Nearly 750 people attended the new paraprofessional training held during election day. Here is the view from the bleachers.
The screen was completed unreadable.
Para Para Paradise
09 Nov 2018 Leave a comment
in 138M, professional development Tags: election day, para
Go Math Didn’t Add Up
24 Oct 2018 Leave a comment
Many schools use Go Math for their math instruction. 
it is published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt publishers.
I turned to a random page in a Go Math student workbook. 
Question 28 states that 36 people are going camping for Max’s family reunion. They need to sleep in cabin tents (which hold ten people) and vista tents (which hold eight people). The student must determine the exact number of tents that the campers will need. If a student needs more help, they can use their ipad or phone to scan the QR code, which directs the student to an online video of “Math on the Spot with Professor Burger,” who helps explain how to solve the problem.
Here is a still shot from the video.
According to Professor Burger, there are only 34 people camping at the reunion. Two people are missing!
Bad math bro!
All I can think about is that two children must have wandered off into the woods, and instead of the adults sending a search party right away, they all want to get a good night’s sleep in their cabin and vista tents.
I FOUND A MICROSOFT WORD BUG!
12 Oct 2018 Leave a comment
in Macintosh, Microsoft Tags: bug, MS Word
There are only a bajillion software developers and editors who work for Microsoft and all of them missed this!
Look closer:
Yes, it does read:
“Change the wy text wraps around the selected object”
This bug appears in MS Word for Mac 2011 documents, when saving files in compatibillity mode (i.e., .doc file types, not .docx).
You’re welcome.
Piano
14 Aug 2018 Leave a comment
Two random sightings in one day.
#1 Stuyvesant High School cafeteria
This sounded bad.
#2 Woodhull Street, Brooklyn
The one on the street sounded real nice.
Yeah, I walked it.
14 Aug 2018 Leave a comment
in STEM Tags: Highbridge, water
My choice for this year’s NYCDOE STEM Institute was on water engineering in NYC. We talked aquaducts, reservoirs, pipes, etc. The highlight was a trip to the Highbridge aquaduct that connects 173rd Street in Manhattan over the East River to the Bronx. The birdge scared the tar out of me when I drove underneath on the Harlem River drive.
Word Coding
14 Aug 2018 Leave a comment
in code, computer lab Tags: coding, spelling
In this activity, students use N(orth), S(outh), E(ast) and W(est) arrows to spell words off a letter grid.
For example, “JUMP” is E, E, E, S.
In this example, “ABOVE” is S, S, E, S, E
After doing several examples, give students a code (e.g., S, S, E, S, E) and let them figure out what word it spells!
Remember to specify the starting box (which is typically the upper left-most cell — like in a spreadsheet)
And all the rest of these ~some words
06 Aug 2018 Leave a comment
in ~some words
tiresome – me, now
meddlesome- those kids from Scooby doo
lissome – see lithesome
fearsome – scary, as in, “my, what fearsome teeth you have, granny.”
adventuresome – Jake and Finn, duh.
mettlesome – full of mettle (as in “good spirits”)
blithesome – breezy indifference
awesome – that which induces awe, such as a 30′ wave and me on the longboard
bunglesome – (this is a good one) always messing up
lithesome – see lissome
lightsome – the daring young man on the flying trapeze
wearisome – writing this list
darksome – the love-child of tall+dark+handsome
Irksome
27 Jul 2018 Leave a comment
in ~some words Tags: irksome
When something is irksome it is SO ANNOYING. It irks me.
Zzzapped Out
27 Jul 2018 Leave a comment
in computer lab, science Tags: Edmark, Netscape, virtual labs: electricity
Before augmented reality. Before virtual reality. Back in the day when software came on CD-ROMs in binders, the Edmark company released several science titles. Unlike their software marketed to younger children (e.g., with cartoons and talking animals), these titles were sophisticated simulations. I discovered a classroom set of “virtual labs: electricity” (note the ‘laid-back’ lower case title on the cover of the binder).
The program needed 16 MB of RAM to run and Netscape 3.0. ~ sigh ~ The salad days of the Internet.
