Whatever Comes to Mind

a song of peace(sign language also with singing)

2011-02-09T18:15:00.000-08:00

Geometry in Nature

2009-06-16T16:40:00.001-07:00

Day of Discovery, Traverse City, MI

2009-05-05T16:26:00.000-07:00

I had the honor of being able to present a session at the Day of Discovery this past Sat. in Traverse City. I had a wonderful time with those attending and presenting. Thanks, Mike Bryant, Steve Dembo, Cheryl Lykowski, and everyone else!

Here are some pictures I took with my phone. The last is just some wires behind a plastic divider, thought it looked interesting.

Day of Discovery, Traverse City, MI

2009-04-07T16:23:00.001-07:00

Get your own at Gizmoz.com

Physics at Fenway Park

2009-04-07T15:59:00.000-07:00

What a great way to show and explain physics at a great location.
(My favorite team is a bonus here.) Definitely made for high school and college students.

Life Cycle of Animals slide show.

2009-04-07T15:46:00.000-07:00

Here is a nice slide show I found at SlideShare about animal life cycles. This is one that I would be able to use with either the 1st or 2nd graders at my school. Thanks to Mrs. Salahi for posting it.

Animal Life Cycles

View more presentations from dsalahi.

Pictures of April 6 snow

2009-04-06T14:17:00.000-07:00

What a great "Spring Break" we're having. At least 6 inches of heavy wet snow last night and this morning. Well, it is Michigan after all.

back to Blogger

2009-04-06T13:47:00.000-07:00

Thought I would give a return visit to Whatever Comes to Mind.
I am taking an online PD course about Blogs in Education. One of the assignments is to set up a blog through Blogger.
So I'll get this one going again.
A couple of items to share;
10 Awesome Interactive Websites
http://www.gizmoz.com/

More to come.

Deadliest Fun!

2008-04-23T20:11:00.000-07:00

Now that I am on-line I can share how things went in Philadelphia last night.

The trip there was easy and uneventful. I was able to check in and have the afternoon to walk around and visit the historical places downtown: Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, etc.

Went to the restaurant (Samsom Street Oyster House) around 6 and checked in there. I was greeted with, “It’s the Michigan Guy!” from most of the people there already. Did not expect that. I was described as “The Michigan Guy” most of the night.

The whole event was great. The captains that came were Sig, Andy , and John. There are great people. They were friendly with everyone there and were very approachable and willing to talk with everyone. They signed pictures, books, shirts, etc. Everyone had a blast. I connected with some good DEN folks from the area. Thanks! I was even able to spend some time talking with some of the producers of the show.

I am so glad that I was able to go to this great event. Thanks DEN! Please keep up the great work!

Check out the slide show here.

Philly Here I Come!

2008-04-16T17:35:00.000-07:00

As was posted on the national DEN blog I am one of the very lucky winners to be able to have dinner with the captains from the Deadliest Catch. I am floored that I will be attending an event with a group of interesting individuals. I can’t wait for Tuesday to be here. I’ll post pictures when I get back.

Some new harvests

2008-04-10T14:58:00.000-07:00

The past 2 days I have been at a workshop titled "Integrating Technology in the 3-8 Classroom." Very hands-on and the instructor uses the technology in real classroom uses. For example, he showed how to use Google Earth to show the various forms of water found on Earth like oceans, lakes, and rivers. He set up placemarks at each of the examples and had definitions of each in the placemarks. Nothing earth shattering, but very usable and realistic.
In addition to his example lessons he shared some "new" tools.
One is Jott, Here you set up an account and then you call into Jott with you phone. What you say is recorded and then you get an email with a text copy of what you said. I believe that you have 45 seconds.
Others are bubble.us, mindmeister, rubistar, visualbody.

LibraryThing

2008-04-06T17:39:00.000-07:00

OH OH OH! Mr. Catah Sir!

I have something to share that I did not find out about from someone else.

It’s called LibraryThing. I found it by chance when I was looking for information about P.D. Eastman. It is a place to list your personal library that you own and is very easy. You add just a bit about the book and the site does the rest by using The Library Of Congress, Amazon, and 669 other data banks.

