Three Point Lighting

I mentioned learning about Three Point Lighting at the Videomaker Conference I attended. While looking through some of the Videomaker tutorials, I ran across this one that demos the process. While videos and diagrams are helpful, I still found watching someone do this in the flesh to be an invaluable experience. If you ever get a chance, have a knowledgeable person demonstrate the set up and describe what each of the three lights are supposed to do.



The three articles Mark mentions at the end of the video are bookmarked here for your, and my, easy reference.
Illuminations: Why Three-Point Lighting?
Illuminations: Applying 3-Point Lighting
Light Source: Lighting Women/Lighting Men

[Image: "I know I'll never have to turn that light on again": Flickr: Uploaded on January 24, 2006 by eqqman: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eqqman/90571238/]

Funny: Lesson in BBQ

VideoMaker Conference

I spent this past weekend at a VideoMaker Conference held in the Denver area. The first day, The Basics of Video Production, was divided up into four sections: Camcorder Overview, Choosing the Right Microphones, Editing Techniques and Lighting Techniques. Mark Montgomery, Technical Editor for Videomaker was the presenter for each session except Editing Techniques which was given by Boyd McCollum, a documentary film editor. I took something valuable away from each session. (How often can you say that about a conference you've attended?) My only complaint is that it was a lot of information for two days. I'd prefer a more hands on approach but if you are looking to get a lot of information in a hurry, this might be the workshop for you.

My favorite session on the first day was Lighting Techniques. There was a general discussion of lighting and equipment, including some inexpensive alternatives. The best part though was lighting up a volunteer using a three-point setup. I've done this before following diagrams from a book on lighting. I always felt like I was stumbling around in the dark. (My students usually groan after a comment like that.....feel free to groan in the privacy of your own home.) Seeing how Mark adjusted each of the three light sources based on the room made it all click. I think I finally get it.

The second day was a hands-on workshop using Adobe Premiere. I've been using Premiere for a couple of years and I am proficient enough to put together a video. I am pretty much self-taught from books and videos. What I discovered from this workshop is that I've been doing many tasks the hard way. If you are an advanced user, this would probably not have been as valuable to you. If you are a rank beginner, this might have seemed overwhelming, although there were a couple of beginners in the group and they were able to keep up. If you are like me (advanced-beginner?) this workshop might prove valuable to you. Of course, it is only a one day workshop and Premiere is a huge program so don't plan on becoming an expert from one day of instruction.

I would recommend the VideoMaker workshops to anybody at a beginning or intermediate skill level. If you are a teacher looking for college credit or continuing-ed credit be aware that the conference isn't accredited (at least for Colorado). I got it approved by my district ahead of time. That will make my district happy and help me eventually reach a pay raise. That will make me happy.

Check out the Videomaker conferences. They travel to various cities throughout the year.

[Image: "Videomaker Logo": Captured from Videomaker Home Page: http://www.videomaker.com/: Aug 2008]

Google's advice to students

The Google Blog recently had a post about what they are looking for in an applicant's educational background. Their answer to "What are we looking for?"

At the highest level, they are looking for non-routine problem-solving abilities.

They want people with the following skills: analytical reasoning, communication skills, a willingness to experiment, team players, passion and leadership.

Their advice for what a student should take in school is:

It's easy to educate for the routine, and hard to educate for the novel. Keep in mind that many required skills will change: developers today code in something called Python, but when I was in school C was all the rage. The need for reasoning, though, remains constant, so we believe in taking the most challenging courses in core disciplines: math, sciences, humanities.

And then keep on challenging yourself, because learning doesn't end with graduation.

Point your students to this page when they ask what classes they should take. (Maybe your school counselors too.)

[Image: Flickr: "365:Prarie Dog":Uploaded on April 9, 2007 by Speshul Ted: http://www.flickr.com/photos/speshulted/452968691/: Creative Commons]

Funny: Bee Boys

Thanks to Neatarama for this one.

Who controls television content?

Neatorama had an interesting piece recently called, "Who owns what on television?" I was facinated to see how a few corporations control most of the big media outlets. I think I probably already knew this, but seeing it all laid out was pretty eye-opening. If I were teaching at the moment, which I'm not cause it's the middle of summer vacation, I'd bring this up as a topic of discussion.

As an example, the graphic here, shows all the stations owned and operated by Time Warner.

I'll bookmark this page and come back to it in September to show my media classes.




[Image captured from Neatorama: http://www.neatorama.com/2008/07/07/who-owns-what-on-television/]

Funny: Simon's Cat 'TV Dinner'

Hacking my plum tree

Last winter we had a storm that took out about a third of the branches on an ornamental plum in my back yard. All the area that is clear sky in the first picture was filled in with lovely foliage. There is a chair there sitting below the tree and it's empty because what we used to call the "shade garden" has now become one of the sunniest spots in the yard. I used to go there every morning with a cup of coffee and watch the flowers grow. Now I go there to work on my tan.

The orange day lilies are the only happy recipients of this change. They like their bed a little sunnier and have given us a great show of color this year. But, day lilies are not the boss of me! I want my shade back.

While trimming the dogwood to the left of the tree last week, I cut out a nice sized cane that had a beautiful "v" shape to it. I was wishing I could magically graft it onto the plum when I noticed a long sucker coming up along the trunk of the plum where my shade branches once waved proudly. I was about to prune it off when I remembered how my wife and I had once shaped the angle of branches on some young fruit trees. We learned this from an episode of Victory Garden years ago. Essentially you can guide a trees growth by forcing the young branches to any shape you want by attaching them to forms or lengths of wood.

I grabbed the dogwood branch and cut it into a more manageable size. I then tied it to the plum trees trunk and gently bent the sucker to match the "v" shape of my dogwood guide and tied it down. You can see my sloppy rope and knot work in the picture below.

If this works, the branch should grow out into the open area and in a couple of years give me the shade that I miss. I'll check the branch this fall and decide then if I should remove my guide or not. I may leave it on to give it a little extra strength over the winter months.

Check back in September for an updated picture.

Hiking Poles

My knee has been giving me problems the last few months. I fell during a hike a few weeks ago and that made me decide I needed to do something a little different. What might that be, you ask?

Give up hiking?

Go to a doctor about my knee?

Hike those flat boring trails around lakes and such?

Nope. I decided to buy some hiking poles. I've seen many hikers using these poles recently and had a couple of friends recommend them. I figured they couldn't hurt. That is until I looked at the cost for poles being recommended to me. Yikes!

I finally decided on the ones shown here mainly because of cost. If I bought them and found out I didn't like them I wouldn't be out a hundred bucks (or more). These two set me back about $30. I picked them because of (1) price, (2) they seemed solid when I put all my weight on one and (3) the grips were comfortable.


The section of trail shown here is an example of some of the hardest terrain I might run into in my hikes.

Rocky.

Not quite steep enough that you would have to scramble (use your hands).

Lots of places where it's like you are climbing stairs only the risers make you lift your foot higher than 10 inches.

This trail leads to the summit of Green Mountain just outside of Boulder,Colorado. It is part of a series of trails that start at Chautauqua park right on the outskirts of town. From where I live (in suburb of Denver) I can reach the trail head in about thirty minutes. It's where I go when I want to hike but don't want a long drive. I thought it would be a good place to try out my new poles.


I started off up the trail and for about the first 10 minutes, I hated them. They felt awkward. I had to get the hang of where to place them so I wouldn't trip over them. They were noisy. Every time their metal tips hit the ground they made a "thok" sound or if it was rocky "tink".

"Thok thok thok thok thok tink tink tink thok tink thok."

There was no way I was going to sneak up on anybody this way.











About the time I got to this vista looking back over Boulder, I started to change my mind.

My balance was better. Even with my tender knee, I never felt unsteady.

Going up stair step type formations in the trail were much easier because I could use a little arm strength to help me out. It was like having built in rails.

By the time I got to the top of the mountain and could look out over to the veiw to the east (the last picture), I was sold on them. I'd be using these for at least this season.

On the way down, I lengthened the poles and found they were just as helpful. Going down usually hurts my joints more than going up. I have to say, it seemed to be less stressful on my knees, once again because I was taking some of the weight with my arms.

I did take one nasty slide on the way down on some loose gravel and put all my weight on one of the poles to catch myself. It bowed but did not crumple and I was able to regain my footing without any embarrassing falls on my posterior.

So here is what I think from one hike.

Cons:

1. Noisy.
2. Take some getting used to especially where the trail narrows. In areas where it is narrow and surrounded by brush, they can get tangled up with your legs and make you curse. Curse bad words that your mother would be dissapointed to hear you say.
3. Stopping to take a drink, blow my nose or take a picture was a bit of a bother. Too many things to juggle.

Pros:

1. Made going up and down stairstep formations much easier.
2. Seemed to take some of the stress off my legs and transfer it to my arms and shoulders. (Which are aching right now by the way.)
3. Kept me from falling a couple of times. (Although I'd like to think my cat like reflexes would have saved me if I didn't have the poles.)
4. Worked nicely in areas where I was moving from rock to rock. Helped me keep my balance while I checked for footing.

What do I think about my cheap poles versus some of the more expensive ones? Not sure yet. Let me get a few more miles on these and I'll let you know.

[All images taken by me during my hike in Chataqua Park 7/12/2008. Feel free to use any of them although if you use the one of me, could you Photoshop my belly to that of a twenty year old sprinter. Please.]

Funny: Brussels Sprouts

[Image: captured from http://www.nearingzero.net/master.html]

Stop Motion Animation

Neatorama posted a stop motion animation from PES recently and I liked it so much, I used it as one of my Friday funnies. I was curious about PES and went over to their site to look around and there is lots of great stuff. [Warning---there are a few things here you don't want to show in your classroom, so as always, preview anything you might present to the children and save yourself a trip to the principals office.]

Adam Pesapane is the animator and brains (camera?) behind PES. One thing I love about these films are their use of everyday objects presented in a different way. Clown heads become the flame discharge on a gun (Kaboom). Post-it notes become pats of butter (Western Spaghetti).

He also has a few films that aren't stop motion. For example, "Dogs of War" intermixes some old war footage with modern footage to great effect. I'm going to show this clip to my video students as an example of good editing.

I've embedded a short video from the site made by Adam on the making of "Kaboom". He explains some of the objects in the film and why he used them. This video by itself is a nice piece of film making. Head over to the site and spend an hour or so watching some great little films.





