Input - Links and a few quick thoughts

The past week has had me pretty much fully dealing with some serious non-school issues, so today's installment will be more of an info dump than a series of musings.  I'm also holding off on any discussion of Ohio Senate Bill 5 until I have something original to add to the conversation, which I don't yet.  In the meantime, here's where my head has been:

I Resign From Teaching - Josh Stumpenhorst writes an amazing post that is very close to what I see happening in my classroom these days.  I can't say enough about the shift in dynamics that has happened in my classroom.  Maybe it's time for a good comfy chair?

Poe in the Pit - I found this one at the "Free Technology for Teachers" blog.  Poe in the Pit is an online interactive version of Poe's, "The Pit and The Pendulum".  It uses embedded links and QR Codes to tell a multi-layered version of the classic.  I brought this to a few students, and we had a great conversation as they taught me about QR Codes, got me set up with a QR reader on my phone, and then talked about the merit of such a presentation of a literary classic.  This one will be coming soon to a classroom near me, I'm sure of it.

Sam Rahder's "Update from Madison" - Students can have a voice, create important content, and be participants in authentic learning experiences.  There are tons of this kind of thing online.   

Shelley Blake-Plock runs into a very similar situation to one that I encountered in class recently.  Read his "According to the Style Manual" post.

I'm going to start interviewing teachers.  Here's where I got the inspiration.  I hope to post a few of them here, as well as some kind of final product in due time.

Chris Lehmann is a pretty engaging guy and he's doing some great work with kids.  Here's his Tedtalk in Philly.

Lastly, "This is Water" by David Foster Wallace, is one of the best statements on the importance of thinking that I've ever read.  He cuts through to the heart of the whole reason education is important.  Give it a read.  I liked the formatting best on my Kindle App, and as it is printed in paperback, but here's a link to the complete text of the piece online.