Game Design & Development- Day 1

January 29, 2021

I started my new job today. Game Design & Development teacher at William Annin Middle School and Ridge High School. I took over for my husband, Steve Isaacs, who retired from an incredible 28 year teaching career (yesterday) to be the Education Program Manager at Epic Games (yes, as in Fortnite, Unreal Engine, TwinMotion, Rocket League, Mandalorian sets).

I'm going to use this platform as a journal of my experience in this position. I am really excited to return to the district after leaving in 2015 to pursue a technology specialist position in NYC.

Miami- Where the Sun, and EdTech Shine Best! Future of Educational Technology Conference 2020

Steve and I attended our second FETC (Future of Educational Technology) last month (Jan 14-17), in gorgeous Miami, FL. The weather provided a perfect backdrop for discovering the latest and greatest in ed tech! I had the privilege of presenting at the CS Firehose on MakeCode Arcade and Creative Coding with Minecraft, and Steve and I presented on Transitioning from Block to Text Based Coding with Microsoft MakeCode. Daniel Pink's keynote was inspiring, and Leslie Fischer, Hall Davidson, Kathy Shrock, and Adam Bellow's TechShare did not disappoint. Much of the conference was dedicated to Esports, which was wonderful to finally see this become the focus for a major conference. I was so glad to see Esports arenas on the expo floor! I am really excited to see how this grows in the near future.

Loved seeing all the ways Minecraft Education Edition is being incorporated into classrooms. So proud of the work we've been doing with Insight2Execution to train teachers to use this amazing tool!

PDF to Word Converter

Ever come across a PDF that you need to tweak just a little bit? For me, that PDF came in the form of a cheerleading scoresheet. If you follow my tweets or are friends with me on FB, you know that we are BIG fans of competitive cheerleading. This year, Grace is cheering for the HS competition team, and I have been asked to work on tabulating score for our upcoming annual cheer competition. Our fearless lead mom (dare I say, Cheer Mom President) provided links to the score sheets that I intended to print on our hp960. Yes, we still have an hp960 in the printer rotation. It is a work horse (and I love it), though these days, it is not printing color, only in black and white. I have it "networked" via Google Cloud Print and shared with all family members. Only problem is it does not translate something that in color to print in black and white simply by choosing that setting on the print menu. Of course, rather than sending it to the cloud-ready color printer in another room, I am compelled to figure out a work-around. First thing is to covert the PDF to Word. I used a free, online converter called PDF to Word by a company called Nitro. All you have to do is upload the file, and enter your email, and the converter file will be sent to your inbox.

So, it turns out that all of this was much more trouble than it was worth, and I wound up printing to the color printer.

Gratitude yes, but

I'll never understand people who would rather have someone else do something for them. Never. Really. I don't get it. 

I'm working with a team that works great together. Second year is going to be even better than the first. So the team decided they want an email group set up to email to collaborators. This has to be done on an organizational level- tech support request, wait for the person in charge of doing it to complete the task, then if it needs to be modified, repeat the process of tech request, blah blah blah. You get it.

I suggested creating a group in Contacts.  My logic was, we could take care of it on the spot, and any mods could be done as needed. The collaborators' response was, but then we'll each have to make one. Okay, yes but it will be done, we don't have to wait for the Google admin, and we can change it as needed. Anyway, this stared on Monday. A mass email went out to staff to not ask individual tech team members to do things, but to make all requests via tech support. It's Friday, my group was created on Monday, and the group email is still in limbo.

I've given some thought to why I think this is stupid. Is it because I don't have 100% support and hooray over my idea? Maybe. Maybe my co workers don't get that I'm the most efficient being around. Whatevs.

-#micdrop

Commuting Workflow- AM

I've officially been commuting for a year now, and have had several ideas about how to structure my time to be productive. Problem is, in my mind, I have envisioned the perfect workflow, and well, the vision is stuck in the iterative stages, you guessed it, in my head. I've tried time and time again to adopt the mantra progress over perfection and failed. I've read blog posts that procrastination just means there is lack of intent- that upsets me because I feel such remorse when I can't accomplish everything I hope to. I'm perpetually distracted too (#Squirrel!), which could also be seen as an excuse. :(

I get that sometimes you have to decompress after investing time and energy into something. I've experienced exhaustion/inability for days, even weeks this year after G's Sweet 16, and supervising G's driving her first time on I-78 in rush hour, and submitting intense applications. I don't know if it's age or just having to recover from the stress and/or adrenaline rush.

