Monday, February 27, 2012


Edutopia recently released this video, which is part of a series taking a look at high-achieving education systems and model schools around the world. The series is co-produced with the Pearson Foundation. For more information see <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/education-everywhere-international-finland-video" target="_blank">Edutopia</a> or Pearson's "<a href="http://www.pearsonfoundation.org/oecd/" target="_blank">Strong Performers and Successful Reformers in Education</a>" page.
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If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.
                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.


I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL


Thursday, February 23, 2012

Pamper or Push?

In schools, self-esteem boosting is losing favor to rigor, reports Chandler of the WashingtonPost.com

The article reports that the age-old wisdom suggesting that high self-esteem leads to high achievement may be incorrect. This theory resulted in lots of "way to gos", "good jobs", and "everyone's a winner" praises and affirmations - but what research shows is that it led to very few, if any, academic gains. 

Current psychology and brain research has encouraged an increasing number of teachers to stop the "empty praise" cycle, and to instead, articulate a more precise, and scientific vocabulary for praise that will push children to work through mistakes and take on more challenging assignments. 

Learn more at at the Post

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.
                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.


I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL


Get your fire lit!

BigThink recently published an article that included a dozen videos believed to help spark educators' thinking about the changes that are occurring in education. Check out the complete article, cause like a picture, a video sometimes speaks much louder than words.

Here's their list:

  1. Sir Ken Robinson, Changing education paradigms (11 minutes)
  2. Sugatra Mitra, The child-driven education (17 minutes)
  3. Clay Shirky, How cognitive surplus will change the world (13 minutes)
  4. Chris Anderson, How web video powers global innovation (19 minutes)
  5. Dean Shareski, Sharing: The moral imperative (25 minutes)
  6. Henry Jenkins, TEDxNYED (18 minutes)
  7. Daniel Pink, Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us (11 minutes)
  8. Dan Meyer, Math class needs a makeover (12 minutes)
  9. Jeff Jarvis, TEDxNYED (17 minutes)
  10. Lisa Nielsen, Response to principal who bans social media (4 minutes)
  11. New Brunswick Department of Education, 21st century education in New Brunswick (6 minutes)
  12. Charles Leadbeter, On innovation (19 minutes)
If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.
                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.


I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL


Monday, February 20, 2012

Google launches redesigned education site

Google is one of educators best friends - and once again, they have stepped it up and continue to provide great tools and resources used for student teaching and learning.

Recently Google redesigned their education site. New features include:
  1. News and Calendar - listing dates and deadlines for Google education endeavors
  2. Google in Education: A New and Open World for Learning - an online booklet that lists the company's education related initiatives and programs
  3. Reorganization of the Google in Education page/links
  4. The Teachers site leads to many of Google's education apps as well as providing lists of professional development links
  5. The Student Showcases link lists student-created materials 
Read more about the many changes and updates to an already great education site!

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.
                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.


I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL


Thursday, February 9, 2012

14 Steps to Meaningful Blogging

Wanna try blogging with your students, but you aren't sure how to start? Read this great article 14 Steps to Meaningful Blogging. Mrs. Ripp walks you through getting started in easy-to-follow steps.
  1. Pick an easy platform
  2. Teach how
  3. Safety
  4. Commenting
  5. Start small
  6. Involving parents
  7. Connect with peers
  8. #comments4kids
  9. Visits others
  10. Explore
  11. NO grading!
  12. Challenge them
  13. Map connections
  14. Time
Get all of the details in the full article.

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.
                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.


I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL


Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Using images legally

Need an image/graphic for a presentation? For your website? Or to add to a student handout? Before deciding on an image be sure it's one you can "legally borrow". Basically there are three types of images you will find on the Internet -

  1. Public domain & open source images - these images are free to use, but may require citation or permission to modify or edit in any way. 
  2. Copyrighted images - Depending on the license, some images are not open for public use. One example of this is an image of Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse. To use copyrighted, restricted images, you must have written permission from the copyright holder.
  3. Royalty-free & stock images - you may purchase royalty-free & stock images to use without restriction both commercially and privately, but you cannot sell or lease these images.
Need help locating images that you can use legally? Check out the resources below!


Flickr - Flickr is almost certainly the best online photo management and sharing application in the world. Show off your favorite photos and videos to the world, securely
Freedigitalphotos.net - Download free and premium stock photos and illustrations for websites, advertising materials, newspapers, magazines, ebooks, book covers and pages, music artwork, software applications and much more. All our free images are of high quality, produced by our community of professional stock photographers and digital illustrators.
Google Images - 1. Go to google search and enter the image search term; 2. Once the results have been rendered, scroll to bottom of page and select "basic version"; 3. Click on advanced search options (top of page); 4. Under need more tools, select images available for reuse; 5. Click on search; 6. Select and open the image as a large file view; 7. Determine if there are any restrictions (should be listed with the image); 8. If credit is required then be sure to copy the URL and image source
Open Clip Art Library - The Open Clipart Library is the largest collaboration community that creates, shares and remixes clipart. All clipart is released to the public domain and may be used in any project for free and with no restrictions.
OpenStockPhotography -
All images listed at Open Stock Photography come from Wikimedia Commons and as such "can be used by anyone, for any purpose 

Wikipedia Commons - a database of freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute. MP images.png

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.
                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.


I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL



Tuesday, February 7, 2012

7 things you should know about QR codes

Check out this informative article from Educause, 7 things you should know about QR codes, where they give you the "low down" on QR codes. They address the following questions:
  1. What are they?
  2. Whose doing it?
  3. How does it work?
  4. Why is it significant?
  5. What are the downsides?
  6. Where is it going?
  7. What are the implications for teaching and learning?





If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.
                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.


I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL


Monday, February 6, 2012

QR Codes - bringing life to art

Have you ever looked at a piece of art and wondered what the artist was trying to convey, what their message was? Wouldn't it be neat if the artist could talk to you while you were viewing the artwork? With QR does - the artist can!


QR Codes, also known as "quick response codes", have become very popular. They are used to link physical objects (magazine article, picture, art, projects, etc.) to virtual information (YouTube video, recorded message, digital presentation, etc.).

  • How do you use them? Generate the code and paste it to the physical object. 
  • How do you read them? With a QR scanner app installed on your cell phone.

See how one teacher used collaboration, integration and QR codes to bring new meaning student projects -  Transliteracy - QR Codes and Art.

Want to get started with QR Codes -

QR Code Generators
  1. Google URL Shortener - Generate URL Codes for your proojects
    1. Insert URL, 
    2. Click "shorten"
    3. Click "details"
    4. Locate the QR code and save as an image file

QR CodeScanners
  1. iPhones, iPad & iPod - QR Scanner from the App Store
  2. Android - QR Barcode Scanner
  3. Blackberry - QR Code Scanner Pro

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.
                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.


I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL


Sunday, February 5, 2012

CSI - Twitter

Crime scene investigation has become a huge passion of many TV watchers over the past few years. One classroom teacher found a creative way to combine passion for investigation and social media to uncover the story behind a pile of bones found on school grounds... 
Sound intriguing? Sound a little scary? I'm sure the students thought so to! 
  • The Crime: A skeleton was found on the school campus 
  • The Question: Where did these bones come from? 
  • The Mission: Investigate and find out! 
Read the full story CSI Twitter - Crime Scene Investigation. What a great example of using social media in the classroom!

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.
                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.


I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL


Friday, February 3, 2012

Mind Mapping Tools


Here's a couple of great tools that students can use to help organize their thoughts:
  1. Bubblus -  Brainstorm online with bubbl.us. Easily create colorful mindmaps to print or share with others. Almost no learning curve. FREE$$$
  2. Mindmeister - Collaborative web-based tool supporting unlimited simultaneous users. Users can create, edit and share maps on the Web. FREE$$$



If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.
                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.


I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL



Wanna get social?

Social Media - while it's been around for a while, it's still all the "buzz" in educational settings. While many people "want" to integrate social media into their classroom, they simply lack the "know how" for using social media resources for beneficial student teaching and learning.
100+ examples of use of social  media for learning published by the Social Learning Centre briefly summarizes over 100 ways that different social techs/tools can be used to bring social dynamics to your classroom environment. The featured strategies were contributed by educators from all of the world and most require no out-of-pocket costs by students or teachers.

The strategies are divided into 17 categories - so if one doesn't work for you, hopefully another will. The social media categories include:
  1. Blogging
  2. Collaborative calendaring
  3. Podcasting
  4. RSS readers
  5. Collaborative Mindmapping
  6. Micro-blogging/micro-sharing
  7. Photo sharing
  8. Screencast sharing
  9. Presentation sharing
  10. Video sharing
  11. Social bookmarking
  12. Collaborative editing
  13. Collaborative working
  14. Collaborative presentations
  15. Social networking
  16. Personalized start pages
  17. Integrated social/collaboration environment
Social techs/tools common throughout the 100+ strategies include, but are not limited to LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Voicethread,  Wikispaces, Google Docs, PBworks, Etherpad, Delicious, YouTube, Screentoaster, Jing, Flickr, Bubblus and more!

Read the full article and make plans for integrating social media into your classroom environment. I'm sure your students will enjoy and benefit from the variety and collaboration it brings to their learning community!

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.
                                                                                                                         ~ Maria Montessori

James 1:2-4 ESV 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.


I humbly thank my wonderful family for their support in all that I do. Robert Robbie Cowan, Robert Drew Andrew Cowan, and Hunter Cowan Hartselle, Decatur, AL


Thursday, February 2, 2012

Is your classroom racist?

Featured on Edutopia is a really great article titled "Creating an Anti-Racist Classroom". In this article, Lee suggests 5 strategies for creating a classroom that encourages and appreciates all students.

  1. Don't ignore race - Ignoring something is sometimes conceived as unwillingness to appreciate, so don't be guilty of ignoring student race. And if you do have unspoken biases, which most people do of some sort, explore them, discuss with your peers and find ways to ensure a fair, friendly and inviting classroom for all students.
  2. Seek out established community organizations - Many times resources exist that we simply are not aware of, so find them!  It's very possible that located right around the corner are cultural, religious, educational and youth organizations that would love to work with you and your students.
  3. Remember that communities of color are not monolithic - As you are well aware, stereotypes are not true of all people in the stereotyped group. Learn about the individual, don't assume what you haven't discovered for yourself. Treat each individual as the unique person that they are!
  4. Read Educators hold an awesome power in their hands, the power to change. Use that ability to positively impact the lives of your students, by constantly learning. Read, listen to and observe others, this will strengthen your ability to provide a fair education to all of your students.  
  5. Self-awareness is the key - Take a long look in the mirror and ask yourself "Am I unintentionally favoring certain students?", "Am I using preexisting labels?" - be honest with yourself and if you find that are acting unjustly towards your students, diligently work to overcome this. 

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

WatchKnowLearn!

If you're looking for a great video resource, check out Watchknowlearn. They have a wide selection of educational videos arranged by content/subject - and best of all, they are FREE to use, embed, share, etc.