Supposedly I have a free night, but I get one anyway, for staying here three days. Oh, well.
Maintenance is in here trying to get the thing to work. I’ve been here an hour and it is still only around 71 degrees. Don’t really want to move, but it’s looking more and more like I have to.
It seems warmer. And it isn’t as noisy. Temp is at 74. Looking good.
So Alfred blogged about languages and computer science. No a programming language is not a language – though my mother loves to brag to people that I have written production code in over 30 computer languages, not that she know what that means.
I did take 4 years of Latin. I did that because a) it seemed easier to me because we only dealt with the written word, and b) I was told it would help me learn how to spell.
I have also learned enough German to read chess books and to command the average police dog.
Another reason I have heard is so that one can read research and other works in the original language. Perhaps that made a lot of sense when French and German were the principal languages of some areas of study. But today people write in far too many languages to make focusing on one make for a solid argument – well unless that language is English. An awful lot is written first in English even by people whose first language is not English. On the other hand there may be some value in being able to read code in the “original” language. It’s a theory.
So to answer his question. After 4 years of Latin and translating numerous texts written in Latin, I spell better, I know instantly where a word comes from and what it means, and I have an intimate knowledge of things like the Aenid and the Odessey. You read the darn thing and write your own translation, you get to know it pretty well.
I know a bunch of cultural references, especially those related to mythology and know them well. I was also able to very easily read some documentation written by a French programmer once. I can also read the mass notes that my students pass who are Spanish speakers.
I got to read some chess books and get some ideas from non-English speakers and I do think it made me a better chess player. I gained rating points during the experience, but I know very little Chess German now. I do know more dog German, as I trained some police dogs, but it sounds very little like what real German dog trainers say.
All were very fun intellectual activities, but they useful? I’m not even sure.
So below are the computer science events I found at TCEA and attended – okay, a few aren’t CS, strictly, several are robotics, and one very general post that @unklar did
Schedule
Tuesday, Feb 8
8:00AM to 4:30PM — Technology Applications Teacher Network (TATN) (Ballroom D) — Rate Session: 1
2
3
4
5
http://www.techappsnetwork.org/
Attended three computer science sessions in the morning,
Three web mastering sessions in the afternoon.
Wednesday, Feb 9
8:00AM to 9:00AM — From Start to State: Getting Involved in Robotics (Ballroom B) — Rate Session: 1
2
3
4
5
Mostly for middle school and legos, but very good ideas
10:30AM to 11:30AM — CTE or Tech Apps: What Should We Teach and How? (Ballroom B) — Rate Session: 1
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3
4
5
Excellent session — discovered I can teach CTE
1:15PM to 2:15PM — TEA Update: What’s New with TEKS, Textbooks, and Technology (Ballroom D) — Rate Session: 1
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3
4
5
Mostly on the new tests. Some update on Technology Apps and CS TEKS
Also update on textbooks, electronic material.
2:00PM to 3:00PM — What’s My TCEA Membership Worth? (ML7) — Rate Session: 1
2
3
4
5
Again, excellent, mostly covered Website and Webinairs.
3:45PM to 4:45PM — XNA Game Development: The Thrill Factor in CS Education (17B) — Rate Session: 1
2
3
4
5
Brian excellent as always
5:00PM to 7:00PM — TA/CS-SIG Meeting (18C) — Rate Session: 1
2
3
4
5
Business meeting
Reinforced that we can teach CTE specific CS courses now.
Thursday, Feb 10
10:00AM to 11:30AM — What is the Future of AP Computer Science? (19B) — Rate Session: 1
2
3
4
5
Fun because here is best Computer Science people in the country and they can’t get get it working.
12:00PM to 1:00PM — Using Google Reader to Keep up with What’s Happening in the World (13AB) — Rate Session: 1
2
3
4
5
Personal friend presented. Very good look at Google Reader.
Spent the afternoon in the exhibit hall, getting ideas from Lanschool, Deep Freeze, Microsoft and Techsmith.
I am staying at Springhill Suites Marriott South on I35. I am telling you this so you won't stay here.
Why?
The A/C unit keep coming in last night. The desk clerks thought I was nuts because when they got to the room the unit was merrily pumping out warm air. Fortunately it kicked on for the second clerk but the hotel is sold out and apparently no maintenance staff was available.
I didn't sleep well especially since the unit came on when it was shut off and the temp was at 62 when I woke up. I literally was shaking from the cold
Not paying their full rate that's for sure…
And if they can't get me in a warm room, I am out of here.
Not that they care since they have plenty of business.
Sent from my Windows Phone
I am live blogging during the third of three CS sessions.
First was BYOB – an extension of scratch that looks great.
