Questions for Me!

If you have any questions, please post in the comments here.

End of the year in sight.

The end of the school year is near, and I cannot wait. Spring football is almost done, final exams are made and ready, and I can't wait to get out. I am looking forward to some rest and relaxation this summer. I am looking forward to hanging out with my wife and kids. I am glad the book study is done, but would still like to keep finding out new info on the web. I really do think the book study was great. I hope more teachers take a look at this new way to look at education.

Podcast

Here is my podcast.

San Antonio here I come

The annual Texas Associaiton of Basketball Coaches Clinic is this weekend in San Antonio. Basketball Coaches from all over Texas, and for that matter, all over the country are going to San Antonio for our professional convention. It is one of my favorite times of the year. I get to network, learn from some of the best coaches in the business, and relax with tons of people who do the exact same thing I do. It really is a great time. I won't get to post the next few days, but maybe I will get some good information to pass on to everyone. I will be sure to discuss the issue of holding kids accountable. I think coaches have a little advantage in that area, because kids are choosing to participate in extra-curricular activities. Have a great rest of the week.

Busy

Things have been really hectic for me the past few weeks. Book study has been pushed aside for the time being. I have to catch up and get going on it. Social Bookmarking and websites take a little time to look at, and I haven't had any extra. I hope my blog will keep rolling. Hello to everyone out there. :)

Six More Weeks

Six more weeks and teachers all across the state get to relax a little. Some will continue to work, some will vacation, and some will do a little of both. I will get to spend some quality time with my family. I guess won't grip to much about accountability in the summer. I am looking forward to it. Hopefully I can keep up with my blogging.

Schools must share in blame of no accountability!

Wow! read this link about "helping our students"

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa090408_wz_planograding.b4c30aec.html

Our society does not believe in accountability anymore. I am just going to show up at the end of the month to collect my paycheck. That sounds fun. No work and I still get paid. That is what we are teaching.

Inspiration for New Material

Trying to think of new things to share or think about seems to be coming a little slower the past few days. Last week I was on a mission to find out why we hold people less accountable today than we have in the past. I think our culture has just pushed accountability out the door and don't seem to be inviting him or her back. I hope as a society, we find a way to bring it back. I think we need it a great deal to be successful in the future. We seem to be a video game society....we can just press reset if we aren't happy with the way our "game" is being played. I did not find an answer, but I will continue to look.

"Elaine Maxwell:
My will shall shape the future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man's doing but my own. I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me or I can be lost in the maze. My choice; my responsibility; win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny."

What does everyone else think?

Failure turns to success

"Bill's Self-less Jayhawks do not miss a beat

By DOUG TUCKER,
AP Sports Writer

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) During his first year as a head coach, Bill Self's Oral Roberts team lost 18 games in a row and he recalls thinking, "Maybe this isn't going to be as easy as I thought."
He won only 10 games the next year. Then he stumbled to a 1-3 start the year after that.
"I'd been thinking we would find ways to trick people and win games," he said. "I realized real fast that players win games. That's when the light went on."
It hasn't dimmed since.
In the next 13 years, Self's teams at ORU, Tulsa, Illinois and Kansas have captured 10 conference championships and finished second twice. His worst season was 19-12.
After winning last year's NCAA championship, all five starters and the top seven scorers departed. Self would have to incorporate eight newcomers into the mix. The Jayhawks were picked no higher than third and as low as fifth.
But with guard Sherron Collins and center Cole Aldrich reaching star status and the others finding their roles, the Jayhawks brought home a fifth consecutive Big 12 regular-season title. Now they're back in the round of 16 for the third straight year in what could be Self's finest coaching performance. "
http://boston.stats.com/cbk/story.asp?i=20090325201304150000101&ref=hea&tm=&src=
(full article here)

NCAA Coach fails early, but is great late. hmm..... - I wonder if our kids might learn from failure.

Frustration - Questions that don't have great answers.

Why do kids today not value their education? I know this does not apply to all kids, but I am referring to regular high school kids. Not the ones taking Pre-AP or AP, just the ones trying to get by. Why does our educational system teach to the lower or mid tier? Why are we expected to find a way to pass the children. Why aren't they held more accountable?

Quote for the day -

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure."-- Colin Powell

I don't think the kids today are learning from failure. I think they don't care or mind if they fail. They don't value their education.

Back in Action!

Spring Break is over and teachers all over Texas rolled back into work. It might have been harder for the teachers than the kids. I missed sleeping a little later, taking my time cooking breakfast for my kids and reading the paper and drinking my coffee at a relaxed pace. Kids got no breakfast at home, I did not read the paper, and coffee was made and drank on the run. Time never stops, but it seems to fly when you have a break and take forever when you have to work. Today seemed as long the whole spring break was.
Here is a quote I looked up to keep up with my blogging:

"The great successful men of the world have used their imagination…they think ahead and create their mental picture in all its details, filling in here, adding a little there, altering this a bit and that a bit, but steadily building - steadily building."-Robert Collier

I found another one as I was surfing throught the blogs and websites:

"If you'll do today what others won't, you'll do tomorrow what others can't."

