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| Gourds with strong integrity can look rough until they get cleaned up. |
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Rough
Monday, September 17, 2012
Gifted Females and Gourds
Check out the newest entries in the Diigo Library: gifted females in middle school and gourds. You wouldn't think these two have anything in common but they do. Gifted females often hide their gifts and talents at two particular ages, 13-14 and 40 or so. These times coincide with natural reproductive changes in the female body. Gourds, also, have two timespans when they are vulnerable to outside forces: at the soft, tender period when expansive growth is taking place and when they are dehydrating on their way to becoming a useful and beautiful piece of art or craft.
Both are subject to outside forces. In the early stages of puberty, gifted females will tend to hide their intellectual gifts as family, peer, and society pressures to be feminine build. Gourds, as well, will mold themselves to outside pressures of fencing, strings, manual manipulations -- taking on the shape being imposed upon them.
Both are subject to outside forces. In the early stages of puberty, gifted females will tend to hide their intellectual gifts as family, peer, and society pressures to be feminine build. Gourds, as well, will mold themselves to outside pressures of fencing, strings, manual manipulations -- taking on the shape being imposed upon them.
As both age, they wise up and harden. At about 40 or so, gifted females are done with bowing to pressure. They start new careers, strike out on their own, and are not as willing to care about what others think. Gourds too, as they age, begin to harden. As they dehydrate, they become strong against bugs and winds and rains. They go on to be what they were destined to be.
BatchGeo
Sure enough if I didn't learn a couple things today. After receiving the shared document early this morning, I entered my data. My eagerness to see how a shared document builds kept me revisiting it throughout the day. Names appeared, addresses appeared...once while I was watching. Tonight however, I go in and see my name and street address missing along with two others'. I replaced mine and proceeded to follow directions about copying to find that I, myself, accidently deleted a name. Lesson #1 Learned! When using a shared document, even mistakes get shared!
Eventually I got the list copied and transferred to BatchGeo and got the map: Classmate Locator Map. In doing that I found that by hovering my mouse over a location bubblepin, the name of the person living there appears. However, where the name had been missing, no name appeared on the map. Names with locations has merit if used in an environment where everyone knows each other. As stated on my previous post, I would want to use this mapping technique on the Virginia Lovers' Gourd Society website to indicate where members live. In that instance, having names pop up would not be advisable for security reasons. Lesson #2 Learned! Leaving the name box in the spreadsheet blank would still show member location, but maintain member privacy unless members in that area wished to share their names with each other.
For a classroom setting, a maps strategy would be an excellent way for students to plot locations of battles, museums, colleges, etc. By creating a spreadsheet initially, especially in Google Docs where everyone shared the labor of entering their personal choices, a map gives a visual anchor to the information presented. I believe this lesson fits well in the ISTE NETS-T standard #2 -- Design and Develop Digital Age Learning...especially when developing authentic learning experiences incorporating a contemporary tool such as BatchGeo. Real life situations promotes learning and creativity. Two students I have in mind could use this activity now for their projects about Hollister Indians and the Cahokia Mounds.
Lesson #3 to be learned: Embedding the map image! In the previous post I captured the map and showed it that way. However the email I got from BatchGeo showed the map, editing the map, and embedding it to a website...that was the snag. It seems simple, and I'm sure it is once I find out how to do it. It's like wondering if a gourd is edible or not. It looks tasty, and you know some CAN be eaten, but what's the key to figuring out which is which? I'll have to confer with others to figure out the next step and come back to make some editorial changes. Until then, best regourds!!
Eventually I got the list copied and transferred to BatchGeo and got the map: Classmate Locator Map. In doing that I found that by hovering my mouse over a location bubblepin, the name of the person living there appears. However, where the name had been missing, no name appeared on the map. Names with locations has merit if used in an environment where everyone knows each other. As stated on my previous post, I would want to use this mapping technique on the Virginia Lovers' Gourd Society website to indicate where members live. In that instance, having names pop up would not be advisable for security reasons. Lesson #2 Learned! Leaving the name box in the spreadsheet blank would still show member location, but maintain member privacy unless members in that area wished to share their names with each other.
For a classroom setting, a maps strategy would be an excellent way for students to plot locations of battles, museums, colleges, etc. By creating a spreadsheet initially, especially in Google Docs where everyone shared the labor of entering their personal choices, a map gives a visual anchor to the information presented. I believe this lesson fits well in the ISTE NETS-T standard #2 -- Design and Develop Digital Age Learning...especially when developing authentic learning experiences incorporating a contemporary tool such as BatchGeo. Real life situations promotes learning and creativity. Two students I have in mind could use this activity now for their projects about Hollister Indians and the Cahokia Mounds.
Lesson #3 to be learned: Embedding the map image! In the previous post I captured the map and showed it that way. However the email I got from BatchGeo showed the map, editing the map, and embedding it to a website...that was the snag. It seems simple, and I'm sure it is once I find out how to do it. It's like wondering if a gourd is edible or not. It looks tasty, and you know some CAN be eaten, but what's the key to figuring out which is which? I'll have to confer with others to figure out the next step and come back to make some editorial changes. Until then, best regourds!!
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Live Test of Batchgeo
This is a test of the Batchgeo sharing program using the Virginia Lovers' Gourd Society roster. This is only a test.
When I looked over the batchgeo.com website to see what fresh bit of angst was coming my way, my head snapped to attention and the eyeballs whirled around!!! Problem may be solved! I have been trying to figure out how to show member locations in the newsletter and on the website for a while. It would be handy for folks to recognize where they are in relation to others, in hopes of generating GourdPatches (the American Gourd Society's version of gourd communities within state chapters). Because Virginia is so wide, and crosses several land configurations, members tend to feel isolated. You can see where VA is by the Snipping Tool red line. The blue line shows the outliers. Two renegades across the Bay are temporaries from California.
Members interested in forming a GourdPatch can contact the home office in Stephens City to get information about members locally. I would be my hope that by recognizing familiar towns and roads, meeting others becomes a possibility.
Now, on to the real lesson which will most likely enlighten me in ways I have not imagined!
When I looked over the batchgeo.com website to see what fresh bit of angst was coming my way, my head snapped to attention and the eyeballs whirled around!!! Problem may be solved! I have been trying to figure out how to show member locations in the newsletter and on the website for a while. It would be handy for folks to recognize where they are in relation to others, in hopes of generating GourdPatches (the American Gourd Society's version of gourd communities within state chapters). Because Virginia is so wide, and crosses several land configurations, members tend to feel isolated. You can see where VA is by the Snipping Tool red line. The blue line shows the outliers. Two renegades across the Bay are temporaries from California.
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| Members in Va and Outliers. They tend to live along I81 and I95.
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| Seeing there are 6 gourdheads within a short drive may invite new GourdPatches.
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Now, on to the real lesson which will most likely enlighten me in ways I have not imagined!
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