tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50802242011-11-10T15:22:34.752-05:00IA Tech Center BlogThis is a blog to get students and staff acquainted with "blogging", and how it can be utilized among staff and students.Mary Minerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12706520029657774382noreply@blogger.comBlogger161100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5080224.post-13047482832632138852011-02-14T17:40:00.009-05:002011-02-14T18:42:34.913-05:00Easy-Cheesy Easy BibI recently purchased a subscription to EasyBib premium for all three campuses. So far the kids who have availed themselves of this tool are thrilled. It really bugged me to see kids struggle with trying to get every comma, space and capitalization correct in their MLA citations. What a waste of time. (That's another rant in itself). Well no more. What is even better is that Mary Minerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12706520029657774382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5080224.post-71959155388484194992009-09-24T09:14:00.007-04:002009-09-24T12:12:32.912-04:00Department of Ed Student Video Contest Blocked in Many SchoolsIsn't it ironic? The US Department of Education has announced a new video contest, asking students to "inspire" them with their stories. The contest requires students to have a YouTube account and upload their video to YouTube. Many schools are still blocking YouTube. Time for our local schools to get with it. I have always Mary Minerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12706520029657774382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5080224.post-42994953640450953342008-06-03T12:19:00.007-04:002011-02-14T18:37:54.976-05:00 Flipping for FlipBelow is the first video I shot with the new Flip Video camera. I think this will be a great tool especially for kids who are practicing a speech or forensics and maybe even for morning announcements.
Mary Minerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12706520029657774382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5080224.post-33739228512124431082008-02-07T17:58:00.000-05:002008-02-07T18:35:12.560-05:00On-line Solutions to Everday ChallengesYesterday I attended the Michigan Virtual University Symposium: Online Solutions to Everyday Challenges and this* (the medium I am currently using) is one of the solutions to an everyday challenge. As I was sorting out the mess of notes and information on my desk this morning, I began to share some of my enthusiasm for the new tools with a colleague. He Mary Minerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12706520029657774382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5080224.post-4635928203411166642008-01-24T10:01:00.001-05:002011-02-14T18:39:02.758-05:00Bad Manners All AroundLast week a 17 year old Virginia high school student left a message at the home of a school adminstrator complaining that school was not cancelled on a day when 3 inches of snow had fallen. The wife of the school administrator phoned the student back and her response has been posted to You Tube. While I can understand the wife's frustration, when dealing with children, we Mary Minerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12706520029657774382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5080224.post-65101297289635779362007-12-19T10:33:00.000-05:002008-02-07T18:44:20.488-05:00 The XO Laptop, Give One Get One:Previously I wrote about the OLPC XO Laptop program. The Give One Get One program has been extended to December 31st. IA Physics teacher David Lyons and his wife Lynne decided it would be a great Christmas gift for their daughters and purchased and gave 3. One of the features that appealed most to Dave was the "mesh network" that would allow his daughters to Mary Minerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12706520029657774382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5080224.post-84078568251655810922007-12-01T11:01:00.000-05:002007-12-01T12:17:26.652-05:00"Now You Change It"Yes, get used to it. I had a conversation with a staff member the other day about the fact that the district is considering giving up on the costly Blackboard that our staff has finally embraced (after 5 years) and switching to the *free open-source Moodle. He was concerned that all the work put into BB thus far would be wasted. That is not the case at all. Think of it like aMary Minerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12706520029657774382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5080224.post-76222171370955089362007-11-16T10:42:00.000-05:002007-11-16T16:07:07.853-05:00Give One, Get One (or give one, give one) There is some great news out there for those of us excited about the famed $100 "One Laptop Per Child Program." For a limited time, these laptops are being offered for sale in the U.S. It is a "give one, get one" program. For $400 you can get one and one will be sent to a poor child in another part of the world. If you have the means and are in a Mary Minerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12706520029657774382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5080224.post-61752458325243866802007-07-02T15:06:00.000-04:002007-07-02T15:17:00.028-04:00We can learn from the animals.I was watching Animal Planet the other day and it occured to me that animals teach their young by simply modeling behavior. There are no lessons, dissertations, assignments. The young simply watch and model the behavior of the adults. The adults always model "appropriate" behavior.Mary Minerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12706520029657774382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5080224.post-76300587478216196952007-05-18T09:44:00.002-04:002011-02-14T18:38:45.673-05:00Facebook Mom (eeewww)I signed up for Facebook the other day. (I had to do it from home since it is blocked in the district.) Someone suggested it to me to be able to get in touch with alumni. My own kids were horrified. Many of my current as well as former students friended me. My being there reminds them to be careful what they post.Mary Minerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12706520029657774382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5080224.post-17872030682836790822007-05-09T09:17:00.002-04:002007-05-09T09:18:53.035-04:00Below is an example of how easy it is to embed a PPT in your blog. If you are curious as to how I did this, come rattle my cage and I will show you. It took 3 seconds!Mary Minerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12706520029657774382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5080224.post-49300614173387537082007-05-09T09:17:00.001-04:002007-05-09T09:17:19.260-04:00Mary Minerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12706520029657774382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5080224.post-72263710312860227652007-05-07T12:43:00.000-04:002007-05-07T13:03:59.588-04:00Today I was lucky enough to be invited to Mrs. Saxsma's class to read one of my favorite children's books. I chose to read Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina . I will never forget the day in second grade that Sister Cecilia Mary read that story to our class. She talked about making predictions based on what has already happened and asked us if when listening to the story we could use what we Mary Minerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12706520029657774382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5080224.post-62140102249883408242007-05-07T12:42:00.001-04:002007-05-08T12:32:42.005-04:00Mary Minerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12706520029657774382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5080224.post-8420848448694777042007-03-16T12:48:00.000-04:002007-03-16T13:22:55.188-04:00I have been at the MACUL Conference at Cobo the past two days and am posting this to demo how simple it is to use google docs to post to your blog.Mary Minerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12706520029657774382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5080224.post-6798720966514981822007-03-16T12:47:00.000-04:002007-03-16T12:48:24.718-04:00March 1, 2007 Web 2.0 By mminer I spent many hours in the past couple of weeks putting together a professional development presentation introducing web 2.0 technologies. The struggle for me is to try and filter down all that there is out there, as it is changing every day, into a neat little relevant package that will be immediately useful. It has to be sifted down so as not overwhelm you to Mary Minerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12706520029657774382noreply@blogger.com0