Hey everyone – I know it’s almost Winter, but I though you might enjoy some fall pictures. Feel free to use one (or a couple, if you’re using Windows 7) as your desktop wallpaper. Let me know in the comments if you do! (There are 3 altogether.)

Autumn Leaves on a Brick Sidewalk

Last Green of Fall

Fall Maple Leaves

Images of Miserere provided by Music for Pleasure Ltd.

I should start a series on irony. It is all around us, and sometimes it is quite funny. Today’s irony comes courtesy of Geneva’s McCartney Library. I needed a dose of Palestrina this week, and so I went to the CD collection and checked out a bunch of disks that featured his work. One of them had the cover image on the right.

And the irony, from the liner notes: “The cover illustration was designed by and is produced with the kind permission of Music for Pleasure Ltd.” For some reason, that image does not represent music for pleasure to me.

A couple weeks ago I wrote about a couple good reasons to have internet access in the classroom. Well, this time you just need a computer.

Often you may be in a discussion, or just taking in a lecture, and the professor or a class mate uses a word that you are unfamiliar with. Now, it may not be a big deal, but you may want to discuss the topic, and you may feel that without knowing what that means may make a big difference in the meaning of the sentence. Enter your computer (preferably a Tablet PC.) If you have WordWeb installed on your computer, you can quickly look up almost any word in the English language, very quickly. It runs in Window’s system tray so you can quickly access it. Just type in your word (or write it), and WordWeb will pull up a definition from a database based on Princeton’s WordNet.

But WordWeb is more than just a dictionary. It is also most useful when writing papers or even emails. If you find that you are using a word too often, WordWeb will present you with a list of synonyms and otherwise related words. If you have a word in mind, but it is not exactly what you want, you can try to find one using WordWeb’s related words feature. And if you need to contrast something using an opposite, try the antonyms.

The WordWeb service is also available on the internet, for times when you are using someone else’s computer: http://www.wordwebonline.com/

And if you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you can get the WordWeb app.

To download WordWeb for your laptop or desktop computer, go to www.wordweb.info

The first reason is because Google Maps is useful in the classroom. The second reason to have Internet access in the classroom is because that way you can do something other than sleep through class. because you can use Google Books.

Some classes rely heavily on the book, and during discussion you may want to find a specific point in the book, but not know where it was, especially when the reading covers over 60 pages. This happened to me yesterday in Philosophy. There were several places that I remembered a comment the author had made, but had no idea even what chapter it was. So I opened up Google Books, and looked up the book by its title. Even though the book was in limited preview mode, I was able to search the book for words and phrases. The search results give about three lines above and below the word to give it context, and the page number. If I needed to look up the rest of the context, it was easy enough to flip to that page in the book.

Google Books doesn’t have every book published, but it does have many. The search feature is probably the most useful, there are a few other features. For example, there are actually quite a few books that you can read in full, mostly out-of-print or out-of-copyright publications.

Often when Internet access in class is considered, it is not a positive thing. But while it can easily be abused, there are some good reasons to have the Internet on during class. Today I used two in particular, one is kind of common, but I think the second is at least an unusual use of a web service.

Google Maps

Maps are a great way to put things in perspective. Today in Sociological Investigation, the Professor pulled out a large paper map of Chicago. We have been reading a book about a Sociological study in Robert Taylor Homes, and the Professor wanted to show us the areas talked about in the book. So we all crowded around the table and tried to make heads or tails of the area and to find the places mentioned. Unfortunately, while we saw the general area, we couldn’t locate the specific streets without using up too much class time, so we dispersed to our seats.

I quickly connected to Geneva’s wireless network and brought up Google Maps. I put in “Robert Taylor Homes,” and quickly had a satellite picture map of the area, with various possible locations marked, some with histories of the area, and other information. If the projector had been on, I would have plugged my computer in, and we could have explored the area. In fact, with some of Google’s neat tech wizardry, Street View, we could have “walked” around some of the streets in the area and seen what it looks like today. The projector wasn’t on, so we didn’t use it, but it was interesting just for my learning.

I do say Google here, and the truth is that most on-line map providers would work, but there are some good reasons to use Google: Its pretty quick, often quicker than other map providers, it has Street View, Satellite View, and the regular map view, and it has lots of information about the area available right on the map.

Tomorrow: Using Google Books in class!

Hey – in case you had nothing to do, here is a neat site that I found a couple weeks ago: www.wordle.net. Here you can create all kinds of neat word pictures, like the following one from Genesis chapter 1:

Genesis 1 (NET translation) in a Wordle

Neat, huh? Notice especially how big “God” is, and how small “humankind” is. (Its on the right edge.) Check it out for yourself. You can make something up, or use a favorite chapter of the Bible or a book. Experiment with different styles and stuff! If you make something neat, post it in the gallery, then leave a link in the comments below!

Well, we finally made it home!

Actually, we were right on time… we pulled right in to our Church picnic, and went home after that. We did have an adventure on the way, though: one of our wheel hub assemblies (the part that holds the wheel on the truck) started to break down. We thought we were hearing the tires wearing out from bad alignment, but we switched the front and back tires and still heard the sound. Fortunately we were staying with a friend who is a mechanic, and he was able to pick up the part and help us replace it. Sometimes these things can be dangerous, especially if they lock up, but God was watching over us and we didn’t have any trouble.

So to wrap up our trip, I believe there will be a special meeting at the Clinton Wesleyan Church later this month, which is open to everyone who is interested. I’ll try to find out the exact date soon.

Well, by the time you are reading this, we should be back on the road, this time towards home. We’ve had a great trip, thanks for all your prayers and support.

It will be good to be back home – we should be just sliding in to our Church picnic!

Oglala VBS 2009

This week we’ve been having a great time with the kids of Oglala at VBS. The stars of the evening are the puppets, which Mastincala and Keya, which you may remember from the He Sapa VBS. They have been showing us how to stay on the One True Way. Mastincala has a habit of getting off track, but wise Keya is always there with a piece of wisdom from the Bible.

We sing songs before and after the puppet show, including favorite “Jesus Loves Me”, well-liked “Listen To the Sound of the People Coming Back,” and a couple hymns and VBS songs. Then we have a skit put together by people on our team, based on a Bible story. Each day a different set of people puts together the skit. Tonight’s was about Paul and Silas in prison.

It is definitely a lot wetter this year here around the Rez’. The fields are definitely greener, and there are lots of flowers out there. The Oglala Lake is pretty full, and there are often small ponds in corners of fields. We also got some rain in the mornings. It has been mostly overcast, which is nice for working.

The only problem is the mosquitoes. We were getting pretty bit up at the VBS last night – we are pretty close to the lake.

So there are the pluses and minuses to the rain, but over all, it is much nicer.