Sitting in the audience at the movie theatre, an audience I hadn't really noticed was mostly female, my 17 year old self slipped lower in my chair. The movie was The Accused, and if you saw it, you probably know why I started to feel that males are lower than bottom-dwelling slugs, if only while watching the movie:The Accused is a 1988 American drama film starring Kelly McGillis and Jodie Foster, directed by Jonathan Kaplan and written by Tom Topor. Loosely based on the real-life gang rape of Cheryl Araujo that occurred at Big Dan's Bar in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on March 6, 1983, this film was one of the first Hollywood films to deal with rape in a direct manner, and led to other films (including TV films and shows) on the subject. Jodie Foster, for her portrayal as Sarah Tobias, earned the Academy Award for Best Actress.... Source: WikipediaThe film, which I was totally unprepared for as a sheltered young man at seventeen (you know, you don't realize how "sheltered" you are until you encounter a situation like this), made me feel ashamed to be a young man. In theory, I knew that men raped women (and vice versa), but having attended a Catholic school growing up with poor social skills, I realize that MY reality didn't include such brutal renditions of truth. I resolved to never visit bars, and I've held to that except for 1-2 occasions. Feminism, equal rights for men and women, seemed quite achievable but I had no clue as to what it meant in my teenage life...as a grown man, it seemed natural to seek a strong woman, unafraid to speak up.Feminism often involves "Speaking truth to power," and for me, a confident human being is one that can appreciate, even celebrate and learn, diverse opinions that are different than his/her's. I won't say all marriages are like that, but I can say that I'm glad my wife is unafraid to point out the error of my ways and that goes both ways. Equal rights for all human beings has meant raising children to ask tough questions about how they can interact positively (win-win) with others, but also, to avoid situations that may put them in harm's way. We'll come back to this idea, though.One of the important pieces of data I've shared with my almost legal-age daughter is that alcohol contributes to problems, period. Although it would be nice to imagine that everyone would be helpful when you're inebriated, the truth is, some may take advantage of that. I've shared statistics like these with my family for discussion off and on again over time:Conservative estimates of sexual assault prevalence suggest that 25 percent of American women have experienced sexual assault, including rape. Approximately one-half of those cases involve alcohol consumption by the perpetrator, victim, or both. Read moreIn one, study 26% of men who acknowledged committing sexual assault admitted that they were intoxicated at the time of the assault, and an additional 29% reported being mildly buzzed 55% were under the influence of alcohol. In the same study 21% of the college women who experienced sexual aggression on a date were intoxicated at the time of the assault, and an additional 32% reported being mildly buzzed, 53% were under the influence of alcohol. Read more.Rape is more common on college campuses with higher rates of binge drinking - and alcohol use is a central factor in most college rape...Overall, one in 20 (4.7 percent) women reported being raped in college since the beginning of the school year - a period of approximately 7 months - and nearly three-quarters of those rapes (72 percent) happened when the victims were so intoxicated they were unable to consent or refuse. Read moreOver the last semester, my daughter has shared her thoughts on feminism. A word that demands equality among men and women. That said,Hello Sexism, I wasn’t expecting you so early today. From NPR.About the image shared above, she writes in her latest blog post, Sexism is Unprofessional As Is Showing It, the following:The checks and balances failed. Their culture has a failing. They want to help sexism and gender imbalance in the tech industry. Kudos, guys, and I mean that. I hope you mean it and follow through on your goals to improve everyone’s thinking at your company, and not just the developer’s, because when this kind of sexism shines through like fluorescent lighting, it shows us that we may not want to be sexist, but the waters we’re swimming in may still be. Time to clean the tank folks. She is discussing the reaction that a company had in regards to their engineer and that engineer managed to get off a slide comparing a problem to his girlfriend, causing an uproar online. Compare the response of Atlassian (in their blog post) with the ISTE CEO response (you can read Hack Education's scathing criticism of the ISTE response) to a situation described by Ariel Norling:In June 2013 I attended the International Society for Technology in Education conference (ISTE). While there I was sexually harassed by a male speaker and sexually assaulted by a male exhibitor. One is a popular conference speaker who is frequently featured as one of the most influential people in EdTech on Twitter. He’s also a principal. The other man is the founder and CEO of an educational technology company that raised one of the largest seed rounds in EdTech history. Perhaps you have read his feature in Forbes.Admittedly, both situations are entirely different, but they provide insights into how different organizations might respond to