Troy Patterson

Educator, Thinker, Consultant

Reflecting on Principal for a day

Reflecting on Principal for a day

March 31, 2026 / / 1 Comment

Yesterday I filled in for the elementary principal. I miss the structure and pace of the principal role. I miss the student and staff interactions. I miss the messiness of expectations and choices.

As a principal, the day is pretty structured. There is the before the kids arrive time where you make sure that all the staff is present or covered. This is also a good time to walk around and get a check about whether or not there is an emegency to address, the general temparature of the staff, how the food service staff is doing, etc. Sometimes, you can even quickly check email.

Next up is kid arrival time. This is the time to greet every bus (unless the AP does this), greet the kids, greet any parents, and try to start the day off on a positive note. Sometimes you can check in with a few kids and change the way their day is going (for the positive). This leads into the start of the day with the hustle and bustle of classes starting.

Pretty soon, there lunch. (Yes, this goes by quickly as the principal is addressing tons of things.) Lunch is another time to check in with kids. (I got a kick out of first grade lunch when one of the other adults said, “First grade lunch can be loud, are you O.K.?”) (I spent ten years doing three lunch periods a day for 6,7,8th grades with 984 kids in the building. I’m very used to loud. )

Elementary school has recess as well. Fortunately for me, it was a beautiful and quite temperate day.

Walking the halls, and stopping in classes is a constant. We did have a student report a concern, which fortunately was quickly confirmed not to be a concern. Follow up on that took a few minutes, student, teacher, call home to make sure parents knew what was happened.

Before you know it, it’s the end of the day. Time to accompany the students out.

After the kids have mostly left, there are always things going on after school, it’s usually time to catch your breath and try to catch up on as many things as possible.

As I said, I really miss this pace and process of being a principal. The day has structure and there is always something going on. There are constant decisions to be made. Principals make a difference. They make a difference for students and staff.

VocalCat & Badges

VocalCat & Badges

March 27, 2026 / / 5 Comments

VocalCat

I learned about VocalCat from Doug Belshaw. Essentially, VocalCat is:

The decentralized link-in-bio that connects to the Fediverse. Share links, collect badges, and own your online presence — no corporation in the middle.

Features

  • Link-in-Bio
    Add unlimited links, organize them your way. A clean, fast profile page that works everywhere.
  • ActivityPub Native
    Your profile is a first-class citizen on Mastodon, Pleroma, Misskey and every ActivityPub platform.
  • Badge Collection
    Receive and showcase verifiable badges from issuers across the Fediverse. Proof of achievement, decentralized.
  • Login with Mastodon
    No new password needed. Sign in with your existing Mastodon account from any instance.
  • Auto-Boost & Relay
    Consolidate your Fediverse presence. Automatically boost posts from your other accounts into one unified profile.
  • Open Source
    Fully transparent. Self-host it, audit it, or contribute on GitHub. Your data stays yours, always.

I’ve created an account for myself, Troy Patterson on VocalCat, which you can check out.

I’m not sure yet how this is different than the About Me Page on my website. I’m going to guess discoverability?

Part of VocalCat is that you can display badges. That got me to thinking. I know that I have a few Moodle badges, but I don’t remember if I have other badges.

Badges

Anyway, here are the Moodle Badges I’ve been awarded. (This will also be useful for “future me” when I need to look for badges.)

Particularly Helpful Moodler 2023 badge. Particularly Helpful Moodler 2023 is written out in a circle with the Moodle Logo in the middle.
Particularly Helpful Moodler 2021 badge. Particularly Helpful Moodler 2021 is written out in a circle with the Moodle Logo in the middle.
Particularly Helpful Moodler 2020 badge. Particularly Helpful Moodler 2020 is written out in a circle with the Moodle Logo in the middle.
Particularly Helpful Moodler 2019 badge. Particularly Helpful Moodler 2019 is written out in a circle with the Moodle Logo in the middle.
MoodleNet Idea Generator
MoodleNet Experimenter. A scientific flask contains e=Mc2. The word "Experimenter" is written out below the flask.

The one below is not really mine. Shawn McGirr asked me to submit an entry into the H5P awards. I submitted the entry, Vocabulary Practice using Rebus Puzzles by Shawn McGirr as part of Middle School Matters. Shawn was a finalist. However, since I had submitted, my name is associated with it. To be clear, Shawn did the work and is deserving of the award.

