Long ago (apparently 2014), I registered https://troypatterson.me as my “home” on the web. When I registered it, I tried to get troypatterson.com.
However, there is a famous writer named Troy Patterson (who registered the domain troypatterson.com in 2010). Interestingly, the domain automatically forwards to troydpatterson.com.
At the time, I tried to get troyrpatterson.com as well. That was also taken by the aforementioned Troy Patterson. It does seem to be available now, but I’m happy with my little spot on the Internet.
So, I ended up taking troypatterson.me. Little did I know that in a way, that would turn out to be prophetic. See, now I live in Maine, where the state abbreviation is ME. So, I guess I now have Troy Patterson of Maine as my website address.
I was approached about helping to organize the volunteer sign-in sheet. The Admin Assistant had already created a Google Form to collect information. There was a Google Spreadsheet set to collect the information from the Form. Then, there was a tab per day to copy and paste to. (* Copy and pasting is rife with unintentional error possibilities.)
What they really wanted at the end was a sign-in sheet that could be printed. As the volunteers come in, they could physically sign in. There are also additional forms that need to be in place. So, the desire was a sign-in sheet that looked something like this:
Since I prefer for these things to be automated, I started by creating an additional column for the Date. This date is auto-populated from the spreadsheet. By using Data Validation, this can then be a drop-down. No more additional tabs for the spreadsheet, simply pick the date and print.
We now have two tabs:
Form Responses – where the Form Responses automatically go
Print Date – this is the printable sheet.
I selected the “Print Date” tab. To set up the Date, I clicked into Cell A2 (this is where I want the pickable date). Then, I went to Data | Data validation. In Apply to range, I chose ‘Print Date’!A2 (note the single quote marks – they encapsulate the name of the tab). In Criteria, I picked “Dropdown (from a range)”. Now it’s time for some magic. I used the formula: =’Form Responses 3′!$L$2:$R. Let’s break that down. The equal sign (=) denotes a formula. The ‘Form Responses 3’ (again, note the single quote marks), indicates the sheet to pull the information from. The bang (!) is crucial to using a different sheet. The dollar signs ($) go row by row. The L2:R is the range.
(* Quick side note. They had asked if this was a one time volunteer situation or recurring. However, they didn’t want to make the Form too complex, so it is a Start/End date question. I moved the “Start Date” to the end of the columns, then added six addtional colums. The Admin Asssistant will have to add dates if recurring into those columns.).
So, now the Print Date tab has drop-down menu of dates (from Form Responses) that will automatically update with dates.
Next is to pull the Volunteer information into the Print Date tab. I tried a FILTER function, but that only will test one column. That’s a problem since I want to check multiple columns (columns L-R).
After a bit too much overthinking, FILTER is the correct answer. There just needs to be multiple FILTER criteria involved.
In Cell D2; the following formula does what we need:
Let’s break down that formula a bit. FILTER is the command. The FILTER function goes like this: =FILTER(range,condition1, [condition2,…]). We only want one condition. But, we want that one condition to apply to multiple columns.
Range: ‘Form Responses 3′(again, note the single quotes and their location) refers to another tab. The first part of this is pulling the information that we want copied (F2 through K – this equates to Teacher Name, Volunteer Last Name, Volunteer First Name, Awareness Training, Volunteer Registration, and Criminal Background). Condition – The next bit is wrapped in paratheses since we are going to have multiples. We add a plus sign between each condition. You’ll note that the only thing that changes in each of these conditions is the column reference.
I then turned Columns G, H, & I into checkboxes. (* Otherwise these will report as TRUE/FALSE since they are checkboxes on the other tab – Form Responses). This is simply selecting the columns (Command-click on the headers to deselect those) and choosing Insert | Checkbox.
Finally, I deleted most of the rows so that printing the tab Print Date will only print one page.
I advised the Admin Assist to turn on Notifications so that they know when Form has been completed. They can then add additional dates if needed (Columns M-R). They click the appropriate checkboxes for the required information:
Volunteer Awareness Training
Volunteer Registration Form
Criminal Background Check
Now the usage is pretty simple. In the morning, the Admin Assistant opens the Spreadsheet. That person clicks on the Date dropdown in Cell A2. If that date doesn’t appear, there are no volunteers. If the date does appear, they print out that sheet and post it. When the Volunteer arrives, they can sign in and add the time of arrival.
I got a deal on electrical outlets with USB plugs built in from the OWC garage sale. I decided that my office was the perfect place to install one of them as I generally have something charging plugged in. The electrical box is a pretty large piece of kit. Basically, it takes up most of the outlet box. This proved to be an issue. The outlet box that they used when redoing the house is attached via screws inside the box. Unfortunately, this style doesn’t leave enough room for the new electrical outlet. Thus, I’ll need to pull the outlet box out and replace it with a traditional “old work” 1 gang box. Sigh, something that should’ve been incredibly easy.
Public Domain Pictures in browser
I”ve been using the wonderful Library of Congress- Free to Use Browser Extension for a bit now. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy the bit of serendipity that it adds to my day. Essentially, every time you open a new tab, instead of a blank page, you get an image that is free of copyright restrictions. These pictures frequently incite me to think about what is going on in the picture.
This may be horrific if you are trying to maximize every second of your day (or avoid distractions), but for me, the little bit of serendipity is well worth the potential distraction.
Orange Wine
We had some Oranage Wine (Experimental Orange 2020) ) from Black Star Farms the other night. It is not made from oranges, but is named for its orange hue. Orange wine is made with white grapes that are fermented with the skins. The wine had a complex taste to it. I was reminded in some ways of whiskey tasting in that there was some complex finish notes.
Date Night
We had date night the other evening. We went to see Living at a small local theater. The movie stars the wonderful Bill Nighy as a bureaucrat in London in the 50’s. After receiving a grim diagnosis, he decides to take some action. Sad but wonderful.
Ford Sync Frustration
Ford really has struggled with Sync. Those struggles continue for me. According to my Bronco Sport, Sync is up to date (I’ve connected to my WiFi). However, according to Ford records when connecting to my online account, there is a Sync update.
I tried to run this at the end of January. I gave it a few days and checked again. Ford Sync within the Bronco still says that it is up to date. The web site says there is an update.
So, OK, I’ll use the USB drive option. I prepare the USB drive. Hm, it says that you need a USB:
But then the next line says:
What is exFAT?
Hm. “previous than SYNC 3”? Notice the odd wording. Not “previous to SYNC 3” or version prior to SYNC 3. I have SYNC version 3. So, I’m going to guess that I need exFAT. I prep a USB drive, follow the directions to download the update and unzip it (using Unarchiver only) directly on the drive, and move the files back to the root level of the drive.
Out to the car and plug it in (to the front USB port since the rear is charge only). There is no indication that the update is starting (the directions do not mention any indication will be provided). The directions state that it can take up to five minutes for the update to start and another thirty minutes to complete. Once it completes, you will get a notification. So, great, I need to run the car for 35 minutes hoping that it is updating?
It didn’t work.
Mastodon
Why do people stay? There is no UX that works to “addict” the users. Rather, it is the people.
This may be one of the most underrated, and potentially positive, developments in the adoption of the Fediverse.
Someone told me that “at least you are getting a normal Maine winter”. This is my second winter in Maine. Last winter was very mild.
The funny thing is that people wonder how I’m handling Maine winters. I grew up in Michigan. I’m guessing that they don’t know that Michigan gets snow and cold as well?
So, we have gotten a good bit of snow this year. We got 16.1 inches in January (which is a good bit more than Dearborn received in January of this year – 4.4 inches). So, a good bit of snow, but it’s not like we don’t get snow in Michigan.
Remote Work
One of the things that strikes me is the change in the acceptability of remote work. I’ve had a job where I could work from anywhere for over a decade. Prior to COVID, I tried to get some of the meetings that I had to convert to video conferences. There was much resistance. I would spend over an hour driving for a meeting that took 15 minutes. These were meetings that were very focused. However, others weren’t ready for that.
With COVID, lots of people became comfortable (or at least accepting) video conferencing. So at times, I can work remotely and everyone is OK with that. There is still real value in getting together with people most of the time. However, some things really can be handled via video conferencing. So, if we have a day with lots of ice on the roads warnings, snow safety warnings, or similar, I can take a look at my calendar and decide if I should work remotely. This is a huge change for the good.
AI Continuing Discussions
The AI discussions are continuing. There are lots of blogs, posts, and more about AI. Some teachers are using it for their benefit. Some are freaking out about how they are going to “test kids”.
I’m feeling the discussion will continue. I’m not sure where we’ll all end up. I’ve written about this topic a couple of times already.
One of the posts about AI started with this line:
During my time on this earth,…
I love this line. I may use it in the future.
Bridge Up
My usual path to work involves crossing a draw bridge. I’ve never hit it up on the way in to work, until this week. Of course, this was compounded by a bit of construction. Still, the delay wasn’t very long.
Hazel Update
Hazel loves to run around. She’s not bothered by the snow or cold at all. She is doing really well with her last out of the night.
Cold
This weekend is projected to be COLD. Currently, the temperature outside is sitting at -15 degrees Fahrenheit (-26 Celsius). That’s without the wind chill. The “feels like” temperature is -39. So, it’s cold. Saturday should be rocking a high of 6 degrees.
I don’t have much planned for outside, and Hazel will bummed as I’ll watch how much she is out. But mostly, I’ll be working around the house and layering up if I’m going outside.
This is a tutorial on having ChatGPT write questions to be imported into Moodle using the GIFT format. I’m going to use BBEdit as my text editor, but you can use a different one. The free version of BBEdit should do everything in these steps (* NOTE: Google Docs won’t work for the Regular Expression Find and Replace (Step 3). Microsoft Word will.)
Step 1:
Have ChatGPT write your multiple choice questions and format them in a specific way. The key is to include this sentence at the end of your request:
…Use the following format: {1. MCVS:=Right answer/Wrong answer/Wrong answer/Wrong answer}
So, in my example, the search criteria was:
Write 50 Multiple-Choice Question about Maine. Use the following format: {1. MCVS:=Right answer/Wrong answer/Wrong answer/Wrong answer}
This resulted in the following:
Sure, here are 50 multiple-choice questions about the state of Maine:
What is the capital city of Maine? {MCVS:=Augusta/Portland/Bangor/Lewiston} Which river flows through the city of Augusta? {MCVS:=Kennebec River/Androscoggin River/Penobscot River/Saint John River} …
So far so good. However, you need to do some formatting.
GIFT needs a blank line between questions.
Wrong answers need to be marked by an “~” (right answers need an “=”, but we’ve got that already).
“MCVS:” needs to be removed
Step 2: Copy/Paste the questions.
Highlight the questions in ChatGPT and copy them.
Paste the questions into your text editor (preferable over a word processor).
BBEdit:
Since I’m using BBEdit, you can use File | New> (with Clipboard).
Pages, Word, Google Docs
Paste the questions into a blank document.
Step 3: Add a blank line between questions:
No matter how you do this, it is just important that there is a blank line between each question. This is how questions are delineated. You should visually inspect the text to make sure that there is blank line.
BBEdit:
Click on Search | Find…
in the Find box, type: }
In the Replace box, type: }\r
Click the Replace All button.
This will find and replace all of those instances quickly.
Google Docs
This must be done manually in Google Docs. There is not currently an easy way to script this. You’ll need to set the cursor at the end of each answer line and press the return/enter key.
Manually place your cursor and hit return/enter after each “}” at the end of each answer line. This can take a while based on the number of questions.
Step 4: Remove the MCVS:
Click back into the Find window
In the Find box enter: MCVS:
In the Replace box – delete all text so that there is nothing in it
Click Replace All
Step 5: Add an “~” in front of the incorrect answers:
BBEdit:
Click back into the Find window
In the Find box enter: /
In the Replace box, you need two characters: (type a space)~
Click Replace All
Google Docs:
Click on Edit in the Menu bar
Choose Find and Replace
In the Find window, enter: /
In the Replace box, you need two characters: (type a space)~
Click Replace All
Optional Add a category for the quiz questions. This means that in Moodle, these questions will all be identified in a specific category.
Scroll to the very top of the document.
Set the cursor and create a new blank line.
Type “$CATEGORY:XXXX” (Replace XXXX with the category name that you want).*Bonus, you can also create subcategories by adding a “/Subcategory” after your category. Thus, If you wanted a category of World War I, it would look like this:
$CATEGORY: World War I
If you wanted a sub-category of “allies” in World War I, it would look like this:
$CATEGORY: World War I/allies
Create a blank line below the category line.
Save the file
Moodle
Open your Moodle instance. Go to the course that you want to put the questions in.
