2n + 1

Tim; finds this rockin’ rendition of Voodoo Child ~ via ~ Mike McCready:

thanks Jimi,

thanks Mike;

~SP

OK, so the text book idea has been sitting on the shelf for almost two years; I started writing on off again this year, but nothing to extensive.  I have decided to breathe new life into the project.  I am releasing the book as is, and will edit live on my wiki.  Here is the link:

Math; Everything I Know

So, currently it is more of an outline with some content written.  It is taking me some time to get mediawiki install to cooperate with LaTex; it is not a matter of a straight copy and paste, but I like the results so far.  It is set to a protected page so not everyone can edit, but you can post on the discussion tab, and if I agree with your ideas I will add them to the text.

Maybe contributors can have a percentage of anything earned from the book.  I do not know.

My goal is to write an easily accessible book that takes advantage of other web resources like mathworld and the many other good ones out there.  I write in a direct format, and append technical details later; kids could choose to read or not read these technical parts based on style and intensity of interest in maths.

~SP

Ok, so I have been playing with the wiki’s, blogs, and other varieties of bears.   I’m hooked.  It is easy to put into use.  I see potential for teacher collaborations, school newspapers, and much more.  Anyway here is the link to the course outline; comments are welcome.

To Blog or not to Blog?

Is anyone else teaching courses like these?  Is this too much content, not enough?  I don’t know … I am just going to give it a go.

thank you for your time;

~SP

Here it is; let me know if it makes sense.

have fun.

~SP

here is an example of lilypond featuring the solo section of yes indeed:

as you can see lilypond typesets it beautifully, and music comes to us all.

thanks lilypond;
~SP

I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the 3 volume set: The Art of Computer Programming.

Don Knuth:  Don Knuth Home Page

librarything: The Art of Computer Programming

This book(s) promises to be over my head; but I am very excited to give it a go!  I have been reading Don’s homepage and found the infrequently asked questions to be quite provocative.  It made me remember that being intelligent and responsible, sometimes means taking a hard path and asking difficult questions.  All to often people take the path of least resistance in the name of ease, professionalism, or pick any excuse you want.  I am guilty as well, but oft the difficult road is most rewarding and just.

~SP

I have been using open source technologies in the classroom for four years now.  This is my first year going totally open source.  My computer classes love it; we use FreeBSD as the OS, g++ compiler, mediawiki engine for wiki collaboration, both KDE and Gnome GUI’s, and a plethera of IDEs.

This is pretty straight forward, but what really impressed me this year was when I got the “non” tech kids (still digital natives, but not guru’s), onto the computers.  There was a tiny learning curve (I anticipated much more hand holding), but they just took to it, they found the web browsers, openoffice, and just set about their research and writing there rough drafts.

I had this idea that they would be afraid of a different OS (there were a few), but by and large is was nothing they just used the computer.  Go open source!

~SP

I am reading Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms its value is not in the technology information, but in ideas of implementing in the classroom.  I chose to link to the librarything site as they are not trying to sell you anything, they are just independent reader reviews of the book.

libarything is awesome in and of itself, but I digress.

I am obviously blogging, but I do not use the blog in the classroom.  I have installed a mediawiki on an internal school server.  Currently using it to collaborate on computer programs, and facilitate some media presentations in history classrooms.  Haven’t used RSS for any school stuff yet, but I use google reader to subscribe to some blogs and podcasts.

I have not created any podcasts/screencasts myself yet, but I do have it in my mind to use these as a supplement to the classroom.

Richardson is making me think about how I teach and ways to expand.  I am in the middle of the book now I will post again when I finish and update on how the wiki collaboration goes.

~SP

Go Quinn ; very jackson p.

Go Quinn.

Tux Paint rocks! Here is my rendering of Tux the linux mascot. My daughter loves this program and asks to use it every day.

~SP