April 28, 2007 by jmmblake.

While waiting for our family dog, Gavin, to finish his appointment at the groomer, I stopped by a local WiFi hotspot to kills some time.  It is very generous of the kind folks at NCEZ.net to leave a wireless port open.  I have known about this free WiFi hotspot for some time, but never really took time to try it.  Thanks guys! 

As I was coming out of the groomer’s, I walked into a fellow educator.  The first thing out of her mouth was Congratulations.  Well, I thought she was talking about our daughter’s recent graduation from college, or her engagement.  But, to my surprise, the teacher, said I read that you are retiring.  Well, I almost could not say anything.  Then she told me that our local NCAE newsletter had listed my name as one of the teachers retiring this year.  I just laughed and told her that it was a mistake.  I was definitely not planning to retire.  I bet I checked the wrong box on a recent form we filled out for our local NCAE.  The form has two parts.  One part was for retirees to be included as retiring at our May banquet.  The other part was to say you were planning to attend and eat, and celebrate the retirement of others in our district.  Geez, this is embarrassing.  I guess I should just not go to the banquet.  Everyone there will be like- oh, congratulations.  I will spend the whole time explaining how it was a mixup and, well– crap.

To top that, I was sitting at the table, eating my microwaved leftovers from San Jose Mexican Restaurant and the Jehovah’s Witness folks rang the doorbell.  And guess what,  it was a retired math teacher, that I worked with for many years.  Smiling and asking about how I had been and that she did not know I lived here and small talk.  Then she asked me if we were closing down the alternative school I work at. 

In this weeks News Reporter, “Alternative School to close in June”.  Ok, news flash, it is not North Whiteville Academy.  Come on Fuller Royal, “Nakina Alt to close in June” may have been a better title for a dang front page “news crier”.  Controversy sells newspapers, but it also confuses the public.  It took me several minutes of talking with the well-educated/retired/math teacher/Jehovah’s Witness.  I know the parents of our kids and community members will be thinking ‘oh well, we might as well close ours too’.  Wrong.  The students attending North Whiteville Academy are making progress.  They are mastering math, reading, technology skills, and most importantly interpersonal skills.  I appreciate the kind comments from the News Reporter Editorial comment:

North Whiteville Academy, the alternative school component of Whiteville City Schools, has been a success, but it deals with fewer students who get more individualized attention. Maybe the county’s twilight schools, which will divide alternative school candidates among the three county high schools, will do a better job with fewer students per teacher. Source: http://www.whiteville.com/pages/2007WEBPAGES/APRIL2007/4.26.07/editthurs.html

It must be a day for signs.  

Maybe it is just that time of year. My lawn, which is mostly weeds, needs mowing.  The weather is nice and warm.  It is 87 degrees F.  The Moon is waxing, and according to an astrological timetable, based on the Moon’s signs, showing the best days for certain activities it is one of the best days: Go to the dentist. Monday, April 30- Best days: Begin diet to gain weight.  What? Gain Weight?  I need a nap.

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April 8, 2007 by jmmblake.

Ok, so check it out, dawg…here’s an example of what you can do with the new “My Maps” feature from Google. Go on…go look.

Now, if your head ain’t swimmin’ with ideas like mine is… My children don’t know it yet, but they just became the map makers for all travel related to the Richardson family. (And we just figured out that the whole clan is going to Australia this summer.) I can’t wait to show them this.

I know this isn’t news, but this is the kind of stuff that still gives me butterflies. Stupid, I know. It’s also the kind of stuff that I want to go running into schools with, shouting “Look what our kids can create! Look what they can contribute!”

It’s a great time to be a learner, isn’t it? Very cool…  Check out Step #19 in the directions

By Will Richardson.

If any of my students go out of town during vacation, I hope to challenge them make their own map. 

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April 5, 2007 by jmmblake.

Newbie’s guide to Twitter | Webware : Cool Web apps for everyone

What is Twitter?

Twitter is an online service that enables you to broadcast short messages to your friends or “followers.” It also lets you specify which Twitter users you want to follow so you can read their messages in one place.

A popular Twitterer
(Credit: CNET Networks)

Twitter is designed to work on a mobile phone as well as on a computer. All Twitter messages are limited to 140 characters, so each message can be sent as a single SMS alert. You can’t say much in 140 characters. That’s part of Twitter’s charm.

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April 2, 2007 by jmmblake.

Twittervision

Now
that Twitter is taking the web by storm, here is a mash - up of Google
maps and Twitter allowing you to see all of the Twitterers (Twits?)
posts in real time posted on a world map.

Twittervision

Thanks to Gaping Void.

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