Archive for the ‘Doug’s Original Work’ Category

An Interview with Super Math Teacher Jo Boaler – Listen and Share with Teachers You Know

Wednesday, October 27th, 2021

Free Resources for Busy Parents and Educators Who Don’t Have as Much Time to Read and Surf as I Do

Mathematical Mindsets

Rather than posting my traditional eight links today, I’m posting a link to an interview with Jo Boaler from Stanford who is my favorite math(s) teacher. I’m also posting a link to my summary of her book, Mathematical Mindsets, and my notes from this interview.

While observing teachers yesterday at Chenango Forks Central Schools in Upstate New York, Ed Kozlowski, a special teacher working in math classes, told me about this interview. He warned that it was an hour and a half long but well worth it. He was correct. You can break it into segments or listen as you exercise. You might also want to check out other interviews by Lex Fridman including a two-parter with Elon Musk. Also, in honor of Jay Black of Jay and the Americans (1938-2021), I’ve also included two links below under Humor/Music/Cool Stuff.


Jo Boaler: How to Learn Math, an Interview on Lex Fridman’s Podcast – This is 1:30 long, but well worth it for math teachers and teachers of anything else. @joboaler @lexfridman

My Notes From the Interview

Parents who have math anxiety probably shouldn’t try to help their kids with math unless they can fake it.

When teaching math it’s important to make things visual when you can. When you see it visually or build it you will make more connections in your brain. We are all visual learners.

When you give feedback try to send the message that “I believe in you or I know that you can do this.”

A good way to study is to test yourself. Try to recall what you were doing in class. Try to see the main ideas. Engaging in recall does a better job of building brain connections than additional study.

Collaboration is important. Social thinking helps with brain development.

As a course moves on try to access students and give them feedback rather than a grade. Give them a rubric and have them access themselves. Have students write the questions.

Surround yourself with people who believe in you and vice versa. These will be your best mentors.

Humor, Music, Cool Stuff

Jay Black (1938-2021) – Cara Mia – It starts with a minute of humor. He is 62 here and can still sort of hit the notes. If you want to hear the younger Jay sing Cara Mia and a few more hits, click here.

Jooble

Recent Book Summaries & My Podcast

Suite Talk
180 Moving Forward past the Pandemic with Dr. Doug Green – On October 4, 2021, I was Kim Mattina’s guest on her weekly show. Please join us for a discussion on what we can gain from our pandemic experiences as educators.

The Future of Smart

The Future of Smart: How Our Education System Needs to Change to Help All Young People Thrive by Ulcca Joshi Hansen

Noise: A Flaw In Human Judgement by Daniel Kahneman, Oliver Sibony, & Cass Sunstein

Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Schoolteacher’s Journey Through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto

Unwinding Anxiety: New Science Shows How to Break the Cycles of Worry and Fear to Heal Your Mind by Judson Brewer

Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson

Cup of Joe
Listen to Dr. Doug on the “Cup of Joe” podcast. I recorded it last week. On it, I talk about the many good things I have seen in schools doing hybrid teaching. @PodcastCupOfJoe @DrDougGreen @BrainAwakes

Grasp: The Science of Transforming How We Learn by Sanjay Sarma with Luke Yoquinto

Back to School COVID Myths – It’s popular to say that hybrid learning is negatively impacting poor students who generally attend schools with lots of discipline issues. Is it possible that some poor kids who make a serious effort to learn aren’t the big winners? There may be stresses at home, but not many bullies. @DrDougGreen @mssackstein

This is my podcast on the Jabbedu Network. Please consider listening and buying my book Teaching Isn’t Rocket Science, It’s Way More Complex. Here’s a free executive summary. @jabbedu @DrDougGreen

Boys and Sex: Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent, and Navigating the New Masculinity by Peggy Orenstein

Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry & Jean Greaves (the book can be found here)

Upstream: How to Solve Problems Before They Happen by Dan Heath

Be sure to try the bottom right translate button for your favorite language or one you are trying to learn. If you don’t see it check your adblocking software.

