Fear of Girls

Apple Day

As this class goes along, it will become no great secret that I'm a fan of Apple and Apple products. They're slick, they're easy to use, and they just work.

So today was an exciting day to see that Apple is rolling out a new iTunes (which I've already updated) some new iPods, a few other neat little do-dads. One of the cool by-products of this whole thing is that NBC and Apple have worked out their distribution differences. So what does that mean? It means that once again I can download The Office and Battlestar Galatica from iTunes... what's even color? They now offer all the TV shows in HD... MMMMMmmm HD TV.

All and all I'm pretty stocked.

As a side note, I'm back from Photoshop World in Las Vegas. It was a great conference and I got some good ideas and had a chance to take some great photos in some new places (like the Valley of Fire). I'll most likely share those this week sometime.

Speaking of this week, yep, its that time - time to start on your lesson plans. I'll be cranking out a video here tomorrow and then posting the one for Learning Block Two so you can get started.

Best Wishes,
Bob

Hitting the 'Friendly' Skies

So here I am sitting in the airport (again, it seems like I've been doing that a lot over the past few years). The luggage is checked (thankfully I booked before June 15, so no extra surcharge But here's the coolest thing. I'm not just sitting around waiting, I'm working. More importantly I'm teaching.

Online technology provides an immediate and instant platform for your to reach your students, parents and co-workers. Because this is an online class, I can "teach" from my hotel room in Las Vegas, or from the desert in the Valley of Fire. Online makes it so. Hopefully as we progress through this learning block you will start to find some cool technologies and you'll start to imagine the ways in which you can deploy them in your classroom.

Not every technology is right for each student, and sometimes technology isn't required at all. My hope is that through practice and imagination you'll start to open your eyes to the ways in which you can, can't and should use technology in a teaching setting.

I will be blogging all week from Las Vegas (well unless I win some major cash and then I'll just give you all A's and be about my business) as Amber and I are attending Photoshop World. So lots of pictures, tips and what not. Don't forget to start your reading, it will catch up to you.

Always,
Bob

Snapshots from the Road

I made my way to Madison, WI this week for the Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning. Here are a few shots from the trip. I couldn’t make it all the way to Madison on Monday (too much going on), so I stopped in Chicago. So there is a shot or two from there as well.

Enjoy. (Oh, since I haven’t had time to Photoshop these [though I did use Lightroom to process the RAW images], some still need to be color corrected and straightened… so please forgive the mess).

Pwned Verizon FIOS

So for all your no hacker elite speakers, 'pwned' is slang for 'owned' (since people typing online often miss important keys and the like. To 'own' something is to dominate, control and totally master. That is indeed what I did with my Verizon FIOS on Thursday.

All of the folks that I had talked too had complained of a gradual slowing down of their FIOS internet after they installed FIOS tv. I questioned the installer at length and he was... well, as helpful as a person can be who FIOS is their job and not their passion (let me put it this way, I helped him install the router). But all that aside, he had assured me that no, FIOS boots for on demand programing and I wouldn't loose a drop of my 20 down that I abuse on a daily basis.

Last Monday I noticed that my service was getting slower. Well, perhaps it could have been that my Hard Drive on my MacBook Pro was filling up (again - you would think that 4 external portable hard drives would be enough for a guy, but turns out, nope). Yet, after porting some files to another drive, nothing. I mean my browser was starting to time out. Not a happy Bob.

See the first thing I did when FIOS got installed initially was replace their router with an Apple one (the thing is pretty much a tank and its wireless 'n' so my internal network just hauls and I'm able to pull down lots of info from multiple sources on multiple computers (I've mentioned in the past I'm a geek right?). I was sadden when the installer said, sorry, due to the on demand and what not, we have to use the Verizon router, you can't use yours at all. At which point, I said, "oh really? Step back Jr. and watch." So I had to slave my Apple router to the Verizon one and then I just turned off wireless and let Apple do its thing.

Worked great for the first month... then the suckage set in. Then I got mad.

So, I thought what the heck, let's see how this thing really works.

LONG boring tech story later, I set my Apple router up as the main router, installed the Verizon one as a slave (with the wireless still turned off). Everything still works and the internet is FIOS awesome again.