You can connect with other book lovers and discuss, what else?, books. There are numerous discussion groups to join, topics to comment on , and the like.

FriendFeed

2008-04-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

Read about this at the DEN site at the Digital Passports page
It sounded like a good idea as one way to put all my online presences at one place. So far I have this blog, my Picassa albums, Del.icio.us list, Pandora (music) page. I'll see how to add mt teachertube vids and my DEN blog too.
Here is the url for my page.
http://friendfeed.com/turtleman810

Peace

Check out the weather at Garfield...soon

2008-03-22T19:38:00.000-07:00

Soon I should have the weather station broadcasting to the web. I hope. The station is set up and working. The receiver is connected to the computer and the "virtual weather station" is working. Now I just need to figure out how to get the data from the station uploaded to the internet. I aim to be part of the "Weather Exchange" if all works out.
Plans are to have the weather shown on one of the channel on the school's tv system and have the student broadcast use our "green screen" feature on VisCom II to do the weather during their weekly (or maybe daily) broadcast.
After our trip to the ABC 12 studios they are pumped to be able to use our technology to improve our broadcast.
Well, I'll post when our weather station is broadcasting onto the net.

What comes next?

2008-03-13T07:01:00.000-07:00

Back from the MACUL Conference and now what? How to get these great ideas for technology integration into the hands of the staff and students? My principal, bless her heart, is very supportive of having students use technology and she wants the staff to become conversational tech literate.

I have just finished a short (35min) PD with some of the staff here at school. Had 7 attend the session on what Web 2.0 is about and some of the tools and websites that they can start to explore and use. The biggest interests were Discovery Streaming and the way to build assignments and Google Earth. I also breezed through blogging, podcasts, social bookmarking, online photo-albums (i.e. Picasa), and 2 open-source art programs (Art Rage and Tux Paint).

Now they need time to digest these tools and to explore them. I know having weekly sessions on Thursday mornings will help them to work on these tools and begin to integrate them into their classrooms.

Well it's a start and I know they will take baby steps now but should soon be running with their new found tools.

Just a few days away

2008-03-02T06:27:00.000-08:00

In just 3 days I'll be at this year's MACUL conference in Grand Rapids.
macul.org
I am looking forward to my session on Inspiration (nervous as all get out too).
The team I am with as part of the MI Technology Champions program is excited about attending for their first time. I know they will get a ton out of the conference and the breakout sessions.

This past week our school had its science fair. It was OK. The projects were more varied then past years. After seeing the projects at my son's school I was pleasantly surprised that our students' projects were on comparatively the same quality level.
Thanks to all the teachers who worked so hard to help out their students and the projects. Thanks also to the intervention team for stepping up and helping me put on the fair and the family open house Thursday night.

new toy to try out

2008-02-14T15:57:00.000-08:00

I just received a copy of InspireData from Inspiration Software today.
www.inspiration.com
I will be trying it out and seeing what I can do with it with my students.
I already have an idea to use it with the new weather station the school bought the other week.
The data we collect can be organized using this software.
It even has a feature to make e-surveys. THAT I would like to try out.
The students should get a kick out of it too.
We'll just have to wait and see about that.
I just hope it doesn't just collect dust sitting on the shelf like some other pieces of software and equipment.
Later all.

DEN Virtual Conference wrap up

2008-02-02T14:20:00.000-08:00

Back from the Michigan site for the Discovery Educator Network Virtual Conference.
It was a good time. I would like to be able to have a quiet week home alone to be able to go through all the Web 2.0 tools and sites, be able to use the tools and sites to enhance my assignments and quizzes that I put together at Discovery Education Streaming. Here is just a partial list of what the virtual and in-person sessions talked about:
Voicethread.com
blabberize.com
slideshare.com
toondoo.com
moonk.com
moasickr.com
clubpenguin.com
truemedia.com
twitter.com
myplick.com

Some of the sites are not really appropriate for school use but a teacher to enhance their lessons can use the tool.

