Category: Technology

A Catholic Church in Minecraft

Teaching / Technology

Catholic Landmarks in MinecraftEdu

One of the most enjoyable projects I’ve watched the students work on this year is the Catholic Landmarks Project in MinecraftEdu. Working in groups of two or three, eighth grade students have chosen a Catholic landmark and are constructing it in MinecraftEdu. Some of the landmarks are famous, like St. Peter’s Basilica, the Cathedral of Notre Dame, or the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio. Some of the landmarks are of local interest, like their parish church. Once the building is completed, students will construct information kiosks...

World of Humanities Promo

Teaching / Technology

The Wonderful World of Humanities in MinecraftEdu

Yesterday the sixth grade began using Eric Walker’s Wonderful World of Humanities in MinecraftEdu. The World of Humanities is an advanced installation of MinecraftEdu that allows students to explore and learn about ancient civilizations. This world is a perfect complement to our sixth grade social studies curriculum. Even though we are running MinecraftEdu on older MacBooks, the students really enjoyed themselves and were excited to interact with people from ancient Rome and Greece. After initially trying to create and build, as they are used to doing in Minecraft,...

NCCE 2015

Technology / Travel

First Day of Workshops

I’ve attended three workshops today so far, and they’ve all been excellent: Extend Learning Using Online Discussion Forums – In this 2-hour workshop I learned all about using Schoology and Edmodo to extend learning beyond the classroom. This is something I will definitely be trying with some classes when I get back. Make Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Programs Work – This was another two hour workshop about how some schools are having students bring their own devices to use for schoolwork, instead of the school providing them...

Trimet Light Rail

Photos / Technology / Travel

Light Rail

Found the light rail terminal and took it all the way to my hotel. Pretty impressive (and inexpensive) way to travel. A smooth 25-minute ride, and only $2.50.

NCCE 2015 Logo

Technology / Travel

NCCE 2015

I’ll be leaving for Portland, Oregon in a few days to attend NCCE 2015, “the largest ed-tech conference in the Northwest.” As I travel I’ll be posting about the trip here.

Old Classroom

Teaching / Technology

Is There an Interior Decorator in the House?

This weekend I moved out of my classroom: I also moved out of the vice principal desk I used to occupy in the school office, so I’m currently homeless at school. All of my files and books are on a counter in the school library, awaiting my new space. Like most schools, we don’t have a lot of unused space, so we have to be a bit creative to come up with something new. We settled on re-purposing a storage room, which also doubles as the server room:...

Gandalf in the Classroom

Teaching / Technology

A New Start

After twenty-plus years teaching language arts in Catholic schools, I’m moving into a brand new position as Director of Technology. As vice principal, I’ve been the unofficial technology director for a number of years in addition to my teaching load. Next year, however, I’ll be leaving the classroom in order to have the time to focus on technology. One of my main tasks will be designing and implementing a technology curriculum, and I’ll also be supporting and mentoring classroom teachers in their use of technology. Though this school...

Student Boot

Catholic Education / Music / Teaching / Technology

Sights and Sounds from NCEA 2013 in Houston

As my time at the NCEA Convention is coming to an end, I see that I didn’t really get to post as much as I wanted to. I still want to share some of the sights and sounds of the convention however, so I’ve put together a few things in this final post. First, I’ve attached a recording from the second Eucharistic liturgy of the conference. This is a performance of “Be Still, My Soul” by the Houston Catholic Schools Choir. It’s a tragedy that my recording is...

Beauty by John O'Donohue

Art / Books and Reading / Spirituality / Technology

Emptiness that Haunts the Heart: A Caution for the Digital Age

Is the digital age making it more difficult for us to recognize, appreciate and encounter beauty? Traditionally, journey was a rhythm of three forces: time, self and space. Now the digital virus has truncated time and space. Marooned on each instant, we have forfeited the practice of patience, the attention to emergence and delight in the Eros of discovery. The self has become anxious for what the next instant might bring. This greed for destination obliterates the journey. The digital desire for the single instant schools the mind...

A Day Made of Glass 2

Technology

A Day Made of Glass 2: Is This the Future?

Today Corning released a sequel to last year’s viral video A Day Made of Glass. This year they’re focusing more on the benefits to society, rather than on how glass might be used to improve the workplace and home environment. You’ll see classrooms, hospitals, and state parks of the future–or at least how Corning hopes the future will look. It’s a beautiful video, though it makes me wonder if everyone will get to enjoy a future like this, or just those above a particular income level. Here’s the...

C3P0

Movies / Technology

Hundreds Work Together to Create Unbelievable Fan-made Star Wars Movie

“Crowdsourcing: the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people and especially from the online community rather than from traditional employees or suppliers.” – Merriam-Webster.com Made from the contributions of hundreds of people around the world, this version of Star Wars: A New Hope is a crowdsourced wonder: