the Route

My 2009 Mantra – Keep It Simple

justmyweb — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 13:24:48 +0000

January is always a time of resolutions. Somewhere along the road, my life became rather complex. Raising two boys on my own, assisting in the care and decision making that come when parents age, adopting a rather high spirited puppy, rehabbing a house and working as an administrator in the field of educational technology, just to name a few, have kept me very busy over the past decade or two. I often take on the unrealistic challenge of getting caught up over the weekend, over winter break, before I retire, etc. This creates quite a bit of anxiety and so I stopped to wonder why. Why does my life seem so difficult to manage.

My two boys are now adults and pretty much on their own. I still has a few of the normal problems of home ownership creeping up from time to time but doesn’t everybody? My dog is almost 4 years old and I really can’t complain about his behavior. Other than an annoying big hello for anyone who enters my house and the ability to whine for what seems like hours when he is trying to tell me something, he is a very easy to care for dog. And I am in the second year of a position that seems to fit me well though the ratio of being the only Instructional Technology coordinator for a district of 8,000 students seems a bit off, I feel I am making a difference.

And so I wonder… Is this the year I can see my life settle down? The “keep it simple” mantra has already kept me from adopting a second dog, purchasing more technology equipment, spending too much on presents over the holiday and a variety of other incorrect decisions that would do anything but simplify my life. I return to work tomorrow. Can this philosophy be applied to making a difference in my district? Keep it Simple. Instead of working to bring web 2.0 technology to a handful of students, let’s make sure all students are getting their hands on the keyboards that we currently provide. Rather than teaching a few teachers how to podcast, let’s make sure all teachers are proficient in setting up LCD projectors, using the various applications of Office 2007 for productivity and file management. Let’s not look at setting up a web page for each teacher until each school and grade level have the ability to connect with students, parents and the community via the web first.

If we truly want to make a difference with all of our students, there first has to be a systematic set of expectations for all teachers. I hope to be able to write about the difference in the changes that I can make in my district with the Keep It Simple philosophy soon.

Web Cam at the Winter Classic

justmyweb — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 04:01:11 +0000

20 degrees at the moment. Expected high will be 37 with wind chills in the teens. Yet thousands will become a part of history when they step into the gates to attend the first Winter Classic hosted in Chicago at Wrigley Field. While I have no interest in being one of those out in the cold, the idea of driving to the park to shoot some pictures is very appealing. The picture posted with this entry are screen captures from the Cub World webcam that feeds live pictures from Wrigley Field 365 days (plus a second here and there) a year.

January 1, 2009

I’m thinking again…

justmyweb — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:04:13 +0000

I started Top Dog Awards in 1995. The awards went to sites like Free Drive, My.Mp3.com, Netmeeting, Arachnophilia, My Bookmarks, and of course, Tribal Voice’s PowWow. PowWow was one of the first collaboration tools that included chat using VoIP, a shared whiteboard, WAV sound file playing, file transfer and the ability to “cruise” to the same web page. One user would drive, the others follow. It was well ahead of its time and many of its features would be thought of as being very web 2.0ish…. but during the early 1.0 era.

The mascot of my Top Dog Awards was my well loved golden retriever who passed away a number of years ago. And so I end 2008 with the start of handing out a new award with a new mascot.

Blue Eyed Dog Awards for gadgets and/or websites that brought enjoyment, discovery, and laughter to my life during 2008, in no particular order, are ….

1. Twitter – Much more than a microblogger.
2. iPhone / iPod Touch – More than a phone / More than an ipod.
3. Flip Camera – Everyone should have a Flip camera for three reasons. 1) It is simple. 2)It is simple. 3) It is simple.
4. Wacom’s Cintiq – The only thing I have to figure out is how to find more time to play with the 21 wide screen Cintiq that is now a part of our gadget family that we cannot live without. If you are into art, you should have one.
5 iPhone. – Yes. I think the iPhone is so freaking great I put it on the list twice.
6. Sony XBR HD TV
7. GPS Systems – Like the one on my iPhone
8. Delicious – Get Organized
9. CNET – Still a wealth of information. Heck. They even review techie cars now.
10. Strength of Weak Ties, Jakes Online, etc. – Anything that David presents is able to be applied directly into the classroom to increase learning and engage students.
11. Slingmedia
12. The Almost Out iPhone App for Slingbox (Just the thought of it puts it on my list Hurray!)
13. Google 411 - Not mind shattering but something everyone should know about if they use a phone.

Blogger Action Day – October 15, 2008

justmyweb — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 11:53:25 +0000

I promised myself I would start blogging by October 15 so here I am.

Life in General

Today, bloggers around the world are writing about poverty. I know a little bit about poverty. I have been in poverty a time or two in my life. Learning to do without creates stress for our students and families to a level unknown by many. Today, figure out a way to get involved and help one or many who might be experiencing the unfair home environment of poverty.

Educational Technology

Round 1: We talked too much about hardware.
Round 2: We talked too much about software
Round 3: We are now talking too much about Web 2.0 tools.
Round 4: Let’s really focus on student learning, work and producing knowledge. Can we ever talk too much about student learning, work and producing knowledge?