summer thus far

E finished a successful softball season


K lost a front tooth


and J, well...


Parenthood with Steve Martin quote:
Mary Steenburgen: He likes to butt things with his head.
Rick Moranis: How proud you must be.

craving

When I stress out and take on more than I should, my sweet tooth flares up.

I seriously considered hijacking this truck at a gas station yesterday.

haiku review

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Johnny Depp was great
loved stuff on "the pirate code"
but long long long long


I really liked the visuals in the scene where Jack was hallucinating a crew of multiple Sparrows and the Surrealist crabs but, again, too much of a good thing...so many movies just don't seem to have an editor lately.

Favorite line:
So change the name.
To what? To "nine pieces of whatever we happened to have in our pockets at the time"? Oh, yes. That sounds very piraty.

woah BESSIE

I got some cool news about that educational project I worked on last year. The interactive program that taught Language Arts won a BESSIE Award.

Here's a quote from the press release:

“Everything about this 2007 BESSIE winner is flawless – the management system, the unusually comprehensive and compelling content, and the use of audio and visual media,” say reviewers at ComputED. “There have been many attempts to use technology to deliver language arts skills. But none truly achieved the Holy Grail of a total solution – until now.”

I knew the program was great- far better than anything else I ever used as a teacher, but its nice to hear how well it was received. My role was small, I did research on standardized state tests, chose non-fiction content to meet teaching objectives, content editing for reading passages and questions, I even wrote a few vocabulary exercises and jokes that made it into the final program.

But why it's head and shoulders above anything else out there is the interactive interface and the incredible and hysterical writing that I'm sure engaged, educated, and I'm sure surprised students and educators because it just isn't the norm for educational software. I'm proud to have been a part of it.

If you want to see it you can go here and click on "Compass Learning"