ideas about the mechanical and logistical side of things. All of that is really important for safety and I’ll admit to reading many of them.
This post takes a different tact though.
It focuses on students. What a concept! But, it’s not the sort of thing dealing with assessment and evaluation, content, and other teacher things. True to the theme, Safina deals with student mindfulness. She touches on four areas.
Mental Health and Well-Being through Mindfulness
Individualized Learning Opportunities
Mindfulness with acquiring knowledge and building skills
Accessing the right Tech Tools for Collaborative, Synchronous Learning
It’s a good read and a powerful reminder that opening schools is more than unlocking doors.
Mark Chubb’s post is a nice followup to Safina’s. Like her post, he’s got a great deal of concern for the student and their re-introduction to school, specifically for mathematics.
I suspect that most teachers go through a process of pre-testing to assess strengths, weaknesses, and current levels of understanding in the first part of a mathematics class.
But this is not a regular year, whatever that is. We know that things have been less, far less, than idea over the past while. Then, add two months for summer holiday.
Mark takes these notions and expands with recommendations about just how to start and a list of things to reflect on.
We’re still an unknown period of time away from knowing when and how things will open but there’s some great inspiration here to get things going in the back of your mind at least.
Amanda Potts says she “hate the poem I wrote” and that’s a shame because it’s a very power piece of media.
Inspired by the recent announcement that schools would remain closed for the rest of spring, her first reaction was that the air had been sucked out of the room.
I’m not a big poetry critic but I really felt that she laid her teaching soul bare with her thoughts and I’ll bet that you’d feel the same way.
It starts…
No more waiting for people who don’t know me to make a decision about my life my family’s life my students’ lives my community’s lives.
From the Our Dad’s Shoes blog devoted to issues about Fathers and Fatherhood comes this post, from Will Gourley. It is actually a post he’d written in the past and brought forward at this time. It fits nicely into the theme.
He discusses four attributes of fathers:
Consistent
Fair
Honest
Protective
and does a great job about it and offering a tribute to his father.
There is a natural connection to teaching because, as we all acknowledge, our first teachers were our parents.
From the Self-Regulation blog, Aviva shares a list of things that she’s learned about self-regulation and herself at these trying times.
Exercise
Breaks
Fidget toy
Too much social media
OK to put yourself first
Social stressors are online
Why and why now?
Stress behaviours multiply online
Saying hello
Importance of routine
Aviva joined Stephen Hurley and me as a guest host on This Week in Ontario Edublogs, did a nice job and got a chance to elaborate. There were three of these topics that I singled out to hear her speak about, in addition to writing about it.
Fidget Toy – she sees a need for one of these in her future as she hesitates to jump into discussions with students. I had to smile, I play with my mouse when I’m listening to others
Social stressors are online – we all know about the stresses due to social media but what about the social interaction that goes on in the online classroom. When to jump in, when to lay back, …
Saying hello – Aviva notes that it’s OK for some students to jump into a class and not necessarily be active for the entire session. It’s OK just to say hello and sit back and watch. Just being there can be enough at times
I know that Tim King speaks for thousands of teachers in this particular post. He lashes out at many things, many people that are players in this “absolutely terrible school year.”
I like the success story that he shares (and had pictures on Facebook documenting it) when he and family were allowed into the school to put together some computers for colleagues.
I can understand his feeling of exhaustion but was taken aback when he indicated that he was feeling defeated. I’ve never heard that from him. Then I look at my own household. My wife is delighted when she needs to leave the place to address some essential service in town.
There are so many lessons to be learned from those on the front lines during this time. As Tim notes, our leaders had assumptions about the readiness for a shift in teaching and it’s been proven wrong over and over again.
For me, the low point of all this was the political statement about expecting teachers and students to be regularly engaged in synchronous communications. For that to work, so many assumptions had to be made. I know that many teachers have tried and some have been successful but I suspect they would have been successful without the directive anyway.
Please click through and enjoy these posts in their entirety. There’s so much great thinking.
Then, make sure that you’re following these folks on Twitter.
It’s still summer time and reading blogs is a nice break from the heat. Check out some of the things that I’ve been reading from Ontario Edubloggers lately
Summer is an interesting beast. Even when you go into your favourite stores, there’s no guarantee that it’s business as usual. Your favourite workers may not be there and instead are away on holiday.
Of course, as Sue Dunlop notes, don’t drop into a school and look for the regular crew.
They’re away doing things that aren’t connected to specific time slots and specific places. They’re on their own time and in their own place. Sue points out some great reasons why this “break from the bell” makes it a perfect time to reflect.
It’s not advice for others – she’s doing a bit of reflection on her own.
I really enjoy reading conference reports and this one from Shelly Vohra is no difference.
Lots of activities and learning seemed to be the theme coming from her in the post. She provides a complete and detailed report on her various activities.
Of real interest was a quote that she attributes to Debbie Donsky (see my interview with Debbie here) about her keynote. It surrounds the word Ubuntu. It’s a philosophy on many levels – including an operating system! But, its roots go back to connecting people…
She also talked about the term “Ubuntu” – “I am a person through other people. My humanity is tied to yours.” How are we sharing in a way that connects us all? How are we leading and connecting from the heart?
Doesn’t that describe the human teaching condition?
Paul McGuire may be on the other side of the Atlantic climbing for kids but if you’re connected to Paul, you’ve been seeing some spectacular pictures of his summer adventure.
So far, he’s provided one blog post of “how I spent my summer holidays” and check out the scenery.
On top of this, he’s raising money for kids. Talk about the best of both worlds.
Like Paul Gauchi, one of my favourite places to visit while in Ottawa is the Canadian War Museum. Even visiting the local cenotaph can be a humbling experience.
I attribute it to a vet that I had as a teacher. He walked with a permanent limp and would often share personal stories when there were those 10-15 minutes of dead time at the the end of class.
Sadly, there are fewer and fewer people who have this sort of experience and memories. The Museum helps ensure that we continue to remember and to honour.
Yet I say, “To truly understand our present we must first understand our past”; the good, bad and ugly sides. I cannot tell you how many adults do not know or understand the current Canadian issues that we face today, started many years if not decades ago. But they keep on complaining and in my opinion whining about these issues without knowing the history of them.
Well, Anne-Marie Kee, no I haven’t. Although now that I’ve read the title to this post, I am curious…
tldr; You won’t find the answer in this post.
However, you will find a summer reflection from a principal. In a private school, in addition to the sorts of things that you might expect anywhere, there are additional things to think about. Concerns about sustainability would be among them although that appears to be under control.
The final thought is something that I think so many are thinking and wondering about this summer. It’s important and the answer might make for a better school year.
How can we prioritize student voice in our programs?
Just so that I don’t lose track of this and to share to those who are interested.
“Canada’s boreal forest dominates our country’s geography. Explore the region, from the tip of Newfoundland and Labrador to the Yukon/Alaska border, and learn about Aboriginal treaty boundaries, protected areas within the forest and woodland caribou ranges. With engaging activities and innovative teaching techniques, this map will spark curiosity in students of all ages.”
Every now and again, a program or application comes alone that just makes you sit back and say “Wow”. Recently, I’ve downloaded one for the iPad. The program NYPL Biblion digs into the content from the New York Public Library surrounding the 1939 World’s Fair.
It’s a big download but that’s because it includes so many images and digital content from the archives. World Fairs were designed to give humanity a look into the future. That’s for those in attendance at the time. What’s interesting is going back in time to see how others envisioned the “World of Tomorrow”.
The fashion, the food – what were they thinking? It is so interesting to see what others envisioned for the future. It would be nice to have a checklist. I really enjoyed the Science area.
The thoughts about how man might make machines to do his bidding are all there. Ever wonder what the inspiration for Rosie the Robot was? You just might see a likeness to the robots here.
In addition to the pictures, there are essays from the day outlining current thought. I found just reading them so fascinating. It was also so confirming to know that some of the concepts here, we take for granted as we go through our lives.
In 1939, the world was on the precipice of war. Included in the reading were the attempts to engage Germany in the fair. Copies of newspaper articles and telegrams document what happened. Fascinating!
The programming of Biblion is interesting as well. Hold your iPod in landscape mode and you’re looking at a slideshow presentation. Hold it the other way for a traditional book view. Regardless of how you hold it, be prepared for some engaging reading, incredible pictures and videos to tell the rest of the story.
It’s a big download but this is a real keeper. I find it interesting just to keep looking through but definitely see this app as the perfect travelling companion. On this holiday weekend, you can grab it from here.
doug --- off the record 