Quantcast

Browse by Tags

All Tags » community   (RSS)

finally joining Facebook


18 November 08 06:01 AM | John Spencer | 1 Comments   
I'm finally joining Facebook. It feels trendy to join, but it also feels trendier (in a sort-of anti-corporate, counter-culture, I-hate-all-things-mainstream way) to avoid joining. I want to avoid becoming "that guy" who defines himself by all things Read More...

defining the Digital Divide: and why Sufjan Stevens, indie films and academic journals don't have a monopoly on using pretentiously long sub-titles


25 October 08 08:08 AM | John Spencer | 2 Comments   
I am nearly finished with my master's project, but a recurring theme kept emerging in the process. A Digital Divide exists that prevents low income students from thriving in the Digital Age. The definition of this Digital Divide tends to remain narrow, Read More...

a book all teachers should read


22 October 08 08:35 PM | jtspencer | 1 Comments   
I'm almost finished with my master's degree. The Capstone Project sounds impressive on paper, but it's actually not all that innovative. All the ideas are from somebody else (research journals). Even if it is documented, it somehow feels like cheating. Read More...

end of the quarter


19 October 08 02:01 PM | jtspencer | 0 Comments   
Last week we wrapped up the first quarter. Students seemed a little surprised that I required them to work hard until the last minute. In some classes, the last week of a quarter becomes a film-a-thon as the teachers frantically input latework to help Read More...

should we teach kids to be patriotic?


04 July 08 09:05 AM | jtspencer | 2 Comments   
Sometime after 9-11, I lost all sense of patriotism. It might have been the way people used the American flag to sell beer (not unlike Jesus Breathmints and granola bars). Perhaps it was when I first heard a country singer telling me we should stick a Read More...

yearning for community


21 May 08 07:50 AM | John Spencer's Blog - A Billion Blogs of Solitude | 0 Comments   
Many of my colleagues have enormous desk calendars where they mark each passing day with a large red oversized Sharpie. I don't have a desk calendar. (Sometimes I think there must have been a teaching class I missed; perhaps when I was ditching the lesson Read More...