Unknown
Steve Jett
Strategic Employee Benefit Services,
Northwestern Mutual Financial Network

This can relate to our blogs. :)




I am not sure who Robert Collier is, but I am going to try to steadily build my blog. Happy reading whoever takes the time.

Go Gators.

Back to work!

Spring Break ended much quicker than it began. March Madness (The NCAA Basketball Tournament) is in full swing, so I got to watch some decent basketball this weekend. I had a full week of vacation, and I wish I had another one. I read or heard somewhere that most successful people read every day, and write down much of the good things they hear. I am going to try to do that on my blog. Following one of the basketball blogs took me in that direction. The blogger just links posts to newspapers and you can read away. I am going to give it a shot this next week and see where it leads. Here is my first one. From Eric Mussleman's Basketball blog:

Be willing to share
"If you've found just one item of value on this blog over the last year or so, then it's been worth it. I've certainly enjoyed it. Even more, I've enjoyed interacting with so many great coaches, managers, and friends all over the world.For me, the blog was about sharing items that coaches and leaders might find meaningful or worthy or constructive. In many cases, it was something that someone had shared with me first. After all, that's the nature of coaching.Nearly all of the posts here have included at least one quote. This one will be no different. It comes from a blog reader who passed it along to me recently:
“The greatest difficulty with the world is not its ability to produce,but the unwillingness to share.”"

Spring Break

Spring Break is a wonderful perk associated with the field of education. Not many other professions get a week off in the spring. I can catch up on my book study work, fill out my brackets for March Madness, get to actually watch March Madness, and countless other activities. I am thinking about taking the kids to the zoo, and going to a Disney on Ice show as well. Currently this blog is still a personal diary type thing, but at least I am getting experience.
I have seen where some people update their blog hourly or more. Blogging seems to be an addicting activity to some.

Blogging can be slow but I still see the potential!

I guess it takes a little time to take off. Getting responses to blogs only come as quick as anyone follows. I am sure I will learn how to build my base of followers. I finished chapter 2 in our book study, so I am waiting for the next set of questions to answer. It is Friday night, I am bored, so I am blogging. Not the educational type of blog I guess, just an entry about my week. I really have been thinking about how a blog can work in my classes. I am sure only a trial will tell, but I am a little skeptical. I am excited about it, but will my students be? I have some lazy children that would much rather be hanging out with friends than blogging about English. At least that is my thought process currently. I really am worried that we don't have the technology at our school to make it totally effective. If the kids don't have it at home (computer) then the whole idea won't reach everyone.

Discussion of Blogs with students

The main reason I am blogging is because of a book study I am currently enrolled in. I showed my kids (freshman and sophmores) a video about technology in the classroom. I asked them 4 questions. 1. What makes you think. 2. What do they think a blog is, and have you ever used a blog. 3. How can you teach someone to think. 4. How do you think teachers can better utilize technology in the classroom.
I am putting these questions out to the blogging world. (Obviously you know what a blog is, because you are here, but tell me how you use it)
Maybe I will get some comments, maybe I won't, but we shall see.

Blogging again.... What I learned today.

Wow, I just learned not to Edit Html and go back before saving a post. I typed quite a bit and it just disappeared.
Today I continue on my quest of blogging.
My intial typing discussed my requirement of blogging at least once a week for my current book study "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other powerful Web Tools for Classrooms.
I like to get things done, so here I am posting away.

Chapter 1 helped me realize that we are in the second generation of the web. WEB 2.o. I know I was around for the original web, and wonder how many changes "the web" will under go in my lifetime. Will this blog be here forever? Am I now part of "the history of the web?"

I would like to find a site where I can find bloggers with similar intersts so we can blog away. A basketball coaches blog would be cool. I guess I need to start a search.

Random Information: I just finished my second book in about a week. Harlan Coben's The Woods was a fast read. It was suspensful and kept my attention throughout. It was about murder, family secrets, and lies, lies, lies.

Practice, practice, practice...

Why blog? I am not so sure, but I am starting a new class on Monday and hope to find out all the answers. My initial thoughts are blogging is just a cyber diary or sounding board. Anyone that wants to comment can. I just finished John Grisham's new book The Associate. I don't know how to underline that, but I am sure I will find out later. The book was descent, not his best though. The story was fast and an easy read. I did not like the ending.
I finished a book by Brad Meltzer right before Grisham's latest. It was called The Book of Lies. It had a pretty good plot and plenty of action. I would definitely recommend it. Enough about books. I coach basketball, and our season just ended, so I should have some more free time. I have to get to work, so I will blog more later.