Verizon: Great fiber optics. Crappy routers :)

iPhone Car Show

Well believe it or not, my wife turned 29 again this year. As a way of happenstance, the Fort Wayne Mustang Club was holding their annual show at Ivy Tech this past Saturday (lucky her). So as an easy way to score points with my woman who loves cars, we made our way to share in the goodness. While I am not the car expert that Michelle is, I knew if nothing else, I had a chance to get some fun photos of the cars. I had the super cool camera from work in my possession (as I was working this weekend on learning the ins and outs of f-stops, ISO, and other things that I have no clue about), however, since it was raining, I didn’t think that they would be very keen if I went about getting it wet. Sigh. So all these were taken with my iPhone, which while an AWESOME phone, the camera isn't as robust. Take them for what they're worth (oh, and yes, they have been Photo Shopped).

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Reasons for Hope

Many of you may be wondering about a post I wrote earlier last week. I wrote about a dear friend of mine who was fighting cancer. Doctors reported that she wouldn't make it through the night. Her breathing had dropped down to 2 or 3 breaths per minute, sometimes less; she'll most likely never wake up again.

That's a heavy place to be in; in that moment, waiting. Few, if any, places are darker. And so, what do you do? What do you do when you are powerless, and hopeless, and lost?

And so we prayed. As individuals, we prayed. As a community, we prayed. As fellow believers for a stranger we'd never met we prayed.

And when the praying was done. We waited.

Several of us discussed prayer. Do our words have an effect on the outcome or merely ourselves? Does praying make a difference or is it merely happenstance that the thing we prayed for comes about? That day I prayed for one thing, that my friend would have the opportunity to speak to his wife again (as he had missed the small window where she was awake the day before), that he would get to say the things he needed to say.

I held my breath and waited, but I dared not hope. I was reminded of a quote from the Shawshank Redemption, "Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane."

Miracle is such a funny word. We toss it around at everything and we never really wrestle with what it means. It's kinda like "love". I love's me the pizza. I love you mom. It becomes watered down and powerless.

My friend buzzed through on Skype the following evening and I waited for the bad news that I had been expecting all day. I braced myself. I hardened my emotions.

But the shoe never fell.

Instead I was greeted by, "Well, she's still with us. She woke up today and I got talk with her."

Was that a miracle? I don't know. But what I had asked God for happened and the unexpected took place. Despite all of that, I dared not hope for more. It was enough that my buddy got to talk to his wife one last time and I could tell that he was more at peace than the night before.

So again I waited and I held my breath.

Friday afternoon my phone rang and it was my buddy's number. Once again my heart sank and I prepared myself for what I knew was coming.

But it wasn't him. It was her. There was shock. There was joy. And there was terror.

I fancy myself a bit of a wordsmith. Most of the time I can easily and quickly command language, but I was caught like a cat up to no good. I had asked myself earlier if I wanted this conversation, if I wanted my chance to say good bye. See, I don't believe in 'good bye', not really. I don't believe that this life is all there is to us a people, that there is an existence that happens beyond this world and that even if someone sheds this broken flesh, that shortly I will run into them again in another place and another time.

Yet here I was, on the phone. The first thing I noticed is that my iPhone's battery was at 20% so I quickly plugged it into my MacBook so that we weren't cut off again. And then we began to talk.

We laughed.

We joked.

She told me about her progress. How yesterday she spent more time awake and that she ate a little food. That today she spent more time awake and ate even more food.

We complained about work.

We talked about Batman.

And then we said good bye.

The last thing she said to me was, "I'll talk to you again soon."

I thought a lot about Shawshank Redemption this weekend. I thought about the theme of hope. At the end of the movie, Red is off to Mexico so see Andy, and he closes the film with this quote:

"I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it is the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend, and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope."

"I'll talk to you again soon."

Do you know what the funny thing is? I believe her. She's stubborn like that.

Don't miss understand. I'm still aware of the reality of things. I am aware that the doctors aren't looking at treatment options, that they are focusing on pain management. But she hasn't given up hope, she and her husband are working at different options. They're fighting and hoping; that's really the key I realized. You can't let that hope go.

There's another quote from Andy in that movie, "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best thing, and no good thing ever dies."

I hope.

Verge of a Miracle

Verge of a Miracle
by Rich Mullins

Clung to a ball
That was hung in the sky
Hurled into orbit
There You are
Whether you fall down
Or whether you fly
Seems you can never get too far
Someone's waiting to put wings
Upon your flightless heart

You're on the verge of a miracle
Standing there
Oh you're on the verge of a miracle
Just waiting to be believed in
Open your eyes and see
You're on the verge of a miracle

Here in your room
Where nobody can see
Voices are loud
But seldom clear
But beneath the confusion
That's running so deep
There is a promise you must hear
The love that seems so far away
Is standing very near

You're on the verge of a miracle
Standing there
Oh you're on the verge of a miracle
Just waiting to be believed in
Open your eyes and see

When you've played out
Your last chance
And your directions
Have all been lost
When the roads that you look down
Are all dead ends
Look up
You could see if you'd just look up

You're on the verge of a miracle
Standing there
Oh you're on the verge of a miracle
Just waiting to be believed in
Open your eyes and see
You're on the verge of a miracle

Shallow

Believe it or not, I'm a person who has a varied skill set. I can act, write, create, and I even cook. However, there's one thing I can't do very well and that's shallow.

