Science

What kind of cloud is this?

With all the BS, Why Teach?

I could not sleep after walking the dog in the middle of the night. It had rained and thundered since midday and the dog hates stormy weather. So, at 2;20 AM, I was awakened and got my shoes on and walked the dog. 

Upon making it safely back inside, from a successful dog walk spurspectivel, I grabbed my iPhone and deleted the spam emails. I addicted to social media. There, I admit it I checked the notifications on my Facebook newsfeed and flipped to my Radarscope app to check storm locations. Speed reading the notifications, I noticed a couple of comments on my Summertime 2014 photo album. After clicking on the link and reading and indicating I "Liked" the comments I had one of those rare moments of inspirations to write down my thoughts. Blogging takes a huge effort on my part. I'm a horrible writer. I write the way I talk-- Redneck and proud. 

On the comment notifications, one of my former students and my mother caught my attention. My former student is now a an experienced elementary teacher. She earned a Masters degree and National Board Certified.  She is also my daughter's sister-in-law. She commented on my photo album saying, "it's so funny...when I see your pics each day I think, John [Blake] is so awesome with technology. And then the teacher in me, that has actually grown to enjoy teaching science, remembers how awesome you were as a science teacher and the majority of your pics are about science, weather, and nature! She continues, her comment on Facebook in a reply to my mother's comment discussed below. "I loved having John as a teacher Grandma! We had so much fun in his class because he was passionate about what he was teaching! It makes a difference in the impact you have in your classroom!" 

In a comment by my 88 year old mother and retired college professor, she reminded me to celebrate my successes. Life is like a war. Days with their changes are like battles. Parents can be various types of participants. I've been blessed with loving supportive parents. They still teach. This Favebook comment is a lesson we all need to remember when we are wondering why the hell we got into education or any career. Work hard, be passionate, listen more than you talk, and It's all about the children. 

"You should make a copy of AT's complement and FRAME it!Nice to know your efforts were appreciated!" --Dr. Eugenia Q. Blake. 

Thanks for the kind words Amanda Tedder and thanks for my mother's comments. 

Walking with my GoPro

Morning Haze

Saturday observations.

Pink Classroom?

Managing USB cables: Classroom iPad Cart

This may not be a tip for everyone but it if you are using laptop carts to store and charge Apple iPads, this is what I have tries to organize my charger cables.

Researching the topic was not easy. Googling the topic USB cables and about any type of search I could dream up was pointless. I have learned to use YouTube to search for "how tos". 

However, the best solution I could find for how to wrap up or roll these Apple lightning cables was to use a $4 cable gadget. I liked it, but I have 650 iPads. 

So, this nylon strap may be the best. 

I tried rubber bands, but they dry out during the school year and have to be replaced. Baggy or twist ties was suggested. However, the wire in these ties requires too much time to attach. 

Nylon zip ties are strong and easy to apply. The photo below illustrates what it looks like. 

This looks better than the rubber bands I used in this cart. 

I need to rework this cart. Remove the rubber bands and then tie them with the nylon ties.

Here's the video: It shows how to pull the cable in its factory wrapper so the nylon zip tie can be attached.

Here is what the cables should look like in the cart.

AUP

iPad Carts

, originally uploaded by The Blake Slate.

Middle School 1:1 program is moving from MacBooks to iPads. More later...

Mako shark attacking a PelagicView dredge

My daughter shared this cool video with me through Facebook this morning. This is really cool. The guys that shot this video used a GoPro Hero 3. The music track is awesome. Play this on your TV is possible.

Sharing resources

I remember teaching when I had used the day textbook for so many years, and answered the same questions by students that I even had the page numbers memorized. "Yes Larry, the answer to that question is correct and we talked about it when we covered acids and bases in Chapter 12 and its on page 215." My students would shake their heads and mumble "dang, he has the whole book memorized". 

Back then, with 4X4 classes, teachers taught the same content twice in the year. That was fine, but it was repetitive. 

Today's classroom has changed. Students still use textbooks. However, iPads and MacBooks in our 1:1 classes enable learners to access video clips, tutorials, collaborative chats, and Skype sessions with experts. 

We started in 2008. One of the first tools for sharing we trained teachers to use was Delicious. Great tool. However, it faded in popularity. Some complained it was too much to worry with. Some said it was filling up their inbox. Whatever reason it is not used. 

Many of our teachers are Pinterest users. They share jewelry, Bible quotes, and receipts. However, social media is not without issues. Personally, I never got into Pinterest. I tried it one time on my phone to help locate resources for using iPads in our school. It is additive and there are many Pinners. 

However, it's not something I would want to explain to a 6th student. I have students that would spend the entire school year on Pinterest repinning bulldogs or rap stars. My concern is that Pinterest is not a classroom-friendly site. 

Much to my surprise, their is a site that combines the functionality of Pinterest with the power of Delicious and supports the classroom. EduClipper.net is promising. I set up my account and tried it on an iPad mini and iPhone. They need a mobile app for the small screen. It works ok on the iPad. 

Give it a try. Post your comments here. 

Closeup Image Tip for iPhone 5

image 2: closeup photo

Making closeup images (ref image 2) has been a challenging skill to master with my smartphone. I have been Googling the web for tips on how to create good closeups. I do not want to buy a lens for the phone's camera. I would never have it when I needed it.

image 3: AE/AF Locked

One trick I learned about was to lock the AE/AF by just holding my finger on the screen for several seconds. A box (ref image 1) will appear on the screen under your finger. When the lock feature is turned on, that box will flicker and the words "AE/AF Lock" (ref image 3) will appear on the bottom of the screen above the home button. A single tap of the screen with your finger unlocks it. The trick to making better closeups is focal point. If you hold your hand in front of the smartphone's front lens and hold your finger on the screen just right, the camera will focus on your hand. When the camera's AE/AF in the locked state, you can move the phone's camera lens in the correct location near the part of the plant of object you want to take the image of and make sure its focused by moving the camera to the correct distance way from your subject and it will be in focus.

image 1: that box will blink
when AE/AF is locked

The hard part is to be able to see the screen in adverse lighting conditions. If you want to get technical, try this tip: I am experimenting with holding a ruler and measuring the focal distance from between my hand initially prior to AE/AF locking. Then, moving the ruler to try and measure the distance between what I want to photograph and the camera lens.

You just have to practice. I am still learning. Auto focus is not always my favorite feature.



+Michelle Li , +Anthony Martin

iPad Tips and Tricks

iPad Tips and Tricks

Crayfish: Music Video

My view of the 3-mile-high mountain in the middle of Mars- Gale crater

June 6, 2012 Temperature

Wednesday morning cool temps

Back to Work After the Holidays

Hope your first week back from the Christmas Break was fruitful. Here is another excellent iPad app for creative teachers with iPads. 

"Millennia ago, all you needed to get a point across to your buddies was charcoal and a cave wall or a pointy stick and some sand. Now, we sit for hours crafting passive-aggressive emails to make a point that once was communicated with an arrow and a grunt. There’s beauty in that simplicity. Let’s return to it."

image source: http://blog.evernote.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/skitch_ipad_screens4.png 

The iPad 2 is a great tool with a cable connected to your data projector with the Skitch app. The iPad 2's mirroring feature allows teachers to use maps, diagrams, scanned pages, document, pdf and annotate and highlight important points. Students can share their mastery of concepts with a quick presentation using Skitch on the teacher's iPad. Nothing new in this strategy. However, when teachers can post this illustrated lesson on their wiki or in their digital locker for students that missed the lesson or for review before the EOG this helps students and even parents. In the classroom, Apple has a device called Apple TV that wirelessly connects the iPad and a data projector, interactive white board, or a classroom HDTV. They use AirPlay which is a slick feature of iOS on the MacBook, iPad, iPod Touch, and iPhone. This seamless integration is what makes it a classroom tool-- when the wifi works and your battery is not dead. Students can create presentations using this "tactile annotation"tool. Skitch is also available for MacBook.

To share the Skitch documents, Evernote can be used. Evernote is another app teachers like using to share learning and organize their digital library of documents.  

Read more about Skitch for iPad on Andrew Sinkov's blog post http://blog.evernote.com/2011/12/21/skitch-for-ipad-is-here/

Continue the conversation on Twitter by following @cmshelpdesk and Like my "Central Middle School Center for Digital Learning" Facebook page.

First Sunday of December

I have not gotten in the spirit of the season. Maybe it is because I have not helped put up any decorations. So, on my todo list I am informally listing: pray, eat, take a nap, go to a party, and move tree out of storage room.

It's the first Sunday of December.

Really?

Already?

Remembering a Friend

This made me laugh and sad at the same time, Virginia Lee Batten (right side of video), retired Cafeteria Manager at Central Middle School and long time friend lost her battle with cancer. I enjoyed many conversations with her over our love of country cooking. Each time I eat a plate of collards, grits, or go in the cafeteria at school, I look for her. I will miss her. 

R.I.P.