5. adolescents keep it real 24-7 365;

4. there is never a dull moment in Crew;

3. as I encourage to see that you think for yourselves, you help me do the same;

2. this is the best school in the planet and I am honored to teach and learn with you all;

1. as Crew members you pretty much have to listen to my jokes!

For day one, watch lets go around the world a bit with Matt

Here is a link worth checking out on Dancing Matt

If for some reason you are still reading check out my nascent (adj.-beginning to exist) wiki

Bikes without brakes and gears, know as Single-speed bikes have made a come back. I’ve been told they require the rider to make their way around the streets and trail old school, using instinct and quick twitch response rather than the overly cautious and limiting  brakes and gears of modern brakes. I interpreted David Parry’s writing on Blogs for Learning regarding the technology of reading and writing in the web 2.o world to mean that students need to effectively use brakes and gears before they can read like bike riders without gears or brakes.

If I had a dollar for every adolescent who raced into and out of web research without making meaning, I’d be able to feed the world. Students who are capable of reading often never get beyond scanning text. I agree with Parry’s view that RSS ( “Rich Site Summary,“ or ”Really Simple Syndication“) can teach students to slow and focus their reading. Specifically, when students scan results from specific feeds from multiple news sources (on topics they’ve determined with the support of their peers and teachers) they have a perfect opportunity to get beyond the click and skim web reading (or riding in association) and settle into to deep, close reading that will continue to be the cornerstone of metacogntive reading comprehension (kids knowing when to read fast or slow). There still a place for those slow rides up steep hills in a low gear!

RSS 101
Step 1, get a gmail account; 2. play with watch google reader; 3. watch and learn as the web reader (empower by RSS technology) brings specific topics all the time. Its like googling i in quotes 24-7-365. This helps kids read news they seek and avoid the stab in the web research so common for today’s adolescents.

RSS stands as just the kind of tool to empower digital native students to make improvements in the hyper-changing world. Once integrated into professional learning for teachers and used in our schools, the speed of RSS can assure that students go slowly, reflect while researching and, continue  to read closely and make meaning.

On the University of Southern Maine’s Gorham campus room 405 in Bailey Hall was kinda like the world. Most of the room was not online as seen above. On the other side of the room, I was among one of ten adults learning the ways of Web life 2.0. I’m a blogger looking at the empty seats to my right thinking of Tim Ferriss’s Four Hour Work Week and the digital divide as I seek out my interests in and out of the classroom.

In my nascent blogging (like right now!) I seek clarity on Thomas Pynchon, simultaneous Sunday morning kundalini yoga sadhanas, peer tutoring, and teaching integrated mathematics to high school students with learning differences. Additionally I am honored to teach English language learners who add African culture to the not your average scene at Casco Bay High School.

Smart is a choice! Casco Bay High School’s Peer Tutoring program is a place to get smarter. Students can become smarter as learning partners seeking help on school work and peer tutors who will get smarter by coaching and tutoring learning partners.