Link of the day: redesigning apple crapple

I ran across this link from the New York Times Learning Network. As one who has fallen victim to the “apple crapple” as one listener of Studio 360 referred to visuals like “ apples, ABCs, 123s, one-room schoolhouses with bells on top” (New York Times), I think I’m ready to take a cue from 360 Design and rethink my visual representations of teacher.

360 Design has created an entire campaign around the idea of connecting dots and fostering learning journeys. I am so stoked!

Images and Ideas of the Day

I am feeling very inspired after some excellent progress with my online section this month. There are several students who are really reminding me of the awesomeness that is just a little bit of empathy.

I’m taking a break to share a few images and ideas that I found particularly useful in this day of scaling “Grade Mountain.”

 

 

Finally, I’d like to introduce you to Flickr user, Zoriah. Zoriah’s work is powerful, moving, disturbing, and inescapably human. I love it so much, I can’t bear to place text over this and any of Zoriah’s other amazing images:

I think we are living in selfish times. I’m the first one to say that I’m the most selfish. We live in the so-called ‘first world,’ and we may be first in a lot of things like technology, but we are behind in empathy.
–Javier Bardem

Attribution matters: Lamar Smith’s attribution blunder

Yesterday, Keith Olbermann posted his Worse, Worse, and Worst list. Guess who was the worst: Lamar Smith, but not for the obvious reasons. Smith, author of SOPA, has apparently been using an image on his site without showing any attribution or giving credit to the creator of the photograph. According to his own proposed law, this would make him liable for copyright violations. Yesterday, our students got the bad news that yes, they were actually expected to follow instructions and show attribution on any images used in slides, and that not doing so earned them one letter grade lower on their final slide design scores. But, Smith’s blunder costs him more than just a letter grade.  Attribution matters people–not only does not giving credit when credit is due make one a plagiarizer, but it also completely damages one’s credibility. It’s also just plain lazy. How credible is Smith as a source of valid and correct information regarding piracy and copyright now? Here is Olbermann’s take on Smith, SOPA and attribution:

P.S. I also love his worser choice, Rush Limbaugh, someone who has never come up in a classroom conversation, and who I hope will remain firmly in the category of downright ineffective speakers. Olbermann on the other hand, just might be my choice for next month’s Qualities of Effective Speakers exercise.