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Back from Italy – Here is a Summary of My Trip with Tips Based on My Experience

Wednesday, October 12th, 2022

Trevi
Dr. Doug’s Pictures and Tips for traveling to Italy
On September 20, 2022, I left for Italy with three friends. We returned on October 4th. If you haven’t been to Italy, I strongly suggest you add it to your bucket list. You can sign up for a tour if you aren’t into vacation planning like I am. My issue with tours is that you bring the crowd with you, and they lack flexibility. Book your airfare six months in advance and your rooms at least four months out. We used Airbnb and had great success. You get a lot of space and all of the amenities of a nice apartment.

Milan

Starting in Milan

  • Italy’s second-largest city is known for finance and fashion. It’s clean as big cities go and features many one-of-a-kind sites. Start with the Duomo, which is the big cathedral. Be sure to get a ticket that includes roof access. If you can, go back and see it at night. Then check out Leonardo Da Vinci’s huge iron horse, which stands 21 feet high and is 24 feet long. You can see it from the street any day and the garden it’s in is open on weekends. Next, it’s the Cimitero Monumentale di Milano, which you have to see to believe. It’s enormous and filled with amazing statues. Even if you are not a big opera fan like I am, you should catch a performance at La Scala, perhaps the most famous opera house in the world. They also do ballet.

Como

Lake Como Region

  • The towns along Lake Como are a short train ride from Milan. We got off at Varenna and took a ferry to Bellagio. For lunch, we found a restaurant that overlooked the lake, and we had the best view I ever had for a meal. Consider doing a few nights here.

Cinque Terra

On to Cinque Terra

  • These five small towns on the coast south of Milan are embedded in the hillside and are rather unique. There are trails between the towns that I would say are challenging due to some uneven surfaces, elevation changes, and a lack of railings in some places. If you don’t want to walk, all towns are connected by trains and ferries. We stayed in La Spezia, which is a small city just south. It’s also a nice place to visit. From there, we took the train to Corniglia, the middle town. After walking 400 stairs to the town, we then hiked north to Vernazza (ugh). We then took a ferry north to Monterosso and trained back to La Spezia.

Bernini

There is Nothing Like Rome

  • Heading south, we hit Rome. I had been there before, so I planned two full days of sightseeing for the member of our party who hadn’t been there. We started at The Colosseum and went on to The Palantine Hill and the Roman Forum. They all come on one ticket, which you should purchase well in advance. We then walked by the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps to the Pantheon. They are all free. On day two, we started by having breakfast at the Trevi Fountain. You can’t see this enough. We walked to the Borghese Gardens and took a tram ride around it. We saw the Borghese Gallery, which is not that big but entirely beautiful. The Bernini statues are the high point. Next, we took a pre-purchased tour of the Vatican, including the Sistine Chapel. That included dinner. when we finished, Saint Peter’s was closed, but we got to see it at night. We did see it the following morning after a 40-minute wait in line. It’s not a bad place to wait, and there are no advanced fast-track options.

Pompei
Capri

Sorrento, Naples, Pompei, and Capri

  • Naples is Italy’s third largest city. I found it to be crowded, as have others. We booked a tour that took us to the hot spots. Earlier in the day, we visited the ruins at Pompei, which are also amazing, with an eight-person tour. The next day we took the ferry from Sorrento, where we were staying, to Capri. This island is like nothing I’ve ever seen. It juts out of the sea with steep cliffs and crazy roads. Start by taking a boat ride around the island to see it all, including several grottos where the water is bluer than any I’ve seen. From the port, you can take the Funicular to the town of Capri if you aren’t up for a lot of stairs. You can’t see it all in one day so consider staying there if you can afford it.

