Franklin Matters

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Spring forward?

I trust you turned your clocks ahead one hour to stay current on Daylight Savings Time

"the bigger cost is that we’re navigating blindly"

Dr Scott McLeod completes his week of posting on the state of education in Iowa. He raises some great questions about the data that is currently not collected by the state. A sample (only the first four questions) are as follows:

Here are some questions that we should be asking in Iowa:

What percentage of Iowa schools and districts have a technology plan? For those that do, what do those plans cover?
What percentage of Iowa schools and districts have technology teams that advise the organization on technology-related concerns? Who’s on those teams?
What are schools purchasing with their hardware and software money? What proportion of expenditures goes to teacher-centric technologies versus student-centric technologies? What proportion goes to software that provides powerful learning opportunities for students versus software that simply focuses on drill-and-kill remediation?
How new are the computers in Iowa schools? What percentage of Iowa hardware and software is more than 2 years old?

I would recommend substituting "Franklin, MA" for Iowa as you read through these questions and the full listing on his page here

Do we already collect this data for MA? I do not know as I sit here but will spend some time in the coming weeks to go looking. If you know in the meantime, please let me know.

I want to play with these blocks!

From TED, we get a glimpse of what computers and human interaction can really do. No, not the kind where some one sits in front of a screen and uses a keyboard or mouse.

Watch, this is delightfully exciting!

Now that is a good use of computer technology for educational purposes!

How would you use these Shiftables?

Thanks to the folks at Free Technology for Teachers for the pointer to this!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Stop in to see/buy Spring in vase

stop in to see/buy Spring in vase, originally uploaded by shersteve.

This is good to know!

oh no, the start of a sink hole! and King Street was just recently redone

oh no, the start of a sink hole! and the street was just recently redone, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Found on King St heading towards RT 140, between Summer St and Summer St.

I'll come back later to try and measure how deep it is.

Updated 3/8/09 - I did measure it and it is 8" deep, deceiving but potentially dangerous.

"they were very brave"

By By Joyce Kelly, DAILY NEWS STAFF

GHS

Posted Mar 06, 2009 @ 11:39 PM

FRANKLIN - Standing tall with her flashcards, fourth-grader Beatrice Riley told Clara Barton's life story 12 times yesterday.
Wearing a white dress and signature giant red cross to portray Barton, delivered Barton's story six times to second and third-graders and another six times to parents by day's end.

"I was shy and I overcame my shyness ... I was intelligent and curious, and most important, I founded the Red Cross in the United States," she explained again and again, tirelessly retelling the highlights of Barton's life.

Riley and 22 other students transformed Davis Thayer Elementary School's cafeteria to a living wax museum of historical figures, including Mozart, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Neil Armstrong, Anne Frank, Marie Curie and more modern icons such as Bill Gates and Elvis.

Read the full article about the living wax museum in the Milford Daily News here

Harlem Wizards vs. Sullivan Rockets

Anxious to get out of the house? Looking for a fun, affordable, local family activity? Want to get in the mood for March Madness?

The Harlem Wizards are coming to Franklin!

The Harlem Wizards, one of the greatest basketball show-team organizations to ever “lace it up and let’em fly”, will play our own Sullivan Rockets. This will be an entertaining night for kids of all ages (and adults too)!

Date: