Cool Cat Teacher Blog is at coolcatteacher.com

After reading the Teacher's at Risk blog post from a few minutes a go, I don't know what makes me angrier at this scenario. This teacher quotes an article from the Mississauga News : "A grade six student at St. Sebastian Elementary School has been censored by his principal after writing a speech about being bored in class…”My message is to you,” he (the student) writes in his speech, “let nobody steal your joy by keeping you bored. Find a way out. To be happy is your purpose in life.” Oh, my goodness. #1 The student was asked to write a speech. The student wrote a speech. The student did that and a quite moving one at that! Now, I disagree that one's purpose in life is to just "be happy," however, if the classroom is devoid of happiness and the excitement of learning, something is fundamentally wrong! #2 Students have a right to their opinion. If I'm bored, I'm bored. I have a student that stays bored in one of my classes much of the time because...

A simulpost with the TechLearning Blog The CEO sits down at his desk, slides a few reports into his top desk drawer and straightens pictures on the wall behind his head. Today, he's volunteering at a middle school and he never has to leave his desk. Businesses bemoan the state of education and rightly so: they need a well-educated, capable, responsible work force able to solve problems and connect with the right people within their company to get things done. Well, now, virtual tools are getting rid of their excuses for not volunteering. With free Skype, a webcam, and a headset, everyone from the CEO to the intern could potentially volunteer at almost any school around the world with a common language. Advertisers flock to youtube to encourage average, everyday folks to make what Time Magazine is calling " youmercials." Well, I've seen the beginnings of "YouTeach" last week as my class interviewed nanotechnology expert, Earl Boysen. Boysen is th...