In conjunction with the Salt Lake Marathon, there is a Salt Lake City Bike Tour: 25 miles that goes pretty much along the Marathon course. It is not a race, as they told us numerous times, but it is an organized event that you have to pay to participate in. It was the first organized, large-scale cycling event that I have participated in. I think I did pretty well. According to iMapMyRide, it was just under 24 miles, not the 25 that were billed. Since this was my first organized ride, I knew I wanted to push myself harder than I do when I usually ride. It took me 1 hour and 20 minutes to ride 23.87 miles, which is 17.9 mph average. It certainly helped that this ride was mostly downhill, with not much uphill. I wanted to hit 17 mph as my average, so I am pleased with 17.9 for myself. The ride started at 6:00 am, and it was raining for the first 20 minutes or so. Luckily, there wasn't much wind, and the temp was right around 50 degrees. It was still chilly with the rain, but not as cold as I thought it would be. To keep warm, I had a long-sleeve shirt under my jersey, calf-high dress socks, and plastic bags in my shoes (to keep the wind out; it is a lot cheaper than toe covers), and a handkerchief over my head to keep that warm as well. I stayed pretty warm, once I got going. For me, this was a big deal to ride with a bunch of other people and be able to keep a good pace. I tyipcally ride by myself, and it was great to be around other cyclists. I have not participated in any of these organized events because I never feel like I would be able to keep up with anyone. I felt like I was a pretty average rider in that group. I passed some people, and got passed by some others. I hit a small wall at about 20 miles, and I felt that I couldn't keep up the pace. So, I found someone who seemed to be going fairly fast, and decided I would stay with them. That really helped. I did stay with them and we were going about 20 mph the whole 2.5 miles I stayed. After getting some rest by following them, I was able to take off and finish the ride pretty strongly. While on the bike, I ate 1 Clif bar, and drank one water bottle of Powerade. I had bread, jam, an orange, half a banana, and yogurt before the race. I didn't get a side ache, nor did I feel like I ate too much. The only time I stopped was for a potty break about half way through. I am really glad I did something out of my comfort zone and tried something new. It is a lot different when you don't have to worry about traffic lights or cars while you ride. I enjoyed that, and I look forward to riding in more organized rides. Bonus: My wife took me to the starting line, and then had the kids meet me at the finish line. I am really lukcy that she's willing to do that. She is so supportive of me, and that is great to have.  

From this post: http://speirs.org/blog/2011/5/5/ipad-trials-at-oklahoma-state.html Was the integration of an E-Reader an enhancement or detraction to the academic experience? The responses were mixed. On the one hand, students liked using the iPad to house their textbooks and suggested it promoted more reading. [I'd venture that they could read more because they were actually able to have their books with them at a time when they otherwise wouldn't] On the other hand, reactions from the beginning-of-the-semester expectations of planned use to the end-of-the-semester actual use saw e-book reading exhibiting the greatest change, a substantial decrease. Students thought they would use the iPad as an e-reader but did not do so as much as initially planned.What was said later about pedagogy needing to change with technology was spot on:  "...technology, pedagogy and curriculum each have influence on the other. If you're not able to modify your teaching methods or curriculum to take account of new technology, that's a barrier to getting the maximum utilisation out of these devices."If the iPad-as-textbook is just the textbook loaded into iBooks, with nothing else changed, the iPad is no better for reading than a textbook; it is probably a worse reading experience (with the only benefit being that the iPad is lighter than a textbook). If the textbook is just a PDF opened in Noterize or PDFNotes, then it is already much better, as those two programs are designed for annotating a PDF. If the textbooks are in something like Inkling, where there are additional multimedia supports (videos, pictures, interactive images, etc.) then it is even better. It is probably best when the book adapts to the new technology like the book "Our Choice", which clearly appears to be the best "book" reading experience on the iPad. I hope the image explains it better than I could.

Good thing we didn't get rid of our girl clothes. #itsagirl September 13th is the due date.

EBLinfograph update.pdf Download this file Even though I am not a graphic designer, I really appreciate the opportunity try to rub shoulders with those types of people. I like to read the things they share and analyze how they approach tasks and design. In education, design really takes a back seat. Sometimes, even in the trunk. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule.I fancy myself as someone who pays attention to good design, and I think about it. "Thinking about it" is usually 95% of the solution. If you just look at it and think for a moment, you're more than most of the way there. So, Piper and I got an assignment to collect and present some information on the time our office has spent on professional development with teachers this year. I compiled the data from 18 people and put it into a spreadsheet. We used Numbers, Pages, and Acorn to create the infographic. I haven't ever used Acorn, but I bought it a few weeks ago, and I have been waiting for an opportunity to use it. I am glad something presented itself. The infographic itself is a Pages document (11 x 17). The images are from some image pack I downloaded years ago, but haven't had any reason to use. To get the triangle graphs, I had to create them in Numbers, then paste an image of them into a Pages document and "Mask with Shape..." to get them right. I wish I could mask graphs in Pages (or Numbers) with a shape. That would be really nice. I tried to do it in Acorn, but I couldn't figure that out either.  Piper pulled the + signs from somewhere and Instant Alpha-ed the white background so they looked better. I thought it was pretty fun creating it. Even though it took a long time to do, it was worth it. I learned a lot, and created something beautiful in the end. Here is the Prezi my boss used in the presentation to the principals in the district:http://prezi.com/uwqeo1eqxza1/ebl-year-in-review/

Me to wife: I want the kids to go to bed so I can eat some of that I-C-E C-R-E-A-M.3 YO Daughter: I want some of that!Me: Some of what?3 YO: Some of that stuff with letters in it! Me: What is that stuff that has letters in it?3 YO: It's…C-O-N-I! Yummy!

It sure is frustrating how your average is really good until you factor in all the stops. This was a great ride. I am really glad I participated and finished. http://milliseconds.com/participants/detail/806427933 Thanks, Jethro

Among the many projects I completed around the house this summer, the "picpic" table (as Cali calls it) is one of my favorites. Just in time for the weather to turn to poor, I finally got it put together. Hopefully, we can have a few dinners outside and enjoy it before winter. I had to buy one new board and new bolts and screws. I painted the legs white with spray paint that was left here. I used our leftover green paint from our doors for the table and benches. The original table was left here by the previous owners and was in a sad state. Yeah, that's homemade ice cream the kids are eating. Yummy. Have a Good Life.

I took my daughter with me to work today for "Take Your Daughter to Work Day". She is 4 and loves preschool and can't wait to go to Kindergarten. She had a great time at work with me and loved the attention she got from the students and loved being with big kids. She did really well, and we even got to ride the bus in the afternoon. What really amazed me was how the other students interacted with her. Being the Assistant Principal, I get to deal with a lot of kids who struggle in various ways. Those kids were exceptional when they were around her, without fail. It was fascinating to see how they changed when she was there. I really enjoyed seeing how they were kind to her, compassionate and very friendly. One fifth grader even got her set up on a web site where she could play games. He took great care to make sure that she was on a game that was appropriate for her. I was really proud of my "other" kids for treating my kid so well. I don't know exactly why they were so good to her, but they were, and it really made me remember that they are great little people that I get to work with every day.

Do you ever hear some popular piece of wisdom and think, "Duh! I learned that in Primary"? I do. All the time. I read a lot of research for work. It seems that most research is common sense and if we just think about it for a couple minutes, we could come to the same conclusion. We can usually come to that conclusion because we were already taught it, by our primary teachers.My point is, Jesus is the source of all truth, and so new research will almost always lead back to His gospel. That is the point of learnedinprimary.com. There, I take the research that I am reading, and I apply it to lessons that I have already learned, long ago.Go on over and check it out. Let me know what you think. I publish a new post every Monday. If you have any requests, let me know. Have a Good Life.

I had a chat with one of our really great kids at my school today. While we were talking, I asked him what he wants to be when he grows up. He said, "When I grow up, I just want to be a good dad and be there for my family."This kid gets it. He knows what is important in life. What is really important. It is not about money, careers, fame, or anything else. It is about being a good dad who is there for his family.This kid is going to Have a Good Life.