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AKA: Los Tres Escuelas
20 miles past the 3 Redlands high schools and over two bridges, 1 of which is about 100 years old (see picture below). Very cool ride.
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Tuesday, June 30, 2009
The Bridges Ride
View Larger Map
AKA: Los Tres Escuelas
20 miles past the 3 Redlands high schools and over two bridges, 1 of which is about 100 years old (see picture below). Very cool ride.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Acoma: A Novel of Conquest
This is my first written book review. I picked up this novel, Acoma: A Novel of Conquest, by Lana M. Harrigan, at the library because I am interested in the Acoma history. I have visited there twice, and I have historical ties to the area. Plus I love historical fiction as a genre. This is the author's first novel and it shows. Her writing starts off strong, but gets lazy towards the end of the book. I am not a fan of romance novels, and this felt far more like a romance novel than historical fiction. I thought "Novel of Conquest" would mean conquest of the land; I didn't interpet the title to mean sexual conquest. However I must give Mrs. Harrigan credit for her vivid descriptions of the Acoma mesa (for the very little time she spends there.) The author must hate the catholic church because she paints a horrible and abusive profile of their presence in Nuevo Mexico. The heroine has a heart for Christianity and God, but few others "religious" characters in the book are sympathetic at all. At the end she leaves the reader feeling that all sins, while forgiven by God (maybe) will come back to haunt you, even to the point of death. Hmm. Unfortuantely I cannot recommend this novel to anyone.
Friday, June 19, 2009
New Bible
Last night my mom gave me an early Father's Day gift. I had mentioned awhile back how I wish I could find a bible with a wide margin for taking notes. I write notes all over all of my books. It's a habit I started in college and have found very useful. Teachers, I know it's a sin to many but for me its a highly effective way of helping me understand and process what I am reading, whether its scripture, classwork material, or just observations in a novel I am reading for fun.
Mom found an ESV (English Standard Version) Bible for Life wide margin reference edition bible published by Crossways Bibles, a ministry of Good News publishers, from Wheaton, Illinois (978-1-58134-823-1) at our one of our local Christian book stores. Very cool. I have a Teacher's Edition Holman Christian Standard Bible that I carry with me just about everywhere I go. The new one is bigger and heavier, so it will be my daily reader, and Sunday tote to service.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Mastery?
Everyone needs to be good at something, to experience what it is to excel at anything, to understand the time, energy, and commitment required to achieve a mastery level. It doesn't matter what the thing is. It could be writing, playing an instrument, throwing free throws, or even, yes, playing video games.
No one gets "good" at anything unless they spend time (lots of time) doing that thing. There are two byproducts of their time investment. 1) they get better at the thing they are doing which makes them feel good and brings them positive attention; and 2) they learn what is necessary for mastery.
The lesson gained from learning what is necessary for mastery can be applied to anything and everything else in life. For me to learn how to make 9 out of 10 free throw shots, I must make a personal investment. The return on this investment is an experience that I can then reference when approaching other challenges in life.
Having experienced some success in the past, I know what mastery feels like and I have a pretty good idea of how to get there. Sure each challenge is different; it's not the way we overcome the challenge, but the attitude and the experience we bring to meet the challenge head-on.
How much time do you spend working towards mastery? We may never reach "master class" in what we focus on, but that's not the point. It's making the commitment, and following through; then applying those experiences to other areas of our lives that is the key to success.
No one gets "good" at anything unless they spend time (lots of time) doing that thing. There are two byproducts of their time investment. 1) they get better at the thing they are doing which makes them feel good and brings them positive attention; and 2) they learn what is necessary for mastery.
The lesson gained from learning what is necessary for mastery can be applied to anything and everything else in life. For me to learn how to make 9 out of 10 free throw shots, I must make a personal investment. The return on this investment is an experience that I can then reference when approaching other challenges in life.
