Thing 11

That was pretty easy. I hope that others (Is 23 Things a part of the Dharma Initiative?) find it just as easy. For some unknown reason I did not have to use the verification that was referred to in Jim's short video. I like the slide show I chose because I am the ACT/MME Testing Coordinator for MHS this year. I just completed (with much help from counselors and secretaries)all of the non-testing documentation with 470 11th graders. Now I have to do a staff training session for those that will be room supervisors and test proctors. I wish I could figure out how to show the slide show to our junior class. The ACT/MME is a huge part of their year.
I will try to go to Slide Share frequently and look for more slide shows. It might even get to the point where I will try to upload and share my own presentation. I think back to the class in college in which we were taught about the latest and greatest technology...overhead projectors, slide projectors,chalkboards, movie projectors, etc. Having to demonstrate our ability to operate them. Who could've imagined that someday I would be considering sharing a powerpoint presentation that would be available to anyone in the world. Man, I love this stuff.

Here is a great quote from Dave Barry about technology.
“One day soon the Gillette company will announce the development of a razor that, thanks to a computer microchip, can actually travel ahead in time and shave beard hairs that don't even exist yet.”

A side note to this post is that I learned how to hightlight words and link them to a website. Man, I love this stuff.

Test Taking Strategies

Test Taking Strategies

View more presentations from Jennifer Call. (tags: taking study)

Thing 10

I have created an account on Google Docs. I imported a spreadsheet that I use to create lunch schedules for our administrative team. We alternate duties in the cafeteria by teams. I set up a schedule in excel and send it to each member of our team. They look for mistakes that I might make and send it back to me. I have always emailed it in the past. This time I tried Google Docs. It worked. Each member got the invite to review and correct right on the darn Internet. For the first time in many attempts it appears I made no mistakes.
I didn't really like that the amount of fonts were limited but that's my anal retentiveness at work. I like my fonts and they were only 6 or 7 to choose from. Haven't tried a document yet. I really don't share many documents with others as an AP. However, as a teacher I could see that this would be a great way to share quizzes, tests, worksheets, etc.
One advantage is that you can create and keep presentations in one place on the web that's accessible anytime, from any Internet connected computer.
As I stated earlier a disadvantage is that it appears you are limited in your choices of fonts. Not a big to some but I like my 'Calibri' font, size 12.

Thing 8

This Thing 8 is pretty cool. I have spent more than my fair share of time on this site. I have added quite a few bookmarks (oops...social bookmarks). My topics (oops...tags) range from school safety to my favorite cartoon Frazz. If you don't read frazz you're missing out on some really great humor relating to schools and life. Here is the link to today's cartoon: http://comics.com/frazz/ and of course if you add me to your your network on your delicious account you can also find this link. My user name on http://delicious.com/ is ozillgitt. I have added websites to my account from 3 different computers. I am beginning to think that this is the next best thing (no pun intended) since sliced bread. I hope that I can convince colleagues to begin to utilize many of the feature of Web 2.0.
"If I couldn't laugh I just would go insane, If we couldn't laugh we just would go insane, If we weren't all crazy we would go insane." Jimmy Buffett. Here is the link to Buffett's homepage: http://www.margaritaville.com/.
Looking forward to social bookkmarking with all of you.

Thing 7

I have made my posts to other blogs and sent them to Jim. I spent a lot of time on this lesson. I searched many sights and blogs. I even found a video that I want to put into my blog at som point. I know it is possible because I have seen it done on others blogs. I know it is coming but I don't want to jump ahead of myself. I have also posted a comment on a Special Education Law Blog (double bonus) that is written by Jim Gerl. Here is the link to his blog: http://specialeducationlawblog.blogspot.com/. I commented on a blog he wrote about in reference to the lady who had octuplets and already had 6 children. Three of which have special needs. He has other blogs concerning other aspects of Special Education and the law. Here is what it says about Mr. Gerl his blog page. "A fresh look at special education law-mostly in understandable English. Jim Gerl is a consultant for a number of state education agencies, and he is a frequent speaker on special ed law topics. He has presented at many national and regional conferences, and he has given interviews for numerous publications. He's also a due process hearing officer and mediator for a number of states." I chose a Sped Law blog for a couple of reasons. One, my wife is a special education teacher. Second, my youngest daughter is in her last semester of law school. I don't think she is interested in school law. Civil law is her speciality.

