Things are calming down a bit. As most teachers know the first week of school is intense. As a technology coach, I expand that backward to work week, because that is when teachers come to me with all the ideas and questions that have been brewing over the summer. They start trying things out and preparing and find that they have questions they hadn't considered. It is also when I am trying to make last minute preparations to get ready for the school year. That, of course, carries into the first week when students arrive and have forgotten how to log on, or are confused by changes that happened over the summer. All that adds up to not much of the fun stuff getting done during those first few weeks. All that being said, I got to spend some time this weekend exploring and here is what I found:

This is a great TED Talks video which not only demonstrates the power of harnessing programming and the internet, but also highlights the interconnectedness of humanity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAvNlh2Z0GI

This is the "We Feel Fine" interface. Be careful about randomly clicking on links with your class as they can occasionally be a bit risqué. http://www.wefeelfine.org/

Too often I hear people talk about how impersonal electronic communication is. Those who regularly communicate online or through other electronic means know that they can share their most personal thoughts and feelings online. The "We Feel Fine" project really captures that.

As a side note, this can be yet another example of how widely the very personal thoughts and feelings of individuals can be shared and viewed online. Never hurts to remind our students that anything you publish online may be viewed by people with whom you may not intend to share your most intimate moments...