Total Eclipse of the Heartland

A day after totality and I still get goose bumps.  It was an amazing experience.  The Northwest students were awesome throughout the afternoon.  It is definitely a bucket list item.  This was my first but not my last.  You need to experience it once in your lifetime.

A full moon rising

So far school is flying for me.  Eight preps in seven class periods keeps me hopping.  Class are going great so far.  I have a good bunch of kids and they are getting the job done.  I am looking forward to next Monday for the chance of a lifetime for myself and students here at Northwest.  The eclipse.  I'm sure there are some people who don't realize how big of a deal this is.  Nobody living in Grand Island today will ever witness another total eclipse unless they go searching for it.  Amazing and awesome experience.  Cannot wait.

School Time

Well here we are again.  First week of school for my 39th year of teaching.  Whoa.  Where did the time go?  Another meeting has just started so I better get out of this blog and pay attention to the speaker.  Have a great day!!!

PLTW State conference

Had a great day this past Monday at UNL as I attended the State PLTW conference.  Lots of great info and insight on the future of technology and engineering.  We have autonomous vehicles but we also have the possibility of autonomous highways.  Boggles my mind.  What will this world look like for my grandkids?   We have jobs available, now we just have to make sure our students have the skills they need to fill these jobs.  We have to prepare them for jobs that will haven't even been thought of yet.  Critical thinking and problem solving  are the most important skills that our students will need to be successful in the 21st century and beyond.

Google explosions

Learning lots of new exciting stuff on google.  Jackie Ediger is a Google Goddess!!!  A lot more stuff for me to learn and stay up late night to get more knowledgeable.

ICE Monday

Sitting at home because of ICE storm.  But, I am getting schoolwork done as I brought home some projects to grade.  CEA students had to put together their Affordable Housing Projects.  Had some very good projects.  Amazing to see what students can accomplish when they put their mind to it.

Went to Kearney On Saturday to their VEX Robotics competition.  Took along five students so they could see what was happening.  They are now super excited but also feeling a little anxious as we have only two weeks before we compete at Ravenna.  More to follow on this.

2017: Get ready

Back at Northwest High.  Second semester starting off with a bang.  After two days classes are going well.  Students are getting involved in their projects.  CEA students are putting together their Affordable Housing Design projects.  POT classes are redesigning Putt-Putt boats.  POE students are finally seeing where the Pythagorean Theory helps build trusses.  CSP, CSA, and Exploring Tech students are diving deeper into computer programming and app development.  Hopefully all students will strive to do their best and learn from each other and myself.  My plan is to get students to start blogging about their experiences and reflect on what they are learning.