James Weekly Twitter Updates for 2010-02-28

• In CJ school board meeting right now. #
• @ELanghorst Congrats. To have your not best picture picked up means your best must be really good. in reply to ELanghorst #
• Heard rumor at board meeting the MO will fund Career Ladder this year, but forget about next year. Anybody else heard that? #
• @dougsymington Are you using VAC to route both sides through soundcard? in reply to dougsymington #
• @dougsymington You are much more the pro at streaming than I, so I can't help much. New computer? in reply to dougsymington #
• @dougsymington Did you go the Olympics or just follow on TV? in reply to dougsymington #
• Anybody have LTSP working on Ubuntu 9.10? I haven't gotten it working since 7.10. Just broke my way through firewall today. 1 step closer. #
• @ELanghorst Welcome back. Good luck on the Oregon Trail. I hope you make it there. in reply to ELanghorst #
• @mmiller7571 Our district blocks everybody the same. Teachers trusted same as kindergarteners in. But teachers can request 2 unblock a site in reply to mmiller7571 #
• @mmiller7571 We have a paper form to fill out to request to unblock a site. Almost always granted, but still a hassle. in reply to mmiller7571 #
• RT @jorech: Say hi teachers in Downers Grove IL, tell where you're from, & explain why it is so important to develop a PLN. please Retweet. #
• RT @alexragone: RT @melhutch: Most imp thing parents can do when reading with children, is demo the joy of reading & the power of the story. #
• @LParisi I am starting an after school Scratch club today with my 3rd graders. Want to learn with us? in reply to LParisi #
• RT @jennannhall: An Open Letter to Educators http://youtu.be/-P2PGGeTOA4 – @courosa; thought you'd enjoy this! #
• RT @teach42: What is the role of the teacher in the age of Google? Wisdom. -CL #
• RT @teach42:We should demand before any legislature says our students must take a test, we tell them to take it first & publish the results. #
• RT @teach42: Accountability=External, Responsibility=Internal. Nobody can hold me more accountable for my students than I hold myself-CL #
• RT @teach42: Data Driven decisions = good. Unless you aren't using good data. Good data ain't cheap. #
• RT @teach42: Race to the top is about fragmenting us, segmenting us and separating us into winners and losers. – CL #
• RT @gwoodill: Kindle moves->hardware->software http://is.gd/90oRF Real innovation is more than just a new screen with proprietary software. #
• @CLehmann PETE&C keynote: edtech, John Dewey goodness http://bit.ly/9uTlNR #
• RT @garystager: .@spedteacher If I were unemployed asst manager of 7-11, I could be Chancellor of NYC Schools, but won't let me be principal #
• RT @mjmontagne: Are school organizational infrastructures too interdependent to allow for personalized, customized leaarning? #hpiie Yes! #
• RT @asmodaous: don't forget, today #ihop is having free pancake day. #
• RT @wmchamberlain: The fundamental shift in society is that learning is easy outside of school. Schools have lost their franchise. #edchat #
• RT @nprnews: Does The Patriot Act Violate Free Speech? http://su.pr/2U9dRs I wondered this ever since they passed the Patriot Act. #
• RT @wmchamberlain: Relevant learning can take place outside of school because of technology. Why can't it do so in school too? #echat #
• RT @melhutch: One of my young teachers desperately looking for elementary resources on Taiwan! Please help. #
• RT @stevekatz: Over 225 teachers have pledged to go #paperless for Earth Day (April 20). You can too http://bit.ly/c6b5xF #edtech #
• In after school club teaching Scratch to students. http://bit.ly/sWRK They love it! #
• @mmiller7571 Congrats on In box Zero! in reply to mmiller7571 #
• @eldongermann Teach the class about how Black, Hispanic, and Native cultures express themselves and how they were treated unjustly. in reply to eldongermann #
• RT @ebertchicago: There are no atheists in foxholes, and no health care opponents in cancer wards. #
• Anybody have Ubuntu 9.10 LTSP working? I haven't gotten it to work since 7.10. Broke through firewall problem. One step closer. #
• @LParisi Sure! More kids will be there next week. Ones from this week already discovered a lot. They can show you, too. We'll start 3:30 CST in reply to LParisi #
• RT @MSTA: Shout out to an MSTAer! RT @MoFCCLA New Post: Missouri FCCLA Advisor VIP – Julie Carr http://goo.gl/fb/O6RL #
• RT @kellyhines: Can anyone's class from NYC, LA, Dallas, Chicago, or "major" US city Skype w/ son's 1st gr class to comp/contr communities? #
• RT @MSTA: Today's Resource: Get home on the range this summer via the National Park Service Teacher Ranger program. http://bit.ly/chM3Xo #
• RT @MSTA: Wonder if they fired anyone else? RT @stjoenews Rhode Island school district fires every teacher http://bit.ly/9CjtsJ #
• @cyndidannerkuhn Hello from Carl Junction, MO in reply to cyndidannerkuhn #
• @willrich45 Hello from Carl Junction, MO. I love finding new, relevant links shared within a context. Great way to sift web for the best. in reply to willrich45 #
• Just chatted with fellow teacher about workshop she's doing on "Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire." Great stuff! She'll let me borrow the book #
• Why did my coathanger sculpture get a C? http://bit.ly/9Q4Guw #
• I just nominated @Freecycle to be featured @TwitCause. Help me by voting at http://bit.ly/cmoW9F . #
• RT @wmchamberlain: When someone starts talking abt high stakes tests I either get mad or quit listening, guess which one I am nw.Both for me #
• Dissecting owl pellets today. Beginning=Ewww, End=That was cool! Can also do virtually. http://bit.ly/LosDx #
• RT @wmchamberlain: Is thr any research on adaptability by students btwn Microsoft Office & open source replacemsnts ie GDocs or Open Office? #
• District tried a few years ago to switch from MSoffice to OO.o. Business/computer teachers, secretaries, and others all up in arms. Uncle! #
• RT @shareski: RT @Angus_McIntosh: Which OS is best for education? I bet they had fun making this vid!!! http://bit.ly/b0ITOs #
• RT @MSTA: Today's Resource: The Exploratorium offers an online museum of science, art & perception. Lots of cool stuff. http://bit.ly/9TNQ5D #
• RT @webbkyle: Working on a lesson plan about social injustice for a eigth grade english class. Any suggestions or resources? #
• RT @davecormier: I'm currently 50% sure that Elgg was doing what facebook has patented in 2005. #
• RT @MSTA: Get the latest news regarding education legislation in this week's MSTA Action: http://bit.ly/mstaaction. #
• @snbeach We used phones, mp3, & cameras to interview each other about art pieces on 3rd grade field trip to art center. Will podcast ltr in reply to snbeach #
• RT @snbeach: Need examples of teachers doing phenomenal things at the Elementary level with curriculum shift and tech integration. Help? #
• RT @mjmontagne: Tony Wagner says we need to model the type of behavior we want tobsee in our classrooms. Yes! Yes! Yes! #naisac10 #
• RT @mjmontagne: Kids in private schools come in smart and leave smart. Where are we adding value? #naisac10 Smart kids also in public s. #
• Gooooal! What a game! #bigbiggame #
• RT @ELanghorst: To my Canadian friends – on a scale from 1 to 10 (10 most important) where does this game rank in importance for Canada? #
• RT @ELanghorst: love this type of sporting event-just a casual fan. I really want US to win but if Canada wins it would great drama & story #
• Hockey players remind me of Us football players, except they wear blades and carry clubs…err…sticks. #
• Score!! Tie game! What a Game! #bigbiggame #
• Congatulations Canada. I was a great Olympic game! Gold in Hockey suits you well. #bigbiggame #

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Politics Blinds Deniers of Global Warming

I’m tired of politics trumping science.  Global warming deniers ignore the scientific facts indicating global warming and submit junk science or “conspiracies” as evidence against global warming.  The deny global warming exists because of their political bias, despite the facts.

After reading this op ed in the Joplin Globe newspaper on February 21, 2010, I had to write my own op ed.  I submitted it to the paper, but here it is.  I work hard to make it a concise argument for the uncertain reader to look at the scientific evidence, not the politics.

Why Care about Global Warming?

Why do people deny global warming in the face of scientific evidence?  What does the scientific evidence say about global warming? Curious, I did some research to find out.

The first thing I found is that the global climate is constantly changing in cycles of warming and cooling.

Due to the tilt of the earth during our annual trip around the sun, we have seasonal changes.  That’s how we can have a snow storm on the east coast while people can fry an egg on the sidewalk in South America.

Climate change also cycles about every 11 years.  The cycle matches up somewhat to sun spot activity according to temperature and tree ring data collected over the last 60 years.  The amount of change is small, only about 2 ½  degrees.

Ice core and geologic samples show cycles of warming and cooling about every 21,000 years due to a wobble in the earth’s spin on its axis.  The last cycle was called the “medieval warming period” followed by the “little ice age.”  We have a major ice age about every 100,000.

So, there is no global warming right?  It’s all a climate change cycle that will eventually get cooler again, right?  Wrong.

Since 1900, average global temperatures have risen steadily to such a point that it is warmer today than any temperature in earth’s history.  We are now living in a climate like none ever seen on earth.

From this scientific data, scientists must draw conclusions.  What is the cause of this unprecedented global warming?  Two trends match up with this historic rise in temperature.  One increase is in the levels of “greenhouse gasses” like carbon and methane.  This correlation between temperature and greenhouse gasses also matches rises and falls throughout earth’s history.  So, scientists conclude that greenhouse gas levels affect climate change.

Another trend that matches global temperatures and greenhouse gas levels rising is the amount of industrial activity by humans in the last 100 years and the pollution that accompanied it.  The Industrial Revolution started around 1900, about the time these increases started.  These levels of temperature and greenhouse gasses have risen even faster in the last 25 years.  The old climate change pattern will no longer apply unless we change our behavior.

What do these facts and conclusions mean for the future?  If this trend continues, scientists predict global temperatures could rise 2 to 11 degrees by the end of the century.  Big deal.  Our air conditioners will help us adapt to that little change, right?  Wrong again.  Nature is very complex, and subtle changes can have catastrophic effects.  The ice caps would melt away, global sea levels would rise up to 20 feet, beaches would be underwater, and Florida would disappear.

Scientists do not agree unanimously on the conclusions about global warming, and they shouldn’t.  Scientists never completely agree because it is part of their job to be skeptical in order to find flaws in each other’s data and conclusions.  In doing so, they make the scientific research stronger.  That skepticism should not be seen as evidence against global warming.  A great number of scientists, especially climatologists, and a great amount of scientific data do agree that the earth is warming because of human-caused pollution.

The global warming deniers do not offer scientific evidence that has withstood the scrutiny of scientists.  Instead, they use hot, accusatory words like “hoax,” “conspiracy,” and “alarmism.”   Instead of rebutting the scientific facts with their own facts, they instead deny there is any truth about global warming.  In debate, you use this technique of accusing and namecalling when you don’t have the facts to back up your argument.

In trying to solve the problem, the debate of global warming has been pulled from the scientific arena to the political one.  Unfortunately, political truth is simply whatever someone claims is truth, despite the facts.  To find a solution to the problem of global warming, we must first accept that there is a problem.  Polluting is NOT OK.  Some businesses make their money from cheap fossil fuels.  The hidden cost that they don’t see on their balance sheets is the price the environment is paying for their profits.  It is a price that all of us will pay sooner or later.  A solution will have to come.  It will not be easy, and it will not be cheap.

There are things you and I can do to help.  We can act locally.  We can drive more fuel efficient cars.  We can make our homes more fuel efficient.  We can recycle what waste we can.  We can stop pollution and tell others to do so, too.  It’s time we took responsibility for the environmental mess we have caused.

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Open Letter to Educators

Formal education is becoming irrelevant because facts are free.  Schooling is getting in the way of education.

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James Weekly Twitter Updates for 2010-02-21

• Help! Drop.io now $! Want students to record field trip at Spiva Art Center for podcast. Need free cell phone record service tomorrow #
• I use Linux RT @wfryer: ? from a librarian today: How do you avoid viruses & malware working online? My answer: I use an Apple computer. #
• Found free voice recording via cell phone. Google Voice allows download of voice messages as mp3. Ready for field trip recording tomorrow #
• This will help how ? RT @MSTA: Bill would give teachers merit pay at the price of their tenure. MSTA Action: http://bit.ly/mstaaction #
• Had stdnts interview each other about art at http://spivaarts.org/ this week. Recorded with recorders, mp3 players, cell phones, cameras #
• Will try to pull all the students created content into a podcast. Everybody very excited. Students very engaged. http://www.siglersite.com #
• Race to the Top is taking us on a Race to Nowhere. Watch the trailer. http://bit.ly/cjmyTd #
• RT @wfryer: Corrected link: Thanks pro-NCLB legislators for this article. More like this are coming I'm sure. http://ow.ly/19fxs #

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James Weekly Twitter Updates for 2010-02-14

• Just joined a twibe for teachers in Missouri. Visit http://twibes.com/MissouriTeachers to join #
• RT @mrnichol: showing Twitter to fellow teachers please rt if you read this /via @henriettaMi #
• @wmchamberlain Did you ever get your Ubuntu computer to connect to the internet? in reply to wmchamberlain #

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