Big Picture.

In April, Brittany Maynard was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer. The tumor was malignant and the doctors gave her 10 years to live. Shortly after that, the doctors re-evaluated the tumor and shortened that life expectancy to 6 months.

Lauren Hill dreamed of playing college basketball and when this season tipped off, she did, getting to start in the first game of the year. However, it was under the most tragic of circumstances because Lauren was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer earlier in the year and given months to live. She started the first game, the opponent allowed her to score the first points of the game, and then she subbed out. She finished the game with the last bucket as well, a shining moment for a kid who's facing the scary reality of the end.
In 2007, Stuart Scott was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. He beat it. In 2011, it came back. He beat it again. In 2013, it came back a third time-stronger, more aggressive. This time, the fight proved too daunting, as Stuart Scott passed away January 4th, 2015. This larger than life ESPN personality, who exuded enthusiasm, now rests at peace. The microphone turned off, the teleprompter dark, the studio silent. He left behind two daughters, but he also left behind a legacy. He said in his final speech last summer at the ESPY's: "When you die, it does not mean that you lost to cancer. You beat cancer by how you lived, why you lived, and in the manner in which you lived."

Sadness and tragedy seem to surround us. Whether it's cancer, disease, accidents, or something else, life has never seemed so fragile to me. Brittany Maynard, Lauren Hill and especially Stuart Scott have been weighing on my mind a lot lately. Their story is one of sadness, but also one that clearly reminds us that life is not guaranteed. Life is not a right. It is a privilege. They were living their lives. Days, weeks, months were passing by and they were excited about their life, excited about their future. Brittany Maynard was excited to start a family with her husband. Lauren Hill was excited about college and the amazing possibilities and excitement her future held. Stuart Scott was undoubtedly excited to see his daughters grow and to continuing having a blast for ESPN. Then they went to the doctor and were given the diagnosis. That fast. Snap of a finger. Blink of an eye. Their world changed. Their life had fast forwarded to the end and they were left dazed, scared. Suddenly things seem not so important, not so huge, not so necessary.  Tomorrow we could walk into a doctor's office and be given a death sentence. We could slam into a back of a van. We could lose someone dear to us. I think it's a perspective change that we sometimes badly need. I know for me, my view on life has changed drastically in the past couple years through various tragic events. I try not to sweat things that are so small and insignificant in the grand scheme of life. I know our time is limited on this earth and I'm not going to spend it worrying about every little minor thing or getting wrapped up in minute details. There are those who spend so much time getting wrapped up in things that just don't matter, that I just wanted to scream, "Relax! It's okay." For me, it is certainly not a "don't care" attitude, it's just that I only care about things that are worthy of it. I'm not going to get worked up or angry about missing homework, I'm not going to get stressed out about hoops we have to jump through, I'm not going to worry. When it comes to school, it's simple: I'm going to work hard, care about about my students, have fun and try to give them an experience worth remembering.
We all have a clock with an end time. But we also all have an opportunity live.

Home Security System on your Keychain (for FREE)

Home security systems are pretty nice. Most home security systems now include the power to control your locks, lights, and thermostat right from your smartphone. However, these can be expensive to install and maintain monthly but home security should not be something one puts on the back burner. So the dilema: need a home security system but can't afford it. So what's the solution? 
Solution: Sleep with your car keys by your pillow. If a robber or intruder is trying to break into your house, simply grab your car keys and hit the panic button on your remote. This will set off the car alarm on your vehicle and scare off the intruder. My house has been broken into my robbers many times and each time, I grab my keys and hit the panic button. So far, 100% of the time the robber has run away scared. 
Seriously, try it! 

If you don't have a key remote with a panic button, your house will probably get robbed. 

Book Study: "Teach Like a Pirate"

Starting in January, I will be offering a book study on the book "Teach Like a Pirate" by Dave Burgess. This is being done through USF so you can receive a credit for continuing ed. This book focuses on the PIRATE acronym and finding your inner pirate to teach with passion, creativity, and enthusiasm. The class will be a hybrid: face to face and online. There will be 4 face to face meetings and various online discussion prompts/twitter chats. We will even be able to skype with the author himself! 

Email me with questions you may have. daniel.klumper@k12.sd.us 

Even if you do not want to take the book study, I still strongly encourage you to read the book. 

The book study begins January 6th after school in my room.
Email Marge Hauser (marge.hauser@k12.sd.us) if you are interested in signing up. 

Link to buy the book HERE

Land of Opportunity

I would just like to remind everyone of the technology help opportunities that Jen and I are providing. This is a good time to get help or work on things that you need a little guidance on. You can, of course, ask us for help/ideas at any point, but this is a solid chunk of time to actually dive in and get something accomplished, rather than a passing minute in the hallway. These technology sessions will be held every week at the times below. If there are some things you would like us to look into or research or figure out, please let us know. 

Technology Help Sessions

Tuesdays at 7:15 in room 712. (Jen Smedsrud)

Wednesdays at 3:30 in room 610. (Dan Klumper)

The Wondrous Pizza Bagel

Is there such a food that makes one forget about all their problems? Is there a food that takes one out of reality and into a dream world of flavor and deliciousness? Is there a food that hypnotizes the mind and soul? The answer: Yes. A most emphatic Yes. It is called the Pizza Bagel and it is a wondrous combination of flavor and awesomeness. The Pizza Bagel can be bought at Bagel Boy in Sioux Falls, SD. Upon entering Bagel Boy, I walk with a spring in my step over to the counter and peer into the bagel rack to make sure they have the "Everything Bagel" which is by far the best type of bagel to use for the Pizza Bagel. One time, I walked into Bagel Boy and the worker informed me that the Everything Bagel was out for the day, I couldn't believe it. I put my head down and did the zombie shuffle out the door and into my truck, where I sat for 10 minutes and cried. I drove straight home and sat in a dark room, depressed for three days. When ordering the Pizza Bagel, make sure the worker puts a pepperoni over the hole in the bagel because then the sauce will not leak out the hole and fall onto your pants, making a slightly embarrassing stain on your trousers. I like to go to Bagel Boy, order a Pizza Bagel and then sit by myself in the corner of the restaurant and enjoy the delicious, flavor packed wonder that is the Pizza Bagel. It is best to sit alone, away from the other people because they often give odd glances of confusion as I sit there, eating with a giant smile plastered across my face the whole time. Upon first bite, the combination of cheese, sauce, pepperoni and the multiple flavor crystals of the Everything bagel such as onion, poppy, garlic, etc. makes my taste buds overflow like the Nile river. Each time I am fortunate enough to make it to Bagel Boy, I order a cinnamon crunch bagel with cinnamon and sugar along with my Pizza Bagel because when the Pizza Bagel comes out of the toaster, it is too hot to eat, so the cinnamon and sugar bagel serves as a nice little appetizer while you wait for the Pizza Bagel to cool. Eating the Pizza Bagel when it is too hot is one of the worst things a human can do because one can not enjoy all the flavor if it's too hot. So be patient. Dig down deep to find the strength to wait for it to cool off. Once it has reached the appropriate temperature, though, tear in to that thing with reckless abandon. So, next time you are in Sioux Falls or any city with a Bagel Boy, stop in. Order up a Pizza Bagel on the Everything Bagel. You will be glad you did.

Smartphones are like Swiss army knives on steroids

Some may argue that technology brings a lot of laziness to the world. I would argue that that laziness is sometimes confused with efficiency. When the Swiss army knife came out in 1891, it totally revolutionized what people could carry in their pocket. Instead of having a bunch of individual tools jingling around in their pocket or tool box, people could have one lone item, with many different functions. You never know when you might need a knife, screwdriver, saw, pincers, toothpick, corkscrew and whatever else they have. In our world, our version of the Swiss army knife is the Smart phone. It really is a smart device. It's a Swiss army knife on steroids. Think about it, "how many things has the smart phone eliminated?" 

• We no longer need those big bulky phone books with size 8 font. Simply search what/who you want to call and you will find it, or Siri will tell you.
• No need for a flashlight as the smartphone comes with one. Still using a pedometer clipped to your belt? No need because you can simply put your phone in your pocket (which you probably do anyway) and it will keep track of your steps, among many other things that a pedometer can't do.
• Smartphone cameras have improved so much they rival and surpass many digital cameras. The digital camera is basically obsolete thanks to the smart phone camera.
• Video devices are the same. Remember the Flipped Video camera? Goodbye. Hello smartphone.
• Still keep a grocery list on a piece of paper on your fridge? Keep track with many smartphone list apps.
• Alarm clocks are gone because the smartphone has an alarm clock with many different alarm sounds, which are more pleasing to the ear when you wake up than the dreadful sound alarm clocks have.
• Want to figure out where to go or get some place? Don't waste your money buying a Garmin GPS because your smart phone has all you need for free navigation.
• Keep track of your life with the calender.
• With Google Play, you can turn your phone into a movie theater or a book.
• Can't find the thermometer to check to see if you have a temperature? Don't worry! Use the body temp app and get yourself to the doctor!
• The dictionary app eliminates the need for a big, huge dictionary taking up space.
• The newspaper is on its way out because you can get so much of your news with twitter, and customize it to what you want to see.
• The compass app waves good by to an actual compass.
• Music player eliminates the Walkman (OK, those were eliminated long ago.)
• Google Wallet and Apple pay make it so you don't even need a wallet!
• Running from the law so you need to leave the country? Turn your phone into your passport with the passport app. 

