Saturday, January 31, 2009
Energy Sense Series
This is the collection of posts covering the Energy Sense Series sponsored by the Franklin Area Climate Team:
Dazzling mathemagic
How about a little bit of dazzling math today?
How does he do it?
Does Franklin prepare their students to do math like this?
How does he do it?
Does Franklin prepare their students to do math like this?
Friday, January 30, 2009
"why they would mean something to people 50 years from now"
GHS
FITCHBURG —
When the curtain rose on the set of "Public Speech, Private Thought," student actors slowly, silently crossed the stage, while overhead, electronic voices sang, "What are we? What the hell is going on?"
Justin Perry, the "rebel" college student played by Dean College student Joe Firicano, was the first to speak, the entire cast motionless around him. "Nobody is right all the time - nobody - not even if you know everything," Firicano said, preparing listeners for one of the play's star players, a narcissistic, dictatorial professor.
Read more about the performance by these Dean students and their chance for another performance later this year in the Milford Daily News here
Building Committee suggestion
As the Building Committee looks into either renovating or building a new high school, as well as what work should be done on the other three older school buildings (Davis-Thayer, Parmenter, and Kennedy), this slideshow should be something to keep in mind.
What kind of design will foster the education environment to prepare our children for a future that is unknown?
What do you think?
What kind of design will foster the education environment to prepare our children for a future that is unknown?
What do you think?
What questions would you ask?
If you wanted to know about social media, or Twitter, or blogging, what question(s) would you ask?
I am looking to solicit some input to tune up my presentation on Blogging 101 for the NewBCamp 2009.
Add a comment or send me an email (shersteve at gmail dot com).
Thanks!
BTW - Info about NewBCamp 2009 can be found here.
I am looking to solicit some input to tune up my presentation on Blogging 101 for the NewBCamp 2009.
Add a comment or send me an email (shersteve at gmail dot com).
Thanks!
BTW - Info about NewBCamp 2009 can be found here.
Meeting Presentations - Updated
Two quick notes on the presentations from the School Committee meeting on Tuesday, January 27.
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- The presentation overview for the Strategic Plan was really slow loading from Slideshare, so I have removed the presentation and provided a link to the Slideshare site to view it there. At least until I figure out why such a small presentation (only 5 pages, no significant graphics) is doing what it is doing.
- The Life Long Learning presentation was added to that segment of the meeting. You can view that presentation here.
The Green Reel: "Escape from Suburbia"
The Green Reel: a series of films for sustainable living will be shown on Sunday evenings this winter.
What: "Escape from Suburbia"
When: 7:00 PM on February 1, 2009
Where: Agudas Achim, 901 North Main St, Attleboro or directions here
read more about the file "Escape from Suburbia" here
Sponsors:
What: "Escape from Suburbia"
When: 7:00 PM on February 1, 2009
Where: Agudas Achim, 901 North Main St, Attleboro or directions here
Free and open to the public. For more info: 508-695-2389
read more about the file "Escape from Suburbia" here
Sponsors:
Agudas Achim
Crystal Spring Center
Simply Keep It Local
Oak Knoll Wildlife Sanctuary
Citizens for a Sustainable Local Economy
Murray Unitarian Universalist Church
Green Committee of First Universalist Society of Franklin
New Dawn Earth Center
Oake Knoll Ayrshires
Franklin Area Climate Team
White Barn Farm
St Mark's Episcopal Church-Foxboro
Thursday, January 29, 2009
"if Obama fails, we all fail"
GHS
FRANKLIN —
In 1992, Rush Limbaugh was a supporter of Pat Buchanan's bid for the Republican Party's nomination for president of the United States. Buchanan was taking on sitting president George Herbert Walker Bush, and did a number on him in the voting booth in the New Hampshire primary election that winter.
Bush saw that Limbaugh's influence with the Republican Party's base was quite strong and had to be neutralized. To that end, President Bush invited Limbaugh to the White House for a nice little dinner and a sleep-over in the Lincoln Bedroom.
After his night in the White House, Rush dropped Buchanan and climbed aboard the doomed Bush presidential bandwagon and rode it to defeat in the election.