situations.As a husband, a father, I'm frightened about American culture and the fact that my wife and daughter are out there, having to deal with some who may see their gender, their clothing, their reactions as an invitation to harm them while satisfying their own desires.As a father, a part of me sees this news article as one possible solution for women:Between 2005 and 2012, the number of state residents receiving new concealed-carry permits tripled to 62,939. Now some 451,000 Washington residents are allowed to carry a hidden handgun almost anywhere they go, more than 100,000 of them women.Notably, the growth rate for women getting new permits is twice as fast as that of men.What is going on? Washington’s recent boom in concealed weapons mirrors a national trend, according to a Seattle Times analysis. State and national experts, law-enforcement officials and others, including permit holders themselves, offered different explanations for the concealed-carry explosion here. But a common concern emerged from interviews with women who carry: the importance of self-defense. Read MoreThen again, drinking and carrying a weapon don't go together. Neither does drinking and going out on a date. For both activities, you need to be fully cognizant of what's happening, what you can do. IfView my Flipboard Magazine. Make Donations via PayPal below:Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

"As an IT leader, your successes are silent and your failures are publicized."A few weeks ago, Eric Scheninger posted a quote I immediately shared with folks at home and work:"@NMHS_Principal: - Tell your story as it happens, take pictures of kids doing great work when observing, blog about successes #PAESSPCHAT"As a technology director, it's easy to blog or share about what you and/or your Instructional Technology team members are doing. After all, they work directly with students and staff, making it easy to create digital stories that can be shared. But what about the people in the shadows who do so much awesome work but seldom get recognized?For a CTO, the work these unknown do-ers engage in does mean the difference between success and failure for the organization. Those jobs can include any of the following:Hanging up wireless access pointsSetting up computersNetwork device or infrastructure configuration design/setupProviding end-user trouble-shootingProcessing purchase requisitions and purchase orders.Database/account managementWeb site support and trainingHow do you share those silent successes with others in a way that makes that work real to the end-user, the customer, the people you serve?View my Flipboard Magazine. Make Donations via PayPal below:Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

Note: The following are my notes about the writing workshop I attended one day facilitated by Elizabeth Martin. Any errors, incomplete thoughts, failures to cite appropriately are mine. My Notes:1. Starts off the day sharing stories...at least 4-5, if not more about a variety of topic. The purpose of this, I think, is to "prime the pump" for participants.2. Ms. Martin passed out a small, fit in composition notebook half of a manila folder and instructed us to title it "Library of Ideas." The purpose of this is folder is for participants to jot down  stories brought to mind by Ms. Martin's. This worked for me, since the story she shared about her first few weeks at college reminded me of my time at MSU and the time before classes started. Another example is calling Dad for help or rescue.3. We all have stories to tell. Avoid summarizing and instead put yourself in as a character in the story.4. Tell stories at your table. Participants shared their stories they'd jotted down on their manila folder.5. Think of small moments to share...put someone's name on a chart, then think of 3 small moments.6. Come up with different small moments for places and people. Put down stories for each place.7. Telling stories helps encourage sharing...sparks memories of other stories in her past.8.  Neighborhood map list...this is a neat idea. You draw a map of your neighborhood when you were a child and then identify places where stories took place. By having this in your writing notebook, you are able to quickly find topics to write and share about.9. Heart Map - First, put people in there. Second, places. Third,  put things on the heart map...when you're done, expository writing. Things could be iPad, iPod, etc. Fourth, activities and events.PlacesPeoplePlacesThingsActivitiesEventsGoals and DreamsSix essentials for writer's workshop:1) Time - Have to give time to write each day.  Some students will fake it until they move on. "I write because I'm expected to write. I know that at a certain, I will be called in and be expected to write at a certain time." If you can only do workshop twice a week, the don't bother. You send the message to kids that it's not important. We're writing every day. Responsibility, expectation are important. I feel have to feel a sense of responsibility as a writer.  Treat child with expectation that they are going to speak. That is expectation.Inside that expectation is the responsibility. If you're sitting at your computer, why should students write? We are imbuing our expectations to our kids.2) Talk  - "If they are not talking, it's not workshop."  