I also learned there is a way to use a "green screen" in moviemaker. I'll try that out as I use that with my student broadcast team at school for their weekly news show.

Speaking of which; my session on putting together a broadcast team and using Movie Maker to edit and publish a student broadcast went OK. I could have done more with the demonstration of the program and had the teachers there use the program and make their own short show. Oh, well. It was only my first presentation at a PD/workshop/conference that was outside my school.

Now I will begin to focus on the demo lesson that I will do at the MACUL conference in March. At least I will be sharing the stage with another teacher from Flint.

End of my time with Old Navy

2008-01-26T16:11:00.000-08:00

IN about 2 hours Old Navy at Courtland will be closed forever. I had worked there for the past 2 and 1/2 years. I began there in the summer of 2005 as a way to earn some money to help cover a drop in pay when our school was absorded back into the district.
I really enjoyed my time there. I could have left after we became more finacialy stable but I found that I enjoyed the work and esspecially the others that worked there.
I wish the best of luck to all my co-workers as they continue with Old Navy somewhere else or at some other job.
Peace all.

Discovery Education Virtual Conference

2008-01-18T12:07:00.000-08:00

Attend the DEN Virtual Conference, February 2.

Connect with educators from all over the country during this unique professional development experience where you can attend in-person, online or both.

The day will feature keynote presentations from Discover Education’s own Hall Davidson and Lance Rougeux that will be broadcast to each of the regional gatherings. In between the keynote presentations, participants will attend breakout sessions presented by local STAR Discovery Educators.

Learn More...

going national

2008-01-14T18:25:00.000-08:00

I have agreed to present at a virtual conference in Feb. The Discovery Educator Network has put togther a conference for though that are a part of the DEN, and anyone who is interested in intregration of technology in education.
Now this is my first big time presentation and I am just a smidge nervous. Well, more than a bit nervous. But, I need to do presentiation as I am in a professional career and I have to start sometime.
Here is the link to the DEN post of the conference.

Went to the section conference for AYSO this past weekend. I am the coach for my son's U6 boys team in town. I learned a lot about how to run my practices...excuse me the team's training sessions. I am excited about the spring season and if I am still involved in coaching next year with the U8 team Sam will be on I am better prepared to be able to handle it.
Here is the AYSO link

Peace everyone.

my other sites

2008-01-06T09:47:00.000-08:00

Happy new year every one!

I hope your holidays were good to you and your family. My boys had a blast and are enjoying their loot. Today’s the last day of vacation for me. My wife and Sam went back last Thursday. They had a snow day on Wed.

As I had not posted anything in a while (the whole break) I thought I would try to put something up. I have 2 websites that I put together for my EDMT (Educational Media Technology) courses at EMU. The first was my first stab at a site. It is pretty simple and has not been updated in a while.

1st website

The second is my professional site that I should be adding to as I continue along the EDMT program track and in my teaching. There are a few neat links and projects I put together at that site.

professional site

I also have a blog at Discovery Education as a part of the Discovery Educator Network.
Here is that link.
DEN blog
Well time to get back with the boys, they are just getting up and they will be hungry.

Peace.

Let's Scratch!

2007-12-14T09:53:00.000-08:00

OK I don't know yet how to Scratch but I plan to.
I was reading the latest edition of Learning and Leading in Technology (ISTE's mag) and there was an article on what students are using in their classroom (which is the whole world I believe). The article features a site called Scratch. It allows students (of all ages) to create their own multimedia and post it onto the web. I am going to give it a try and see what I can get to do with it. Then I'll unleash my students and let them run with it.
Here is the address for it.
http://scratch.mit.edu
If any of you have used it before let me know how it worked for you.

The DEN

2007-12-11T11:10:00.000-08:00

There is a great community of educators out there called the Discovery Educator Network. It is open to any interested educator that uses technology at any level of intergration. There are a load of resourses for teachers in the DEN. Mainly, each member is a resource for each other. Check out the blogs for each state that has a leadership team, the national blog, and many others, even SecondLife.
Here is the link for the main DEN page.
http://community.discoveryeducation.com/
I am on the Michigan DEN leadership council and here is the link for our blog.
http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/michigan/

If you are interested in joining the DEN click on the link "About the DEN" at the top of the page.

