Tis the Season

Mark Twain has been quoted as saying, “Sing like no one’s listening, love like you’ve never been hurt, dance like nobody’s watching, and live like it’s heaven on earth.”

I remember seeing an upscale condominium community in Hilton Head advertised as “Heaven on Earth”.

I googled “Heaven on Earth” and got the lyrics of a Britney Spears song of obsession.

I remember a wise person once respond to the disappointments of our spiritual journey with the comment we need to remember that this isn’t heaven.

No, we haven’t been promised heaven on earth. But can we experience it?

For much of my life I've always believed that heaven will come because of my religious beliefs. But as I grow older and gain more clarity of who I am and what my purpose is in this life, I have come to realize that I can contribute in bringing heaven here to earth; at least to someone. When one of my children at school need to be loved because they are scared because of things that may have happened that night before at home. When my kids at school need a wink or a smile from me just to know that everythings going to be OK. Those gestures can help bring heaven to earth for someone, if only for a moment. I can share my belief in God in the way I live my life and treat others.

No, we can’t talk about the heaven on earth that is yet ahead without saying more than we know and infinitely less than what is to come. But of this we can be confident. Being in the presence of “God with us” as he lives among his people on earth, won’t be less than the best we have ever imagined… and will be “better by far”… than anything we’ve ever known…

My Christmas List

So I’m supposed to now come up with a Christmas List for my mother. Thanksgiving just ended! Slow down time!

Below is a list of what I’m asking for this Christmas.



They were awesome back in the day. These are the newer outfitted ones. I still want to be the blue ranger when I grow up!















I Love them! I want to name him Albert!







I need, ok... WANT a MacBook so I can work in my lazy chair.






No list would be complete without wanting...Peace on Earth!

Why Teaching needs to change...

Flitting with Fractions

Learningmedia.co.nz has 8 interactive resources for students that include science, literacy, and math topics. The one I’d like to highlight is Flitting with Fractions. Flitting with Fractions is a great way to show students how fractions work. You will be asked a question, such as “Catch all of the butterflies with long legs.” Then, simply drag the correct butterflies to the top of the jar and release them. Close the lid, then enter the correct numerator and denominator by touching the numbers. You can then check your answer and move to the next problem. Check it out.

I read (?) the news today...Oh Boy!

Just a quick post to share this concept video from Sports Illustrated...



More evidence that the way we interact with “text” is changing. To combine and paraphrase something I’ve heard a few folks in the blogosphere says:

We need to stop paper training our students. We should spend less time training our students how to use paper, and more time helping them use digital tools to interact in meaningful and productive ways with the media forms of the day.

Also reminds me that using technology is additive - no one is suggesting that words don't matter, that what we traditionally think of as "writing" is no longer important, but that the very nature of composition is more complex now, and that our instruction, our pedagogy, our learning spaces need to reflect that.

Writing, composing written pieces is no longer exclusively a solitary activity. And we need to expand our definition of composition beyond only text and beyond only a specific medium (book, research paper, academic journal, etc.).

"Text" is changing. Is your classroom?

Google Goggles

Google Goggles is now in beta in Google Labs and available on certain brand name phones.

The product looks to be a huge leap forward in the field of visual search — by which I mean, you point a camera at something and Google figures out what it is.

Here’s a little video explanation.



I should have thought of this!

Just for fun!

Charlie is a trip!