The Miracle of the Internet

Once in a while I start geeking out over some new thing that I have come across on the internet.  Most of my time online is spent keeping up on current affairs or working, with distractions usually involving a bit of gaming along with some clever and/or weird internet humor (Oh, imgur... ).  However, every now and then I can see something that just never would have been possible when I was in high school and it blows my mind.

Take Google Earth. At it's core, this is a map... albeit one that is extremely cool.  I can literally see almost anywhere on the planet.  Street View takes it even further, giving me a first hand look at almost anywhere I would like to see.  It's amazing and I enjoy the sense of wonder when I can get lost in something like this and discover.

Here is another tool I've left on a couple times while doing work at home.  It is an interactive, live-feed of the world's weather conditions.  Impressive, when you consider just how much information is being calculated.  All the more humbling when you can see some of the big storms that have been making news as of late.  Just not possible in the early days of the internet, when every attempt to connect was greeted with this monstrosity.

Three more weeks...

~Mr.T

Hey look!... Another Post About NOT Posting...

As summer winds down, my mind unfortunately turns to preparation for the upcoming school year.  Unlike most of my previous years of teaching, this will not have me dealing with a new assignment or school.  Rather, I will be able to refine my approach to working with Grade 8s, but will also have Grades 9 and 10 over the course of the year.  This will make for an interesting challenge to juggle very different groups and their very different approaches to learning.

My goals for the year will include:

1.  Effective utilization of technology in the classroom
2.  Further implementation of Kagan principles of student engagment

And... as has been shared many times on these pages, I will do a better job sharing my experiences on these pages.

More to come.

~Mr.T