Kim Caise's Blog, page 11
September 23, 2015
TCEA Educator Awards Nominations
The Texas Computer Educator Association, TCEA, is accepting nominations for educators in the following categories:
One award recipient and two finalists are chosen in each of these eight categories:
Classroom Teacher of the Year
Library Media Specialist of the Year
Instructional Technology Specialist of the Year
Technical Support Person of the Year
District or Campus Administrator of the Year
Superintendent of the Year
Technology Administrator of the Year
Lifetime Achievement for the Advancement of Technology in Education
To find out more information or nominate an educator that is a member of TCEA:
September 22, 2015
Largest Online Gathering of K-5 Classrooms Ever!
Dave Ruch, performer and teaching artist, is planning an event to coordinate the most K-5 classes online at the same time ever!. On Friday, October 30, 2015, K-5 teachers from around the world (replayed for those in time zones not conducive to joining the live event) will join together for a live-streamed participatory event where they will enjoy listening to Dave Ruch without leaving their classroom and meeting students around the world.
At the end of October, also known as Connected Educator Month, will entertain, teach and inspire students and teachers with songs, stories, movement, laughter and learning during
the first annual largest online gathering of students in K-5 classrooms.
The session will take place at 1;15pm EST/10:15 am PST, Dave Ruch will appear on screen, live from his home studio in Buffalo, NY and lead students in an interactive singalong. The session will be 15-20 minutes so students can take a mini mind break, as I used to call it, and learn and enjoy watching the live performance.
If you would like to join, you register to attend and receive the link to join the session in an email at
September 15, 2015
Let’s Celebrate this Week – only $15.00!
In conjunction with all the fun, fabulous activities celebrating International Dot Day today and Constitution Day and Global Collaboration Day on Thursday, I am lowering the price of my book purchased through my website here to just $15.00! It is normally $19.99 and I wanted to cut the price to join in the festivities this week in education until September 18, 2015.
Many teachers will include gamification activities and that is exactly what my book is about. To purchase, fill out the contact form by clicking here and let me know you want the book at the discounted rate and I will send you an invoice right away!
Let’s Celebrate this Week – only $15.99!
In conjunction with all the fun, fabulous activities celebrating International Dot Day today and Constitution Day and Global Collaboration Day on Thursday, I am lowering the price of my book purchased through my website here to just $15.99! It is normally $19.99 and I wanted to cut the price to join in the festivities this week in education until September 18, 2015.Many teachers will include gamification activities and that is exactly what my book is about. To purchase, fill out the contact form by clicking here and let me know you want the book at the discounted rate and I will send you an invoice right away!
September 14, 2015
Are your Students 13-18 years old and like to Create Videos?
Are your students 13-18 years and like to explain math or science concepts? Then Khan Academy is looking for new video creators. Between now and October 7th, Khan Academy and Breakthrough Prizes are looking for video creators to create a video Khan Academy style about a challenging and important concept or theory in mathematics, life sciences, or physics. If your students are 13-18 years old please encourage them to submit a video. Inform your students that:
Not only can you (13-18 year old students) dig into a topic that you’re passionate about, but there are also great prizes to be won, including a $250,000 scholarship for you, a $50,000 award for your teacher, and a state-of-the-art $100,000 science lab for your school. The winner will also be invited to the televised red carpet 2016 Breakthrough Prize ceremony in Silicon Valley, where the prize will be awarded in front of the superstars of science, Silicon Valley, and Hollywood.
If you enter, you’ll view and assess other participants’ videos in a peer-to-peer review process. Submissions will then be assessed by leaders in science, technology, and education from Khan Academy and by Breakthrough Prize laureates. The judges will select a winner based on how engaging, illuminating, and creative their video is, and how challenging the concept is to understand.
The deadline for submissions is October 7, so register today at
September 10, 2015
What is happening on September 17th?
On September 17th, there will be several events going on to celebrate Global Collaboration Day, International Dot Day, and Constitution Day. International Dot Day is September 15-ish but can be celebrated in conjunction with Global Collaboration Day and Constitution Day.
Constitution Day is mandatory by law that educators have activities that support instruction about the founding Constitution of our nation every September 17th. Discovery Education is planning two events to celebrate Constitution Day.
Student Town Hall with Justice Breyer
12 PM EasternStudents will meet Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer who will speak about the ins and outs of his job and answer students’ questions
A Tour of the National Constitution Center and
Conversation with Judge Marjorie O. Rendell
1:30 – 2:00 PM EasternTake a virtual tour inside this cutting-edge museum, the first and only one of its kind devoted to the U.S. Constitution. Highlights of the 30-minute tour:
Signers’ Hall which includes 42 life-sized bronze statues of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention
Exhibits that focus on the 13th Amendment, women’s rights, civil rights, and more
American National Tree that gives an interactive glimpse of the lives of 100 citizens
September 7, 2015
One Tweet Cost this Student Everything
One athlete lost everything because of one tweet that he posted online. It is so important to teach students about developing a positive online presence, that whatever is posted is never really deleted, and create an digital footprint that one can be proud of and not worry if it is searched by recruiters or employers.
