Week of September 4 - 10, 2010

Welcome to the EdTechTalk this week's newsletter. Throughout the world, people are commemorating the ninth anniversary of the tragedy of September 11th. While searching for images online in honor of 9/11, I came across this quote and believe it is fitting for commemorating September 11th and other pivotal events in our lives and careers :

"There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief...and unspeakable love."
--- Washington Irving

While we will never forget what happened on 9/11, we must also not forget the reason we create, write, share and teach others around the world. We all have different talents, skills, and goals and together we are a stronger unified force to shield, teach and inspire our students. With the start of the new school year for many educators in North America, we must always be mindful of our purose and reason for doing what we do. We must never forget.

SEEDLINGS Teaser for the 2010-11 Season

Seedlings stumbled together Saturday morning for a teaser! We will see you We will see you Thursday evening, September 16, 2010, 7:30 pm EST, 19:30 GMT for our season premiere with Adora Svitak, Ben and Ben, Alice, Bob and Cheryl and our most important part of our show, all of you!

Teachers Teaching Teachers #214 - VoiceThread and Teaching the iGeneration after the BP Oil Spill - 08.18.10

On this episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers, Steve Muth and Ben Papell, founders and on-going conspirators at VoiceThread join Susan Ettenheim and Chris Sloan to talk about what's new at VoiceThread AND how they can imagine VoiceThread supporting our efforts with http://voicesonthegulf.org.

In addition, Bell Ferriter, a sixth grade science teacher in North Carolina, joins us. Bill had just published a great book, Teaching the iGeneration. There are a lot of great ideas in this new book, but there's one that is perfect for a VoiceThread discussion: Collaborative vs. Competitive dialogue. In an email Bill writes:

Collaborative and competitive dialogue is something I talk about in Teaching the iGeneration and something that VoiceThread facilitates nicely. We could talk about how our world emphasizes competitive dialogue - kids are surrounded by marketing messages and celebrities and politicies screaming for attention and unwilling to listen to other viewpoints - but collaborative dialogue is essential for solving the kinds of global, cross-border challenges our world is facing.

Alicia Blair, a colleague and science teacher at an alternative school in Mississippi, and Gail Desler, who works with teachers in Northern California, joins us as well. Alicia and Gail have been helping us to keep it real all summer. Enjoy!

If you would like your celebration included in the ETT newsletter please email us at [email protected].

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