Additional Tips

  • Be sure to buy the intercity train tickets a month or two before you go as they will cost less and save you some hassle at the stations. There are a lot of reasonable short tours of one day or less, and we did several, including a gourmet dinner in Rome and a visit to a farm in the Sorento Hills where we made and ate our own pizza and consumed wine, olive oil, and cheese made on the property. The information at RickSteves.Com and his books that are specific to each town were a big help. All of his PBS videos are available on his website.
  • In 2019, I also visited Venice, Verona, and Florence with side trips to Siena and Pisa. These places are comparable to those discussed here. Everywhere you go, there is a lot of history, beauty, and great food at very reasonable prices, especially for Americans, as the dollar is very strong now. Not everyone speaks English, so try to learn some common words. I also relied on the Google Translate app. Be ready to do a lot of walking. We averaged over nine miles a day. You could cut the mileage by using taxis and subways more. Look for subway turnstiles that offer touch-and-go access with your credit card. You will find someplace that only take cash, so be sure to have some Euros in your wallet and one Euro coins for some toilets. Each member of our group contributed to the planning and finding our way around, so be sure to team up if you aren’t going alone. There is a lot more to seen in Italy so let me know where I should go next at Doug@DrDougGreen.Com. Thanks.
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Can I Get a Tweet For My New Book?

Friday, January 26th, 2018

I love writing, but I’m not crazy about marketing my own work so I could use your help. If you like the Internet resources and book summaries I post, please consider sending out a tweet to promote my new book Teaching Isn’t Rocket Science, It’s Way More Complex: What’s Wrong With Education and How to Fix Some of It. In it, I take on the current reforms and their one-size-fits-all test-based accountability and standards. A lot of what is happening is bad for students and demoralizing for teachers and with your help, we can work to make things better.

Bad tests promote bad teaching and the students who suffer the most are usually those who need personalized instruction the most. We need more arts and exercise, not less. We need to give kids the help they need when they need it and expose all students to exciting hands-on, real-world, lessons and projects. We need to foster creativity and collaboration as we work on forming strong relationships. This is advice from someone who has been in this business since 1969 and who tries to live outside the box. If you are part of this fight, my book is full of ammunition. Thanks for all you do and I’ll see you tomorrow with more free resources.

Here is a sample tweet: Check out “Teaching Isn’t Rocket Science, It’s Way More Complex” by @DrDougGreen http://amzn.to/2zfOTbL Here is a summary http://bit.ly/2FdK337

Click here to buy at Amazon. Scroll down for a summary and please share.

    Rocket Science Book

    1. Introduction

  • Teaching is tricky business. If it were as easy as rocket science, which we seem to have figured out, all students would be learning as fast as their individual brains would allow. This implies that they would learn at their own individual pace, which would cause the gaps between the faster learners and the slower learners to gradually increase.
  • Unfortunately, our current set of reforms driven by the corporate/ political complex gives the same tests to students each year based on their born on date, regardless of their ability. It also expects teachers to close the gaps between slow and fast learners. One way to do this is to slow down the fast learners. In this book, Dr. Green explains why the current reforms and out-dated teaching methods need to go and just where we might head.

2. Teaching Isn’t Rocket Science; It’s Way More Complex

  • It’s clear that we understand how rockets work as we have sent them all around the solar system and beyond. The human brain, however, which is the learning playground for students and teachers is much more complex and less understood. Promising ideas in education spread slowly, if at all, because of a resistance to change and federally imposed standardized testing. Thanks to the media, however, the public doesn’t realize this and they think that teachers are generally doing a bad job. They also think that all students should be able to achieve at high levels, which is nonsense. We all know that some students are more capable at cognitive tasks than others.

3. The Pressure On Teachers To Get Good Test Scores Makes It Inevitable They Will Cheat

  • When the government encouraged by business leaders imposes high-states tests on schools, three things can happen. First, some will cheat and many have. Second, most will try to game the system with endless test prep that brings with it a lot of bad teaching practice. Finally, some will just fail. Schools will be closed and careers will be negatively impacted or ended altogether. This chapter documents some of the cheating and explains the different ways that teachers can cheat. It also suggests that teachers work to create engaging lessons and let the tests take care of themselves. If they do, test scores are unlikely to go down and just might go up.

4. Are You Smarter Than Bill Gates?

  • Bill isn’t the only member of the corporate class pushing for test-based accountability, he is just the most famous and has the most wealth to push his ideas. Dr. Green suspects that when Bill wants to cure some disease, he reaches out to experts in the field. When it comes to education, it seems that he thinks he already knows the answers. Meanwhile, it’s hard to find any real expert in the field who thinks the current reforms are a good idea.

5. Failing at the Business of Schools

  • Unlike businesses, schools cannot control their raw materials. They just take the students that their parents drop off. Most are also run from the top by a school board composed of elected volunteers who for the most part lack any serious educational expertise. For these reasons, trying to hold schools to business standards makes no sense. It also makes no sense to hold all schools to the same standard as their raw materials vary.

6. Achievement Gaps and Ethnic Groups

  • When advocates for blacks, Hispanics, and poor kids see that that whites and Asians perform better on standardized tests, they expect schools to work on closing the gaps. Ironically, if schools did a perfect job of letting every student learn as fast as possible, the gaps would increase. Doug maintains that the best way to close the gaps is to slow down the fast learners, which some schools do well. He also points out that the subgroups themselves are arbitrary and don’t make much sense. For example, why are Spanish speakers the only group based on the language they speak when more people speak English and Chinese? People from China and India are very different in appearance and culture, yet they are in the same group.
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Could Las Vegas Have Been Prevented? Easy – by Douglas W. Green, EdD

Thursday, October 5th, 2017

Could Las Vegas Have Been Prevented? Easy – by
Douglas W. Green, EdD explains how to avoid the kind of massacre that took place in Las Vegas.

Vegas

Same Old Arguments

  • About all I have heard since the Las Vegas massacre is arguments from the left and right about gun control. This is all pretty reflexive and you hear the same stuff after every mass shooting. I’m not saying that the gun control debate shouldn’t go on, but it would be nice if we could also hear a more creative analysis that takes the specifics into consideration.

Hundreds of Sniper Locations

  • This massacre would be easy to prevent without any change in our gun laws. What made this possible was the fact that the concert venue had hundreds of sniper locations above the scene. Last week I saw Paul McCartney at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. There is no way anyone could get a gun in there let alone all the guns the shooter got into his hotel room.
  • The lesson is, don’t set up a concert venue with so many potential sniper points above the concert that can be accessed by someone who doesn’t have to go through concert security. This isn’t difficult, but it’s up to the people who set up these concerts. I suspect the cost of setting up this outdoor concert venue with access to snipers was a lot less than the folks in Brooklyn paid for the billion-dollar Barclays Center. 

Some Outdoor Venues are Safe

  • Last month I attended a Bon Jovi concert down the street at Enjoy Golf Course in Endicott, NY. Like Las Vegas, it was an outdoor venue, but if you wanted to get in and take a seat in one of the high altitude skyboxes that could serve a sniper positions, you needed to get a gun in the door through the metal detectors and you wouldn’t be alone in your skybox.
  • It should be easy to prevent this kind of mayhem if you avoid setting up concert venues that can be targeted by people in neighboring buildings without the ability to prevent people from getting guns to a room with a view of the concert.

How About the Hotel?

  • There are two issues here. The first relates to the two windows that the shooter broke with a hammer prior to the shooting. These are windows like many hotels have that are not designed to be opened by tenants. If they aren’t designed to be opened, there should be some way to know when they are hammered open. This would involve some expense, but if the hotel equipped the windows with sensors, the people at the front desk would know which windows have been breached immediately.
  • The other thing a hotel could do, if not today but probably in the future, is to use their cameras and a bit of artificial intelligence to spot someone coming in multiple times with loads of stuff. The guns and ammo that were brought into the room took several trips. He must have used some large containers that would have been easy to spot via video and/or alert people watching the lobby or the front door.

Housekeeping’s Role

  • Finally, what about the people who were visiting the room on a daily basis? I think hotels should tell their staff to take a look in closets and drawers quickly as they are making the beds. If guests say they don’t want such service, a security staff member should be sent to take a quick look at the room each day. Steven Wynn says that anytime a do not disturb sign is up for 12 hours it is investigated. His housekeeping staff also looks around. See the New York Post for more on this.
  • I send my prayers and sympathy to all of the people impacted by the terrible event. I also think that this particular type of massacre is easy to prevent. If you can, please do so. Also, don’t attend any outdoor events with line of sight to places people can access without going through concert security.
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Daniel Pink’s Best Ideas Presented Only to People Who Preordered His New Book

Tuesday, February 1st, 2022
The Power of Regret

On 1/30/2022 I attended a Daniel Pick online presentation only for people who had preordered his new book “The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward.” There were about 1,300 of us. During this presentation, he gave the audience the ten most important things that he has ever learned. These all match up with my thinking. Since he did a count down, we start with the number 10. This presentation will not be available anywhere else so share this with your network.

10. How to make a decision

  • Start with asking yourself “what advice would you give to a friend.” Fundamental reasons are better than instrumental reasons. Do the right thing. Less is more. Do fewer things well.

9. The best way to get things done Read

  • “Bird by Bird” by Annie Lamont. This is the one step at a time approach to getting something done. The coach should tell the team, let’s go 1-0 today.

8. The best way to choose what to do

  • Pick the professor more than the class. Focus on who you are doing something with. Read “The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t” by Robert I. Sutton. Here is a link to my summary. Don’t tolerate jerks for a moment. We are who we spend time with.

7. How to Persuade People

  • Read “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” by Robert B. Cialdini. The best way to persuade someone to do something is to make it easy for them to do it. Consider changing the default option. If you want to make it easy to run, put on your running outfit.

6. The best way to get a good idea and how can you tell a good idea from a bad idea

  • From Malcolm Gladwell, good ideas lead to good ideas. Look for good ideas you had that have proved themselves. You need to be excited about it. Look for stories rather than topics. Put your ideas out to other people. They are likely to give you more ideas. Generate a lot of ideas without evaluating them at first. Next, capture the ideas. They can be floating. Keep a running document on your computer and cellphone so that you get an idea you can write it down. Finally, socialize your ideas and don’t worry about somebody stealing them. The more ideas you share, the more people will share there’s with you.

5. The best way to deal with hassles

  • Read “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity” by David Allen. If you have a task that can be done in less than two minutes, do it now. Use the stoic test. When confronted with a hassle reframe it as a test. Then move it from the realm of emotion to the realm of cognition.

4. The best way to liberate yourself

  • Do not manage your life to impact what other people think of you as they are probably thinking about themselves. Just be a good person and do the right thing.

3. The best way to get stuff done, part two

  • Step by step is the micro part. Seeing the big picture and keeping your eye on the prize is the macro part. You want to think about systems. Broaden your focus and it will be easier to see how the small parts fit. Al Gore made a guest appearance here. We always face the voice between doing the hard right thing and the easy wrong thing. Seek first to understand.

2. The best way to deal with regrets

  • Dan recalls telling the head of AirB&B that his idea would never work. Process regrets inward, outward, and forward. Treat yourself with kindness. We all make mistakes. Forgive yourself. Disclose your regret. It releases the burden. Even writing about it can be helpful. Finally, extract a lesson from it.

1. The best three words to say regularly

  • Please and Thank You. They are profound. Please reminds us that we are not entitled to anything. Thank you serves a similar purpose. Expressing gratitude deepens our sense of meaning and purpose. Doing so is advantageous. Here is a link to my summaries of Daniel Pink’s books.
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Data Visualization Resources for Lawrence C. Stedman’s Class at Binghamton University

Tuesday, July 11th, 2017

Today I’m doing a guest presentation at Binghamton University for Lawrence C. Stedman’s Education 680: Principles of Visualization and Data Analysis. In the process of preparing, I created this post, which you will also find linked at the left of my home page.

