… and history

I choose to remember Trump for the positive things he did for our country.  At least he was an open book and we knew what he was thinking.  Too many decision makers are closed books making decisions behind closed doors without communicating with those who own the problem.  They make decisions without all the data.

This is happening locally to computer science teachers who are passionate about their student’s education and making their classroom the best during these COVID times. Computer science was moved to CTE to get Perkins weighted funding.  The CTE administrators are now telling teachers they have to double-block. This is killing the 4-year programs these long-time CS teachers have built to prepare students for AI, robotics, cyber security, biotech, agriculture and every area of our economy that needs computer scientists. They are making these decisions without listening to the owners of the problem.  A teacher who asked me to please help, communicated her solution is to just retire out of frustration.

We cannot afford to lose dedicated educators as they are our teachers of the future!

Always Choose Love over Hatred
Peace over Violence
And Others before Yourself
– Melanie Trump January 19, 2021

I am looking for angels in my world.

On this 21st day of the 21st year in the 21st Century
Mia goal is 2 connect with 21 champions of change.

What the World Needs Now – Caring Action People … It’s all about the Data

• Love letters that are 100 years old – questions to discovery
• Didn’t learn about Code Breakers in High School – who are the other people?

Could caring action people be the tiny tweaks that can solve the wicked
problems of crime and climate change?

… To help us all thrive in our digital world.

Computer Science is an academic area, not an elective.

Everyone must listen to the #CSK8 podcast by Melissa Rasberry. She is an Education Consultant at the American Institutes for Research where she manages the CS@AIR portfolio of projects focused on K-12 computer science education.  Yes!  I want better for our country.

Melissa shared about focusing on a bug crawling on the ground. Mentioned NCWIT Aspirations as a tribe to connect with and find a place to start. I am totally emerged in that tribe and would jump for joy if you joined me.  My biggest take-away is that we need community ambassadors. Ambassadors who are the event planners, the project managers, lead outdoor education, build school gardens, bring the materials and teach hands-on activities. Businesses please fund staff in schools with master teachers. Instead of letting experience retire due to fear and stress of COVID, hire them to work remotely with teachers. Instead of giving teachers 7 bell-ringing classes, let them teach 3 and use other time being an ambassadors.

Ambassadors like Annie and Shirley Zhu, two of our NCWIT Aspirations in Computing winners. Without their programming skills they would not have been able to design the apps and webpages that were the backbone of their Health Hub. This is the stock in their soup. Businesses, will you add stock to create more bowls of learning?  To get involved in our Houston AiC community please let us know what you would like to do on the survey on this link.
Mia Bella says all we need is kindness with positive reinforcement and action.  She said I only jump on you and nip when you are not paying attention to me and understand what I need. The solution: Solve the communication problem! And scale entrepreneurship with other MiaBellas like the our West Houston (Katy) champion baker.

Here are my previous posts on the need to teach data science – love the search tool on my site – please use to find more posts that connect to your interests:

• knorth.edublogs.org/2018/01/09/data-scientist-2
• knorth.edublogs.org/2015/12/20/data-scientist
• knorth.edublogs.org/2010/11/23/computer-science-week-2010
• knorth.edublogs.org/2009/01/18/computer-science-education
• knorth.edublogs.org/research/flu

 

Until you as a school district consider computer science to be an academic area you will continue to leave your students in the 20th century unprepared for jobs in the 21st century.

 

Mia and the Houston Arboretum Bench 

Can you find the bench?  Hints found on the search video. Tweet @TedE4CS if you do please and thank you! Computing + Conservation = “R” – I provide seeds, but gardeners needed to plant and nurture them.  Dance Seeds can be your start on this adventure.  I will yell Alleluia when Houston has technical direction for vaccine distribuion like #YoCanto. 

Could you write a paper about the
History of our Arboretum for a SEFH contest?

Or a “Sand County Almanac” for the Arboretum?

Would you like to meet me on our bench and talk about our Houston Climate Action Plan?

• Do we have the bandwidth?  Do we have leaders with followers? Is the World Flat?
• My New Year’s Resolution is to donate my educational history to the Arboretum.

TRUST AND TRUTH - NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE:The Seeds - Staying Alive Greenfields - Walk and Talk with me to fight dementia - STORIES FROM CBS SUNDAY MORNING JAN 3, 2020

The Future we’re building — and Boring – Is this part of your solution mindset? 

