tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57428259243032376972022-01-29T14:29:53.103-08:00Eminent TechMs. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-46675296399841580132015-11-03T10:28:00.001-08:002015-11-18T07:11:51.020-08:00The Intentional Life<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r9O4kKy7uCI/Vjj7omM5JvI/AAAAAAAABdg/ypVcGRcX0Mc/s1600/22450356142_a7b0cf4f67_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r9O4kKy7uCI/Vjj7omM5JvI/AAAAAAAABdg/ypVcGRcX0Mc/s320/22450356142_a7b0cf4f67_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Megan Black</td></tr></tbody></table><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">This may sound weird but all my life I have regularly given myself assignments. OK. Maybe not so weird for someone who ended up becoming a teacher but when I say assignments, I am not talking about the traditional kind. I’ve assigned myself tasks like, get to know every tree in my neighborhood. What are their names? What have they witnessed? Who lives in them? What about them is edible? This has been an ongoing assignment from the age of seven actually.</span></div><span style="font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lkLis_wkdRQ/Vjj364wMY8I/AAAAAAAABdQ/cZ4FEJRKkRo/s1600/S3600004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lkLis_wkdRQ/Vjj364wMY8I/AAAAAAAABdQ/cZ4FEJRKkRo/s320/S3600004.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">Vivian and Ray Kell are sandwiched by my Mom and Dad.</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another mission I gave myself was to make friends with an elder in my community. I chose Ray Kell and by proxy his wife Vivian. Ray is 90 years old now. Vivian is 89. I have called them my friends since they were in their early 70’s. Ray and Vivian have ten children, 33 grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren and counting. Ray is a veteran of World War 2. He and Vivian are activists for peace, justice, and equality. He plays the piano and sings at least an hour every day. Preferably more. Sometimes you have to beg him to stop. He still plays 18 holes of golf and carries his own clubs. When he was 84, Ray raced me up five flights of stairs and beat me. The Kell's vegetable garden is spectacular and feeds many in their neighborhood. They work every Monday from 6:00AM until 1:00PM in the Manna Meal Soup kitchen. Every year for the past 20, he and Vivian pack up their car and travel the country for six weeks visiting all their kids and grand kids while camping, in a tent. On Ray’s 90th birthday earlier this year, he challenged himself to do a freestanding headstand and hold it. He achieved his goal in the middle of his daughter’s backyard while his grandson played a three minute waltz on the violin. I guess you could say Ray also gives himself assignments. He certainly lives a life of meaning, purpose, and intention and I aspire to be more like him. </span><b id="docs-internal-guid-4347d052-ce84-7152-a02d-5277e6253320" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br /><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c4O_dD9InF0/Vjj4umEx_xI/AAAAAAAABdU/ZrgMgV1DOfc/s1600/explore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c4O_dD9InF0/Vjj4umEx_xI/AAAAAAAABdU/ZrgMgV1DOfc/s320/explore.jpg" title="" width="244" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">An Excellent Read for an Intentional Life.</td></tr></tbody></table><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Which might be why I regularly assign myself reading. This summer I read </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0399534601/ref=rdr_ext_tmb" target="_blank">How to Be an Explorer of the World </a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0399534601/ref=rdr_ext_tmb" target="_blank"> </a>by Keri Smith. And guess what?! The book is filled with interesting assignments, only she calls them explorations. I highly recommend it. The author challenges you to collect tiny things and make a mini museum in an Altoids tin. She suggests making sculptures out of ten things you </span><span style="font-family: 'droid sans'; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">find in a drawer. There are 59 different explorations. Most of them involve field work. Keri Smith offers 5 field work tips. I would like to add a sixth one based on personal experience and follow it up with ten explorations, not in the book, that I found made my life, and occasionally the lives of those around me, better. </span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Field Work Tips:</span></div><ol style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Never leave home without a notebook and pen.</span></div></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When practicing deep looking or deep listening, it is best to work alone.</span></div></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Respect the community in which you explore. This applies to all aspects of nature, human or otherwise and also includes property, public or private</span></div></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you find yourself being questioned as to the reasons for your activities, the phrase, “I’m conducting research” usually satisfies the nosiest interloper.</span></div></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Expect the unexpected and you will find it. </span></div></li></ol><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My 6th Tip: You can never have too many pockets when exploring. Be sure to bring scissors, zip lock bags, looking glasses, a camera, a snack and water bottle, some tissue, and plan to stay out a long time. </span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 Recommended explorations not listed in the book. This is interactive, folks, please do the counting. (I’ll hold up my fingers you say the numbers.) Ready? 1</span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><br /><ol style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Never pass up an opportunity to dip, dive, slide, swing, glide, skip, twirl, rock, or dunk. </span></div></li></ol><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Look for the color purple everywhere you go. Then, when you are old enough, read </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Color-Purple-Alice-Walker/dp/0156031825" target="_blank">The Color Purple</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Color-Purple-Alice-Walker/dp/0156031825" target="_blank"> by Alice Walker</a>. Pay Attention to what Shug says. “Shug a beautiful something.” </span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. For an entire day, if anyone asks you a question, sing the answer. Make note of the questioner’s reaction. </span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. Discover your favorite apple. They don’t all taste the same. Mine is a Fuji. Try one with some extra sharp Pinconning cheese. Seriously. Try that.</span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. Listen only to the voice of love inside your head for a whole morning, or a whole day. Keep practicing until you can do it for longer and longer times. If the mean voice starts talking, sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” to yourself until it goes away.</span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. Every once in awhile, make yourself an omelet.</span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br /><b style="font-weight: normal;"></b> <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7. Find an interesting elder in your community. Get to know them. Ask them questions. Listen to their stories. </span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br /><b style="font-weight: normal;"></b> <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8. Make your worst enemy a kindness salad...or a batch of yummy cookies. Again, make note of their reaction.</span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br /><b style="font-weight: normal;"></b> <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9. Dance in the grocery store.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10. For one moment each day, stand still where you are. Breathe into your belly. Be mindful that every day, every single day, even the heart crushing ones, we are surrounded by the mighty love of God. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "droid sans"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i style="font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 25.76px;">Every Monday Morning at The Grosse Pointe Academy we begin the week with Chapel. The faculty rotates giving a short inspirational talk. This was mine for the 2015-2016 school year. </i></span></div><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-17121148131961096192015-09-21T07:05:00.001-07:002015-09-21T07:15:59.054-07:00Why Aren't You Using Google Classroom<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Epd8BJeqbTw" width="480"></iframe><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Seriously folks, <a href="https://classroom.google.com/" target="_blank">Google Classroom</a> really makes life simpler. If you are a Google Apps for Education School Educator, you really should be using it. It only takes about ten minutes to set everything up and will save you hours of organizing, searching, and explaining. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Your first stop is the <a href="https://edutrainingcenter.withgoogle.com/?__utma=173272373.323047043.1442601839.1442601839.1442844764.2&__utmb=173272373.6.6.1442844775483&__utmc=173272373&__utmx=-&__utmz=173272373.1442844764.2.2.utmcsr=google|utmccn=(organic)|utmcmd=organic|utmctr=(not%20provided)&__utmv=-&__utmk=42972901" target="_blank">Google for Education Training Center</a>. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Amy Mayer has a sweet introduction here. <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/12m6C-fbpUPlQK8ucG45RmUFU_lc54-ht0bdAlDe2tbA/present?slide=id.g6d9c37cca_2_0" target="_blank">Fried Classroom Introduction to Google Classroom</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Also, check out Alice Keeler's <a href="http://www.alicekeeler.com/teachertech/2014/09/07/20-things-you-can-do-with-google-classroom/" target="_blank">20 Things You Can Do with Google Classroom</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And, if you want a site that will guide you step by step through the process <a href="http://tech.guhsd.net/google/classroom" target="_blank">Grossmont Union High School District </a> put together a fabulous site for their educators. </span><br /><br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-11037922339172863052015-06-05T12:37:00.000-07:002015-06-05T12:37:46.991-07:00I Need Help!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g5cW9sP-WnI/VXH5ow4iPDI/AAAAAAAABD0/MWfXEx2uk7k/s1600/IMG_6530.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g5cW9sP-WnI/VXH5ow4iPDI/AAAAAAAABD0/MWfXEx2uk7k/s320/IMG_6530.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo and Doodle by Megan Black</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We all have that kid. You know the one who hasn't had the assignment for more than a fraction of a second and they are yelling, "I need help!" Well, if you were one of the brave souls who tried to implement my <a href="http://eminenttech.blogspot.com/2015/05/summer-teeth.html" target="_blank">Summer Teeth</a> recommendations, you might have found yourself just like one of those kids. Especially, if you wanted to try to assign <a href="https://www.mathgames.com/" target="_blank">MathGames</a>.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.mathgames.com/" target="_blank">MathGames </a>is a worthwhile endeavor. I still recommend it. However there is a glitch they are still working on. If you forewarn students and provide these handy instructions, it will help mitigate most of your issues. It will, at the very least, provide them with less of an excuse for not doing the work. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pm-ETX91AVCnX3keIi06T8Ano_D10fVEEQ0NrU2aNog/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Math Games Teacher Instructions</span></a><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OGNpzDqckpXcuI-YpjbNlH_pX6G5mbGanEO_qn5M3IM/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Math Games Student Help</span></a><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I wish you all a restful and peaceful summer. </span><br /><br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-49071274915314492832015-05-28T07:09:00.000-07:002015-05-28T10:27:03.419-07:00Summer Teeth <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jk8m8o6jcqU/VV4sVr4O1vI/AAAAAAAABCE/0RqZDZxakrY/s1600/Alex%2Band%2BJack%2BST.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jk8m8o6jcqU/VV4sVr4O1vI/AAAAAAAABCE/0RqZDZxakrY/s320/Alex%2Band%2BJack%2BST.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">These cuties have summer teeth</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I recently learned the term "Summer Teeth." What are Summer Teeth, you ask? Summer here. Summer gone. <i>Hat Tip: Bridgette Murray. </i></span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>The same can be said for academic skills in the actual season of sun. Summer here. Summer gone. Most educators look for ways to keep their students engaged, learning, and practicing key skills during the off season to minimize the learning loss. Below are a few options to help students grow their chops and fill the gaps. (<i>Apologies to the pun haters.</i>)</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><b><u><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Reading Practice</span></u></b><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/" target="_blank">Teach Your Monster to Read</a></b>, simply put is an invaluable gift to primary teachers everywhere and any students learning to read. Kids adore it. How could you not love earning underpants and fancy hats for a lovable monster of your own design? The folks at <a href="http://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/" target="_blank">Teach Your Monster </a> have made it incredibly easy for teachers to set up and manage accounts and keep students safe. They also have provided teachers with letters for parents so that they can log in and monitor progress and track data. Seriously, if you teach Pre-K through grade 3 you simply must check it out. Their new level: <a href="https://via.intercom.io/c?url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.teachyourmonstertoread.com%2Fgeneral%2Flaunching-this-june-teach-your-monster-to-read-3%2F%3Futm_source%3Demail%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_content%3Ddragoncomp%26utm_campaign%3Dchampionreader&h=8767b67f38f1362e48e2d847c34b3fed40673c6a-912949140" style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Teach Your Monster to Read 3: Champion Reader</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; line-height: 20px;"> </span>launches June 1st. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.readworks.org/" target="_blank"><b>ReadWorks.org</b> </a>is an exceptional reading comprehension resource. Again, it is free, aligned to the standards, interactive, and research based. Students can be assigned lessons and passages from every genre and based on their current reading level. <a href="http://www.readworks.org/" target="_blank">ReadWorks.org</a> is almost too good to be true. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.storyshares.org/" target="_blank">StoryShares</a></b> is aimed at older struggling readers. They are an online hub of stories that are interesting and relevant for young adult readers. With an interactive design based on best practices, they help support and hopefully inspire students who otherwise would not pick up a book during the summer months. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Finer minds than mine are always at work at Edutopia. If you want even more Summer reading resources for all age groups please visit <a href="https://www.edutopia.org/edutopianews.html" target="_blank"><b>Edutopia News Summer Reading Suggestions</b></a>. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You might also wish to ruminate using one of these <a href="http://eminenttech.blogspot.com/2015/01/seven-slick-current-event-resources.html" target="_blank"><b>Seven Slick Current Event Resources</b></a> for your summer reading practice. Most offer online interactive tools to help students comprehend and dig deeper. </span><br /><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><b><u><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Math Practice</span></u></b><br /><b><u><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></u></b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.tenmarks.com/" target="_blank">TenMarks</a> </b>offers free summer math programs teachers can easily manage and assign by standard. They have also created a letter to distribute to parents with log in codes so that parents can monitor their child's data and progress. I am a huge fan of <a href="https://www.tenmarks.com/" target="_blank">TenMarks</a> and use it with the middle school math class I teach. <span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">A word of caution though, most of <a href="https://www.tenmarks.com/" target="_blank">TenMarks</a> problems are of the word variety and demand multiple steps and mastery of previous concepts. I recommend it more as an enrichment program than a skill practice program. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.prodigygame.com/USA/?" target="_blank"><b>Prodigy Math</b></a> is another free service that is easily managed by teachers. You can assign standards to classes as well as individual students. The program is built into a gaming platform of a virtual, magical realm where novitiates earn spells to counterattack their enemies by correctly solving problems. They can play the game regardless of whether or not you assign problems and the program will send them problems based on grade level. The problems assigned by the teacher get fed into the game. Every K-8 Math standard is covered. The assigned problems are straight forward. Not only do I recommend it for the summer, you may want to add it to next year's math routine. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.mathgames.com/" target="_blank">MathGames</a> </b>is a new and promising free skill practice service. Again, it is set up so that teachers can assign standards and monitor progress on both a class and individual level. I highly recommend using <a href="https://www.mathgames.com/" target="_blank">MathGames</a> but I also recommend testing it out before you assign it over the summer by making a different email account you own as a student and seeing the process from both sides. This will help you direct students on how to find and complete their assignments. They may require some guidance before they are set loose this summer. I would make a screencast and text directions with pictures. In fact, I may do that later and post. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><u><b>STEAM</b></u></span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You can find lots of STEAMY resources in past posts of Eminent Tech. Try one of these on for size:</span><br /><a href="http://eminenttech.blogspot.com/2013/05/fabulous-five-free-apps-for-stem.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Fabulous Five Free Apps for STEM</span></a><br /><div><a href="http://eminenttech.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-geeks-paradise.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A Geek's Paradise</span></a></div><div><a href="http://eminenttech.blogspot.com/2015/03/beautiful-dreams-made-real.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Beautiful Dreams Made Real</span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.ck12.org/summer" target="_blank">CK-12 BrainFlex</a> A more recent site I've come across that is very worthy of offering your families is </span><a href="http://www.ck12.org/summer" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">CK-12 BrainFlex</a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> program which is a combination of math and science. CK-12 has created tutorials, flyers, letters, and basically thought of most everything you can imagine to help make their program a success. They also have a free app in iOS and Android so kids can get their learning on the go.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-29540328085151475642015-05-18T06:10:00.000-07:002015-05-18T06:10:00.387-07:00Academy App Additions <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dR-YFFFeZ-M/VVYqoj_wkOI/AAAAAAAABBI/PfYogIzbcVE/s1600/iPad%2BPoster%2BGirl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dR-YFFFeZ-M/VVYqoj_wkOI/AAAAAAAABBI/PfYogIzbcVE/s320/iPad%2BPoster%2BGirl.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We've added a few new Apps to our Grades 1-5 iPads recently. Hopefully, the middle school teachers will see the value and introduce the ones they find appropriate to their students as well. Four of these apps were featured in our Professional Learning Maker's Fair Day back in April. They also follow up coding skills taught in the computer lab. We start them young here at GPA. Our first graders started learning how to code with <a href="https://www.tynker.com/hour-of-code/" target="_blank">Tynker's free online options in the Hour of Code</a>. They moved on to the basics of <a href="https://scratch.mit.edu/" target="_blank">Scratch</a> programming. Each year students develop greater and great proficiency coding in <a href="https://scratch.mit.edu/" target="_blank">Scratch</a> which they later apply to programing Lego Robotics and EVO3's. Now they can practice these skills on their iPads by programming Daisy the Dinosaur, Tynker, CargoBot, or HopScotch. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pwdl2B1WGug/VVYqK0HP7kI/AAAAAAAABAc/_xfB6tks6RU/s1600/Daisy.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pwdl2B1WGug/VVYqK0HP7kI/AAAAAAAABAc/_xfB6tks6RU/s1600/Daisy.png" /></span></a></div><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/daisy-the-dinosaur/id490514278?mt=8" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Daisy the Dinosaur</a><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This app is suitable for very young programmers. It guides students through various steps that tell Daisy what to do. It is utterly adorkable and a great first step in learning to code. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E0bfX-2T9O8/VVYqLjzUmwI/AAAAAAAABAk/bDus8nqkkrg/s1600/Tynker.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E0bfX-2T9O8/VVYqLjzUmwI/AAAAAAAABAk/bDus8nqkkrg/s1600/Tynker.png" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tynker-learn-programming-visual/id805869467?mt=8" target="_blank">Tynker</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you want your students to receive step by step guidance learning to code, </span><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tynker-learn-programming-visual/id805869467?mt=8" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tynker</span></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> has a subscription service. We are not going that route here at GPA. Nonetheless, I installed the </span><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tynker-learn-programming-visual/id805869467?mt=8" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tynker</span></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> App on the iPads in Grades 3-5 because it includes a canvas to create with code blocks similar to Scratch. This will give students a great way to practice their coding kung fu when they do not have access to a computer. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0gAWAcrHOWo/VVYqK0O_c_I/AAAAAAAABBA/G8RPpStwfXA/s1600/HopScotch.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0gAWAcrHOWo/VVYqK0O_c_I/AAAAAAAABBA/G8RPpStwfXA/s1600/HopScotch.png" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hopscotch-programming-made/id617098629?mt=8" target="_blank">Hopscotch </a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Another option to develop ninja-like code is </span><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hopscotch-programming-made/id617098629?mt=8" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Hopscotch </a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">. In fact, this is the most appealing to me personally because it is character driven and coders can create and tell stories. They can also make games. That said, the tutorial is limited and some kids may find that frustrating. If they are willing to work through frustration and like creating stories and games, this is a fantastic app.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MVjuShqmxLo/VVYqLwnYomI/AAAAAAAABAo/2pCW1hlchOE/s1600/cargo%2Bbot.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MVjuShqmxLo/VVYqLwnYomI/AAAAAAAABAo/2pCW1hlchOE/s1600/cargo%2Bbot.png" /></a></div><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cargo-bot/id519690804?mt=8" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Cargo-Bot</a><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is the last of the new coding apps added. It also develops programming skill but does so in a puzzle-like format. What is nice about </span><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cargo-bot/id519690804?mt=8" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cargo-Bot</span></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> is that while a solution to a problem might work, it isn't always the best option. (The same can be said for code. This is why I wait to update programs.) Often times, things need to be tested over and over again in many situations before time tells if it was best solution. Cargo-Bot assigns points based on the simplest, yet most rigorous solution. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ux-yC215OV0/VVY6qI1PRzI/AAAAAAAABBc/025t1W4dM6Y/s1600/masterpiece.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ux-yC215OV0/VVY6qI1PRzI/AAAAAAAABBc/025t1W4dM6Y/s1600/masterpiece.png" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/masterpiece-for-osmo/id947529440?mt=8" target="_blank">Masterpiece for OSMO</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I cannot say enough good things about OSMO. Even our fifth graders love the hands on learning and applications of this device. All of the OSMO games build a natural bridge from our Early School Montessori base to effective technology integration. <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/masterpiece-for-osmo/id947529440?mt=8" target="_blank">Masterpiece</a> uses the iPad and OSMO gadget to help students recreate artistic masterpieces on paper with the real world media of their choosing. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Yz4AIEjW3Yc/VVYqK70LstI/AAAAAAAABAY/H7G6pjjUXbg/s1600/Ignite.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Yz4AIEjW3Yc/VVYqK70LstI/AAAAAAAABAY/H7G6pjjUXbg/s1600/Ignite.png" /></a></div><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ignite-teaching/id924710570?mt=8" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ignite Teaching</span></a><br /><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ignite-teaching/id924710570?mt=8" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ignite Teaching</span></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> is an app that promotes collaboration and project based learning. teachers can create and assign groups through the App. Students can then use the app to create multimedia projects on a canvas using images from their iPad or Google Drive. They can add text, graphics, and import videos. It is yet another tool that fits our philosophy that technology is best utilized to create rather than consume. In other words, Ignite Teaching <b>Redefines</b> learning. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6vq2BDko7Bk/VVYqLTc0DoI/AAAAAAAABAg/b8VVD_Ct5B8/s1600/SM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6vq2BDko7Bk/VVYqLTc0DoI/AAAAAAAABAg/b8VVD_Ct5B8/s1600/SM.png" /></a></div><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sushi-monster/id512651258?mt=8" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sushi Monster</span></a><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We also added one <b>Substitution/Augmentation </b>app called Sushi Monster. Teachers were looking for a more engaging way for students to practice their math computation skills. </span><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sushi-monster/id512651258?mt=8" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sushi Monster</span></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> by Scholastic was a crowd pleaser at all grade levels. An even bigger bonus is that this app and all of the above are free! </span><br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-53862258552703048222015-04-15T12:08:00.002-07:002015-04-15T16:16:54.361-07:00Wonder Talk<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MgxDTualswk/VS61tm6Oj6I/AAAAAAAAA4c/ryULahB3oXY/s1600/Kiki%2BWonders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MgxDTualswk/VS61tm6Oj6I/AAAAAAAAA4c/ryULahB3oXY/s1600/Kiki%2BWonders.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Megan Black</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><i><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We meet for chapel every Monday at the Grosse Pointe Academy and faculty take turns giving the talk. The following post was the talk I gave on April 13, 2015.</span></i><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would like to share with you two stories, three wishes, and an important secret. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I have always been a wonderer. I wonder about stuff. Constantly. Curiosity led me into many embarrassing predicaments. For example, when I was little I wondered if mothers to be got that way because they swallowed a watermelon seed. I wondered what would happen if I tried it. I knew seeds needed dirt so I ate some of that too. Then I sat in a sunny spot until I threw up. But this didn’t stop me from wondering if I could make my own gum. That brought the fire department to my house which is a longer story for a different day. I wondered what was in the glove compartment of people’s cars parked on our street. I was driven to examine the items the doctor’s cabinets and try to figure out what they did. Let’s face it, who doesn’t wonder about that?! I became obsessed with the idea that there were hidden rooms in every house and wondered what I needed to do to reveal them. Twist a knob on a mantlepiece, play a few notes on their piano, pull out just the right book from a shelf, and I was hopeful the floor would open up to a descending staircase leading to a chamber filled with magical samurai swords and dusty potions. I admit that I was influenced by the story of Anne Frank, my favorite book, <u>The Secret Garden</u>, and a fair share of <u>Scoby Doo</u> cartoons. Even though my nosey-ness often led to trouble, and I was almost always caught in the act, I never stopped wondering. I wonder about the word wonder. It can be a synonym for questioning or curiosity but also for awe, astonishment, luminous enchantment, and speechless reverence. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently scientists have studied the phenomenon of wonder, the speechless reverence awesome kind, the moments when we are stunned by the elegance of something in nature or life that humbles us and makes us realize that we are part of something grander than we ever imagined. What the scientists have discovered is that these moments change our lives in profound ways. The more often we experience astonishment, the less likely we are to suffer disease, the greater our personal happiness, and the more likely we are to want to contribute to the betterment of the world. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rachel Carson wrote, “If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life.” I wish this gift for each of you. That’s my first wish. </span><br /><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />The first time I truly recall feeling a sense of wonder or awe was when I drove across the country by myself to start a new life in Los Angeles. I had everything I owned in a cruddy little hatchback and I was driving to the second largest city in the US where I didn’t know a soul. I had no job or place to live. It was risky but also thrilling. When I got to Arizona I came down with a terrible cold and the reality that I was headed into a very uncertain future alone began to take hold. Nevertheless, I decided to drive the two hours out of my way to see the Grand Canyon. I got there late in the afternoon. When you drive in the park you don’t see the Canyon. You have to walk to the edge. I will never forget it. As I got closer and the sublime immensity of what I was looking at opened up, my legs gave out. I fell to my knees. And I stayed that way for what seemed like hours because time stopped. My life was different after that. I can’t tell you about it in words really but Annie Dillard wrote, “We wake, if ever at all, to mystery.” And that moment and others I’ve been lucky enough to experience, mostly in nature, have felt like waking up...in a good way, not like with the alarm clock, but after a long, delicious sleep. So, that was the second story. And my second wish is that life presents you with mysteries that bring you to your knees. Many of them. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Socrates tell us that wonder is the beginning of wisdom. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7R9v5RmavLs/VS6191SMuHI/AAAAAAAAA4k/amaNKJoz420/s1600/AuntMeg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7R9v5RmavLs/VS6191SMuHI/AAAAAAAAA4k/amaNKJoz420/s1600/AuntMeg.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wonder!</td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Einstein said, The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science.” </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rilke wrote, “Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.” And, that is my third wish, that you learn to love and live the questions and when you find an answer, realize that this is not the end of mystery. Mystery is infinite. <br /><br /><br />I believe wonder and awe are a form of prayer. Wonder lets us see with new eyes. It </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">connects us to the consciousness of the cosmos. Which leads me to the all important secret….Are you ready? You are the greatest wonder of the universe. Yes, you, human, sitting here in this particular body, with this unique mind and heart, in this moment in history are the greatest wonder of all the galaxies because you get to behold it all. There never was and there never will be another you who notices and feels and appreciates and hopefully loves the other wonders in quite the same way. So, open up and let it all in! Even the stuff that hurts or confuses you. Live the questions! Love the Mysteries! Or, as Dr. Suess says, “Think and wonder. Wonder and think.”<br /><br /></span></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-13310797525348063242015-04-06T04:44:00.000-07:002015-04-06T04:44:05.256-07:00Beneath the Cherry Blossoms<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FSqDRdXU6c4/VSFly2urUFI/AAAAAAAAA1o/mO5ARw_F-p4/s1600/8583816483.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FSqDRdXU6c4/VSFly2urUFI/AAAAAAAAA1o/mO5ARw_F-p4/s1600/8583816483.png" height="292" width="400" /></a></div><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">What a strange thing</span></i><br /><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">to be alive</span></i><br /><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">beneath cherry blossoms</span></i><br /><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">~Kobayashi Issa</span></i><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">It is National Poetry Month people! Here are some offerings to help celebrate language and the return of Spring to the Northern Hemisphere.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><b><u><span style="font-size: large;">Apps for Poetry</span></u></b><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Check out last year's <a href="http://eminenttech.blogspot.com/2014_03_01_archive.html" target="_blank">Post on Poetic Apps</a>. It included several free apps from ReadWriteThink to create and publish beautiful poems. I especially love their Haiku maker.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">I've come across several more excellent free Poetry Month Apps more recently. For starters, try <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/US/app/id370143863?mt=8" target="_blank">Poetry from the Poetry Foundation</a>. This is an app for older students as some of the poetic themes require a mature vocabulary and mind. <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/US/app/id376587204?mt=8" target="_blank">Poetry Daily</a> offers free poems by theme and I would keep this one for students ages 12 or older as well. Heck, I might even wait until 14 or 15. A middle schooler with an ear for limericks might make for some sketchy situations.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/poems-by-heart-from-penguin/id577789325?mt=8" target="_blank">Poems by Heart from Penguin Classics</a> is a cool tool to help students memorize classic poems. Again, there are some mature themes and a few saucy words here and there.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">If you really don't mind bawdy talk in your poetry or you wish to relate poetry to rap, "keeping it real," try <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/US/app/id371925480?mt=8" target="_blank">Poetry Creator.</a> It is free and brings in lyrics from Rap songs and mashes them with Shakespeare's sonnets and monologues creating word magnets to reassemble into original works. </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/poetreat-write-quick-simple/id636392647?mt=8" target="_blank">Poetreat</a> bills itself as a tool to "Write quick and simple bites of Poetry." It is a poetry editor that suggests rhymes as you write. This one would be good for budding poets with raging hormones or anyone who needs a little rhyming help.</span><br /><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><b><u><span style="font-size: large;">Teacher Resources</span></u></b><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b><br /></b></u>Richard Byrne of <a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/" target="_blank">Free Technology for Teachers</a> has published a nice list of <a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2015/04/5-resources-for-national-poetry-month.html#.VSFGWxPF974" target="_blank">5 Resources for National Poetry Month</a> He includes <a href="http://teacher.scholastic.com/poetry/" target="_blank">Scholastic's list of resources</a> but it is worth a special mention here as well. They have everything nicely laid out by grade level.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/april-national-poetry-month-20478.html" target="_blank">ReadWriteThink</a> is always one of my first stops for anything literary. They have excellent student interactives to get poets from K-12 composing. They also have <a href="http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/april-national-poetry-month-20478.html" target="_blank">Lesson Plans galore</a> organized by theme, grade level, or form.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="http://www.poets.org/national-poetry-month/30-ways-celebrate-national-poetry-month" target="_blank">30 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month</a> is really nifty with some terrific ideas and resources.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.readingrockets.org/calendar/poetry" target="_blank">Reading Rockets</a> has excellent poetry resources for all ages, not just the wee mongrels.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Edutopia always has something to offer that is beyond worthy. Their <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blog/national-poetry-month-teacher-resources-matt-davis" target="_blank">National Poetry Month Resources </a>by Matt Davis is no exception.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><b><u><a href="http://www.onbeing.org/program/mary-oliver-listening-to-the-world/7267" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Listening to the World</span></a></u></b><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Perhaps my favorite poet, Mary Oliver recently sat down with <i><a href="http://www.onbeing.org/program/mary-oliver-listening-to-the-world/7267" target="_blank">On Being's </a></i>Krista Tippett. She reads some of her illuminating poems and discusses life, habits, and grief with Krista. I love <i><a href="http://www.onbeing.org/" target="_blank">On Being</a></i> and I adore <a href="http://maryoliver.beacon.org/" target="_blank">Mary Oliver</a>. <a href="http://www.onbeing.org/program/mary-oliver-listening-to-the-world/7267" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Listening to the World </a>is just for you to enjoy, dear reader. </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-87950995555798510162015-03-16T07:44:00.002-07:002015-03-16T07:44:19.655-07:00Super Sharing with Playlists<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BOcLzg16c0c/VQbsKJvA1QI/AAAAAAAAAzo/a_e_C39hflo/s1600/16639834358.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BOcLzg16c0c/VQbsKJvA1QI/AAAAAAAAAzo/a_e_C39hflo/s1600/16639834358.png" height="235" width="320" /></a></div>Did you know that YouTube lets you create and share unlimited Playlists? What a time saver this is for teachers who want to offer several videos on a topic or lesson. You can even create a playlist of student videos to represent a class project. This Playlist holds all of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLobu0Z-tTy-o5NV2G95FnuCCbbfBQ5PAw" target="_blank">Student Produced PSA's</a> from our REAL Electives.<br /><br />Below I have given your written and video directions of how to create, curate, and share playlists in YouTube. Give it a whirl!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GfEIQvlPpGc/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GfEIQvlPpGc?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DD4PJdUvOx2WfDgpzhOScW_dRl0Lh6IqLckEUE_ufag/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">How to Create, Curate, and Share YouTube Playlists</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="issuuembed" data-configid="6283245/11882144" style="height: 679px; width: 525px;"></div><script async="true" src="//e.issuu.com/embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-85024571761965713032015-03-09T05:28:00.000-07:002015-03-09T05:28:46.247-07:00Near Space Storehouse BlogSmash<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pzC-ABHQOew/VPyNsNcjeCI/AAAAAAAAAy8/EhRlWMIT7ds/s1600/Storehouse.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pzC-ABHQOew/VPyNsNcjeCI/AAAAAAAAAy8/EhRlWMIT7ds/s1600/Storehouse.png" height="198" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screenshot of Storehouse website</td></tr></tbody></table><a href="https://www.storehouse.co/" target="_blank">Storehouse</a> is a free iOS and Android app that has been around just barely over a year. <a href="https://www.storehouse.co/" target="_blank">Storehouse</a> publishes gorgeous looking stories with pictures, video, and text. <i>National Geographic's</i> contributors often post to Storehouse. That is what first attracted me to the site and why I often return.<br /><br />I shared <a href="https://www.storehouse.co/" target="_blank">Storehouse</a> with my staff in the hopes that it might serve as a new way to present learning. We are a 1:1 iPad school. Composing on an iPad often entails more than a teacher bargains for in adjustments. After working with <a href="https://www.storehouse.co/" target="_blank">Storehouse </a>to tell the world about our <a href="https://www.storehouse.co/stories/r0k8k-near-space-exploration" target="_blank">Near Space Weather Balloon Launch</a>, I realized the same came be said for the Storehouse app. With some planning and preparation, you can make your Storehouse experience far more fun and successful.<br /><br />I recommend having students compose all of their text in a Google Doc or other text editor first so that they can copy and paste it into Storehouse. This is much easier than having them compose in the app. They can take advantage of spelling and grammar checking services and other formatting features that do not yet seem to be present in Storehouse.<br /><br />Additionally, it helps to have all of the photos and video in the Camera Roll or Dropbox to upload into Storehouse. Video needs to be less than 30 seconds in length and the quality should be medium. I am not sure what the maximum file size is because I couldn't find the specifications but I know that I had to keep making the 27 second clip I tried to load smaller and smaller before it worked. If you need to tell the story in longer video, break them up into 30 seconds or less clips and then upload separately.<br /><br />Once all of your content is uploaded, you can easily drag and drop each element where you want it for your published product. This is where Storehouse shines. The final product is sleek and professional looking which is why I choose Storehouse to tell about the <a href="https://www.storehouse.co/stories/r0k8k-near-space-exploration" target="_blank">Near Space Exploration</a> some of our middle school students conducted. I think it is a pretty nifty story and worth a look see.