Bill Clinton won, and this really upset poor old Rush for the next eight years. This may likely be why he took all of those drugs. In October 2003, he started his five weeks of drug rehabilitation, and then he returned to the airways in November proclaiming himself "cured." The state of Florida wasn't quite sure or convinced that this was the case. Authorities in Florida engaged in a three-year investigation of Limbaugh, and in 2006, Rush was arrested for his abuse of prescription drugs.
Read James Johnston's full article about Rush Limbaugh in the Milford Daily News here
Storm wrap up
Franklin Police assisted with three minor accidents on East Central Street, on Lincoln Street near Daniels Street, and on Upper Union Street by Independence Way, said Deputy Chief Stephan Semerjian.
No one was injured, he said.
"Whenever there's no school, there's always less traffic, few pedestrians and no buses, which makes it easier for us," said Semerjian.
The roads were getting slippery mid-afternoon, he said, which is when they're most dangerous.
"The DPW's trying to keep up with it, but it's not easy," Semerjian said.
Read the full article on how the area fared with Wednesday's storm in the Milford Daily News here.
"better way, a less expensive way"
GHS
FRANKLIN —
For years, Town Administrator Jeffrey D. Nutting has sung the praises of regionalizing services, updating archaic laws and making reforms on the state level to save towns like Franklin big bucks.
Now that the Massachusetts Municipal Association has elected him its new president, Nutting gets to advocate for such changes directly to the governor, six times a year.
The MMA elected Nutting on Saturday.
The MMA is an organization of town officials that advocates for municipal policies before the Legislature, the executive branch, regulatory bodies, and the courts. The association's board of directors meets with the governor six times a year to discuss issues facing cities and towns, according to the MMA Web site, www.mma.org.
Read the full article about Jeff and the MMA's efforts in the Milford Daily News here
quarterbacks and teachers
... effective mentoring of a new teacher can make an enormous difference in that person's ability to become a "star" teacher. But the problem, he argues, is that the process of mentorship is much too haphazard. As he says, "It's like training NFL quarterbacks by randomly sending them out to teams - some CFL teams, some Division III teams, some Division I College teams, some community teams, and a few to NFL teams."I would go further and ask "What can school districts learn from this?" Teacher development will even tougher in times of lean budgets when mentoring stipends are not allocated. Teacher development is tough already with much of the community not appreciating or fully understanding "professional development days". These "professional development days" are looked for by many parents as "get-away days" for long weekends.
...
If Matt Cassell can thrive in the NFL, after essentially zero college quarterback experience, what exactly is New England doing right? And what can the rest of the league learn from them?
You should be involved in the discussion on the cost benefit analysis of each school budget dollar. With budget cuts looming, what stays in the budget will be critical to maintaining a healthy learning environment.
Read more of this article about "teachers and quarterbacks" by Malcolm Gladwell here.
Be active in the school budget process.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Franklin - Total Cuts 9C
Total 9C Reduction to Additional Assistance & Lottery = $-299,676.00
Per the listing provided by the Governor today
Per the listing provided by the Governor today
robbers operating in Franklin
GHS
FRANKLIN —
Police are warning the community and retailers to beware of robbers in the area.
Four Franklin stores were hit on four different occasions: Dec. 11, at the East Central Shell Station; Dec. 21, at Olymia Sports Store at the Franklin Village Mall; Jan. 22, at the Xxtra Mart on East Central Street; and on Jan. 24, at the Sprint phone store on West Central Street, according to a press release issued by Deputy Chief Stephan Semerjian.
Read the full story in the Milford Daily News here
School Committee Mtg 01/27/09
The collection of posts covering the School Committee meeting on 1/27/09
"What was a 'conservative' budget then is now 'overly ambitious' "
GHS
FRANKLIN —
Once again, the School Department is looking at serious cuts thanks to both the recession and rising costs of mandatory services.
Administrators last night told the School Committee that just to maintain the same level of school services, teachers and staff next year, the district would need about $3.5 million more than its current budget.
Superintendent Wayne Ogden was quick to state the School Department does not expect to get that much, but, he explained, he wanted to propose a level-service budget for the community.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
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