The Future is Here: Apple, IBM Form Business Apps Partnership

http://miapplesinteractive.blogspot.com

If you didn't think our kids need to know how to navigate in a mobile tech world, this announcement from Apple and IBM, should wake you up. The two tech rivals are going into business together to take advantage of each other's strengths and complete the transformation of the way work gets done. As they said in their joint statement:

The business enterprise partnership, announced after Tuesday's market's close, aims to "redefine the way work will get done, address key industry mobility challenges and spark true mobile-led business change,'' the companies said in a joint statement.

This is no joke. Our kids need to learn how to use these tools to make their lives more efficient and be ready to make their future businesses more efficient.

Apple, IBM  Form Business Apps Partnership 

Welcome to 5th Grade!

Below you will find the presentation and speaking notes from our 5th grade parent orientation this afternoon.

Creating Legacy Work: Innovation in Schools via Alan November

Paul Kostak, our 5th and 6th Grade Science teacher, and John Schoultz, our EdTech Coordinator, went to the ISTE Conference this summer and heard Alan November speak about the future of education. They put me onto this TED talk, which outlines Alan's story and how the "future" of education has always been here, it just needs to adapt to the tools of the era. The principles of best practice teaching and learning don't change. Enjoy.

Teen Girls and Harsh Realities of Online Popularity

http://weheartit.com/entry/group/2994788

This article from TIME focuses on a survey by the social network We Heart It, delves into the ways teen girls gauge popularity and how to work way into online popularity. Some of the more intriguing rules that the survey uncovered include: 

1. Don’t serial post. (“You only want to post one Instagram a day.”)
2. If you do post multiple things per day, they’d better be amazing. (“You can post multiple tweets a day, but they can’t be stupid or not interesting.”)
3. If you game the system, don’t get caught. (“She [my friend] probably has 20 fake accounts where she goes and likes her own pictures.”)

Check out the article at the link below: 

Teen Girls Describe the Harsh Realities of Online Popularity

The Scariest Words a Boy Can Hear

In this segment from NPR, Joe Ehrmann, the former Baltimore Colts defensive star and current high school football coach (at Gilman School in Baltimore, MD of which I am a proud graduate!) discusses how he learned to flip society's definition of being a man on its head. If you haven't heard him speak or read his book, Inside Out Coaching or the book about him by Jeffrey Marx called Season of Life: A Football Star, a Boy, a Journey to Manhood - you should.

The 3 Scariest Words A Boy Can Hear

5 Brain Facts That Influence How People Learn

http://www.dashe.com/blog/learning/five-brain-facts-learn/

This is a concise and helpful article on how the brain works when it comes to learning.

5 Brain Facts That Influence How People Learn