To students and teachers

To our students and teachers….

How technology will help you….
Computers and mobile devices are making their way into every nook and cranny of the world. When you grow up and pursue jobs, employers will look at your tech skills and talents.

Just as a good books have a way of hooking readers on page one, a good tech tool has a way of hooking one’s interest, too! If an educational activity involves the use of technology, the learner is excited and will feel success; the learner will probably go forth and build on these experiences, applying the same skills in their personal lives. It’s like playing “21st C ball.” A newly learned tech skill will bounce around and be used again and again. Pass the ball to one another! Pass the skill on! Build on it!

Technology encourages team spirit, connects people with important others in their lives, builds confidence and self-drive. Technology enhances learning in face-to-face (f2f) human interactions as well as in social media circles like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Flickr, Tumblr. People can work together and learn from one another. Doing so allows for greater gains in community growth and global improvement.
(Image made at Wordle.net)

Iowa State Fair 2011

Iowa State Fair 2011, a set on Flickr.

The year of the butter cow, sculpture designing, bag tossing, wine stomping, corn eating, music rocking, flower growing, fireworks shooting, animal raising, people watching, weather enjoying, gourmet fair food eating, attendance building, money spending, and having fun!

Power of Words

Oxidation
Originally uploaded by Carol VanHook

Ah yes, so true....

"You English words?
I know you:
You are light as dreams,
Tough as oak,
Precious as gold,
As poppies and corn,
Or an old cloak:
Sweet as our birds
To the ear,
As the burnet rose
In the heat
Of Midsummer"
— Edward Thomas

Goodreads Quote

A Four-Mile Power Walk

A Four-Mile Power Walk Keeping up with the latest and greatest changes in Animoto. Also, I will enjoy watching this in the Winter months and maybe get inspired to take a photo walk on the sidewalks of my hometown in Iowa!

Iowan's Role in Civil War

Just another example of using multiple resources on the Internet to make learning exciting, dynamic and meaningful. Lifelong learners won't be able to stop reading.

Tools used: Google News, Google Search, Joliprint, Tagxedo, Blogger / Blogspot, more Google Searching, and a Website Validation Wizard produced by Illinois Educational Grant Project.

Take a look:
Here is the original article at the Des Moines Register.

And here, you can click on an interactive picture, powered by Tagxedo, that allows you to futher search important keywords. See what else you can learn about the Civil War. Use a Website Validation Wizard to check validity of the website you select to read.