July | 2015 | Occasional Observations of Traveling Technology Coach

Loathsome

31 Jul 2015 Leave a comment

by CharlesB in ~some words Tags: loathsome

When you hate something, it is loathsome to you. You loathe it. Loathers gonna loathe loathe loathe.

Spaces

30 Jul 2015 Leave a comment

by CharlesB in literacy, mashup Tags: makerspace

I went to the School Tech Summit yesterday. The keynote speaker is in charge of all the Maker Faires (part steampunk, part circus, part garage workshop) that have been cropping up all over the world. Anyway, he spent the entire hour talking about makerspaces, and making, and make this make that. Etc.

So I thought of other places, that will now be called spaces:

tinkerspace
thinkerspace
learnerspace
creatorspace
inventorspace
gadgetspace
widgetspace
hackerspace
coderspace
gamerspace
playerspace
planterspace
craftyspace
handyspace
doerspace (“doo-er”)
diyerspace (“dee-eye-wire”)
bakerspace
make-and-takerspace
give-and-takerspace

Toothsome

30 Jul 2015 Leave a comment

by CharlesB in ~some words Tags: toothsome

Totally Tasty!

Winsome

29 Jul 2015 Leave a comment

by CharlesB in ~some words Tags: winsome

You winsome you lose some? Maybe, if you had a pleasant, attractive smile. Winsome means appealing or attractive.

UPDATE: Coworker says my smile is not winsome, is too toothy to be winsome. Is this winsomer?

Noisome

28 Jul 2015 Leave a comment

by CharlesB in ~some words Tags: noisome

Nothing to do with noise. The word “noisome” has the same root as “annoy” and refers to an annoying smell.

Handsome Words

27 Jul 2015 Leave a comment

by CharlesB in ~some words Tags: handsome

There are a number of words in English that end in “some.” A common example is “handsome,” which means “good-looking” or “of good quality,” and nowadays has nothing to do with hands.

So starting today, I will add a “some” word to the blog, with the goal of broadening, dear reader, your vocabulary, by a handsome amount.

Here’s looking at you, camera

15 Jul 2015 Leave a comment

by CharlesB in 3D Printing Tags: camera

The problem with the Mac’s camera is that it only faces the person in front of the computer. This is unlike iPad/iPhone, which has lenses facing both ways. So I thought why not 3D print a widget with two mirrors attached, that sits atop the computer? The part would work like a periscope. This way, teachers could record students without students being distracted by seeing themselves on the computer monitor.

Here is a sketchup version of the design

Positive Power

15 Jul 2015 1 Comment

by CharlesB in behavior management Tags: rewards, stickers

I bought 720 reward stickers for $14.99, which was a lot of money for me at the time. I probably used 35 of them in total. Now, 11 years later, the glue is all dried up and there is a bad smell.

Baby vs Bath water

15 Jul 2015 Leave a comment

by CharlesB in Curriculum, desktop publishing Tags: Teacher-Created Materials

I recently brought up a box from the storage room and found old curriculum books, including a number of “Teacher-Created Materials, Inc” technology books. This one is entitled “Writing and Desktop Publishing on the Computer” (TCM#924). It was written by Terry Rosengart (who I actually knew from the DOE).