There's no excuse not to learn. . .

Keyboarding skills: I have used Dance Mat with elementary students.  The middle school keyboarding teacher and I both used Sense-Lang this year.  I like the online keyboarding skill sites because the students can go to them at home as well as school.

I just laughed to myself when I saw the first topic for the Google search because I had recently decided to knit some socks.  I hadn't knit in years and thought I knew what I was doing, but I forgot how to purl.  A brief look at a video was all that was needed to refresh my memory.  Handy thing to have when my aunt, who taught me to knit, isn't available.

I watched a variety of videos on  all three sites.  I liked the slide shows on Instructable for something that I would need to go at a slower pace and check back on a prior step.  e.g. fixing a faucet.  MonkeySee had a video on making Pumpkin Cranberry Nut bread.  I didn't want the entire video, just enough to get the recipe and I had to back track twice to get that.  If I were a beginning cook and didn't have a clue what was in the recipe I probably would have had to go back five or six times.

On Graspr I watched several videos on origami or at least parts of some.  As with most things the quality varied with the producer of the video.  One I really didn't like was subtitled and played music.  The only way I could have watched the entire thing was to mute the music.  One showing how to make a Halloween cat on a broomstick was very well done.  The folder stopped at points to show what the shape should look like.  It was done by ActivityV out of the UK.

I am going to pass the URL of Khan Academy on to the teachers at school.  I think there are many ways they could use them.

My thoughts:
Video how-to sites and How- to books each have their place.  If you only have a desktop computer it would be difficult to follow along on a video that showed how to change your spark plug wires.  Also if the project you are working on requires frequent referral back to the video, a book or the PDF printouts from Instructable might be handier.
I would see people using the videos for learning activities that could be done at the computer or a quick refresher like my purl stitch.

#40 Funky Photos - Pixlr

original

black and white

This Thing got me excited. I have worked with Photoshop for 8-10 years and spend way too much time experimenting. I wondered if the effects I have done with Photoshop could be done with the online editors. I found the tools in Pixlr very familiar to me and I easily found what I wanted. I began with a yellow hat flower picture I found on Flickr. (original by EssjayNZ)

kaleidoscope

My first funky isn't really funky, but is a version I have made before.  I made a duplicate layer. Then lowered the hue and saturation to make the  top layer black and white.  I then erased the flower parts on the black and white to expose the color in the layer underneath.
You see this effect on cards, posters, etc.  I made a set of four to put in my bathroom using four different yellow flowers.  I also added the name of the flower.

Second funky.  I used the kaleidoscope filter.  Adjusted the  sizing to a larger number. This photo is green and yellow but the effect is still very interesting.  I will have to try it with a photo having more colors.

Third funky.  I used the emboss filter on this one, then used the vignette to tighten the focus on the flower.

vignette

I had more problems getting the pictures to the blog and aligning them the way I wanted than I did creating the different images.

Harry and Rosemary Wong Come to Chadron

When I found out Harry and Rosemary Wong were coming to Chadron I didn't think twice about signing up to attend. It didn't matter that it was outside the regular calendar days. I have his book The First Days of School : How to be an effective teacher. They also write a monthly column for Teachers.Net. There were over 700 filling Memorial Hall for the 3 1/2 hour presentation. They came from Valentine, Scottsbluff, Hot Springs, SD and places in between.

The first part was the importance of creating procedures for all the routines of the class. The importance of going over them the first day and practicing them. It reminded me that often the simple things are the most important. The second part of focused on lesson mastery and positive expectation both for the students and yourself

They are enjoyable to listen to, down to earth, and have ideas from other classroom teachers that are OK to "steal." If you every get the chance to hear them -- GO!

READ letters

The READ letters are 15 in. tall and 3 dimensional. They are made of cardboard or papermache product. I painted them black and added literature genre in neon stick-on letters. They are hollow and very light weight. I added some sticky tack to the bottom to keep them in place. (The picture is not the best since I cropped it out of one of the larger ones.)

Almost There

I am almost ready for business. Clean up some shelves. Put up bulletin boards and other decor. Add my library signage (black on yellow cloth banners). Finish my filing-the biggest job. I reused my card catalogs. Yes, I JUST tossed the cards. For those that don't know I am a sole librarian and have been retro-cataloging the collection for about 5 year. The staff at Panhandle Library System gave me help one summer, so it wasn't a total solo job.

This is the view from my desk. Secondary fiction on the left (non fiction out of range), the computer lab, J fiction, E books, and J/E non fiction peeking in on the right. The pole at left of center will be an OPAC station. There should be seating for close to 40 - 20 big people and 20 little.

Here is the reverse view. My desk area, check out computer on the left and return book bins on the right. Behind the door (hiding all my stuff) is a workroom, storage area. Far right is the Secondary Nonfiction.
This is the view as you enter Secondary books on the left, Book Return Bins on the right OPAC straight ahead and the lab beyond that. J and E books to the right. (Fourth and fifth grades are behind the wall of Secondary books.)
The lab now has computers. We have two 20 computer labs and one 12 computer labs in our small school. The four elementary classrooms and the title classroom on this floor have new Smartboards. There are also four in the secondary building. We will all be taking some training next week.
J/E Nonfiction and reference books with the small tables and chairs. (Title and 2/3 grade are behind this wall.)
J fiction and E books (on the shorter shelves) with my READ letters (Thanks Pat Gross for the challenge to make these a few years back.) (First grade in behind this wall.)

Computer Lab Almost Ready

Thought it was time to update my progress. Won't show the library half -- stuff all over the tables waiting for cabinets to get moved around. Been working yesterday and today sorting stuff, sending this here and that there, even some to the circular file. The computer lab is taking shape. We will have 20 machines in the lab. Thanks to maintenance I have 20 matching yellow chairs.

Larel, the tech coordinator, started to set up the machines at the end of the day -- really looks like a lab. I will have a laptop this year and will attach it to an LCD projector. Since I write on the whiteboard to mark things I am projecting that I want the students to remember or look for on their screens; Larel refers to it as my "analog smartboard."

Shelving in, Ready for the books

The shelving from the Mirage Flats school that closed was moved in and painted. It looks like different colors but that is just the light. Very nice shelving - all adjustable. My aide warned me that the shelves don't fit just anywhere so all 10 sections and 60 shelves were marked before they were moved. The Secondary collection will go on these shelves. They are on the east side of the room. The doorway (dark area on the left of the shelving) on this side will be the main entrance for most people.

The rest of the shelving from the Flats and one section from the original elementary shelving is on the south side and will hold the J Fiction. Beyond them are two eight-foot sections of low shelves for the E Fiction. (currently one is hidden behind the folding tables.)

The J/E Non Fiction will be on the west wall in low shelving with rails for displaying student work, posters, etc above.

The middle and the computer lab are still "under construction" and will be until the carpet cleaners come in two weeks. Also need to bring in lab tables and a few things from the Flats. Then move my desk and other stuff from the upstairs library.