What In Tarnation?!?!?

Tonight the third grade had a music concert for parents with a patriotic theme. They did a fine job and parents and relatives appeared in droves. In my building we have third graders everywhere. About 125 of the little darling which is a large amount for the size building we have. The third grade teachers know that we have a ton of them, we deal with the numbers everyday. Administration however only see that as an abstract number on a piece of paper and get angry when anyone mentions the number of third graders we have. Tonight one of those administrators got a practical view of 125 little ones. As they came walking into the gym and up on the stage. It took them awhile. Behind me I heard the paper pusher administrator say, “Are they still coming?” He was quite astonished. I turned and said, “Oh we have about 15 students not here tonight.” Grrrr.

After the concert I was helping clean up and move all the chairs back into the classrooms that we had to pull out in a last minute to get seats for parents, I had one of my students (whose mom is a fellow third grade teacher) was playing a game on the internet. I asked him, “What are you doing?”

“Spanking the Monkey.”

“Wha–”

“I’m playing Spank the Monkey,” he said.

I interpreted the name of the game a little differently. I checked out the computer screen and there was a monkey that you have to spank. I played a few rounds. My record is 415 MPH.

I can’t believe I am going to type these words… how hard ca– okay I won’t type those words. Leave you record in the comments.

Class dismissed!

Today I teamed up with one of the other tech contacts in the district to present a workshop on how to use the Smartboard and the Smartboard Notebook. This was one of those workshops that very few things went they were supposed. Despite demonstrating the procedure of capturing writing on the screen to the Notebook correctly neither myself or my fellow contact could make the silly thing capture. It was very frustrating. “If you do that is should work…” Pretty sad.

While showing how the transparency layer works, I was writing on the desktop and telling teachers they can use the layer to draw attention to icons on the desktop. I circled the Internet Explorer and drew an arrow to it and then wrote in some pretty sloppy cursive “click here.” While I was cracking a joke about my poor cursive I looked at the work click and the rather unfortunate spacing of the c and the l. I didn’t properly space the c and the l; they were too close together and looked like they formed another letter and of course it looked like a d creating a word that I certainly didn’t want to write on the board in the middle of a workshop that I was helping to lead in a room of about eight ladies and I was the only guy.

“Oh wow, that doesn’t look right.” My brain was now frozen. I just started scribbling through the malformed word. “Just pretend that you didn’t see that and don’t file a sexual harassment suit it wasn’t intentional. And feel free to forget about that when you are filling out your evaluation forms.”

They all had a good laugh about that.

By the end of the workshop I was ready to leave and forget the whole situation. At least I get a second chance to do the workshop. I won’t be writing the word click either.

Class dismissed!

And now for something completely different:

Have you seen the video that demonstrates how Microsoft would redesign the sparse package design of the Apple iPod? It is classic, I highly recommend it.

I must say that I was a little surprised by my comment fund raising turnout. I had very few responses. This makes me wonder what caused this. Have readers stop dropping by WIT?!?!? Is the new template confusing? Is there a general slump in readership across all blogs?

To answer the first question, I dropped into my webstats for WIT?!?!?

So February was not a good month for WIT?!?!? The number of page views and visitors is down dramatically. I haven’t had quite the energy or the to keep up with the content here at WIT and that could be a reason for the downturn in readers. I will try to do better during the month of March.

Could the new Kiwi template be confusing for readers? That certainly is possible. The template isn’t set up like most other blogs. The main page isn’t a place to read content but merely a jumping off point to all the content on WIT. I have made some changes to the template that will hopefully clear up some confusion. The front page now displays the whole first post rather than just an excerpt. I have also enlarged the font for posts, I though that the 9pt font that was standard was a little small. Maybe that will help.

Has there been a general drop in blog usage of late? Pressed tried the same thing that I did and had a similar outcome. Pressed also admits that he has not been able to keep the content as fresh as he would like. Maybe that is the common thread here.

Maybe there is another reason. Perhaps WIT?!?!? is just past its prime. Being almost 5 years old does make WIT an elderly member of the blogosphere. What do you think? I would love to here your remarks in the comments.

Class dismissed!

On a related note The Real Reason Blogging is Hard.

