2014 MSTA Convention - Flipping the Classroom and Google Tools

Hello.  Today I'm presenting at the 2014 Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA) Convention in Columbia, Missouri.

Link to resources to my presentation on flipping the classroom

Link to resources on my presentation on Google tools and tips

Windlass Hill Pioneer Historical Marker at Ash Hollow State Park in Nebraska

I always love driving north of Ogallala, Nebraska through the edge of the Sandhills - gorgeous rolling hills with nothing for miles. When we drive through the canyon by Ash Hollow State Park there is an awesome little reconstructed sod house at the Windlass Hill Pioneer historical marker. 

I often stop and take pictures as we drive through. Last night the sun was setting behind the sod house and and I just had to stop for a couple of pictures. Photos never do sunsets justice but this one I took using the dramatic filter on my camera and it came as close as I could get it with the naked eye. Sometimes nature is just too awesome to comprehend.

Photos from Huskers-Purdue Game

My photos from the Nebraska - Purdue game on November 1, 2014 in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Augmented Reality App Brings History Alive at Kansas City's Union Station

I can't wait to try this out - augmented reality brings Kansas City's Union Station to live.  Beginning today (October 31, 2014) visitors to Union Station can make history come live with their smart phone using augmented reality.

Here is an article which describes the project but I also suggest watching the video below to get a grasp of how awesome this will be at Union Station.

MOREnet 2014 Conference Session - Make Something! Maker Revolution in Education

Today I am presenting at the 2014 MOREnet Conference in Columbia, Missouri on the topic of the maker revolution in education.  It is a collection of ideas, gadgets and resources for using maker ideas in education.

Here is the link to my resources for this session : Make Something! Maker Revolution in Education

MOREnet 2014 Google Tools to Make Geography More Exciting Resources

Today I am attending and presenting at the 2014 MOREnet Conference in Columbia, Missouri.

My session today is describing the many applications and uses of Google Geo Tools with your students.

Here is a link to the resources from my session : Google Tools to Make Geography Exciting Presentation Resources

Images from 2014 Mount Vernon Missouri Teacher Weekend

I had an incredible several days as a participant in the 2014 Mount Vernon Missouri Teacher Workshop this past week. I will be adding some blog posts about the experience but wanted to share some of my favorite photos for the workshop in this blog post.

I love to take pictures at workshops such as this and I have posted over 750 of my images from the Mount Vernon workshop on Flickr.  You can view them here.

Mount Vernon in the morning

Reading Room at the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon

View of sunrise from the porch at Mount Vernon

Washington's original books

Flower on the grounds at Mount Vernon

Vegetable garden at Mount Vernon

Reenactors at Mount Vernon Colonial Faire

Bakery at the MountVernon Colonial Faire

View from window of Washington's gristmill

Posed contemplation while in the manuscript room of Washington Library

Creating Videos to Keep in Touch with Students While Away

So this is nothing revolutionary (pun intended, please read on) but I have used video a couple of times this year to touch base with my students while out of the classroom a couple of times and it has really helped.  Early in the school year I was out of state for a couple of days as my wife and I attended a funeral and last week I was at Mount Vernon for a couple of days attending the 2014 Mount Vernon Missouri Teachers Workshop.  

I have a great sub who consistently covers my classes while I am away so I feel fortunate to have someone who knows the content (retired 8th grade American history teacher) and is great with the students but I also want to help keep them updated on the assignment, give a little extra instruction while I am gone, etc.

I have two examples below of videos that I used while gone last week.  

The first is an example of the video that I posted and shared as a sort of "introduction, here is what I would like you to accomplish today" video.  I try to keep these short, informational and have a little fun so that students will them interesting.  A laundry list of things to do while I am gone is not exciting.  I have used props or put on sunglasses in the past to make them more fun. This first video was for last Friday when I was attending the Mount Vernon workshop.

The second video is one that I created on Thursday night at Mount Vernon, posted on my classroom site and then had the students watch in class on Friday.  We arrived at Mount Vernon on Wednesday afternoon and attended a couple of lectures and did some guided tours of the outer buildings at Mount Vernon so I decided to share a little about "rustication" - the type of wooden siding that is on the exterior of many buildings at Mount Vernon.  

I used my own pictures taken just a couple of hours before and used ScreenCast-O-Matic and my MacBook Air to record a quick video.  It was one take, I didn't worry about stumbling over my words a couple of times and I knew it was not going to be nominated for an Oscar.  The purpose of the video was to touch base with my students, tell them about what I was learning while away from class and sharing a story.  The sub showed it to my class on Friday and said that the students did respond when I asked the question and they were engaged.

Again, nothing about these two videos were revolutionary - you record a video, post it to YouTube and share it - but it did create a connection and helped the students understand that I was thinking of them and wanted them to stay on point for the sub.

Device Rollout Day 2014 at Discovery Middle School

Today we distributed 680 devices to students at Discovery Middle School - 6th and 7th graders received Chromebooks and 8th graders received MacBook Air laptops.  There were a couple of network issues but overall it went very smoothly due to the hard work of many in the technology department over the past several months.  In addition to handing out the devices, students received a day of training on the new devices and lessons in digital citizenship.

Here are some pictures from an exciting day at Discovery Middle School:

Taking the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge - That Was Refreshing!

Over the weekend I was challenged by JD Dalrymple of Nebraska along with some other educators on Twitter to participate in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.  I accepted the challenge and in addition to donating to the ALS Association I also allowed my wife to drop a bucket of ice water on me Sunday.  

I decided to put a GoPro camera on a selfie stick to record the moment.  My kids thought it was pretty funny too.  Here is the video:

I then challenged two fellow teachers who I consider to be great friends - William Chamberlain of Noel, Missouri and Lance Huebner of Liberty - to the Ice Bucket Challenge. To date the Ice Bucket Challenge has been a huge success for the ALS Association.

The story of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is definitely worth 7 minutes of your day - check out this video from ESPN.