<br /><br />In the meantime, my wish list would be that Storehouse allow for uploads or embeds from major video sites like YouTube or Vimeo. Even better, if it would connect with Google Apps for Education so that students can load from their Drive. It would be nice to compose on a computer from the website as well as an app. And, I don't think it too much to ask that longer videos could be shared.<br /><br /><iframe scrolling="no" src="//www.storehouse.co/stories/r0k8k-near-space-exploration/embed" style="border: none; height: 300px; max-width: 600px; width: 100%;"></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-88282849310602764502015-03-05T10:43:00.001-08:002015-03-05T10:43:30.847-08:00Beautiful Dreams Made Real<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/PKBlWzHvOfs/0.jpg" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PKBlWzHvOfs?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>"Airplanes are beautiful dreams. Engineers turn dreams into reality." from The Wind Rises by Hayao Miyazaki</i></span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hayao Miyazaki's final film, he's retired, is an enchanting meditation on science, art, and the impermanence of life. While I prefer his films that are not based in reality, like <i>Spirited Away</i> and <i>My Neighbor Totoro</i>, <i>The Wind Rises</i> is a fitting end to a brilliant career. The scenery is always stunning in his animations. You feel as if you are inside of a painting. There are many great allegories within this film and I would like to see it again, just to write some of the quotes. It is a marvelous film for STEAM with the exception of the fact that the main character smokes on par with Dom Draper. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>The Wind Rises</i> demonstrated within the story that every great scientist requires the imagination and heart of an artist. The telling of it proved the opposite, every great artist depends upon the mind and mastery of a scientist. The birth of visions comes from the marriage of both. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">At one point in the film, Caproni tells young Jiro Horikoshi that "Inspiration unlocks the future. Technology catches up." </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I humbly offer these resources in the hopes that they spark the imagination of your scientists, the mastery of your artists. </span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-juNKYQS5Dz8/VNux12DbQbI/AAAAAAAAAws/vvtawFaL544/s1600/Define%2BArt%2BIntegration%2B(5).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-juNKYQS5Dz8/VNux12DbQbI/AAAAAAAAAws/vvtawFaL544/s1600/Define%2BArt%2BIntegration%2B%285%29.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://padlet.com/Magsblack313/GPAArts" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Art Integration Padlet</a> ( GPA's own resource and lesson plan sharing board)</span></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1EkiMhhS8oUAItchbLXRxTV8raTH1ce9IWQnBKtjGj4Q/edit?usp=sharing" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Art Integration Apps</span></a></div><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1UoGl91l2s3VYDaPCtzGaTYbkMPwzS0lujr1IhL47qwo/edit?usp=sharing" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">iPad Band Apps</span></a></div><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Most helpful Weblinks I've come across so far:</span></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222;"><a href="http://educationcloset.com/" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Education Closet</span></a></div><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222;"><a href="https://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/lessons" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Kennedy Center's ArtsEdge </span></a></div><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222;"><a href="http://www.edutopia.org/stw-arts-integration-resources-lesson-plans" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Edutopia's Arts Integration Lesson Plan Resources</span></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Rzyajh8hA10/VNu2Lg3affI/AAAAAAAAAw4/4g98Zz0poyY/s1600/Vonnegut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Rzyajh8hA10/VNu2Lg3affI/AAAAAAAAAw4/4g98Zz0poyY/s1600/Vonnegut.jpg" height="217" width="320" /></a></span></div></div><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222;"><a href="http://www.edutopia.org/arts-integration-resources?spMailingID=7508335&spUserID=MjcyNjEyOTk2NTES1&spJobID=102458373&spReportId=MTAyNDU4MzczS0" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Edutopia's Arts Integration Resource Roundup</span></a></div><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222;"><a href="http://iamangelfoundation.org/programs/i-am-steam/" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">i.am.STEAM </span></a></div><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you are looking for research to support Art Integration Check out <a href="http://www.artsedsearch.org/" target="_blank">ArtsEdSearch</a></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-37024377641095450172015-02-23T05:27:00.001-08:002015-02-23T05:27:37.599-08:00Monday Mooring 2-23-15<i>The Monday Moorings were developed as a way to distribute some of the best educational resources recently discovered that would benefit my current faculty and teacher friends. </i><br /><i><br /></i><br /><b><u><span style="font-size: large;">Great Google Gifts</span></u></b><br /><br /><b><a href="http://ditchthattextbook.com/2015/02/19/15-free-google-drawings-graphic-organizers-and-how-to-make-your-own/" target="_blank">15 Google Drawing Graphic Organizers</a> </b>Matt Miller of <a href="http://ditchthattextbook.com/" target="_blank">Ditch that Textbook</a> generously posted 15 excellent graphic organizers made in Google Draw for students in Google Apps for Education (GAFE) schools to use in a variety of subjects. Teachers can make copies of the organizers and then share them with students who can then, make their own copies.<br /><br />Another helpful GAFE resource I learned of recently is <a href="http://www.thegooru.com/category/google-apps-for-edu/" target="_blank">The GOORU</a>. The GOORU offers tips, tricks, and tools for all things Google. Their tutorials are well done and I learned several time saving tricks. The Gooru has features for educators, administrators, managers, as well as good stuff for your average Gmail user.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thinglink.com/scene/614171442354847745" target="_blank">A Menagerie of Chrome Extensions</a> is a fabulous Thinklink created by Julie Ann Hopp with oodles of links to super awesome Chrome Extensions that will help students and teachers alike.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="481" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="//www.thinglink.com/card/614171442354847745" type="text/html" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="620"></iframe><br /><b><u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></b> <b><u><span style="font-size: large;">Super SAMR Swag</span></u></b><br /><br />EdSurge published a fascinating article on how to effectively bring the <a href="https://www.edsurge.com/n/2015-02-06-a-guide-for-bringing-the-samr-model-to-ipads" target="_blank">SAMR Model into iPad Integration</a>. This is a must read for educators who want to get the most out of iPads and move beyond using it as a device for consumption and souped up skill drill.<br /><br />If you find you are still confused about skillful technology integration, Alan November of November Learning published Six questions to <a href="http://novemberlearning.com/educational-resources-for-educators/teaching-and-learning-articles/clearing-confusion-technology-rich-innovative-poor-six-questions/?utm_source=January+Newsletter&utm_campaign=Jan+2015+Newsletter&utm_medium=email" target="_blank">Clear the Confusion Between Technology Rich and Innovative Poor</a>. These questions will keep you on the right track.<br /><br />Guess what?! Julie Ann Hopp has a nifty <a href="http://www.thinglink.com/scene/624356681865756673" target="_blank">ThinkLink of Remix Apps for the SAMR Model</a> too. Bookmark it, You won't regret it.<br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="596" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="//www.thinglink.com/card/624356681865756673" type="text/html" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="620"></iframe> <br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-42340796762469380892015-02-19T07:58:00.000-08:002015-02-19T07:58:56.914-08:00Create Coding Beasts<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c_AhZY37E0I/VOYGa18-CmI/AAAAAAAAAxg/2OjF1J18csQ/s1600/8658314801.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c_AhZY37E0I/VOYGa18-CmI/AAAAAAAAAxg/2OjF1J18csQ/s1600/8658314801.png" height="235" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Get them started young!</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Learn to code and help the world with <a href="http://www.freecodecamp.com/" target="_blank">Code Camp</a>. <a href="http://www.freecodecamp.com/" target="_blank">Code Camp</a> is a remarkable resource that helps you learn code while you help build things, like apps, sites, games, and resources for non-profits. You get to start right off by creating something meaningful with what you are learning. What more inspiration can you ask for?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://csedweek.org/learn" target="_blank">Computer Science Education Week</a> is over but the resources posted on the site are still available for teaching code in a variety of engaging ways. One such resources is <a href="http://studio.code.org/s/frozen/stage/1/puzzle/1" target="_blank">Studio Code</a> where characters from Frozen teach kids to code. I highly recommend spending some time on this well done and generous site. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.madewithcode.com/" target="_blank">Made With Code </a>was made by Google to get girls geeked about writing code to create things. Girls and boys too, can try the projects or get inspired by the ideas. The site will also put coders in touch with makers, mentors, events in their area, and other nifty resources. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://codekingdoms.com/" target="_blank">Code Kingdoms</a> teaches Javascript. The service bills itself as being similar to Minecraft in appeal. Students get to build kingdoms, creatures, and games.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://codecombat.com/" target="_blank">CodeCombat</a> also uses gaming to teach code. Your World of Warcraft crowd will have epiphany sweats from this site. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.crunchzilla.com/code-maven" target="_blank">Code Maven</a> and <a href="http://www.crunchzilla.com/game-maven" target="_blank">Game Maven</a> will expertly guide students in creating code in a step by step format.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Middle School to High School teachers should try taking <a href="http://www.codecademy.com/" target="_blank">Code Academy</a> for a spin. It is a bit more dry and technical but word has it, the site can make you an award winning coder. Full disclosure, I didn't try this one. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><b><u><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And Then There's SCRATCH</span></u></b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3hi1xps8GWw/VOYGoRQK8lI/AAAAAAAAAxo/m7ZjwfPUaDk/s1600/6203285138.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3hi1xps8GWw/VOYGoRQK8lI/AAAAAAAAAxo/m7ZjwfPUaDk/s1600/6203285138.png" height="234" width="320" /></a></span></u></b></div><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Last but not least, <a href="http://scratch.mit.edu/">Scratch.</a> Actually, one could say <a href="http://scratch.mit.edu/">Scratch</a> was first and remains the best. If you are intimidated by using <a href="http://scratch.mit.edu/">Scratch</a>, the resources below will guide your students into creating and inventing.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/guide/" target="_blank">Creative Computing</a> is a guide for Scratch made by MIT. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://checkthis.com/scratchstarterkit" target="_blank">Scratch 2.0 Starter Kit</a> Trust me on this, if you want to teach Scratch, this resource is your sherpa. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://learnscratch.org/">LearnScratch</a> I got this site from Scratch 2.0 Starter Kit. Your students will make fun of the voice over work on this but they will also listen, watch, and learn so you can sit back and hack on your own. </span><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-26134614980938398292015-01-21T07:13:00.001-08:002015-01-21T07:13:07.590-08:00The 411 on Infographics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yTajswzXBQg/VL--udH1-4I/AAAAAAAAAtI/SE0CDw0Lc6A/s1600/9498575212.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yTajswzXBQg/VL--udH1-4I/AAAAAAAAAtI/SE0CDw0Lc6A/s1600/9498575212.png" height="234" width="320" /></a></div>Infographics are a doozie of a way to access the upper echelon of Bloom's Taxonomy. They get students to create while integrating informational literacy, visual literacy, digital literacy, and plain old literacy literacy (AKA reading and writing). Below I've posted a gateway, of sorts, into using and creating data visualizations in your classroom.<br /><br />Once again, Google Apps for Education provides a wonderful way for you to not only access data but select your own visualization of it. All in one place! Simply search <a href="http://www.google.com/publicdata/directory">Public Data on Google</a>. When you find the data you want to learn about you can see different graphs of it by selecting the symbols at the top. When you're happy and you know it, save the image. You can also create infographics of other stats not listed in the Public Data for free through <a href="https://developers.google.com/chart/">Google Charts by Google Developers</a>.<br /><br />Another tool you can use if you are GAFE school is the Google AddOn <a href="https://www.lucidchart.com/pages/education/K12" target="_blank">LucidChart for Education.</a> There are thousands of options for chart creation through this tool. Just be certain you are comfortable with their privacy policies. The same can be said for all these tools. Especially if you are using them to create personal or school specific data.