One Way to Use a Correlation

MLB Correlation
With an r squared of about 0.2, it means that money counts for 20% of the wins. This can make a difference, but not with every team. The teams above the line get more for their money.

Why You Can’t Trust Some Statistics

The Trouble with Averages: The Impact of Major Life Events and Acute Stress May Not Be What You Think – Anthony Mancini, Ph.D.

Coontz, Stephanie, When Numbers Mislead, The New York Times, May 25, 2013.

Orin, Ben. Why Not to Trust Statistics, mathwithbaddrawings.com, July 13, 2016. These simple drawings show you in an easy convincing manner how any statistic can be misleading.

Weinberg, Neil. Stats to Avoid: Batting Average, FanGraphs.Com, February 20, 2015. This is a good example of a poplular use of average that has been recently discredited.

Books That Debunk Current Federally Mandated Testing and Therefore Any Data Visualization Done With Them – Links to my summaries are included.

Zhao, Youg (2016). Counting What Counts: Reframing Education Outcomes – Yong Zhao and friends take on the current system with its focus on standardized tests and their sole focus on cognitive skills. Chapters are devoted to defining a variety of non-cognitive skills that are connected with success in life and the current status of how to assess them. They make a case for a new paradigm that would move the system towards more personalized learning and assessment.

Harris, Phillip, Smith, Bruce M., and Harris Joan (2011). The Myths of Standardized Tests: Why They Don’t Tell You What You Think They Do – This provides great ammunition for anyone who wants to join the fight against the test and punish reforms that schools and students are currently suffering from.

Amrein-Beardsley, Audrey (2014). Rethinking Value-Added Models in Education: Critical Perspective on Tests and Assessment-Based Accountability – This describes and analyzes the imposition of value added test-based evaluation of teachers, the theory behind it, the real-life consequences, and its fundamental flaws.

Kamenetz, Anya (2015). The Test: Why Our Schools Are Obsessed with Standardized Testing – But You Don’t Have to Be – Anya Kamenetz explains in some detail the ten things wrong with state tests along with some history and politics. She goes on to tell educators and parents what they should do to help kids survive the madness. Anyone who dislikes state test should get this book.

Kuhn, John (2013). Test-and-Punish: How the Texas Education Model Gave America Accountability Without Equity – John Kuhn follows the history of the modern education reform movement from its roots in Texas. While the tone is strongly one-sided, John makes a compelling case for reforms that diagnose-and-support and finds a way to finance schools in a more equitable manner. If you haven’t joined his battle, it may be time. 

A Book Explaining Item Response Theory

Partchev, Ivaiol (2014). A visual guide to item response theory, Friedrich-Schiller-Universitat: Jena, Germany. This is pretty nerdy, but it has some graphs that help you understand the concept.

Infographics and Data Visualization Explained

What Is an Infographic? And How Is it Different from a Data Visualization? These visuals are easily confused with other forms, despite having their own unique history, design, and purpose. @vismeapp

Big Data Exploration – This graphic provides a nutshell glimpse of the discipline.

13 Reasons Why Your Brain Craves Infographics – This is brilliant and research-based.

How to Make an Infographic: A Visual Guide for Beginners [Free E-Book] In a world of information overload, the ability to visualize information is more than just a nice-to-have skill — it’s now a necessity.

Ten Expert Tips on How to Choose Color Schemes for Your Infographics – This contains color knowledge that everyone should know.

Examples of Data Visualization from DrDougGreen.Com – Dates are when they were posted.

