November 30, 2010

G.B.Trudeau Has it Right!

• I read a comic on Sunday while at my parents, and I felt that it was perfect for the Twitter part of this class...

Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau

• Check it out!  I think that you will like it!!

November 27, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

• I just realized that, not being at school and all last week, that I was forgetting something... my blog!  It has been kind of nice, not having to sit in front of a computer for a few days.  I have not even turned mine on in the past week.  I won't comment as to the number of emails tha I currently have to respond to, but...
• Civil Rights - for no one?  We had to sit through an inservice on Wednesday morning regarding civil rights.  What students are allowed to do, what they are not, what the schools can do, that sort of thing.  I guess if you are a lawyer, it might make sense, but the person they brought in was from PDE legal, and it was like she was speaking in a foreign language.  Referring to this case or that, what the outcomes were, but never really explaining what is permissable and what is not.  Basically, the schools have no right to restrict students in any way shape or form, yet we can be sued by other parents or students if we do not stop things like cyber bullying...  makes sense, no?  I don't have the right to stop a student from calling another a name, but the other student's parent can press charges for me not stopping it.  This is worse than No Child Left Behind - we have to get the students to pass, but we can't make them do the work.   Someone just shoot me and get it over with...
• Anyway, enough of my venting - I am sure that we will get the chance to vent some more in class this week.
• Hope that everyone has a happy thanksgiving, and good luck to those of you that hunt.

November 16, 2010

• Happy Birthday to Me!  Not that I want to acknowledge that it is that day, or any other aspect of it...

• For those of you following this, I finally got my house closed in this weekend.  It is not finished, by any means, but I don't have tarps covering the sides anymore.  Now I just have to focus on putting house wrap on the outside and insulating the inside.  That plus putting some boards down to make a floor for storage.  Maybe I will even have the time this weekend to fix my desktop computer so that I can do some work at home again...

Robots

• One of my new classes this year that I am developing is a robotics class.  Not the type where there is simply an arm on the table and the kids program, but where they construct actual mobile units.  I have been having some troubles with this.  No plan ever last past the first day, but we are finally to the stage where the students will be competing against one another with a standard design.  This should take place on Thursday / Friday.  What a final before Thanksgiving!  I will try to shoot some video and still shots and send them out...

• I mentioned above that the robots are a final project before Thanksgiving.  Here at JS the students will not be back for more than a week after this Friday!  Thats right, no school for 10 days for them.  Teachers have to put in three full days (Monday / Tuesday for parent-teacher conferences and Wednesday is inservice).  I still can't say that I agree with this schedule, but it will be nice to actually have some time to get some maintenance done while on the clock.  Of course the following Monday is our state holiday...

Thought for the day...

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter

November 9, 2010

SOMETIMES I WISH THAT SOME OF THE TECHNOLOGY THAT WE HAVE TODAY WAS AVAILABLE WHEN I WAS A CHILD...

• My son is in first grade.  He brough home a project where he has to make a poster about himself.  What he likes, what he does not like, what he wants to be when he grows up, that sort of thing.  I can't remember doing anything like that until 5th or 6th grade, and then it was all just writing, drawing pictures, and physically cutting pictures out of magazines and gluing them in place.  Now we have digital editing, photography and the internet to get material, then to organize and print it.  Sometimes it is a headache, sometimes it can be fun...
• Does anyone want to guess what he wants to be when he grows up?

I don't know if I am scared, or proud...

• I must admit, however, that I feel that children today have too much to learn, too quick.  When I went through elementary (K-3, anyhow) at Central Elementary (yes, I am a prodigy of South Williamsport) we focused entirely on reading, writing and math.  We learned how to do that, and we learned how to do it well.  Now, children have to learn computer, they are learning civics and politics, and even science!  Many students who I have at the high school level can't do basic math (multiply and divide) without a calculator, and they can't write legibly or spell correctly... unless it is using electronic devices that do it for them.  While I think that it is great to learn things such as science and civics, I question if it is too much too soon, and if it would be better to reinforce the basics (actually develop them) than to innundate the students with such a large variety of items so early...  I guess that is why I am not an elementary teacher.

Quote for the day:

The most interesting information comes from children, for they tell all they know and then stop...  M. Twain

Sunday, November 7, 2010

• Snow in Altoona...  I took my wife and son to Altoona this weekend to visit her parents and winterize their house.  It actually snowed there Saturday morning!  Nothing like putting up plastic and insulation in wind-driven snow and rain...

• While we were putting up the plastic and insulation we found the most amazing thing - a live praying mantis!  It was actually walking up one of the walls that we were working on - outside the house.  It is a beautiful creature, and once we brought it into the house, it began moving around with a spring in her(?) step.  We put it in a large pretzel container for Aaron to bring back and show his classmates.  I was really amazed because they are not that common this far north to begin with, and to find one alive on a day as cold as it was Saturday...
• We looked up praying mantis online when we got home, just to get some information on them.  Did you know that they have five eyes?  In addition to the two large ones located on either side of their head, they have three others between them on their forehead.  And their head can actually swivel more than 180degrees!  The one that we found is almost six inches long, and is extremely agile and graceful...
• For those of you interested, there is a wonderful National Geographic website for animals.  It is:
• http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/praying-mantis.html
• Isn't it amazing what the smallest of events can inspire you to do?  This one little insect is all that Aaron has talked about since we found it!

Quote for the day:

• "An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest"...  Ben Franklin

November 03, 2010

• Not much to report at this time.  The marking period is over, and a new one is beginning.  Students are still trying to turn in work for the last 9 weeks.  It is supposed to snow this weekend.  The world is turning...

• I received a politically humorous email on Monday that is also mathematically challenging...  I find it more interesting for the math than the politics, so please do not be offended by my posting this...

• Question:  What is your favorite movie?  There is a list of movies, numbered 1-18 liinked as an answer.  Complete the following equation to determine your favorite movie.

1. Pick a number from 1 to 9
2. Multiply that number by 3
3. Add three to that number
4. Multiply that number by 3
5. Add the two digits that make up that number to determine your favorite movie.

• Click Here to See the Movie List

•  How about this - thy that equation with any number between 1 and 9... what do you get?

• For those of you in Elementary Ed, I know that what I teach is a little out of the league of most elementary students, but I found an interesting website that you might want to try out if you want to do a brief lesson on technology.  It has to do with simple machines (levers, pullies, screws, wheels...)  It is a little too low level for most of my students, but it could be fun for yours...

• http://www.mikids.com/SMachinesPulleys.htm

Thought for the day:

• A meeting is an event at which the minutes are kept and the hours are lost.