I don't do shallow very well at all. I can't do fake table conversation, I can't pretend that I don't have ideas and opinions. That doesn't mean that I can't deal with it, I simply disconnect or remove myself from situations. When I sit down to talk to people, it is with the full intension of investing myself in them and their struggles; that I won't settle for surface stuff. As a result I choose my friends very carefully. The people I choose to involve in my life are sparse, but meaningful.

They are good people. People who care about others and sacrifice for those around them. They are generous, they are thoughtful, they are people truly worth knowing.

One of the struggles of teaching is the separating of personal from educational. You don't share things, you're students; I'm the instructor. It's like I found out that Mike lives in my neighborhood, but I didn't bother to mention where it was that I lived. It's that wall that we use to keep ourselves apart. Don't get me wrong, there are certainly loads of wonderful reasons for doing that, especially when there is such a gap in the age of the instructor and the instructed. So if there were my EDU 205 class, this entry wouldn't be happening.

But that's one of the advantages of a smaller adult class, you feel more comfortable in sharing and it fosters a community, so it's what that in mind that I toss down these rambling thoughts.

My friend is dying and I am helpless to stop it.

I'm broken hearted, I'm pissed off, and there isn't a thing I can fix or do to help. I'm 34 for years old, my friends aren't supposed to be dying. She's 31, a mother for a 5 year old and the doctors report that sometime in the next 24 hours she will most likely pass away. She'll never wake up again. The last time we spoke on the phone a few days ago, our conversation was cut short because the battery in her cell phone ran out of juice.

That's what it feels like, like we had just gotten into the middle of a great talk and abruptly it was cut off. You've already vicariously met her, she's my partner in crime in the Learning Block #1 introduction video (that was filmed in August). In April she was diagnosed with T-Cell Lymphoma; last week she was supposed to have a bone marrow transplant and now tomorrow most likely she will no longer be on this planet and frankly I think it's a pretty shitty deal (pardon my French).

I hate stuff like this.

I hate that we live in a broken world. I hate that bad things happen to good people. I hate that reality trumped my hope.

Don't get me wrong; I live in a faith based world view. I know that God is in control; I know that He has a more perfect will that that I don't understand. I know that it's not my will be done, but His. It's just sometimes I wish that God would realign His will to mine.

If I am a bit flakey this week, I apologize, but at least you know why.

As always,
Bob

"Catch the light"

So the FIOS TV guys were out to the house today. Well, it was actually one guy. We've enjoyed FIOS internet since it hit Fort Wayne whenever it was (like 2 years ago or whatever) and we've LOVED it (well I've loved it, my family doesn't necessarily enjoy the direct experience as much as I do, but they certainly enjoy the benefits).

Every year I kinda go through all my bills and see how we might save money by taking advantage of new offers or new companies. I saved $500+ on my home owners insurance, working on saving some $$ on my flood insurance (I live near a river), saved $$ on the car and gas an few other things. While going through I realized that for 2 years we've had a Verizon landline that we never use (I use Vonage over my FIOS) and so I was planning on calling and canceling it. However, I'd also been looking at switching to FIOS TV and dropping our other service, so I thought, "meh", why not.

Long story short, I cobbled together a package from Verizon (the customer retention service, because that's where you get the best deals - I saved $120 in addition to their best package, but hey, I work the system) and managed to save some green, get a few more channels and all that good stuff.

So far I'm pretty impressed. We still have our other service running side by side so I can compare quality (hehe, I haven't agreed to the terms of service yet from Verizon so this way I can cancel without any penalty - always read the small print). The multi-room DVR function is great, you can start a program downstairs, and go upstairs and keep watching it. So yeah.

I also upgraded my iPhone to the new 2.0 software and I'm have a great time with that. All in all, I'm riding the light this weekend - oh, I totally got to get all the shows off my old system, so I might get stuck doing some marathons this weekend. Or maybe I will employ the power of the internet to fill the gabs.

As Always,
Technology Bob

D'Oh!

I pretty much missed my own blog deadline by not turning this in yesterday ;).

So this is completely random and has nothing to do with this class (well it will eventually, watch as I masterfully weave my tale and then bring it back home with some real life application - I'm not sure how I'll do that just yet, so I will be as shocked and surprised as you are), but I thought I would share it none the less.

Yesterday I had to shave off my beard. Yeah, I know weird right (that's part of the reason why I did podcasts, I would have hated to freak you guys out so early in the class). I look like I'm 15 without my facial scrub, like some kid too young to be leading a team at a University and certainly too young to be teaching a Grad class or to have a two boys 10 & 12.

Plus my wife hates it. A lot. I mean like wouldn't even look at me hates it.

See every couple of years I get these dry patches of skin that I can't get to because of the thick foliage that occupies a large portion of the surface area of my face. So off it goes. Apply some cream for a day or two and bingo, good for another 3 or 4 years.

But here's the really interesting part that. For the first time in about 4 years, my face was hair free. I mean totally. Then the freakiest thing happened; the AC kicked in. Shocking i know, but it totally freaked me. I felt a breeze. I mean actual air moving across the sensation of my skin. It was an on sensation because I was only keenly aware of it around my mouth and along my jawline. These pulsing waves of cool air and I was amazed.

It didn't end there, I had the day off yesterday (and today as well - so Laura I'm not blowing you off) and I went to take a nap (I know, that's how you know when you are getting old). My wife had left a T-shirt on the couch and I went to smell it, and as I did it brushed again across my face. WHOLLY COW! The tactile nature of that soft cotton was fascinating. Then I became a man possessed. I picked up Flash (one of our cats) and rubbed my chin on his head (as he is so keen to do to me), I splashed water on my face both hot and cold anything I could get my chin on I experienced all the new (or rather forgotten) textures. My mind was open to a whole knew world.

Okay, I admit, that last part was more serialized than reality, but you start to get the point. Most of you cannot relate to what that experience is like. You are so used to taking in those experiences that you've become accustomed to them. They have no newness to them, they are common place, they are every day. You take that base line knowledge for granted.

As educators we have the tendency to do the same things. For those of us in the technology field it's even worse.

Technology is my every day experience. I live it, breathe it, wallow in it in all areas of my life. From my computers at work, to my computers at home. Digital this, can HD that. TVs, personal media players, iPhones, Macs and PCs. I take it for granted; it just makes sense to. I forget that for some this is a whole new world.

That was made painfully aware a few weeks ago when I was asked to do some computer training for our Operations staffers as they are moving online with their forms and their communications. One of the classes that I offered was basic computer skills. When I say basic, I mean basic. I began with an assumption that these were people who were at least familiar with what a computer was. You know what they say about assumptions - they make an ass out of you and umption. I had to go back to the beginning, the very beginning and teach people basic keyboard. How to make capital letters, mouse skills. The difference between clicking, double clicking and left and right clicking.

Those frustrations aside tough, I had forgotten how wondrous computers and technology can be to those who have never experience their magic. That point when going to someplace like Google was new, and the idea that you could type in words and you could find out everything you were looking for them.

I get all giddy when I can use my iPhone to VPN into my laptop, download a document and then FTP it back into my phone to run a hacked application to open it. Or how I can use the WII remote to control my laptop that's plugged into my TV to watch movies through.

Being comfortable with technology is what we are striving for. Yet in that comfort we must always be aware that of that newness for others and the challenges its presents for others. When you are preparing to use technology in your lessons, know that for many it will be the first time they've encountered it, plan to address those, give yourself that time. Don't just put in your lesson that you're going to have your kids blog for their writing class. If you're going to do that, how to do plan on getting them setup to do that, how do you plan on teaching them how to use the online tools. How are their mouse skills?

However, make sure you yourself never loose that joy that technology can bring for the first time.

Technology - it's a cool thing. Like the air on my naked face. Wow, do I look like a baby.

Best Wishes,
Bob
(Oh, I never proof read anything, so take this for what it is... a rough draft, if I've forgotten a word or two, meh, that's life.)

Another New Beginning

Ah... the first day of class. It's always an exciting time filled with anticipation, possibility and a dash of dread. Not just on the part of the student, but for the instructor as well.

This class will be the first time I am using this text book so I'm not sure how that will work out (and it's almost mentioned so that I have an excuse for not having all the lecture material generated in advanced).

Oh, since this is the blog I use for the EDU 205 class, you can read any past entries that I have (though read at your own risk).

Again, welcome to the class and I look forward to getting to know you all.

