Mark Rios reads from The Last Lecture

Alerus Financial commercial/business banker Mark Rios, read from Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture for yesterday's session of Literary Lunches.

Rios, originally from Hawaii, served in the military in active duty. He has a degree in education from the University of North Dakota. He has one daughter; she is a graduate of Red River High School. And his wife Sandy graduated from Grand Forks Central. 

The Last Lecture is a collection 53 lectures and stories Pausch gave after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2007. Although Pausch knew he was going to die, he wanted other people to know who he was and he wanted his children to know about their father. Paush said that "We cannot change the cards we are dealt....just how we play the hand."





Submitted by GFC freshman Matt Orr and GFC English teacher Nancy Devine

Skype in the classroom

Teachers already use Skype to connect with other classrooms around the globe, bring in guest speakers without asking them to travel, and take virtual field trips. Now, Skype is making it easier for them to do so.
The company launched Skype in the Classroom, a dedicated teacher network, on Tuesday. Using the platform, teachers can create profiles that describe their classes and teaching interests. They can also search a directory of teachers from all over the world by student age range, language and subject. (from Mashable)

The above comes from Mashable, an online news source for all things Internet. To learn more, click here.

Words and pictures come together

Phrasr is an interactive web-based application that uses Flickr images to illustrate the phrases that users submit. She can choose every image and then publish the entire phrase, which is shown as a personal slide show.

 

To learn more, click the above hyperlinked text. 

Phrasr is brought to you by Pimpampun.Who and/or what is Pimpampun? Click on the hyperlinked text below to learn more.

Who and/or what is Pimpampun? Take a look at the following from Pimpampum.

We want to imagine that there are thing to do on the Internet, and we want to do them. We believe on the Internet made by people, because of it we want to give them tools to change it. Touch, break, shake Internet. And generate unpredictable new realities.

Click here, to learn even more about Pimpampun. 

UND Writers Conference begins tomorrow

This spring, the UND Writers Conference celebrates its 42nd anniversary.   In 1970, the late John Little, a professor in UND’s English Department, was missing some of his literary friends from the South.  He decided to invite them to share their words here in North Dakota, and thus a rich artistic tradition began.  Since that first conference, some of the most laudable names in literature have visited the UND campus, including Allen Ginsberg, Truman Capote,  Edward Albee,  Louise Erdrich, Thomas McGrath,  Sherman Alexie, Jon Hassler, Alice Walker as well as 2008 attendee, Sir Salman Rushdie.

More than 3000 lovers of literature from all over North Dakota, as well as beyond our borders descend on the campus to listen to panel discussions, readings, and ask their questions of nationally and internationally prominent authors.

The above comes from the UND Writers Conference website. 

For a schedule of writers and events, click here.

Looking at student work

Looking at Student Work is a website designed to get:

teachers looking together at student work with colleagues focusing on small samples of student work reflecting on important questions about teaching and learning using structures and guidelines ("protocols") for looking at and talking about student work

The above comes from the Looking at Student Work website. Click here, to learn more.

Picture books in teaching

Picture books have been used in the primary grades for decades, but they are a quick and convenient way to help older students activate their prior knowledge.  There is a new focus on picture books that deliver difficult content in simple language.  Picture books are a great model for student writing, as they contain vivid language and a variety of text structures.  The beauty of using picture books in the upper grades, middle and high school, is that they can be read in a few minutes and provide students with information connected to the concept or skill being introduced. (from the West Virginia Department of Education)


If you're thinking about how picture books could be used with older students, do check out the above hyperlinked text. The site includes a number of resources. 


This is all a part of West Virginia's Department of Education Strategy Bank. To check it out, click here.

Edutopia's video library online

Edutopia has a variety of online videos showcasing learning in a variety of classrooms. Take a look at the one below.


To look at the entire collection of videos at Edutopia, click here.