Education in the 21st century, pt. 2

I just posted part two in my series on education in the 21st century to the Elephant Journal website. In case you missed it, here is part one, and there is more to come. Feel free to link to it and pass it along!

Link and new geekiness

I published an article about the digital classroom on Elephant Journal a couple of days ago that I'm rather proud of, and it's gotten some nice feedback. If you're interested in reading/commenting on it, you can find it here.

I've also found a new and cool way to get info to my students without paper. I found an excerpt from a book that I wanted to use with my students, and so I asked the publisher of the book if I could copy it to use. I got permission, scanned it, and saved it as a pdf to a flash drive... but then couldn't decide what to do with it. I wanted them to read it tomorrow in class, but then there was the whole digital vs paper thing that has become something of a block for me now. I ended up emailing them the excerpt. (Yeah, I know.... obvious solution. I really do need to apply Occam's Razor much more often than I do.) Nonetheless, I am still rather pleased with the idea that each of the students in the class already has the excerpt waiting for them in their inboxes. Tomorrow in class, I am going to have them log into their email accounts and read the excerpt. We have the laptop cart tomorrow, so each can use their own, but this still wouldn't be that much of an issue if I have them do this same task in their Learning Teams of three, one team per computer; the principle is the same.

I definitely want to use this as often as possible. Best part is that a student can't claim to have lost the handout or leave it in class... all they need to do is log in at home and there it is! I can and will still print it out for students without internet access, unless they have a flash drive and a computer at home, in which case they can simply load it onto their flash drive, again saving paper.

I so love this whole technology thing. :-)



Oh! Speaking of technology, it's possible to search the 'net and be eco-friendly at the same time! I recently came across Ecoogler, a search engine that uses Yahoo technology and for every 10,000 searches done, they will plant a tree in the Amazon rainforest. To date, they've planted 2,290 trees and counting. So.... bookmark 'em and use it frequently! (Click on their logo or the link to get to their site.)
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Robert Thurman interview

At long last, here is the interview with Robert Thurman... this is the one that was at the Boulder Theater event I was involved in. Enjoy!





elevision - Robert Thurman: Why the Dalai Lama Matters from elevision on Vimeo.

Nifty video and book review link

Just finished reading The Rules of Victory: How to Transform Chaos and Conflict: Strategies from the Art of War by James Gimian and Barry Boyce. GREAT book. I posted a review of it here. The really cool thing is that James Gimian is one of the featured guests at the Elevision event I've been blathering on about for the past few weeks. I'm definitely going to get him to sign it. Today I started reading Light Comes Through by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche (and I'm also reading Why the Dalai Lama Matters by Prof. Robert Thurman). I'll have reviews of both of those up soon. On Monday, I'll be attending a book talk and signing with Rinpoche, and I'm looking forward to that a great deal. Then of course, there is Amazing Wednesday....

For those of you that have been wondering just what I mean by Elevision, check out this nifty video. Only a few days to go! Wow... has it been almost a month?

Elevision update!

The Elevision: Free Tibet event just keeps getting better and better. Not only is Robert Thurman the guest of honor, but now James Gimian, publisher of Shambhala Sun and Buddhadharma magazines and co-author of The Rules of Victory is also going to be there; and if that wasn't enough, Robert Schmidt from the band, Flogging Molly is going to be there too! In addition to the interview, Schmidt is going to treat us to some music as well, which is super cool. I really can't wait!

I've also decided to step it up on the eco front. I've taken to carrying a travel mug with me so I no longer have to use to-go mugs for my coffee, tea, etc. That's my new rule: no to-go mugs. I either use my travel mug, have it there, or don't have it at all. I already carry a water bottle with me everywhere, so this isn't that much of a step. I bought some To-Go Ware a while back, now I have to find it (so much of my life is still in boxes). Once I do, the rule expands to no using plastic forks, etc and when/if I get any food "to go" it has to go in the To-Go Ware containers. Like I've said before, living mindfully isn't convenient sometimes, but it is worth the effort every single time.

Working at the office

Spent the day at the Elephant office trying to get my email configured correctly (still hasn't happened... grrr....) and in general working on things for the Elevision event with Robert Thurman later next month. It was a decently productive day, but would have been much more so had I gotten that goofy email working.

One thing has become definite fact. The best way to get around Boulder is NOT by car. I've made the decision that whenever I go to Boulder, that I'm just going to park the car in one spot and spend the rest of the day on my bike. Blake and I were able to get around Boulder faster by bicycle, and we were having a LOT more fun doing it.

I even got a spiffy new shirt today (the one I'm wearing in the picture), a new yoga video to review and some NEW BOOKS to review as well! New books!!! WOOHOO!!!

Yeah... umm... so my summer reading list has broken the 100 book count, I think. And no... that's NOT a bad thing at all! Of course, the only real down side is that I might not get a whole lot of time to do a lot of reading until after the Elevision event, but then again, I always seem to find time to read, no matter what else is going on! ;-)

The other cool event of the day is that Blake got invited to blog for Elephant. He's super stoked, and I'm pretty proud of him as well. I missed hanging out with Kyle today since he stayed home and kicked back for the day, but tomorrow is Farmers' Market day, so we'll get to spend some time together then. (Yay!)

Elevision with Robert Thurman

Yesterday I found out that Robert Thurman is going to be in Boulder on July 23rd for a book signing and interview on Elevision, a talk show done by Elephant Journal, at the Boulder Theater. I've been familiar with who he is (aside from being Uma Thurman's dad) for about two years now, and while I often thought about how great it would be to meet and talk with him, I never really considered it in the realm of possibility... until today. As soon as I found out about the event, I emailed Waylon Lewis, the publisher of Elephant Journal, and volunteered my help with the event. Today, Waylon called me and asked me how soon I could make it to Boulder so he could sit down with me and talk about the event and how I could help. I had to help out a neighbor with getting a washer, dryer, and dining room table into her house, but once I did that, it was off to Boulder. Waylon, Blake, and I sat down, and by the end of the meeting, I was pretty much in charge of the event! I even get free yoga with Richard Freeman at the Yoga Workshop out of it, so that's SUPER cool. If you are interested in the event, by the way, here's the link to it.

Needless to say, I'm really excited about this opportunity. I've done promotions and marketing work when I lived back East, so I have a good bit of experience doing this type of thing, but this one is different. I'm really excited about the possibility of meeting and talking with Prof. Thurman; I really never thought it would happen, and I'm really glad it is. I'm definitely going to get a copy of his new book and ask him to sign it and see if he would also be willing to sign the copy of another book of his that I have. (Yeah, I know... totally geeky and fanboy, but hey, I'm pretty geeky and even I have my fanboy moments.)

While I was in Boulder, Blake and I stopped by Tee and Cakes, based on a blog entry Waylon posted on the Elephant Journal site. They have some MIGHTY tasty cupcakes, let me tell you!!! Not too sweet, and the frosting was nice and light... YUMMY!

This has been a pretty crazy summer... I'm still hoping to get out climbing SOON. Waylon has never been climbing outdoors, and he really wants to go, so I have one more reason to get my butt out there. At least my bike is getting put to good use!!