When you think about it, the smartphone has truly changed the way we live. Some would argue that smart phones have had a negative impact on our life, and in some cases, I would agree with that. But they have had a major impact on how efficient we can live and I think that's a good thing. 

A Tackk project

Tackk continues to provide a great website builder for education. What makes it great is it's simplistic style and ease of use. It does not overwhelm the user/student with a million different options or effects, which just distract and take away from the learning. Without a ton of options/effects, it doesn't take forever to show how to use the site. A quick overview of the features and the kids are off and running. Tackk websites provide a way for students to show what they know using something they are familiar with: the Internet! Kids don't get excited about making a poster anymore. They are digital natives and want to use the technology they were born with. They also want to create and "do." Creating a Tackk website is a great hands-on activity that pushes the student to create something dynamic and engaging. With the students' google account, they can register for free and begin creating. Click below to see one example of how I use Tackk with my students. You can also add "tags" for all the tackks to be gathered in one spot in the "tackk board".
I provide a link to the Tackk builder itself, a checklist of what I want to see, both format wise and content. I provide a few resources to help them, then I provide a link for them to click on and submit their final product. It has gone well in the past and students have done a good job with it. I encourage you to try it!

Click to see a Tackk project

Picmonkey: Edit images and create collages for FREE

Picmonkey is a website that allows you to edit images and create collages. It's free to use and doesn't even require the user to register. Simply go to the site and start using it. There is a paid version, so some of the features will not be available, unless you pay $2.75 a month. However, if you are looking for a basic, free way to create collages and share them, this could be the site for you. I especially like the option to create collages by dragging and dropping. This site has many templates that you can choose from depending on the look you are going for. Next week, we will talk about using Picmonkey in combination with Thing link to make interactive collages. 
Check out Picmonkey! (I'm not paid to say that).

Thinglink: Create and share interactive Maps

"Thinglink" is a tool that you can use to create interactive images. It allows you to create an image that students not only can look at, but interact with. I've posted an example of a thinklink I created for my students to help them review in preparation of the Map challenge coming their way. The map is a blank map of Mesopotamia that I just found on Google Images. I uploaded it into Thinklink and then attached "tags" to various places on the map. The students can see the "tags", think about what that location is, and the hover the mouse over the tag to see if they are right. It's an easy, fun way to review. You can also link the tags to external websites, making it even more interactive and dynamic. The possibilities and uses of this tool are endless! Create one with a plant, an atom, a battlefield, a scene from a story.. You can sign up for free with your google account. 

Move to Online options. But why?

The online course option is obviously an extremely popular choice for many students and adult learners. For a lot of them, it means the ability to take a course or not, which is a category I would fall into myself. The online option should not be limited to just college students or adult learners looking for more education. I think we should be providing an online option for k-12 students as well. Classes could move to a more hybrid format because obviously high school and middle school students aren't going to stay home and take all online classes, but we could be providing them with online options to do as supplement or extended exploring. So why the online format? A few reasons to chew on like a slim jim. 

• Discussions no longer end with the bell. If you are having a lively or even heated debate/discussion and you want it to continue, too bad because the bell rang. Move the discussion to the discussion board, it can rage all night. 
• Students set the pace and schedule. If the material is out there, the student can work at their own pace at their own time. They can get to it when it works for them, instead of trying to jam something into a time window that just isn't open. This requires a bit of responsibility on the learner, but that is a good thing. There are so many diverse learning abilities and styles that an instructor only led course is going to hold back the full potential. 
• Students can showcase their work to their classmates (and the world!) They can share, discuss, analyze and critique (respectfully, of course.) This increases pride and ownership of the work. For me, if I know only my professor is going to read something or view something, I won't work as hard as if I know my whole class will be viewing it. 
• It's a method focused on the Learner's style. Let's face it, there are so many styles of learning. We are not all in a one room school house, k-12, listening to Miss Beadle drone on and on about Pa and the history of his suspenders. Our world is different! So quite trying to put everyone in the same box. We have visual, verbal, analytical, experimental, hands-on, media-centered, morning people, evening people, sprinters, plodders, extroverts and introverts. 

Providing a hybrid format to you k-12 classroom is a tough task. A time consuming one. Perhaps sprinkle in a little bit at a time. But I think something worth looking into.