Tool for video projects, Margaret Atwood, homework help, and some crazy.

Dear Students,

First a new tool for student video projects, Margaret Atwood, some helpful science / math video prep links, and some crazy.
The neat new tool is JayCut, a free online video editor that offers the ability to export the videos to YouTube or download directly in different formats. Something like JayCut gives everyone, from teacher to student, a common platform to work and edit their projects. Working on a group video project where members have a mixture of Macs and PC's? Share an account to collaborate during prep or otherwise separated by time and space. Oh, and speaking of Macs, here's a completely unrelated vid on how to make an iPad float.

I noticed that Margaret Atwood has become Twitterfied. There's a recent article "How I learned to love Twitter" which helps explain how being part of Twitter is about being part of and developing a community. I remember reading Margaret Atwood when I was in school. At the time I thought she was one of those dead Canadian authors. Apparently I was wrong. The ability to observe (and possibly interact with) the authors of books under discussion seems an intriguing development.

For those in Math or Science I would recommend checking out Khan Academy; a comprehensive set of YouTube videos on Math, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, arranged by topic. If you need a quick tutorial, they seem quite good. The final link is to the blog "Bad Astronomy", the author has been updating his site with some pictures from the HiRISE camera and has caught some martian avalanches (click to get a massively enlarged picture).

Lastly, some newsyish items that are related to education and to technology. (By technology, I mean I read about it online and it caught my outrage long enough to pay attention. That's a significant selection bias.)

A student in Mississippi (Constance McMillen of Itawamba Agricultural High School) wished to take her date to the prom, but there was a little snag. Her date was of the same gender, which was against school policy. This request was denied, and Constance was also told that if they arrived separately but danced together they'd be thrown out. Oh, and girls aren't allowed to wear a tuxedo either. You can check out the story here, and a Facebook fan page here. But wait! It doesn't end there. Apparently, feeling pressure afterwards, the school did decide to hold the prom. Except that it is looking like it was a decoy prom, that only Constance and a few other (presumably also less popular) students were invited to, while the 'real prom' was held somewhere else. It's not confirmed that the school officials were involved in the deception...but knowing what's involved in planning any event with students it would be difficult to defend the position that they did not. And the historical parallels alone...

Secondly item - I made the mistake of going to the Fox News 'health' section (in my defense I found that the health section of USA Today was blocked by our proxy, and I wanted to check if it was all news sites, or just some), and I found this: Sex Education Could Mean Charges for Teachers. The logic is thus: teaching about contraception encourages sex, minors are not allowed to have sex, therefore teachers who teach about contraception are guilty of sexual assault. This is the opinion of a district attorney (in the U.S.). Despite the fact we're studying the reproductive system in Bio12, class will not be canceled. Sorry.

Regards,

Ron Neufeld
Canada's Best Boarding School