We've been programmed to believe that we're not on task if we're not sitting at our desk. One of the conditions that must be present if feedback to response. Teachers process what they are learning by talking to each other. The best practices for instruction have changed...but we're still sort of programmed from the way we talked. If the kids aren't talking, it's not workshop. Teach appropriate talk for workshop."No walking, no talking." Writing is, by its very nature, a solitary affair. Isn't writing a lonely affair?We need to create a net to enable students to talk to each other. Students need to be co-dependent on each other, not just the teacher. If they are dependent only on you, then you are outnumbered.3) Tone - Create a climate in your classroom that's an invitation. Create an environment as a strong invitation that is exciting. Everything you around the work is part of the invitation. Make a thoughtful plan about how to get kids excited about the writing work. The tone of your classroom needs to be an invitation.4) Teaching - You teach the whole time. The biggest problem is knowing what to teach. In the past, we were taught grammatical structure. Teach kids what good writers do.5) Choice - Good writers know what they write about.  Roald Dahl's work.We cannot invite kids to the table and then tell them to write about what is important to them. Lucy Calkins: Tell the exact truth about something.  Sometimes we are too quick to push kids to something new. The once in a lifetime nature of topics.Kids have the idea that if they don't write about something exciting, then it's not going to be good writing. Kids need to have choice.6) Structure - There is structure in the hour of time. If it's a problem, there are two things I can do--teach a mini-lesson or put a structure on it.You can't gatekeep...students need access to what they need to get through the writing process. And, they will need to be able to getup and get what they need to move on.What Happens in Writing Workshop during Conference:While students are writing, you are teaching. You are not at your computer, etc. You are up and walking around, talking to child, writer to writer. "If you don't manage your people, they will manage you.""Writers need to be writing."Constantly move around the room, teaching.Conferring is your best teaching. We get better at reading and writing when we do it a lot.Share Time:We don't meet author's chair. We mean that we'll take the work of the minilesson. When you write dialogue, it has to have a reason, moves the story forward. Dialogue with a purpose moves the story forward. When kid write dialogue that moves the story forward...celebrate students who achieve the goal of the writing workshop mini-lesson.Share time can be a nice book-end on mini-lesson that reteaches the lesson. When you invite kids to share, it will be very awkward. When you start at the beginning of the year, it's not going to feel comfortable for the teacher or students until later. Make sure that you give it awhile until everyone feels comfortable.Hands up, come in for a minilesson."We write so that our curriculum knowledge of the process of writing runs deep and true in our teaching" --Katie Wood RayWriting partnerships may last the duration of the school year or could change across units of study.Get systems in place to get work done.Writing partnerships are reciprocal relationships where everyone gives and receives help.Partnerships should:Meet often, share their writing, listen to one another..."By offering a community where every member is engaged in similar struggles, we offer our independent writers the knowledge that they are not alone." - M Colleen Cuz, Independent WritingAll mini-lessons either give or gather information. 

Doug "Blue Skunk" Johnson really hit a nerve when I read his post on, The lost souls of technology training. This is the part that sang out to me:Paras fall into the category I call the lost souls of technology training - those folks who need basic tech skills, but don't get much attention from our department. We do a pretty good job with kids, teachers, and even the teachable administrators, but some groups have just been left to wander in technology limbo.Paraprofessionals, or para-educators as I once was told served as the preferred term, are one of the toughest groups to get to. Here's why: In Texas schools, paraprofessionals aren't allowed to attend workshops after work hours unless they are doing so for their own edification and it's unrelated to their job. If they do attend something, they must be compensated.Think about that.If I'm a paraprofessional, and I attend a workshop that occurs after-hours that could positively impact the work I do when I'm on-duty, then I have an expectation of payment from my employer. Yes, that's the interpretation that is out there.When I served as Director of Instructional Technology for a large urban school district, we actually put disclaimers in the front of the professional development handbook stating that no expectation of payment should be present and that paraprofessionals could attend only with approval. You might guess we didn't have many paraeducators attending sessions. Fortunately, I was able to design paraeducator learning opportunities in a series of seminars, and that was very well-received by participants.So, how do you get past this? You don't offer formal training for paraprofessionals. You put it all online in a elearning buffet and let anyone and everyone learn what they want. If it happens to improve you as a paraeducator, then great but a school district won't have to reimburse you for your time. Thank goodness for YouTube, huh?If you see this as a problem, what would your solution be?This past weekend, I spent a serious amount of time digging up video tutorials to help a paraeducator "train herself" into a beginner level technician. There is so much information out there to help us become better at what we doCheck out Miguel's Workshop Materials online at http://mglearns.wikispaces.com Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

