TicTacToeTen X PTA Convention

It is going to be epic.  The Tic Tac Toe Ten Project is traveling to Memphis, Tennessee to tell the Parents & Teachers Association chapters of America why educational, collaborative and social games (e.g. Tic Tac Toe Ten) need to be integrated into every child's K-12 curriculum.  We will talk with heads of educational policy, teachers, parents, fundraisers, students and educational companies to see where opportunities lie for us and for them.

In addition to making contacts, we will be celebrating the release of TicTacToeTen for iPhone/iPad/Android!!!  Our mobile application development will serve to complement the work that we are doing with the educational board games.  We will also unveil our newly designed website, our new t-shirt design, and our forthcoming puzzle books that will be targeted to 3rd-8th grade kids.

So if you're in Memphis this weekend, come on by the Convention Center to booth #425 and take a picture with the team (and Blanco below).  We'll be talking education, tech, and games all weekend long and we'd be honored if you'd come on out and join us.  We'll see you there.

live.love.learn.

How To Get Started w/ Your Supercool School Pt. 1

Take a look at this link below to get the very first things you should do after you sign up to have your very own Supercool School. Stay Tuned for part 2.

SMART Phones vs. PTSD & TBI

I've been tasked with putting together a computer basics curriculum that would benefit the American wounded warriors from Iraq and Afghanistan. These men and women have served their country with honor and are looking to take on a computer trade in the service or out in the civilian world. There are a couple of challenges to pulling this curriculum together: (1) most of these soldiers have very limited knowledge about technical matters (2) most of these soldiers suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and/or Traumatic Brain Injury. These disorders make it difficult to focus on tasks and they also make it hard for soldiers remember things. So taking that knowledge into account, I am going about my journey of creating something that would benefit an individual in this condition.

Let's talk about what SMART phones can do to help us out here. I will use the iPhone as an example just because I have one and we have been given 30 of them (thank you Apple) to carry out this pilot with the soldiers. I am playing around with the concept of using apps for learning. I firmly believe that apps can be a nice way to introduce/demonstrate/reinforce course material. Working under the assumption that this approach isn't flawed we proceed.

In learning something new there are a couple of things that always take place: (1) the new concept is defined and explained (2) the learner's knowledge of the facts around the new concept are repetitively exercised/affirmed (3) the learner's knowledge about the new concept is tested by demonstration of procedures (exams, lab experiments, etc.). So if we take a look at the iPhone at these three stages we are able to see that there are apps out there that address the needs of new learners for each stage. Let's go stage by stage and sample some apps that would help our soldiers.

STAGE 1: A new concept is defined and explained
Almost every app out there has some sort of explanation to help guide you as you use it. I play a lot of game apps and part of my ritual before playing for the first time is checking out the tutorial. This should provide a high level explanation of the major concepts of the game and visual reinforcement for the user so that the app (in general) is understood. This stage can be likened to a professor delivering a lecture to a class of students. High level concepts are described, but much of the low-level work is left out. Some examples of apps with high-level tutorials are Tic Tac Toe Ten and Bailout Wars. Tic Tac Toe Ten has a tutorial video while Bailout Wars has a couple of slides to flip through for users to understand how to play. The main point of this stage is to introduce the learner to the concept and to provide any background knowledge about the concept that would help the learner digest it easier in the stages that follow.

STAGE 2: the learner's knowledge of the facts around the new concept are repetitively exercised/affirmed

So at this stage the learner has become familiar with the definitions of words that relate to the concept at hand. He/She should be able to recite a canned (memorized) response to very high level questions concerning the concept in question. This stage can be equated to a professor giving out homework once the lecture has been given. The learner now has to wrestle with the concept and do exercises and problems that reinforce the knowledge from the lecture. Apps like Kaplan GRE Exam and Cram fit this stage perfectly. Both apps allow the learner to drill himself/herself in a repetitive manner until the objectives are met. For the Kaplan GRE Exam app the objective is to learn words and their definitions. For the Cram app, a learner can create flashcards on any subject matter and drill themselves until they have internalized the concepts. The notion of repetition and drilling is a very key component in acquiring information and retaining that information.