[Image captured from "Making of Kaboom On PES website: http://www.eatpes.com/]

We don't need no stinkin' tent poles!

We laid the tent out flat in a perfect place and staked the corners down. My friend (who shall remain anonymous as I don't want to disparage her reputation in any way) and whose tent we were trying to put up said, "I don't see the support poles."

"Check the bag again."

"I did."

"The car?"

"I did."

"The ground between here and the car? Your other bags? Under the car?"

"I did, I did, and I did!"

She crawled into the tent and laid inside the puddle of canvas with her face pushed up against the mesh of one of the windows. She said, "This isn't so bad. We could just sleep in here like this."

The day before leaving I had taken the rope I usually carry out of my camp box in an effort to consolidate. I should have left out the bottle opener. I never need to open a bottle anymore....pretty much everything I drink now comes out of a pop top. I said, "There has to be something we can use to suspend the tent at least a little bit."

We dug through our supplies looking for twine or string. Finally, staring at my camp box, I realized that the two straps holding the lid on might be able to work as a single support if we could get the tent under a low enough branch. I told my friend (who I have now given the nickname of "Tent-Pole -Girl" which is a friendly mocking way to remind her of her mistake, after all, isn't that what friends are for?) "Hey Tent-Pole-Girl! We need to find a low hanging branch. Maybe we can use these to hold up the center of the tent." I held up the straps.

"Cool and don't call me Tent-Pole-Girl......Old Man."

"Sticks and stones, yadda, yadda, yadda! Find a tree....Tent-Pole Girl."

"Old Man Who Forgets Everything."

"Tent-Pole-Girl."

"Old Man Who Has a List of Every Picky-Uny Thing."

"Tent-Pole-Girl who might have remembered the tent poles if she had a list!"

"Old Man who.......oh wait. How about this branch?" She pointed at one that wasn't too far from the original campsite.

"Pretty good. But the ground is a little slanted."

"Don't have much choice."

"You're right. Lets give it a try."

We jury rigged something that allowed us to suspend the tent at least enough to get it off our faces. We couldn't figure out how to completely get the rain tarps on the tent. If a storm came, we'd have to relocate to the car. Other than that it was workable.

"You are a genius!"

"Yes, I know Tent-Pole-Girl. With age comes wisdom."

"No. Really. You amaze me."

"Enough Tent-Pole-Girl. You are embarrassing me."

"OK...but I just wanted you to know what I thought. And one more thing..."

"Yes, my admiring young friend who is in awe of everything Al."

"Call me Tent-Pole-Girl one more time and I will rub raw bacon on your sleeping bag and you can discuss your cutesy nick names with Smoky the Bear when he comes looking for a pork treat in the middle of the night!"

As it was, other than sliding down the slope to the bottom end of the tent and having to scootch back up once or twice every hour, the night was a peaceful one with no rain. We woke early the next morning and went for a hike in the Poudre Canyon.

Our new motto: "We don't need no stinkin' tent poles!"

[Image of fully assembled tent with poles is from the Coleman web site: http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/detail.asp?product_id=2000000134&categoryid=11020]

Funny: Western Spaghetti (Stop Motion Animation)

Thanks to Neatorama for the link to this clip.

Beautiful shot taken on the Sourdough trail near Ward, Colorado.

Colorado Moose

Ran across this fellow eating aspen bark while camping near the Poudre Canyon in Colorado. I've lived most of my life in this state and it's the first time I've ever seen a moose in the wild here.

There is another one a little further back in the brush that was camera shy, but this young bull struck this pose just for us.

Those Pesky Thank Yous

How many times have we had to sit through the million thank yous that need to be said at the beginning of a big meeting or conference. It's important to acknowledge the folks who put a program together but for most of us sitting in the cheap seats, it has little or no meaning. I ran across this great idea on Cool Tools that was described by Seth Godin on his blog.

Briefly, the suggestion is to build a PowerPoint presentation that can be run in the front of the room before the conference formally starts. The slide show is made up of all the people involved who deserve to be thanked. When you come up to the podium say, something pithy like:

"Let's give a big hand for all the folks who put so much work into making this thing happen. Yeah baby!"

Face the screen and applaud the slide show. Turn it off and then face your audience and get things started. (Adding in the "Yeah Baby!" is my idea and is optional.)

[Image: "supermom with the superyawn - _MG_6221": Flickr: Creative Commons: Uploaded on November 24, 2006 by sean dreilinger]

Funny: Ready for Children?

[Cartoon from XKCD: http://xkcd.com/441/]

Altoids Survival Kit

OK, the Altoids themselves aren't going to save your life, except in the case of a really important blind date and the unfortunate loss of your toothbrush. The idea here, is that the tin itself can be turned into a container for a handy little survival kit. Ron Hood, a survival expert, designed this set-up and briefly explains the reasons behind most of the contents. He mentions the "Rule of Threes" but didn't elaborate. I couldn't easily find any information regarding this on his site, so I did a web search and found many places that mention the concept. This page had an understandable explanation.

Briefly, The Rule of Threes refers to the general parameters that you can live three minutes without air, three hours without shelter, three days without water, and three weeks without food. When going out into the wilderness supplies should reflect this thinking. Pack and plan accordingly. The Altoids survival kit was designed with these rules in mind.

Hood has something called the "Survival Cheat Sheet" in his kit. I found a link to a pdf file and printed it out. It's font is way too small for my old-man eyes and would be useless to me out in the wild. Further searching led me to this Army Survival Manual. It looks like some of the material in the cheat sheet was pulled directly from this source but it's 646 pages would be a bit bulky for an Altoid tin. If anybody has a source for a "cheat sheet" that is a little more legible, leave a response.

Lastly, remember that I am a school teacher who has never had a survival experience other than being dropped into a classroom of rowdy 7th graders. My best advice in a situation like that is to give each child an Altoid and pray for the bell. If you head out into the wilderness with a tiny-tin of supplies because I thought it was cool, you may be cursing me with your last breath as you lay dehydrating in the summer heat. Ask someone who knows first! Remember.....I am the guy who heads out into the woods with a camp box the size of a baby rhino. Condensing everything down to one Altoid tin blows my mind.

[Image: Captured from http://www.survival.com/best.htm]

Camp Box

When I was a kid back in the dark ages, my dad would come home and announce that we were going camping. Mom gathered up the needed supplies and off we went for anywhere from a couple of days to a week of living in the back country. I don't remember much of what mom had to do to prepare except that she had a wooden camp box with all the essential items. She added a few days worth of food and away we went. I've camped off and on as an adult and I've tried a couple of times to recreate a usable camp box. So far, I've not quite managed it. Either my mom and dad were really organized or I'm being too picky about what I want to take. My box is way to small for all the things I think I need.

I had a friend tell me that last time she went camping, she had a cooler and a plastic sack of supplies. Everything was cooked off the grill at the campsite or suspended above the fire with a green stick. She mocked my camp box as I loaded it into the car for our simple overnight trip. It worked out OK although I don't think I've convinced her of the logic of the thing yet.

We were at a site with no tables, big rocks or handy stumps so all tasks had to be done on the ground. I had everything I needed to prepare our meals and clean up but my old crickety back was complaining about all the stooping. Now I am thinking a small folding table might be handy.

Will my list of necessities ever end? Will I eventually give up my quest for the perfect camp box and just buying a Winnebago?

[Image: Picture of my camp box]

Dog Prosthesis

While driving through a back street in Boulder, Colorado last week on my way to a hiking trail, a dog ran in front of our car. That wasn't all that unusual and we braked to keep from hitting him. The unusual part was that he had a home made prosthesis built from what looked like old bicycle wheels to hold him upright. I couldn't tell if he was missing his legs or if they were damaged but he seemed to be able to move just fine.

I wondered if it was this kind of behavior that got him into that doggy wheel chair in the first place.

This article made me think of that back street dog. Her prosthesis is more sophisticated and a little more polished but they both get the job done. [Note: The video doesn't show Hope using her prosthesis....wish they had included a little footage of her in action.]

[Image: captured from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1028681/Pictured-The-puppy-born-legs-whos-using-model-aeroplane-wheels-around.html]

Funny: I Feel Good (stick animation)

Hang up and Drive

Interesting video on multi-tasking by John Medina,the guy who wrote Brain Rules. I haven't read the book but I've seen several little snippits about his work and am thinking it needs to go on my to-read list. For years I've had students (and adults) tell me they could do two things at once. I've always argued that they were really just switching focus. Sometimes really fast. Research may support my opinion for a change. (I'm marking this date on my calendar!)

Medina says that talking on a cell phone while you are driving is like driving drunk in that it decreases your ability to make fast decisions in the same way. (I am paraphrasing here so please watch the video and don't quote me as your source...even though I was right this time....did I mention that I was right?)

So, the question in my mind is not that we immediately stop kids and adults from multitasking but how do we utilize our ability to switch tasks to the best of our brains ability. We need a new word here to describe quickly changing tasks. Something catchy like speed-task, sequa-task, task-task, fast-task or tasoogle!

"Mom, today in tech class we learned to tasoogle between google and yahoo while building a collaborative wiki in our moodle space."

My only question after this, is why do I doodle and draw pictures while I am listening and taking notes? What is it about my learning style that drives me to draw? Am I switching between the two tasks of drawing and listening or is the drawing enhancing my listening? Maybe I'll read the book to find out.






[Image:"Shut up and drive";Uploaded on September 5, 2007 by Schodts; http://www.flickr.com/photos/schodts/1330843003/]

The Lessig Style

I'm a fan of Stanford professor Larry Lessig. Both his presentations and the way he designs them. I first stumbled across one of his talks at the TED site, How Creativity is being Strangled by the Law. I tried to explain the power of his talks to a friend and the best I could come up with were two words: minimal and compelling.

A physicist, Chris Tunnell, wrote a nice piece about the Lessig Style. The author discusses how using these same methods have made his own presentations more popular. He listed the following keypoints of the Lessig Style.

• Minimal Text
• XML Tags
• Re-using images
• Knowing your next slide
• Blank slides

I might add only one item to the list and that is that the presentation is driven by the content. In most cases I feel like Lessig could lose the slides altogether and I would still listen. The slides support him not the other way around. The only thing I don't think I will use in my own presentations are the XML Tags. It works for him. The tags create his "style".

There are lots of Lessig presentations on the web but what I like about the TED presentation I've linked to is that you can see Lessig as he is talking. It's more like what I would expect in a classroom. You don't have to agree with him to appreciate his craftsmanship. Check him out.

[Image captured from TED talk: How Creativity is being Strangled by the Law: http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/187]

Funny: I Will Derive (music video)

I never advanced as far as calculus, yet, I still thought this was funny.

Puppet building

Gryphern has created a cool DIY video on making a puppet that uses some internal linkages to control mouth movement and to wag it's tail. The action is run by your hand on the under-belly of the puppet. There are some nice illustrations to show how the linkages are put together along with some close-up shots of the tricky parts. The puppet takes little in the way of tools so is accessible to most folks, even with limited resources.

Puppet making is one of those seemingly simple activities that can teach multiple lessons and skills. Design. Simple machines. Construction.

Then when the puppet is done, a whole new set of lessons and skills can be developed. Writing. Storytelling. Drama. Oral Presentation.

I loved getting my middle schoolers to build puppets. They complained at the start as it being "for little kids" but as the projects went on, they always got more into it.




[Image captured from "How to make a puppet that bites and wags when held": Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LBhoCtEKhE]

Slowing down for the summer

School is out in my neck of the woods.

Since my audience is mostly educators, I am assuming, that like me, a lot of you will be taking summer classes and starting those summer projects.

I'm going to cut back on the number of times I post a week to just a couple times a week. Probably Mondays and Wednesdays.

No promises though!

I'll start blogging more often in mid august when I return to school and the demands of life take on a different flavor.

Relax and enjoy the slower pace.

[Image: "Garden Contemplation" taken by Lari]

Funny: My homework ate my...

[Image:‘Cartoon by Nick D Kim, nearingzero.net. Used by permission.’]

Quick Forms using Google Docs

I read about this Form function in Google Docs, then watched the embedded video below and was blown away. I know that I got here a few months after the party started (it was released in January) but it looks like it is going to be a great tool for educators. Right off the top of my head I can think of the following uses:

• Collect student information on first day of class
• Collect information from staff
• Create a fast survey
• Create a quick quiz
• Collect data from friends and family (birthdays, anniversaries, etc)

I'll share my progress as I experiment with this over the next couple of months and prepare some things to start the 2008 school year. I am jumping in with a quick one question survey for my readers as my first try at creating a form.


I'll post the information I gathered in a week and give some feedback on how well it worked.





[Image: Flickr: "Survey Says..."; hfabulous: http://www.flickr.com/photos/henryfaber/230444653/]

Powers of Ten

Cool video from the 70's demonstrating scale first by zooming out and then by zooming in. Neat way to look at huge numbers and the relative size of things. The film stops at the subatomic layer with the mention of quarks. I wondered what it would look like based on today's understanding of the atom so I did a quick search and came up with all kinds of visualizations of the different types of quarks.

I left school (K-12) with a picture in my mind of an atom that looked like planets circling the sun. Any of you who went to school in the fifties or sixties will remember this. (The picture above is close to what I remember in my high school text book.) I had this image as a working frame of reference for years until I sat down with a science teacher at a conference once and he explained that my "planetary" model wasn't really current. He gave me a short description of current thinking and never laughed at me once.

This demoed two things to me. One, knowledge changes (possibly expands would be a better word). We hear about information learned in a science class being obsolete by the time a college student graduates. My world view in terms of this particular bit of science was out of date and I didn't know it. I don't know if this changed anything in my life?

The second thing this experience helped me realize is the power of a good illustration or visual. I am a strong visual learner. If I can see it, it helps me to understand it. At the time I was taught the first illustration, science had already moved beyond that picture. I know why textbooks liked it. It was clear. It was concise. You could label the parts on a quiz. The second illustration is not quite so simple. It's a little harder to label. But, it does give me a better way to visualize an atom.

For all I know, my science teacher told me that the first picture wasn't a perfect illustration. He may have even talked about the current understanding of an atom. He may have drawn other pictures on the board. But, it was the first one that I remembered and used in my mind on those occasions that I thought about atoms.

As teachers we need to remind ourselves often that the "Map is not the territory." Illustrations are good. Visuals are important. But they are abstract and sometimes young concrete thinkers confuse the symbol with the reality.









[Image captured from Wikipedia: Atom: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atom]
[Image captured from "Rust never sleeps": http://http://www.glenair.com/qwikconnect/vol7num4/atom_illustration.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.glenair.com/qwikconnect/vol7num4/coverstory.htm&h=341&w=288&sz=13&hl=en&start=2&sig2=KqFhrH4FXb5NsyeXcTRU_Q&um=1&tbnid=_y_eols1Bxt8oM:&tbnh=120&tbnw=101&ei=SsM6SJ6BCIeOigHxjYG7CA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Datom%
2Billustration%2Bwrong%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DG]

Concentration

I took a part-time job recently scoring written responses to a state test. The task was challenging and tedious. I worked in a large room with several hundred people broken up into smaller groups. Cell phones had to be turned off. We were asked to talk in our "library voices." We couldn't wear headphones or any kind of music player.

The music player thing made sense to me as a teacher. I don't allow my students to listen to their players except for very specific circumstances. I know that some classrooms ban them completely. In the middle school where I used to work, if we saw them, we were required to confiscate them. Actually, all the rules about noise made sense. We were reading and thinking and the quiet atmosphere made sense.

Here's the thing.

I had a hard time concentrating. Once I was competent in scoring a response and I had done over fifty or so, my mind wanted to wander. Any noise. Any laugh, cough or sneeze was enough to pull me out of my head into the world in which I sat. When there was appropriate discussion between our supervisor with someone, I listened. If there was inappropriate discussion about the traffic, the job or the air conditioner, I listened. I didn't have to be part of the discussion. It could be the two folks next to me or at the table behind me or across the room. I stopped scoring and attended to the distraction. Then I'd have to rein in my roaming attention and bring it back to the task I was being paid to do.

At home, I can control my environment to the point that I can sit for 3-4 hours and concentrate on a task. I don't do this with the TV on as I end up watching and not working. I can listen to music as long as it has no words or I stop working and start singing. If I really need to shut out the world and focus completely, I listen to white noise through my iPod. When I have control of my environment, I'm able to attend to a task for long periods of time. So, my experience with this scoring job has got me to thinking about kids and their music players. Maybe it's not that they are always trying to do more than one thing at a time or trying to block us out. Maybe they are trying to limit their inputs so they can focus? (At least some of the time.)

Rather than telling kids what they can't do, maybe I need to spend some time telling them how to better utilize the tools they have. I know I 'll share my experiences with my students next year when we talk about appropriate use of personal electronics. We all can learn to work smarter. It just may not look the same for everyone.

[Image: "distraction": Al Gunn]

Thumb Piano

Saw this idea for using a grounding block to make a thumb piano somewhere last spring but I only got as far as pricing the pieces at my local hardware store before getting sidetracked by other things (not unusual for me). Forgot about it until this posting on Make about a cool looking thumb piano.

There are lots of good shots of the builder's finished instruments and some modifications he made to add some buzzing to the sound on his flickr photostream.

While searching for some information on grounding blocks, I found what I think is the first post I saw last year on Instructables. It is by the same guy who made the one shown.

When I went looking for a grounding bar, I had a few difficult moments explaining to the gentleman at the hardware store what I wanted. It didn't help that I needed one to build a musical instrument and really didn't know the real use of the item except that vaguely it was used for "grounding". After searching the electrical section of the store he eventually helped me find it.



To save you some time I captured a picture of a grounding bar in the package and a link to Ace Hardware. This link may not last forever and if it gets changed just go to Ace and search for "ground bar kit". Or print this picture out before heading off to the store. Maybe you can avoid having your hardware clerks whisper about you and draw straws to see who has to wait on you while you wander the aisles.












[Image from flicker: Uploaded on May 13, 2008 by yapruder: http://www.flickr.com/photos/41969054@N00/2490215681/]

[2nd Image captured from ACE Hardware Site: http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1297989&cp=&sr= 1&origkw=grounding+bar&kw=grounding+bar&parentPage=search&searchId=35421302134]

Low Tech Palm Pilot

Before I ever had a PDA, I had my hand to jot down phone numbers, call numbers for books at the library, addresses and names. Sometimes they lasted long enough for me to make a hard copy at home. Usually they lasted long enough for me to complete my task. Here is a company who has made the process better (?) by giving you a template of a blank to-do list you can tattoo onto your hand. They include a handy marker that you can use to fill in the blanks. The company that makes these tattoos (markets them?) is called Fred & Friends.

By the way, in case you were wondering what my second most common place is to take notes? Fast food napkins. Numerous story ideas, sketches and the usual phone number/address info got their start on a paper napkin while eating lunch at any number of hamburger joints. Numerous bits of these data memes also ended up as little glumps of useless paper after going through the wash. Any day some enterprising young entrepreneur will start offering grainy, flimsy napkins in a handy notepad pack. Just perfect for capturing that million dollar idea! Possibly water resistant so those brilliant thoughts won't be destroyed by the rinse cycle. But I digress.

Fred & Friends has a bunch of items I've seen referenced on the web before but never bothered to follow up on. Like a delete fly swatter (wacker shaped like a delete key), Holy Toast Makers (make your toast a religious experience) and Pick Your Nose cups (cups with noses on them that look like they belong to you when you drink). The embedded video highlights the Pick Your Nose cup. It is hard to explain but makes perfect sense once you see it in use!

Look through their catalog and you'll find at least one silly-gag or possibly unbelievably useful gift item. I've not bought anything from them (yet) so can't vouch for the company, but I am already writing up a wish list. Maybe by the time I get my order ready, they will have that whole waterproof/napkin/notepad idea worked out and on the market?





[Image captured from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/sr=41-226/qid=1192045941/
ref=sr_in_F_p_4_225/104-3140738-5983938?ie=UTF8&rs=284507&field-brandtextbin=
Fred&rh=n%3A1055398%2Cn%3A284507%2Cp%5F4%3AFred&page=1]

Funny: The World of Chemistry

Building a Shed

I've been thinking about building a shed. I live in a suburban neighborhood and I don't want the shed to be taller than my fence as my neighbors already have to look at me in my summer cut-offs and sexy, stained TIE conference t-shirt during the summer. They don't need to have a shed in their line of sight too.

I looked at a few pre-built buildings and they are either too tall or too small for what I want. What I want is a place I can keep my mower and various tools. My garage isn't big enough for all the garden stuff, my power tools and two vehicles. Part of the reason this project has been on the back burner for so long is that the part of my yard where I want it is slanted and covered in rock. I hate moving rock!

Seeing this article on Make about a man who built his own shed has got me motivated to at least come up with a design. He has several features that I may adapt to my own situation. He uses four strong corner posts. I think I could do something like that and it might save me lots of time trying to level an area of ground and moving all that rock. He also has a lattice system for the floor that he then fills with gravel. I could do something similar and once again save some time in regards to leveling the area where I want to build.

Now I just have to figure out how to make something that isn't tall but is still functional. I am currently playing with the idea of a roof that can be lifted up. I guess rather than a shed, it would be more like a big storage box with a door on one side where I could roll in the mower.

If I actually do get any further than thinking about it, I will post some pictures.

[Image captured from http://www.yourmissus.com/shed/pages/DSCN0417.html]

Egg Smashing Goldberg Machine

I'm a sucker for these Rube Goldberg machines. If you're trying to design your own machine, this video has at least a dozen possibilities you could adapt for your own contraption.

Catchy music too!




[Image captured from video: Creme that Egg: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrCb_fNmSTA&eurl=http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=19364023&postID=983807203462776513

High school student isolates microbe that breaks down plastic

Saw a reference to this article and tracked it down at TheRecord.Com. Seems that a Daniel Burd, a high school student in Canada, got curious about how to deal with all the plastic he saw around him. He started experimenting to find the microbes that eat it. His thinking was if he could isolate them and concentrate them, then maybe he could speed up the process. (Anything that might shorten the 1000 year process would be helpful) He succeeded and won the Canada Wide Science Fair along with a $10,000 dollar prize and a hefty scholarship.

Read the article for a description of how he set up his experimental process. Interesting.

Share this with your students when they complain about not being able to do anything. Inspiring.

[Image captured from Youth Science Foundation Canada: http://apps.ysf-fsj.ca/virtualcwsf/projectdetails.php?id=1390&year=2008&province=&keyword=plastic&name=&categoryid=3&divisionid=&regionid=]

Mars Lander

Here's one of the first pictures back from the Phoenix Mars Lander. A shot of the Martian arctic plains.

On Mars!

Another planet!

Come on....it's a picture sent from another freakin' planet!!!

When did landing a spacecraft on another world become so.....everyday? I remember going to the gymnasium of my elementary school to watch one of the early space shots on a black and white TV. We gathered around and the principal told us that history was being made.

Now it's a short clip on the evening news and maybe your kids science teacher will mention it tomorrow.

Check it out and follow the mission at the NASA site.


[Image captured from NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/images/press/false_color_postcard_edr.html]

Doodle Winner

Google ran a contest where students could design a new Google logo based on the theme, "What if..." A winner was picked last week and it is a 6th grader from California, Grace (Suryung) Moon.

Grace describes her Doodle:

"My doodle, "Up in the Clouds," expresses a world in the sky. This new world is clean and fresh, and people are social and enlightened. Every person here is treated as family no matter who they are. The bright sun heats this ideal place with warmth, love, and brightens everyone's day."

For more information on the contest and links to see some of the runners up go here.

[Image captured from http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/we-have-doodle-4-google-national-winner.html]

Funny: The Tunstallator

KT Tunstall and animatronics. Who could ask for more? Possibly the Dylanator? I'm headed out to my garage right now!

IM isn't destroying our language

We teachers who sit around the lunch room lamenting the language skills of our students and blaming email and instant messaging all have to take a step back after reading this article, Researchers: written English language will weather LOL storm and will need to find something new to blame.

"Everybody thinks kids are ruining their language by using instant messaging, but these teens' messaging shows them expressing themselves flexibly through all registers," Tagliamonte said in 2006 after completing the research for the paper. "They actually show an extremely lucid command of the language. We shouldn't worry."

Perhaps we can now blame teachers. Naw....how about parents. No, I like parents. I know, the government. If all else fails, blame the government!

Are you Hyperconnected?

No off switch: "Hyperconnectivity" on the rise is an article recently posted on ars technica. It discusses a new kind of worker that is constantly connected to work via their electronic devices. The lines between work and home are blurring for these folks and their numbers are growing.

"These individuals were found in all countries surveyed, though China and the US have the highest ratios. Banking and high-tech industries contained a higher concentration of hyperconnected individuals who are found most often in management positions, and 60 percent were under the age of 35. Hyperconnected individuals don't view themselves as early adopters of technology; their lifestyle simply seems normal."

What are the implications to productivity and a person's level of stress as the lines between work and home blur? Interesting article.

I've often thought that teachers suffered this problem even before the advent of computers, cell phones and other electronics. As a group we are notorious for taking our work home with us. We grade papers and plan lessons on the couch while watching Star Trek reruns. We take pictures, read books and attend events with a part of our brain always wondering how we could use this information in our classroom. Back when outside phone lines were limited and caller ID wasn't so easily available, I did many of my parent contacts in the afternoon and early evening when I got home. (Usually grading papers while I talked.)

Sit outside a school and watch teachers walk to their cars at the end of the day. English teachers are identifiable by the the crate of papers they haul with them. Many have those little portable airport luggage dollys to which they can strap down a box or two of ungraded essays for easy transport from desk to car to kitchen table. Go to any meeting and you will see at least one teacher who is grading papers while participating in the discussion. Some teachers look like they are taking copious notes during the weekly staff meeting, when in actuality, they are planning their lessons for tomorrows sub.

Educators have been multi-tasking for years.

[Image: flickr: "My Laptop Bag-Work Version" Uploaded on September 17, 2007 by JaseMan: Creative Commons]

Marble Adding Machine

Saw this Binary Marble Adding Machine on the Nuts and Volts site I posted about recently. I've watched the video several times now and am fascinated by the mechanical action.

Fun to show in a math class or a programming class. The author had this to say about how he designed the rockers.

"Also tricky was getting the rockers to consistently work. I spent a lot of time figuring out what dimensions to make them so that they would correctly work, even if two marbles arrive onto the rocker right on top of each other. I knew it was physically possible to build such a rocker, because the lego rockers I built into the original Lego marble machine had this property by a fluke. The trick turned out to be to make peak of the rocker, which divides the marbles, short enough, and the rocker shallow enough. That way, if a marble arrives before the rocker has had a chance to flip, the previous marble, which is still on the rocker, will deflect the next marble onto the other side, even if the rocker has not yet flipped. "

The web page has lots of closeup photos and design explanations.



[Image captured from http://woodgears.ca/marbleadd/]

Skills Revolution

Found this interesting article in New York Times by David Brooks called, "The Cognitive Age". Good discussion of globalization and how many politicians are missing the bigger issue. Here is a short juicy quote:

"The central process driving this is not globalization. It’s the skills revolution. We’re moving into a more demanding cognitive age. In order to thrive, people are compelled to become better at absorbing, processing and combining information. This is happening in localized and globalized sectors, and it would be happening even if you tore up every free trade deal ever inked."

[Image: Flickr: "This is my brain": Uploaded on November 23, 2006 by killermonkeys: Creative Commons]

Funny: Hash Browns

Nuts and Volts

While reading the latest issue of The Technology Teacher I came across a reference to this website, Nuts and Volts. The article referred to it being a good resource for teachers. So, I grabbed the URL and took a look.

First thing I discovered was that it's a combination print/online magazine. There were several projects I was interested in reading about but couldn't access because I'm not a member. To access all the content, you need to be subscribed. I saw several things I would of liked to read but couldn't get to. Enough to subscribe to the magazine? Not sure yet.

There is a lot of content here for the non-subscriber. They have an active blog that I enjoyed reading. I found a lot of tech related news and links to the source articles. There is enough here to bring me back even if I'm not a member.

You can sign up for a trial issue and subscription before laying your money down. I'm not sure I have time for one more monthly magazine? If anybody else out there is a subscriber, let us know what you think.

[Image captured from http://www.nutsvolts.com/preview.php?issue=69]

Fix your own bike

Saw a link for building your own recumbent bike posted on Make and since my brother-in-law keeps telling me I should get one of these, I checked it out.

The site is called How to Fix Bikes and the article on building a recumbent bike was interesting. The whole site is a nice little find. Lots of how to articles for working on your own bike. Now, I am not an avid biker and while I do own a bike I have to say I am not an expert on bikes or their maintenance and repair. Saying that, I found the articles I looked at to be clear and easy to follow. You can click on many of the photos to enlarge them. There are some video segments as well.

Check it out. You may not build a recumbent but you may be inspired to replace that rusty chain.

[Image captured from http://howtofixbikes.blogspot.com/]

Keyboard pants

These pants may be even a bit too geeky for me to wear. Now if you printed one on the left arm of a long sleeve shirt, I might consider that. After all I don't want to stand out too much in a crowd.

Or...I had a thought looking at these jeans. When I am running laps I sometimes keep track of the count by placing my thumb on the joints of my fingers. I start with the first joint of my pinky. If I move over each joint of my little finger to the tip I can count up to four. Four fingers lets me keep track of up to 16 laps.

Two hands gives the possibilty of 32 pointers. More than enough to create a keyboard using the possible two hand combinations. It wouldn't be any more awkward than some of the miniature phone keyboards folks use now a days. Also it would help you avoid some of the embarrassing keyboard pants jokes you'd be the brunt of if you wore these pants. Like:

"That boy is spending way too much time hitting the space bar!"
"All that touch typing will make you go blind!"
"Hands off the keyboards!"
"No hitting below home row!"
"Keep a cap lock on that or it's going to get you in trouble some day!"
"Men don't care about your keyboard, only their own!"

Adolescence is tough enough. Adulthood ain't always a piece of cake either. I think I will skip the pants.

[Image captured from website: http://www.vouspensez.com/2008/04/22/the-geekiest-pants-ever/]

Two Million Minutes

Two Million Minutes is a documentary that follows six students through high school in India, China and the United States. The title refers to the number of minutes a student spends in high school. I've embedded the trailer below. The web site has lots of interesting information on how our educational systems differ. I haven't seen the film yet but am going to try and make it to one of the screenings. It sounds thought provoking.

The executive director of the film, Robert Compton says in one of the related videos that American students say they "can't" do something when they score badly in a subject. Foreign students say they did badly because they didn't "work hard enough." He adds, "They don't set limits on themselves."

[Image captured from video Two Million Minutes: Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZnSG6gg1vs]

Funny: Nothing to be worried about. They put their pants on one leg at a time!