Brief Video for SimpleK12 Application

Hey all, I did this in a bit of a rush and just needed to locate it on the Web so I can link to it. There are dozens of ways I could do this, but think of this post as Scott just saying "Hi."

SimpleK12 folks, check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtYtSDzCcDQ too.

Cheers,

Scott

Shameless self-promotion

Are you an ISTE member? I'd GREATLY appreciate your vote at http://tinyurl.com/voteforscottm

I wonder if my networks and your networks can help carry the day there. And best of luck to my worthy foe, Howie! Please share as you will and can!

Arbor Day in West Meade

I'll be planting a tree today.

A Nashville businessman, Chris Clark, is distributing around 100,000 tiny saplings to Tennesseans this week, and my neighbor Kip Kirby organize the neighborhood distribution to make sure our West Meade neighborhood got some of the greenery.

From Clark's company website, the stated intention is "to honor SC&A founder Steve Clark who passed away six years ago on the first day of Spring. He believed the simplicity of planting a tree can foster a broader sense of eco-awareness and translate into more public participation in protecting our planet. SC&A’s goal is to generate a grassroots effort of volunteers, children, public and private developments, universities, etc. throughout the state who will join our grand effort of planting 100,000 new trees in Tennessee."

I'll be planting my baby oak tree in my front yard, and for me it's going in the ground in honor of my mother and my father, separated in life by divorce for decades but connected in death by their passing in the same season, years apart, in early April. May it grow in good health to provide summer shade for whomever lives in our little ranch house a hundred years from now.

I'll pop in pics of the process.

Happy weekend!

TEDx Live @ Nashville!

Starting at 1 pm US Central, TEDx liveblogging right here. Cool. Participate as you will!




And check out Alphachimp Studio's awesome graphic record of the event here!

Get a Clue

I'm a master of the .5 second cameo. First Digital Nation's 90-second-in 9 word audio appearance, now this: Don't blink! But do absorb the message AJ and team have so neatly and impressively delivered:

Lane Motor Museum -- Colin's Pics

Happy Spring Break, ya'll,

Colin's grandfather, G-man, took him to the Lane Motor Museum at the start of Spring Break. Colin took some pics I just wanted to share out here. Check it out:

And visit the Lane Motor Museum's website for more info!

ISTE Board of Directors Vote Now Through April 12!

ISTE Members: Saving you a click to http://isteboardvote:

2010 ISTE Board Election-Voter's Guide

ISTE Members VOTE March 11 - April 12

Read more about the candidates for each open position and their responses to the questions asked in the nomination process (members only, login required):

Affiliate Representative Position: a representative of the Affiliate members (one open position). Candidates are: Mike Lawrence and Davis Brock.

At-Large Representative Positions: members involved in any area of educational technology (two open positions). Candidates are: Holly Jobe (Incumbent), Gordon Dahlby (Incumbent), Tony Brandenburg, and Julie Evans.

Corporate Representative Position: a representative of the corporate members (one open position). Candidates are: Eileen M. Lento (Incumbent) and William Zaggle.

PK–12 Schools Representative Position: a PK–12, school-based educator, either classroom teacher or technology coordinator (one open position). Candidates are: Gwyneth Jones and Karl Sprenger.

School District Administration Representative: general member who serves as a school district administrator (one open position). Candidates are: Kara Gann (Incumbent) and Bryan O'Black.

Special Interest Group Representative: general Member who represents Special Interest Groups (one open position). Candidates are: Howie DiBlasi and Scott Merrick.

Teacher Education Representative: general member who is involved in teacher education at the post-secondary level (one open position). Candidates are: Arlene Borthwick and Jean Kiekel

Access the ballot to cast your vote (login required). Remember, voting closes on April 12, so vote today!

Have you forgotten your ISTE Web site login information? Obtain help here. If you need further assistance, please call ISTE Customer Service at 1.800.336.5191 (Int'l 1.541.302.3777)

And don't forget to vote in the SIG Program's elections. Help select the leaders of the leaders!

Pi and Summercore

My old friend, Steve Bergen, creator and director of Summercore (which I highly recommend), sends me this, and rather than email it to all my friends, I share it with you here:

Steve Bergen
2:54 PM (16 hours ago)
To all friends, family, colleagues and Summercore alums,

In the spirit of "Anything is Possible" as made popular by Kevin Garnett from the Boston Celtics, one of my first grade students at The Children's Storefront in Harlem yesterday totally shocked me by reciting the first 121 digits of PI as part of my annual PI DAY contest.

You can see her remarkable accomplishment (having studied for the last two weeks) by going to the YouTube video at http://tinyurl.com/PIDAY129

Please consider three favors:
1) watch the 2 minute video of this 6 year old reciting 121 places of PI and it will make you feel happy on a horribly rainy, windy day (at least in NYC) ... hopefully, it will make you say "anything is possible" ... in this video, you can see her pause and think several times as she digs into her head for the next 20 or 30 digits 2) send this email or a modified one to at least 10 of your own friends or family members or colleagues 3) donate 1 dollar ("that's just 100 pennies") by going to http://www.billionpennyproject.org

If I can get this email circulated to 1 million people who do these three favors, I will be able to raise 100 million pennies by the time this horrible rain stops. The Children's Storefront is a tuition-free independent school and we need to constantly raise money to help students like this 6 year old get a good education and become successful adults.

Thanks for reading and hopefully helping ... Steve

p.s. and yes, this student will win 1 of the 11 pies that I am baking tomorrow on PI Day, 3/14 but she doesn't know it yet so please don't tell her ;-)

Cata and Catou--Calling all French Teachers!

From my dear friend Jason Barnard in Mauritius, comes this call:

Hi Scott,

We are looking for Beta-testers for Cata and Catou...
Could you give me a few links to our new site (and sign up as a beta-tester, maybe)?

http://www.catacatou.com/beta-signup/

Fish and cabbage in ginger sauce for dinner !

Have fun

Jason

Plus, here's a great song: made all the more touching and funny by Cata's wonderful interpretation, and her delightful French pronunciation.