STAGE 3: the learner's knowledge about the new concept is tested by demonstration/explanation of procedures

At this stage most of the heavy lifting has been done by the learner. This stage is the equivalent of a written or an oral exam. The learner's knowledge of the concept is now revealed for what it is just as long as the examination is detailed enough. An app like SAT Practice Tests (math) is a perfect example of this examination concept. In the app, the learner must answer multiple choice questions from the domain of geometry, algebra, and trigonometry. There is really no faking it (unless you happen to be an awesome guesser). For the most part, the hard work from Stage 2 (or lack thereof) will come to the surface when demonstration or explanation are required. Research shows that learners who have the best grasp of a concept are individuals who can teach others how to do the very thing that they just learned. The aim at the end of the SMART phone activities would be to get the soldiers to teach each other the very concepts that they have just internalized themselves. If we are able to get to this point then our objectives have been accomplished!!!

More to come in the future ... check out the apps above if you get a chance ... we'll see you soon

B

Official Website Unveiled: Tic Tac Toe Ten

It's finally here y'all . . . Thanks to ChiefMoney Designs for partnering with me to bring this all together. God bless y'all. Let's continue to help get Tic Tac Toe Ten on the map. Here's the link to the site if you want to check it out: http://www.tictactoeten.com/

Happy Independence Day everybody, have a blessed and restful holiday!!!

B.M.

Tic Tac Toe Ten is here!!!

The Law vs. Moral Values

An interesting article by Walter E. Williams

A civilized society's first line of defense is not the law, police and courts but customs, traditions and moral values. Behavioral norms, mostly transmitted by example, word of mouth and religious teachings, represent a body of wisdom distilled over the ages through experience and trial and error. They include important thou-shalt-nots such as shalt not murder, shalt not steal, shalt not lie and cheat, but they also include all those courtesies one might call ladylike and gentlemanly conduct. The failure to fully transmit values and traditions to subsequent generations represents one of the failings of the so-called greatest generation.

Behavior accepted as the norm today would have been seen as despicable yesteryear. There are television debt relief advertisements that promise to help debtors to pay back only half of what they owe. Foul language is spoken by children in front of and sometimes to teachers and other adults. When I was a youngster, it was unthinkable to use foul language to an adult; it would have meant a smack across the face. Back then, parents and teachers didn't have child-raising "experts" to tell them that "time out" is a means of discipline. Baby showers are held for unwed mothers. Yesteryear, such an acceptance of illegitimacy would have been unthinkable.

To see men sitting whilst a woman or elderly person was standing on a crowded bus or trolley car used to be unthinkable. It was common decency for a man to give up his seat. Today, in some cities there are ordinances requiring public conveyances to set aside seats posted "Senior Citizen Seating." Laws have replaced common decency. Years ago, a young lady who allowed a guy to have his hand in her rear pocket as they strolled down the street would have been seen as a slut. Children addressing adults by first names was unacceptable.

You might be tempted to charge, "Williams, you're a prude!" I'd ask you whether high rates of illegitimacy make a positive contribution to a civilized society. If not, how would you propose that illegitimacy be controlled? In years past, it was controlled through social sanctions like disgrace and shunning. Is foul language to or in the presence of teachers conducive to an atmosphere of discipline and respect necessary for effective education? If not, how would you propose it be controlled? Years ago, simply sassing a teacher would have meant a trip to the vice principal's office for an attitude adjustment administered with a paddle. Years ago, the lowest of lowdown men would not say the kind of things often said to or in front of women today. Gentlemanly behavior protected women from coarse behavior. Today, we expect sexual harassment laws to restrain coarse behavior.