"How do I get started?" It's a question that many teachers ask when considering Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT). It flows from a lack of awareness of what others are already doing in classrooms. As a technology director, the most challenging aspect of my job isn't the technical stuff...rather, it's helping people overcome the limitations they set upon themselves and others. It's easy to look at the completed product others have produced and say, "That's too hard. I can't do that."In this article, I'd like to share 5 tips for organizing your BYOT classroom. The challenge isn't the technology, but rather, the limits you've accepted for the kind of person you want to be. And, if you accept those limitations, you will--not may, not probably, but you will--deny yourself, your colleagues and your students the benefits of being someone who transcends the limitations. Aren't you ready for a bowl of transcendence? I know I am!"I'm not sure where to start. I have all these papers in this stack, my notebook of favorite activities, my documents on a flash drive. How do I put it all together?" A better question might be, How do you magnify your teacher superpower to a laser focus? The easiest way is to organize your materials and resources in some online space. If you had to look back over the last 5 years, the wiki as a tool for classroom organization has been obvious. Everyone abandoned paper, face to face approaches to distributing content and has moved online. It simply makes sense. These days, you might consider using OneNote, the awesomely easy to use tool.What I like to do when creating a virtual space is to define three to four key areas and group content inside of that. If you're familiar with ethnographic research, it's like identifying the themes in the work you're doing. You are creating a resource, pouring your hard work over many years into buckets of content that will be easy to access...not only for yourself, your fellow educators, but also your students.Tools like OneNote make it easy to engage learners with multimedia...from Slideshare embedding to audio/video, picture (inserted or online), it's easy to enhance your virtual space. No matter what device you have access to--laptop, desktop computer, iPad--you can easily create content online that is easy to view and process for students. A la flipped classroom approach, you can create video/audio content and blend it with text documents. Wrap it up and put it online in your wiki, OneNote, or whatever, connect it to a discussion forum of some sort, and you're ready to go. There are many approaches you could take, but one easy way is to use a tool like OneNote or Google Sites.Note: This blog entry was supposed to have 5 tips but has been sitting in the DRAFT pile so long, I'm throwing it out there with minor mods. What other tips would YOU add? Sign up for the Texas for Technology Enhanced Education Email ListEverything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

"A writer, writes." How funny. Those are the same words I share with my children, both of whom are aspiring writers. Jonathan Maberry attributes them to Ray Bradbury, an author he met in school thanks to his school librarian (librarians swooned when he said this!).Jonathan Maberry's "Chase Card," a term popularized in Rot & Ruin series of books.When my daughter tweeted that  Jonathan Maberry would be in San Antonio this past Saturday at the Library Palooza 2013, I had a chilling moment of dread.After all, Maberry has written some of my favorite zombie books, no matter that I hadn't read them until recently.Note: I regret that I missed the first 15 minutes or so of Jonathan's presentation since I was recording this with my iPad and when I switched from Recorder Plus HD app to AudioNotes to take notes, unfortunately, the apps fought each other for control. AudioNotes simply turned off Recorder Plus...this is normal and I should have noticed it sooner. Ah well.View picture galleryMy Notes:Disclaimer: Please forgive typos...I was typing this on my iPad in an auditorium seat. Maberry makes some great points...I've highlighted my favorites!In Mntgomery, Tx, Austin...the perception is that no one in Texas reads, but then you find out they read a lot. I'm having a great time with librarians and readers, and you are really impressive, and exciting because of all the books you're reading.Find out more...I've been a writer all my life...as a kid, I wrote for every school paper I could find. I would write things that would deeply disturb teachers. I was sent to the counselors twice. Better out than in. I wrote about people who fought monsters. I went into different writing in college...and ended up becoming magazine writer, mostly martial arts. I've been doing martial arts since I was six. Ive written 1200 feature articles, did movie reviews, and music concerts.I did a movie review...like opening of Conan (Arnold S.). I got to meet Arnold and other cast members like James Earl Jones. I get to write about stuff, meet cool people and do cool stuff.I was a bodyguard for a few years. The life expectancy of a bodyguard is 5 years...I worked for 4 years. I have scrrews and pins holding my body together, scar tissue. I taught at Temple University...jujitu, women self-defense class. We got beat up pretty badly and bring in different styles. We even did Chuck Norris before he became a movie star.There was a point when Chuck Norris was the world champion for several times...I was an actor briefly. I wrote lyrics for a couple of bands.In the late 90s, they offered me a 4 book deal about martial art and another book. . .I told them I wanted to write a book about vampires under a pen name. "A Fieldgame to the Undead" under the pen name Shane McDougle.I killed off my pen name...there was a party for dead writers. Shane was killed by vampires, submitted an obituary, and people actually thought he was dead.Write more non-fiction  about monsters.I was trying to find fiction that were based off folklore and legends. Lots of neat vampire facts - stakes were used to pin down vampires while their heads were being cut off, sunlight doesn't kill vampirres.writing fiction was an experiment. I'm a non-fiction writer. I thought I'd write it and get it out of my system but found it was really 3 novels. It was nominated for two awards...novel of the year and bram stoker.Stephen King sends him sympathy cards for losing...by two votes.Maberry won for best first novel. Getting published was more luck than talent.  It made him believe that writing fiction was something he should try doing again. He's written 15 novels."Watch Over Me" is a new book series for teens, includes a transgender student."Patient Zero"...was called up by Marvel Comics and asked, "Would you write for Marvel?' That's the silliest question he's heard, he started doing the snoopy dance.I was just freaky.I learned to read with Marvel Comics..they didn't figure out I needed glasses until third grade. Maberry will be writing a series for Dark Horse. Got a phone call while I was watching Battlestar Galactica. The person was a vicepresident of something..."Have you heard of the Wolfman?" They were making the remake the wolfman, and he was asked to write the novelization. The book was a New York Times bestseller, even though the movie wasn't that great.These days, I write for Marvel, young adult, I get to play in my imagination all day long and get paid for it. They are going to make movies of Rot & Ruin. It's pretty close to the book. Tear-jerker of a book.I'm still at heart a pop-culture geek. When I see that stuff on screen, I'm just going to freak. I'm doing a lot of projects.Questions:"Marvel Universe Series...a plague is released that turns a part of the population into cannibals and they go around eating people. The perspectives of the series are Punisher, Wolverine and Hawkeye. It's kind of fun having my own universe in Marvel. The inspiration for zombies is from George Romero."The Fallen night" What happens when a quarantine Few people tell what happens when the collapse of society happens. It's tough to kill characters off. It's also tough to leave people. I killed characters off before. I don't cheap-shot a character's death and it's planned from the very beginning.He's publishing a novella "Fun and Games" about Tom Imura rescuing someone. That might end up being a prequel movie."Tooth and Nail" novella...Mike weeney shows up andIf you go to write a zombie book, write about the people who are caught up in events. All good fiction starts with great characters...you mess with their lives, and in catastrophic story, that's when people lose their affect. These types of stories and use the characters that lead you into the story, you will write compelling stories.Most writers start and then doubt whether its good. Finish something, buy yourself a present, then rewrite. Write to completion. People who do that are likely to get into print.Joe Ledger...show or movie? This was originally optioned by Sony/ABC.       4  rot and ruins, two dead of night books,Write 2-3 novels a year...a few dozen pitches to agent, and she shares the hottest ones. only been writing novels since 2005. When he was a kid, he had the chance to meet Ray Bradbury..."a writer, writes" and should be open to writing anything.What first book? "Judo with You"I wrote my first book on ghosts because I wanted to write a  book that dealt in that world. Of all thee horror flicks you've seen, but i recommend these two: ""The haunting" and "Dawn of the Dead" and The Walking Dead.Easter egg....2nd and third series that ties into rot and ruin. In the cards, you'll find Rick and Karl."What would you recommend I tell them about getting them excited about reading?" Rot & Ruin...ordinary people becoming extraordinary, which anyone can do. Romance is in there but not pushy. Martial art and sword play and 7 million zombies...what's not to like? I wrote the book I would have wanted to read if I was a 15 year old.What's your favorite color? Blue.Without Stan Lee, there wouldn't be  a comic book industry. He talked about important issues in his comics. He was bold. He's still a powerhouse. You can do your job, be creative and have fun.First comic I ever bought was Fantastic Four, #68. My second favorite is Hellboy.You can get past writers block if you stop trying to be perfect. I set myself a word count per day. If I would write 2000, I would set myself a 1000 word limit to write to and if I did it, I would put a dollar in. I bribed myself into writing. Sign up for the Texas for Technology Enhanced Education Email ListEverything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

