The beginning of the school year has really been interesting thus far!  I began my first week back only to realize the labor I was going to be putting in was at the hospital!   (Ok, maybe supporting my wife while she put in the work!!)  My wife and I have been expecting our first born for what has felt a very long time now!  On August, 21st, at 3:04 PM, Brooklyn Marie Grubbs was born in this world!  She is my precious little angel!  I couldn't be happier than how I feel right now!  I have a beautiful wife and a beautiful baby daughter!  Oh and I still have the  3 furry children as well!!  They remind me they are still around the house!  But the experience was so amazing.  I walked in the hospital just your average guy, but walked out one of the proudest fathers!  It is amazing how much I learned in such a short stay at the hospital, and I know it is just the beginning of this new chapter in our lives.  I might not be the best father, I know I will have my ups and my downs, but I can damn well guarantee I will do everything in my power to be the best I can be!  :)

Hi there!  I am checking in with everyone!  I apologize that I have not been very active blogger lately!  Like many teachers, although it looks like I haven't been active lately, trust me when I say, I have been very busy with quite bit from creating lesson plans to building a presentation!  This summer is really flying by us!  I really hope everyone is enjoying the warm weather!  Until next time, be safe, and have fun! -JG

You can often tell a lot about a person's character when they face adversity.  Some people abandon their friends, some simply shut down, where others embrace the challenge and make something of it.  Atomic Tom, a band from Brooklyn, New York, virally demonstrated how they deal with adversity.  After the bands instruments were stolen, the band was left with nothing.  They suddenly were in the middle of an intersection, choosing their own direction, dictating their fate.  As they searched for ideas, Eric, the guitarist, came up with an idea of a live performance in the New York Subway.  However, the problem was how could they perform without instruments?  The band decided to create music by using the music Apps on their IPhones.  On one ride, the band performed their single, "Take me out" which was video taped and placed on Youtube.  The performance created amajor online buzz, and the video quickly recieved 5 million viewers.  Immediately they were guests on several talk shows and signed a deal to Universal Republic in January of 2010.  Their hard work paid off in the end, but it is how they responded to adversity is what the tale of the story is.  Often when we are down and out, we can easily decide to just give up.  Giving up should never be an option because when you do, you will never know what the opportunities of tomorrow can place you.

As many out there suffer from "Bieber Fever," I even found myself not able to  resist watching the documentary "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never."  Why did I choose to watch this documentary?  My only answer to that question is I found a moment where I saw the picture of him pop up on my Netflix menu, and I said to myself, "lets just check this kids hype out for a second."  About an hour and 15 minutes later, I have to surprisingly say I was very impressed.  Here was a very young kid, without a doubt one heckuvah talent, pursue his dreams and come up big!  His music might be very catchy and irresistable to young teenage heart throbs, however his footsteps on how he became successful should have every teacher in America taking notes.  Justin began singing and playing instruments at an early age.  However, he didn't just wake up as a kid with the ability to sell out Madison Square Garden in 22 minutes and a whole music tour within 2 days.  "Bieber Fever" started with a video tape, him demonstrating his skills, and the videos landing on youtube where he would later be found by a manager.  From there, he was able to meet other talented people that could help him craft his skill to a whole nother level.  As we all know, his success is pretty self explanatory. Am I saying that all our students will become music talents or a celebrity figure as Justin Bieber?  The answer is No!  However, I do believe we need to make changes in our classrooms and not put our students' ideas on a book shelf. Children need to pursue their dreams and explore their ideas.  Through social networking, we can share, expand, or create ideas with others all arcross the world.   In classrooms we always preach to our children to work as a team because you will always get better results.  We need to allow them to do that.  I believe many of us can be fearful of social networking because of the possibilities of networking with someone that could potentially be someone we would not want our children around or negative information on the internet could be potentially seen.  We need to educate our children about potential problems, not just run away from potential issues.  If everyone looked at the cup half empty instead of half full, than most of the things around us would not exist.  Justin Bieber is a perfect example.  You "Never Say Never" because you never know when it is your time to shine.  Never let fear hold you back because you will never know how brilliant you are!! 

Here is our project!  It was great working with the guys to complete this!  I just wish this wasn't our last class!  First time in my life I've said that!!!  But Education does always continue!

I recently read a great article by Jean Houston discussing issues with Technology and Education.  I thought it was a brilliant piece of work that outlines concerns about technology even though when used properly, its impact on education can be phenomenal.   I like how Jean Houston points out how we need to educate our children on how to control the machines and not allow them to control them.  I believe as teachers, we do need to educate our students on appropriate use of technology.  For example, I persoanlly will never forget when I got my very first smart phone.  I couldn't put my phone down and was probably on it way more then I should have been.  My parents finally had "the talk" with me because they felt it was very inappropriate that during our conversations I was scrolling around on my phone.   I was raised better then that they said.  It's disrespectful to not give appropriate attention to one that is talking to you.  It was simply bad etiquette.  I felt that was a very, very important "teachable moment" for myself because I didn't realize how I was being disrespectful to two people I love dearly.  I share that story often with my students when talking about "technology etiquette"  because without realizing it, we can send the wrong message that we are trying to get across.  I feel it is our responsibilities as teachers to teach our students these valuable lessons.  I love the statement in the article, "Human beings contain far more images, ideas, stories, information, feelings,
and, of course, consciousness than any computer."  I simply agree with this argument.  However, as an educator, we need to realize that all students are all different, contain diverse images, ideas, stories, information, feelings, and of course consciousness then each other.  By properly guiding and educating our student, and allowing them to take ownership in their own learning, achievement can be unlimited.  As I am currently in Mr. Holman's Technology class at the University of Akron, I am impacted by his work.  As he has taught me, we need to educate our students into  "Leaving Positive Digital Footprints worth following."
 

Google docs is amazing tool.  What can I say, or where do I go with this?  First we can use this tool to perform a group presentation with all members sitting at home in their comfy chair creating their piece to the puzzle (or presentation)!  Unbelievable tool to you it as a presentation because their are a variety of options.  Another way to use google docs is in a form presentation.  As you can see previously, I created a simple survey trying to get peoples opinions on technology and education.  I will be able to gather data from that survey and be able to apply it to my class and/or presentations.  I can also very quickly create quizes and assessments with this tool as well.  After everyone finishes the assessment, in a couple clicks quickly get the data broken down in a variety of ways.  Where am I going to go with this after tonights class, well, thats going to be very obvious and easy to answer.  Google docs will be implemented in my class!  :) 

Jing is an amazing tool where you can record and capture the media on your desk top!  I was blown away by it and the ideas I can use this with.  I tried creating my own video but I have a long way to go from here!