Lawn spiral

Happy Thanksgiving all you Tourolites!  I'm staying close to home except for a trip to Santa Rosa this eve to attend the Video Special Interest Group (SIG) meeting of the North Coast Mac Users Group (NCMUG).  I always get useful tips and trash at these meetings and am always looking for ideas to put into my masters project.  There are educators in the group, so I might bounce some ideas off them too.  My current lit search is providing lots of avenues that I have to hone into a single path, like "What learning outcomes are achieved by students making content films?".  Is it just fluff, or do they really learn valuable life skills?  I think they do, but exactly how to put that into a project keeps me busy.  Hope all are well!

Sometimes it feels like being lost in a hall of mirrors...

With the Touro stuff simmering on various burners of the Wedgewood of Life, prepping for class, grading papers, playing with the dog, and oh yes, trying to eat healthy, its tough sometimes to know which is real and which is a reflection of my own mind.  I find the Masters program stimulating but very time consuming..just hoping it all comes out OK when"order up!" is called out.  One thing I'm finding is that my "tech radar" is always on these days and I see it everywhere for good and not so good.  Going into the holidays I must say though it's a welcome distraction from the consumerism catcalls.  Step right up!

What's going on in the classroom...

I've been trying to incorporate techie stuff into my classroom.  I am currently having kids research an element, make Microsoft Publisher "advertisements" for products that contain their element, and print them in color on cardstock for classroom decor.  One thing I learned is that if you don't have Publisher on your computer at home, you can't open the files.  Is there a an open source "publisher" program out there that any have used?