Tag Archives: fun

The #Georgies2012

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I really believe that great educators share a personal side of who they are, and since I am relaxing over the break yet wanted to keep in the habit of blogging, I decided to share some things that I liked this year.  I also wanted to keep this archive yearly to see if my interests change over time. Things I like this year, I may hate next.

So what are the Georgies?  They are just a random bunch of stuff I liked this year that I wanted to share (note, some of the stuff did not originate in 2012 but that is the year I found it!).  They have little or no educational value, so here goes! (Please don’t take the below too seriously!)

Favourite Album – I love music and one of my favourite bands over the last few years has been The Avett Brothers.  They have recently released the album “The Carpenter“, and right now, I listen to songs off it daily.  If you are looking for some good music to hear from them, listen to “A Father’s First Spring” or “Down with the Shine“, although “The Ballad of Love and Hate” is probably one of my favourite songs ever (from the awesome album “Emotionalism“).

Runner Up – Some Nights by Fun. (You probably know the more popular songs so check out “Why Am I the One” on YouTube)

Best Cover by Some Band That I Don’t Know – This “Little Black Submarine” cove (originally by the Black Keys) is awesome and actually got me listening to the real band.

Favourite Movie – Pitch Perfect was awesome and the soundtrack is extremely catchy. Didn’t expect I liked it but it was pretty funny.

A Book That Really Pushed My Thinking – I loved the book “Humanize” which really made me think of how we do stuff in education. (All time favourite book that isn’t about education but has so much to do with learning is “Drive“)

Favourite Non-Educational Site – 22 Words is a site that I make sure that I look at every day.  It is hilarious yet there is a lot of stuff that I have found there that I have used in presentations.

Favourite Non-Educational Twitter Account – The fake “Stats Canada” site is always good for a laugh. (Tweets – “81% of Canadians will SHOVEL THE DRIVEWAY IN A SECOND, MOM” or “Canada’s highest-rated TV show is “The Weather”)

Favourite Song I Will Admit That I Like and Get Made Fun of For Liking By People Who Know All the Words – Call Me Maybe (You know what I am talking about.)

Inspirational Video That I Loved (tie) – I love the Nike #MakeItCount video and the “How Bad Do You Want It” video (Part 2 is also awesome).  Great videos for yourself or discuss with your class.

Video That Really Made Me Think About Education – Seth Godin asks what is the purpose of school (great video) but I really enjoyed the video “What if money was no object?“.  Both will make you think and again, could be discussed in class.

The Video That Always Makes Me Smile – Flight of the Conchords video for Cure Kids New Zealand is the cutest and catchiest song and it is 9 minutes that I guarantee will make you smile. (below)

If you have any good suggestions for books, music, movies, or videos, I would love to hear about them in the comments!

You Should Read… (October 9, 2011)

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Here are some links and articles that I would love to share with you this week:

1. Come join the Video Story Problems Channel – Ben Rimes has started a fantastic idea for educators to share resources, or have access to them through this channel.  Through this collaborative venture, Ben has seen people use video to present “real-life math problems” (watch Dan Meyers Ted Talk or read his blog for more great ideas on this) and has asked others to participate and share their own.  You can check out Ben’s post or else go straight to the channel and check out or add to the project.  Although there is not much there yet, through collaboration, there will be opportunities for this to grow.

2. Lifelong UNLEARNING – Will Richardson discusses the notion of “unlearning” and how as educators, if we are to move schools forward in this time, we need to undo some of our old practices if we are going to be successful now.  As Will closes the post, he asks some very important questions that every educator should consider:

“It’s that last part that we as educators have to begin to model more transparently for our students. How are we connected with the larger world in ways that show our ability to learn differently and to collaborate with others? How are we ourselves engaging in the process of unlearning, of constantly challenging our long-held beliefs about education and the world in light of a moment when becoming educated now encompasses many paths, and when we carry classrooms and teachers around with us in our backpacks and in our pockets?”

3. 10 Reasons Your Students Should Be Blogging – Matthew Ray shares some great reasons why your students should be blogging, which I am a huge advocate for.  It just needs to be done consistently and with purpose.  Here is one of the reasons that he lists in his blog:

“Authentic writing for authentic audiences. The writing is authentic because kids are writing about whatever they want. Even if I decide to give them prompts or topics to write about, they know teachers and other students will be reading them – not just me. Again, it’s all about their investment, and no doubt knowing you have an audience waiting with baited breath to read what you have to write is something that motivates.”

You should definitely check out the entire post.

Hopefully this will give you some ideas and things to help you with your practice.  One video that really inspired me this week showed me the power of always having fun and staying young.  I wanted to share that with you also:

Have a great week!


cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo shared by gibsonsgolfer