Having experienced some success in the past, I know what mastery feels like and I have a pretty good idea of how to get there. Sure each challenge is different; it's not the way we overcome the challenge, but the attitude and the experience we bring to meet the challenge head-on.
How much time do you spend working towards mastery? We may never reach "master class" in what we focus on, but that's not the point. It's making the commitment, and following through; then applying those experiences to other areas of our lives that is the key to success.
Friday, June 12, 2009
4AM
Just home from graduation. What a great night. I love to watch the graduates walk up to receive their diploma (holder). The expression on their faces is priceless. Then the hugs and the tears after are always some of my most memorable moments. Congratulations Class of 2009!
I'm writing the night before (but publishing the day of) because I am getting up at 4am to drive my wife, Pamela, to the airport. She is spending the weekend with her sister in Colorado. I'll be chasing around the 5 little Bibos all weekend long, or rather, they will be chasing after me.
I'm writing the night before (but publishing the day of) because I am getting up at 4am to drive my wife, Pamela, to the airport. She is spending the weekend with her sister in Colorado. I'll be chasing around the 5 little Bibos all weekend long, or rather, they will be chasing after me.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
1
After months of planning, prep, instruction, and projects, I gave my first certification exam in Final Cut Pro yesterday. The certification exam is optional, and half of the students enrolled (10) opted to take the test. The test is taken online. There are multiple choice, select all that apply, and find this item in the diagram (screen shot) questions. Test takers are given 90 minutes to complete all 70 questions. The pass score is 80%. I had one student score above 80% (81%). The average score was 56%. Epic fail?
I predicted the student who passed would pass before I ever began to teach him the curriculum. He came in with prior knowledge and experience using the application at home. The next highest score was 76% from a student who is enrolled in two of my classes and serves as my TA in a third. However, another student who spends the same amount of time in my classroom earned the lowest score 36%.
I can reflect on these numbers in two ways. First, most students do not have access to Final Cut Pro outside of my classroom; Final Cut Pro is very expensive to purchase and requires a Macintosh computer. While I gave the students plenty of assignments to complete, and we worked through all of the projects in the text book, mastery of the application requires many additional hours invested in using it to edit.
Second, this was my first time teaching the application, using the text, and proctoring the exam. Past experience dictates that next time I will do a better job of teaching the material and insuring that the students spend even more time using the software. I now have some data to look at and use to help guide my presentation of the material to a new group of students in the fall.
Do I feel like a failure because of these scores? Of course not. Teaching is a process where perfection is the goal but rarely the outcome. The most effective teacher is the one who is at the same time leading and learning right alongside his or her students. Every student who took the course learned from their experience regardless of the percentage of questions answered correctly on the exam. My goal is to get two students above 80% next time and I am confident that they will.
I predicted the student who passed would pass before I ever began to teach him the curriculum. He came in with prior knowledge and experience using the application at home. The next highest score was 76% from a student who is enrolled in two of my classes and serves as my TA in a third. However, another student who spends the same amount of time in my classroom earned the lowest score 36%.
I can reflect on these numbers in two ways. First, most students do not have access to Final Cut Pro outside of my classroom; Final Cut Pro is very expensive to purchase and requires a Macintosh computer. While I gave the students plenty of assignments to complete, and we worked through all of the projects in the text book, mastery of the application requires many additional hours invested in using it to edit.
Second, this was my first time teaching the application, using the text, and proctoring the exam. Past experience dictates that next time I will do a better job of teaching the material and insuring that the students spend even more time using the software. I now have some data to look at and use to help guide my presentation of the material to a new group of students in the fall.
Do I feel like a failure because of these scores? Of course not. Teaching is a process where perfection is the goal but rarely the outcome. The most effective teacher is the one who is at the same time leading and learning right alongside his or her students. Every student who took the course learned from their experience regardless of the percentage of questions answered correctly on the exam. My goal is to get two students above 80% next time and I am confident that they will.
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