Google is looking for your ideas for Google Docs features

Google is looking for ideas from users for new features and ideas for Google Docs. This is your chance to get a feature you've wanted implemented.

Go to the Google Docs Blog to suggest your ideas. A lot of educators use Google Docs and I'm sure that there are some features that they'd love to have.

We have a winner for the TI-Nspire CX calculator - contact me!

We have a winner for the TI-Nspire CX calculator! It is "CRheam".  Please email me at daveandcori at gmail dot com and give me your full name and address. The calculator will be shipped directly from TI.

Congratulations!!!

To select the winner, I entered the names of everyone who commented on the blog posts into a great piece of free software called "The Hat". It then selected a random name from the whole list. The Hat is very useful for randomizing a list, selecting a single random person, or even selecting pairs of people. It is one app in a group of free apps for teachers from Harmony Hollow.

5 Tips for Success - in school, business and in life

   

A couple of weeks ago, CPEP (CT Pre-Engineering Program) held it's annual competition day. CPEP is a pre-engineering program, held after school, that has students working on projects throughout the year and then they compete at the end of the year against the other schools. Projects include Roller Coasters, Maglev vehicles, boats, and more. Students design, build, and then modify their projects throughout the year. This is my third year doing it and every year we have won a few categories. This year we swept the Chess tournament and took 2nd in the Maglev vehicle. CPEP is a great program that teaches students teamwork, problem solving, and applications of math and science.

At CPEP day, we had a keynote speaker at the opening ceremony. It was Naveen Selvadurai, one of the founders of Foursquare (He is from Connecticut). In his keynote speech, he talked about his life, how he came to work on Foursqaure and gave some advice to the students on his tips to success. He had stated that he started Foursquare because he felt that the phone in his pocket could do more based on locations and where you were and what was near you.

Here are his 5 points (with my notes):

Be Curious - look at things and wonder why. Wonder if something can do more. Wonder if you can make something better or different. Ask why? Ask how?

Keep Learning - never stop learning. Be a life-long learner. Learn because you are curious. Learn because you want to better yourself. 

Don't Be Afraid to Fail - no one succeeds on the first try. For every great success, there are hundreds of failures. You learn from your failures and they help you succeed. We should encourage students this way in school also. 

Be Passionate - be passionate and excited about what you do, no matter what. Why do it if you aren't passionate or don't care. This goes for everything you do, from cleaning your room to doing your work.

Keep Good Company - be around people who share your values and beliefs. Be with people who are passionate, curious, and keep learning. Surround yourself with people who will help you succeed, not lead you to failure or troubles. 

These are great tips and advice and we should share them with our students and colleagues.