Digital Media at Work in Politics

Learning Block #3 is all about digital media. It's about using music, pictures, and video in powerful ways to get your message across.

This video is no way an endorsement, but rather what I feel is an excellent demonstration of a use of digital media to do exactly those things.



What Wikipedia has to say about the video: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes_We_Can

Here is a bulk of the text used:

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change.
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics. They will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come. We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.
But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we've been told we're not ready, or that we shouldn't try, or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people.
Yes we can. Yes we can. Yes we can.
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom through the darkest of nights.
Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.
Yes we can.
It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballot; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.
Yes we can to justice and equality. Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity. Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this world. Yes we can.

The full text can be found here: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Remarks_of_Senator_Barack_Obama_on_New_Hampshire_Primary_Night

Hooked on CNN

I have no idea what's wrong with me; I'm addicted to CNN.

I've never been much of a politics guy (in fact, it more often than not churns my stomach), for some odd reason though, I'm totally into this primary season... I mean come on, its the primaries, Indiana doesn't even get a voice in this race. But every night and every morning I've got to get my fix of politics. How's Billary (yes, that was intensional) doing in the polls? What's new with Obama? Is Mike Huckabee still in the race? What's this, Ralph is at it again?

I've always been a red state kind of guy, but could I go blue this year? Can you vote for someone with whom you don't totally agree on everything? It's all very interesting me.

What do I really feel about the issues? Does my voice really matter?

More than anything the thing that I am most shocked about is that all those important decisions are decided by less than 30% of the population (more people vote for American Idol than for president). Whatever the outcome I find it all fascinating. So CNN has become my new daily staple.

Well... balanced with a little humor:

Thanks Mike, you made my Saturday.

Status Quo

Do ever get tired of just being the same? Of going to the same places of doing the same things? Do you grow weary of never moving beyond your comfort zone?

I do.

I think of the biggest dangers of any educator is to just stop learning. “Well, that’s it, I’ve got my degree, I’ve got my job, and I’ve got my lesson plans. I’m all set. All I have to do now is sit back, coast, and perhaps grade a few papers.”

As a culture we settle too much. “Things, are fine, why rock the boat?” “I’m good enough, what’s the big deal?” This was my curse in high school and college. I didn’t care about pushing myself at all, I merely concerned myself with beating others. I graduated valedictorian of my High School class (probably didn’t know that did you?). But it wasn’t until my final term that I got straight A’s. The only reason why I did is because I wanted to see if I could do it taking Honors English, AP Calculus, AP Physics, and some other nerd-eque class. And I did… Meh, no big deal, but I didn’t finish with a 4.0 over all, I didn’t have to, I only ever did enough to be better than everyone else.

College was much the same thing. I took 23 credit hours, and worked two part time jobs, just because I could. I was the guy who hated who went the library the night before a huge paper was due, checked out a few books, opened them all up on my desk. I started writing my paper at around 10:00 pm, stopped around 1:30, got back up and 6:30, and turned in 15-20 pages fully sited at 8:00 am. I never proof read anything (this is one thing that I *still* struggle with, not so much so because I am lazy [any more], but rather, I since I know what I “wrote”, I cannot see the words that are missing or completely wrong, because when I read it, I see what was in my head and not what was in on the page).

But I never really pushed myself. I never really tried my hardest. It’s one of those things that despite my “accomplishments”, I am ashamed of.

When I think of my wasted opportunities, my wasted chances; not because I could be richer than I am now, or because I could have a better car or house (God forbid I live some place warm or cultured), but because I could have made a difference. I could have made a change in the world around me.

It’s because of those regrets that I push myself in learning new things each and every week. Those weeks that I consider failures are the ones where I didn’t challenge myself to grow from where I am currently. The ones where I didn’t create, I didn’t explore and I didn’t challenge.

The weeks I really hate are the ones where I don’t write anything. Don’t get my wrong, I’m no Jim Butcher, no Robert Ludlum, no… well anything. But that doesn’t matter, I still love to do it. I write for an audience of one (well sometimes two), but in the end, I write for me. I write because there is something in my head that I just have to get out. Some phrase pops into my head, “Flakes of red-brown metal broke free from the rusted bolt and Jack scraped the wrench across its surface.” I have no idea who Jack is. I don’t even know why he’s trying to open the bolt… but I want to find out. So I sit down and bang something out on the keyboard.

Most of the time it’s now very long (I send stupid emails to my office mates about completely useless things just to amuse them), but they are these quick bursts that spark from my fingers.

I don’t want to be the same today as I was yesterday. I want to be better. I want to be smarter. I want to have broken something, fixed something, created something, and somehow in some small way left my tiny hand print on the this giant world.

