Edubloggercon was AWESOME!!!!

They call Edubloggercon the "unconference". Whatever you call it I just think it is the model for how all conferences should be organized. Sessions have topic headings and a designated leader but really the entire session goes the direction of the attendees.

People ask questions. Those in the group provide answers and suggestions. You get to talk to total strangers who treat you as if you are one of their own. The connections you form are going to be very useful once you head back home.

You get to sit next to or have lunch with the likes of Jeff Utecht, David Warlick, Wes Fryer, Paul R Wood etc... (Yeah all of these people were at the same table with me for lunch. So cool!!!)

Look at this awesome group of people. The smiles on their faces tell you what a great event Edubloggercon was.

NECC here I come!!!

I am finally in Washington DC for NECC. My colleague, Jared Nichol, attended NECC 08 in San Antonio and raved about it. This is my first NECC. Hope I brought everything I need. Let's see....
- digital camera - check
- Kodak Zi6 (Thanks for lending this to me Jared) - check
- Macbook - check
- card reader - check
- online conference planner - check
- maps of downtown DC so I can find my way around - check (NO I do not have an iPhone with GPS. But maybe someone will buy me one!!!!)

Need to get some sleep so I can enjoy Edubloggercon tomorrow.

Stay tuned for more updates from NECC 09.

PS: Staying at the Hotel Rouge. Has some interesting decore!!!

Wiki's are awesome!!!

Most of you know that I stopped blogging about a year ago becasue i started using Wikis in my classes and found them far more useful.

If you want to set up your own class wiki click on the link below.


Check out the PBwiki tour!

I need your input!!!!

I know I have not posted to my blog forever. I have found that access to the Internet was a huge problem for more than half of my students. As a result, more than half of my students could not even access my blog if they wanted to and of the half that had technology only some chose to use the blog. However, hopefully that will change. At my high school we found out a couple of weeks ago that we have been given $1.8 million to design our new high school. Yeah!!!!!! One of the things we are planning for the new school is to have 60 mobile, wireless laptop computers. That way instead of trying to take the students to the technology we can bring the technology to the students.

Here is where you all come in. I would like your input on designing a new high school. If you had the chance to start from the ground up, what things would you include in your classroom and your school? These items can be technology related but they do not have to be.

For example, I want a smartboard in my classroom and a computer projector mounted on the ceiling. A colleague of mine currently has to walk across the entire school just to use the staff washrooms. This person really wants a staff washroom closer to their classroom. Our current school has very few windows in it. So, the whole staff wants more windows in the new school.

I can hardly wait to hear your suggestions for our new school!!!!!!

Podcast test

This is a test post to see if I can access a podcast I created using Garageband 3. For all of you Mac users out there, if you are thinking of creating a podcast, you have to get Garageband. It took me 15 minutes from start to finish to create this podcast. I did not have to read a manual or wrestle with 3 or 4 different apps to create this. All I needed was my eMac and Garageband. The audio was recorded using the built in Mic on my eMac.

If you listen to my podcast let me know what you think. By the way, my podcast is about fishing. It was the only idea I could come up with on short notice!!!!

Fishingcast podcast

Reviewing for this week's Trigonometry Exam

You have a trigonometry functions exam coming up this week on Thursday. Here are some useful websites to help you practice all of the things you have learned in this unit.

There are some self-check quizzes at this site. Select the section titled "Graphs of Trigonometric Functions".

I will be posting other useful websites in the coming days. If you find any, email me and I will post them for the whole class to use.

Happy studying!!!!!

It's Been a Long Time Since I Blogged

For those of you who followed my blog last school year you may be wondering what happened to my blog. Well I have to say "Life happened!!!!". Last semester I taught 3 blocks of the day and had 1 block as a prep period. I was not coaching last semester either. I have found this semester with teaching 4 blocks and coaching cross country running 4 nights a week I have had little or no time to blog. I hope to change this.

It is interesting though. I really do want to blog and provide extra resources to my students. However, time is necessary to do this. I still have to prepare my daily lessons, mark homework and assignments and fit a few minutes in with my wife and kids.

It would sure nice to have a prep period every semester. That 80 minutes a day makes it possible to keep up with my teaching duties and still blog. Ah, if only dream worlds did exist!!

I definitely have to figure out how to juggle all of the balls in life and still blog.