Second was a curriculum of C# – sadly the typist used the wrong character which might have turned people away.
The last was about getting kids up and moving in addition to coding.
Good job, Fleming, Woodfill, and woolweaver for the presentations.
When I first got the agenda, I was very disappointed.
There is a SIG meeting that includes Tech Apps (not too disappointed about that, since I am also certified in Tech Apps, but do wish they were separate SIGs. I find teaching Tech Apps very different than Computer Science.
However, Tuesdays’ Tech App Network day has half a days worth of sessions dedicated to Computer Science – all morning in one room.
Microsoft is also having several side sessions that are not on the schedule that are dedicated to Computer Science.
There are several sessions on Robotics, especially Legal Mindstorms, but unfortunately that is something I can’t afford to do. I will probably attend some of those though.
There is a session at 3:45 on Wednesday that is specifically labelled CS. There is another one on Thursdays morning at 10:00 and one that is probably CS related at 11:30.
Video game design is on Friday morning and so is a attracting Girls to STEM.
There is lots of stuff for the other half of my brain – tech apps, so it isn’t too bad.
I bought a Kodak Easyshare M550 from Woot not long ago, and it ended up being an extra camera – I thought I was replacing one my husband broke.
Now, I love Kodak cameras and have never had problems with one. This one, however drives me nuts. And the combination of this particular computer, I think.
The Share Button and Share function work well, but I want more out of cameras, I want to be able to edit. Well, and actually view the movie on the computer itself.
I finally had to break down and download QuickTime and iTunes as this computer has a 64 bit operating system, and down loading QuickTime alone wouldn’t do it.
Finally I could view the movies, but couldn’t edit them. VLC would also let me view them,but still not edit or output them in a format I could use.
Couldn’t find a Codec that would work with Windows Movie Maker.
What finally worked? Breaking down and buying the Pro version of QuickTime and exporting to AVI.
ARGH!
Been with DISD for 18 years and we haven’t been of school this many days ever. We are on day 3. I dont think we have been out 2 days in a roaw though we have used all our weather days.
However, we haven’t been this cold this long before and there is ice on the streets. I am lucky, we corner a major road, we pay high property taxes and get good services. Can’t say that forsure the school district as I neither work there or parent a child.
Had this conversation with husband last night:
When did you put winter tires on the car?
Didn’t
Where are the tire chains?
Don’t know.
So there you go, can’t really blame the powers that be, we haven’t done any more prep than they did.
And yes, I am bored.
Posted with BloghuB for Windows Phone 7
Haven’t taught it yet, want to though. Was going to this year but got to many web kids, and then they don’t want to write web sites. Go figure.
I’ll probably teach multimedia and they won’t want to make movies. <sigh>
So here’s why I hate multimedia. Kid wanted to put a DVD on YouTube. Took me two hours to figure out I didn’t have the tools. I’m convinced that the video wasn’t Finalized. Whatever that means.
So I bought a camera from Woot! (Love them). Ended up being an extra camera – I do that – everyone knows you can’t have too many cameras.
So I thought I’d put it in our guest room/study/dog room. Where I am now, why I don’t know because I’m sitting next to a cold window.
I’ve literally spent hours trying to silly thing to upload a video I can watch and edit on this particular computers. Why did I have problems? Kodak is married to Quicktime, and Quicktime hates 64 bits. Especially Windows 7 64 bits.
Finally had to grit my teeth and download Quicktime. Still can’t edit it with Windows Movie maker down here, but oh well.
We’re out our second day of school. I will be honest, I have gone out once, yesterday, and made it 5 blocks from the house before coming back.
And I JUST figured it out. It’s all because of the state legislature is in session in Texas. For those of you who aren’t Texans, it only meets every other year, and when it does, every special interest group has their hands out.
Here’s the deal. Our street is black and has good drainage. It’s dry and clear. The major 2 lane street that we corner on is a complete mess. There is one lane clear, and that because of traffic. Yesterday I saw no signs of and or chemical. I turned around when the one lane got almost impassable and I realized I couldn’t turn and I had to go under an over pass to get to the next city.
The city and/or county should have cleared that road. It’s a major one, and one that people use when I-35 goes out. The road that parallels I-635 was also in the same shape. I suspect the city is responsible, but we’re pouring all of our money into fighting an immigration legal battle we’ve been losing.
We have also had three “rotating power outages” –> now four, it hit while I was writing this, and Microsoft was kind enough to save it.
Being the state legislature conspiracy theorist I am, I am quite sure whoever is in charge of this wants more money from Austin. It’s ALWAYS about money.
And the cities and counties are also screwing the citizens and especially the children so they can have their hands out too.