For those of you who wonder what a bear really does in the woods…

Dancing Bear

Did you know President Obama was blogging?!?! OK, well maybe he isn’t the actual author of the posts, but it’s nice to see the White House joining in the 21st century’s Web 2.0 revolution. My favorite resent post was called A Good Day on the Swingset! Check it out!

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/

To keep our network and the files that reside on our network secure, it is very important that every staff member either log out of Novell or lock the workstation any time they are not using the computer. To lock the computer just press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Delete] and choose lock workstation.

Not doing this is a violation of our district’s Acceptable Use Policy for technology. More importantly, if a student should happen to gain access to a computer that you are logged in to, you are responsible for anything that happens. A lot of damage can be done in just the few minutes teachers are out monitoring the hallway between class changes.

So, please remember — log out or [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Delete] any time you have to step away.

A wonderful story reminding us about what is really important in life….

Twenty years ago, I drove a cab for a living.  It was a cowboy’s life, a life for someone who wanted no boss.  What I didn’t realize was that it was also a ministry.

Because I drove the night shift, my cab became a moving confessional. Passengers climbed in, sat behind me in total anonymity, and told me about their lives. I encountered people whose lives amazed me, ennobled me, and made me laugh and weep.

But none touched me more than a woman I picked up late one August night. I was responding to a call from a small brick fourplex in a quiet part of town. I assumed I was being sent to pick up some partyers, or someone who had just had a fight with a lover, or a worker heading to an early shift at some factory for the industrial part of town.

When I arrived at 2:30 a.m., the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window.

Under these circumstances, many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, then drive away.

But I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation.

Unless a situation smelled of danger, I always went to the door. This passenger might be someone who needs my assistance, I reasoned to myself.

So I walked to the door and knocked. “Just a minute”, answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 80’s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knick-knacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

“Would you carry my bag out to the car?” she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness.

“It’s nothing”, I told her. “I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated.”

“Oh, you’re such a good boy”, she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, then asked, “Could you drive through downtown?”

“It’s not the shortest way,” I answered quickly.

“Oh, I don’t mind,” she said. “I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice.”

I looked in the rear view mirror. Her eyes were glistening.

“I don’t have any family left,” she continued. “The doctor says I don’t have very long.”

I quietly reached over and shut off the meter. “What route would you like me to take?” I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she’d ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, “I’m tired. Let’s go now.”

We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her. I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

“How much do I owe you?” she asked, reaching into her purse.

“Nothing,” I said.

“You have to make a living,” she answered.

“There are other passengers”.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.

“You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,” she said. “Thank you.”

I squeezed her hand, then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.

I didn’t pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly, lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?

On a quick review, I don’t think that I have done anything more important in my life.

We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware – beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

Let’s face it. We live in a Microsoft-dominated world. Our computers use a Microsoft operating system(Windows) and most of us use Microsoft productivity tools (Office). But believe it or not, there was actually a world before Microsoft. More importantly, there will be a world AFTER Microsoft, too.

How do I know? Because everywhere we turn innovative new companies and individuals are coming up with truly wonderful (and much less expensive) alternatives to Microsoft products. An example is this week’s website of the week, Google Docs. With this free service, you can create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. AND it allows you to easily share files and collaborate with others. Everything is then stored online – no thumb drives or floppies needed!

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t really have anything against Microsoft. However, I do think competition is a good thing!

For more information and ideas on how you might use Google Docs with your students, contact your friendly ITRT!

Sad, powerful, poignant….too many words, too many emotions.

Click here for more pictures.

SOLs are approaching very quickly! I remember when I returned to education in 2004 I was a bit taken aback by the World Geography pacing guide which had me finishing instruction by April 21. It did not make much sense to me since the last day of school was not until June. And then I remembered – SOL End of Course exams are actually given in May, many weeks before the end of the school year. (I still have issues with this, but that’s a topic for another day)

With that in mind, I know many of you are getting ready to delve into SOL preparation and review for your students. There are several resources available to help with SOL test preparation. First of all, the Department of Information Technology Services has placed an icon in our Novell desktop for the SOL practice tests, or ePats. If you have not already checked them out, they are a great place to start your SOL review. Secondly, we have many wonderful online resources bookmarked on Hylton’s Delicious site. The Jefferson Labs links are there as well as links to many other resources for each of our four core areas.

St Bernards have become famous for leading daring Alpine rescues but one 16-month-old dog needed rescuers of its own after its tail was frozen to the ice on a golf course pond.

Rescuers believe the dog fell through the ice on a pond at a local golf course. While the animal was able to pull itself out of the freezing water, its tail got stuck, stranding it in the middle of the pond.

Firefighters managed to get the dog free and was reported to be in good condition after being de-iced and warmed under a hair dryer at a local veterinarian’s office. Link

Several more pictures here

This site has been around for a very long time – http://webquest.org/index.php. A webquest is “an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web” and this site is chocked full of over 2500 of them that you can use for your classes! Be sure to click the link on the left that says Find Webquests. There are webquests here on virtually every topic!

All Hylton faculty should be receiving daily “Activity” messages that are generated by SchoolFusion. Parents and students who have emails documented in the system receive similar messages.

These are a wonderful tool to remind us of what’s coming up in the next few days, but have you ever wondered where the information for these reminders comes from? Log in to the Hylton’s website and click My Calendar. This calendar rolls all the events and assignments from all your class and faculty pages in to one location for you! This is your “one stop shop” for all your faculty events!

This joke is in no way intended to demean anyone with an accent, but rather to recognize their ingenuity!

A Norwegian fellow wants a job teaching math, but the principal won’t hire him until he passes a little math test.

Here is your first question, the principal said. ‘Without using numbers, represent the number 9.’

‘Without numbers?’ The Norwegian says, ‘Dat’s easy.’ and proceeds to draw three trees.

‘What’s this?’ the principal asks.

‘Vot! you got no brain? Tree and tree and tree make nine,’ says the Norwegian.

‘Fair enough,’ says the principal. ‘Here’s your second question. Use the same rules, but this time the number is 99.’

The Norwegian stares into space for a while, then picks up the picture that he has just drawn and makes a smudge on each tree. ‘Dar ya go.’

The principal scratches his head and says, ‘How on earth do you get that to represent 99?’

‘Each of da trees is dirty now. So, it’s dirty tree, and dirty tree, and dirty tree. Dat is 99.’

The principal has one more question for the Norwegian, ‘All right, last question. Same rules again, but represent the number 100.’

The Norwegian fella stares into space some more, then he picks up the picture again and makes a little mark at the base of each tree and says, ‘Dar ya go. Von hundred.’

The principal looks at the attempt. ‘You must be nuts if you think that represents a hundred!’

The Norwegian leans forward and points to the marks at the base of each tree and says, ‘A little dog come along and pooped by each tree. So now you got dirty tree and a turd, dirty tree and a turd, and dirty tree and a turd, vich makes von hundred.’

‘So, ven do I start?

Very often I am asked what is the best way to print out a webpage from within our learning management system, SchoolFusion. Even in our 21st century digital age, there is something to be said for the crisp whiteness of a newly-printed document. Teachers and students especially like to print off the personal and classroom calendars so they can, at-a-glance, see all the upcoming events and assignments.

To make this easier for you SchoolFusion provides you with the “view printer-friendly page” option at the bottom of most of the pages.

It isn’t easy to see, but it’s there. Using this link, you can print to your heart’s content. And, if you are like me, “hole-punch” the document and put it into one of your shiny notebooks!

Keep in mind, however, that the webpages you are printing change often, so you shouldn’t rely on the printed copies. Go to the webpages themselves for the most up-to-date information.