Proposed morning workflow:

6:30 #BFC530

6:45 Record commuting expenses; map out day in bullet/self/passion journal; schedule calls; take care of easy tasks

7:10 Arrive in Newark; depart for NYC; work on items that do not require internet connection (blog post, reading printouts)

7:40 Arrive at NYP; continue working on items that do not require Internet; brain break while waiting for subway

8:00 Arrive at TDS; breakfast before heading up to 4th floor; record arrival time and delays; complete blog post and upload (already the blog post upload is delayed- I'm getting to this at 10:00 am).

First revision (9:58 am 08/31): Whiteboard plan for the day and record image in an Evernote notebook. Erase items as they are completed. Make it a goal/game to erase everything

Another barrier is money (maybe that should be a separate blog post). 

bubbl.us Brainstorming Tool

Looking for an easy and engaging brainstorming tool? Try bubbl.us! Elegant, fun, and a minimal learning curve. Students can save their work easily with Google Single Sign On. Curious? Check out this how-to video. In the video, I have my kids starting from a link in our Google Classroom class. This is the link we used bubbl.us/mindmap.

Restoring Deleted Calendar Items

It happens to me all the time. When attempting to update my Google Calendar (my FAVORITE app), I delete items from the wrong date, and miss the Undo opportunity that immediately pops up. Usually I just recreate the event. For single events, this is no big whoop, but for recurring events, this recreated event is not part of the original, might be named ever so slightly differently, you get my gist. Well today, Google alerted me that I could restore my deleted Calendar item from the Trash. What?!? Google Calendar has Trash?  If you know me, you know that I was grinning from ear to ear, because this news is just all kind of awesome. I literally did a happy dance.

To restore deleted calendar items,  click the teeny tiny down arrow beside the calendar it was deleted from

Click on View Trash

Check the items you wish to restore

Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click Restore selected items

Deleted calendar items remain in your Trash for 30 days, upon which they are permanently deleted (just like other Google Apps).

Woohoo! \m/

When You Don't Have a Network Printer...Google Cloud Print!

I was using my desktop and Chromebook (you can never have too many screens) at my "standing desk" (really just a double wide, horizontal filing cabinet) today, and needed to print (I know, I'm anti-printing, but sometimes...). 

"Standing desk"

I have a black and white printer in my office, but it is not on the network, so usually when I print from the standing desk, I will print to the mailroom, or switch to my laptop and print from there.

Sitting desk

Let's not even talk about the Chromebook. Its installed printers are all on the 4th and 5th floor, and my office is on the 1st floor- NOT! Today, I thought, "Hmmm, maybe I can print to my desk with Google Cloud Print...and I did it!
Google Cloud Print connects your printers (home or work) to the web. Because your printer is connected to the web, you can print to it from anywhere, using any Internet-connected device- your PC, Mac, Chromebook, phone, or tablet. #YES

Here's how you set it up:

Open a browser window and go to chrome://devices

Under Classic Printers, Click Add printers

Choose which printers to add

Click Add Printers

Google will say, "Thanks, you're ready to go!"

Share your printer(s)

Open chrome://devices again

Under My Devices, click the Manage button next to the printer you'd like to share

Choose the printer and click the green Share button at the top center of the page

You can allow anyone to print, or invite selected users by entering their email addresses

Click the Add button when done

Printer users will be listed like users that share a Google Doc

Invited user(s) will receive an email from Google Cloud Print Notifications that you shared the printer

Accept the invitation

Printer will be added to your list of Cloud Print Printers

Woohoo! #FTW

Of course, I had to test it from my phone too :) I tried with a single page Google Slide.
With the slide desk open, press the three dots at the top right (traffic light?)

Select Share & Export

Print

Google Cloud Print

There's your printer!

Choose your print settings and tap Print

You will see a message in the top left that says Print Job Added

#TaDa!

My Day Without a List

My weekend was great. I figured out a few things about myself.