We want to wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of our hearts!

We have had fun this year bella-ing. Combining that with blogging and gardening, 2020 has been kind to us. Enjoy more of our 2020 stories at build-a-brain.com and buildagarden.edublogs.org.

Andy who turned 50 this year and Tony who joined the party from London are teachers. Amy started a magazine -> I remember when she was in high school how she edited my research papers.

Teaching and writing is our family and we hope yours is blessed too in 2021.

HUGS FROM MAX AND KAREN :))

And yes, sent a printed letter to my friends who still use snail mail.

Have you danced today?  … a codebytes
Learn how to create your Dance Party robots to join you here.

Do you have a partner?
Learn about how to build partners from the TxGCP Summit 12/4/2020. You can build this with Tonya in Houston, one of our NCWIT Aspirations.org coordinators.

Have you learned how you can make the world better in Houston?

• https://www.hereinhouston.org/
• https://cechouston.org/
• Found someething to do from the Houston Climate Action Plan
• Join the Houston maker action team
• Integrated ethical AI in your classroom to create change
• Listened to the experts to scale your well-being through tech
• Bee an advocate for CS Education – Study the data! Bee a story teller! Hadi Partovi at the ISTE2020 CS/CT Playground with Shaina Glass, Houston CSTA President:

I have shared solutions many times.  Perhaps listening would help.

Please spend the majority of your time taking action not talking about the problem.  Education is the only solution. My Bella with behavior problems says, I am sorry, I just didn’t understand what I needed to do. Please teach me the right thing to solve our problem.

I am working on listening to the impact of of diet. Not only in my Bella, but all.

• Power Foods – do you eat them, do parents and schools provide them? What are we teaching?
• Exercise Dance – the start of this post – add walking and talking to every school week!

 

This was a question I asked during one the ISTE 2020 Virtual Conference. Do I remember which session? No, I just remember asking the question and not getting an answer. I have 6 months to go back and learn more.  The question is now on taking the time, one of our limited resources I taught about in Technology Systems at Westside HS. – Best course ever!!

I remember going to the Windsor Castle with my now high school grandson when he was in elementary school. Fastinating tour where I met the “Questionnaire” person with a funny hat on. I thought, we need that in every lunch room so kids could have conversations.

• Discover that “Together is Better” … What will be the COVID question? What is your little book of inspiration? Can you smell IT?
• Can a little bit of math keep a secret?  … Permanent Record C24 Encrypt
• Start with a question: What problem would  you like to solve? Does computing spark your interest?
• Learn about AI – Should there be AI for All teachers?

What skills do you think your future employers want?

Are your teachers building these skills in your classroom?

These questions were inspired by an ISTE2020 presentation:

… As a Grandmother … as a friend.

Mama always said, life is like a box of chocolates,
you never know what you’re gonna get.

• Talking Circles … “You are the roots of change … so … Just do it” and say I did It!
• Bench Party – an action maker plan.
• E.O. Wilson
• Build a Dinosaur from a Chicken
• Travel as a Political Act
• Preservation
• Commitment
• Water – “A Camera can extract the light and turn a negative into a positive.”

Life is Actions Makers ... Those who take an idea and make it better!!

Life is going down roads your mind takes you .... writing songs that tell your story. Knowing when to let it be.

• •  “Even when women were invisible, doesn’t mean they were not there.” C7 Broad Band – The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet
  • Was looking up correct spelling of c-est la vie and this picture connected to a story appeared.And one of my values took over my time … curiosity.

Tiny World – Savannah … What is your unique story?
Are you an elephant shrew or a mongoose?

Yesterday

Today

If I don’t do it today, it won’t happen tomorrow.
  A 100 tiny things I need to do but instead posting on my blog.

What is beauty? I paint with light Pierre Soulages ... Passing best along ... Pure Art ... Just Laugh -> Comics ... The New Normal ...

CBS Sunday’s Moment of Natures ended with a BEACH and BUTTERFLIES … Oh My.

Tomorrow

1. Create a butterfly garden in an area I look at every day.
2. Help a neighbor with her gardens who lives in my favorite historical house with diamond windows.
3. Build a team of youth in Sandalwood who want to do a community service project.

Are you Smiling today?

Interesting how trees don’t worry about fences just grow around them.

 

 

 

What have you found in your classroom today?

Arts and Crafts … Design and Engineering …
Activities and Grades … Health and Wealth

572  and  Stories