From ink to my link

Originally uploaded by msradden

My original notes from today.

The New York Times on Wednesday published a full page ad, featuring an apple with a worm in it, and a call to the public to buy out America’s worst teachers. The Center for Union Facts is going to pay the ten worst union-protected teachers in America $10,000 apiece to get out of the classroom - for good. The Center contends that Union Labor laws make it impossible to fire a bad teacher.

At the same time, a charter school in New York is opening in 2009 that will pay its teachers annual salaries of $125,000 and up in the hope that the higher salaries will attract better teachers.

So what makes a teacher “good”?

And how much is a “good” teacher worth?

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

I am still enjoying the time off catching up on sleep and much-needed rest. I am however prepping now for a short 2 hr web design workshop at TechBoston tomorrow morning. I hope the snowfall overnight is light so I and the kids can get there on time!

Just before the holidays, I found out I won a Facing History and Ourselves Grant of $800 to support a film festival at my school next spring, and the BPS called Friday to tell me that my research proposal has been approved! The masters is actually feeling within reach now.

In addition to these great gifts, I received some lovely presents from family and friends, including a surprise gift from “Charlie Weis”, in the hopes that next year will be better for Notre Dame football - there’s pretty much nowhere to go but up after this dismal season - I got my very own Notre Dame tailgating chair. I hope my faith will be rewarded. Sigh.

What I have been sucked into the last 24 hours, however, is no, not Guitar Hero (I wish though!), but the 1984-1994 7 game adventure series by Sierra Online that captured my heart and my imagination 20 years ago : King’s Quest. All 7 games on 1 CD for $25, used to cost us $50 per trip to Egghead Software and require at least 7 floppy disks to switch between during the game! I remember upgrading to SoundBlaster and better video cards as the series continued, and being mesmerized by the improved graphics and soundtrack with each game. Text command prompts and riddles eventually gave way to mouse clicks and battle scenes. The adventures are still classic though : knight goes on quest for crown, king goes on quest for queen…battles sorcerers, encounters fairytale creatures, and scores points by choosing wit and peaceful tactics over violence or theft. But the tale that captured my fascination the most was KQ4 : the Perils of Rosella, when for the first time, I was not only the hero, but the hero was me - a girl! I thought creator & programmer Roberta Williams was the smartest woman in the world and I wanted to be just like her.

I hope you too got some new and old toys this Christmas!

Oh yes it is that time of year again, when the “top 10’s” of 2007 inundate our inboxes! I personally enjoyed Time’s Top 10 Viral Videos of the year…I can’t get enough of the Landlord and I can’t believe the Thriller Inmates was downloaded over 9 million times!

So you gotta ask…what makes a video go viral?! And then of course…what can I make that would go viral? And yet…why would I?!

Enjoy.

I just read this interesting article on MIT’s Civic Media blog…

Despite the nationwide broadcasting blackout imposed by Musharraf on Nov 3, Pakistani citizens are using SMS text messaging over private networks as well as web forums and blogs to help organize protest efforts, communicate with each other what’s really going on, and to get the local news out to world wide news outlets. In fact many people who do not normally participate on the web, are joining forums online, and getting their television news broadcasts from online outlets like Youtube. “…the government’s attempts to gag the media in the wake of emergency rule has been met with much defiance both online and via cell phone networks. Journalists, bloggers, activists, lawyers and concerned citizens throughout the Pakistani diaspora are making use of various media outlets to maintain the flow of accurate information and organize protests.” Check out the WIKI posting only a day after the emergency rule, and even teenagers, who don’t normally get involved in local politics, are generating support and discussion on Facebook. The entire article is worth reading.

OK I need to vent here…

I have been enrolled in the ALM ET program at the Harvard extension school for going on 2 years now. I have been paying out of my own pocket $850/course to get my masters degree. Why do I need the master’s degree? In order to have the “PERMANENT” stamp of approval on my record. Why do I need to become permanent? In order to (a) increase my salary lane (b) stay at my school if I ever took time off (c) be “allowed” to take on certain responsibilities of which I am already capable and pretty much doing (d) be eligible for tuition reimbursement. Yup, I need to pay up now in order to not pay later. But Ill be done with my coursework by then and wont get any reimbursement for what I took as a provisional teacher in order to become permanent. Sigh.

When inquiring today via phone to HR about tuition reimbursement, I was told that all I need to know is “on the website” and nearly hung up on. I was logged into myBPS, and on the HR home page but the doc was not there. In an ever so patronizing way “Uh-yeeeah-aaah”, I was led through the Superintendent’s page (cuz that’s HR?!) and a series of illogical clicks to finally get the tuition reimbursement word doc open - off of the bps web site, NOT in the portal after all. “Uh-yeeeah-aaah” its actually not “on the web site” at all! Exasperation. Sigh. Blech. Done.