During the 1940s, my family lived in North Philadelphia's Richard Allen housing project. Many families didn't lock doors until late at night, if ever. No one ever thought of installing bars on their windows. Hot, humid summer nights found many people sleeping outside on balconies or lawn chairs. Starting in the '60s and '70s, doing the same in some neighborhoods would have been tantamount to committing suicide. Keep in mind that the 1940s and '50s were a time of gross racial discrimination, high black poverty and few opportunities compared to today. The fact that black neighborhoods were far more civilized at that time should give pause to the excuses of today that blames today's pathology on poverty and discrimination.
Policemen and laws can never replace customs, traditions and moral values as a means for regulating human behavior. At best, the police and criminal justice system are the last desperate line of defense for a civilized society. Our increased reliance on laws to regulate behavior is a measure of how uncivilized we've become.

Just some food for thought . . . until next time LIVE, LOVE, & LEARN

PEACE

B.M.

I'm Feeling Real Poetical Right Now . . .

Back on my rhyme grind . . . sit back and enjoy ya'self

I heard a baby had a baby last week

The granny is 29 the baby is doing fine

But the baby of the baby seems destined for trouble

Only 3 days old but born into a struggle

Born into a black hole born into a bubble

Born into a circus now see if it can juggle

Education, incarceration, lack of self knowledge, and codes for playstation,

Garbage on the streets and diamonds in the teeths

Of the music superheroes that he sees on tv,

Violence in communities, random tomfoolery

On top of any and every block that he walks on

It’s a little bit of good and a lotta bit of wrong

To discuss and analyze on the tracks that he talks on

But what can he do and what can it say

Born into a game that he never asked to play

What would you do and what would you say

If forced into a game that you never asked to play?

Have fun Living, Loving, and Learning this week

:o)

b. middleton.

Something New For Sunday Night

Good Peoples,

I've never done this before so in the spirit of 'theres-a-first-time-for-everything' here is a snippet of one of my poetical pursuits . . . a journal that I use to think and create and hope and dream and vent and a lot of other things . . . enjoy

Lyrically sell dreams like Dow Jones stock brokers
To those that this life has knocked over
To the bums junkies the thugs dummies and lawn smokers
To get they heads up like Abraham Lincolns in loafers
To get your hopes up instead of weed keeping them choked up
Shorties said they never knew what they was worth until I spoke up
Never knew they was allowed to blow up when they get older
Cuz all they see is mediocrity from us that’s grown up
That’s when I got choked up
As I recall gang signs getting thrown up
And Benjamin not ducking quick enough around that corner
17 and dead won’t live to grow no older
Never come out of that coma to go and get his diploma
Too many soldiers got pokered with pellets and folded
Without seeing the kicker way earlier than they were supposed to
A family is broken and another brother’s hearts colder
As a result of another adolescent’s gun smoking
These repetitive events have got my mind open
Got my eyes leaking and got my soul hoping and focused
On a time of blessing after this hocus pocus of famine and locust
Times I examine them closest like doctors with old folks its
Imperative that we get it right cuz it’s the last quarter
Devil’s out to make quotas with any soul that’s floating
So I’m hangin in the Gap fo ya like snaggle teeth and old posters
To expose imposters like spaghetti noodles I’ll show ya
Just because it start with a Jay don’t mean that he’s Hova
Just because he’s winning battles doesn’t mean that it’s over
The state of your soul is what this war’s going on for
Never ever could’ve seen eternal life until He showed up
Take heed and get you and your family’s house in order
Like a thief in the night He’s comin . . . the Real J Hova
Selah . . . now press rewind before the game’s over

So that's it . . . hope you enjoyed this little blurb of my notebook . . . Thank God for life, health, and strength as we get into another holiday season . . . act and spend like you know that we're in economically troubling times and love your neighbor as you love yourself . . . be better to yourself today than you were yesterday.

until next time y'all know what to do,

Live.Love.Learn.

:o)

B.Middleton's August Update

Whassup Party People (and other people),

LIVING

It's been a long time since I've blogged and there has been so much that's gone on, that I am compelled to let it spill out. First and foremost, Batman: The Dark Knight . . . moment of silence for the best movie of the summer so far. I've lately been watching a lot of movies and finding that I'm falling in love with cleverly written parts for characters. I'm a moderately witty dude and I find that a lot of my laughs come from people who are able to articulate wit in creative ways.

