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Remembering TxTIP in Floydada and Post, Texas (2004-05)
Once upon a time in the late 1990s, there was a teacher in Lubbock, Texas, who had a dream. He dreamed that all the students in our schools could have their own personal computers to access information, communicate with others, and complete both assignments and projects required for classes at school. That teacher left the…
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Oral History Workshops (July 2024)
I’m sharing a 2 part, free oral history workshop series for the Mint Hill Historical Society this coming Saturday, July 13 and the next Saturday, July 20. These will each be an hour and a half long, from 9 to 10:30am, and held in “The Barn” at the Historical Society: 4311 HILLSIDE DRIVE, MINT HILL, NC. An…
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Plants in Space
These are my notes from the SPACE 2024 presentation, “Planting Other Worlds” by Melissa Sleeper and Lisa Dupuy. The session description is: Tired of the same old plant growth lessons? Help spark student interest in agriculture using Space as the hook. When humans go to settle the Moon and Mars, they will have to eat.…
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Host an Astronomy Night
These are my notes from the SPACE 2024 presentation, “How to Host an Astronomy Night: Astronomy in Elementary and Middle School Classrooms” by Peter Tlusty (Mr. T) NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador / Richmond Astronomical Society Member. Links about Peter: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/ambassadors/2159 “Tech teacher honored for out-of-this world lessons” (March 2023) I’m an amateur astronomer! Now teaching…
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Communists and Conspiracies
One thing that has surprised and even confused me in recent months has been the assertion that our U.S. schools and mainstream, progressive political parties / leadership circles are “filled with communists.” This “fringe argument” has sadly become more mainstream. It is instructive as well as sad to read more about the historical roots of…
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AI and Cheating
One of the most common concerns many teachers and parents have today regarding generative AI / artificial intelligence tools is that students are using and will use them “to cheat.” While students have used and will continue to use a variety of tools and strategies to cheat during exams, quizzes, and other forms of formal…
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I Am Healed
I am healed, I know who I am, and I know the work God has called me to do. This is a big deal. I have spent the past three decades as a largely broken and wounded human being. I have been a person who was seeking healing, and finding healing, but just taking baby…
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Visualizing Off-Planet Habitats
My middle school computer programming students are continuing to work on our “Coding Mars” unit, in which they are using Minecraft MakeCode to simulate the 3D printing of structures and habitats which Icon of Austin, Texas, is under contract with NASA to do first on the moon / the lunar surface and (ultimately) on Mars.…
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SIFTing our Sources
So many things have been going well in my media literacy, computer programming and engineering middle school courses this semester I should be blogging about our classroom learning every day! In this post I’d like to briefly reflect and share about an InfoPics lesson we are doing today as part of our “Froot Loop Conspiracy…
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Internet Radio Dreams
This morning I’m dreaming of Internet Radio: My OWN Internet radio station patterned after the amazing example of ds106 Radio. Let me explain. In December 2012, I published the 3 minute photo story, “Live Internet Radio Broadcasting from a Bus.” In it, I shared “a story about webcasting a live radio show from a bus…
