Happy Birthday Pappy

Christmas Morning Videos 2009

We had a wonderful Christmas.  For a 5 year-old it is really a magical time.  Aidan slept in till 7 am which completely surprised me.  But, it was nice not to be up at the crack of dawn.  He did go to bed pretty late the night before so that helped out.  He woke up and said, "Hey Dad, I didn't wake up one time!"  He was very excited that Santa came.


Here is Aidan opening Aunt Cindy and Uncle Brian's gift.  Aunt Cindy did the trick wrapping deal on it.  He thought that was pretty cool.


On Christmas Eve we always open one gift after driving around Kingwood and looking at lights.  Aidan opened Aunt Katie & Uncle Tim's gift that they sent.  He was super excited that it was a game.  Here's the video of him trying out the game for the first time and thanking Aunt Katie:

Protect Insruance Companies PSA

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

New Pearl Jam "The Fixer" Video... awesome.

I can't tell you how excited I am for Sept. 20th and the full release of the album ~ "Backspacer."



Love that the song was done live. Amazing.

Welcome Back - 1st Day Introduction Video

The sun rises on a brand new year. This is the video that I will show on Monday to my World History Pre-AP classes. It started as a "Rules Video" a few years ago. This gives me an opportunity to show the kids some of my expectations for the year w/o talking like Charlie Brown's teacher for 50 minutes.

We had a lot of fun with Aidan and the green screen towards the end of the video. There are some neat outtakes at the end.

2009_10_1stDayVideo_WH from Mr. Duez on Vimeo.

Our first day video for World History Pre-AP. What will class be like? What will we study? What are our rules?

The video isn't perfect, but I think it sets a tone for a hopefully GREAT school year. Welcome back.

"Starbucks Saved My Life"

Don't I know this to be true...

When I was in the middle of the corporate world I found it an intoxicating blend of fast moving work that was a never-ending swirl of excitement. But, you don't realize what that does to you. Although it can be exciting and ego-boosting, it can also turn you into a person that has less appreciation for the little things in life.

I tell people all the time, if you are looking up at the clock on the wall and hoping time speeds up to end your work day... you are in trouble. I hope it slows down. Sure, I want to come home and see Aidan and enjoy the rest of the day with him and Norma. But, I love my job. Trying to squeeze every bit of learning into a period and helping students improve is very fulfilling.

Believe me, I sleep soundly each night. That's the mark of a life spent in the right way.

Economy Got You Down... watch this

Great depression II? How can it be with crap like this to cheer us up?

Lightning Video

Lightning McQueen from fordee on Vimeo.

This is crazy.

This is crazy.

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Christmas Morning Video

2008 Christmas Morning from fordee on Vimeo.

Bruce Lee Plays Ping Pong

Nokia N96 - Bruce Lee Ping Pong from Ramalho Blog on Vimeo.

The Last Lecture

This is the most inspiring thing I have seen all summer. Great words of wisdom.



I am going to be picking up Randy's book this summer www.lastlecture.com

Here is the full lecture - an hour and 1/2 long.

Where the Hell is Matt?

This simple but inspirational video is really a marvel. I have seen it before and remember his website as this was starting. It is amazing.

You can check out the website here: Wherethehellismatt.com


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

"The moral of the story is we're here on Earth to fart around. And, of course, the computers will do us out of that. And, what the computer people don't realize, or they don't care, is we're dancing animals. You know, we love to move around."
- Kurt Vonnegut

The Girl Effect

I found a great video clip today:

This will help me convey to my students what needs to happen to solve the issues in Africa and across impoverished regions of our world. Very effective. Music, Text, Ideas - solutions. I like it.

GirlEffect.Org

This will really be a wonderful way to review all of the issues we study during our 5th six weeks period. The kids made great videos this year but, I like to bring it all together in the end with a theme. I really like the economic encouragement that this video discusses. That's the answer: $.

Evolution of Dance

5 Minute Unniversity

I am going to use this tomorrow in my ACP class as well. Love it!



The obvious message for my student is that teaching should not be about rote learning. There is more to learning and more ways to learn than memorization. Creativity is very important. Fostering the creativity within your curriculum is a challenge, but not one that a new teacher should shy away from just because it is hard work.

Insights on Creativity

I bumped into this video tonight while doing a search for some material for my Alternative Certification Class. I teach it twice this week and I really want to have two great classes.

I can't use this video, since I can't export it from this website, but it is still full of great ideas and very funny. If you are a teacher, please enjoy:

1, 2, 3, ... 5, 6 BLASTOFF!

Blastoff! from fordee on Vimeo.

Accidents Happen...

Ooops! Aidan topples off a chair. from fordee on Vimeo.

Everyone survived. But Mom and Dad were probably shaken up mentally. Luckily he avoided the concrete and landed on his butt in the grass. Whew.

Daily Show: S.O.T.U.

This is absolutely hysterical.

Wow.