There were two athletes that a recruiter was watching. The recruiter told the coach that only one was going to be considered because the other athlete had posted an inappropriate tweet and some other posts about partying using vulgar language.
“We found his Twitter account, looked through it and some of what we saw isn’t representative of what our university is about,” the recruiter explained.
That athlete lost everything he worked for because of one negative tweet that he posted. It can be challenging to teach students about creating positive digital footprints and that people do search a person’s online presence for a variety of reasons. Those primarily include job interviews or scholarship or college admissions.
That one tweet cost the athlete over $140,000 in scholarship money and a possible future career as a professional athlete. The athlete, Scott Fitch, now speaks to students about watching their online presence and making sure there is nothing negative they have posted online.
Fitch also has presented “Pause Before You Post,” at a Section V Sportsmanship Summit and to administrators on the state level.
“Never let a 140 character tweet cost you a $140,000 scholarship,” Brandon Chambers, an assistant men’s basketball coach at Marymount (Virginia) University, tweeted on Aug. 25.
On some recruiting and employment forms, usernames of social media accounts are asked for so they can be searched to see what kinds of things are posted and make sure they have the right person associated with the correct account.
Had Finch been educated about creating a positive digital footprint earlier in high school, he wouldn’t have thrown away his scholarship by a negative tweet.
With cyberbullying and students partying and wanting to share selfies on various media outlets, it is easy to post negative items and get caught up in things and post off color or hate filled posts.
“It’s here to stay and we either get up with the times and figure out how to get through it or we’ll be sorry,” said veteran Rush-Henrietta football coach Joe Montesano, who’ll occasionally tweet inspirational sayings or messages for his players to see. “I think it’s part of the education process as a teacher and coach. We try to model for them, try to teach them how to do it the right way.”
“It’s instant and it’s public and some kids don’t realize that,” said Gates Chili athletic director Ken Hammel, who is Monroe County’s representative on Section V Sportsmanship Committee. “You can start a pretty big disruption with one comment that is tweeted or retweeted and taken the wrong way. It could offend an entire district.”
At one time Facebook was the chosen media outlet of students. Whether a student went to school online or offline, Facebook was the social media venue of choice. Now that many parents and adults are on Facebook, students have move to Snapchat and Instagram. Students still run into the same problem due to ignorance of social media and internet etiquette.
That is where teachers and coaches need to step in and help reinforce the importance of thinking before posting. We only have the students in high school with us for a short while and this is such an important topic.
We have to do more to reach our students and educate them about their online presence. And just as students, we adults must do the same making sure we think before we post.
August 22, 2015
August 20, 2015
“Get Rid of Teachers’ Lounges” from Presidential Candidate
I find this incredulous statement that teachers’ lounges was even part of a discussion by presidential but according to an email I received from the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), removing teachers’ lounges so we educators cannot complain about our jobs and if we are such terrible teachers we should find another job. The full text is shown below.
TEXAS AFT LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE—WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015
You Can’t Make This Stuff Up—Presidential Candidate Issues Call to “Abolish All Teachers’ Lounges”
At a time when school districts around Texas and the nation are experiencing teacher shortages, you might think public officials would try to avoid giving fresh offense to educators who are fed up with being scapegoated and sick of seeing their students’ educational experience warped by the testing industry and its allies.
But Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a contender for the Republican presidential nomination, apparently couldn’t contain himself. Today he shared with the audience at a so-called “education summit” meeting in New Hampshire (convened by groups promoting private-school vouchers) his solution for low morale: getting rid of teachers’ lounges so teachers won’t sit around and gripe.
Here’s how Kasich’s remarks giving the back of his hand to teachers were reported in an online article on the Talking Points Memo Web site:
Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) on Wednesday said that he would like to get rid of teachers’ lounges to reduce how much teachers worry about losing their jobs.
Kasich said at an education summit in New Hampshire that many teachers believe that “we’re out to take their job” when schools evaluate teacher performance and that teachers’ lounges provide an environment where this worry spreads.
“No we’re not out to take their job. If you need help, we’ll help you. If you’re a terrible teacher, then you should be doing something else because you’re going to find more satisfaction doing something else that you’re good at,” he said. “We have to constantly communicate that.”
He then suggested that teachers’ unions contribute to educators’ worries.
“I’ll tell you what the unions do, unfortunately too much of the time. There’s a constant negative comment, ‘They’re going to take your benefits, they’re going to take your pay,'” Kasich said. “So if I were, not president, but if I were king in America, I would abolish all teachers’ lounges, where they sit together and worry about, ‘Woe is us.'”