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thesocialmediahat.com/article/how-create-your-own-infograph-using-canva" target="_blank">The Social Media Hat</a> offers step by step directions on how to create infographics on <a href="https://www.canva.com/" target="_blank">Canva</a>. <a href="https://www.canva.com/" target="_blank">Canva</a> is a snazzy, free graphic design tool that will create stellar infographics. <a href="http://www.easel.ly/">Easel.ly</a> is easily one of the simplest infographic makers. It requires registration. Other marvelous data visualization creators that are free, at least initially, but require registration are: <a href="http://visual.ly/">visual.ly</a>, <a href="http://piktochart.com/">Picktochart</a>, and <a href="http://infogr.am/">infogr.am</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.scoop.it/t/learning-with-infographs" target="_blank">Learning with Infographics on Scoop it </a>was created by yours truly has loads of resources. Even more than highlighted here so be sure to check it out.<br /><br />Tops on my list is a stop on <a href="http://www.schrockguide.net/infographics-as-an-assessment.html" target="_blank">Kathy Schrock's Infographics Resource page</a>. She's got examples, <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fPZBa6EGiDs/VL_AG6NX9dI/AAAAAAAAAtQ/EyPJaupf1Yk/s1600/4237886048.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fPZBa6EGiDs/VL_AG6NX9dI/AAAAAAAAAtQ/EyPJaupf1Yk/s1600/4237886048.png" height="305" width="320" /></a></div>integration ideas, tutorials, lesson plans, you name it.<br /><br />Personally, I have had students create infographics on data we collected comparing literacy rates and life expectancy, among other happiness indicators, on <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/">The World Factbook</a> site. In our computer class we created flow charts for decision making with regards to digital citizenship, "To Post or Not to Post?" We also created infographics on social media usage at different ages and risky online behaviors. Data visualization makes for an excellent integration strategy, mixing not only technology, but social studies, science, math, character development, art, design, you name it. Try going to <a href="http://www.schrockguide.net/infographics-as-an-assessment.html" target="_blank">Kathy's Infographic Guide to Everything</a>, finding a lesson, and diving in.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-44844797185198541312015-01-15T10:00:00.000-08:002015-01-15T10:08:47.879-08:00Olly Olly Oxen Free<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gfHvhbkXpsQ/VLf_ph2OElI/AAAAAAAAAso/jBAwjL2a0VU/s1600/IMG_5080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gfHvhbkXpsQ/VLf_ph2OElI/AAAAAAAAAso/jBAwjL2a0VU/s1600/IMG_5080.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by: Megan Black</td></tr></tbody></table><i>"You can discover more about a person from an hour of play then you can from a year of conversation." Plato</i><br /><br />Come out, come out, wherever you are! February 4, 2015 marks the first <a href="http://globalschoolplayday.com/" target="_blank">Global School Play Day.</a> This initiative was inspired by the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg-GEzM7iTk&list=PLc695sWmPGpybRuxvaPgvwd2s8eGqAWYj&index=2" target="_blank">TEDx talk by Dr. Peter Gray</a> where he documents the decline in play we have seen over the past 60 years and correlates that with the decline in creativity and the blossoming of mental disorders, especially anxiety, in children. I have a hunch that the lack of play time in our chickabiddy's lives also contributes to a fixed mindset.<br /><br />My favorite quote from Dr. Gray's Talk comes at the end where he causally says, "We don't need more school, maybe we need better school, but we don't need more." I always get a queasy feeling when I hear dedicated teachers that have been enslaved by their curriculum bemoan their lack of time. Educators will always need more time as long as bureaucracies keep piling on the mandates.<br /><br />However, schools aren't the only reason kids fall on the skids. (<i>Sorry, I confess a weakness for rhyming.)</i> Our entire culture of fear and the almighty need for safety has prevented the lessons that can only be learned through merry exploration. As Tolkien said, "It is dangerous business going out your door..." It is also vital.<br /><br />Think about life as a grown human. Do you really have a lot of free time? As much as you want? My guess is the answer is no for 95% of us. Yet, most youngsters have far more loaded schedules than adults. It is crazy making. Literally.<br /><br />Admittedly, recess duty, as the adult in charge, can be anxiety provoking. All the noise. The chaos. The opportunities for a kid to be physically or emotionally damaged. Yikes. However, every time, without fail, there is at least one occasion, where I witness that this unstructured time, is perhaps the best moment in a kid's day. And by best, I mean best learning, best feeling, significant, best.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LkNKJvOBTCE/VLf_9XmUIJI/AAAAAAAAAsw/SfqN3Niv938/s1600/IMG_5086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LkNKJvOBTCE/VLf_9XmUIJI/AAAAAAAAAsw/SfqN3Niv938/s1600/IMG_5086.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo by: Megan Black</td></tr></tbody></table>So, why not dedicate an entire school day to play? Around the world! Yes, somebody might get hurt but many more somebodies might have their minds and hearts expanded. They may learn lessons about how to be in this world with others that would never have happened if we planned it or imposed our agenda. Perhaps, we are the ones who should learn from them. Rilke said, "We need, in love, to practice only this: letting each other go. For the holding on comes easily. We do not need to learn it."<br /><br />So, please join the <a href="http://globalschoolplayday.com/" target="_blank">Global School Play Day</a> on February 4, 2015. I triple dog dare you!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Bg-GEzM7iTk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0' /></div><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-2933339288261522912015-01-12T07:32:00.000-08:002015-01-12T07:32:07.994-08:00Seven Slick Current Event Resources <div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c1DDZoxc6HY/VLPmV825W3I/AAAAAAAAAsU/lq2k7F-Ml30/s1600/7324846936.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c1DDZoxc6HY/VLPmV825W3I/AAAAAAAAAsU/lq2k7F-Ml30/s1600/7324846936.png" height="325" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://newsela.com/" target="_blank">News ELA</a></span></div><div>Even though as teachers we aren't supposed to play favorites, I will confess a special fondness for this ad free, current events resource. When you register for a free account you have access to daily articles where students can self select reading levels or you can assign them. Teachers and classes get daily articles emailed if they wish. There are also free follow up quizzes with student access to results.<br /><br />The affordable pro version allows teachers to track common core standards, class progress, and much more.<br /><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://tweentribune.com/" target="_blank">Smithsonian Tween Tribune</a></span><br />I just recently learned of the Smithsonian's Tween Tribute Current Events resource. It may replace my favorite. Teachers can select articles based on grade level and assign them by reading level. They also have self scoring quizzes, lesson plans, and critical thinking questions. As far as I can tell, the whole enchilada is gratis.<br /><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://press4kids.com/" target="_blank">News-O-Matic</a></span></div><div>News-O-Matic is both an online service and an iPad App with regularly updated content for an affordable fee. It is highly engaging for younger students and a wonderful gateway to learning to love the news. </div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.ourlittleearth.com/" target="_blank">Our Little Earth</a></span></div><div>Our Little Earth is an International e-Newspaper delivered to your email every two weeks. The articles are well written and I recommend enrolling your students, or yourself and then forwarding the newsletter. It helps build a bridge to global citizenship. </div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://gogonews.com/" target="_blank">GoGoNews</a>, <a href="http://www.youngzine.org/" target="_blank">Youngzine</a>, <a href="http://thewhiztimes.com/" target="_blank">The Whiz Times</a></span><br />Looking for something more fun? <a href="http://gogonews.com/" target="_blank">GoGoNews</a>, <a href="http://www.youngzine.org/" target="_blank">Youngzine</a>, or <a href="http://thewhiztimes.com/" target="_blank">The Whiz Times</a> might be the ticket. These are fun and safe, high interest news articles aimed at kids. Because lets face it, it is a guilty pleasure to read certain magazines at the dentist and hairdressers. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-76924134388211115612015-01-08T13:02:00.001-08:002015-01-12T07:40:58.376-08:00iPad Band<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O3RBis3xd04/VK7s1gj7IsI/AAAAAAAAAsE/RJQG8bX7zUI/s1600/SMPO.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O3RBis3xd04/VK7s1gj7IsI/AAAAAAAAAsE/RJQG8bX7zUI/s1600/SMPO.png" height="161" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screenshot of<br />https://www.flickr.com/photos/laughingsquid/3194907450</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are about to start our REAL (Real World Experiences and Applied Learning) elective classes that focus on areas of interest and passion. REAL is an important part of our <a href="http://gpasteam.weebly.com/" target="_blank">STEAM program</a>. One of the classes offered this year is iPad Band. Where students will work in groups to form bands using iPad App instruments. To help out our very busy music teachers, I put together a graphic of instrument and music making Apps with embedded links. All of them are free and most of them have no in app purchases. It is embedded below for your listening/downloading pleasure.</span><br /><div class="issuuembed" data-configid="6283245/10849609" style="height: 394px; width: 525px;"></div><script async="true" src="//e.issuu.com/embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <br /><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If the idea of an iPad Band floats your boat, you will love the adorkable Ge Wang. He has a wonderful <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/ge_wang_the_diy_orchestra_of_the_future?language=en">Ted Talk</a> on how he creates computer generated music and <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/ge_wang_the_diy_orchestra_of_the_future?language=en">The Orchestra of the Future</a>. Ge also formed the <a href="http://slork.stanford.edu/">Stanford Laptop Orchestra</a> and the <a href="http://mopho.stanford.edu/">Stanford Mobile Orchestra</a>. Mr Wang took his creations and turned them into fantastic <a href="http://www.smule.com/apps" target="_blank">iPad Apps</a> under his company name <a href="http://www.smule.com/">Smule</a>. Check out <a href="http://www.smule.com/" target="_blank">Smule</a>. Not only do you get the instruments, you get a community with which to jam. </span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-43820052426131367162015-01-05T05:18:00.000-08:002015-01-05T05:18:30.684-08:00Monday Mooring 1-5-15<i><b>About the Mooring:</b> Welcome to the New Year! I've moved my weekly EdTech email update for my staff to this blog. We are a Montessori Pre-K through Grade 8 Independent School. Most resources are aimed at Kindergarten through Grade 8. Although, many will be useful for those who teach high school as well. We are also a 1:1 iPad school with a strong emphasis on STEAM integration. </i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HLQW9KJMNYI/VJMLMWT7YGI/AAAAAAAAArs/M_dCzO6DPRQ/s1600/2960457357.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HLQW9KJMNYI/VJMLMWT7YGI/AAAAAAAAArs/M_dCzO6DPRQ/s1600/2960457357.png" height="271" width="320" /></a></div><i><br /></i><b><u>FrostBite Theater </u></b><br /><a href="http://education.jlab.org/frost/" target="_blank">Frostbite Theater</a> is a collection of physics and chemistry experiments on video by Jefferson Labs. The first section are super cool liquid nitrogen experiments. There are many others on the page, including experiments that can be done at home. <a href="https://www.jlab.org/education-teachers" target="_blank">The Jefferson Labs site</a> itself is outstanding and worth wandering through. <i>Hat tip Richard Byrne <a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/" target="_blank">Free Technology for Teachers</a></i><br /><br /><b><u>Try Engineering</u></b><br />Not only does <a href="http://tryengineering.org/" target="_blank">Try Engineering</a> offer hundreds of <a href="http://tryengineering.org/lesson-plans" target="_blank">Lesson Plans</a> to incorporate Engineering principals, it also offers <a href="http://tryengineering.org/play-games" target="_blank">games with real world applications</a> that students will challenge students. <i>Again, hat tip Richard Byrne <a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/" target="_blank">Free Technology for Teachers</a></i><br /><br /><u><b>Get The Math</b></u><br /><u><b><a href="http://www.thirteen.org/get-the-math/" target="_blank">Get The Math</a></b></u> asks real world leaders in various occupations to talk about and present the math challenges that they face on the job. There are follow up lessons to each video where students have to solve the challenge. It is an excellent anecdote to the age old question of those artistic souls, "When am I ever going to use this in real life?"<i>Again, hat tip Richard Byrne <a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/" target="_blank">Free Technology for Teachers</a> Honestly, I don't get all my resources from Richard, but he is the best. </i><br /><i><br /></i><b><u>Cultural Museums Sharing Through Creative Commons</u></b><br />Jane Park posted a SlideShare titled <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/janeatcc/cc-cultural-heritage" target="_blank">Creative Commons and Cultural Heritage </a>recently that not only explains Creative Commons Codes for students but also cultural museums around the globe that are now sharing photos and other forms of media through creative commons. This is manna from Jane for producing ethical Video mashups and slideshows with students.<br /><br /><b>Plotly for Educators</b><br />Educators can post graphing and infographic assignments and share them with classes easily with <a href="https://plot.ly/online-graphing-and-statistics-for-educators/" target="_blank">Plotly</a>. And, in turn classes can share with each other and collaborate. Better yet, <a href="https://plot.ly/online-graphing-and-statistics-for-educators/" target="_blank">Plotly</a> is gratis. <i><a href="https://twitter.com/riptidef" target="_blank">Hattip to Fred Delventhal.</a></i><br /><br /><b>ThinkLink App Smash Challenge</b><br />Thinglink is a cross platform service and App where you can tag pictures with text, links, video, and audio. It makes for a fantastic platform/launch spot for other Apps, websites, and media. On the <a href="http://thinglinkblog.com/2014/11/08/take-the-thinglink-app-smash-challenge/" target="_blank">Thinklink Blog by Susan Oxnevad</a> posted a challenge to educators to App smash with Thinglink. She also posted some fabulous examples of ways that other educators have smashed successfully. (<i>And they didn't even get in trouble.