What a fascinating read (if you're into protecting your confidential files on your computer) about the EncFS (encrypted file system) in this blog entry, Using EncFS with Dropbox.To put it as plainly as possible, this solution does the following:works on Linux, Mac and Windows. Encrypts data on your computerMakes it easy to encrypt data that you put in a folder that syncs (gets sent) to cloud storage solutions like Dropbox, etc.Clear as mud? Try reading this:Do you store sensitive files on Dropbox or another cloud storage service? Encrypt them with EncFS for Linux, an encrypting file system that transparently encrypts and decrypts each individual file with your encryption key. There’s also an experimental Windows build. EncFS works differently from a TrueCrypt container, which stores your encrypted files in a single large file. Instead, EncFS creates separate files for each file you add. It works better with cloud storage services that would re-upload the entire TrueCrypt container each time it’s changed. Installation instructions:Macintosh and iOSHow-To Geek's Tutorial for EncFS on UbuntuLinux (works great).CryptKeeper is a great GUI for Encfs in linux. Available in the Ubuntu repo or from the web.Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

Hurtling through space, on a journey towards a new Earth, supplies running low, tempers frayed, technology failing, innovating with old equipment nigh impossible...that's not a vision of "the journey is worth the trouble." When we embark on a journey of discovery, the discovery we long for as human beings is the end of the journey. Whether that end be joyous, a welcome reunion, a fiery death, ending is what we long for.Source: http://tinyurl.com/ht9rhk6Maybe, we need to change that. When we are caught in an endless loop, avoiding endless pursuit of the bored and uninterested in technology on the shores of Acheron. The bored and uninterested in technology suck the blood of technologists who sought to engage them with professional learning opportunities, promising a new world. Instead, we need to celebrate the opportunity for interaction.Ryan Bretag quotes Walt Disney, and the encouragement for schools is implied:As Walt Disney said,"Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious…and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."The idea of explorer, of a neverending adventure or journey has great appeal for some of us. But for others, it can grow tiresome to always be searching for success, hoping that the "rat race" will end in victory or defeat, so long as it ends. For those folks, one more thing will always be the bane of their existence, and those that mollycoddle them, that "hold their hand" as they seek to limit the impact of learning and technology, to spare them stress...the very stress they need to grow and survive.Let me bring this home a bit. We have finite resources, we are not infinite learners because we are spirits wrapped in mortal flesh. We learn for a purpose, we learn to achieve our goals, our dreams, and it will never be enough.Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

Read moreWouldn’t it be powerful if you, as a teacher or educator, could bookmark content on the web and then have it automatically archived for student viewing in a Microsoft OneNote notebook? When I did that earlier today, the process worked like magic! And all you need is your free Microsoft OneNote account, a free Diigo for Educators account, and a free If This Then That (IFTTT.com) account.Note: Do you have a OneNote Notebook for students set up? For the purposes of this blog entry, let’s call it "World History - First Period" without quotes. Inside that Notebook, create a Section called "Resources," which is where your new web page links will be saved when you bookmark them using Diigo.Step 1 - Create accounts, if you don’t already have them.Create your free Diigo for Education Account.Create your free IFTTT.com account.OneNote, available at no-cost, requires a Microsoft account. If you don’t have one already, you can always set one up for free.Read the rest of this blog entry at TCEA.org!Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

Special thanks to Peggy Reimers for inspiring this blog post with her TCEA Lunch & Learn Webinar, Engage Learners with Infographics:My blog post, which speaks to my experiences as an art-challenged youth (and adult), appears at the TCEA blog. Here's an excerpt:I don’t remember how it happened or what I was working on, but the "F" in Art on my kindergarten report card painted its own picture. And that "painting" hangs on my mental wall of shame, a constant reminder that I am terrible at art. In fact, we probably all need to be a little more conscious of grading policies that are letter-focused and their negative effect...Then, I explore a bit about the grading injustices we have all encountered in our lives. After that, I reference Peggy Reimers and share the 3 strategies:Strategy 1: Voice and ChoiceStrategy 2: Start with a specific topicStrategy 3: Use easy toolsThey seem pretty obvious, but it's what comes after each strategy that is pure gold...not because I wrote it, but because it arose out of the dynamic conversations that happen when people (myself included) are learning!Read moreRead the whole article online!And, thanks to the T&L folks at ISTE for featuring it!Find out more about what they are doing - http://tltechlive.techlearning.com/Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure