These are the words you never want to hear in the Internet industry. Now, as the classroom has become Internet dependent due to COVID-19, connection downtime is inevitable. Unfortunately my school has experienced it today. This has to be the downfall of the paperless/cloud-dependent hybrid classroom. To defeat this day, I can only say that if I only had a hot spot that could handle Zoom sessions, life would be sweet right now. However having a contingency plan for network outages is always something to consider for uninterrupted learning opportunities.
Recent Updates
[Day 1] Too blessed to be stressed…
Last week, NC decided to shut down schools and move towards online learning. Believe it or not, I have been preparing for this day for a while. But the hand is being forced upon all including the Luddites. I currently blend technology in my daily instruction. Now, I get to flip my classroom and use Zoom to conference call students to address questions. Resources that I use is Khan Academy, Delta Math, and Edpuzzle for interactive videos. I am currently working on recording content at this time and will keep posting my experience with this situation.
Thanksgiving…
As I get a moment to sit down and collect my thoughts, I am thankful to be sitting in my classroom with a few students that are dedicated to making up missing work. I am totally exhausted from all events that have come before me. However, I am here finally jotting a few words. Knowing that this year is almost over, I have to get back into the swing of things in sharing and reflecting on my interactions and activities from the week. I am especially thankful for writing this blog post on a Microsoft Surface. My experience with this device has been refreshing. I am also thankful for going to some awesome professional development for the past few weeks. But most of all, I am thankful for a beautiful life, beautiful family, and beautiful friends. God bless…
Inserting originality daily in math
This semester, I plan to do a few things differently. One thing I plan to do is to use 
these two greek letters Phi & Psi in my class activities.
Ψ (Psi) = date (ie. 23)
Φ (Phi) = student’s seat number
This would all students to see relationships of numbers and also bring authenticity to student work. I will later give examples and share my students’ artifacts.
The Litmus Student
As an educator, over the years, you wonder if you are actually making a difference daily. Are you increasing the production of students’ dendrites? Every teacher unconsciously looks for the student, usually the (static) ‘smart one’, to see if learning is occurring; or to verify that all actions towards learning isn’t futile.
I charge teachers to select not the brightest but someone (dynamic) else to target learning goal/objective achievement. This is the ‘litmus’ student. The best one would be selected randomly each day or each quarter. Just a quick informal feedback to self to see what is really going on in the classroom.
North Carolina to Pearson: We Want Our Money Back!
We are still having PowerSchool woes. It is very unfortunate that Pearson doesn’t have a PLAN B for system to handle server or database issues. Whatever happened to if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it with the other eSIS system?
North Carolina officials are trying to get a refund from Pearson because of flaws in the data system that Pearson is running for the state.
Pearson is charging the state $7.1 million for its information system but it doesn’t work.
Here are some of the problems with Pearson’s PowerSchool:
CMS POWERSCHOOL WOES
At the Observer’s request, CMS produced a summary of ongoing problems with PowerSchool.
• Transcripts: Cannot produce transcripts for mid-year graduates. System maintenance has wiped out some data for other students.
• Athletic eligibility: PowerSchool cannot generate eligibility reports. CMS created a local system.
• Driver’s license eligibility: Can’t create reports that verify students’ eligibility.
• Graduates and dropouts: Reporting systems on retention, promotion and graduation don’t work; there is no dropout reporting system.
• School activity reports: CMS has created work-around systems because of flaws in reports that track teacher qualifications and student-teacher ratios.
• Enrollment: Monthly…
View original post 36 more words
LinkedIn vs Facebook
There is little to compare in between these two social media powerhouses. However, why is it that we spend more time on one than the other? Especially if one can enrich our professional growth versus increasing our virtual popularity. I’ve decided to move my limited online time to my blog and LinkIn sites versus wasting time on evil FB. Don’t get me wrong, FB has it’s place. I know some people actually use FB professionally, but the distractions and privacy issues outweigh the positives for using it constructively.
I’m Baaaaaack! Took break due to…..
…MENTAL EXHAUSTION! Instead of blogging, I’ve been hitting the pavement exercising both running and cycling. However, this summer I will work on a life balance and factor blog writing in the equation.
Now that testing and the 2013-14 academic school is finally over, I can do some reflection and planing for the next school year. Some summer projects I would like to work on:
- Integration of fitness and nutrition with current CCSS math curriculum (especially since it a part of the health literacy component of the 21st century framework )
- Delve into the hype of Rasberry Pi and make “heads or tails” of it
- Decide to either use my Edmodo, Moodle or iTunes-U with my classes.
- Work on a EdTech publication! It’s time to share with the world all of the useful knowledge in my head
- Either dye or pluck out all of the gray hair from my head due to stress (just kidding)
I am planning to attend to CMS Summer Institute (#CMSSI14) for two weeks. I am a little excited about this conference and of course I will share my excitement here. Enough of my rambling, let me get back to boxing up my classroom…
Pack rat powers, activate!
Who is Ethan Young?
The other day after a common planning session, one of my colleagues shared this video of a student. You may see him an an ordinary pupil, but he speaks for the millennial masses under the Common Core standards reform. With an open mind, please check out this video and share your thoughts.
Is this an examplar of what Einstein deeply feared?
“I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.” Albert Einstein
I do believe that we have arrived to the confirmation of Mr. Einstein’s famous quote. If you don’t believe me, please check out this video and I’ll let you make the determination to see how far fetched it is from reality…
Mr. R's Blogspot 2.0 