</i>)<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-85432702689909394892014-05-19T06:38:00.003-07:002014-05-28T05:40:22.471-07:00Attention<b id="docs-internal-guid-78f2c670-14aa-b048-c9c9-50cd30b0f091" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Sc2mnSJejis/U3oHT9t_JYI/AAAAAAAAAls/Wu62LML5uDU/s1600/IMG_2205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Sc2mnSJejis/U3oHT9t_JYI/AAAAAAAAAls/Wu62LML5uDU/s1600/IMG_2205.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by: Megan Black</td></tr></tbody></table><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">‘I have wonderful news!’ ... ‘This is wonderful news you want to hear,’...‘You are going to live a good and long life filled with great and terrible moments that you cannot even imagine yet!</span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anybody who has read, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Fault in Our Stars</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by John Green probably recognized this quote. IMHO, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Fault in our Stars</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is an exquisite book everyone should read, when you are mature enough to understand and enjoy the meaning of words like exquisite, and hopefully, before you see the movie that is coming to theaters this June. Although I love movies, books are always better. You get to dive deeper. You get to live inside the characters. Reading calls out a different form of attention than watching. And, attention is my theme for today. </span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Although I will not ask you to “Pay Attention.” I never liked that phrase. Probably because of the word pay. I don’t like to pay for things. Not because I am cheap, at least I hope not, but because of the obligation behind it. I don’t know, maybe I don’t like be told what to do. </span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So instead I will ask you, as a favor, to please, give me the kindness of your attention. For truly, there is no greater act of generosity you can do than offer your full attention to someone. </span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As I said at the beginning, you are going to live a long life, with great and terrible moments…”What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” The poet Mary Oliver, another great writer, asks this question in one of her poems. By the way, I quote a lot. I like quotes. Saves me the trouble of writing. Anyway, Mary asks us what do we plan to do with this one, wild and precious life we get and she answers her own question in another poem. She says, “Instructions for living a life: pay attention, be astonished, tell about it.” Astonished is another of those ten dollar words I love. To me, it means to hold wonder and awe in equal measure. </span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John Green would agree with Mary Oliver’s instructions for living a life. In another passage from “The Fault in Our Stars.” He writes, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I believe the universe wants to be noticed. I think the universe is improbably biased toward the consciousness, that it rewards intelligence in part because the universe enjoys its elegance being observed.” He tells us that the real heroes are the people who notice things. </span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Buddhist philosophy is founded on mindfulness. The Dalai Lama describes mindfulness as kind, loving awareness or attention without judgement. It isn’t easy. Especially now when we have so many things to keep us distracted. Which is why we have to practice it. Practice mindfulness. Practice being attentive and letting go of judgement and our need to make something good or bad. </span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There are few absolutes in life, few things you can be certain about but I know this to be true in my heart, whatever you give your attention to will be transformed by it, will grow from it. And YOU will grow from it. If I asked you to become aware of your breathing...without asking you to change it, just by bringing your awareness to the breath, it will deepen. The same can be said of how you sit, or how you listen, or look...once you give your attention to that moment you will see that you actually need to try harder NOT to make it better. This is the heart of meditation. Mary Oliver again says, “I do not know how to pray, I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to stroll through the fields.” </span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So whatever you want to do with your one wild and precious life, whatever that is, it will be richer if you give it, or practicing giving it, your full attention. </span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">St. Thomas said, “The reward for patience... is more patience.” The same is true of attention. The more you practice attention, shifting your awareness, the more you are able to practice it. And how do you do that? Set the goal or intention each day that you will give attention to some area of your life. Something small. Something near you. Maybe you will give attention to how you breathe, or what makes you laugh, or the words you say, or perhaps you will do your best to look at the sky and feel the sun on your face. </span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Because life is full of both great and terrible moments, there will be many times in your life practicing attention will demand courage. But, I still believe, with all the love in my heart, that the mind is powerful and the focal point of our thoughts can be transformed. In the same way energy from the sun transforms life, or the pull of the moon affects the tides, consciousness radiates. </span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You will find the more you practice attention, the more you appreciate what is given you, now, in this moment. All that you need is here. Truly, what better time to observe the universe’s elegance than right now, when the lilacs are in bloom, when the trees are blossoming? Notice our beautiful lake, how everyday, sometimes every hour, it changes. </span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span></b><br /><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span></b> <div style="text-align: right;"></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Great Sufi Poet Rumi wrote, “</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let the beauty we love be what we do. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wwXoI5jkivk/U3oI0gTml7I/AAAAAAAAAmA/v7psRjBiBpw/s1600/13438157804_58614da993_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wwXoI5jkivk/U3oI0gTml7I/AAAAAAAAAmA/v7psRjBiBpw/s1600/13438157804_58614da993_b.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by: Megan Black</td></tr></tbody></table>There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the earth.” The Gospel of St Thomas tells us Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is spread on the Earth but men do not see it. Be the hero or heroine of your own life. See the kingdom of heaven spread before you. Notice the beauty and elegance of the universe in the moments you are given, offer your attention to your “one wild and precious life.” </span></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Every Monday morning we meet in our Chapel at Grosse Pointe Academy. Today I gave the talk. This is the transcript from it. I thought I would follow Mary Oliver's advice and "Tell about it." </i></span><br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-91101835460186633922014-03-06T12:41:00.001-08:002014-03-06T12:42:49.556-08:00Poetic Apps<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wuMGbgtXAMo/UxjVTp67BMI/AAAAAAAAAiw/ZSrJB-RtiOs/s1600/photo+(9).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span></a></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wuMGbgtXAMo/UxjVTp67BMI/AAAAAAAAAiw/ZSrJB-RtiOs/s1600/photo+(9).JPG" height="236" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">By Megan Black</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">April cannot come soon enough. This winter has tested the grit of everyone. April is my favorite "Mud-luscious" month. Not only because of life returning, and the buds, or the lingering daylight and warmer air. But for the poetry. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />There are several free apps to help you discover your inner Lucille Clifton. Many of which are offered by <a href="http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/" target="_blank">Read, Write, Think </a>from the International Reading Association. Many of you are probably familiar with their wicked awesome website. They have taken their most widely used web applications and <a href="http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/mobile-apps/" target="_blank">created mobile Apps</a>. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/haiku-poem/id810338702?mt=8" target="_blank">Haiku Poem</a></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ueDqLIBj9ck/UxjY67ulYJI/AAAAAAAAAjM/8JAsAoKfay4/s1600/haiku_poem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ueDqLIBj9ck/UxjY67ulYJI/AAAAAAAAAjM/8JAsAoKfay4/s1600/haiku_poem.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />This is my personal favorite. The Zen-like design is appealing. They have broken down the process of writing a haiku and made it interactive. When you are finished, you have a peaceful, elegant product. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/diamante-poem/id724953313?mt=8" target="_blank">Diamante Poems</a></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LcHh-3gjyIU/UxjZFMs27iI/AAAAAAAAAjU/RAhR9cZF-DI/s1600/diamonte.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LcHh-3gjyIU/UxjZFMs27iI/AAAAAAAAAjU/RAhR9cZF-DI/s1600/diamonte.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />Again, this takes the poet through an interactive, foolproof process to writing a Diamonte Poem. I had a student named Diamonte' once. He quite often confused this format with...</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/acrostic-poem/id724841119?mt=8" target="_blank">Acrostic Poems</a></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5mDIt6QMSxo/UxjaF_ePmKI/AAAAAAAAAjc/M9udkpmCdvM/s1600/acrostic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5mDIt6QMSxo/UxjaF_ePmKI/AAAAAAAAAjc/M9udkpmCdvM/s1600/acrostic.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />This App will guide the poet through the steps of Acrostic formation. (<i>That sounds almost Biblical.</i>) The final product is plain and simple. Maybe they'll add some super cool fonts soon. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/theme-poem/id724978211?mt=8" target="_blank">Theme Poem</a> </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e0JLc4VNCIU/Uxja0Ec-IQI/AAAAAAAAAjk/LI85vqlcddY/s1600/theme.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e0JLc4VNCIU/Uxja0Ec-IQI/AAAAAAAAAjo/vCVjnJXDeVA/s1600/theme.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e0JLc4VNCIU/Uxja0Ec-IQI/AAAAAAAAAjo/vCVjnJXDeVA/s1600/theme.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Theme Poems App is great for the wee ones. You can make a poem about a shoe, in a shoe. Or an <span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="5cc52d4b-6a7b-48d7-a6d0-903de434d106" id="ee9f9f36-66d4-4f8f-bcd0-bfbfafdb096f">existential</span> fish, in a fish. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X2Xk77BomWo/Uxja7qVyqXI/AAAAAAAAAjs/RZbyujkZc4A/s1600/Fishy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X2Xk77BomWo/Uxja7qVyqXI/AAAAAAAAAjs/RZbyujkZc4A/s1600/Fishy.png" height="243" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="92cb2a00-5b1f-4532-9094-af7f7d90a285" id="7f321496-7571-4f63-a80f-4d9167d90abf">by</span>: Megan Black</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-86859482431955607502014-02-28T09:35:00.002-08:002014-02-28T10:16:22.012-08:00Feisty Expectations for their 100's<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Every single day I am both proud and humbled by the extraordinary educators at GPA and the incredible kids. This year's second grade is full of personality. Those spirits get to shine through the learning experiences designed by their teacher, Beth Ahee. On the 100th day of school, the kids created a two dimensional picture of themselves at 100 years of age and wrote the most optimistic views of what their life will be like. Some of hysterical. Some are touching. Please enjoy!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LdN4uqZZ30M/UxDGD6AafKI/AAAAAAAAAhk/jARZh70pMnA/s1600/IMG_1392.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LdN4uqZZ30M/UxDGD6AafKI/AAAAAAAAAhk/jARZh70pMnA/s1600/IMG_1392.jpg" height="640" width="430" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eQvGKbZSopI/UxDGB649BPI/AAAAAAAAAhI/1R5WKn2oKec/s1600/IMG_1388.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eQvGKbZSopI/UxDGB649BPI/AAAAAAAAAhI/1R5WKn2oKec/s1600/IMG_1388.jpg" height="640" width="390" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zZ8LuXy_xyU/UxDF_gaxMDI/AAAAAAAAAg4/4O7pNXo8qIw/s1600/IMG_1387.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zZ8LuXy_xyU/UxDF_gaxMDI/AAAAAAAAAg4/4O7pNXo8qIw/s1600/IMG_1387.jpg" height="640" width="386" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-szFpi-iQt0A/UxDGByVtd1I/AAAAAAAAAhM/Fb1Z0DP4PLQ/s1600/IMG_1390.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-szFpi-iQt0A/UxDGByVtd1I/AAAAAAAAAhM/Fb1Z0DP4PLQ/s1600/IMG_1390.jpg" height="640" width="382" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rycl4p6ELJg/UxDF_nx_kLI/AAAAAAAAAg0/LU9L7DYzo98/s1600/IMG_1385.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rycl4p6ELJg/UxDF_nx_kLI/AAAAAAAAAg0/LU9L7DYzo98/s1600/IMG_1385.jpg" height="640" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZpQKnUW6su0/UxDF_kqcLuI/AAAAAAAAAgw/FW558W5jZgc/s1600/IMG_1386.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZpQKnUW6su0/UxDF_kqcLuI/AAAAAAAAAgw/FW558W5jZgc/s1600/IMG_1386.jpg" height="640" width="372" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rkLt6Y4cb84/UxDGB4b_SSI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/jOwUUJu4NRA/s1600/IMG_1389.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rkLt6Y4cb84/UxDGB4b_SSI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/jOwUUJu4NRA/s1600/IMG_1389.jpg" height="640" width="390" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IWZ1f1DyNuo/UxDGFG7GysI/AAAAAAAAAhw/JMh70l0bNfQ/s1600/IMG_1395.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IWZ1f1DyNuo/UxDGFG7GysI/AAAAAAAAAhw/JMh70l0bNfQ/s1600/IMG_1395.jpg" height="640" width="376" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AF0bcq0PN3o/UxDGDnkNrgI/AAAAAAAAAhg/w8mVRJ9Ibv8/s1600/IMG_1391.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AF0bcq0PN3o/UxDGDnkNrgI/AAAAAAAAAhg/w8mVRJ9Ibv8/s1600/IMG_1391.jpg" height="640" width="424" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ssLXHuDWjmI/UxDGD8wopuI/AAAAAAAAAho/wXv6oxf6bxM/s1600/IMG_1393.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ssLXHuDWjmI/UxDGD8wopuI/AAAAAAAAAho/wXv6oxf6bxM/s1600/IMG_1393.jpg" height="640" width="362" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pFJ2t-PL0pI/UxDGE9N-YZI/AAAAAAAAAh0/_j3OV7IpFpw/s1600/IMG_1394.