Here’s what I have found interesting in some great blogs of late:

Safari/WordPress users on MacOS X rejoice! The one thing that I don’t like about Safari is that it will not display the buttons in Wordpress 2.0 (or earlier for that matter) for the post writing and editing area. It is such a pain. Now Alex King has submitted a patch to the WordPress code and has been accepted and will probably appear in the next version of WordPress. I can’t wait for that very reason. This is great news and thanks to Alex for doing this.

Via TV Tattle, actor Don Knotts has passed away.

Bryan took an English Vocab test that made my head hurt a bit. I didn’t do quite as well as Bryan the wordsmith but I didn’t do half bad:

Test:English Vocabulary
Score: 4.17
Percentile: Scored higher than 92% of previous examinees
Demonstrates a clear understanding of many advanced concepts within this topic. Appears capable of mentoring others on most projects in this area.The skills certification you earned today also puts you one step closer to completing the Brainbench Job Role Certification for:

Technical Writer
Medical Transcriptionist
Editor

Via TV Squad Darren McGavin of Night Stalker fame has also passed away.

From the Thinklings You might be a redneck Jedi if…

You’ve ever used the phrase, “May the force be with y’all.”

Your Jedi robe is a camouflage color.

You’ve ever used your light saber to open a bottle of Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill.

At least one wing of your X-Wings is primer colored.

Read the rest…

Class dismissed!

The 30 hour famine starts tomorrow. For more info about the 30 Hour Famine see this previous post.

Stealing Pressed’s idea from last year, I will donate $1 for each comment, one comment per visitor (e-mail address/IP address) to the 30 Hour Famine. The comments will remain open until Friday, February 24 at 6:00 pm Saturday, February 25 at 3:00 pm. In your comment, tell me an interesting fact or a funny story, I really like funny stories. Act fast, this is a limited opportunity. Void where prohibited.

So help a hungry person out and leave a comment.

If you want to go further, you can leave a donation in via PayPal through the PayPal button below.

Hey, donate and make a comment!

Wanna read the lyrics to my new favorite song?

You Are God Alone
by Billy and Cindy Foote

You are not a god
Created by human hands
You are not a god
Dependant on any mortal man
You are not a god
In need of anything we can give
By Your plan, that’s just the way it is

Chorus:
You are God alone
From before time began
You were on Your throne
Your are God alone
And right now
In the good times and bad
You are on Your throne
You are God alone

You’re the only God
Whose power none can contend
You’re the only God
Whose name and praise will never end
You’re the only God
Who’s worthy of everything we can give
You are God
And that’s just the way it is

Repeat Chorus

Bridge:
Unchangeable
Unshakable
Unstoppable
That’s what You are

Repeat Bridge
Repeat Chorus
Repeat Bridge Out

You can listen to my favorite recording of this song by going to billyfoot.com and clicking media and choosing You Are God Alone. Those are some powerful lyrics.

Anywho, get to commenting!

Class dimissed!

Later: I guess no one reads my site anymore. Pressed has started his comment to raise money deal as well. Help raise even more money over at Avoiding Evil.

Awhile back I asked for some site suggestions to add to a website that I was constructing for use in our new computer lab called eLearning. I had the first version of the site up shortly after I posted that post. Three revisions later it is becoming a decent beginning to a collection of cool education links.

Several classes have used the site for instruction, after school programs have used the links and I have received many complements from my fellow teachers on the site. Some teachers have informed parents about the site and let them know that they can use the site at home as well.

Last week, Wyman had a Reading Night. There were about 15 rooms/activities that parents and students could visit. There was a Dr. Seuss Room (read Dr. Seuss books and make green eggs and ham made from green M&MS, pretzels, white almond bark), reading bubble room, If You Give a Pig a Pancake room, just to name a few. I was in the computer lab to let students explore the communication arts websites. The lab was packed with parents and students with students waiting to use a computer. Parents who had not seen the lab were very impressed but what made me happiest was to hear parents say that they were familiar with the site and used it at home frequently with their kids. The best thank you that I could get.

Feel free to take a look at the sites I have collected and if you have any suggestions, I am more than happy to take them!

Class dismissed!

Monday Madness from the 20th.

