While we are on a little food roll here, I was recently introduced to Thug Kitchen and am really enjoying not only the great veggie recipes and ideas, but also the written content….which, BTW is [a little bit] NSFW.
Design*Sponge Summer Party
To me, an ideal summer party = brunch on a lazy Sunday morning. I’ve been adding my ideas to a Pinterest Board and I’m hoping to use some of these and invite some guests to drop by, enjoy libations, food and festivities in my urban loft space.
There’s something about brunch where guests can swing by, enjoy some great food & company and then get on with their day. Brunch isn’t a huge commitment and allows everyone to have the fun of a party and also have the rest of Sunday to get other things done.
Something simple for the table, like kraft paper and some strokes of white acrylic paint, along with white plates would allow the food to pop. Or this grouping of plates, cutlery and flowers would be even easier.
I’m thinking something with salads like this spin on eggs benedict or this lovely white bean and radish salad.
I’ve created these tomato pops for a bridal shower and they were a
huge success. And of course, there needs to be a nice summery drink. With splashes of vodka.
And I think something comfy, yet festive to wear. So, stop on by my Design*Sponge Summer Party Pinterest Board for more ideas.
Beijing State of Mind
Here’s one of those You Tube videos that is so very well done and educational. Having lived in Beijing for 15 years during times of humongous changes….Mark Griffith uses this 5 minutes to sum it up ever so eloquently.
Listen carefully to the words….he’s telling an ever so true story.
Survive Bio
Here’s something I found for those who might being trying to survive AP [and college] Biology. Created by a young man who struggled with his textbook and wanted to use other study methods. This site is full of videos, chapter outlines, flashcards, forums and more.
There are even practice tests and he’s developed a system of rewards [for those who register] for using all the study tools….just to get a bit of motivation and satisfaction. Click and earn points, join the Bio community and I’m guessing you’ll be on your way to scoring on 5 in your AP Bio test.
The New Website for The Collaborative for Educational Services
Since late January I have been working and collaborating with a great team who has been very busy re-designing The Collaborative for Educational Services website. The new site was launched July 1! Yeah team.
As I came into the team my involvement has been on several levels; creating wireframes for the architecture [I used Mockingbird], assisting with understanding the business flow and work impact the new website has on the various departments in The Collaborative and uploading content into the Drupal content management platform. Along the way there have been thousands of details to attend to, lots of problem solving with the front end developer, content specialists and our Communications Director.
It has been a lot of fun and I still have content uploading to assist with along with finalizing style guides and user manuals. However, I wanted to share the before and after images of the website.
Can you see a difference? Tell me what you think in the comments below.
Here is what the old Collaborative website looked like:
And here is what the new Collaborative website is now looking like: users can now register and pay for course and events online. Our content is more logically organized and I feel, much nicer to view and move around in.
My New Reading List
Look out library, thanks to the work I’ve been involved with in realigning instructional guides for The Collaborative for Educational Services and the Department of Youth Services…I’ve got a new reading list. Some of these titles will be re-visits and other are pages I want to start turning. In no particular order, here’s my new reading list…
Classic Literature
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Shakespeare
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Raisin in the Sun
Literary Nonfiction
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Night
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Richard Wright’s Black Boy- pick a chapter
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Coming of Age in Mississippi-
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When I was Puerto Rican
Global Literature
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Chronicle of a Death Foretold
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Things fall apart
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Chinese Cinderella
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Master Harold and the Boys-Athol Fugard
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The Namesake
Informational Text
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Stiff & Guip by Mary Roach
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Nickel & Dimed- Barbara Ehrenreich
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Into the wild
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Into thin air
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Perfect storm
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Fast food nation
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Salt by Mark Kurlansky
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Guns, Germs and Steel- Jared Diamond
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The Botany of Desire- Michael Pollan
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Outliners and Blink – Malcom Gladwell
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The Jim Crow
Contemporary Literature
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Their eyes were watching God
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The curious incident of a dog in night time
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Me talk pretty one day
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The absolutely true diary of a part time indian
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The lone ranger and tonto fistfight in heaven
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How the Garcia girls lost their accent
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Pygmalion
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Richard Blanco- One Today Inaugural Poem
- Leslie Newman October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard
Google+
I’ve been on Google+ for about a year now and recently at PodCamp Western Mass #5 I attended a couple of Google+ sessions which renewed my interest in this social media.
Google+ helps you in many ways:
- It’s part of the Google Suite of productivity products that can work together to help you keep your digital life organized and in the long run more productive.
- Google ‘notices’ when you are using Google+ and will assist with Google rankings
- Google can get into the private areas of FaceBook
- Google+ allows for deeper conversations, more thought. Think Science, artists, creatives, and thought leaders…don’t you want to be a part of that crowd?
One big take away, from PodCamp Western Mass #5 is that Google+ is = to ‘What do you think?’
TiE2013 Conference
Since last fall I have been organizing a TiE2013 Technology in Education Conference with The Collaborative for Educational Services. Last week the conference was held at Holyoke Community College and by all qualitative evaluations it was a roaring success. The conference was attended by 250 educators and administrators, 10 vendors and 2 keynote speakers. Our quantitative evaluations go out this week….another item on the extensive To-Do list, along with the formal De-Briefing Meeting.
Wright’s Law
Take a moment to watch this amazing teacher, man, human being.
Imagination and Creativity in Education
“Teaching’s primary purpose should be to ensure that every student graduates ready to tinker, create, and take initiative.”
- What if quizzes measured kid’s ability to question, not answer?
- What if a math class’s textbook was replaced with open-ended, thought-provoking opportunities to question the world around us?
- What if -within a teaching day- teachers were able to strike a balance between art and science; considering the art as the relationship the teacher built with the kids, and the science as the assessment that generated real evidence of student growth?
- What if teachers tracked narratives of a student’s progress? And used a handy management tool to capture anecdotal notes and evidence of student growth?
- What if teachers were able to identify and analyze students’ strengths and skill gaps; continuously? And were able to turn classroom data into plans of action?
- What if teachers taught their students how to do this type of thinking, so the student could be self-directed?