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pFJ2t-PL0pI/UxDGE9N-YZI/AAAAAAAAAh0/_j3OV7IpFpw/s1600/IMG_1394.jpg" height="640" width="390" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here is a great video showing more of the awesome learning going on at Grosse Pointe Academy.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/MxvnOJRJsZY?list=UUKNKqGa989aq4zmd_yaLWVw" width="560"></iframe></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-55652746042404665222014-01-30T08:02:00.001-08:002014-01-30T08:02:36.751-08:00Choosing the Given<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L-Ca9x34d9A/UupyT0RMIPI/AAAAAAAAAfc/KCeW80I4IXw/s1600/92066316_c85bf823fe_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L-Ca9x34d9A/UupyT0RMIPI/AAAAAAAAAfc/KCeW80I4IXw/s1600/92066316_c85bf823fe_b.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="0b92571e-d063-4783-a7b1-5fe013e97585" id="7c3745b9-a697-40ac-92eb-3333e0a485cb">cc</span> licensed <span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="0b92571e-d063-4783-a7b1-5fe013e97585" id="483e46ae-6011-493d-8eb0-1648aafdea58">( </span>BY NC SA<span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="0b92571e-d063-4783-a7b1-5fe013e97585" id="9d635a27-c647-4bea-a627-de05ea257c35"> )</span> <span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="0b92571e-d063-4783-a7b1-5fe013e97585" id="7e04e2c7-7b0d-46ab-a6fa-d597c22a24bd">flickr</span> photo by <br />Marko Kivelä: http://flickr.com/photos/marko_k/92066316/</span></td></tr></tbody></table><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I would like to live as I should, as the weasel lives as he should. And I suspect that for me the way is like the weasel's: open to time and death painlessly, noticing everything, remembering nothing, choosing the given with a fierce and pointed will." ~Annie Dillard</span></i><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5742825924303237697" name="8a31a0bb-1327-44ec-b104-2cdd5a4ff75f"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5742825924303237697" name="171abce7-c42f-4924-859f-c0787b84e657"></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br />Another bitter, cold day <span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="0c69d9bc-0b29-4733-b289-ea09c166a8b1" id="2a6bf969-48d4-44ee-b441-0d2ec0fa9d66">hold</span> up in my den. Time to recognize the gifts the world offers that we rarely notice because they are given with such nonchalance. Ice crystals on the windowpane. The merry whistle of the tea kettle. The warm body of a sweet companion.</span></span></span></span></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is true that we tend to undervalue that which is freely given. And yet, these "daily presentations"* are so often the very things that make life worth living; kindness, comfort, rest, everything in the natural world. As important as it is to pay attention to these serene miracles, it is equally as vital to tell others. </span></span></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">You may find it odd that I choose to tell about a tool and the generosity of the company that provides it. However, I was so completely blown away by the folks at </span><a href="http://www.educanon.com/" target="_blank">EduCanon</a><span style="color: black;"> and their support for the technology they offer educators, on the house, that I simply must. For those unfamiliar, <a href="http://www.educanon.com/" target="_blank">EduCanon</a>is a relatively new service that allows teachers to post video content on YouTube, TeacherTube, or Vimeo to their class with pop up questions embedded at intervals of their choosing. For each assigned video and questions, teachers get a response spreadsheet with information on student log ins, graded scores, and unanswered questions. Essentially, it allows educators to flip their classrooms while holding students accountable for viewing the instruction. Through </span><a href="http://www.educanon.com/" target="_blank"><span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e7a0f3a9-6791-43a6-b3b9-f3d1362a0335" id="51b6bd19-ca6d-4640-a98f-76a0e7029b39">EduCanon</span></a><span style="color: black;">, students can rewind and rewatch the video as many times as is necessary, but they cannot fast forward through the process. This was the missing link my brave, innovative colleagues needed to make flipping their classrooms <span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="b4c4279d-ded3-4100-8786-6be3f782b7b5" id="e7990a9e-fb7a-4b10-8614-feb73c39383b">successful</span>. </span></span></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">I shared </span><a href="http://www.educanon.com/" target="_blank"><span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="5de6ee31-a853-49a8-8d6a-908869a0d48b" id="072061c4-beb7-4a08-bb6a-59acbfe4907f">EduCanon</span></a><span style="color: black;"> a couple of months ago with my staff at <span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="5de6ee31-a853-49a8-8d6a-908869a0d48b" id="1b83729f-eea8-43fd-a2af-fcfeb5735803">Grosse</span> Pointe Academy because many of them are using the vast wealth of educational videos out there for instruction, or creating their own videos for students to watch at home. Then, using person to person class time to coach learners as they apply the lesson. The greatest setback to this process was the students who did not complete their homework and actually watch the videos. Or those who grew impatient after thirty seconds and fast forwarded through the meat and potatoes of the teaching. You know of whom I speak. </span></span></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">My headmaster latched onto the enormous learning potential of </span><a href="http://www.educanon.com/" target="_blank">EduCanon</a><span style="color: black;"> and charged me with making it so that every student in middle school could log in easily and have a consistent experience each time. I wrote to </span><a href="http://www.educanon.com/" target="_blank">EduCanon</a><span style="color: black;"> asking for their assistance in this. And, they gave it. Kindly. Patiently. And Consistently. This was no small task, mind you. We had to match every student's schedule with every teacher and every class. Add to this confusion the fact that classes are titled one thing in our school database, known by another by each instructor, and listed under a third on student schedules. I give tremendous kudos and thanks to Susan, and especially to Benjamin Levy, at </span><a href="http://www.educanon.com/" target="_blank">EduCanon</a><span style="color: black;"> for never failing to ask me questions and persist in accomplishing our goal. And so, dear readers, please do yourself a favor and also support them by exploring their wonderful tool and telling others. </span></span></div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/OoYxStACwik?rel=0" width="560"></iframe></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/jhESn_aiFUo?rel=0" width="560"></iframe></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">*Mary Oliver talks of daily presentations in her wonderful poem "Mindful"</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-24093678355072803792014-01-08T16:21:00.002-08:002014-01-09T06:27:55.459-08:00Polar Vortex Dog Fishing<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" id="id_9737_c58_d290_58be" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x6XcgYpmpn0/Us3bn29lrlI/AAAAAAAAAes/ld63TE75P94/s1600/Snowy+North.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x6XcgYpmpn0/Us3bn29lrlI/AAAAAAAAAes/ld63TE75P94/s1600/Snowy+North.JPG" height="320" id="id_4036_ec1c_f5a9_d99" style="height: 320px; width: 320px;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">That's How Much </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Being forced to spend all day indoors with nothing but time on my hands is my idea of heaven. It is Coco, my high-energy, 7 month old puppy's idea of unadulterated torture. She had nightmares last night and awoke shaken and whimpering. Who knew dog's had nightmares? </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Not that Coco doesn't have a reason to have nightmares. She's been through hell and back. Which is why she sports a blue Kong collar and a t shirt in the photos. The Kong collar is a compassionate alternative to the collar of shame and keeps Coco from licking her wounds. She has been in one nearly half of her life thus far and still has a few weeks to go. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Given the extra time and my inability to withstand endless games of tug '<span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="f971fc93-06a9-4ab1-8b54-1767838740db" id="066f6fdb-fec3-4fde-8086-ee02d3b53458">o</span> war or hide and seek, and given that I did not want to venture out to the store in forty below wind chill factors, necessity became the mother of invention. I found inspiration to work on the following <span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="d39cc9a2-28b4-42fa-b40c-29590804b558" id="2322bd0b-bebb-4d63-a093-4e81cba1d944">diversions</span>. In the spirit of the Maker's Movement I offer evidence and cite my sources. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" id="id_69cb_42b_f45e_4a1e" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7LM5QKiWY8g/Us2ZcYFUtpI/AAAAAAAAAcw/7W965qbH6Dc/s1600/Smarty+Farty+Dogs.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7LM5QKiWY8g/Us2ZcYFUtpI/AAAAAAAAAcw/7W965qbH6Dc/s1600/Smarty+Farty+Dogs.JPG" height="200" id="id_c683_5ad8_6627_6108" style="height: 200px; width: 124px;" width="124" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Doggy Rattler </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This first creation is for <span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="a09cd5c1-c9a7-43ee-a876-9f614f68b2c0" id="4a60116c-862e-4f03-8434-17d433ad0eb3">smartypants</span> dogs. I believe Coco Pup to be the Madam Curie of the canine <span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="2879c9e4-fedf-4cfc-8966-8f253b84dcbd" id="433838f6-4230-4416-9841-32e49a58cadb">world but</span> right now she just rolls this jar of fun around and barks at it from frustration. All things in time. I bet Neil <span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e5b850df-3040-4065-9dce-b14dfcba1c9b" id="1339f3a5-18aa-4d19-a611-6ccdf748cd33">deGrasse</span> Tyson had a few temper tantrums in his infancy too. The Doggy Rattler consists of a toilet paper roll inside an old peanut butter jar that I cut a hole in. I put duck tape over the hole to protect her from any sharp edges and in case she decides to bite through the plastic, which let's face it, will inevitably happen. The toilet paper roll makes treat distribution extra challenging. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" id="id_acd0_f059_1b12_8bba" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T1x9rfm7Sv0/Us3bigPk7lI/AAAAAAAAAek/V7CafDaHq6M/s1600/Pooch+Pole.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T1x9rfm7Sv0/Us3bigPk7lI/AAAAAAAAAek/V7CafDaHq6M/s1600/Pooch+Pole.JPG" height="259" id="id_58a2_c3c9_8532_b0be" style="height: 259px; width: 320px;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Pooch Pole<br /></span> </td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" id="id_a9d4_be53_ff6f_fad5" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TOBTCZ8UgZ0/Us3dh3e1_gI/AAAAAAAAAe8/jJYoyOr1L4E/s1600/Coco+and+Chicken.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TOBTCZ8UgZ0/Us3dh3e1_gI/AAAAAAAAAe8/jJYoyOr1L4E/s1600/Coco+and+Chicken.jpg" height="216" id="id_cb10_9585_5f47_d47c" style="height: 216px; width: 640px;" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Coco and the Rubber Chicken </span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Next comes the impetus for the title of this blog, The Pooch Pole. Take a length of clothesline, run it through a section of PVC pipe, tie a rubber chicken to the end and viola, you can fish for Fido. I've spent a pleasant hour or two casting off from my sofa and Coco Loco got her wiggles out. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Because the Doggy Rattler proved a bit too much for Coco Butt, I adapted one of her all time favorite toys, a tennis ball, into a treat ball. Simply cut along the seam, squeeze it, and put the treats inside. She has been able to get a couple of treats <span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="300087fc-d074-4102-8d65-3fe3eac934cf" id="4d82a466-706b-41c4-ada7-8f297653f8a6">out but</span> still hasn't put two and two together. Every goody is astonishing. She'll flip that ball and roll it for a good half hour before it gets lost under the couch. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My last bit of experimenting has nothing to do with Minerva Poopsalot (Another of Coco's pseudonyms), but has everything to do with the Polar Vortex visiting Detroit. Our heater is close to 20 years old and on its last legs. Due to some hefty Vet bills, a new one is no where in the near future. It was recommended to keep the thermostat set lower, especially when it is extremely cold out, so as not to overburden it. I am an unabashed wuss bag when it comes to cold. I learned of the flower pot convection heater from a Facebook Posting and realized I only need to go to the garage to put it together. I did. It works! It is more noticeable in smaller rooms, but there is a difference even in our open living area. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Light <span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="73cd9dad-08e3-4055-a996-1daa6d487ba5" id="5818d64d-7138-4bce-9ff4-cbea862aabdf">four</span> tea lights and place them into a bread pan. Put a smaller terracotta pot on top. Place an empty tea light tin over the hole. Put a <span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="801065fb-bb84-47fe-a07f-94faa031ebcf" id="04dac595-a05d-430f-8a5d-2dfa801daff7">larger</span> terracotta pot over the smaller one. You're done. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" id="id_1a31_37b9_9a18_87a9" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FgNh8-XhjTM/Us2rgy_-NsI/AAAAAAAAAeE/LDxynwp-MQI/s1600/heater+collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FgNh8-XhjTM/Us2rgy_-NsI/AAAAAAAAAeE/LDxynwp-MQI/s1600/heater+collage.jpg" height="216" id="id_d2d0_400b_dec8_b49f" style="height: 216px; width: 640px;" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Terracotta heater </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here's my kindergarten understanding of how it works. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" id="id_fb19_58f4_fd46_7bb6" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Jad2RpFblsQ/Us2o5GkHtVI/AAAAAAAAAd4/5CR4rqzsHmM/s1600/photo.