Learning in the Lou

It has been years since we have needed a chair like this. I remember the wooden ones from the restaurants we would frequent years ago. What stands out the most is two things, many of them were pretty gross and a few I recall were on the verge of collapse. I had some reading and planning to do so I hit up the local Starbucks. The only table that was open had this chair sitting at one end. What I noticed was the solid and efficient construction. My STEM questions: Why is this chair made from some type of composite material and not wood? Is this material more resistant to germs? What might be some reasons for so many rounded angles? How did they determine it should be exactly the height it is? Does it have to do with the tables or the average size of the little humans that sit in them? I did notice there were three different heights of tables low enough for this chair. Is there an exact measurement for how wide the base should be to prevent tipping? 

This post was created to support the LHS English PBL classes.  1. What do you watch now?   This question helped frame our thinking around the videos we watch and where we watch them. What videos do you watch now? What screens do you watch the videos on? What keeps you coming back? 2. Apple of my eye - shot on an iPhone 4.   We watched this video without much context the first time.   We broke the class into six small groups. We then rewatched the video while the teams looked for one of the specific topics below. The big idea was to see how these video elements added to the overall story.  angles the video was shot in movement of the camera sound/audio lighting cuts in the video who was the intended audience 3. T.H.I.N.K.   This acronym was designed to help when shooting on a mobile device. shoo T with this  storyboard or that storyboard H old that camera steady I nteresting surroundings N ot too soft, not...

I was leaving a coffee shop and noticed this Sysco truck in the street. I noticed some type of curtain hanging in the back. I took a closer peek and it appeared to be a barrier to keep the cold air inside when the goods were being off loaded. Some of these questions might be easy, unscientific, etc but the point of STEMitizing the surroundings is to expand your vision of the world around us. My STEM questions: How fast does the cold air leak out when the curtain is totally closed? Can we reinvent the curtain to make it automatically close once you exit the trailer? How quickly does it warm up inside the truck when it is partially open? What is the total volume of air inside the truck? Is there a system of where they put the food inside the truck to keep the most sensitize stuff by the refrigeration unit?

  Sammi and I went out for coffee the other day and came across this sign as we walked down the street. The big idea of finding the opportunity in every struggle is something we all do to one degree or another. Every one of us faces things that threaten to stop us, forever frozen in our tracks. Somehow we push though victorious, and maybe a little battle fatigued, to the other side. Those struggles are what I call gold, we learn so much from the path less traveled. Those life lessons are what propel us to another level. They are the foundational pieces we need to face whatever is coming next. Looking back at my own struggles, the details and lessons learned sometimes fad. Sometimes I don't always see the successes, big and small, because they have disappeared into the background of my memory. These thoughts helped bubble up a story I read in a book last year. Watch this video for the short version. I created this jar last year. Sometime over the summer it ...

Over the past two weeks we have talked a lot about twitter. I am a pretty big fan and have been using it for some time now. Over the years I have created a system that helps me maximize my time on the app while increasing the impact it has on me professionally. This post will show two of my tips. Quick Tips - Efficient Use Log into your twitter account. Click on an account you follow, make sure it is one that offers some powerful ideas. There are a few buttons near the top of the screen that hide the twitter gold. Click Likes . Anything the account likes will appear once you click this button. Scroll down. This is the best place to find twitter gold.  If this is an account I respect, the likes are where I can find some very useful resources. It is also worth your time to check out the Following tab. Scroll down to see who they follow. Click follow on the accounts you think will add value to your account. Interested in learning more? ...

Sometimes it is just easier to use the web and avoid the Blogger app. There are a few things to be aware of when doing so, this post will demonstrate the process. Open your blog. To insert an image just click on the little picture . The image I need is on my camera roll. To access it I can just click From your phone . 1. Select the image(s) you want to upload. 2. Click Add selected . The image is now ready to go. Just add text and publish. Note: this post started on an iPad and ends on an Android phone. The process is the same no matter what device you are using.

I don't have any tattoos but if I did it might go something like what appeared on my watch the other day. There have been like a million little, and two big, things that have gone all wrong this week. So far we are only two days deep into a four day work week. What will tomorrow bring?!?! It is like the path less traveled theory, we learn a lot more when the going is difficult. Do we share those struggles with those around us? Do we share them with the kids we teach? I think these issues and how we hopefully rebound can teach our students more than we might realize. Some days I want to host a coffee hour or maybe a LindberghU class to share our stories. Anyone down for that?