iCloud to the Rescue!

So $162 later, I had a iPhone replacement. Like most others with Smartphones, this is so much more than a phone. Pictures, books, music...pretty pedestrian stuff, but I get my money's worth out of it and then some. While I was well aware of how iCloud helps manage content from the iTunes and Apps Store, I was really happy to get my contacts and Photo Stream back with just a username and password.

How did we get along before the cloud? Beats me...I guess we just accepted data loss or jumped through hoops to back stuff up. A few weeks ago I just wrapped up listening to Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson for the second time. The part of the book where he Jobs berates the Mobile Me staff is memorable - the changes he made payed off from my vantage point. I'm sure there are people who can poke holes in the service, but it does it what I need it to do. Have my back.

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Google Reader's End - Maybe its a Good Thing?

Like other folks, I was surprised and annoyed about the end of life announcement on Google Reader. This is something I use everyday (but I guess I'm only one of a few thousand...not several million) and I rely on it for getting a great deal of good ideas sent directly to me. Tonight I had a thought that it might be a good thing. Did Google Reader stunt my own growth and curiosity to read about what many others have to say? There's tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands or more...) of educators out there sharing what they're doing, what they're thinking about but don't have the bully pulpit of Larry Cuban or Will Richardson. It certainly doesn't mean they have lesser things to say. Mostly they right about their own action research they're doing right now - very useful things to read for practitioners. In the last few weeks I've divorced myself from Reader and used other avenues to get my information from. Tonight I came upon this nice post on I

...moving in.

...getting used to my new digs in Germantown . I moved into an office I'll be sh aring with a soon to be hired Student Information Specialist. To be honest there were plenty of times in the last week I felt like I was going to puke - moving on from all I've known for 7 years professionally. Stomachs have settled now and great conversations are taking their place. Had a great one today with our high school media specialist Jeff Schreiber who has done great things integrating technology, boosting circulation and getting kids reading. I know we're going to do some great things in the next few years and I look forward to the challenge of discovering what works for Germantown in terms of instructional technology. In addition to instructional technology integration, I'm also working on data and assessment analysis. This is a hot topic in Wisconsin right now, as the DPI NAEPized (more than you care to know on this link) our standardized test scores. Students who may ha

Practical Ideas on Teacher Ed Reform

A few weeks after the election Gov. Scott Walker spoke about changing the way we fund pubic K-12 and higher education. It's the usual tough talk about "outcomes" with on comment in particular that has turned some heads. "In higher education, that means not only degrees, but are young people getting degrees in jobs that are open and needed today -- not just the jobs that the universities want to give us, or degrees that people want to give us." Part of me could go on and on about where this could lead - plus there are no specifics behind this statement, but I just want to focus my mental capital on things I know about - Schools of Education. What we don't need anymore of are graduates who don't have a robust background in educating all learners. I recently ran into a former student who is now 21. He proudly told me he was getting an education degree to teach social studies. My response was "That's great! What do you think about gett

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