@seansharp

Posts from the “education” Category

Water Heaters & Decoder Web Pages

Posted on February 7, 2021

So our water heater has been showing signs of failure lately: changing water temperatures, water not getting as warm as it used to, etc. I did some digging and found that (at least this brand) the serial number can be decoded to determine the age of the water heater. Who knew? Not me, anyways. The decoder was found on the website, complete with an example (which is always helpful for decoders):   Here is the label that is on our heater, which puts ours as being manufactured in October of 2006 (which is kinda old, apparently – again, who knew? Not me!): 

Categories: design, education, home, human

Changes at work . . .

Posted on April 20, 2018

So, work is changing for me. I began working in technology as a K-12 educator, specifically 4th and 5th grade. I was always the guy who people came to in order to “fix the printer,” or some other item that they were using. Eventually, I left the classroom and took a position as a Technology Coordinator at the private school where I was teaching and continued to do that for two years. I went back to school and ended up moving into higher education as a person who helps faculty use technology in their teaching and research. This led me to my current place, the College of Design at the University of Oregon and into my current role as the manager of our service…

Categories: education

Settling For Scores: Why are schools still judged by the results of standardized tests?

Posted on December 27, 2017

Settling for ScoresWhy are schools still judged by the results of standardized tests? The link above takes you to a review of a book, “The Testing Charade: Pretending To Make Schools Better,” by Daniel Koretz written by Diane Ravitch in The New Republic. I found this worth reading and it reminded me of the testing frenzy that existed when I taught in K-12 in Virginia between 2004 and 2009. This quote, near the end of the article is what spoke to me: Education is a developmental process, a deliberate cultivation of knowledge and skills, a recognition of each child’s unique talents, not a race.

Categories: education

Tea & Patchouli – Sean Michael Morris

Posted on August 11, 2017

I found this today, in an essay by Sean Michael Morris. It’s worth the long read but the piece that really resonates for me is this: But maybe instead we should tip large. And give A’s. Believe reasons for missing a deadline. Refuse to get to know students through the window of a rubric. We are not dealing with students, but people with dreams, people who will fail and people who will succeed, people who may end up alone and people whose high point of the day may be a conversation with us. Being kind may seem counterintuitive to the academic ethos—especially when being kind can sometimes mean being wrong—but we owe it to ourselves to think outside our setting, to see past the…

Categories: creative, education

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The Worn Wear Wagon makes a stop at the U of O

Posted on April 18, 2017

The Worn Wear truck arrived at the University of Oregon today and it was fun to be there and watch them look over the used gear that people brought, providing repair services and offering suggestions. The brand was irrelevant and you could have one item repaired for free – a great deal. They are here for a sustainability conference being put on by the business college and from what I could tell their work today will be a hit. I had a new velcro set up installed on the sleeve of my rain jacket that I keep in my office. h/t to Patagonia for doing this. You can follow the Worn Wear Wagon as it makes its way around the country. If they stop…

Categories: creative, current events, design, education, human, sports

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