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June 2, 2012
Day 879: gift IT 11:26 PM

Today I went to 3 different graduation parties...tomorrow's makes 4. I thought an apropos "AppDay" post could be a reminder to everyone that it's actually quite easy to "gift" apps, whether you're on an iPhone, iPad, Nook, or Amazon Appstore!

Just follow these links below to see a nice how-to from the folks at DrawingPad:
So find an App or two or three that you've got in mind for that recent grad and go ahead and gift it!
Posted By: Chris Stengel Leave a Comment
June 1, 2012
Day 878: The Stage Is Set! 9:37 PM

I had occasion to walk down to the stadium today to see how the setup was coming along.

It looks good! And I'm excited to watch the class of 2012 graduate on Monday.

Be sure to tune in to the live broadcast at:

http://mtlsd.tv

P.S. no rain no rain no rain no rain no rain no rain no rain no rain no rain no rain no rain
Posted By: Chris Stengel Leave a Comment
May 31, 2012
Day 877: Milestones 10:10 PM

Tonight was my younger son's "graduation" from preschool.

I honestly can't figure out which element of the event made me more maudlin: that this is the end of our time at a daycare that we've been at with one child or another for the past seven years? Or that next Fall, both of my boys will be students at Washington Elementary School?

I'll say again what I know I've said before and what I know I'll say again as my children reach every milestone moment here at Mt. Lebanon: There's nothing more rewarding than putting myself into my work when I know these two guys are part of my target audience.

P.S. To the faculty and staff at Washington, I apologize in advance for any shenanigans that might take place as a result of these two being in the same building together :)
Posted By: Chris Stengel Last Comment at: 6/1/2012 1:41:25 PM 3 Comments
May 30, 2012
Day 876: Wagons ho! 9:12 PM

Map source:http://mtle.bo/MTLSDzones

But not necessarily all westward...yesterday we discussed moving the technology offices to Jefferson Middle School for the summer months to make things easier on everyone with respect to the construction activities that will be occurring this summer.

Some of us will be sticking around the high school...namely the techs and the multimedia folks. But they spend most of their summers running between buildings anyways.

Long story short, we technology folks will be hard to find this summer if you're looking for us using traditional methods...telephone and in-person. Piece of cake if you try email and the work order system! "See" you around! :)
Posted By: Chris Stengel Leave a Comment
May 29, 2012
Day 875: edchat! 8:31 PM


I can't believe I never "watched" an #edchat before!

Crazy but true, I stumbled onto #edchat tonight on Twitter.

It's an interesting use of the medium...blogging (of which Twitter is a type) is generally thought to be an "asynchronous" communication method. Post when you can, read when you can.

But on every Tuesday, at Noon and again at 7pm, the organizers of #edchat post a prompt around which everyone who would like to participate simply posts a tweet with the hashtag #edchat.

It makes me want to sort my Twitter feed in reverse order so I can read it better...but wait, they thought of that...sort of. Transcripts are available after each session ends at http://edchat.pbworks.com/w/page/219917/SideBar.

Give them a read! Better yet, set a calendar appointment for a Tuesday to participate! Tonight's prompt was:

What specifically turns off students today to the most common methods of teaching?

Previous prompts:
  • If you were to restructure/hire district leadership, what would leadership look like in action and thought?
  • If tomorrow your school was told to go all digital by September, what would need to be done to make that happen?
  • The application of the Flipped Classroom is very evident in math classes. How can it specifically be applied to other subject areas?
  • Most professional development in education is self-directed by teachers. Is that the most effective form of PD or is there a better way?
  • Is directing public education down a path of online learning in order to reduce costs a well-considered reform?
  • Do the positives outweigh the negatives of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)?
Posted By: Chris Stengel Leave a Comment
May 28, 2012
Day 874: Memorials galore 10:19 PM

After posting last night's post about the Mt. Lebanon Veterans Memorial, I started browsing the Internet for all of the federal resources on memorials that are within a 4 hour drive of Pittsburgh.

I found this great website from USA.gov that lists dozens of websites for memorials, museums, cemeteries, etc.

One of my favorites (especially on Memorial Day Weekend) is The Official Website of Arlington National Cemetery. It's full of articles and multimedia that can make you feel like you're there in person!

And in case you are there in person like we were last year and looking for one or more grave sites, there is a free app that lets you look up grave sites (and it's got a map!) so you're not wandering about on a 98 degree day like we were last year :)
Posted By: Chris Stengel Leave a Comment
May 27, 2012
Day 873: eQuired reading/watching - Lebo Veterans Memorial 9:25 PM

Photo: mtlebanon.org

Tonight was the dedication of the Mt. Lebanon Veterans Memorial in Mt. Lebanon Park. I can't imagine the weather could have been any better for the dedication.

Ground was broken nearly a year ago, and the progress of the project is pretty well summed up at this page on mtlebanon.org.

The page has 3 videos embedded as well: "About," "Fundraising," and "Groundbreaking"...I hope to see one called "Dedication" soon!
 
Posted By: Chris Stengel Leave a Comment
May 26, 2012
Day 872: Memorial Day iSales 8:31 PM

In malls and eRetailers across the country this weekend, a lot of sales are going on.

As Saturdays are typically "App Days" I wanted to highlight a great bunch of apps on sale that I found thanks to this post at TUAW (The Unofficial Apple Weblog).

The site BecauseWeMay highlights games by independent developers and is encouraging all of them to put their games on sale through June 2. They have all kinds of apps listed for sale:

win/mac/linuxiOSmacandroidsteamother

Go buy some great games on sale!

 
Posted By: Chris Stengel Leave a Comment
May 25, 2012
Day 871: Did you like Channel 19? Well it's GONE! 9:28 PM

You read it right...Mt. Lebanon cable access channel 19 is no more.

That's because Comcast has apparently moved it to channel 20! And Verizon has always had it at channel 33 on their FiOS. So why stick with the "19" when the notion of channels is so twentieth century? Let's go from 19 to 20 to 21st century and get this show online!

Welcome to the Interwebs, MTLSD.tv, our new name for our new channel!

The programming will be the same great content it's always been, with some new additions from our "Mac-infused" TV studio next year.

And our goal: everything you see broadcast on our channel will be available for viewing on the Internet thereafter at MTLSD.tv. It's also exciting because when we broadcast our live events like graduation, we can have a simple destination to steer our worldwide viewers to: MTLSD.tv !!

Stay "tuned" and watch our changes take shape this summer!
Posted By: Chris Stengel Leave a Comment
May 24, 2012
Day 870: Friday is Geek Pride Day! 10:08 PM

Tomorrow, May 25 is officially Geek Pride Day!!

First organized in 2006, it's a day formed to celebrate and promote "geek culture."

It made me recall one of the very first posts on this blog titled Embrace Your Inner Geek.

It also led me to find this article titled "Geek Chic: Ways to Celebrate Geek Pride Day 2012!"

Just to keep this post educational, here's 15 Classroom Accessories for Geeks.

And finally, I wish I could truthfully say that I'll be wearing this tie tomorrow...but I don't own it...yet:
Posted By: Chris Stengel Last Comment at: 5/25/2012 2:04:31 PM 2 Comments
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This is a public blog for my posts and thoughts surrounding technology used in the Mt. Lebanon School District.

A year ago, I completed a 365 Day Challenge where I have made one post every day for a year...but for some unknown reason, I'm still going :)

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