Pick a letter from the alphabet, and then make a list of all the boy (or girl), (or both) names, that you can think of, which start with that letter.

Today’s post is brought to you by the letter L and the gender male. Here we go.

Lee, Leon, Leroy, Larry, Linn, Ling, Landry, Lane, Leeland, Lenny, Leo, Leonard, Logan, Lindell, Lionel, London, Landon, Lance, Liane, this is getting difficult, Lawrence, Lenn, Leopold, Leonardo, Lex, Lewis, Lucas, Luke, (it took me this long to get those?), Leslie, Linus, Lindsay, Lucifer (yes, I know of someone named that), Lamech (wasn’t someone in the Bible named that?).

I think I give up.

Give me the obvious ones that I missed in the comments.

Class dismissed!

The Missouri Department of Transportation (affectionately referred to as MoDOT) has announced that it is getting ready to begin a whopping 27 construction projects on the heavily travel Interstate I-44. From modot.org:

Updated February 7

Interstate 44

Ready … set … go!

Work is about to begin on a series of 27 projects that will improve the condition and safety of Interstate 44 across the state by Dec. 31, 2006. Most of the work is a part of MoDOT’s “Smooth Roads Initiative” which is designed to bring the driving surface of the state’s 2,200 most heavily traveled highways up to good condition.

Four of the I-44 projects require heavy construction that is likely to cause significant delays for motorists — especially on Thursday, Friday and Sunday afternoons when traffic typically spikes as motorists head to and from getaway destinations throughout the southern half of Missouri.

Franklin County, Pacific to the St. Louis County line — already underway
Lane closures can be expected overnight between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m., and periodically during daytime, non-rush hours.

The next big project — in the Cuba area about 80 miles west of St. Louis — will begin March 6.

The westbound lanes from the Phelps County line to Leasburg (exit 214) will be reconstructed. Westbound traffic will be diverted to share the eastbound lanes for two-way traffic through the 12-mile project area until Memorial Day.

Other projects that could cause significant delays include:

Rolla, between Route E and Route 63 — begins May 7
Two miles of lane reconstruction and additions. One lane closed eastbound May 7-26; one lane closed westbound Oct. 1-25. Intermittent lane drops through construction; no interruptions during weekends and major holidays.

Laclede County near Lebanon, Exit 135 to Exit 145 — begins June 1
Pavement reconstruction of eastbound lanes. Project will require 75 days of two-way traffic over 10.5 miles in the westbound lanes.

Every single one of these projects except the one near Lebanon effects an area that I frequently drive in. Ack!

They don’t mention in this bit of news on big project that is starting at the beginning of next month. The following is from a MoDOT pamphlet (I hate that word) entitled I-44 Work Zones in Missouri: from Oklahoma to Illinois:

I-44, Crawford County, Phelps County line to Leasburg (Exit 124) This project will reconstruct the westbound lanes from Phelps County to Route H, and will require head-to-head traffic day and night in the eastbound lanes from March 1-May 25, 2006. Expected completion - September 1, 2006.

Last year when they did the other set of lanes it would cause backup that would take hours to travel the distance of the construction. It was a pain in the neck and now we get to do it again. Hopefully they will get the same construction company that they had last time because they finished quite a bit ahead of schedule. Maybe I should track how much extra time I spend in transit between Rolla and Sullivan because of this little project.

All this construction is brought to you by the letter A and Missouri Constitutional Amendment 3 passed in 2004:

Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to require that all revenues from the existing motor vehicle fuel tax (less collection costs) be used only for state and local highways, roads and bridges, and also require that vehicle taxes and fees paid by highway users be used only for constructing and maintaining the state highway system (less collection costs, refunds and highway patrol law enforcement costs), except that up to half of such vehicle taxes and fees, phased in over four years, will go into a state road bond fund to repay state highway bonds?

The constitutional amendment has a zero net fiscal impact. The amendment increases funding for the Department of Transportation to be used for transportation purposes only and limits the use of highway user fee revenues by other state agencies. The indirect fiscal impact on state and local governments, if any, is unknown.

Read the full text of the Amendment here.

My question is did we have to have almost all of I-44 under construction at the same time? Could we have a few phases or something? There will be very few sections of I-44 that go untouched this year.

Class dismissed!