We Use Technology...

We Use Technology...

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eInstruction $30,000 makeover winner!

My wife and I collaborated with her 3rd graders to create a video for the eInstruction video makeover contest. We found out this week that we are the winners of the grand prize. Besides the new technology we will get $1,000 to spend on supplies and a party for our entire school!
WE USE TECHNOLOGY

New video contest. Help us win some tech!

We have entered the eInstruction video contest in an attempt to win $30,000 in technology for our school. Right now the contest is in a "view and comment" stage. If we make the finals then we will need all the votes possible! To help us out, go to this site:einstruction contest register, and leave a comment for us along with five stars. The resolution is lacking on the contest site so check out the higher resolution copy here. Please spread the word. I'll let you know if we make the finals after November 1oth.

Vote for me in this contest!

Submit entry

Contest details

A Hand-Made's Tale

Here is our 15 second (!) entry into the Etsy.com contest.

A Hand-Made's Tale

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New video contest

Well, I have a new video entered in a contest about the Swine Flu. Is it really coming this fall? Who knows, but for a chance at $2500 i'll be sure and sound the warning! The contest ends August 17th with finalists announced and then open voting on Youtube. This is NOT my favorite kind of contest...letting who knows who vote on the video, but I guess there's no choice. I also have a video in the Amazon contest but it can't be posted until the contest ends. My concept is a takeoff on the ape scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey. THAT will be a tough contest to win!


AMAZON CONTEST PICS:







FLU PSA CONTEST

ISTE AWARD WINNERS

My wife and I entered some of our work in the ISTE/NECC conference Digital Stories contest recently. The conference was in D.C. so we didn't get to attend. The finals of the contest were streamed from the conference live and we were thrilled to find out we were both finalists. The crowd that was at the conference voted live for their favorite and Karen's video "Living in a Digital World" won! We were especially happy since Karen had entered this in another competition and didn't even get selected for the finals! *interwrite/e-instruction* cough cough..Anyway, she wins an all expense paid trip to Denver for the national conference next year so our summer vacation is planned. I'm working on a video for the Amazon.com contest but that is a REAL long shot. Here are the videos if you would like to see them:

Glog Book Reviews and Safety Committee

I am working on a new Glog page with some more animated book reviews. I keep adding more elements to the videos and I think they are getting better:

I was on our campus safety learning community this year and at the end of the year we had to present what we did in our area. I put together this video to show what we accomplished:

Teachertube Change

Recently Teachertube changed their look and with it all the links to videos seemed to have changed as well. This means that all the pages linked to my videos no longer operate. I hope they might fix this but if not you can see my videos by going to my Teachertube page:
Dr. Loopy

News article

Neighborsgo.com, a neighborhood edition of the Dallas Morning News, did an article about the good fortune my wife and I have received lately. I always enjoy seeing what reporters emphasize in their articles. Here is a link to the article:
http://neighborsgo.com/stories/33768

More Good News!

On April 3rd my wife and I went to Austin for the Association of Texas Professional Educators annual conference. Karen, my wife, won the Elementary Teacher of the Year award from this prestigious organization. Karen has worked hard with her classroom of "Digital Natives" and showed the panel a video of some of the things she does in her classroom on a daily basis. I am very proud of her for all of the hard work she does and of course I think she is very deserving of this honor!

Spring Break at Caddo Lake

One of my very favorite places is just about 2 1/2 hours from here. Caddo Lake is a beautiful and mysterious place to get away from it all. We just spent a few days up there in a little place called Uncertain, Texas. It's a great place to do...nothing. We read, canoed and shopped in a small town near here called Jefferson. I also had possibly the best fish and "hush puppies" ever at a place called the Big Pines Lodge. I highly recommend it if you are ever in the middle of Nowhere East Texas.

Hot Dog Book Reviews

Every other week we have class checkout. During those weeks I select a "Hot Dog" from each class to help check out. They also get an extra book checkout and they review that book for our Glog. I video tape their review and then have them draw a picture to represent them. I animate the picture and they get to see the review online. Here is an example of one recently finished. I have many more on my Glog page.

A Big Week!

Tuesday night in Austin I was awarded the Texas Computer Education Association's Librarian of the year for Texas. It was a great event and I am honored to win this award for myself, my wife and for Melissa ISD.


Before I left for Austin I got a telephone call from Demco telling me my video in the "Express Yourself" contest won the Grand Prize! I got a new camera and a deluxe bookcart for which my library aide wil be forever grateful. Here is the winning video:

Using old technology in a new way

One of my favorite lessons is one I do for Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Years ago I made a video of me reading the story in character and basically making a bit of a mess out of it. I then played myself telling the story and talking back and forth to the television. It was for an education class I was taking at the time. The tape went forgotten for about 20 years until I re-discovered it and digitized it. Now I play it on one of my old Predictas which I call my "Long ago and Far Away" machine and pretend to be doing a "teleconference." The kids are amazed to watch me talk to a younger version of myself while I tell the story. Trouble is, I can only do it once!

TCEA Honor

I just found out this week that I was selected as a finalist for the Texas Computer Education Association Library Media Specialist of the year! I will be going to Austin the first week in February to find out if I won. My wife and I are also presenting at this conference. If you would like to find out more about this conference go to:

TCEA

Dallas Morning News Article

The Dallas Morning news recently interviewed me for an article they were doing on Teachertube. I thought it was really good and got the word out about using online videos. You can read it here:

Doctor Loopy in DMN

My Predicta Televisions

Among some of the strangest things I am interested in might be my Predicta televisions. These were built by Philco in the late 1950's. I have three of them, two are restored. I think they are beautiful pieces of art that are also functional. I wish that such thought went in to our electronic design today. I use one of them at school as a "teleconference" machine to communicate with characters from "long ago and far away." The kids are fascinated by the look. Here is a shot of my Siesta model. This one has a built in clock:

My favorite is the Pedestal model. This model has a beautiful wooden case and a 21 inch screen. The screens on all models turn. The necks and the brackets around the picture tube are brass. These televisions are difficult to restore because they had a lot of problems and run very hot, but I was fortunate enough to have a couple of real pros restore my electronics. I bought my Pedestal late one night on ebay for about $300. It needed a little cosmetic restoration and the electronics doen but it was a bargain. I repainted the yellow portion, re-did the decals, polished it up and had the brass restored. It really looks great now and works!

If you would like to find out more, try this site:

http://www.mztv.com/newframe.asp?content=http://www.mztv.com/predicta.html