Finished RAGBRAI

Great ride across Iowa, ended up with 508 miles for the 7 day adventure.  Iowa is not flat as 12-14,000 cyclists per day found out.  No major issues myself but saw many cyclists over extending themselves.  More to come...

RAGBRAI is 5 days away

Soon I will join up with 129 other Air Force cyclists and spending 7 days riding across Iowa as part of the countries largest organized cycling event.  This year will see well over 10,000 cyclists on the roads of Iowa; filling it's towns with tents, bicycles, and people from around the world.  With the heat index predicted to be over 100 degrees for the week staying hydrated is a primary concern, I just hope I will have room for pie.

The Southern Magnolia 100 is coming soon

Now is the time to prepare for the 4th Annual Southern Magnolia hosted by the Gulfcoast Bicycle Club on October 8th, 2011.  Our new location starting at the Woolmarket Community Center is easier to get to and better located for our visitors from north Mississipi, Alabama, and Lousiana.  The 100 mile route touches 4 counties and should prove to be challenging even for the seasoned cyclist.  Come out and join us.  More information about the event and our club can be viewed at the attached link.  gulfcoastbicycleclub

The use of web resources

An amazing free web tool is located when searching for “Rubistar”.  This site allows you to create original rubrics or search through a large list of existing examples.  I particularly found this site useful in creating a rubric to document and score interviews of potential new employees.  Rubrics allow you to be consistent and objective.   A well designed rubric can eliminate bias and provide a clear means for providing feedback.   Create a rubric with Rubistar

Ethical consideration in the use of technology

Ethical consideration in the use of technology specifically as it pertains to the use or misuse of images from the internet is not always a simple as it appears.  The owner of a picture or image viewed on the internet has exclusive rights to it.  Without permission you can’t legally post, copy, or profit from it.  Stealing these images from the internet is copyright infringement and worst case scenario could point to serious litigation.  Even if your intentions are harmless copyright infringement is still copyright infringement and could be treated as a serious crime.     It is important to remember that a site doesn’t have to display a copyright notice or symbol to serve notice the images are protected from unlimited use.  In the United States anything created after 1 Mar 1989 is assumed to be copyrighted.   

Concept Maps

My first official post is centered on concept maps and their use as a planning tool.  Concept maps in their simplest form represent a relationship between two thoughts.  A basic example could be:  Competitive cycling-requires-Consistent training with the word “requires” linking the two concepts.  As an educator a concept map points out relationships between new information and the concepts needed to convey them to the student.  Planning is enhanced via a concept maps ability to adapt to different classroom situations and documenting various approaches to enhance the student’s level of understanding.

First Post

Hey...this works.