H5P Award Link

H5P Awards

H5P Awards

March 17, 2026 / / 1 Comment

The Third Annual H5P awards are out. Shawn McGirr is a finalist in the Innovative Use of H5P Content Types for his “Vocabulary Practice Using Rebus Puzzles activity. Beyond checking out his great work, you can check out the other finalists. Additionally, you could also check out the Second Annual Finalists. These can be useful to get motivated for what you can do with H5P.

For those not aware, H5P is open source and can create some terrific interactive experiences. (Kids can also create the experiences.) You do need somewhere to post the activities, but that can be Moodle, WordPress, or more. There are all kinds of content types, including: Arithmetic Quiz, Branching Scenario, Cornell Notes, Drag and Drop, Drag the Words, Game Map, Flashcards, Image Pairing, Mark the Words, Interactive Book, and so, so much more.

Lumi has a Desktop editor that allows you (or students) to create H5P activities. Lumi also provides hosting. H5P can also be activated within Moodle or WordPress. Moodle has the advantage of providing scores and such.

H5P material is also very easy to share. Many H5P activities have a “Reuse” button which makes a copy of the activity for you to install on Moodle or WordPress.

Weekly Review 202604

Weekly Review 202604

March 16, 2026 / / 1 Comment

Host Moving

I’ve already writtten a bit about my experience moving to Bluehost, but I’m still feeling the impact of that. I have learned more about WordPress security and capabilities ( a good thing), while also feeling the angst of whether everything is “right” or not. That’s taken away from posting.

I also posted recently that I’m retiring from Cape Elizabeth School Department. So there’s lots of work to do to tidy things up before June 30th. Plus, there’s planning on what I’m really going to do. I’m not sure exactly what I want to do yet, but I’ll be doing something. There are a couple of volunteer situations to check out. I’m going to reach out to a local school to see if I can become their sports photographer (they don’t appear to have one). Plus, I’ll probably sub in a couple of schools.

Home Work

I’ve installed a whole house water filter in the basement. This is actually the second one that I’ve installed. The first one doesn’t filter for lead. Thus, back to the drawing board and one that does. The new one also filters for PFA’s as well. Now that I have experience working with PEX piping and Sharkbite connectors, things went pretty smoothly.

AI use

The more that I’m using and trying out AI, the less impressed I am. I’ve been using Google Gemini to set up a Moodle instance and a Gravity Forms workflow. Although Gemini did well with formulas for spreadsheets, it’s lacking in Moodle and Gravity Forms. It frequently tells to make selections of things that don’t exist, or that things can be done that just can’t.

Speaking of AI, I found AI SLOP is like Cocomelon for Boomers and Gen X? Oh, no, it’s way worse really good.

Reward

I did have a chance to enjoy a bottle of one my “treat beers”. I rarely have these, but I like to take some time and enjoy a really good bottle. This was a bottle by Goose Island Brewing:

2024 Bourbon County Brand Original Stout
After crafting the very first bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout, we’ve learned that to have the best beer, you start with the best possible ingredients. Barrels are such an important ingredient and we continue to use only the best our friends on the bourbon trail have to offer. 2024 Bourbon County Brand Original Stout is aged in a mix of freshly emptied bourbon barrels from Buffalo Trace, Heaven Hill, Four Roses and Wild Turkey distilleries. Barrel-aged for an average of 12 months, Bourbon County Original Stout boasts deeply developed flavors of fudge, vanilla and caramelized sugar with a rich, decadent mouthfeel.

STYLE
Imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels

TASTING NOTES
Vanilla, cherry, cocoa, toasted almond & caramelized sugar
ABV
14.7%

Podcast

The podcast this week was a good one. Shawn is always up for a good discussion.

Other Stuff (Links I found)

  • Holding kids back in 3rd grade can raise test scores — but a new study shows a long-run cost – …a new study offers a warning about the downside risks of retention. Third graders who had to repeat a grade in Texas were far less likely to graduate from high school or earn a good living as young adults, nearly two decades later. The harmful effects were quite large and came despite initial improvements in test scores.
  • AI autocomplete doesn’t just change how you write. It changes how you think – …the people in the study didn’t tend to think the AI autocomplete suggestions were biased or to notice that they had changed their own thinking on an issue in the course of the study. Warning the participants that they might be exposed to misinformation by the AI didn’t temper the persuasive effect either.
  • AI Isn’t Coming for Everyone’s Job – About 130 years ago, the job of pianist was automated when Edwin Votey created the first player piano. The machine worked by reading music that was encoded by holes punched into rolls of paper, which in turn directed airflows to levers that depressed piano keys. The human’s task was relegated to pumping a foot pedal to create the pneumatic pressure that drove the automaton. Things got worse for the human pianist from there.
  • Something Big Is Happening – I know the next two to five years are going to be disorienting in ways most people aren’t prepared for. This is already happening in my world. It’s coming to yours.
What’s Next
TeroVesalainen / Pixabay

What’s Next

March 11, 2026 / / 1 Comment

It’s time to figure out what’s next, again. I’ll be retiring from Cape Elizabeth School department as of July 1st.

