A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.
We had a double-birthday weekend. Amy’s birthday was Saturday, and Laura’s was Sunday. It was the first time in many years that they had been able to spend their birthdays together. Saturday morning I met my brother Stephen and his family for a photo session at Rock Quarry Garden. It was the first time his … Read More “Celebratory Weekend” »
As mentioned earlier, things were quiet at Byrnes High School on Friday the 13th. It was interesting to compare media coverage of the day. For example, here are a few excerpts from the article in The Greenville News. These are the first sentences from each of the paragraphs… But 804 students were absent, and Spartanburg … Read More “FRI13 Followup” »
It seems that everyone has scheduled their fall events for this weekend. Somehow the cosmic forces for community planning have aligned, and the entire populace will be heading to various festivals and activities. Here’s a partial list… Fall for Greenville – a three day street festival featuring booths from various restaurants. Stonefest – a music … Read More “Too Many Choices” »
I got a call this evening from the folks at Knowitall.org. I had been collaborating with them on a couple of projects, and had incorporated Knowitall resources in my Google Earth talk last week. It wouldn’t be unusual for them to call. I had actually exchanged a couple of e-mails with someone from their office … Read More “You’re a winner!” »
I attended my first political rally this evening. We both got invitations in the mail to a BBQ to support Tommy Moore, Democrat candidate for governor of South Carolina. Little did I know it was a Republican gathering. I should have known, though. Since Laura and I tend to vote in the Republican … Read More “I feel so…dirty” »
Expanding Toy I got a box from HP and Intel today that felt fairly light. I hadn’t ordered anything from HP lately, so I was curious. The only thing in it was the expanding ball toy with an attached tag that read, "Expand your office." Strange. I may leave it on my desk for awhile, … Read More “Expanding Toy” »
Several years ago (before I began my current job) I created a diagram for Instructional Technology to help categorize various types of software for the Constructivist Classroom. That diagram placed educational software tools into three main groups – data acquisition, data analysis, and data sharing. The focus was on software tools, not the kill-n-drill types … Read More “Updated Instructional Technology Diagram” »
While preparing for my talk at EdTech last week I stumbled across an announcement that Google Earth was releasing a huge new batch of images on October 3. During the talk I got a glimpse of these images, but was unable to explore them fully until I had a chance to sit down on a … Read More “New Google Earth Imagery” »
When I got back from Myrtle Beach yesterday the news was that every district in South Carolina had failed to meet Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) as required by No Child Left Behind. (GreenvilleOnline.com – School scores called flawed – (10/6/2006)). Let me repeat that – not a single school district in SC met AYP. Only … Read More “Failing NCLB” »
South Carolina passed a comprehensive Health and Wellness Education law in 2005. As a district we’re just now coming to terms with the ramifications of the law. One provision requires a minimum number of minutes of instruction in PE per week. Given the shortage of PE instructors and the shortage of available minutes, many districts … Read More “No more detention” »