Lets Say Thanks to our Soldiers

Thought I would share this website. I used it for years with my students. They liked making the cards and it's a great holiday activity.

http://www.letssaythanks.com/Home1280.html

Michael Grahame Moore discusses The Scholarship of Distance Education

I watched this yesterday and truly enjoyed it, so I thought I would share. It's about an hour long and revolves around the scholarship of distance education.

http://mediasite.ics.uwex.edu/mediasite5/Viewer/?peid=505b5517421a4f91a4db0de736f05254

25th Anniversary of the Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning, August 4-7, 2009, Monona Terrace Convention Center, Madison, WI

AECT Wrap-Up

Last week Sara Kacin and I attended the AECT conference as graduate students. The week was not only informational and motivating, but it was also super COOL! We interviewed Charles Reigeluth, and Sara interviewed John Keller. We walked the halls, sat at lunches and dinners, and attended sessions by leaders of the field such as: David Merrill, David Wiley, David Jonassen (wow, I'm starting to see a pattern), Bob Reiser, Andy Gibbons, Michael Hannafin, and many more! One day, I attended a graduate student mentoring session that consisted of a panel of 5 leaders, and then a break out session so they could help mentor us in smaller groups related to our area of study. They provided some information that I thought I would share:

1. Your dissertation represents you looking for a place in the profession, so you should try to research a topic that fills in a gap. They directed us to a dissertation database that is kept by Dr. Edward Caffarella, and contains Doctoral Research in Educational Technology: from 1977-2006. Here's a link to it: http://cortland.edu/edleadership/edcaffarella/dissdir/displai4.htm

2. When writing your dissertation, keep in mind that "it's not about the writing, it's about the research" - Andy Gibbons

3. Publish, Publish, Publish! - Make sure it's the right piece for the right place.

4. Keep in mind that your doctoral studies is a "discovery time." Time to discover organizations that are a fit for YOU. Time to discover research and authors that fit YOUR interests.

I hope you find these 4 thoughts useful. Again, this was a session hosted by the GSA - Graduate Student Assembly of AECT. Even if you are not an AECT member you can join and follow the GSA AECT ning @ http://aectgsa.ning.com/

Have a great weekend!

Just published in the Archives of Internal Medicine is a Carnegie Mellon University study which states:

“People who get fewer than seven hours of sleep a night are almost three times as likely to develop cold symptoms as people who sleep for eight hours or more. The percentage of time in bed spent asleep – called sleep efficiency – matters too. People with a sleep efficiency of 85% or less are five times as likely to develop cold symptoms as those with higher efficiency.”

So fluff up the pillows and pull up the covers ~ preventing the cold and flu may be as easy as getting more sleep! Sweet Dreamzzz . . . . SweetDreamzzzDetroit.org

Everyone is talking Detroit: http://tinyurl.com/y89b6wd

NYT moves to Detroit

Read the article and find a way to get a local business, organization, or city hero recognized.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/21/business/media/21carr.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=detroit&st=Search

Quote

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction.

Albert Einstein

Adopt-A-Classroom

Adopt-A-Classroom invites the community into the classroom in support of teachers and their students. By adopting a classroom, donors form partnerships with specific classrooms providing financial and moral support. The result is a meaningful contribution to education in which donors experience the impact of their efforts and celebrate in a classroom's success.

http://adoptaclassroom.org/index.aspx?Private=0&inter=0

Asian Chicken Stirfry

My Mom sent a bunch of PA green beans, and a ton of other veggies, with my best friend Tatum to give me when she came to visit this weekend. What to do with all of these green beans? Asian Chicken Stirfry!

4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
Fresh Green Beans
2 Green Peppers
2 Red Peppers
1 Jalapeno - (not seeded)
Olive Oil
Onion Powder
Cayan Powder
1 Bottle of Kraft Light Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing

Place Chicken in olive oil on medium heat; halfway through cooking, cover with half bottle of Dressing; season chicken with onion powder and cayan pepper
In separate skillet place peppers (cut into big chunks), jalapeno, in olive oil on medium heat
Cover vegetables (to your liking) with Asian Dressing
Sprinkle with Onion Powder and Cayan Powder
Cook until tender
Remove chicken from pan and cut into pieces
Add to vegetables and mix together
Serve. It's a little spicy, but you could serve it with rice. I personally liked the heat! Enjoy!

Educational Data by State

EEP - Education Equality Project - has created an interactive-map of the country that let's you check out key education data state-by-state. It's easy to use for quick facts. Check it out and see how your state is performing. I checked out PA and MI.

http://www.edequality.com/content/map/