I still will need to do “something”. I’m just not sure what that something will be.

The last time I did “this”, Doug Belshaw encouraged me to strike out on my own. Obviously, I didn’t follow that advice then, but maybe now is the time. I’ve done some consulting before, but nothing recently.

Pasteboard Alternative

March 7, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Clipy is a pasteboard for the Mac that allows for multiple items to be saved and pasted. I’ve used Clipy for years. Clipy is an open source project that took up the reins when ClipMenu (another open source project) ceased to be developed.

I love the way that Clipy works. It gives me up to 100 of my last used copied items easily available. There is also a Snippet section that allows me to keep some frequently used text at the ready.

Clipy is my last remaining program that is Intel rather than Apple code. At least I think it is.

So, now I’m on the lookout for a new pasteboard option. Unless, someone picks up the project and converts it from Intel to Apple. Since it is open source, that remains a possibility. I don’t have the programming chops to even think about that.

Cabin on the Kennebec river. Note the wall of ice that has built up.
Cabin on the Kennebec river. Note the wall of ice that has built up.

Photography

February 21, 2026 / / 3 Comments

I took some pictures of the Kennebec this evening. These are really giving me a real 70’s vibe:

Posted on Pixelfed. Click through the arrows to see more images.

Generic Stick figure frowning while looking at a computer screen. Public Domain image.
Generic Stick figure frowning while looking at a computer screen. Public Domain image.

Bluehost Blues

February 20, 2026 / / 4 Comments

I’ve written previously about switching to Bluehost. I’d like to expand on that since I’m still dealing with the switch (2 months later). The reasons that I switched were simple: 1. I was frustrated that HostGator wouldn’t update MySQL to a version that hadn’t been deprecated, 2. I would get more space, and 3. my bill would be lower. I selected Bluehost as they had a really good reputation and had been recommended by a friend.

Bluehost has a service where they will move your files from your current host to their platform. I utilized this service. I would not do so again.

The first issue was with the temporary URL’s that are created when moving the websites. This also led to some SSL issues. Generally, utilizing chat, I was able to get those resolved and corrected. I still had to clean up some temporary directories through Cpanel.

The really big issue was when I went to check updates page within the WordPress Admin panel and was met with an error page. Hm. I’ve never had trouble with this before. I hit up their chat. (I had found their chat pretty useful in solving some issues.) Chat went in and stated that they had updated permissions and everything would be set in a bit. (Queue ominous music). It wasn’t. I did some digging and some research. I even used Gemini to check a few things. Gemini correctly stated that there was some malicious code in place. I check with Bluehost’s chat, and the best that they could do was to recommend a service that they sell at $84 per domain. Now, I have six domains that I moved. The previous install didn’t have this issue. I can’t say that Bluehost transfer is where the malicious code was injected, I can just say that the code wasn’t there on the old site and was present in Bluest.

I decided that I could fix this myself. The malicious code injected a ton of htaccess files. So, I spent several hours going through directories and removing or editing those htaccess files. Again, after several hours, I had deleted or edited all the htaccess files. Things were once again clean. However, I did have to spend several hours working on this. (Naturally, I also may have deleted a file or two that I shouldn’t have in the process. It was “mindless” work largely. So, I also had to fix a few directories and reinstall some things.) I did spend a fair bit of time reading htaccess files. Though for the most part, it was just deleting them (I knew that there shouldn’t be an htaccess file in that directory, plus the size and date were indicators).

Since I was working on making the websites actually work, I haven’t been able to post much. It’s funny how much cognitive bandwidth that kind of remediation takes. I was worried about whether or not I had removed everything and removed it correctly. I had had some plans to write about a variety of things impacting education, but those will have to wait. I think that I have all the sites back to “normal”. Or at least almost. There are still a couple of niggling issues that I want to address (like login screens). Most need some updating and refreshing, so I’ll start work on that at some point in the future.

The Bluehost created temporary URL’s for the transition seem to be deleted finally.

I had hoped for a good bit more of photography time, but sometimes life hands you a different plan.

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