Bump on the Blog

Merry Christmas everyone!

A Christmas Greeting from Brian Grenier on Vimeo.

From the funny email pile.  Below the picture is the mother’s response to the teacher the following day.

Dear Mrs. Jones, I wish to clarify that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an exotic dancer.   I work at Home Depot and I told my daughter how hectic it was last week before the blizzard hit.  I told her we sold out every single shovel we had, and then I found one more in the back room, and that several people were fighting over who would get it.    Her picture doesn’t show me dancing around a pole.  It’s supposed to depict me selling the last snow shovel we had at Home Depot. From now on I will remember to check her homework more thoroughly before she turns it in.  Sincerely, Mrs.  Smith

My father sent this to me yesterday…thought I’d share.

You have to be old enough to remember Abbott and Costello, and too old to REALLY understand computers, to fully appreciate this. For those of us who  sometimes get flustered by our computers, please read on..

If Bud  Abbott and Lou Costello were alive today, their famous sketch, “Who’s on  First?” might have turned out something like this:

COSTELLO  CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT

ABBOTT:
Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?

COSTELLO:
Thanks. I’m  setting up an office in my den and I’m thinking about buying a computer.

ABBOTT:
Mac?

COSTELLO:
No, the name’s Lou.

ABBOTT:
Your computer?

COSTELLO:
I don’t own a computer. I want to buy one.

ABBOTT:
Mac?

COSTELLO:
I told you, my name’s  Lou.

ABBOTT:
What about Windows?

COSTELLO:
Why? Will it get  stuffy in here?

ABBOTT:
Do you want a computer with  Windows?

COSTELLO:
I don’t know. What will I see when I look at the windows?

ABBOTT:
Wallpaper.

COSTELLO:
Never mind the  windows. I need a computer and software.

ABBOTT:
Software for Windows?

COSTELLO:
No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals,
track expenses and run my business. What do you have?

ABBOTT:
Office.

COSTELLO:
Yeah, for my office. Can you  recommend anything?

ABBOTT:
I just did.

COSTELLO:
You just  did what?

ABBOTT:
Recommend something.

COSTELLO:
You  recommended something?

ABBOTT:
Yes.

COSTELLO:
For my  office?

ABBOTT:
Yes.

COSTELLO:
OK, what did you recommend  for my office?

ABBOTT:
Office.

COSTELLO:
Yes, for my  office!

ABBOTT:
I recommend Office with Windows.

COSTELLO:
I  already have an office with windows! OK, let’s just say I’m sitting at
my  computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?

ABBOTT:
Word.

COSTELLO:
What word?

ABBOTT:
Word in Office.

COSTELLO:
The only word in office is office.

ABBOTT:
The Word in Office for Windows.

COSTELLO:
Which word in office for  windows?

ABBOTT:
The Word you get when you click the blue
“W”.

COSTELLO:
I’m going to click your blue “w” if you don’t start with some straight
answers. What about financial bookkeeping? You have anything I can track
my money with?

ABBOTT:
Money.

COSTELLO:
That’s right. What do you have?

ABBOTT:
Money.

COSTELLO:
I need money to track my money?

ABBOTT:
It  comes bundled with your computer.

COSTELLO:
What’s bundled with my  computer?

ABBOTT:
Money.

COSTELLO:
Money comes with my  computer?

ABBOTT:
Yes. No extra charge.

COSTELLO:
I get a  bundle of money with my computer? How much?

ABBOTT:
One  copy.

COSTELLO:
Isn’t it illegal to copy money?

ABBOTT:
Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money.

COSTELLO:
They can give  you a license to copy money?

ABBOTT:
Why not? THEY OWN IT!

(A few days later)

ABBOTT:
Super Duper computer store.  Can I help you?

COSTELLO:
How do I turn my computer  off?

ABBOTT:
Click on  “START”…………

Steve Dembo over at Teach42 has started a very interesting series of posts entitled “30 Days to Being a Better Blogger”.  After an extended absence from the blogosphere, and moving my site to a new home, I felt this was something that I could benefit from.  So I have taken up Steve’s challenge to go down this road with him and see where it takes us.  Thank you Steve for your efforts and guidance on this.  Steve’s third challenge  is focused on thanking those people that have influenced us, taken the time to read, comment and link to our sites, and have provided us guidance in this online community of learners.

I am afraid that if I took the time to thank each and every person that has influenced and inspired me this post would go on for pages and pages.  That said, however, there are a few people in particular that really stand out.

I’d like to start by thanking Neil Hokanson for the kind email he sent me this past September.  Your email came at a time when my blog was still in a period of stagnation, a time when I was not expecting anyone from my online community of learners to contact me, and my desire to continue blogging was at an all time low.  Your kind words lifted my spirits, and motivated me to get back up on my feet and start reflecting and writing once again.  I can’t thank you enough Neil…I’m glad to be back.

I would be remiss if I didn’t take the time to thank Wes Fryer.  Not only were you one of the first people to leave a comment on my blog, but your tireless efforts to improve education in all of our schools serves as a model for the type of change and reflection I strive for. On top of all you have done virtually, you’re an all-around good guy, always there to lend your support.

I have to thank Herman Seufert, a fifth grade teacher at one of the six elementary schools I work with.  Thanks Herman for always being open to trying out new things, listening , and implementing (enthusiastically) some of my hair-brained ideas.

Thank you…

• Sheryl for being such a wonderful person and great conversationalist.
• David for your selfless contributions to our schools classrooms.
• Aaron for your sense of creativity.
• Miguel for inspiring me to write write write.
• Doug for always taking the time to respond to a comment left with a personal email.
• Darren for being one of the first to follow me to my new site and for constantly challenging us.
• Ewan for modeling what an effective speaker and writer should be.
• Mark for offering you assistance in times of need, for modeling professional development best practices.
• Dean for all the hard work you have done for this year’s K12 Online Conference.
• John for making me laugh.
• Tim for being a pretty cool guy to work with.
• Cheryl for one of my fondest conference memories.
• Brian for inspiring us all.
• Chris for reminding us that it’s students, not subject, that we teach.
• Karl for awakening millions of people to the shift that is occurring.
• Eric for keeping my interest alive in History.
• Gary for continually making us think deeply about our convictions.
• David for your advice and guidance, whether you realize it or not.
• Jeff for your enthusiasm and sharing.
• Will for your leadership, intended or otherwise.
• Paul, Scott, and John, for your friendship, kindness, and skills.
• Sherita for your work ethic and sense of humor.

The list could go on and on. Thank you all. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

-Brian

I can’t help but be reminded of this 3-minute TED talk I recently viewed

Do you know what these are?

See the comments for the answer.

I decided, this year, to throw my hat into the ring and run for a Director position on the Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) Board of Directors.  If you are a member of TCEA, you can click on the image to be directed to the voting website. If you are unfamiliar with TCEA, it is one of the largest statewide educational technology organizations in the U.S., “dedicated to the improvement of teaching and learning through the use of computers and technology”.  Not only does TCEA put on one of the best annual educational technology conventions each February, but it also provides its members with numerous resources, workshops, and collaborative opportunities throughout the year.  I am, specifically, running for the Board Directorship representing Area 19 in Texas.  This area includes the following school districts:

• El Paso ISD
• Ysleta ISD
• Socorro ISD
• Clint ISD
• Canutillo ISD
• Anthony ISD
• Tornillo ISD
• Dell City ISD
• Sierra Blanca ISD
• Fabens ISD
• San Elizario ISD
• Fort Hancock ISD

While there are numerous kudos I could bestow upon TCEA , its membership, and their accomplishments, it’s the future direction of the organization, as I’d like to see it, that has motivated me to run for this position.  Five areas where foresee TCEA heading (on a statewide and local level) are:

1. Playing a greater role in the area of technology integration at a local level. While I am sure that past area Directors have done their fair share of work to increase TCEA’s visibility and influence within Area 19, the truth of the matter is there are still far too many educators  out there that are unaware of what the organization has to offer and how TCEA can serve as a support for the integration of technology into their schools.  I envision a cadre of TCEA members working collaboratively to offer guidance, resources, and training –at a regional level- to educators that are member of the organization, as well as to those that are not but potentially could be.
2. Increased Membership. Through a focused membership drive campaign, I will be working hard to increase TCEA membership in Area 19.  There is strength in numbers, and while I don’t have exact figures as to what current Area 19 membership is, I believe an increase of 10% is quite achievable with my first year in office.
3. Greater Collaboration Among Members. With increased membership, also comes the opportunity for educators to collaborate more with one another.  I have been a member of TCEA since 2003, and to this day, I still have no idea who in Area 19 is a member of TCEA.  An Area 19 (or statewide for that matter) directory/wiki is desperately needed.  With contact information, a brief biography, areas of expertise, and topics of interest, the logistics of collaborative projects among TCEA members is made easier by tenfold.
4. Open, Transparent, and Accessible Communication. Communication between the TCEA Board of Directors and its membership has to be made more accessible, open, and transparent.  Feedback from TCEA membership has to be gathered before, and after, major Board decisions are made.  Too many technologies (blogs, wikis, podcasts, videocasts) are freely available at our disposal for this not to be currently happening.  A prime example is the lack of an RSS feed on the TCEA website, a simple solution to distributing information to TCEA membership in a way that is more accessible.
5. Greater Advocacy. TCEA must do a better job making their voice heard, advocate for its membership, offer guidance and support, and lobby for legislative measures on a statewide and national legislative level.  As one of the largest instructional technology organizations in the U.S., it is remiss that more time and resources are not being dedicated to this endevour.

If you are a member of TCEA, I encourage you to visit the website and vote for your Board of Directors. If you are a member of TCEA within Area 19, I’d like to ask for your vote. If you are an educator in the state of Texas and currently are not a member of TCEA, I’d encourage to join at the TCEA Membership website, annual dues are $30.

The deadline to submit your vote is December 1.

If you’d like to support my efforts, please feel free to display the above image, with a link to the TCEA Board of Directors voting site, on your webpage.  Just copy and paste the following bit of code:

<a href="http://www.tcea.org/vote/PreVote.asp"><img src="http://bumpontheblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/tcea.jpg" alt="" /></a>

It truly has been quite a long time since I have posted anything , and if you are still subscribed thank you for not dropping the feed.  In going over the reasons in my head, why I have not posted for quite some time I came to the realization that, mostly, I was just providing excuses in an attempt to justify my “tuning out”.  Truth be told, I just haven’t felt much like writing the past few months.  Life has been pretty busy, and blogging just seemed to get pushed to the back burner.  That said, over the past couple of weeks a new spark has been lit and I have made a promise to myself to get back into the swing of things.  I, first, needed to take care of a couple of items that have really been causing me some frustration, starting with moving my site over to a new hosting provider.  Hosting the site myself, on an old Gateway computer, just proved to be too much of a headache.  Load times were too slow, WordPress would time out when trying to post,  my own school district was blocking my site as a result of the DNS service I was utilizing, and, honestly, the age of the computer/server led to some internal anxiety that one day I would wake up and everything would be lost….not a good feeling.  Another challenge facing me was to get my digital life organized.  The widespread password-protected accounts, emails, subscriptions, feeds, personal websites, etc…. were just increasing  my frustration level.  It was time to thin out Google Reader, set up Thunderbird to retrieve messages from many email accounts, set up a password manager, and really just sit back and think about the magnitude of sites I am currently a member of.   If this disorganization led to a level of frustration in myself, I can only imagine the kind of frustration less “exposed” teachers go through as we show and encourage use of these constantly changing digital tools.  With that in mind, I have decided to begin putting together a workshop that address some of the strategies I am currently putting in place…a workshop about organizing one’s digital life.  I’m sure in the future, I will be writing more about this.  In the meantime, thanks again for sticking around, I’ve been away far too long….and don’t forget to subscribe to my new feed.
-Brian

I had some fun today designing a couple of images for Wes Fryer’s and Scott McLeod’sкомпютри втора употреба I’m Here for the Learning Revolution button contest.  Just thought I’d share my two submissions here

I’ve been tagged by Tim Holt to participate in a new meme starting up. This meme is modeled after NPR’s All Things Considered segment, “This I Believe“. The rules of the meme are simple, in 500 words or less finish this statement. “This I believe about educational technology….”

Your submission can be written or in multimedia, then passed on to 5 people. Tim had asked that everyone leave a link on his site, I’m changing that rule and asking that your submission be tagged “ibelieve”.

This is what I believe…

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tagged:

Graham Wegner
Dean Shareski
Darren Draper
Eric Langhorst
Karl Fisch

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I am so happy to pass the word along that one of the elementary schools I work directly with has been accepted into the No Excuses University Network of schools. After much hard work and dedication, Mitzi Bond Elementary is now one of only 16 elementary schools in the US, and one of two elementary schools in Texas to hold this distinction.

No Excuses University schools are part of an elite network that aggressively promotes college readiness for every student. They do this by embracing cultures of universal achievement and creating exceptional systems.

Educators at No Excuses Universities believe they have the power to influence every student to be academically successful, even those who are most at risk. This is a radical concept, but No Excuses Universities are making it a reality every day.

Myself, and the faculty, staff and students at Mitzi Bond Elementary are very proud to be accepted as a No Excuses University campus and would be honored if the higher education institution you work at, attend, or graduated from would join us in our commitment to the belief that ALL students can go to college.

Each of our classes has “adopted” a college or university to help us show the students how important and attainable this goal is for them. You can help us by providing flags, banners, pennants, pencils, pens…ANYTHING you can offer. We want to make our students and their parents aware of as many colleges and universities as possible…including universities outside of the United States.

Mitzi Bond Elementary is a public elementary school in the El Paso Independent School District in El Paso, Texas.

The best part of your support, is the students! They are so excited to get college stuff! Our school has received all kinds of things for the students. Some schools even provide t-shirts for a class to wear on “College Day” every week.

Your commitment to our students, by agreeing to become our “adopted” university, would be a great honor.

If you would be able to join us in our belief that EVERY student deserves the opportunity to go to college, please contact me. So that I can provide you with further information. We would love to hear from you.