Keeping it Real

Reflections on Technology, Education and Professional Development

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What did you read this summer? My reading list attached.

  1. To Kill a Mockingbird, By Harper lee
  2. Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell
  3. Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan
  4. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkein
  5. The Only Thing Worth Dying For, by Eric Blehm
  6. Best American Essays 2009, Edited by Rowan Atwan
  7. Out of Egypt, by Anne Rice
  8. The Road to Cana, by Anne Rice

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The point we want to emphasize here is that this book is about the art of reading for the sake of increased understanding. Fortunately, if you learn to do that, reading for information will usually take care of itself.
How to Read a Book, by Adler & Van Doren (1940)

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@NerdedOut Certainly not! I would imagine you’re a great dad. Also, I hope to never see you in a car seat, but I suspect you wear a seat belt. I think seat belt and bike helmet is a better parallel. In all seriousness, bike helmets have saved my brother (hit by a car), my father-in-law (struck the ground multiple times) and many more friends in the cycling world who were riding defensively and still went down (ice or motor oil on the road) or were struck by cars. I guess it seems more consistent for a family to either all wear helmets, or not at all. I trust you’ll push me in my thinking on this, which I think is great!   

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Being from Cupertino, CA—my Dad worked in the Apple buildings; I went to the same high school as Steve Jobs (Homestead); and my family had a prune farm orchard and cannery down the road from the current Apple campus—I’m so glad to hear that Apple is staying in Cupertino! In addition, they are showing their innovation chops again by building the finest office building in the world, renovating the old HP site in Cupertino to: Increase landscaping from 20% to 80% Nearly double the number of trees Reduce surface parking by 90% Create most of their energy onsite through natural gas conversion And all the while increasing the number of employees (and the tax base) 20% Watch full presentation here.

Being from Cupertino, CA—my Dad worked in the Apple buildings; I went to the same high school as Steve Jobs (Homestead); and my family had a prune farm orchard and cannery down the road from the current Apple campus—I’m so glad to hear that Apple is staying in Cupertino!

In addition, they are showing their innovation chops again by building the finest office building in the world, renovating the old HP site in Cupertino to:

  • Increase landscaping from 20% to 80%
  • Nearly double the number of trees
  • Reduce surface parking by 90%
  • Create most of their energy onsite through natural gas conversion
  • And all the while increasing the number of employees (and the tax base) 20%

Watch full presentation here.

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So far, the item on my desk that gets the most interest is my Pig Puzzle. I found said Pig (pictured below) with the note above.

So far, the item on my desk that gets the most interest is my Pig Puzzle. I found said Pig (pictured below) with the note above.

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This is a walnut tree. My wife pointed to this tree (pictured) as we were leaving Imwalle Gardens, the local farm/produce stand that we frequent on Sundays. Honestly, I think she noticed it because it reminded her of the “One Question Survey” I sent out last week called “Did You Climb Trees?” I was surprised to find out that my wife used to climb trees all the time, having grown up on a ranchette (4 acres) in the Sonoma Wine Country that was full of fruit trees. Her tree of choice for climbing was the Walnut Tree, mainly because the limbs grew down close to the ground. She continued to tell me about hideouts on their property and the “attacks” on the sheep with imaginary “grenades.” The peacefulness and prickliness of the outdoors was palpable as she shared. We committed then and there to make sure our kids have significant time out of doors this summer. More on that later. Given that I only have a couple hundred followers on Twitter—and many fewer on Tumblr—I was delighted that I received eight responses to my survey (mentioned above). The industry average response rate is 0.5-2.0%. Here are the results: This supports, in a very limited fashion, the work of Richard Louv and statements by Ahmed Djoghlaf (UN Executive Secretary on Biological Diversity), that today’s adults are the last generation to have had sustained engagement with the outdoors as children. According to Louv, children today are experiencing a “nature-deficit disorder” and according to Djoghlaf “20% of American children had never climbed a tree.” The fact that one quarter or more of American children are already obese makes it likely that many will never have that experience.  I also had the privilege to read an article by Diane Main (@dowbiggin) and realized that there are many other parents and edtech devotees who are concerned about this subject and that I’d like to set some personal goals for me and my family getting outdoors. Here’s my list for June 2011: Eat lunch out-of-doors every day the weather permits, enjoying a bench on our square and walking about.  Take my boys for a hike each Saturday morning to a park, trail or hillside; it needs to be somewhere our shoes are set on dirt, not pavement.  Go for an evening/post-dinner walk with my family every Sunday night. Ok, now it’s your turn. What are your goals? What will you commit to do in June 2011 and report back on July 1st . Don’t be afraid to start small, as long as you’re consistent.  Note: I put an appointment in my calendar for July 1st to remind me to share my results with you. I look forward to sharing more then. 

This is a walnut tree. My wife pointed to this tree (pictured) as we were leaving Imwalle Gardens, the local farm/produce stand that we frequent on Sundays. Honestly, I think she noticed it because it reminded her of the “One Question Survey” I sent out last week called “Did You Climb Trees?”

I was surprised to find out that my wife used to climb trees all the time, having grown up on a ranchette (4 acres) in the Sonoma Wine Country that was full of fruit trees. Her tree of choice for climbing was the Walnut Tree, mainly because the limbs grew down close to the ground. She continued to tell me about hideouts on their property and the “attacks” on the sheep with imaginary “grenades.” The peacefulness and prickliness of the outdoors was palpable as she shared. We committed then and there to make sure our kids have significant time out of doors this summer. More on that later.

Given that I only have a couple hundred followers on Twitter—and many fewer on Tumblr—I was delighted that I received eight responses to my survey (mentioned above). The industry average response rate is 0.5-2.0%. Here are the results:

This supports, in a very limited fashion, the work of Richard Louv and statements by Ahmed Djoghlaf (UN Executive Secretary on Biological Diversity), that today’s adults are the last generation to have had sustained engagement with the outdoors as children. According to Louv, children today are experiencing a “nature-deficit disorder” and according to Djoghlaf “20% of American children had never climbed a tree.” The fact that one quarter or more of American children are already obese makes it likely that many will never have that experience. 

I also had the privilege to read an article by Diane Main (@dowbiggin) and realized that there are many other parents and edtech devotees who are concerned about this subject and that I’d like to set some personal goals for me and my family getting outdoors. Here’s my list for June 2011:

  • Eat lunch out-of-doors every day the weather permits, enjoying a bench on our square and walking about. 
  • Take my boys for a hike each Saturday morning to a park, trail or hillside; it needs to be somewhere our shoes are set on dirt, not pavement. 
  • Go for an evening/post-dinner walk with my family every Sunday night.

Ok, now it’s your turn. What are your goals? What will you commit to do in June 2011 and report back on July 1st . Don’t be afraid to start small, as long as you’re consistent. 

Note: I put an appointment in my calendar for July 1st to remind me to share my results with you. I look forward to sharing more then. 

Filed under nature outdoors louv edtech education