It’s open house here tonight! Phew makes for a VERY long day and I was at a networking event for Women In Film last night that now is making my eyes blurry - but not too blurry to make myself some updated business cards (what an eejit to show up to a NETWORKING event with little to no cards!)! I was able to break today for a caffeine kick before the parents arrived at 5:00. It is really a great opportunity to place the kids’ names with their PARENTS’ faces. Although I don’t see many out of the 150+ that I teach in a given semester, it helps to make contact. Most of the ones who come by are NOT the ones who really need the parent contact, however. I have struggled in the past with parent-teacher contact, but have gotten MUCH better at making those calls, and it has paid off! If a student misbehaves, does not show up for detention, is tardy, or is failing, it is important to make that first call home to not only try to nip the bad behavior early, but to also cover your own butt! Seriously, documenting your contact with a parent is critical - especially if you do not get a reaction. If it comes to the point when administration has to get involved, these records of reaching out substantiate your concerns and claims.

Classes are going really well so far this year. My media classes (3 sections) are PACKED into the lab and we have kicked off the first project building animated identity pieces in Flash with voiceovers. The kids are enjoying bringing childhood photos to scan, and listening to their own voices tell their stories about home. My freshman are…freshman! They are sometimes tough when your voice is on empty, your energy is low, and your patience is THIN! But the kids were hooked from day one when we took the cameras out for a scavenger hunt - the challenge is keeping them hooked in. Their energy is super high which keeps me on my toes! No matter how many times I do a lesson, the 9th graders always tend to surprise me, impress me, and challenge me. They are writing, scanning, and creating audio, imagery, and video clips to embed into their eportfolios. We are also studying the history of the web and how it works, learning vocabulary that they will animate into slide shows. I trully enjoy teaching the seniors. We are pretty laid back now, once a week, brainstorming and remembering projects over the years to include in the senior portfolio. We will kick it into high gear second semester as they prepare for the Senior Exhibition in June. And lastly, my Advanced Web class is working on job searches, ethics in the workplace, and resumes before meeting their clients (real ones!) to build web sites for by January. I am pretty disappointed that I have such a small number of students in the one section - this curriculum has been my baby over the last 2 years!! But it allows me to focus more on the video curriculum that I wanted to revamp, and I will not be driven crazy by keeping track of a dozen clients’ needs on a weekly basis! I also am pleased to have some “regulars” stop by the lab on Mondays - we dabble in podcasting, 3d modeling, and all things tech/art/whatever interests them … and I learn a ton from them too! I am hooking students here and there up with IT and web jobs through the TechBoston Consulting Group which makes their eyes light up with pride! Gotta make that money! ( :

13 minutes left…and yet I have to go home and search for apartments that I have no time to look at this week. Landlord kicked me out. Elderly mom moving in…STRESS much?! And my master’s classes are revved up this week too. Sigh. Busy busy!

Wow so I haven’t written in ages - no kidding! - and now I have all the time in the world to blog…well, at least until Monday! The last 2 months of school were pretty crazy. I was managing 3 sections of 40 students and 11 clients in the Advanced Web class of sophomores….wrapping up PSAs with the juniors…planning the Senior Portfolio Exhibition and Evaluations… and grading, grading, grading until ( sigh ) it was all over. I will post separately my reflections on those projects, along with pix from the field trip to Cloud Place.

“So what are you doing for the summer?”, you ask? Relaxing…and I have 4 jobs! Seriously, I ramped up the freelance web design, am teaching a 4 day PD for BATEC next week, am consulting for Facing History and Ourselves on their documentary project from July 16 - Aug 2, and am once again “Professor Radden” by teaching the Intro to Computers class at Bunker Hill twice a week. Phew. And so when I complained yesterday of being bored, well, I reminded myself of the weeks ahead. But seriously, I am looking forward to all of the micellaneous projects I am involved in this summer! Last summer, I did not do a thing - but I needed the rest after a tumultuous school year. But I really needed the money more! Learned that lesson…and that I can still be a beach bum and get work done. Although, now that I am only steps away from the beach…actually it gets easier to do both since I can quickly transition from sand to sufing…the web, that is!

 Students watched the final PSA’s completed by the Junior level Media Seminar students today! The students used Adobe Premiere to edit their digital videos about such topics as teen violence, drug abuse, teen pregnancy, suicide, and online predators.

So besides owning that company called Microsoft, Bill Gates also owns Corbis which happens to own the rights to over 100 million stock photos, including most of the world’s most recognizable images - Marilyn Monroe from the 7 Year Itch, Einstein sticking his tongue out, JFK Jr under the President’s desk…you can picture them in your mind, but you can’t republish them without forking over at least $250 per image! In response and in light of the emergene of collaborative archives of imagery such as Flickr and iStockPhoto, Corbis has made moves to corner the microstock business and basically be the first one an advertising agency calls for the rights to not only images, but stock video clips, and even songs.

He may have a limestone cavern full of the originals (which is cool in and of itself), but can he really attain and monitor the rights to EVERY stock media in advertising? Phew. And all this while saving Africa. Go Bill.

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