TED Talk: Sir Ken Robinson

Sir Ken Robinson hits the nail on the head with this video! In an engaging, hysterically funny, and keep-it-real fashion he opens up our minds to ask "Where has our creativity gone?" and "Why are we killing our childrens'/students' creativity?" Wow! We must nurture than than suppress creative expression in our lives, especially within our education system. We are too nervous about NOT committing errors, which is a good part of life. We also must re-evaluate our minds and how we allow them to work. Are we solely workers or are we creative, thinking, lively people with careers? We cannot afford to just slave away to make it through this life, but ENJOY it, dance, sing, create, and find out what makes us truly happy and what makes passion bubble up within ourselves.

Top 100 Educational Blogs: My chosen article

Article of Choice: Do You Spend Too Much Time Preparing for Standardized Tests?

Source of Article: NY Times Education Blog

As I read a post from this NY Times learning blog, my eyes were drawn to another side. The side I don't often think about. The question was raised that if we were NOT taking part in standardized tests, would teachers be teaching enough content to students? I guess I always assume that if you're in teaching you're in it to prepare students for life. We all, most the most part in US education, are held to the standard of having "standards" and "required content" which helps to guide me and my colleagues in our lesson planning. I believe that with accountability, teachers will follow those guidelines. A standardized test is NOT ensuring that quality education is taking place.

Now, if we MUST have these standardized tests, I have an idea that I am certain has been placed on the table innumerable times. How about these scores count as a graduation requirement? If not, how can we depend on these scores for accurate information regarding how much our students truly have learned and retained?

10 Picture Post

1. We love SHRIMP...as Bubba Gump said, "You can boil it, bake it, stew it,..."

2. I enjoy dancing. Here is a photo of an extra credit Salsa dance night my friend and I hosted for our Spanish students in 2010.

3. I love serving internationally. This precious girl is awaiting adoption at an orphanage I worked at in Jamaica. I hope to continue traveling and getting a chance to show love and respect to those who are struggling in their countries of origin.

4. Faithful friends are hard to come by... but I thank God I did! These two ladies will be friends (sisters) for a life-time. Distance, children, careers, etc. do not impede keeping the connection we've had since our college days.

5. My husband and I enjoy remodeling. This is my man working hard on restoring the wood floors in our new home. He did a GREAT job!!! And, he saved us $5,000. Way to go!

6. Music makes life all the sweeter! This is a group of my Spanish students at East preparing to get on the bus to go see an Argentine performer here in Omaha.

7. Annual trips abroad are my "recharging the soul" moments.

8. Fruit is my favorite food group!!! As a kid I had to be "cut off" from fruits as I once ate 15 apricots in one lunch period. I kept going back up for more... Also, in my travels I've found that fresh mangos, pineapple and bananas taste COMPLETELY different than the trailer-traveled, gassed fruits we get in our NE supermarkets. Fresh is BEST!

9. Cooking new foods is a favorite hobby. I like to visit restaurants, write down recipe names and find them on Pintrest and/or other on-line sources.

10. Enjoying creation is VITAL to my personal world. There is so much natural beauty... turn off the cell phone, shut off the computer, leave work behind and connect with nature.

¡Hola! I'm Piper Porras and I teach Spanish at East High.

(I love México and go annually)

I studied at UNL, UNO and the Tec de Monterrey, MX.

In my techie world, I am a total Mac geek. I am learning

a lot through the BPS courses, a technology in the classroom course at UNO, and my stepchildren offer weekly insights in how I can more efficiently operate my Mac. I use technology that includes a lot of Web 2.0 options, such at Little Bird Tales and Blabberize. I like to incorporate music into every grammar section that we have as music is a great way to connect with new content and repetition helps mastery of grammar concepts and their application.