Next year, we're buying MacBook Air 11" laptops for the 3rd grade and 6th graders. Kids keep the same machine for three year until they graduate to a new model in 6th grade (or simply graduate from the school after 8th grade). The kids in K-2 have an iPad assigned to them. Up until now, we've provided MacBooks and Always-on Cases from InfoCase for the students. In preparation for next year, Don Buckley and I ordered a bunch of different cases from Amazon.

My favorites: 

CaseCrown faux leather book cover clip on case for $18.18 (it'san always on case with a snap closure)

Belkin MacBook Air vertical sleeve with shoulder strap for $14.99 (slim profile and cross-body carry strap)

 

Flort shoulder bag for $9.99 (I've always been intrigued by this IKEA bag...)

 

The others:

Acase faux leather book cover clip on case for $14.95 (same exact design as the CaseCrown but it doesn't have a snap closure)

Hard Candy Cases convertible case for $36.99 is ok but pricey [RETURNED]

Gumdrop cases surf convertible case for $37.35 is the same as the Hard Candy design but pricier [RETURNED]

InCase perforated hardshell for $45 looks cool, is super expensive, and the bottom didn't stay attached [RETURNED]

Red mCover hard shell cover case for $19.99 is overpriced considering the next item is...

Slim Crystal hard cover case for $12.99 is totally reasonable

 

 

 

I popped in on a 6th Grade Spanish class led by Clarissa Leal. Her students are using Google Sketchup to design Islamic structures using similar characteristics they noted from their analysis of La Albambra.

6th grade studies Mecca for the first trimester: They read Habibi in English, learn Arabic counting games and melodies in Music, discuss The Crusades in Social Studies, construct geometric tesselations in Math, and examine the historical, political, and cultural significance of Islam in Social Studies (and throughout our integrated curriculum).

Unfortunately my Google Sketchup skills are weak, and I'm relying on the old "ask three people before you ask me" trick. I'm also modeling how to use the online help menu to answer questions. There are a couple of kids making hand-drawn models...

Yesterday, I was incredibly surprised and flattered to see a tweet from DistanceEducation.org (@onlinecourse) alerting me that I was on their list of The Top 20 in Education on Twitter for 2012.

I immediately assumed there was an error and expected a retraction. I also felt kinda guilty for tweeting almost exclusively about my many overindulgent meals consumed during winter vacation...especially after reading the really kind explanation for why they considered me:

Education, photography, and travel are just a few of the topics that @SpecialKRB covers everyday. Offering her followers a number of really great tips, @SpecialKRB is the ideal influencer to follow for anyone who loves mixing creativity and education.

I'm still grappling with how to navigate online social spaces, even as I have the chutzpah to teach my students how to do so. I predominantly post projects I work on in school, articles that interest me, stuff I learn about at conferences, weird NYC sightings, and things I do on my travels. Contrary to how it may seem, I make attempts to filter what I share and hope to avoid oversharing or banality. Additionally, I try to balance the whole professional/personal stream of information. Clearly, I've made bad choices, but I try to learn from each mistake. My New Year's resolution is to prevent my boss, my best friend, or my mother from confronting me with something that would jeopardize my job, relationship, or inheritance. Here's hoping I can stick to that for at least the duration of 2012...

DistanceEducation.org's list includes the following educators on Twitter:

Chris Lehmann @chrislehmann, Tom Barrett @tombarrett, Kevin McLaughlin @kvnmcl, Alec Couros @courosa, Kim Cofino @mscofino, Graham Stanley @grahamstanley, Joyce Seitzinger @catspyjamasnz, Jabiz Raisdana @intrepidteacher, Larry Carver @lcarver, Colette Cassinelli @ccassinelli, Karen Blumberg @SpecialKRB, Education.com @JustAskEdu, Anita Harris @iTechSpec, Angela Maiers @AngelaMaiers, Kathleen K. Manzo @kmanzo, Carrie Schneider @lattesc, Berni Wall @rliberni, Urban Education @UrbanEducation, Dr. Steve Perry @DrStevePerry, Alexander Russo @alexanderrusso