5/24/17 Which States Have The Smallest Gender Gap In STEM Occupations? Maryland has the smallest STEM gap with 2.1 men for every woman. The state with the largest gap is Utah at 4.5. How is your state doing? @investzen

5/7/17 With This Interactive Font Map, You Have No Excuse For Defaulting To Helvetica On Everything. IDEO’s Font Map, an interactive typography map built using an AI algorithm, however, makes the process of exploration and selection much easier. @IDEO

4/20/17 Gerrymandering is Illegal, but Only Mathematicians Can Prove It. Studying state maps to look for gerrymandering could be a good student project. This is a great infographic. @EricaKlarreich @QuantaMagazine @wired

3/4/17 One Year Of Air Traffic Around The World, Visualized – This interactive map is pretty cool. Click and drag to move the world. @galka_max @Digg

1/13/17 The Sex Ratio of Each State and County in the U.S. This interactive map will tell you what the deal is in your county. Most counties have more females. Can your students explain this data? @overflow_data

11/14/16 However Deep You Think The Ocean Is, It’s Way Deeper Than That. This is an example of how animated video and visualize data. @RealLifeLore1

10/25/16 An Animated Map Of Unemployment In The US From 1990 Until Today – What does this reveal about the subject. This is an example of using the time-lapse technique for data visualization. @flowingdata @Digg

8/5/16 A Breathtaking Timelapse Of The Never-Setting Arctic Sun – This uses time-lapse photography to help visualize a natural phenomenon. @WitekKaszkin @billstankay

8/3/16 Watch as the world’s cities appear one-by-one over 6,000 years. Another example of time-lapse. There is a ton of learning here. It does a great job of showing where civilization started and spread. @galka_max @DrEdwardMooney @jordosh

7/22/17 How Much Space Does $1,500 Rent You in the 30 Most Populous US Cities? This is an extremely cool interactive representation of data. Hover over the tiles and see how much space $1,500 gets you in the 30 most populous US cities. @Balazs_Szekely @RENTCafeApts

First Time Posted 7/11/17

Interactive Map for the August 21, 2017 Solar Eclipse – This may be my all time favorite as it is so informative.

Track National Unemployment, Job Gains and Job Losses

Wage Winners and Losers since 2004 You can enlarge the map and when you roll over a county, it’s data is revealed.

Executive Compensation Graphic – Roll over each dot to see what the CEO makes. There is also a table, which might be easier to comprehend. Always include a table where your audience can see the real data.

An Explanation of How Growth Scores Work

Growth Scores Explained In New York State – Note that when you use percentiles you have a zero sum game as in order for some students to move up the percentile ladder, other students must go down. This means that the average teacher score will not change. Also, note that there are no credits at the end. I suspect that this is the case due to the fact that it was produced by the same people who sell the tests and the value-added model to the state.

Dr. Doug’s 1st Visme Project

It took me just about an hour to learn this product and make this infographic. Consider giving this product a try.

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Do Districts Need a Tech Director?

Friday, May 28th, 2010

I am now a guest blogger at Dangerously Irrelevant, which is a popular blog devoted to technology, leadership, and the future of schools. The author is Scott McLeod, L. D., Ph. D. who is a professor at Iowa State University. The post is an article that I did on the idea that districts should think about cutting the position of technology director. This is a position I held from 1982 to 1993 before I became a principal. Thanks to Scott’s popularity, my article has attracted a lot of attention from his readers and is getting much attention of high profile people on Twitter. Let me know what you think.

Click here for access to this article.

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Dr. Doug’s Flood of 2011 Story Page 7 added 9/23

Friday, September 16th, 2011

At 2:30 am on September 8, 2011, a fireman knocked on my door and told me I had to evacuate as my apartment was soon to be flooded. What follows is my story for the next few weeks as I worked to establish a new normal.

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Dr. Doug’s Key Book Summaries and Answers from The #140edu Conference in NYC

Monday, August 1st, 2011

On August 3rd, I was on a panel moderated by Shelly Terrell at the prestigious #140edu conference at the 92nd Street YMCA in Manhattan. Click here for the video. Here are links to my book summaries that you should read if you want to better understand what’s wrong with most schools today. I have also included my answers to Shelly’s questions. Click the title above to see them.