Thing 6

Yikes. Wow. Frustrating. What a time I had trying to get bloglines to work. Bloglines would not send a validation email to my work email. After 5 attempts to get a validation email I switched email addresses. Lo and behold I got the validation before I could say, "C'mon please work this time." I also sent 3 emails to Bloglines pleading for them to send me a validation. They did not respond to those either. I must have missed something somewhere about not using my work email. I hope to be able to look at this feed everyday as Jim has asked. It is getting confusing trying to work at home at after I am finished working at school. I am trying to maintain folders named 23 Things on both my work computer and my laptop at home. I haven't even attempted anything on our desktop at home. On to Thing 7 in the very near future.
P.S. Now try posting on a computer that your wife is also using for the same class. I posted in her blog. Had to delete it from her blog and then try to remember my password to sign in. I have it written down but it is at work. I may be in deeper than I thought.
P.S.v1.o Don't forget to title your darn blog.

Thing 5

I have looked at each of the items for Thing 5 at least two times. The simple explanation is that Web 2.0 is a read and write format. Hopefully, I can post information about topics that I have read about. I will try to incorporate both educational and personal items. At this time I am reading two books. Not difficult. One is Never Work Harder than Your Students by Robyn R. Jackson. Watching my wife teach Special Education might be the anti-thesis to that title. The other is sports related. I have been a participant and follower of sports most of my life. A follower mostly. I am reading The Big O by Oscar Robertson. He is arguably one of the greatest to ever play basketball. Enough rambling...it is on to church and maybe Thing 6 later today.

(Thing 4) From 1956 to Present-A Short Learning/Teaching Perspective

There is little doubt that education has changed since I began school some 53 years ago. I can remember my kindergarten teacher. However, this is only because she recognized me when I attended Trinity Episcopal Church. I attended grade school at Trinity Lutheran School. I remember most of the teachers I had in grade school and high school. We were taught to memorize at TLS. We even had a class in Memory. You would have to memorize a bible passage, a creed, a prayer and then recite it and say, "What does this mean?" I can remember learning my multiplication facts. When you learned a new set you had to say those and then all the others that you had learned. We sat in rows, the teacher taught and we shot it back at them. High school and college was pretty much the same for me. Go to class, sit in rows, listen to the teacher and then give back the knowledge via tests or homework. My high school freshman English teacher and Algebra teacher had a huge impact on me as a student. They taught me to learn for understanding and not be afraid to make a mistake or even fail. Truth be told much of my teaching career was to give students information. I think I was pretty progressive when it came to using calculators in the classroom. I embraced their effectiveness and the opportunity they allowed for more in depth learning. This is especially true with respect to graphing calculators. Students today are allotted opportunities that I once never thought possible. A calculator that graphs a function...C'mon (You mean you really don't have to graph with paper and pencil). A vehicle in which you can look up information at the click of a button. No more Dewey Decimal System, encyclopedias, slide rules, etc. All can be done on a computer or the Internet. Many of the slide shows I watched for THING 4 were progressive approaches to 21st century learning. I want kids to be lifelong learners. Many times they want to learn life lessons that I don't agree with. Or even what politicians think is best for them. The biggest drawback to all of this is M-O-N-E-Y. Where do we get it? As an administrator I have to look at budget cuts each year. Cut programs, cut teachers. We are asked to do more with less. And that is a difficult thing to accept.

Thing 3

I have never blogged before but I have read blogs. My youngest son used to blog while he was in college and med school. Mostly he shared his blog with his friends and they took turns writing. They could be quite funny. Probably my biggest fear is that people will get mad or make fun of what I write and post. Maybe even tell me that it was a really silly topic to address. I am going to assume that as I continue to do this that it will get easier to formulate my thoughts so that others can see. I fear that others will look at my opinions and what I post and think that I have no idea or clue as to what is going on. I hope that as I write these blogs that I can use my sense of humor and make others laugh. I hope that this is enough to answer those few questions for Thing 3.

The Name of This Blog

The name of my blog has been formed from one of my favorite pastimes for creating names. I will leave it up to the reader to figure out how I came up with the name. I am off to finish other "things". I have used this method to create many of the names I use for my fantasy sports teams. This year my fantasy basketball team is Mingling Madman Jams. MMJ currently occupies second place in The MOW League.
As I write this first blog I am also wondering where my wife and I will eat dinner tonight. I am getting hungry.