Top LYS Tweets from the Week of May 8, 2011

Last night, we were at a neighbor’s house visiting. They had just purchased new I-Pads and were giving their old ones to their grandchildren. They were going on and on about how easy they are to use, how much they use them, and the different things they use them for. Their question to me was did I know of any good education apps and how would their grandkids be able to use the passed down I-pads in school.

When I told then that in all likelihood they would not be allowed to take them to school, much less use them, they were flabbergasted. Then granddad, an engineer, said something profound, “It’s like when slide rules were made obsolete by calculators. There were those that thought that knowing how to use the slide rule was the important thing. They were wrong. The important thing is solving enough little problems fast enough so you can actually make the big thing.”

In your classroom or on your campus, what’s more important – mucking through facts or building knowledge and understanding. For these last few days of the school year, why not call a moratorium on movies (a “learning activity” that is observed entirely too often) and challenge teachers and students to bring their smart phones and tablets to school and figure out ways to use them in class. Call it “Innovate Instead of Vegetate Week.”

A number of you in the LYS Nation are now using bootleg technology devices to follow Twitter. If you haven’t done so yet, we want you to join us. To let you see what you are missing, here are the Top 10 LYS Tweets from the week of May 8, 2011, as tabulated by the accountants at Price Waterhouse.

1. A great LYS Principal Quote: Anyone can write a "Vision" on a dusty piece of paper. The issue is do you have what it takes to make it happen.

2. Trust me on this one. Due to bootleg technology the school library, as we now know it, will not exist in 10 years.

3. Tonight’s run thought: Stress and adversity reveal true character. It's easy to be a decent person when times are good.

4. Just read an article bemoaning the impact of the lack of "tradition" technology on instruction. Completely missed the solution of bootleg technology!

5. I don't know which is more exciting. LYS is now part of the Hutto ISD family or Hutto ISD just joined the LYS Nation!

6. An angry letter writer referred to me as "The LYS Chief Motivator." I like it, but I have yet to meet a LYSer that needs to be "motivated."

7. Tonight' run thought: The most overlooked personal quality when dealing with change - Courage.

8. Just because one has seen the plan and can understand the plan doesn't mean that he has the capability and discipline to execute the plan.

9. Starting to wonder if the current Texas school finance issues will have to be solved in the courts. Edgewood IV anyone?

10. Tonight’s run thought: For every variable that "they" say can't be controlled, a LYS Principal either controls it or nullifies it.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

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Upcoming Event / Presentation Schedule

June 11 (TASB) - The Fundamental Five; Improve Now!

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June 16 (TASSP) – Book Release Event, “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction”

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