Real world math & design help needed! #quiltproblems #problemsolved

Leigh Graves Wolf

Update: at 8:36 pm the wonderful @nikkapotamus came to the rescue with this solution. At 9:07, the block is fixed, stitched & ready to be sent to Boston.  The kindness, generosity and intelligence of this connected world never ceases to amaze me!

Problem solved!

—-

SO, I was bound and determined to start, and finish my quilt block(s) for Quilts for Boston tonight. I was planning to make my blocks out of jelly roll strips I had lying around.

I was super excited when I found this tutorial:

The requirements for the Quilts for Boston block are “All blocks should be 12½” tall x the width of your choice.” So, I sewed together 6 strips so the height of the strips were 12 1/2.  I cut two blocks of 12 1/2 by 12 1/2 with the intention of following the tutorial to make the block above.  I cut two other blocks “width of my choice” with the remaining fabric.

I followed the tutorial exactly, and the block looks beautiful…but…mathematically minded friends, do you see where I went wrong?

Real life math problem, help!

The middle block is beautiful, and for the first block I have ever made it my entire life, one may even go as far as to say it’s perfect…but it’s 17 x 17.  SO mathies & quilties, any suggestions on what I should do? I did not sew the 4 blocks for the big square together yet.  At minimum, I have 2 simple blocks that can go to Boston BUT would love to find a way to salvage the pieces in the middle – they are each 8 1/2, by 8 1/2.

Tips & tricks welcome!

Crowdsourced help request: US EdTech Teacher Licensure Programs

Leigh Graves Wolf

Update May 14, 2013:

Crowdsourcing didn’t work too well – so I spent the evening visiting every State Department of Education website looking for states that have an endorsement or certification in Educational Technology. (A usability analysis is a different ball of wax that is sorely needed, there are some confusing, horrible sites out there.)

To be clear, I was looking for Ed Tech integration/specialist certification – something that certifies teachers to teach with technology or to help others teach with technology.

19 out of 50 states (+ Washington DC) have an endorsement. The list and links can be found here: http://goo.gl/AAeUr

—

I’m writing an article about Educational Technology and teacher licensure.  Many states offer endorsements or certifications in EdTech or Instructional Technology, but no comprehensive list of all states and their programs exists – I would love for you to help me create that list!

I’ve set up a shared doc: http://goo.gl/AAeUr

Please place the link to the official State Department of Education page and/or any other relevant links about the certification or endorsement.  If your state does not offer an endorsement or certification please write “NONE”

Thanks!!

 

 

Save the date #edchatie friends! #GREAT13 July 9, 2013

Leigh Graves Wolf

If you are an educator in Ireland (or if your summer travel plans include Ireland) be sure to attend the free 6th annual MAET/ICT/Educational Technology Conference (#GREAT13) on the campus of NUI Galway in Galway, Ireland on July 9, 2013 from 1pm-4pm (IST).

Last year’s #GREAT12 conference exceed our expectations. Over 45 of our #edchatie friends made it to DCU for the conference – it was an amazing day and we are looking forward to reconnecting and making new friends at #GREAT13.

The conference is organized and presented by the Year 2 Overseas MSU MAET students as a requirement for their CEP 815: Technology and Leadership course (see the assignment here), and is targeted towards anyone who works in the field of education (K12, higher ed, and beyond).

Below you will find archives of the past 5 conferences to give you an idea of the spirit of the conference:

2012 #GREAT12: http://great12dublin.weebly.com/
2011 RELATe: http://relate2011.weebly.com/
2010 RELATe http://sites.google.com/site/maetrelate2010/
2009 PLATE http://2009plateconference.weebly.com/index.html
2008 PLATE https://www.msu.edu/~arcayjoh/msu2008/plate/new/index.html

If you’re interested in coming, fill out this simple form to register your interest. We will send more updates as the schedule emerges: http://goo.gl/7VmSc

One more opportunity to connect:

We’re also excited to head to a new part of the country! If you’re an educator in, or around, Galway I would love to talk to you about the possibility of visiting your classroom/learning space! Our students are eager to not only visit classrooms, but potentially collaborate with you on an activity. We will be in Galway June 23 – July 20, 2013.  I know this is close to the end of the school year (which is a tricky time) but we are very interested in connecting with you! Just tweet me (@gravesle) if you’re interested!

The Global Women Wikipedia Write-In #GWWI

Leigh Graves Wolf

Thanks to Punya for alerting me to the The Global Women Wikipedia Write-In #GWWI happening this coming Friday!

The event is organized by By Adeline Koh and Roopika Risam and the following quotes are from their blog:

Why “global women”? If you’ve ever tried doing a Wikipedia search for important women theorists around the world, you might be surprised to note how short the entries are, particularly on their work and their ideas (for example: Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Gayatri Spivak, bell hooks, Gloria Anzaldua, Vandana Shiva, and Sara Ahmed). Many important women of color, such as Oyeronke Oyewumi and Frieda Ekotto, lack entries or stubs in Wikipedia. Additionally, coverage of international events involving women is brief or nonexistent (for example: the 1929 Aba Women’s Riots in Nigeria; Domitila Barrios de Chúngara; and Angkatan Wanita Sedar or “Force of Awakened Women,” an important feminist group in Malaysian history).

For the past 3 years I have been participating in the Ada Lovelace Day blog initiative where we are asked to write about technical women who inspire us. The organizers have also started a collection of “heroines” – this is a great place to start if you’re looking for someone to post to Wikipedia! The #GWWI is not just for technical women. How can you get involved?

How can you participate?

  1. Contribute to the list of Wikipedia entries that we should edit or improve. Add your ideas to the working list here or in the comments below. You can find ‘stub’ articles — those that have been marked as needing further information — by searching various categories.
  2. Sign up for a Wikipedia account (we recommend using a pseudonym).
  3. Watch this video to learn how to edit Wikipedia. Be sure to set aside some time for this video. It’s an hour long, and we recommend clicking on FLASH – it tends to play better that way. If you don’t have time to do this, join the hashtag on Twitter or our designated chatroom to ask questions or share your experiences.
  4. Review our resources for writing Wikipedia entries that stick and our useful links.
  5. Don’t want to write? Add images to feminist articles. Here is the image use policy for Wikipedia.
  6. Track our work and tweet your own using the Twitter hashtag #GWWI.
  7. Join us on Friday, April 26th from 1-3PM EST from your own computer!

(Quoted from original blog post by Adeline Koh and Roopika Risam)

Time to get thinking and writing!

Recap of #GECP GIFT Session

Leigh Graves Wolf

GIFT Forum
(picture credit Dwi A. Yuliantoro)

Last week I had the pleasure of speaking with the Global Educators Cohort Program (GECP) at their final GIFT forum titled Technology and Education in the Global Era.”

The Global Initiative Forum for Future Teachers (GIFT) is a forum established to help pre-service teachers and/or people who are interested in becoming global educators by creating a global community at Michigan State University where they can interact and share experiences through informal learning. GIFT is an opportunity for future educators to gain a global perspective in a diverse and changing world.

I had a fantastic time, and as always, learned a lot myself! Here is the twitter archive from the session:

Stitches of Genius: I made a quilt

Leigh Graves Wolf

Play on Sparks of Genius for blog post

Anyone who has read Sparks of Genius knows that forming patterns is an essential cognitive tool for the creative mind. Well, I’ve been exercising the heck out of my mind (and patience) lately by teaching myself how to quilt.  YouTube and bloggers have been my best friends through this process and when I’m really stuck, I call, text or skype with my sis who is quite an accomplished seamstress. There is a whole language I’m learning in reading patterns. More often than not the pattern will list a few measurements and then say “piece, quilt and bind” as if a novice stitcher knows what that means. Luckily, a quick search will lead me to extraordinarily helpful tutorials to help me figure out what all of these things mean.

My first few play projects involved quite a bit of cutting and sewing a 1/4 inch seam allowance.  I quickly learned that I have difficulty sewing in a straight line.  Thank goodness they make tools to help people like me and after purchasing a 1/4″ presser foot with guide, I was in the straight line business!

While doing my homework on quilting I was intrigued by something called a “jelly roll.” I found quite a few easy looking (on the surface) quilts that were made out of jelly roll strips.  I settled on this “Pick Up Sticks” pattern and found a really cool jelly roll called “Comma” that has some fun typographic elements.  I found a great fabric for in-between the strips that had straight lines that I could use as a guide when I got to the quilting part.  Everything on the top came together fairly smoothly. I kept repeating to my self “right sides together” (I had problems with that early on) and things were good to go as I pieced together the front.

#making first quilt. Front = done.

