meditationananswer for me

TM-The TM technique is not a religion, philosophy, or lifestyle. No belief or expectation is needed for it to be effective. after my stoke i lost the center of my worl my wife Dianne passed awayfromcancer anyone who knows me they knew dianne was the cener of my life friends reached out trying to help me. i could not stop thinking about her my mind raced when I tried to sleep Iouldn't sleep I realized i needed to quiet my mind.i lesrned how to meditate aftermy senior year of highschool. i had test anxiety. i would fail test i knew the answers for i went to a preparatory in Columbia south Carolina my mentor john Bridgers set me up to meet with psychologist to help me with my test anxiety.he taught me relaxation exercises. after I learnedthis techniqueI used it three times during the exam  I improved my sat score by 100 points.the dorm exam i stayed I used thitechniqueduring my act score was 29now. i couldn't slep alli di was to dream about my wife.i needed to calm my mind so i turned to meditation now i am moving toward transcendental meditation.

i have been able to shut down my random thoughts it has helped my health.Hundreds of studies have been conducted at more than 200 independent universities and research institutions, and published in peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals.The National Institutes of Health (NIH) have awarded over $26 million to research TM’s effectiveness on stress and stress-related conditions.The National Institutes of Health (NIH) have awarded over $26 million to research TM’s effectiveness on stress and stress-related conditions.

 

Published 2000 to present

• Barnes VA, Bauza LB, Treiber FA. Impact of stress reduction on negative school behavior in adolescents. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 2003 1(1):10
• Barnes VA, Treiber FA, Davis H. Impact of Transcendental Meditation on cardiovascular function at rest and during acute stress in adolescents with high normal blood pressure. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 2001 51(4):597-605
•  to learn more......www.tm.org

sharing how my students use the tech we use in the classroom

We had just finished a series of lessons on the Renaissance in my AP European History class when it became clear that a massive review was needed to cement their understanding of this time period. Learning from a missed opportunity with my AP World History Class we used Google Documents in a Wiki like fashion to create a study guide for their assessment.

Setting up a document in Google Docs was all the input I had on this activity. I wanted the class to create their own guide so I picked a student to type and another to guide the discussion of what should be put in the document.

Student immediately began by creating a list of terms of people, places and things. Then they realized they needed to set it up into categories such as exist in the themes of AP Euro. They created a time line, separated the popes and major families of each city state, political thinkers, and information specific to each city state including Naples. They addressed the painters, writers, clergy and women of the Renaissance as well as the differences between the Italian and Northern Renaissance. Finally, they created questions that might possibly be on the assessment. Sitting in a corner of the room I was impressed with what they had achieved from this activity. They had created a working skeleton for their study guide. All I had to do was share it with them on Google Docs and watch them work together to fill out the study guide that they created.

Thirty one students working together to build an exhaustive study guide was fun to watch. Student’s worked on it from different locations, times and with a variety of devices. Some used their cell phones or iPads to add and edit information. Some would work on it at unusual times such as the time stamp of 2:00 am on a few revisions.

I asked my students how they felt about the process of creating their own study guide. They said they liked it because it helped them “recall things” that they had forgotten and would not have thought to study. I plan to set up a poll to get more direct feedback. The only thing I did was to help with a little crowd control.

The only drawback for this activity was that the information was being entered so fast that the word processing program for Google Docs could not keep up with the typist. It was a small price to pay for such a cool activity. Hopefully, Google will work to incorporate a better or faster word processing program in the future.

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Humor in the WEB 2.0 Classroom

Posted on August 8, 2010

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When you begin this new school year creating your lessons incorporating Web 2.0 ideas don’t forget to add a little humor.

“Humor is mankind’s greatest blessing.” Mark Twain

“Humor is the affectionate communication of insight. “Leo Rosten

Humor is important to me and I use it often in my classes. I make no apologies about it. There is a fine line between a stand up routine and using humor as a tool to focus on an event or topic, to create transitions in class, moving from one activity to the next or just to draw the class closer together in a common sharing of a story or idea. Okay, so sometimes, I do both but never at the same time and sometimes not even in the same hemisphere (of the brain), but they are always related to my subject…most of the time.

