1. On August 5, 2012, NASA landed a rover named Curiosity on Mars. The rover cost $2.5 billion dollars and weighs 900 kilograms, or 1 ton. Curiosity is a six wheeled all-terrain vehicle that carries ten research instruments and seventeen separate cameras. This rover is sending back pictures Spaand samples and has been very helpful to scientists.
2. Scientists have discovered evidence of ice on Mercury. According to a spacecraft that has been orbiting Mercury since March 2012, there is frozen water on the poles of Mercury. For a long time, astronomers suspected that the shiny patches on Mercury’s poles were ice. In November, a spacecraft named MESSENGER, which stands for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging, This proves that there is frozen water on Mercury which means it might support life.
3. In July 2012, an estimate of 97% of ice sheet surface melted in Greenland. On average, about half of Greenland’s ice sheet naturally melts every summer. This extreme thawing was probably caused by an unusually strong ridge of warm air, or a heat dome over Greenland.
4. Space shuttle Endeaver retired on September 21, 2012, as it toured California on the back of NASA’s modified 747 carrier aircraft. After flying over Vandenberg Air Force Base on the California coast, they Griffith Observatory, the Hollywood sign, Dodger Stadium, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Malibu and Santa Monica, Disneyland, The Queen Mary and USS Iowa in Long Beach harbor, and several low-level flyovers over Los Angeles International Airport before landing down on the runway.
5. NASA has designed the first spacecraft to fly astronauts beyond Earth’s orbit since the Apollo spacecrafts. Orion will orbit Earth without a crew and return through the atmosphere at speeds way faster than when astronauts last returned from the moon in 1972. The mission is planned for launch in September 2014. It will orbit the Earth twice on a track that will take it more than 3,600 miles above the ground, which is about 15 times higher than the International Space Station.
 My hero is my dad. His full name is Shu Shiuh-Shieu Lin. He was born on May 7th, 1966 to Amy and Young Tso (pronounced âsoâ) Lin in Kaosiung (pronounce âkao-shungâ), Taiwan. He has two older sisters, Janet and Kay. He lived in Taiwan until seventh grade. For seventh grade he moved to California with his family. After he graduated from high school, he went on to be a Cardiovascular and Thoracic (heart and lung) surgeon. He also became a professor of Immunology (branch of medicine and biology concerned with immunity) and Pathology (the science or the study of the origin, nature, and course of diseases). He currently lives in Durham, NC as a surgeon and professor at Duke Hospital. He has two daughters, Sydney (12) and Samantha (7), and one son/ dog, Gomez (2).
    As a child, my dad did not like to study and he was very athletic. He was always playing baseball or hanging out with his friends. His best friend in 5th and 6th grade was Vincient Wang, the leader and founder of their group who was a couple years older than my dad. They called their group fÄng gÇu, or crazy dog group in English. His greatest achievement in grade school was in 5th grade when he won an essay writing contest. One of the most disappointing times was when he didnât get picked for the competitive dodge ball team. My dad and his sisters fought, but not much. When they did, it was usually over food. Once his oldest sister, Janet, sat on my dadâs model airplane that he made.
    My dad is my hero because he is so kind. My dad really likes to play basketball and has friends that he often plays with. When he goes, I go with him to watch. During breaks, he teaches me how to dribble and shoot baskets. We always play until his teammates call him back. After basketball, he always asks, âDo you want to go get some ice cream?â  Of course I say yes every time! Another way my dad shows kindness is in the way he participates and supports me in all of my activities. On Sundays, I participated in Mr. Blockâs weekend basketball camp. My dad would come with me and always be one of the parents who helped out. The fact that he was so helpful by being there, always boosted my confidence since I knew he had (and still has) a busy schedule.
    My dad is a hero because he is so helpful in so many ways. Not only does he save and lengthen peopleâs lives as a doctor, but he also provides for our family. My mom is a nurse at Duke hospital. She once told the story of a man that had just had surgery. He was starting to wake up when my dad, his surgeon, came by to check on him. The man reached up, grabbed my dadâs face and said, âI love you man,â then fell back to sleep. Later when I interviewed my dad he said, âI was just happy he spoke. And that he didnât have a stroke. I understood his appreciation. People show their appreciation differently.â In my opinion, that man was lucky to have such a trustworthy surgeon.
    To do surgery you need a steady hand and lots of focus. Not only that, but you need to be trustworthy. Your patient needs to be able to trust you. My dadâs patients all trust him to do surgery on them. Another thing you need to be to be a good surgeon is intelligence.
    My dad did not like to study, but he was lucky that he was very good at it anyway. He said, âI was lucky. Also I was very persistent. Donât be afraid to have to work hard. There is no free lunch, you need to work hard.â After finishing high school, he got into Harvard University. He graduated from Harvard University in 1988. After Harvard, he went to medical school, internship, fellowship, and residency at Duke University.
    My dad has influenced my life by teaching me how to play basketball and chess. Also he has inspired me to keep doing what I like to do by showing determination. Iâm lucky to have him as my dad, because he really is a true hero.
1. HOW I USED THE IPAD FOR LEARNING. I used my iPad for most of my homework and it was a lot easier to keep track of one iPad than seven different binders. I think I had better grades in the classes that I could use my iPad in than in classes that I couldnât.2. WHAT I WOULD WANT MY TEACHERS TO KNOW ABOUT STUDENTS USING AN IPAD.
I think students are going to be careful with iPads and not losing them because they know that iPads cost a lot of money… a lot more than papers and pencils. I donât think that teachers should control what goes on our iPads, I think we should be able to download the things we want to and just not be able to play with them at school. It makes iPads more useful when you have what you want on them. During the pilot program it was really annoying that I couldnât put what I wanted on it. I also think that we should get our own iPads and not just ârentâ them from DA.
Last week we began the iPad phase of the Middle School Digital Device Project. (MSDDP) The week before we started the MacBook project. I am including some thoughts and reflections on the first couple weeks of the project.
Background
Parents had received a letter written by the team of educators at DA that are helping to coordinate this “discovery” project. Below is some text from that letter. The project is only being done with 2 classes of 19 students each so it is not the entire grade level.
Durham Academy has believed that students need access to technology as part of a modern learning environment. We currently have around over 100 computers on campus and, for years, have supported students using their own laptops or other devices on campus. Durham Academy has investigated the idea of a 1 to 1 laptop program in the past and carefully considered how such a program would impact our families and learning community. Much has changed since we began this journey and we feel it is necessary now to go one step further. The school plans to test how consistent access to either an iPad or a MacBook would help our students and teachers fulfil their mission. Karl Schaefer, Julie Williams and Patti Donnelly have committed time to the planning and implementation of a pilot program. The goal of the MSDDP is to determine which device could best meet the needs of the teaching and learning mission of Durham Academy. With that in mind, we would like to inform you of the MSDDP.OverviewBeginning in October, students in Ms. Williamsâs and Ms. Donnellyâs classes will have consistent use of either an iPad2 or a 4 four year old MacBook. All other middle school classes will serve as control groups. At any given time in the project, 38 students will have consistent access (on campus and at home) to a school issued device. Other students will continue to use the computer labs, desktops, iTouch cart and laptop carts. Through the use of the MacBooks and iPads, we plan to assess which device more successfully integrates learning and teaching by conducting a pre-use and post-use questionnaire. We plan to use the information gained in the MSDDP to guide the schoolâs adoption of a student device in the near future.
We will also monitor how the following will impact the learning environment:
24/7 access with a 1 to 1 device
how broadly and frequently apps and input methods are utilized
increased independence and self-guided learning by students
extension of learning opportunities beyond the classroom
development of skills and literacy through interacting with digital media
level of creativity and collaboration demonstrated by students and teachers
In addition, we plan to collect anecdotal evidence from teachers and students via classroom blogs.
Implementation
Mr. Hoyt and I worked with the classes when they first got the devices to go over some care and use instructions. We also discussed the school’s Acceptable Use Policy and how the use of the laptop fits within that document. Since then, I have been helping the teachers get going by providing instructional ideas and introducing the different applications. It has been an interesting time as I move from working with the class using iPads as what we do on that device is slightly different then what I do when I work with the laptop group. I thought about this difference last night and can compare it to when I first started integrating technology into my Science classroom in 1994. I had six Macintosh computers that ranged from and LC II to LC 520. Each could do some things but not all could do the same things so my students and I had to work to figure out how to make all the computers do what we needed to do. For instance, the LC II was better for typing and printing while the LC 520 could handle HyperStudio better since it had better graphics and RAM. The iPad and MacBook laptop differences feel very similar. One is not better then the other, but the MacBook is sure more familiar.
We are keeping a series of private Google Docs where we are recording student questions about the laptops. As they ask the questions, I can provide an answer in the Google Doc so all students can see the answer. Since it is a Google Doc, I do not need to be in the room or on campus.
Reflections to date
Evernote sponsored accounts are a real asset for all no matter the device. Ms. Donnelly even shared an audio recording in a note last night
Never underestimate the resourcefulness of students to be troubleshooters, helpers, and risk takers. Harnessing their energy makes the process both easier and more exhilarating
Provide challenges to students as they will seek solutions that make sense to them. For instance, create a Vocabulary Doodle led to students creating drawings, crosswords, Evernote recorded notes, and other methods of learning the words.
Students can be natural collaborators as helping each other has been a hallmark of both devices. More so with the iPad I think then the MacBook, but students helping each other removes the teacher as expert stress
Students ask good questions and have high hopes for what they would like to be able to do with the devices. Lower the heft of a backpack is one central one. Will we listen?
Parents will support projects like these when given a big picture, but more information is always better especially when a device goes from school to the home. Families either have procedures for device use or will be scrambling to come up with ones. We need to help everyone in our community adjust and plan accordingly. Common Sense Media Internet Safety Guide for Parents is a good start.
Being able to flow is essential as the teachers have willingly allowed me to direct class time
Rethinking instructional methods is as essential as figuring it out where to put a power strip. Devices should change the instructional norms in a classroom and not just automate it.
Blogging for students can be harnessed to create standards and guides for future students while also giving a purpose to the writing that they do in class.
Follow Ms Donnelly’s class at:Â http://pdroom212.edublogs.org/ as the will begin blogging soon. Right now they are working on reflecting in Google Docs and Evernote.
Here is a VoiceThread with images of what is taking place. Check it often as we will keep adding images to it.
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