Thanks to Tyler’s insistence that I try Google Reader and a Web 2.0 explosion in the IU School of Informatics graduate curriculum, I have 255 feeds I follow with regularity. Most of those, of course, don’t post with regularity, but the ones that do keep me busy. Rather than simply pointing to some of my favorite blogs, I thought I would use this opportunity to look at a few that are likely to become favorites in the future.
On a lighter (than a ton) note
We had our first horseback lesson today- it was a gift from Carter to Maddie for her birthday last year, it just took me this long to get organized about it.
On the way there, I thought I’d pave the way with some safety talk.
Me: So, guys, do you have any ideas about how to stay [...]
Brief Update
We had a very pleasant meeting with Carter’s teacher yesterday. While there’s certainly more to share, and I will try to capture the roller-coaster of a week we’ve had, I didn’t want the last post hanging there without a glimmer of hope.
What is Informatics?
We get asked that question a lot. By friends, by family members, by businesses. The truth is, there is no single definition. Even in places where it has been in vogue for years, like Scandinavia and Korea, the term is applied in disparate ways. If you ask the faculty and administrators at the IU School of Informatics, it is up to the doctoral students—as the first group of academics with a degree in the field—to address the problem of definition. My own definition has iterated to include that broader need to apply to all informatics fields.
Big Tree Top
Two members of our IU School of Informatics community have been working for the past year on Big Tree Top, a networking tool designed to allow local businesses to think like major corporations and leverage the collective wisdom of their customers. BTT is on the verge of releasing a product into the wild after a summer of iteration, looking for a critical mass in communities like Bloomington.
School Daze– Part Two
Archie: Wake up, Carter! It’s morningtime! Let’s play!
Carter: I can’t get up, Archie. Then I’d have to do more homework.
Me: (string of curse words, hopefully only in my head) Carter, you don’t have to do homework. You can play with Archie.
Carter: I can’t go to school unless I’ve done my homework. She’ll be angry at me.
Me: You’re not going to school today. It’s a mental health day. We’re going to putz around and go to a park- whatever you want to do to de-stress.
Carter: You mean like homeschooling for a day?
Active Listening: huh?
So far, Carter’s primary teacher, gym teacher, music teacher and art teacher have mentioned active listening in their communiques regarding classroom behavior. I’m pretty excited about it- I remember Mr. Mann’s student teacher doing an entire unit on it in freshman English class. She was pumped because it meant she was teaching us a life skill, not just expository essays. I’m pumped because they are going to learn this life skill everywhere not just in English class. How progressive! We rock!
How will they teach such a valuable skill to seven-year-olds? I’m sitting at the edge of my seat.