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Jad2RpFblsQ/Us2o5GkHtVI/AAAAAAAAAd4/5CR4rqzsHmM/s1600/photo.PNG" height="240" id="id_1536_281f_3164_b8ea" style="height: 240px; width: 320px;" width="320" /></a></span><br /><br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Terracotta Heat Convection</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Soapbox Alert: None of this would have happened if it weren't for snow days. Three glorious days in a row </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="dfc044b0-e958-41b1-a039-a5afbe55e3e6" id="d46359c0-4c4a-4394-8e3e-5103052e652e">on</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> the tail end of winter break. Making, creating, experimenting, and exploring possibilities require time. The time to be bored and the time to decide what to do with our time... </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="b8676b4e-4dec-4992-92b4-5580386b2937" id="de56be00-e34f-42db-b9e9-536e0b9fdc32">as</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Gandalf would say. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sources:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="b59d4b13-11a2-4168-9f2a-b08fa67bd495" id="012488f5-a891-4ac9-acd6-c237c92017fc">FlowerPot</span> Heater</span><br /><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2492549/Video-reveals-heat-home-using-just-TEALIGHTS-FLOWERPOTS--costs-just-8p-day.html"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2492549/Video-reveals-heat-home-using-just-TEALIGHTS-FLOWERPOTS--costs-just-8p-day.html</span></a><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">DIY Dog Toys</span><br /><a href="http://thebarkpost.com/3-dog-toys-you-can-make-from-things-around-the-house/"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">http://thebarkpost.com/3-dog-toys-you-can-make-from-things-around-the-house/</span></a><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you really want to get fancy with the Terracotta Heater, you can try <span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e1e91133-75b3-4423-8f8a-6aab93244e86" id="66d2f71b-2650-4dec-b945-de19f5ad0f88">Household Hackers method</span>. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oa7ifmHm4U">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oa7ifmHm4U</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-79500072687724822992013-11-18T12:42:00.002-08:002013-11-19T07:16:44.505-08:00Hard Questions in Ed Tech <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QbcrqTooIeU/Uop5Lzt-TII/AAAAAAAAAbs/1eeJYGrVu6c/s1600/8600952479_d962fca132_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QbcrqTooIeU/Uop5Lzt-TII/AAAAAAAAAbs/1eeJYGrVu6c/s1600/8600952479_d962fca132_b.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Megan Black</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Despite my last name and city of birth, I'm white. This is an identity with which I have struggled in one way or another most of my life. Growing up in Detroit, I was often the lone white girl. I spent five years in Chicago and another sixteen in Los Angeles in mostly Mexican neighborhoods. Until recently the schools I taught in were lower socioeconomic communities of color. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For the past six years I have been back in Michigan. I spent the first five at a public charter in Detroit. When I first got there we had nothing to speak of by way of technology. When I left we had plenty. I'm told the digital divide is being crossed. At least on paper. Many minority schools and city school districts have the same technology tools as their wealthier counterparts. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But I challenge you to go to an educational technology conference and look for diversity. With the rare exception, it is a sea of white faces. And not just white teachers but white teachers from white schools. The MACUL conference this past March was at Cobo Hall in Detroit. There were thousands of educators. I worked an Ask Me booth above the main floor for two hours at the end of the first day. It allowed me to see the entire crowd as they departed. I counted less than a dozen minority teachers. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And don't even get me started on the perception that the major players/presenters in the Ed tech field are mostly men. In a profession predominantly peopled by women (education) the vast majority with the authority to present and pack a room are men, in their mid thirties. Former high school teachers. Don't get me wrong, these are good men with a lot to offer. But, are there that many less women instructors with the <span class="GINGER_SOFATWARE_noSuggestion GINGER_SOFATWARE_correct" ginger_sofatware_markguid="6cc47267-d9ea-4d29-8a69-bd82c3271534" ginger_sofatware_uiphraseguid="4ade9c6c-5f65-418d-ae7f-d1d829edb46b" grcontextid="gravitas:0">gravitas</span> to impart best practices in this area? Oh I know there are a few noteworthy elementary education technology integration specialists as well as a few female high school experts in the field, but again, the numbers are skewed. Why?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I believe digital divide still exists but it is less so about having the tools and more about the expertise in how to skillfully integrate those tools. I want to be wrong about this and I welcome feedback that tells me I am with explanations. Is it possible that minority schools are getting their professional development in house and/or on site? Or is this a casualty of the survival mode struggling districts seem to operate under? </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If I am right, what can be done about it? How can we cross the great divide and bring equity to all?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-926173661368806052013-11-11T13:15:00.000-08:002013-11-12T08:10:27.261-08:00Beam me up, Teacher<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l0Nl9AqcNWI/UoFH-ndYLDI/AAAAAAAAAbY/yh0ZJSgrLYQ/s1600/iPad+mirror.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l0Nl9AqcNWI/UoFH-ndYLDI/AAAAAAAAAbY/yh0ZJSgrLYQ/s1600/iPad+mirror.png" height="245" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Looking for a way to share student work on iPads with the class? Want to do that on a budget? <a href="http://www.airserver.com/" target="_blank"><span class="GINGER_SOFATWARE_correct" ginger_sofatware_markguid="f1b4ccc4-f01b-40d3-8e0f-6c8bf038ed66" ginger_sofatware_uiphraseguid="d375ba01-281e-4cc6-8f57-2cb31e711cbc" grcontextid="Airserver:0">Airserver</span> </a>is your ticket.<a href="http://www.airserver.com/" target="_blank"> <span class="GINGER_SOFATWARE_correct" ginger_sofatware_markguid="dfcc6c0e-6ca4-404d-a6bb-a249c96c5ff5" ginger_sofatware_uiphraseguid="db0a0bdf-70c2-4f04-974e-cc3d374dedfb" grcontextid="Airserver:0">Airserver</span> </a>is one of three <span class="GINGER_SOFATWARE_correct" ginger_sofatware_markguid="8468e444-7f8c-4b81-a0d9-9e4d16faaa43" ginger_sofatware_uiphraseguid="db0a0bdf-70c2-4f04-974e-cc3d374dedfb" grcontextid="propular:1">popular</span> services that allow iPads to send their display to another device, AKA mirroring. However, as with all things there is a dark side too. Here's the full skinny.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Schools can get licenses for the Air Server mirroring software for just under four bucks per laptop. Apple TV is just under $100 each and Reflector runs around $13 per device. In my experience they all offer about the same level of service except that Apple TV can be reflected to a television. (This is unnecessary in schools with projectors.) Downloading and installing the Airserver software onto a laptop is quick and easy. From there, you are prompted to provide your activation code.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once installed you can set private passwords and I recommend that you do. Once mischievous crumb snatchers know how to use the controls, they can co-opt your display with whatever happens to be on their iPad. A recipe for disaster to say the least. When you want the students to display their work, you have options to allow access. You can select to send them a password or passcode that is displayed on your desktop that they punch in or you can have them ask you. You can also select no Password but I would only do this if I completely trusted the class not to try it and lets face it, seeing your iPad up there in the front is pretty tempting.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One lesson we learned the hard way after installing Airserver on all the laptops at our school is that you need to have recognizable names for each laptop. Otherwise all the laptops on the wireless network will show up in the students iPad and they will not know which name to select when they go to turn on mirroring. I recommend a system based on the teacher's last name and subjects taught. (Of course this all depends on the size of your school and how many Mrs. Johnson's you have <span class="GINGER_SOFATWARE_correct" ginger_sofatware_markguid="418e9047-05f8-42ce-adb2-c61a4b9307c6" ginger_sofatware_uiphraseguid="84a0fb08-03ff-4d60-9eb3-be5f0eaa23e7" grcontextid="teaching:0">teaching</span> there.)</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Embedded into this blog is a tutorial for how to use Airserver for both teachers and students. If you would like to download it you can also find it here. <a href="http://midd.me/DTMr">http://midd.me/DTMr</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Last but not least, at the time of publishing this post, iOS7 is still crashing when mirroring to any service after 2 or 3 minutes. If the iPad crashes it can be rebooted by holding the home button and the power button at the same time for ten seconds. To avoid crashing the iPad, keep the mirroring to less than two minutes. In the meantime, let your displeasure be known to Apple so that they fix the bug. <a href="http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html">http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html</a></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://simplebooklet.com/" style="border: 0px; left: -9999px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-align: center;" target="_blank">simplebooklet.com</a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="517" scrolling="no" src="https://simplebooklet.com/embed.php?wpKey=aTbCtPYxdSeOabzfh7jt2m" style="border-width: 0px; overflow: hidden;" width="400"></iframe></div><br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742825924303237697.post-46867769842760783612013-09-30T05:26:00.000-07:002013-09-30T05:35:26.823-07:00The Miracle Worker<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nrKoSTpiUR0/UkjKhvRJOLI/AAAAAAAAAas/ldcrhv5mRnM/s1600/Helen_Keller_with_Anne_Sullivan_in_July_1888.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nrKoSTpiUR0/UkjKhvRJOLI/AAAAAAAAAas/ldcrhv5mRnM/s1600/Helen_Keller_with_Anne_Sullivan_in_July_1888.jpg" height="320" width="252" /></a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It never fails. 3:00 AM. Can't sleep. The worry that I am possibly the meanest, most merciless teacher in the world runs through my mind. All this because I made a kid go back and walk when he ran and hurdled chairs in the library. Or I sternly told a young man to put his shoes and socks back on and that his behavior was rude and inconsiderate when he ignored the repeated requests of myself and his classmates. It seems that the prevailing winds of education tell us that if the kids aren't having fun 100% of the time it is our fault. I know this isn't true in the grander scheme of things. Circumstances require that I play the ogre occasionally. When necessary and when pushed or excessively tired, I can become Staff Sergeant Black. I am human afterall. But, it is the least favorite part of my job. Albeit, a necessary one. </span></div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-35889d22-6c4f-c700-d1c3-2631fa979c9d" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></span><br /><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Being the disciplinarian ranks way down on the list of fun parenting responsibilities too. Which is why I am dumbfounded when parents are upset with teachers and other caring adults for setting and holding limits. Perhaps it is our job to teach or mentor the parents as well. To remind them we're on their side. We are on their kid's side. We are their partners in raising their children to become all they can be. Just as it is a parent's job to help their child make the best decisions to build a stable, loving home life with strong family relationships, it is our job to guide them to make choices that will help them succeed as global citizens. We want Ralphy McPeevish to have friends who care for him and aren't afraid of him. We want Sally Ann Wigglepants to practice attention so she can focus on learning and listening which in time will lead to self soothing and inner peace. Little Moises Grumblewhine must understand there will always be things he doesn't want to do, that he needs to do. There is a fragile balance to maintain order with any group of humans, but especially miniature newbies. The hard truth is they have to walk the line just like grown folks. </span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BA7T2MnCBD8/UkjKK0LrUJI/AAAAAAAAAak/LHOHQs-pvb4/s1600/miracle-worker-bancroft-duke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BA7T2MnCBD8/UkjKK0LrUJI/AAAAAAAAAak/LHOHQs-pvb4/s1600/miracle-worker-bancroft-duke.jpg" height="151" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="color: #444444;">I keep thinking of Helen Keller. What if her parents got their way? What if Anne Sullivan had gone easy on her like everyone else in her life had done previously out of pity or exhaustion? This world would have been deprived of one of the greatest thinkers, speakers, and writers of all time. A truly unique voice and perspective, a veritable light in the darkness, would have been dimmed. As much as I admire Helen; her spirit, her grace, the truths she brought forth, I know that none of that would have mattered if it weren't for Anne Sullivan's determination to shape that potential. And the process wasn't always pretty. Or fun. Or "nice." Some even thought her <span class="GINGER_SOFATWARE_correct" ginger_sofatware_markguid="c11afa69-8a52-423d-a8da-a398dc06b902" ginger_sofatware_uiphraseguid="7b2cae42-bd2e-4f86-93a8-7599789538ed" grcontextid="cruel:0">cruel</span>. I’ll admit to squirming in my seat when I watched Anne Bancroft muscle Patty Duke into submission in the film classic, <i>The Miracle Worker</i>. Hindsight is always twenty twenty. And, we all know the outcome when it comes to dear Helen. However, I have to wonder if while she was living through it, Anne Sullivan didn’t have more than a few 3 AM bitter watches, reckoning if she was doing right by Helen. Trusting the process is difficult for everyone. But faith and trust is what is needed.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /><br /><span style="color: #444444;">Of course Helen said it best. I will end this and try to get back to sleep with these wise words from the luminous mind of Ms. Keller. <br /><br /><br /> "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."<br /><br /><br /> "Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light."<br /><br /><br /> "When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another."</span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p id="blogfeeds"><$BlogFeedsVertical$></p></div>Ms. Megan Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069291189118436243noreply@blogger.com0