I make lists. I love lists. I make lists just to cross items off the list. I start each day with a list. Well yesterday, I did not make a list. I just did what a felt like doing whenever I felt like doing it. I had the most productive and gratifying day in a long time. I might even go so far as to say I felt free, and did not experience a moment's guilt for doing what I wanted to do.

I think and act in a stream of consciousness. 

My thoughts are not necessarily in any kind of order.

I think in lists

I am a "how to" kind of girl, and love the how way more than the why

Having to write something (complete sentences/paragraphs) completely stops me

Wed, April 6 update:

I think I just figured out why my day without a list was so great.

I was free to do whatever I wanted without the guilt of needing to finish something else first. I'm sitting here at my desk, with ideas flying into my head, but I feel like, because I'm at work, I can't act on them. All the ideas are taking up space in my head, and now I'm stuck because I'm struggling with what I want to do and what I feel I should do.

Inspiration and obligation are battling each other.

Want Google Docs To Be More Like Publisher?

I wrote a post about helping my dad print an envelope with Google Docs. My friend, Marc Seigel, shared that post, and his friend responded, "I want Google Docs to be more like Publisher. I want a blank page to put pics on, wherever I want. " I wanted it to be more like Publisher for a brochure project last year. I tried a lot of different things, and in the end, created a template with hyperlinks for the kids to use...I guess that's another blog post!- YIPPEE!! Anyway, a way to make Google Docs more like Publisher is to use Google Slides or Drawing and change the Page Setup.

Start Google Drive
drive.google.com

Click New, Google Slides

or New, More, Drawing

Go to File, Page Setup. I used Drawings in the screen shots, but the process is exactly the same in Slides.

Choose Custom from the drop down under Standard 4:3

Change the width to 8.5, and the height to 11, and click OK

In Slides, go to Slide, Apply Layout, and choose Blank if you want a totally blank page to start

That's it! Now you have a portrait page to place pictures and text wherever you like!
Drawings

Slides

Printing an Envelope in Google Docs

My dad called me for "technical" help today. He wanted to know how to make an envelope in Windows 10. I think he mentioned upgrading to Windows 10 when I saw him last week, but I haven't been able to tell if my parents have Office installed on their computer. Anyway, my dad has a Gmail account, so I thought, what better way to teach him, than to create the documents he needed with Google Docs. I created and shared a Google Docs with him and my sisters. I was pretty psyched to hear that he was able to access and edit it! Today he needed an envelope. Here are the steps I emailed him:

Start Google Drive

drive.google.com

Click New, Docs

​

Go to Add-Ons, Get Add-Ons

​

Search for envelopes

​

Click the Free button to install

​

Click Allow in the pop up window

​

Go to Add-ons, Envelopes, then choose envelope size

​

Click in the envelope area to edit

BTW- I have no idea what's going on with the "attempting to load image" thing going on near this last image. I can't delete it. Maybe I'll try going into the html.

What I Learned About the Hour of Code

This is not a perfect post. I'm not sure if it will ever be a perfect post, but it something that has been swimming around my head for the past week, because I guess I'm still trying to process it. So, it is just a post. It won't be eloquent, there might not be a conclusion (sorry ELA teacher friends), maybe it's best to qualify it as an observation and insight.

I had the honor of being invited to kick off Computer Science Education Week (#CSEdWeek) at the flagship Microsoft Store in NYC. The event was wonderful, and I was privileged to be part of a panel that included Hadi Partovi, Emily Reid, and my friend, Chris Aviles.

In just 3 years, the Hour of Code and the resulting movement to teach CS in schools, has become mainstream. It was incredible to see all the blog posts, and social media posts depicting kids (A LOT of them) and adults, thrilled about learning coding. I still have some #latergram pictures to share (everything's a #slowchat for me).

After the main HOC event last week, I had the opportunity to lead the Minecraft Hour of Code tutorial to a group of high school kids from Brooklyn. I assumed they had heard of HOC. They had no idea what I was talking about. I assumed they would be proficient working on the Surfaces. They were for the most part able to use the touchpad, and their minds were blown that the Surface had a touchscreen. In my world, EVERYONE has played, or at least heard of Minecraft. I don't think either was the case for these kids.

