Should Kindergateners Be Tested by the State?

The Boston Globe has a story this morning about how the state of Massachusetts is looking into whether or not they should test Kindergartners. I think it's ridiculous and loudly say, hell no.

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Introducing My Botanic Planet.com: Science Resource for K-5 Teachers and Students

My oldest daugher loves school. She comes home every day very excited to share what she's learned that day. No matter the subject, she's very "in to" school. Over the past few months, I've been telling her about a project I've been working on with a client of mine called TruGreen, a leader in the lawncare business. 

TruGreen is based in Memphis, TN and they have a relationship with a non-profit called Memphis Botanic Garden, which serves more than 43,000 school-aged children annually through organized education programs, offering them the opportunity to get outdoors and learn through hands-on activities and nature play.

Over the years, Memphis Botanic Garden has developed a curriculum that teaches kids about botany. They even created a couple of characters that bring the curriculum to life. 

With the help of my client TruGreen, today the two organizations launched a very cool site called My Botanic Planet:

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Vimeo Takes You to Video School

I'm a big fan of the video community Vimeo. It's sort of the independent version of YouTube. They recently launched a video school that shows users how to shoot good video.

The content covers a lot of aspects of best practices in video creation. For example, the below video outlines white balance and how it's important to capturing accurate colors in your video.

Despite the technology available to consumers these days — most of which is automated — it's still important to learn the basics to produce footage that's less point and shoot and more professional. After all, they're your memories so why not make them look as best as you possibly can.

It's All About Connections

Life is one big mess of tangled Christmas lights that are connected, yet working in sync to illuminate:

• We are connected to friends, family, business associates, clients, entertainers, politicians, media-types, etc. all with the help of social networking
• We are connect to content by way of our mobile devices, the social web, television and radio
• We are connected to our past because that's how we became who we are today and who we will be in the future
• We are connected to the government because we live in a society that needs rules and regulations that we have to follow (even though the ones that don't follow the rules, are still connected to the government, but in a bad way, i.e. jail)
• We are connected to each other because we're family, friends, co-workers, clients, etc. so we know our temperaments, our pain, what makes us happy or sad, what we're good at and what we're bad at, etc.
• We are connected to advertising and marketing (either by brands or by word of mouth)
• We are connected to people we don't know because we see them on our commute to work everyday or pass them on the street as they beg for change
• We are connected to time because that's what keeps things moving regardless if you want to stop it or not

We are connected. Think about it.

Advice on Saving for Your Kid's College Education

Here's another video post from my buddy Mike Langford (@mikelangford) of Course Pilot Financial, talking about how to save for your kid's college education -- a topic that I suggested, BTW.

Thanks for the advice Mike. Love the posts. Keep 'em coming.

#140conf: Real-time Education

One panel from the #140conf that I was very interested in was the one on how the real-time web can impact education.

In true 140 fashion, the panel was too short for a subject that I am very passionate and know a lot about (considering I've spent nearly seven years of my life working in education and another three or so representing education-focused clients).

You see, the education space is always behind the eight ball. It is always in need -- need of tools, technology, good teachers, content, students, active parents, etc. For such an important part of all of our lives, education (for the most part IMHO), doesn't get the attention it deserves in terms of the issues -- from the political end of things, technology issues, parental involvement, etc.

Education simple gets the shaft in my book.

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What a Difference a Year Makes

My kids walk to the front door of school. The youngest (left), missed her big sister terribly.Last year at this time, my oldest daughter was headed to Kindergarten. It was a scary thing. Here she was, an innocent, shy, caring girl that was going to be throw in the wolf den that is the public school system. I only call it the wolf den because it's the unknown. You're dealing with kids from all types of backgrounds, demeanors, education level, mannerisms, etc. Public schools are one big ass bowl of jambalaya.

My wife and I went through all the emotions of being a first time "big school" parent (pre-school was a sort of a cake-walk compared to a school where she was on the bottom of the food chain -- her school is k-8).

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