January 8, 2016

WV TIS COHORT JAN 2016

TIS & THAT The New Year stands before us like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals.

— Melody Beattie

New Year’s Resolutions

Technology & Resolutions

It is that time again, a time of new beginnings, a fresh start, the allure of starting from scratch with a clean slate, and yes the making of the New Year’s Resolutions. Statistically about 45% of us make resolutions and yet only 8% achieve them. So why do we this? Making New Year’s Resolutions seems to be a tradition, but not a new tradition. The setting of New Year’s Resolutions is thought to go back to Babylonian times. It’s said Julius Caesar started the tradition on January 1st as a way to honor the Roman mythical god Janus, whose two faces allowed him to look back into the past year and forward to the New Year.

Romans mostly made morality-based resolutions, such as seeking forgiveness from their enemies.

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. Mark Twain Technology has changed how we think about and achieve our resolutions / goals. The Wall Street Journal listed three apps to help us keep our New Year’s Resolutions. Lift – offers a menu of self-improvement goals, one on one chats with a personal coach to nudge you and hold you accountable, but comes with a $15 a week price tag. Workflow – automates tasks across different apps, streamlining what would normally take a lot of swiping and pecking and minimizes it to a few taps thus giving you more time to work on your other resolutions – at a cost of $3. The third app Hours – allows you to track your hours to give you a timeline of how you spend your day to make sure you have allotted time for your resolutions.

Today our resolutions tend to revolve around health and self- improvement. But what keeps us from achieving them each year? Some tips from Psychology Today suggests that we have to change our behavior to change our thinking.

So a few ideas to help you stay on track and achieve your goal are to state your resolution in a positive way instead of saying “I will give up smoking” say “When I give up smoking I will be healthier and fitter” Make the goal about you by saying “I need to get fit so I can run around and play with my children. It is also best to set a target. If your resolution is to lose weight, then set a goal of 2lbs a week for a month. Taking baby steps is much better than over extending yourself. So find an accountability buddy, celebrate your success, and live in the moment, not in the past or the future. Focus on the present, what you can do right now towards making your goal.

Technology has given us apps to track our exercise, count calories, track our calories burned, and monitor our sleep. We have wearable technology such as Garmin and Fitbit that function as a smart watch and activity tracker. Apple app Health and Google app Fit are services designed to act as central depositories for health data from whichever source you use. A couple of the highest rated apps to help you achieve your New Year’s Resolutions from HongKiat are Habit Bull Habit Tracker and Night Mode. Technology is available to help you achieve your goals – every step of the way. So make your resolution and get started.

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NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

NATIONAL HANDWRITING DAY

ATTN: DRONE OWNERS 1

Success Wizard Life Planner Goal Setting and Daily Habits

HabitMaster-Habit Maker and Tracker

Top Ten Resolutions

1. Lose Weight 2. Getting Organized 3. Spend Less, Save More 4. Enjoy Life to its Fullest 5. Staying Fit and Healthy 6. Learn Something Exciting 7. Quit Smoking 8. Help Others in their Dreams 9. Fall in Love 10. Spend More Time with Family

Tis and That January 1, 2016 ($7.99, iTunes) and Penultimate (free, iTunes).

But apps like LetterSchool ($4.99, iTunes) and Cursive Writing (free, iTunes) may appeal more to the younger audience and provide reminders on the strokes.

National Handwriting Day This year, National Handwriting day falls on January 23, 2016.

Having noticed my own handwriting deteriorating, I have become more aware of others’. My writing skills were never ones of beauty but they were legible. Handwriting is a unique expression of ourselves and one that students should be able to use for more than signing a check or contract.

There are resources online and for mobile devices to aid in bringing practice to those little hands. Handwriting Without Tears is a site geared towards K-5 grades. According to the site, “elementary students have been found to write more and faster by hand than when keyboarding”. This is important for as the students are expected to increase their note taking in all areas due to standards requiring more expository writing. HWT site also has resources on their site for National Handwriting Day.

“Poets don't draw. They unravel their handwriting and then tie it up again, but differently.”

— Jean Cocteau

Quite a few apps focus on being able to write or sketch notes such as Smart Writing Tool

NATIONAL HANDWRITING DAY According to the National Calendar Day website, “National Handwriting Day was established by the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association in 1977. Their motive is to promote the consumption of pens, pencils and writing paper. January 23rd was chosen as this is the birthday of John Hancock. John Hancock was the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence.”

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Tis and That January 1, 2016

Attention Drone Owners:

According to the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) website, starting Dec 21, 2015 drone owners will be required to register their devices. Per the site, registration is free the first 30 days (with a rebate) and will charge $5 afterwards. All owners, aged 13 years and older, will be required to complete this process with their unique registration identification number. All their devices may use the same user ID number and the registration will be valid for three years. Devices must also be marked with that ID number - a suggested placement is in the battery compartment.

or wild animal, or to use a drone or other unmanned aircraft to drive or herd any wild bird or wild animal for the purposes of hunting, trapping or killing.”

DNR officials indicate this is an effort to maintain the “fair chase” ethic of sport hunting.

So Where Can I Fly?

The FAA is in beta testing for an app to help drone owners know where they can fly their devices legally. The app B4UFLY is expected to be available for download by the new year for all smartphones.

All unmanned aircraft weighing more than 0.55 pounds are required to be registered.

FAA’s website also lists the following rules regarding unmanned aircraft: 1.) Fly below 400 feet altitude 2.) Keep your unmanned aircraft in sight at all times 3.) Never fly near manned aircraft (remain at least 5 miles away from all airports) 4.) Never fly over groups of people, stadiums, or sporting events 5.) Never fly near emergency response efforts.

Contributions for this article include: http://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20150328/ GZ07/150329179/ http://www.wvdnr.gov/hunting/ Regs1516/2015-16_Hunting_Regs.pdf http://gizmodo.com/the-faas-official-app-shows-whereits-legal-to-fly-a-dr-1727353781

The 2015 Legislative session in West Virginia saw lawmakers amending a hunting code to include this particular technology use: “Except as authorized by the director or law, it is unlawful at any time for any person to…use a drone or other unmanned aircraft to hunt, take or kill a wild bird

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Tis and That January 1, 2016

SONJA PHILLIPS

DESIREE FRITSCH

Sonja teaches in Kanawha County and holds a

She has taught for

Master’s in Special

20+ years in

Education. She has worked

Hampshire County

with special needs

Schools and an

students for over 20 years. She is also very

academic coach for 6

eager to bring technology

years.

to this population.

CREDITS: * SNOWMEN IMAGES FROM FLICKR USER “BUNCHESANDBITS”

UPCOMING DATES: * JULY 19-21, 2016 WV STATEWIDE TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE

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