What Does One Say?

Wow... I honestly thought I was done with even trying to write on my blog anymore. I have missed it but my priorities don't allow for the freedom these days. I so wanted to do techie classes on here with our Raspberry Pi or to give web site tips but that's not happening. Due to different things in life I've stepped away from teaching outside my own kiddos. I was sad to do that. I was also relieved. Isn't that terrible? Feels terrible sometimes. I'm also (trying... really trying... it's a difficult skill to get away from...) getting away from web design.

Lately my time has been spent pretty close to home with family and friends. I'm getting more involved at our church and I have to say that has been hard! I'm so much better being a wallflower then I am amongst people. People make me nervous. Hehehhe... I feel much safer online in a virtual world because it's easier to avoid the messiness of... I dunno... Life? So sad... I need to not let life scare me away from doing life though right? Yah... I'm trying. Always learning is my thing.

So... There ya have it. I have a new to me tablet that I don't have to share with the kids (that's amazing in itself) and its reawakening old hobbies that I used to enjoy. Like blogging! I went to load up some apps and lookie-lookie, there's my old blogging app waving at me. Hmmmmm... We shall see... I've installed it. It does make it a lot easier try and blog again though. Tablets are more portable. Also more distracting.... Hehehe... It'll be a love-hate relationship. I'm sure.

Follow @wishfulme

Basic Introduction to Raspberry Pi

For those who are unfamiliar with this little tiny computer. This is a Raspberry Pi:

To be specific this is a Raspberry Pi Model B. It has 512 MB of Ram. The SD card is the harddrive. It operates on a Linux based operating system (I use Raspbian, which is built on the Linux Operating System Debian Wheezy, most of the time) loaded on that little card. It connects to a monitor or TV via HDMI. There are 2 USB ports that you can use to connect a wifi adapter, keyboard, powered USB Hub, etc. Whatever you might need to operate this tiny computer.

There are several different styles of Raspberry Pi out there these days too. Here's a very BRIEF list of the differences in the boards:

• Model A - Basic unit with 1 USB port and 256 MB Ram
• Model B - 2 USB port and majority has 512 MB of Ram but some original boards only have the 256 MB Ram
• Model A+ - has an increase in the GPIO pins from 26 to 40
• Model B+ - increased GPIO pins from 26 to 40 and 4 USB ports
• Raspberry Pi 2 - 1 GB of Ram (huge increase!) and 40 GPIO pins

You can read all about the little differences between each board on the Raspberry Pi Foundation - Models and Revisions page. My little list is more of a way for you to identify the difference between the boards by sight. Except the Model A and Model A+ or the Model B+ and Pi 2... They basically look the same.

What can someone do with this little thing? Well... you can make a private Minecraft Server (done that), a media center (done), webserver (want to do), retro game system (want to do) or any other number of things. Just do a search for Raspberry Pi projects to see the options. Be prepared to muttle through more than one tutorial to get your end result. Currently I am working on attaching my Pi to an old RC car and controlling it from my phone!! Amazing!!

Here are some of my favorite Raspberry Pi resources:

• Raspberry Pi Foundation
• MagPi Magazine
• Adafruit Tutorials
• Element 14 Community
  (I won a Raspberry Pi 2 in one of their twitter competitions! LOVE IT!)

Notice: I am NOT affiliated or receiving any compensation from any
of the websites I have listed in this post as resources.

Follow @wishfulme

Change of Direction

I have written about so many topics on this blog, why not add another one. Right? Lately I have been toying with the idea of teaching a few techie home school classes from my home. I recently taught one in a co-op we are part of. I had a lot of fun with it! I was so impressed at how many of the kids picked up on the information and really ran with it. But I really want to teach a class on the Raspberry Pi. I don't feel I am NOT an expert in this area at all. Actually most of the time I am seriously frustrated because I cannot find the exact information I am looking for.

So my blog... I am going to start compiling my notes and information here. Techie stuff... not just for me to organize my thoughts but so other people can learn too. Maybe. And someday I can have students reference here for their project details too. Maybe...

Follow @wishfulme

Free Snowman Printable Mad Lib

We are trying to break up the monotony of our winter school hours with something a bit different. The kids all worked together to come up with a snowman story. After we all edited it a bit, they went back through and found all the parts of speech they could. (My oldest student and I had to help with the story editing to make sure we could get a good variety of parts of speech.) Then I took the story to the computer and put it together as a Mad Lib. Wooowho! They've had fun and learned things! We hope you enjoy this little Mad Lib game as much as we do!

Snowman Story - Mad Lib Style

Works on Nouns, Verbs and Adjectives

Next time I will have my older students transfer it to the computer instead of me doing all that work. This has been a fun project! I am not the best at grammar/parts of speech so I hope it is okay. Parts of the story are funny to us because of who added the sentence but I hope it makes sense for everyone else too.

Hahaha!

Follow @wishfulme

Free Valentine Copy Work Printable

I put together some copy work sheets for a few of my kiddos so we could break away from the handwriting book for a bit. Sometimes something new can be fun... even if it is the same work. We will tie these in with looking up verses in the Bible and maybe use them as journal prompts too.

There are two different sets of worksheets. One is for K-2 and the other 3-5, but it really depends on your student as to which one you want to use.

Valentine Scripture Copy Work Gr 3-5

Valentine Scripture Copy Work Gr 3-5

Follow @wishfulme