After the hour, there were a handful of kids that got it, and loved the experience, while many others didn't, and I'm not sure that they even got why they were having the experience. I did some research afterwards, to learn that the school is a low performing school, having been closed and reopened by the city. It made me wonder about all the things I (we) take for granted: access to technology, being connected, how to motivate students.

I'm still processing, but the experience definitely opened my eyes to why so many educators are leading campaigns to spearhead digital equity. I just didn't get it until last week.

'Tis the Season

Without fail, October to December flies by with holidays every four weeks, then every week in December plus birthdays... Needless to say it's crazy. Crazy before, crazier with a December baby, who's not such a baby anymore, and I'll let you imagine what it's like when you add a commute into the city (that would be the city in NY for all the non-East coasters) to the mix.

Getting older has finally put me in tune with how I'm feeling, and maybe going/staying Whole30 has too. I have learned that I am someone who cannot work without a deadline. Can't cross things off the list until I absolutely have to, kind of deadlines. I work best under pressure, and just flail about in the days leading up to it. This week, I needed to prepare for Hour of Code things. I had to think about how to list the kids, what kind of passwords to give them, yadda yadda yadda. Needless to say, it's not done. Lots of distractions, noisy work space. You name it, it's been thrown my way this week.

*This was last week. I am finally feeling comfortable enough to post it.

Being Intentional

I am really good at making excuses. I shouldn't be surprised that one (maybe both) of my kids are too. If I don't want to do something, consciously, or subconsciously, I won't. Don't get me wrong, I'm really good at getting things done, but things get in my way, and it takes a bit to figure it out.

Take for example, this letter to staff that I've been working on. This is a prime example of "progress, not perfection". I can't get the wording right, so I'm holding back. It's been days that I've been working on it, and when I looked at what I had- it was shameful. Waste of time procrastinating. Am I not being intentional? Maybe. 

Learning the commute, Day 2

Having a plan is a good thing. Last night, I made note of some things I could accomplish on the computer sans wifi. I worked on a spreadsheet to upload to Google Calendar, and did the CST #BFC530. I think I was putting my tech away for MST (sorry @TyrnaD), and by the time I realized it was time to chat, I was already on the platform waiting for the E (no service). Subway rides are going to be used for blogging (just have to remember to post, AND save, but really SAVE, and post).

I REALLY need to be better about not keeping summer hours. It kills me because I work so much better at night, and there's so much to do. 

Learning the commute

I am ridiculously excited to commute to work. Kind of like a kid-FINALLY commuting to NYC like a big girl! ;) but not without concerns. Cost, timing, getting out of the house earlier than I have in 20+ years. Thank goodness for +SteveIsaacs

Things I love: having the time on the train. While there isn't wifi on the train yet (only select stations), I can use my phone when above ground for the Internet. I'll work on blog posts (yeah, right), read AM New York/Time Out NY, or sleep when there isn't any service.

Things I need:

Commute Cam. I would make my YouTube millions on this first commute alone. 

Things I need to learn:

Blog posts don't save when you're underground. Copy and paste to Google Drive or Pages before closing out Blogger.

Taking Notes on Conference Slides

I am having an awesome summer! Usually I'm in Paradise this time of year, but I just attended my third workshop/conference/convening in 3 weeks, and I'm so excited about everything I'm learning, and the incredible connections I've been making! Yay! #nerdy

So I've been trying my best to tweet during sessions, and typically, I take a picture of the presenter' s slide and tweet it out. This week (maybe last week too), I had a little revelation. I must say that I am LOVING, and SO appreciate, presenters that outright share their slides. #nomorehandouts

What I did:

Google Slides- Presenter shares view only version of Slides. Make a copy. Take notes on those slides. Tweet the URL of the slide that you normally would have taken a picture of. Remember to change the share settings of your copy of the slides.

Make a Copy

REMEMBER TO SHARE! That lock, not shared.

Powerpoint- Upload Powerpoint to Google Drive. Open with Google Slides. Take notes in Slides. Tweet the URL of the slide that you normally would have taken a picture of. Remember to change the share settings of your copy of the slides.

Open with Google Slides

#GoMe! #ibloggedtoday