But more than fame, more than money, more than some great discovery, I want to make a difference in the lives of the people around me. That’s where I truly want to leave my mark. I want people to be better because they’ve known me. That’s really my desire for this class. I mean sure, hey, if you get an A, that’s great. If you go out and use some of this technology in your class room and it makes your job easier, and your students get some extra knowledge in their heads, that’s wonderful.

Honestly though, I want you to be a better person. I want you to push yourself a little be harder than you would have because you’ve met me. I want you to put in just a little bit extra effort because you know that you can, and more importantly should.

This week, push yourself. Be nicer, help someone out, do something that’s completely selfless. Don’t settle for status quo.

Share in the Blame

Perhaps it's a generational thing, maybe it's just me. But it seems more and more these days that people refuse to take responsibility for their own actions. Everyone is a victim, everything is someone else's fault.

I didn't get this accomplished because someone else prevented it. I didn't get the job because so and so didn't like me. It wasn't my fault, my alarm didn't go off. I didn't get my assignment done because the computer didn't work at the last minute. People don't want to face the fact that they are responsible for their own actions and own decisions.

You.

You are the one responsible. You are. Your choice. Your actions, your consequences. Your decisions, your rewards. It's time to step and take the responsibility for where you are at in your life. We are all big people and big people know where the buck stops.

We have to stop blaming everyone else. We have to stop blaming the past and making excuses. It's time that we share the blame.

This song is from my good friends Caedmon's Call.

Share in the Blame
Caedmon's Call


Don’t blame the bullet for the wars you have sown
Don’t blame the winter when you’ve forgotten your coat
When you make the same deals for a hundred years
and you wanna make a change
You gotta hold up the mirror and share in the blame

Don’t blame your brother for the color of his skin
don’t blame your neighbor for the house he lives in
from the same cloth, we are made of, we are just the same
you gotta hold up the mirror and share in the blame

(chorus)
like a coming of age, I am learning how to say
all the failures I’m dragging behind
Finding freedom to speak, freedom to release
Oh tonight I wanna make peace with you

Don’t blame the writer for the doubts in your head
Don’t blame the preacher for the lovers in your bed
When you find out that the world is round, everything is rearranged
You gotta hold up the mirror, and share in the blame

(chorus)

Don’t blame the president, don’t blame the king
Don’t blame your history for what might have been
we will be free where the grass is green and the lion is tame
if we just hold up the mirror now and share in the blame

It's Groundhog's Day... again.

From our buddy Uncle John's Almanac:

This celebration originated with German settlers of the 1700s, who brought “Candlemas Day” to America. According to tradition, if the sun shone on Candlemas Day, which came halfway between winter and spring, a badger would see its shadow—which meant six more weeks of winter. There were no badgers in Pennsylvania, so groundhogs, emerging from mid-winter hibernation, were accepted as a substitute.


WHAT DO YOU EXPECT? WHEN GROUNDHOGS PREDICT THE START OF SPRING, THEY’RE WRONG 72% OF THE TIME.

So there you go... go out and grab a woodchuck, marmot or ground squireel and see if winter will end soon.

And then when you're done, make sure you sit down and watch Groundhog Day (starring Mr. Bill Murray and the lovely Andie MacDowell).

Hail to the Geek

Artist: Deaf Pedestrians
Album: Popular Songs

I got a spiderman t-shirt
I got Converse that are rotting off my feet
I got a bad mustache
a reoccurring rash
and not a lot of cash
I spend it on my stash
Man it's good to be a geek

Well it's good to be a geek
It's good to be a creep
It's good to draw my pictures
that no one will ever see.
It's good to be a geek
It's good to be unknown
It's good I'm never waiting
right beside the telephone
Cuz no one ever...

I play dungeons and dragons
I got a 13th level halfling fighter thief
got seven hit die on my backstab
sometimes you know it's good to be a geek.
It's good to be a geek
It's good to play the freak
It's good to comb my mullet once every other week
As far as I can see
It's good to play the Wii
Then stay up painting miniatures til 2 or 3
Cuz no one ever...

Chorus:
Someday I'll learn to play guitar
Start up a band and be a star
And when you wind up pumping gas
Just fill 'er up and kiss my a$$...

I'm addicted to Star Trek
I'm a Klingon speaking federation freak
I find I'm more inclined
to spend the bulk of my time
on the starship enterprise
than talking to girls I meet

Well I never get the girl
but I like to be alone
cuz i can always m@sterb@te when there's no one home
it's good to have a plan
it's good to be the man
it's good to download p0rn0 from a website in Japan
cuz no one ever...

