Voice recognition software: A trial with a wedcam microphone.

This blog and entry is being compost using windows seven voice recognition software.


I'm hoping this software will enable all some of my students who has struggled with writing, to create a first draft quality cheeses of writing.


The result may still require editing, but it should enables my students to look smarter on paper. If you also say the considerable amounts of time.


The best part? The software is three! (hits included in windows seven.) New line

A view off the balcony: San Clemente Inn

Now I will edge what I've written. 

This blog entry is being composed using Windows 7 voice recognition software.

I'm hoping this software will enable some of my students, who have struggled with writing, to create  first draft quality pieces of writing.

The results may still require editing, but it should enable my students to look smarter on paper. It should also save considerable amounts of time.

The best part? The software is free! (It's included in Windows 7.)  

Zoom in! A gazebo!

Now I will edit what I've written. 

Now I'll try it again, editing as I go...

This log entry is being composed using windows seven voice recognition software. I am hoping this software will enable some of my students, who have struggled was writing, to create a first draft quality piece of writing. A

The results they still require editing, but should enable listings to look smarter on paper we should also save considerable amounts of time.

And the best part? It is freedom! (it is included in windows seven.)

Shuffle board anyone?

(this is still going to require editing!) 

That's all for now. Voice Recognition is found on the control panel (Speech Recognition). It includes 1/2 hour or so of tutorials, which I listened to. Not a real steep learning curve, but it still takes some patience and practice. I think I'll try it with a hand held microphone next time.

The School Year is Ending! Summer is Starting!

It's been a great year: ups and downs, but the downs were not as low as the ups were high.

Life has its challenges, and sometimes it has its tragedies. This year... no personal tragedies.

A few big challenges got resolved: things like collective bargaining agreements, under-staffing to support needy students, and doing more with less at school. I'm grateful for reasonable resolutions to difficult problems. It's not always easy, but it's not impossible either. For that I'm grateful.

The ups? A smooth transition to a new co-worker/aide, some meaningful give-and-take in my credential program, but the biggest up? My son-in-law got a job at the local college, and he's bringing my oldest daughter and their children to town. I can't remember ever crying for joy... but I did. Big sobs. Big joy. Awesome up!

There are only twelve working days left in the 2010/11 school year: my thirteenth in the profession. It's been a good year, and summer looks promising.

Savoring the good times... looking forward to new joys. I'm grateful.

But it's not the big events that define a year, it's the daily laughter, the student growth, the meaningful meetings, the small groups, the kids, the moms and dads, the co-workers, the yard, my wife, and my children: scattered but doing fine.

I even got a new car. But look how far down the list that is! It's not the stuff that makes life good, it's a good life that is the stuff. Life is good... especially this year. ;-)

Mothers' Day: My Daughter, the Mom!

Happy Mothers' Day to all you moms out there. (And all you women out there who provide support and care to children, whether they are your own, or not!) There's more to motherhood than biology.

A special thanks to step-moms, foster moms, adoptive moms, single moms, plus the aunts, grandmothers, and ladies who just love kids!

Here's a video I made to pay tribute to my daughter Joanna: a great mom herself!

A Spring Masterpiece? Please include humor!

I'm six days in, to a ten-day break from work: so far, so good.


In addition to paying my taxes today, I've been catching up on some correspondence: my son, a co-worker, a former professor, and an old friend -- not necessarily in that order. Actually, I started with who I owed a response to the longest. I was about a month behind. (Last of all, comes this blog. I'm a bit behind here too.)


My writing is often reflective, as I'm sure you've noticed. Someone once said, "I don't know what I really think about something until I write about it." That's what happens when I write: I find out what I think about things.


A co-worker recently wrote this as part of an exchange on FaceBook, after we had established that sometimes I am a royal pain, she wrote: "True, true - (but) I like your talent of caring, working hard, ever learning, knowing scripture and making your co-workers laugh!"  My favorite part of her quote is "...and making your co-workers laugh!" 


Another co-worker's husband quotes John Wooden on FaceBook: "Make each day your masterpiece."


One of my favorite things about my co-workers is that we make each other laugh. 


Recently, a co-worker asked, "Now what are you laughing about?"


I replied, "You. Again."


And we both laughed.


It seems that many of us at work take turns providing comic relief for each other, and most of the time, it's not on purpose. 


But that's what makes our daily work at school a masterpiece: We make each other laugh!


Sometimes we chuckle.


Sometimes we just say, Tsssss...


Laughter: it's a wonderful addition to our daily masterpieces.


Laugh on! (Or at least say, Tsssss...)

A Poem inside a Story

I composed this free-write over at Write with Pictures... (enjoy!)

Strolling through the park, I again looked up at the statue and smiled. There will never be a monument in a park for me, but I never wanted one. I sat down on a bench and composed a poem. 

Sitting on a Bench at the feet of Greatness?

I've walked the path marked out for me for well nigh 40 years.

I've seen joys and I've seen sorrows.
I've held babies and I've held my breath.

Passers by don't look up to me,
but my kids do.
My name is not famous in the town,
but my students and colleagues love me.

I've not been instrumental in local history,
but I've been instrumental in a few lives.

I didn't die on a battlefield of glory,
no, I've lived in the trenches of life.

And one of my rewards is this...
I sit on a bench composing verse
until...
I stand and continue on...
walking the path marked out for me.

The Rich Pay No Taxes? (Not!)

Here's an interesting article which you may not like. It contains facts. From... experts... experts with track records.

Personally, I like the article. It provides facts to debunk the myth that the rich pay no taxes. In fact, they pay the most, and our dependence on their volatile incomes have helped fuel the current economic crisis.

Big earnings are often tied to bigger risks and that is a recipe for volatility. When the income stream of the states is tied to a volatile funding source... busts happen! (And not the good kind.) ;-)

We don't lack good ideas. We more often lack the humility needed to trade in our myths for the math.

Read on: The Price of Taxing the Rich from the Wall Street Journal.

(On a more local note... flowers are blooming, trees are getting leaves, the lawn is turning greener. Spring arrived a month earlier here than in most places, and it is sweet. (Sorry.)) ;-)

What's up?

It's been many moons since I've posted here. (Well, really just two.)

Let me do some personal recounting... (Might have to consult a calendar...)

Two weekend classes for my credential class, plus reading and writing for the same.

A long weekend trip (timeshare) in Solana Beach, north of San Diego.

Plus the odds and ends called life.

The odds and ends are often the joys of life: gardening, BBC with Leslie, researching and purchasing things -- new fridge, new car, new electric frying pan, new scanner. (Oh, and a new semi-Smart phone.)

I've also been enjoying the mildish season that passes for winter here. Watching what passes for weather in other parts of the country and world make me enjoy Southern California's "winters" all the more.

I've also discovered a new web-site called CalorieKing. (I've lost 35,000 calories! Go do the math! ;-)  )

Now I'm off to the grocery store: Fresh and Easy... another one of the odds and ends that give me pleasure.

Simple joys. A simple life. And I'm grateful.

(No pictures on this post. But the view out my window is lovely: pink bower vine hanging from my patio roof with birds flitting about, the grass is mostly brown, but the geraniums are in bloom. Can you see it?)