I walked into a high school social studies class room last week and what I saw was all the confirmation that anyone would need if they were considering letting students use bootleg technology in the classroom. There were four desktop computers in the room, but they were essentially useless because the district Internet access has ground to a halt. To many computers, not enough bandwidth coupled with draconian filters. But no matter, every student had their cell phone out and was using it to search for current facts about their assigned country in order to complete their assignments. As I wandered through this mixed-ability classroom, not only was each student using his or her phone appropriately, they were also helping each other for the purpose of optimizing their searches. The class had 100% student engagement and the pace of work was incredible, because the speed in which students were able to access information was almost instantaneous. Bootleg technology, the cheap solution to your classroom computing problem. A number of you in the LYS Nation are now using your own 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 November 27, 2011, as tabulated by the accountants at Price Waterhouse. 1. Announcement: This is tweet number 2,000 from the LYS Nation. You may now continue with your previously scheduled success! 2. Correction and Update: McFee ES (CFISD) is also a #PowerWalks Hero School for the month of November. Congratulations! 3. When the going gets tough, are you selfless or selfish? That’s the true test of character. 4. #Hypocricy: The practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform; pretense. (By @tlognanecker) 5. “…gives teachers time 2 teach & students the opportunity 2 focus on mastering a manageable course load” (By @tlognanecker) 6. Want to spur innovation? Own the failure. 7. A good teacher is a master of simplification and an enemy of simplism – Louis A. Berman (By @NMHS_Principal) 8. Principals that oppose the use of student performance as a factor in their evaluation have confused managing with leadership. Results matter. 9. Just watched a class where students were researching topics on their phones. 100% engagement. Twice the district download speed. 10. The critical variable in campus discipline is adult practice. Think. Work. Achieve. Your turn…

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