Chorus:
Someday I'll learn to play guitar
Start up a band and be a star
And when you wind up pumping gas
Just fill 'er up and kiss my a$$...

Ninth grade is when I got the swirlie
tenth grade is when I got the indian burn
four years of continuous wedgies
wore nine pairs of briefs so they could all get a turn
someday I'll buy a fancy condo
someday I'll drive a car that's more than your house
someday you'll kiss my a$$

It's good to make some noise
it's good to scream outloud
it's good to feel immortal
like your last name is McCloud
it's good to be a geek
its good to be unseen
its good to watch the Wrath of Khan on a plasma screen
it's good to be a geek
it's good to be the man
it's good to download p0rn0 from a website in Japan
It's good to be a geek
It's good to be unknown
It's good I'm never waiting
right beside the telephone
Cuz no one ever...

I got a bad mustache
a reoccurring rash
and not a lot of cash
I spend it on my stash
Man it's good to be a geek
You know I don't intend
To look like Boba Fett
I got my Holland set
Although it makes me sweat
Man it's good to be a geek!

So Why Blogging?

So Why Blogging?

Several of you have asked, “Bob, so why are we blogging? And when we do, what should we be writing about?”
Let me start by answering the question of “Why?” Why do Mélaine and I want you to blog each week? You might think it’s because we’re heartless bastards, and you’d probably be half right (I’m heartless, Mélaine however is not). In all seriousness, one of the drawbacks to an online class is that it’s really easy to lose contact with your students as people. Because we don’t get to spend 3 hours a week interacting with you in a face to face fashion, we never really get to find out about you.

As many of you have pointed out in your own first blog entries, you want to impact your students; you want to make a difference in their lives. Not a single one of you have said, “Man, I want to make Math exciting for them,” or “Wow, I want to make them better writers.” It’s never the content but rather the substance that matters. Teaching math is an excuse to make an impact on a person for the rest of their lives. It gives you a vehicle to care and mold the future.

We want the same opportunity. This class is more to Mélaine and I than teaching you that Macs rule, and blogging is the bomb. It’s an opportunity for us to make a difference in the lives of future educators. To instill a passion for changing the world and then to give you the tools of technology that you can hammer out the dents that others have created. Plus, when you come us and ask for an extension, or extra help, it’s a lot easier to cut you some slack if we know you better ;) .

So, now what do you write about?

Write about you. Write about what you thought about the reading. What did you learn, what did you think? Write about your week, your struggles, your successes, your whimsical thoughts and ideas. Share your story with us, and with your classmates.

And in the end, because of you, we’ll all be better for the experience. It’s nice to know that you’re not alone in the universe. That the words that are flowing my from synapses to this blank white screen are being read, absorbed, and maybe, just maybe, might even be making a difference in small ways that can’t even be seen yet.

If all that doesn’t work for you, do it because if not, you’ll get a bum grade and you’ll really piss of Mélaine (which is *not* a pretty sight)

Me? A Teacher?

Okay, I'm kinda cheating with this blog. After having read through the first round of blog posts, I wanted to share with you a little bit about why I am an educator.

However, rather than retype something that I'd already done in the past, I kinda snuck down to my first entry back in September and stoled this entry from there, because well, I know you weren't going to read past through all the other stuff I've already written.

So here you go, a little bit about me:

----------------------------------------

If you will recall from class, I challenged you to use your first blog entry to give us some insight into why you want to be a teacher. I think with that in mind, it's only fair that I do the same.

See my position is slightly unique from yours in that I'm not currently a teacher by vocation, but rather one by happenstance. However I’m a firm believer that your job should never define you; simply put I am a teacher because I teach.

I began my career actually as a youth minister. That’s right, I spent my days hanging out with young folks like yourself, eating pizza, playing video games, and watching a movie now and then. In reality however I was teaching the entire time. Every moment spent together with someone else is a teaching moment. It’s one of the great things about education – it doesn’t have to happen in a classroom to be.

Our lives present a daily lesson to those around us; our conversations convey truths that we hold to and prompt us to wonder and grow if we will merely listen to beats between the words that we speak.

I am a teacher.

I am an educator.

I am all of these things because I choose to be. I choose to make the world a better place around me. I choose to set myself aside and to think of others around me. I refuse to let ignorance stand and I want to lift others up to my level and give them the things that I have because I am not concerned with making “me” better than “you”.

It is true that knowledge is power. I have a passion to give that power to every man and woman so that their world can be different. Their paths can be brighter.

I realize that all of this can sound like altruistic tripe, but I assure you that it comes from the heart.

One of the things that had a great impact on me growing up was the story of Don Quixote; and further the musical “The Man of La Mancha”. I saw something in Don Quixote that reached to the core of my person and verbalized the feelings that I had inside. Everything that I wanted to be was summed up by these lines:

"When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams –this may be madness. To seek treasure where there is only trash. Too much sanity may be madness. And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.” – Man of La Mancha

Why am I a teacher? Because I long to make the wold the place that it should be, and not as it is.

Did I mention I was a nerd?

I love Johnny Lee.

In addition to this cool little tid bit, I also found a program called "Remote Buddy", which allows me to use my Wii remote and my iPhone as a bluetooth remote for my MacBook.

Mmmmm... Technology & Geeky goodness all rolled into one.

The Beginning of the End

This class is the beginning of your end.

Your end of fear, your end of stagnant thought, your end of technology as a mere form of entertainment. Technology is an amazing thing, but in the end it is no more than a tool for mankind, just as fire was in the early days.

It is our hammer as we shape the present and begin to carve the channels to direct the course of the future. It is living, dynamic, and wild. It’s expensive, frustrating, and pretty damn cool.

We all have our uncertainties in life, and for some of you technology makes you uncomfortable (for others it’s a second skin). In this class Mélaine and I want you to embrace the cold of your fears, open your mind and imaginations and turn your world of technology experience and understanding on its head.

It’s time for you to take control of technology instead of letting it control you.

It is the beginning of your end.

So step up, log in, and let’s get to work.

Best Wishes,
Bob

The Greatest Blog Ever Written

There is no great secret to blogging.

You simply do. Either you blog, or you do not blog. There is no try (I feel a little like Mr. Miyagi saying that). Each blogger has his or her own unique style to blogging. It's as varied as writing styles. Some people who blog do nothing more than capture an online journal.

"Dear Blog (which is nothing more than a mash-up of Web Log --> weBlog --> Blog). Today I met this totally cute guy. He makes my heart dance like leaves on a windy day. I know he's the one (unlike Tommy, who totally turned out not to be the one)."

Or something clever like:

"Dear Blog - Today was a crappy day. My EDU 205 professors assigned me the task of blogging once or twice a week. How lame is that? Who blogs anyways?"

There is another group that looks at blogging as a way to report current events in a way that is faster and more personal than traditional news media. Sites like "The Smoking Gun.com" and others turn the art of journaling into journalism.

"You'll never guess what I saw today. While hanging out in a coffee shop Hillary Clinton came. She sat next to me and ordered a decaf half-caf Grande Mocha Latte. This completely contradicts her public stance on caffeinated coffee beverages."

Lastly there is a group of people who want to use blogging as a way to change the world for good or for ill.

"My friends and fellow readers, it is time that we rise up and take a stand against standing. Far too many people in the world today are on their feet for hours on end. We have a God given mandate to be able to sit as we are so moved. Let us mobilize our voices and let the world know that we will not sit any longer on the issue of standing."

Of course you have people like who me who enjoy doing a little of both (not just sitting and standing, but combining all the styles above) as the mood strikes me. The internet provides a powerful platform to communicate your thoughts, ideas and observations to an audience that you might not traditionally have access to.

Now some of you might be thinking, "That's nice Bob, but what does all of this honestly have to do with education?" In all honesty, the possibilities for using blogging in education are only limited by your imagination. For example, let's say you're taking your students on a field trip. Why not use blogging as a way for your students to reflect on the things that they saw, experienced, and what they felt while on their field trip. In addition it allows them an opportunity to share in the reflections of their fellow classmates.

In your English or writing classes, it gives students an opportunity to journal, write short stories, and poems. It gives them a vehicle where they can write every day and more importantly revisit their writing to see their own progression. Practice, practice, practice.

While you made be hard pressed to find effective uses for blogging in a subject area such as Math, but hey, if you think of one, I say go for it!

"Now what about educators of students who can't yet write, or it simply isn't feasible for them to do so? How can blogging be useful for them," you might wonder. Well blogging is a great tool to keep parents up to date. By sharing what happened in the classroom as well as what's going to happen in the classroom, educators can make sure that active parents feel like they can share in the experiences of their children vicariously. It's also a great way to stay in contact with other colleagues and share what's working and not working in your own classroom.

No matter how you approach it, blogging is a great tool to add to your online arsenal.

So what are you waiting for? Grab that keyboard and start blogging!