Click on the More link in the top sub-menu
Select “Question Bank”
Click on the Questions button and select “Import”
Select “GIFT format” radio button
Drag and drop the file (or use the “Choose a file button”) to add the file that you previously saved.
Click “Import” button at the bottom
Read through the questions, scroll down and click “Continue”
That’s it. You’ve now created a bunch of questions and imported them into Moodle, ready to go.
Check the Questions
Please remember the ChatGPT is NOT programmed to be right. It will be confident, but maybe not right. It is crucial to check all the questions for accuracy.
In Moodle, you can utilize the Preview function. You may want to review the questions prior to import. Either will work, it depends on your preference. Do make sure to review the questions though.
Recently, I posted on the software that I use. I know that I left some valuable resources out. It’s funny how you can use something tons and then not even really think about it when asked.
In some conversations, I realized that I had left out at least one resource that I really like. I’ve received lots of praise for implementing this one. It replaces expensive software that doesn’t work as well.
BookStack – This is wiki software that you can host. It is free and open source. It produces a beautiful site. I use this for documentation sites. (In my job, documentation is undervalued but crucial.) Lots of customization options. Lots of controls. It also supports Markdown (though I leave it at the default of WYSIWYG for others.)
I’ve been having conversations about AI text (Chat GPT being the most popular currently). Here is a follow-up to a conversation that I thought I’d share.
Having taught writing in middle school and high school, my first thought was “wow, I’m glad that I’m not teaching 8th or 9th-grade writing“. The AI writing is frequently on par with some of the writing that was turned in to me.
I’ve been thinking about this for a while though. I’ve lived through the “calculator wars” (where educators argued about whether students should ever use calculators in school). I also lived through the time of “turning off spell check” on computers. Those have now passed. I also watch adults (and students) type on computers. When the squiggly red line comes up, users (adults and kids), look back and fix those issues. I personally have a tendency to think faster than I type. I frequently leave words out. I know of a district that has purchased Grammarly Premium for all of the administrators.
This technology isn’t going away. I’ve adjusted my thoughts from the original “How would I ever teach writing?” to a much more nuanced view.
Are there times when we need to teach writing without AI? Sure.
Are there times when we need to teach how to expand writing using AI? Sure.
Is there value in writing things out longhand? I believe so.
Are all kids going to be the same? No.
Writing is a special process. But not all writing is the same. Some kids really struggle with how to write. It isn’t really the way that their brain works. (Temple Grandin has a new book called Visual Thinking which is on my list. If you aren’t familiar with Temple Grandin, she has some fascinating perspectives.) Sadly to me, some people never write for the joy of writing. Some people never paint for the joy of painting. Some people never learn to play music.
So, what can AI text do beyond providing a thoughtless copy/paste assignment? Well, AI text can provide another avenue to take the writing. Having AI provide some feedback may give the writer something else to think about. AI text could also act like a “peer editor”. AI text can take out some of the monotonous parts of writing. Heck, at a minimum, it may encourage kids to check out the thesaurus (*attempted humor). There are still definitely going to be times to have students write without AI. I will argue though, that we should also teach kids how to write with it.
How is AI text being used now? I’ve been working with some educators and others, and have found the following use cases:
Peer feedback
Rough draft
Writing test questions
Reflection
Lesson plans
OER Resources
Writing code
IEP goals
AI text isn’t going away. It will get better and better. It still won’t replace great writers.
I was listening to the wonderful Mac Geek Gab, (show 958) and Dave Hamilton shared a story from his past that I found fascinating. I think that it is relevant to what we are facing as well.
You can listen to the story on the Mac Geek Gab Podcast – the story starts around 28:05, or follow my condensed, from my memory version, or read the YouTube transcript below:
Dave relates a story of when he was in 10th grade and the family had a computer. The class was assigned to write an essay. Dave wrote his rough draft on an Apple IIc since he had one. He printed it out and handed it to the teacher for the next phase. The teacher didn’t want to accept it as a rough draft because it was printed out. (My favorite line was Dave said, “I’m like, wow, just you wait, go ahead and read it. Like I’m pretty sure you’re gonna disagree with yourself. Actually, yeah, it’s pretty rough. Like I don’t think I’m that good you know”). The teacher’s point was that everyone else had to write out the rough draft and Dave was cheating. The teacher failed Dave. He headed to the Guidance Counselor who agreed with Dave.