Drive: Daniel Pink http://bit.ly/jl7ara

The Myths of Standardized Tests: Harris, Smith, & Harris http://bit.ly/lJLUNR

Catching Up or Leanding the Way: Youg Zhaohttp://bit.ly/mrUNnj

Managing the Millennials: Espinoza, Ukleja, & Rusch http://bit.ly/n8KVCY

Readicide: Gallaghar http://bit.ly/qk7oNY

Failure of the Standards Movement: Stedman http://bit.ly/pr6rxk

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Dr. Doug’s Multimedia Talk: Resources for Schools

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2015

On December 23, 2015, I gave a presentation on social media for educators to the staff at the Unatego Central School District in Upstate New York. During the talk I referred to the references below that for the most part stand on their own. Enjoy and share with educators you know.

Put this in the wall: Don’t post ANYTHING, ANYWHERE that you wouldn’t want ANYONE to see EVER! That goes for email too. If an email or any post makes you angry, your best reply is “let’s talk — tomorrow.”

You did review digital citizenship and online behavior prior to sending the kids off on the winter break, didn’t you? Research shows an increase of incidents related to sexual content and a spike in the number of students observed for depressive, self-harm, and suicidal issues during this time. Do you know who has this responsibility in your school?

Social Media and Your Reputation

Social media gives EVERYONE (that includes educators) one more way to get in trouble. What kind of trouble? See
Dr. Doug’s slides from his social media talk – This is a pdf file.

Your Facebook Online Reputation Can Help or Hurt Your Future. This is a great video to show students. @JoshOchs @safesmartsocial

Six Ways to Stay on Top of What Kids Are Doing Online

Doug at Stonehenge
Good Selfie?
Bad Selfie
Bad Selfie?

What is the Periscope app? Social Media Safety Guide – There is a lot of good social media advice here. @JoshOchs @safesmartsocial

But What About Sex?

Cave Painting
Grecian Urn
Adult Content Has Driven New Media Since the Beginning of Time.
If you want to read some research on the topic, type “Students viewing Internet porn research” into your favorite search engine or click here.
2015 Stats on Internet Porn – There is data here from many surveys that shows how often students of various ages and adults from various demographics view Internet porn. The big question is what should parents and teachers do about it?

Revenge Porn – What happens to the racy pictures you sent to your boyfriend when he becomes your ex-boyfriend?

Confessions of an orgy addict If you think Tinder is bad, how about 3rinder? Other special sites includ Grindr, JDate, and Christian Mingle. @JaneRidleyNY @nypost

Social Media for Communicating with Parents and Building Your Brand

Check out now New Milford High School in New Jersey uses social media.
If your school isn’t using social media to promote itself and communicate, consider starting a student club to do it.
Twitter People With the Most Followers – See if you can guess before you look.
I don’t advise 1:1 electronic communication with students. Let students post questions to a blog where all students can see the question and your answer. If inappropriate questions or comments come in, take them down and talk to the student in private.
How many kids don’t have access at home? Do you know who they are? Who teaches copyright issues? Have your read your school policy lately?

Social Media for Professional Development and Student Learning

Shouldn’t every educator have their own professional development plan? Social media can facilitate this.
Step one: Join Twitter and attend some Twitter chats. Start with #Edchat at noon and 7pm EST every Tuesday.
There are hashtags for every specialty in education.
Top Teacher Resource Blogs
How to Use Social Media for Professional Development
If you want your own personalized daily paper go here. Here is the link to my 12/15/2015 paper.

Students should have a larger audience.

Teachers should too. Do your teachers and students have blogs? Do students get to see their best work posted on the Internet? Why not?
How One Teacher Uses Her Blog – Note that top student work is posted her also. Is there student work on your blog?
If you want students to search for something that interests them Digg Here.
Should you punish students for social media behavior outside of school? It isn’t unusual for schools to receive viral criticism for over punishing kids. Here is one school that did. Hip-Hop Stars Support Mississippi Rapper in First Amendment Case.

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