This post is also viewable on iTeachToo.com through this link.

1) It easily explain how the Fibbonacci sequence plays out in this popular Tool song.
2) It is a great example of how a student project can create inspire not only the student, but also others. (There are 1.5 million views of this video on Youtube)
3) I like how the words encourage pushing out into the unknown and exploration, something we want to inspire in our students.

This post is also viewable on iTeachToo.com through this link.

But if you are hoping to at least make an introduction to new topics in the classroom, check out your favorite non-profit to see if they provide free curriculum, games or lesson plans.  So many have begun to develop these services, it would be a shame not to take advantage of it.  Who better to hear about issues from than the experts?

For ease here are a few examples:

Oxfam Cool Planet for Teachers

Northeast Sustainable Energy Association

This post is also viewable on iTeachToo.com through this link.

Friday night ended with a bang as Michelle Long of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) and Jay Coen Gilbert of B Lab engaged in a dialog on the issue of whether going to scale or staying local is more effective in building a sustainable economy.

Jay began with a humorous, but earnest, argument that ‘Bigger is Better’. He used examples to illustrate how scale can effect the whole on a greater level. He cited how employees of Wal-Mart, who had been discriminated against, came together to sue the company. He pointed out how as China invests in scaling solar the price per kilowatt will come under $1. And he pointed to one of the biggest challenges, and opportunities, for effecting change at scale – finding innovations that can help the 3 billion people living on less than $2 a day. He argued that these are solutions and challenges of such scale, that small, local initiatives could not effectively address them.

Jay Coen Gilbert’s “Scale Matters”

Michelle countered saying a local living economy is scalable and so to assume that “local” means “small” is incorrect. She also pointed out that ownership and stakeholder involvement matter and that a business should work with its peers and community. Being in business and having a sustainable community are about getting people to solve the problems which are in their own communities, enabling collaborations and getting rid of barriers.

A local business gives 2 ½ times more to the community than other businesses and is more likely to be accountable to its environmental impact, Michelle asserted. Humans are hardwired to work well in a small group dynamic, she insisted, while larger groups make the individual invisible.

In the end it is not scale matters or small is beautiful but a balance and combination of the two. This community conversation provided much fodder for continued discussions into the evening for many.

This post was written for SVN during their spring member conference.

Click here to see the rest of the SVN coverage of the 2010 Spring Member Gathering.

The theme was ‘privacy.’ While House and his team had a short debate on the topic and whether it was a modern innovation, totally unnecessary or socially irrelevant, I began to think of my visit to the town of Cabaret just outside of Port-au-Prince.

In Cabaret, I was surprised to see that when the doctors set up they were out in the open, under a big Tamarind tree that the residents used for meetings and to get out of the intense 120 degree heat. There was no attempt to keep people away from each other. They could see and hear the doctor’s conversations if they chose.

When I asked about the privacy and confidentiality, I was told that everyone knew everything anyway so it wasn’t an issue and that when you live as closely as the people do there is nothing that is hidden. Wow, what a difference from the multiple layers of confidentiality and privacy that we live our lives in in the United States.

One of the themes in CSR (corporate social responsibility) is transparency. Being open and honest about ones business practices. It’s important to doing business well.  But what about our personal lives?

I remember a conversation that I had with a good friend about a relationship trouble and saying I didn’t know how to tell the person I was having the conflict with what I was telling them. I realized that its that simple.  I should share my thoughts. If you say how you are feeling it might be a difficult conversation, but it is more transparent to your feelings and honest in turn.

Who is served by us holding parts of ourselves back? By doing that one makes the decision to not allow the other person to respond or react. Being more private forces people to go through things alone that otherwise might be easier to bear with support from friends and family.

Do we really need as much privacy as we have in the United States? Is it healthy? Does privacy serve only to further disconnect us from each other and living in community?