So, how does this relate to today? Well, AI writing things is becoming, well, a thing. The kids know it. Teachers are dealing with it. The question is partly, will this become a way of writing? Will we have an AI write the rough draft, or provide alternative points, or proofread what you write, will that become “normal”?
Almost everyone I watch type, kind of defaults to looking for the red squiggles that indicate a word is spelled wrong or maybe used incorrectly (me included). This has become a reality for us.
So what does the future look like? Actually, that’s the wrong question. What does life look like today? Should we be taking advantage of these tools? Should we be teaching kids to utilize them for their benefit?
YouTube Transcript of Dave’s Essay Story
but I will share an anecdotal story from my own history in high school in 10th Grade I had I think it was 10th grade when we had to write our first term papers I had uh an apple 2C at home I was very happy to have this apple 2C at home and I they you know the process this was to learn how to write a paper so there was a process to it and the rough draft was probably more important than the final product right because this we had to write a rough draft and then we would go through an editing process both individually with the teacher and then also with our groups in the class and then we would you know present a finalized product and and the grade was sort of on the whole project great like no problem fine I uh so I went home and I I wrote my term paper and of course I wrote it on my Apple 2C because I had it and I knew how to type and and it was relatively new for us this was really our first computer we had a Timex Sinclair before that but you know in terms of I don’t know Sinclair had it had its new had its utility but so I did it and I printed out my my work and I brought it in and the teacher was like I can’t accept this and I said uh what what do you what do you mean they’re like well you’re this isn’t a rough draft you know you’ve printed this and I’m like wow just you wait go ahead and read it like I’m pretty sure you’re gonna disagree with yourself actually yeah it’s pretty rough like I don’t think I’m that good you know and uh she’s like well yeah but you didn’t hand write it like the final product has to be typed but the the rough draft everybody else hand wrote it I’m like not it’s fine it doesn’t bother me whatever they chose to do I’m like I did this and she’s like well you did this on a computer right and I said yeah she said well this is like cheating because everybody else in the class uh wrote it out by hand and then is going to have to after we do the edits it’s going to then have to go and type the whole thing you know essentially writing it a second time on a different medium and I’m like well I mean that’s on them like yeah all I have to do is go in and do the edits and then reprint like obviously and that is what every single person that’s listening to this show would do today but back then what’s that it was the future then it was no I she failed me for the project and I went straight to my guidance counselor and I was like like this and I even told her I’m like this is the future and it’s not like some Hundred Year future I’m like within five years this is how this class is going to be taught and the opposite will be the exception rather than the rule and my guidance counselor looked at the teacher and she’s like he’s a hundred percent right this is you did not put in the requirements that people had to hand write their rough draft this is not a penmanship class yeah this is an English class and he is getting full benefit arguably more more than full benefit of this because he’s able to focus on the English part of it and not the pedantic handwriting and rewriting of this thing over and over again and the teacher was pissed pissed but so 18 and a half four years with her yeah yeah exactly right uh but I I share this anecdote because right now we all think that using an AI to write our papers is cheating and someone thought that using a computer to write my paper was cheating and literally failed me until she was forced not to so
Well, hopefully, I have my Joplin sync issue resolved. If you are using Joplin and enable encryption, it is best if you make sure to use the same password on all your devices.
Joplin is how I write blog posts (yes, I could write directly on the blog, but, well, habit). Thus, blog posts haven’t been as numerous lately.
Thanksgiving
The kids were otherwise occupied for Thanksgiving. We had intended upon sharing Thanksgiving with some friends, but, alas, a family emergency pre-empted those plans.
Rm did make a wonderful dinner and we had a lovely Thanksgiving. I’m truly thankful for my life partner. She’s absolutely wonderful. She’s kind, funny, fun, sweet, and gorgeous.
The Lions lost, but at least it was a close game.
Fediverse PD
Mastodon is starting to develop educational PD opportunities. I recently found Brenna Clarke Gray’s Blog through Mastodon. She has some wonderful thoughts about education and leadership. (Tip: she doesn’t have an RSS feed on her blog but adding /feed to her URL works).
Fediverse
There was a discussion about Big Social Media, i.e. Twitter, Facebook, etc, and I found this line:
…think of that old story about the pigs marvelling at how well the farmer fed and looked after them
