This is a wonderful tool sharing Prezi and its many uses.
I have utilized this as a training tool for students and staff.


Paul Hill20 April 2012

Thoughts on using Prezi as a teaching tool on Prezi

Window with a View

Sometimes working late has its benefits.  For example, today, as I was reading some online journal entries, I noticed a movement outside my classroom window. 

Upon closer inspection, it was a fairly large hawk.  My estimation is that it was about 1 ½ feet tall while standing.  It leapt up and flew closer to my window.  Its wing span was approximately 3 – 4 feet and was amazing to view as it gracefully glided to a perch in one of the nearby trees.  

It was scanning the area looking for prey.   


Suddenly, something caught its attention.  A small garter snake was winding through the partially mowed grass, hoping to avoid being noticed by the keen eyed predator. No such luck. 

This feathered hunter swooped down on its next meal and immediately began to attempt to swallow the unlucky quarry.  The garter snake was no match for the strong beak and talons of this raptor.  With some difficulty, the captured victim was soon dinner and this elegant, well designed hunting machine gathered itself and floated to a low branch where it could begin to digest the contents of its belly.


Sometimes stopping to watch nature can be a marvelous adventure, even from your own classroom window.  I only have two regrets, I did not think to take a picture, and my students were not here to share the moment.

Something to Digest

“Gurgle! Gurgle!” 

That is the sound of food as it makes its way through your digestive system.  This is a gross, yet necessary part of every one of our lives as we live our life day-to-day.

Over the past few weeks the sixth grade has been exploring the human body.  Their current area of study has been, yes you guessed it, the digestive system.  Students have been busy creating posters identifying the eight major functions within the digestion system.  They are sharing what happens from the eating of food to the release of unusable parts.

That sound coming from your stomach probably means you are just hungry, or it could be the acids your body produces are busy doing their job...

...in the digestive system.

It's the Right Thing to Do.

The split between public and home schooling is upsetting to me.  I am a public school teacher. I love my job and enjoy helping every child every day.

I welcome parents who are home schooling their children.  It takes courage and time to properly meet state and federal guidelines when undertaking the process of educating one's child at home.  My position is that I will be available to assist  parents as they are instructing their child.

I only ask that we all understand that educating children is not a competition.  It is not "me" verses "you", or I am better at this than you.  Rather, we must work together to provide the best authentic education possible for EVERY child.  I am in the public schools because I know there are many who can not afford to stay home to teach their child.  I want to make sure that I am providing the best of everything for their child, just as I would for my own children.

Teacher and school bashing are not the solution.  Teamwork and providing whatever it takes for our children, our future leaders, is the bottom line on which we should be focusing.

This needs to be done.  As Wilford Brimley says, "It's the right thing to do."


Feel free to comment.  This tells me that education is not dead.  It is heating up, and our comments and commitment are just making it hotter.  No, education is not dead, it is just changing into something bigger and better.

A New School Year of Hope, Discovery, and Epic Change

This new school year is bringing some exciting change to Woodside Middle School in the Saydel CSD.  Students in the seventh and eighth grade are breaking new ground with the introduction of 1:1 laptop computers. This means every student in the 7th and 8th grade receives a brand new laptop computer, along with the responsibilities that go with it.  The Sixth graders will be exploring at a 2:1 ratio, gaining experience to prepare them for the following year.

The possibilities are endless. Our hope is that the students, their families, and the community embrace this upgrade.  Change can be good.  Change IS good.  THIS change is VERY good.  By placing technology in the hands of our students, we have tugged on a heart string that has been longing to be set free, reaching into a world of discovery. The walls have been knocked down and the dust has just barely begun to settle.

Imagine a classroom of kids, conducting research online with a group of students from Alabama about racial differences and how the communities differ.  They might be sharing information via Skype while inputting data into a spread sheet on Google docs.  All the while, this document is changing simultaneously as the conversation progresses.  This is something teachers and students at Woodside only dreamed about last year.  Now, it is a reality.

The change is here, Saydel.  Embrace it, nurture it, enjoy it.  A whole new world of hope and discovery is bringing about a new direction in the education process at Woodside MS.  Yes, the change is here, and it is one of epic proportions.

Photograph by Holly McQueen/The Register 

(View more pictures taken by Holly McQueen/The Register, at tinyurl.com/wmscomps.)

Woodside Idol

This coming Wednesday, February 15, will be the second round for Saydel's "Woodside Idol". This is a unique vocal competition which finds the chorus students in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade singing for a chance to appear in the finals. The 2nd round will be at Woodside Middle School and run most of the day. The finals will be Thursday, February 24th, and will find the best of the best singers performing on the High School stage. Good luck to everyone. You make us proud!!! Oh... and sing well.

Iowa

To our friends in Honduras:

Please tell us what you know about Iowa.
What do you think the weather is like?
What are our favorite foods?
Is there anything else you might want to know?