ROV Workshop

2007-12-09T09:41:00.000-08:00

Wow! What fun the ROV workshop was this past weekend! Two teachers and I attended a workshop up in Traverse City to learn about the ROV program that one of the highschools has put togther. We took the place of the students and had to build a working underwater ROV with the supplies given. We spent Friday evening and Saturday morning building our very own working underwater ROV. Wee even got to take it back to school where we can use it with our students and maybe even start a team of students to build a ROV for compatition. I can't wait to show it off to the students Monday morning as they com into the school. Check out the pictures.

ROV workshop

2007-12-06T08:51:00.000-08:00

This weekend a couple of teachers and I will be particitpating in a workshop in Traverse City. This workshop is modeled after a highschool program where the students design, build, and test an underwater ROV. We are excited to be able to participate in the workshop. We had to apply to get accepeted and promise to put the ROV to use in our classrooms. One plan is to take it on our field trip on the Tall Ship Manitou in May and try it out when we go out onto the bay.
I'll take pictures and upload them when we get back.

What I Want to Christmas

2007-11-15T07:47:00.000-08:00

Santa, here is my wish list. I have tried to be a good boy this year :)

1. Lego Star Wars, The Complete Saga (need the PS3 to play it)
2. Dell Laptop. Mid range performance.
3. Epson Multimedia projector (for me and all our teachers)
4. CPS (radio) set from eInstruction
5. Smartboard (again for all the teachers at our school)
6. LEGO NXT brick, software, and base set
7. LEGO Alien Encounter Mindstorms set
8. Sony professional mini DV Camcorder
9.Toshiba DVD recorder
10. Sensa mp3 player

Not too much is it?

LEGO Star Wars Complete Saga, my Avatar

2007-11-11T10:56:00.000-08:00

Lego Star Wars - The Complete Saga

How about those Lions!?

2007-11-04T12:57:00.000-08:00

Wow! The lions are 6-2. What a pounding by Detroit on Denver. The best moment has to be that interception for a touchdown by that one big lineman. What was real nice was that the scoring was spread around. The Lion's D was in the zone today. I hope the rest of their season goes just as well. They have worked hard this year and they look like they have the right mentality to be a decent team. Good for them!

a sad day.....

2007-10-27T17:21:00.000-07:00

Today our loving Yorkie Cara died. She was only 5 years old.

Her death was a tragic accident. When we came home this afternoon after running a few errands she was not in the house. We figured that she ran out the door when we where in and out getting ready to leave. We did not notice her outside. She must have gone walking around the house.

After calling on neighbors and checking out the area one of the neighbors found her just around the corner on the side of the road. I went and got her. She was hit by a car and died right away. It looks like it happened not long after we left. (We were gone for 4 hours.)

Needless to say we are all very upset.

Here are a couple of pictures of Cara.

1 down 3 to go

2007-10-25T16:57:00.000-07:00

Man alive what a whippin'!
As die-hard a Sox fan I am I did not imagine that last night's game would go the way it did. How about the patience and the number of hit=runs with 2 outs.
I really don't see anything else than a Sox win tonight. When the series heads out to Colorado the Rocks should take 2.
The fans deserve a series win in Boston this year.
Let's play BALL!

Dirty Jobs, what a show

2007-10-23T19:37:00.000-07:00

If you have not seen the Discovery channel show, Dirty Jobs, you need to.
The show is an eye opener of what jobs people do for a living that are .....dirty.
The show is funny, intelligent, scientific, and educational.
One comment I have about the show is that I have noticed how happy the people are as they show off their job. They really seem to enjoy what they do for a living.
Here's the web address for the show.
http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/dirtyjobs/dirtyjobs.html

By the way...GO BOSOX!!!!!

My scholastci homepage

2007-10-18T18:16:00.000-07:00

I have put together a homepage at Scholastic. Scholastic has a free webpage builder for teachers that their students and parents can access. It is very user-friendly and has a nice step-by-step process when you first get started.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/homepagebuilder/index.htm
Here is the address for the log in screen for students/parents/others.
http://homepage.scholastic.com/CHBuilderWeb/jsp/StudentParentLogin.jsp
The class name is strommer and the password is math.

GO SOX ! Bases loaded and up one run.

2 things for tonight.

2007-10-18T16:42:00.000-07:00

Well, it is now or never for the Sox tonight. Everyone needs to be focused on on the ball tonight.
GO SOX!

I found a cool math website the other and my students are hooked.
It is www.coolmath.com
There is a bit much to look through visually but the games are fun and push the limits on problem solving and higher end thinking skills.
The puzzles and strategy games are what they like the most. I was able to reach level 8 on the Rush game. One of my 4th graders made it too.
Take a look and see what you think.

Game 2 ALCS

2007-10-13T18:26:00.000-07:00

Manny will do what at this at bat? Bases loaded.....and..TBA
How about that! Another walk for Manny. Talk about patience.
What's that ... 3 walks for him with the bases loaded these two games.

ALRIGHT LOWELL! They need to keep him. Sign him!

2007-10-07T13:49:00.000-07:00

I will temp fate and say there will be a third series sweep. The Sox are just playing too well as a team and Schilling is in the zone today. Not over powering but placing his pitches well.
Pats won convincingly from what I can tell. Didn't watch much of as I was doing yard work.
What is with the heat. 3rd day with 90's for our high today. There might be something to this global warming thing. By the way, I do think we humans have royally have messed up our planet. And, it will only get worse before it gets better. The US is, overall, I believe on the right track for environmental issues. Current Presidential administration excepted. The developing countries will be the main problem in years to come with pollution generated and environmental abuses.

Just discovered fun sites

2007-10-05T11:55:00.000-07:00

I found a few sites today that I see potential use with my students.
The first is Kerpoof. A fellow teacher described it as a bit like KidPix.
I see it as a way for kids (of all ages) to make their own comic.
You can make just a picture with the backgrounds and images supplied.
You can even make a story and short animated movie. I have not tried those yet. This weekend.
The second is Voki. I have not gone into much depth with the site but I see that it may be used with my 6th graders.
The last is one that I have known about for some time but have only watched my students use the site. Millsberry is the name. The students have created a virtual persona that they interact with. It seems like a kids version of The Sims or Second Life. I see where this could be a way to use concepts learned in the classroom in a "real" world setting. We'll have to see about that.

the end is so near

2007-08-15T05:53:00.001-07:00

It is hard to believe that the school year is almost upon us. Teachers (that's me) report back the 20th. The days following include time to work in our rooms and district PD's. I will be using that time to get the technology back to the rooms and planning the 1st few weeks of tech, if I am still doing that. I'll find out come the 20th.
This summer has been a blast with the family. Disney World being the big event.
I'll post some picture here soon.

ATA III podcast container site.

2007-08-10T08:05:00.000-07:00

Here is the site that we uplaoded our podcasts for the ATA III workshop.
http://ataiii.podomatic.com/
Mine is on there.

Diving into podcasts

2007-08-10T07:02:00.000-07:00

Good day all.
Today at our ATA III workshop we are learing about podcasts (not new to me) and it looks like we will be making our own podcasts. If we do and I get mine done I'll post it here.

I just listened to a bit of the "Beyond Reality" podcast by the crew from TAPS/GhostHunters. Good stuff there. Here is the link to it. http://beyondrealityradio.com/

That's it for now. Later.

first one

2007-08-09T12:24:00.000-07:00

First off, I hope to keep this one going for a while. This blog will be about just my "Whatever comes to mind." Sports, education, technology integration in education, reading, scifi, science, space, nature, etc.
Just found a cool website for listening to music; Pandora Music.
http://pandora.com
I have usually used Yahoo Music when I wanted to listen to music when on-line.
This uses a formula (unknown to me) that finds music that is alike to a song or artist that you enter. You can set up as many stations you want. Each station is of a similar style.
Check it out.