Moving at the Speed of Creativity

Tag: apple

  • Remembering TxTIP in Floydada and Post, Texas (2004-05)

    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…

  • Digital Picture Frames

    My wife and I derive considerable pleasure these days from watching a variety of old family photos on our living room TV, thanks to the “Ambient Mode” of Google’s Chromecast as well as the screensaver feature of AppleTV. In my mother’s last four months of life, as she faced terminal brain cancer, she also was…

  • Recording and Sharing Your iPad with In-Person and Remote Learning Students

    Update 8/24/2020: I’ve created a step-by-step tutorial for these steps, using either Google Meet or Zoom. This is linked from our “Lesson Cast” support page on our school instructional support website. Today is our 3rd day back with students for the 2020-21 academic year, and it’s both good and challenging. Most of our students have…

  • Quickly Convert Minecraft EE Portfolio PDFs into JPG Images

    The past two weeks I have led and taught “virtual Minecraft summer camps” for elementary and middle school students, with the help of a fantastic team of high school volunteers who have earned service hours as virtual camp counselors / moderators. I’m in the process of writing down many of my lessons learned from this…

  • Behold: The Power of the Spotify Playlist During COVID-19

    We’ve been in “remote learning” mode for about four weeks now at our school, as we “shelter in place” because of the neo-coronavirus / COVID-19 global pandemic. I’m sure I’m not the only one that has had some trouble falling asleep some nights, as I’ve adjusted to a ‘new normal’ of working entirely from home…

  • Presenting with Keynote and Apple Watch

    This school year I’ve not only returned to the regular K-12 classroom, teaching 5th and 6th grade Computer Classes at Casady School in Oklahoma City, I’m also teaching a new adult Sunday School class at our church in Edmond titled, “Curiosity and Questions: Jesus and Science.” This summer both my wife and I got used…

  • Living at Hogwarts with Apple Pencil and Google Home

    Technology is not magic, but Steve Jobs was correct when he described the iPad as “a magical device” in 2010. Combined with the Apple Pencil, which feels like a wand from the wizarding world of Harry Potter, an iPad and the Google Home smart assistant make me feel like I’m truly living at Hogwarts. The…

  • Why I’m Switching from iPhone to Android (Part 1)

    This morning when I told my 14 year old I’d ordered a new phone for myself and it isn’t an iPhone, she said, “Now people are going to think you’re weird!” My response was, “Good, bring it on. I am weird!” As a long-time iPhone user and devotee, I realize this decision to give a…

  • Teacher Personal Laptop Purchase Advice: Mac Laptop or Chromebook

    One of our retiring teachers this year asked me for advice about what kind of laptop she should purchase, since she has to turn in her school laptop. This is the advice I shared with her via email, slightly edited for context. Most of our faculty use Mac/Apple laptop computers, so my main recommendation to her…

  • Google Cloud Print Not Working with Brother Printer

    The Brother MFC-J4420DW printer at our house actually IS working with Google Cloud Print now, but I had to make some changes to its setup today and thought I’d write a quick post to share what I learned. We’ve had this printer about 8 months now, and overall it’s been fantastic. We can wirelessly print at home from our…