I have given workshops in both Drama and Comedy in the Classroom for teachers. It never amazes me how little humor we have in our profession or how scared we are to be humorous because we are afraid to reveal aspects of ourselves to our students. This is because we confuse laughter with Humor. Notice I am not talking about laughter and humor together. There are good reasons not to do this. Laughter and humor are qualitatively different phenomena. Laughter is an event in the physical world. Humor is a construct. I am speaking solely about the construct. We can control the humor to our benefit and our students.

At the beginning of ever school year we talk about hurricane season and what we are expected to do in our community. During the Hurricanes of 2004 season we were hit by three hurricanes so I share this little anecdote with my students. (You should know this about me before you read this and that is I am a large man 2x to 3x large.)

The Red Cross and the military brought in cases of bottle water for the families that live in my neighbor near Lake Okeechobee, since all the electricity was out in the area, our water pumps didn’t work for weeks at a time. Generally people would use only one bottle of water for bathing per two or three days, however my wife knew the truth…I was a two bottle man.

I paused and waited to see their response. Moments of quiet can be a wonderful tool for thinking. They looked at me for a moment and then I held my hands to my side and the kids realized, that I am a large round man. Some of them began to understand, and then it begins. First with a few snickers or disgusted looks and it works its way around the class with quite laughter or an oh, my gosh expressions until nearly everyone gets it. I am fat. The best and most effective cooperative learn activity that day and they didn’t even realize what they were doing.

Now, I take that cooperative moment and have them either write about their own experiences during those same Hurricanes in a journal or at a class blog or texting their story in 140 character moments on Twitter among friends or go to Google docs and create one document where all 30-35 students can share their experiences.

A fellow teacher friend of mine who attended one of my workshops and who isn’t found of humor in the classroom herself, tried one in her literature classes and she told me the kids were stunned that she “told a joke”. It made her smile and it stayed with her the rest of the day. The students went back to work wondering what had happen to their teacher. I know because they also told me.

Humor is a tool just like a computer is a tool or white book markers are tools or Google is a tool. It is how we use our tools as teachers that help our students grow and develop.

Now if the result from your anecdote is laughter than you have bonded the humor and laughter as one. Hey, here is something most people forget. Kids (students) love to laugh and they will love you for it.

Laughter is the closest distance between two people.” Victor Borge

Last but not least, humor is also good for one’s mental health. We seem to live in a world of standardized examinations in which many children are overwhelmed with anxiety for fear of being cited as a failure by administration, teachers and parents. I have found it useful to have them read something humorous to cut the tension before taking the exam. Here is an example of a story that I’ve used as the introduction to many of my semester exams over the years and you are welcome to use it as I did.

Something for you to read before you take this Semester Exam. Enjoy.

According to a radio report, a middle school in Oregon was faced with a unique problem. A number of girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints.

Finally the principal decided that something had to be done. She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the custodian. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every day.

To demonstrate how difficult it was to clean the mirrors, she asked the custodian to clean one of the mirrors. He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it into the toilet and then cleaned the mirror.

Since then there have been no lip prints on the mirror “True Story”

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Introductions and Purpose

Posted on July 29, 2010

I’ve always like beginnings. This blog feels like it needs one. So here it goes… I am a teacher who has engaged in many different activities and jobs in my life. I was an accomplished athlete, a retail buyer, a construction worker, a truck parts manager, a mental health technician,copier salesman, a coach, athletic director, actor, an asst. director. I have acted on stage, on radio, performed and directed improv comedy and regional theatre. I have written articles for publications, scripts for on-stage performances as well as improv skits. I have taught acting and Web Design to students for many years. I have presented numerous workshops on technology and pod casting in the classroom. I have been a technology geek for decades. I am a TWIT and a Twitter.  Recently, I have found a love for illustration and art. Even though I have done all of these things and more teaching has been at the core of almost all of it.

The purpose of this post is to share my passion for teaching, technology

Collaborative online tools

Originally, my focuses in the use of technology in the classroom over the last six years had/has  to do with the collaborative nature of online tools and easy of functionality between the teacher and student using these tools. As far as collaborative tools go for education, Google Docs has proven to be one of the best so far for me. My students and I have made it an indispensable part of the AP World and European History classes. Several of my students are now using it in their other upper level and Dual Enrollment classes. It should be noted that some of my friends also use Google docs collaboratively or allow students to use it in their classes. This has also gone beyond the high school classroom to college as some of the students that we have taught are using it exclusively for collaboration in their classes.

 I have had the opportunity along with my good friend Tara Malecki (she should be writing this post) to present at our county’s technology workshops to share our own experiences with Google Docs in 2011 and 2012. In the fall of 2013, I was given the opportunity to present this idea of Collaboration and Technology at the State Social Studies Conference (FCSS). Sharing  with my fellow social studies teachers was exciting and eye opening because many of them were working toward the same goals involving technology and collaboration. It was a great session and confirmed for me that this is the direction I needed to pursue.

These events encouraged me to do more research on the topic ofcollaborative tools. What I have now learned is that students must also beengaged (Engagement) with the tools.  I now realized that I was addressing only part of what I wanted to accomplish with Collaborative learning for my students. 

Carnegie Mellon’s,  Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence and Educational Innovation  addresses Collaborative tools and learning . Here is the synopsis from their site  Collborative Tools  based on a White paper literature review (2009) of collaborative learning, assessment, and tools.  Download Collaboration Tools White Paper

Collaborative learning is essentially people working together to solve a problem, create a product, or derive meaning from a body of material. A central question or problem serves to organize and drive activities, and encourage application, analysis, and synthesis of course material. While the landscape of technology that can be used to support central activities of collaborative learning is vast and varied, it is often lumped together under a single label: “collaboration tools.”

Tools that exist to support collaboration can:

•     facilitate real-time and asynchronous text, voice, and video    communication.
•     assist in basic project management activities.
•     support co-creation by enabling groups to modify output in real-time or  asynchronously.
•     facilitate consensus building through group discussions and polling.
•     simplify and streamline resource management.
•     enable local and remote presentation and archiving of completed  projects.

Communication     Virtual Meetings     Email     Instant Messaging     Screen Sharing     Blogs     Voice, Video, Web Conferencing     Discussion Boards	Team Definition & Participant     Social Networking     Presence Management     User Profiles     Contact Management
Project Management     Task Management     Time Tracking     Workflow Routing     Milestones     Calendaring	Resource Management     File Storage     Search     Database Management     Version Tracking     Access Management     Social Bookmarking     Commenting     Tagging
Co-Creation & Ideation     Concept Mapping     Wikis     Virtual Whiteboards     Real-Time Collaborative Editing	Consensus Building     Polling     Question Management     Process Archiving
Presentation & Archiving     Webinars     Slide Shows     Hosted Media Sharing

Cardinal on Hulu

As a amateur actor I love watching great performances the quiet moments are awesome I  highly recommend watching“cardinal”A Canadian production it is one of the best procedural dramas that I have seen it is exceptional, William Campbell is exceptional. I couldn’t stop watching it as the series progresses you great draw in .  I don’t see, any American productions that match it if there was a show I could audition for it would be this one everyone on the show is great. I love watching Canadian shows this show makes you think.ieverythinga love about Canada I

I Visited Toronto as a young boy my cousins live their anything about Canada I love how they filmed shows in Canada they always seems to have a lot of class.as do most Canadians that I know.my cousins are the best they probably will never see this.

Writing again, I hope to finish my current manuscript prior to the end of November

Writing since my stroke, has been a real task.I feel better nowadays. Stories I have been dreamt. storiesfill my mind.usuallyI sketch out my stories like a story board but my art skills are diminished since the stroke.i like the story I am writing now.

The best of times and the worst of times.teaching over 33 years thebest of times learning to plan my lessons

I had come to the belief a few years ago that, I would never retire from teachings unless I was forced to because of my health.A stroke changed my plans. Mentally I have not retired .I realize that in the hospitalmIhad33years of experiences that could be useful. As I am forced. to look on the sidelines I watch negotiations for teachers I still  get fired up when I hear people trash talking teachers and teaching I have met several awesome people' in teaching in all disciplines .I hope to share some of those experiences' in this blog to encourage ya'll
You know who are you are on the 200 wing at DWYERh.S. an A rated high  school in palm beach county and and my fellow teachers at CW.Ruckel middle school a blue ribbon middle school. Through teaching I also found a second career in acting and later studied improvisational act an I would later teach imtprovisational acting through the. Matte Kelly school of acting and I worked with the acting troup "murphy's lawless" and later I used those new found skills which changed everything for me as a teacher. My previous experience in retail sales help me with technology in the classroom. Many of my friends have previous work life experiences that they brought to the classroom which makes them great teachers.my earliest experience before teaching was working as a department manager at Gayfer.s With a million dollar budget later I sold copiers my  my mentor Thomas Downingworked as an executive for IBM he taught me how tow to get organized  daily, s.yes I carried  my-day timer with me everywhere which I used well into my first five years of teaching recently I've been reading about school districts attacking the teacher planning periods requiring teachers to use ther planning period to cover administrative responsibilities around their schools. I learned how to use a minimum amount of time, my planning the better organized Ibecame 
 maintained my day timer when the more I sold more copiers I shared my day timer notes with my boss  I never went any where without my day timer as I would later use my lesson plans  I lived by these rules as a teacher I've seen a real weaknessin colleges that do not train young teachers in the best way to utilize planning timei remember yhey woild give us homework to create lessonplans.as we begin to see this planning time disappearing. it used to take me 45minutes to drive to work and I would run down this list using my dragon dictation app since I could not write while driving. I am not that good of a driver hopefully you wiill find theses and apply them

Day Timer ideas for Goal setting…

·         Take 10 minutes to plan - and save up to an hour each day!
  ·       Think with a pencil or pen in your hand. Write everything down.
·         Learn the difference between "urgent" and "important," and make time for the latter.
·         Under-promise results, then over-deliver.
·         Let your actions spring from your personal goals and values.
·         Number your tasks in order of priority, and get started on it.
·         If you're overwhelmed by a big project, cut it up into little projects.
·         Allow double the time you think a project will take. You'll be on time and avoid stress.
·         Know when to stop fine-tuning your work. Aim for excellence, not perfection.
·         Give yourself little rewards for finishing tasks.
·         To avoid workspace clutter, make an instant decision on each paper that crosses your desk.
·         Lay out what you need for the next day the night before.               

So I decide to Google this idea of goal setting. The first place I went to was myGoals.com

+Ialso created my own form based on the counties requirements for lesson plansthis allowed me greater speed in planing

COURSE: WORLD HISTORY

INSTRUCTOR:

DAY

DATE:

HOUSEKEEPING: Attendance/Announcements/School Related Business

1
2.

KEY CONCEPT:
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
LESSON: What actually occurred in class	OBJECTIVES;state or county
	REQUIRED READING

Do not forget Modeling, and Guided Practice.            Check for Understand.                      Restate objective regularly
INDEPENDENT PRACTICE	ASSESSMENT;type:

REFLECTIONS:

by creating this form I kept my all oflessons oonmycomputer lessons wereavailablonline.

chracter development sheet

my student created a chracter development sheet for our sci fi club when wewereworking on a board game they wanted wto creat they research several different maybe thiscould assist some new writters to nano wrimo:

Character Sheet:

1.    Name:

2.    Age:

3.    Height:

4.    Eye color:

5.    Physical appearance:

6.    Strange or unique physical attributes:

7.    Favorite clothing style/outfit:

8.    Where does he or she live? What is it like there?

9.    Defining gestures/movements (i.e., curling his or her lip when he or she speaks, always keeping his or her eyes on the ground, etc.):

10.  Things about his or her appearance he or she would most like to change:

11.  Speaking style (fast, talkative, monotone, etc.):

12.  Pet peeves:

13.  Fondest memory:

14.  Hobbies/interests:

15.  Special skills/abilities:

16.  Insecurities:

17.  Quirks/eccentricities:

18.  Temperament (easygoing, easily angered, etc.):

19.  Negative traits:

20.  Things that upset him or her:

21.  Things that embarrass him or her:

22.  This character is highly opinionated about:

23.  Any phobias?

24.  Things that make him or her happy:

25.  Family (describe):

26.  Deepest, darkest secret:

27.  Reason he or she kept this secret for so long:

28.  Other people’s opinions of this character (What do people like about this character? What do they dislike about this character?):

29.  Favorite bands/songs/type of music:

30.  Favorite movies:

31.  Favorite TV shows:

32.  Favorite books:

33.  Favorite foods:

34.  Favorite sports/sports teams:

35.  Political views:

36.  Religion/philosophy of life:

37.  Physical health:

38.  Dream vacation:

39.  Description of his or her house:

40.  Description of his or her bedroom:

41.  Any pets?

42.  Best thing that has ever happened to this character:

43.  Worst thing that has ever happened to this character:

44.  Superstitions: