A good chuckle, sometimes, is all you need

You may find yourself down and out or depressed or bloated or scared or nervous or anxious or bored or frustrated or trapped or fearful or cowardly or dejected or morose or brooding or vengeful or spiteful or any number of other negative feelings. So if you do find yourself in that emotional and mental state, perhaps all you need to do is watch a couple of Philippino high divers. Despite their efforts, they still get applause. So, too, can you still get an applause, no matter how bad it gets.

The World's Hardest Game

If you are looking to get really frustrated, perhaps you should give this game a try. Self-proclaimed "World's Hardest Game" will be sure to frustrate you and annoy you long into the night. I tried it and after about 20 minutes, I was about ready to give my computer a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick to the face (screen). Anyway, it's just so annoying trying to get the box through the levels!!! For your information, I made it to Level 2. Then quit. Think you can beat me? Go for it. 

World's Hardest Game

A fitting April Fool's Post

Happy April Fools! A day filled with pranks and looking over your shoulder.  In light of this foolish day, I thought I would share two tremendously funny videos. The people in these videos are true fools. But they are hilarious so I hope you enjoy. Watch them both. Make sure you listen to the announcers. Scott Sterling is my hero.

Scott Sterling playing Goalie for his Soccer Team


Scott Sterling playing volleyball.

Play "SmartyPins" for a fun geography challenge!

"Smarty Pins" is a fun, interactive map game brought to you by Google. Yet another awesome thing Google has done. 

​The game works like this. You start with 1,000 miles. You are given questions. You answer each question by placing a 'pin' on the map. However far away your pin is from the answer, you subtract that many miles from your total. Once you run out of miles, the game is over. So the challenge is to see how many questions you can get through before you run out of miles. You can also score bonus miles if you answer questions quickly. At the beginning of the game, you can select a category or just play the game with all categories used randomly. 

-For each question, the map starts in the general area of where the answer is to help you out a bit, but you can zoom in/out and pan the map for a more accurate pin drop.

This could be a great challenge for kids play in a study hall or when they are done with their class work. It could be used as a "for fun" thing or raise the stakes a bit and make it a challenge. You could also use the concept of SmartyPins but have the students write questions and have their partner try to place the pin accurately on a map. 

Check it out! It's a fun way to pan the globe and learn about a variety of places.  

Improve your Students Google Search Ability

How often have you heard the phrase, "Google it"? I'm guessing a lot. Whenever we have a question or want to know something, the first thing we do, or at least I do, is "google it." No matter what. I always go to Google. Sometimes, I literally just google the question itself. Now, I know our students also work/think this way. Their number one solution is to "google it" as well. However, as you have probably seen yourself, some students are not good at finding information on the internet and are not good at 'googling it.' But we can't abandon it because Google is such a wealth of information, we must use it! It's a great resource. So, instead of complaining about how our students are terrible at searching for information on the internet, help them get better at it! Teach them! Fortunately, Google is awesome and have created a "activity" that allows students (or anybody) to practice searching for information on Google. It's called "A Google A Day" (www.agoogleaday.com)  and it's awesome. It's a great way to not only get better at searching with Google, but also to challenge our students and get them to think! 
Here's how it works: Google gives you three questions, one at a time. For each question, you must figure out the answer by Google searching keywords, phrases, questions, etc. Once you figure out the answer, you enter it and then move on to question 2 (if you get it right, of course). The faster you answer the questions correctly, the more points you get, so there's definitely a little bit of competition and intensity involved. It's a fun way for students to challenge each other. A great activity if students are done with their work or looking for something to do in study hall. Give it a try yourself and become a Google Search Pro! 

Great Google Trick!

Have you ever heard of a Google Easter Egg? Well, Google is quite clever. They like to have fun with their product and one example of that is with "Easter Eggs." Like the name suggestions, these Easter eggs are like what you do around Easter: hunt for hidden eggs. Google has hidden tricks and fun things throughout Google.com for people to find.  I was preparing something the other day and I needed a picture of Atari's "breakout" so I google imaged it and all of a sudden, before my very eyes, the google image screen turned into a game of Breakout! 
So, if you go to Google and image search "Atari breakout" (or click "I'm feeling lucky") the actual game will begin and you can play it with the mouse. Give it a try! It's kinda fun. 

Spice Up Your Text Message Game with "Bitmoji"

Looking to add a little spice to your text messages? Feel like your texting game as gone bland? Well, maybe what you need is "Bitmoji." 
Bitmoji is an app for Apple and Android that gives you a ton of new emoji's. What's even better is that you can customize the emoji's to look like yourself! Once you edit how you look in the app itself, you can select bitmoji's to use in your text messages. There are a wide variety of bitmoji's so you are sure to find the perfect emoji for the situation. 
Here's how to do it:
-Go to App store and get "bitmoji." 
-Open "bitmoji" app and customize what you look like.
1. Go to "settings"
2. Go to "general"
3. Go to "keyboard"
4. go to "keyboards"
5. touch "Bitmoji--bitmoji"
6. Turn on "access allow"
7. Use it! In a text message, click on the icon (looks like a globe with lines) in the bottom left to access the bimoji's. 

Great App for Shoppers! "GeoQpon"

If you have a smartphone and like to find great deals, then maybe you should check out the "GeoQpon" app. It's got tons of great coupons and daily deals that you can use at a wide variety of stores. Simply show the coupon to the cashier and they scan your screen! It's pretty slick. I haven't actually ever tried using it, but I've heard of people who have. Get savings up to 40-50%! Or more! or maybe less (like I said, I've never actually used it.)  Simply enter your zip code and the app will generate a huge list of stores in your area that having coupons on this app. You then scroll through the list and select the stores for your "Favorites" list. Then, let the hunting begin! I know people who have spent hours staring at this app looking for deals. So there must be a lot of stuff to look at! (Again, I've never used it.)  
Add to your spring wardrobe at Old Navy or buy that new tool you've always wanted from Ace Hardware or buy your favorite zombie video game from Best Buy or get that pair of bedazzled jeans you've always wanted from Justice or feed your dog the good stuff for a change from PetSmart. 

Happy Shopping! 

Cooking with the Klumpers-Episode 1: "PB & J"

Looking for a delicious, easy to make snack or meal? Well look no further. Check out Episode 1 of Cooking with the Klumpers to learn how to make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich. Enjoy!

Perfectly Timed Photos and a bunch of cool maps

The 50 Most Perfectly Timed Photos Ever

40 DIFFERENT maps of the World (sent to me by my colleague Mr. Olson)

As we wrap up our first full week of school, I thought I would share a couple interesting pictures lists on this Friday. This could be something you could share with your students because not only are they interesting pictures, but thought provoking, especially the 40 different maps of the world. 

Have a great three day weekend. 

Said No Teacher, Ever

Said No Teacher Ever from First Baptist Church Loganville on Vimeo.

With our last two days before the students arrive, I hope you are doing something fun. If you find yourself enjoying these last two days of summer at school working, then you might enjoy this video giving you a quick break from your intense work. Here are a few things that no teacher says, ever...

Turning your content into an Arcade Game

Example of "Word Shoot" in the arcade

This may not come as a surprise to you but kids love playing video games. Just think about all the hours spent in front of an Xbox 360 that could be spent reading or learning. Just think if we could combine the two: video games and learning. Well, thanks to the internet and Classtools.net, we can. With this tool, you can enter up to 30 questions and create arcade games. I used this for my ancient Egypt unit with the gods and goddesses. There were quite a few names to remember, so this was a good way to get the kids to practice those names and who those gods/goddesses were. Classtools.net offers five unique arcade games: "Manic Minor," "Word shoot", "Cannon Ball", flashcards, and memory. By far, the games my students liked best were Manic Minor and Word Shoot. Manic Minor is a game in which you control a minor below ground and only have a certain amount of air. You are given a question, and you need to go grab the answer with the minor. Watch out for danger though, because if you run out of air, step on a danger, or get hit by an enemy, you will lose a life. Word Shoot is a game in which you are given a question and you have to "shoot" the right answer. Each level gets more difficult. Kids were constantly playing these games, which meant they were constantly using the Egypt material I wanted them to use.  This is a good tool that your students will like to use to help them review. It is free. Simply sign up for an account and begin. There are other options to use with classtools.net, but the arcade generator is a fun one to try/use.