Binding intimidates me. I specifically have to tip my hat to Made-by-Rae for her “Easy Cheat Binding” tutorial.  I will try “real” binding this next round, but, wanted to give this cheat a try as I could easily visualize how the quilt would come together.  I need work keeping the batting and backing flat and smooth as I’m quilting, but I think this turned out quite well and I can see myself cheating again in the future.  (I’m not sure if flat & smooth are the proper sewing terms?)

Now that I feel comfortable, it’s time to level up to  the next project…
SUPER excited about the twitter baby blanket/quilt in the works! #learning

GVSBO Mid-Winter Conference

Leigh Graves Wolf

This morning I will be at KentISD speaking with members of the Grand Valley School Business Officials (GVSBO) at their Mid­ Winter Conference. I will be auto tweeting links from the presentation using the hashtag #GVSBO

I was told many of the participants will have iPads. You can download a pdf of the slides here and take notes (if you wish) and use a PDF annotation tool like iAnnotate or GoodReader.

I look forward to connecting with everyone this morning!

Reflections on India: Working towards a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society.

Leigh Graves Wolf

Now that I’m back home and fully readjusted to the Eastern Time Zone, I have a minute to sit and think about my recent trip to India.  I had the amazing opportunity to travel with Punya (and a few other MSU colleagues) on his latest trip to Azim Premji University (APU) in Bangalore. (You can read & watch more about the project here.) Punya and I ran a workshop on motivation for students in the MA in Education and MA in Development programs (along with a few other folks associated with APU.)

I highly suggest you take some time to read Anurag Behar‘s writings on livemint.com. Anurag is the Vice Chancellor of the University and his reflections are much more eloquent than I could ever hope to construct. They give you deep insight into the incredibly brilliant minds behind APU and the Azim Premji Foundation and their work towards their mission of creating a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society.

I feel so incredibly fortunate that I had the opportunity to work with educators in our workshop who work in contexts completely foreign to anything I have ever experienced.  As is always the case, I learned much more than the students may have learned from me. In addition to our work in the motivation short course, I was able to participate in meetings with the web and publications team responsible for the Teachers of India portal.  I had entirely too much fun “geeking out” with the team (RamG, Nithin & Mujahidul.) It has been a while since I’ve been in such a state of excitement and flow, talking social networking, open source and creative commons – it was my most cherished moment of the trip.

On a side note, I had the opportunity to get to know Jack and Sharon Schwille on this trip as we were all staying at the guest house.  Jack and Sharon had amassed a large collection of books on India during their travel and were a wealth of knowledge and stories about the history of India.  I was particularly intrigued by A Princess Remembers: The Memoirs of the Maharani of Jaipur and have ordered a copy – can’t wait to read it. They certainly did not teach the history of India in my high school so I have a lot of catching up to do.   I have also ordered India After Ghandi by Ramachandra Guha.  (Prior to my visit I did read the MSU One Book One Community selection Beyond the Beautiful Forevers.)

In short, during my week in Bangalore I had an amazing time. I returned energized, inspired and thankful.

And yes, I did love the food.

We Won!! AACTE 2013 Best Practice Award for the Innovative Use of Technology

Leigh Graves Wolf

I started working with the MAET program in 2007 and I’m so proud of the work that we all do and how the program has grown and evolved over the years.  I’m very excited to share some fantastic news about MAET and EPET which celebrates and recognizes all of our hard work – we have been awarded the 2013 AACTE 2013 Best Practice Award for the Innovative Use of Technology.

All of my work is inspired by my students (past, present and future.) So friends reading this who are a part of that group, you too share in this award. Please take a minute to read over our submission.  It was a great exercise in taking a “step back” to see how all the work we have done fits together and, of course, gave us inspiration to continue to innovate.

I’ll be heading to Orlando next week to accept the award on behalf of the program at the 2013 Annual Conference – Go TEAM MAET!!

A special thank you to Danah Henriksen for helping us with crafting the submission!

Update:
Here is the recording of the award acceptance!

Leigh Wolf acceptance speech AACTE2013 Best Practice Award for Innovation from Punya Mishra on Vimeo.

Catching Up: MSU “Fanning the Flames” Links

Leigh Graves Wolf

A few weeks ago I was invited to speak to a small group organized by MSU Global at the inaugural “Fanning the Flames” conversation where I was asked to speak about EdTech trends. I’ve waited a bit too long to blog about this, so the twitter archive isn’t porting into Storify. (Serves me right for falling behind!) You can view a search for the hashtag #ftfmsu here – I autotweeted during the presentation so you’ll find all of the links to the technologies I mentioned by searching through the tweets.