Letter to Sandvika high school, Norway

We would like to thank you for your thoughtful letter and sharing with us the impressive project your students have put together at Sandvika High School. Your request to have the President speak at your school was passed along to the White House advance team, which is responsible for all scheduling. As you know, the President is only in Oslo for a brief period of time, with a full schedule of events put together by the White House, in coordination with the Nobel Institute and the Norwegian Government. Due to his pressing commitments during this very short visit, we are not able to fit in any additional events for the President, and unfortunately have to decline your thoughtful request. We sincerely thank you for your support of President Obama and his Peace Prize, and ask that you extend our gratitude to the students of Sandvika High School.

Kind regards, Kristina Boraas, Protocol Office, U.S. Embassy, Oslo

• Peace Prize Shocker: President Obama Wins (abcnews.go.com)
• The Norwegians ‘Got Carried Away’ with Obama: Dagens Nyheter, Sweden (themoderatevoice.com)

Objectives:

1. What role should the media play in informing the public about dangerous diseases?
2. Should they make us aware of all the potential dangers?

Teaching methods:

1. See this slideshow on public health campaign, a fine line between informing and alarming.
2. Read this article on the implications this has had for the Mexican community.

For Fun

1. Watch the response from the swine community! Pigs are getting a bad rap on this one.

Objectives:

1. To learn what goes on inside You tube itself
2. To learn how one website revolutionized online viewing and our culture at the same time!

Teaching method:

1. Watch the video and discuss the importance of You tube today!

Objectives:

1. To motivate students and answer the question; what does it take to be successful!

Teaching method

1. Show this clip and discuss in class afterwards (it only takes 3 minutes!)
2. Do you agree/disagree – how about the role of mum!

Objectives:

1. To listen to British humor!

Tasks

1. Watch the video and discuss: A. Main points, B. Typical  British? C. The difference between girls and boys, D. the new walk!

Michael Mcintyre Live at The Apollo Part 1 for part 2 click here! Part 3.

Sometimes it is okay with a timeoff. Enjoy!

http://www.euronews.net/ Hugs with Lions in South Africa

I subscribe and read a lot of blogs using Google Reader because it’s important for my learning.

Since starting last year, (I started writing this WordPress site in March 2008), I have discovered a lot of interesting people who write interesting articles on the use of web 2.0 technology. And I know I always will find something interesting and gain new insights. I use Google reader to arrange this for me. I also have rss feeds from my students’ blogs. My students often write their assignments on blogger.com or glogster.com Link to my students’ pages are found in the right margin. Some of the pages I read are about web 2.0 technology in general and some are focused on teaching. The list is long and I thank all those who contribute in this field! Last but not least, twitter is also a great place to learn! My twitter is: annmic. For those of you who do not see the relevance of twitter look here! “The news acording to twitter!”

My list:

1. Adifference
2. 2cents worth
3. Will Richardson
4. Larry Ferlazzo’s websites of the day
5. Angela Maiers Educational Services
6. Go2web20blog
7. Digital Ethnography
8. Why not end the day with an interesting lecture by Mike Wesch “From Knowledgeable to knowledge-able”

Pictures by LK Høgvold

It is truly the resolution of the new year. To teach students how to master the skills they will need in their future occupations. And also to remember what an impact a teacher has on the students. Look at this video and be inspired! Taylor Mali.

I’m tempted to quote Tony Wagner from Harvard university. He gives this list for the seven survival skills for careers, colleges and citizenship

1. Critical thinking and problem solving
2. Collaboration across networks and leading by influence
3. Agility and adaptability
4. Initiative and entrepreneurialsm
5. Effective oral and written communication
6. Accessing and analyzing informatin
7. Curiosity and imagination

The question is do we need to use the computer to be able to master these skills? The answer I think is yes and no. And the solution? To use computers together with co-operative learning. Look here for tips on co-learning! Students working together using new technology. That will be my goal this year. To fully master both!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Seven Survival Skills for 21st Century Students
• Ontario teachers have more prep time

It is the time of the year to inspire and be inspired. Look at this clip of 40 inspirational speeches in 2 minutes.

Objectives

1. To get the most out of the remaining school year, nest semester
2. To be able to make a speech in front of the class

Teaching method

1. Look at the clip and read the text
2. In groups of 3 how many movies do you know how many actors can you name
3. In groups of 3 pick out 2 different famous people you admire who are know for great speeches (examples: Barack Obama, Martin Luther King, Kennedy or an actor from a moive)
4. Find famous speeches they have held and try to explain techniques they use and why it works
5. Read to the class extracts from those speeches
6. Write a short speech to inspire your fellow students to work harder in school next year 2 minutes!

Related articles by Zemanta

• 4 Ways to Give a Speech
• How to prepare for your very first speech: “The Ice-Breaker”
• Public Speaking: Thinking before Speaking
• Get to the point
• Ex-Finland leader accepts Nobel Peace Prize
• Historic times