Barack-mania has become a global phenomenon . . . he's gone on his world tour and it is apparent that the rest of the world would appreciate him in the Oval Office a little more than it would Mr. McCain. We'll wait until November to see what happens.

LOVING

Monster Diversity Leadership Programs (www.monsterdlp.com) have been in full effect since late June, and I've had the privilege to be on staff for San Francisco DLP, Chicago DLP, and Philadelphia DLP so far . . . three down and one to go. It is refreshing and rejuvinating for my heart and soul to see young people who are making it and I thank God for this program which has served as a bridge for me and them to connect. The people I work with are also awesome, serving up lots of love and laughs every time we interact. RAVE family, I love you . . . (www.raveseminars.com).

I'm still on my quest to finish Godel, Escher, Bach by Doug Hofstadter (Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid) . . . this is by far one of the most thought-provoking books that I've read in a while (I guess that's why it won a Pullitzer Prize). It is giving me a new respect for the worlds of Mathematics, Art, and Music and the connection between the three disciplines. Check it out if you get a chance.

LEARNING

Another book that I've picked up very recently is called Microtrends by Mark Penn (http://www.microtrending.com). This has also turned out to be an interesting read as it has helped me to realize the very many unique niches that exist here in America. These niches of people have their own culture and way of doing things that contribute to the diversity of this nation, but can also be exploited to produce revenue for oneself (or myself). So I would recommend this one as well for all of you readers out there.

Last but not least there is Kevin Carroll's second book titled, "What's your Red Rubber Ball?" . . . a very imaginative, fun, and read book that helps individuals to identify their passion and to begin to chase that passion for the duration of their lives. Kevin is a friend and awesome speaker who has helped to shift some of my thinking, so when you get a minute check him out too . . . (www.kevincarrollkatalyst.com) . . . you'll be glad you did, I promise.

So that's pretty much all that's going down with me at the moment. I will be getting ready to go into study mode to knock out the next set of Cisco Certification Exams . . . pray that that goes well for me and I'll be praying for y'all too.

Check back w/ you soon,

mr. live love learn

Boston's Going All The Way

6/8/2008

What's Up Everybody,

Living
I've jumped onto white and green bandwagon as the NBA finals have gotten underway. My boy Kevin Garnett needs a ring on his finger and since he's representing Chi-town he's got my support. This week has been alright . . . filled with meetings, greetings, reunions, and even some highly anticipated introductions. Some of my people have graduated or will be graduating soon so I'm happy that they will be joining me in the 'real world' soon. Also, new undertaking has begun as of yesterday . . . Brandon T. Middleton has joined the 50 million pound challenge. I have decided to put an end to my existence as a fat man and jump back over the line to the skinny side . . . y'all pray for me.

Loving
I love to read and I have just purchased a book called 'An Eternal Golden Braid' and it is supposed to be a Pullitzer prize winning masterpiece that ties together three things that I immensely enjoy: art, music, and mathematics. More on the outcome after I finish it up. I love kids and helping others and to this end I am steadily preparing for my role as a Hype Squad Member and Group Leader for the 2008 Monster Diversity Leadership Programs. I am super excited to be back and also very happy to have had my responsibilities stepped up this year . . . will I be up to the challenge? Time will tell.

Learning
I have been learning how necessary it is to live in the grace of God. In and of ourselves we are not capable (no matter how hard we try) of living acceptable lives in the sight of God our Father. I have seen the best and worst of myself and both extremes (good and bad) fall short of the glory of God. Learning to acknowledge this and recognizing how much I need to stay humble in my daily dealings is very important. Lately I've been learning a lot about time management and personal efficiency . . . also I learned some pretty cool technical things this week while browsing the web. Well that's about all for now. This week let's raise our glasses to the graduates and all of those who are working hard to educate themselves . . . much respect for ya and much love to ya.

;o)

Mr. Live Love Learn