New HCHS NewsBlog

Go here for the new blog:
http://hchsnews.blogspot.com/
 I have an explanation at the new site as to why I switched! See you soon!!

Greensburg Tornado Footage

Take a look at the F5 tornado that destroyed Greensburg, Kansas last week. You can see how massive it is when lighning strikes. It was almost two miles wide at it’s base! I included a picture that shows the tornado as well.
Check out the destruction of the town in these ariel pictures:
http://www.kansas.com/static/slides/050507tornadoaerials/
Read about the Enhanced Fujita [...]

Play the Darfur Simulation “Darfur is Dying”

No this isn’t a first person shooter so no wanton killing is involved. This is a simulation to help people understand what goes on for a person that has lost everything.
http://www.darfurisdying.com/
 Be sure to check out these links to help in your research:
www.google.com  Search Darfur and then be sure to check out “Images”, “Video”, and “News”.  Then [...]

Mr Poldberg Update!!

I got this email from Mr. Poldberg tonight(note the last sentence!):
I’m excited to tell you that I was offered/accepted the social studies
position at Prairie City-Monroe.  My interview went great last Friday and I
really love the district.  I will be teaching world history, psychology,
modern problems (sociology), and possibly a Cold War class, which I am really
excited [...]

Newsblog Hits #80 on WordPress.com!!

On April 22, the HCHS NewsBlog hit #80 on the WordPress.com “Growing Blogs” list. This list is updated daily and are the most active blogs for that day. Keep it up!!

HCHS NewsBlog Needs You!!

As the school year is quickly drawing to a close, there are only two newsblog entries left for each class. You might wonder(or not) what will happen to the Newsblog over the summer. Well, besides my occasional entry, I am asking for your help.
The Winter 2007 CWI classes are the first to go into the [...]

School Board Minutes and Final 2007-2008 School Calendar

Check out the attachments:
2007-08 School Calendar-Final Version
4-23 Board Minutes

Making the World a Little Flatter–$100 Laptop Project

Check out the link: http://laptop.org/

April/May School Newsletter

HCHS April/May Newsletter

Publish Your Writing–Make $$$$$

If you are a writer of any type be sure to check out LuLu found here: http://www.lulu.com/  FAQ’s here: http://www.lulu.com/help/index.php?fSymbol=lulu_basics#FAQLink23
This website, after signing up, allows you to get published work out there for people to buy. Here is some more info:
How much does it cost to use Lulu?
Publishing through Lulu is free. There is no [...]

New Look for Newsblog!!

Like the new look of the blog? Hate it? Leave a comment to let me know. I thought a lighter theme for spring was in order, but I will let internet audience ultimately decide.
Posted by HCHS News Editor Mr. Bruns

Living the Dream—-Vocabulary Lead Team Meetings!!!!!!!!

Take a look at what Mr. Bruns, Mr. Mitchell, Ms. Strickland and Ms. Schnack do on those vocabulary lead team meeting days. During these days, we discuss what we will present to the rest of the teachers on professional development days(those days that you don’t have school but we do).
This album is powered by BubbleShare [...]

Google Video Pins Youtube 1…2…3…

You may have noticed the entire lip sync competition has been added to the Newsblog. As you can see in the title and in the lip sync video, I used Google Video instead of Youtube. There are two big advantages to using Google video over Youtube. The first is that there is no size limit. [...]

School 2.0 Continued

Here is an excellent video expanding on the School 2.0 philosophy. Enjoy!

Bill O’Reilly vs Geroldo Rivera Round 1

One of the more heated debates in the country today is illegal immigration. We have yet to discuss it in CWI but it is about time. We will be sure to discuss it and have a blog assignment in the next week or so. In the mean time, take a look at last Thursday’s “The [...]

More on School 2.0

What is School 2.0? I will define it for you over the next several months starting today.
A big part of School 2.0 is using Web 2.0 tools. What are they, you ask? Here’s a brief history lesson. Web 1.0 was the web from it’s beginning up until a couple of years ago. Web 1.o was [...]

Two New Features Offered To HCHS Newsbloggers!!

I have signed up for two new exciting Web 2.0 features that all HCHS Newsbloggers now have access to.
First is Bubbleshare. Bubbleshare is a new site that allows people to upload pictures and then embed them into a blog or website in slideshow form. Check out the blog entry below this to see an example. [...]

PROM PICS WANTED!!!!

Please send any digital photos of prom to cbruns@harlan.k12.ia.us
I would like to use Bubbleshare to share photos with the HCHS audience. For an example of BubbleShare, scroll down the blog.
Thanks!
Posted by HCHS News Editor Mr. Bruns

Attention College Students!! Get Your Free/Legal Music Dowloads Here!!!

 
For any college student that has an email ending in .edu, do I have some good news for you. There is now a free music download service just for you! And it’s legal to boot!! No more breaking copyright laws!
Go here to check it out: http://www.ruckusnetwork.com/
Here is how Ruckas explains their service:
“The major record labels [...]

School 2.0?? The Evolution of Mr. Bruns’ Website and the 21st Century Classroom

You may have noticed my scroller bar on my website that says “Four Months Until School 2.0.” My goal the last four years was/is to make my classroom more open, flat, collaborative and technology driven. Here is a brief timeline of the evolution of my classroom into as more 21st Century classroom:
2003-Started a blog on [...]

Alcohol Companies Continue to Amaze….

me with their blatent goal of getting kids to drink alcohol through products and advertising. With the problems that our own school district has with underage drinking as well as the entire country, I am appalled that Anheuser-Busch would put out something like this:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17862137/
To be fair, Anheuser-Busch states that this product is aimed at 21-27 [...]

School Board Minutes 4-2-07

Here are the school board minutes for April 2, 2007.
board

MySpace Imposter!!!!

A growing trend in high school and college is for a student to pretend to be someone else on MySpace. They get a picture of someone(usually a teacher or another student) and then make up a fake MySpace page on that person. Many are harmless but occasionally these fake sites can lead to the arrest of the [...]

Interesting Stats Video

Here is the video I showed at the beginning of the semester on interesting statistical information on trends in the world:

3-19-07 School Board Minutes

3-19

G.T.P. Lip Sync Preview

Next Thursday, March 22, the Second Annual Lip Sync Competition will be held. Mr. Mitchell and myself are looking to win it. Check out the video for a preview of our performance. Remember that this is only our second practice. Sorry for the terrible sound as well!
Posted by HCHS News Editor [...]

3-12-07 School Board Minutes and 2007-08 School Calendar

The first link below is the final version of the 2007-2008 school calendar. The second link is the school board minutes from 3-12-07.
calendar
03-12-07-minutes.doc
Posted by HCHS News Editor Mr. Bruns

March Madness!!

3a
NIT
Even thought CBS has the rights to use the term “March Madness”, I decided to use it anyway. I have included a link to a printable Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament bracket. I have also have included pdf file’s for the Class 3A Iowa High School Boy’s Basketball Tournament and the Men’s NCAA NIT Basketball Tournament. I will include [...]

Mr. Poldberg Update

I got an email from Mr. Poldberg today. He had quite an exciting story to share. Here it is:
“Mr. Bruns- just thought I’d tell you that the Vice President almost ran me over yesterday. I was waiting for Senator Grassley outside of the Republican Senate dining room, and watching a bunch of Senators walk by [...]

HCHS 2007-2008 Job Openings

vacancy-notice-07-08.doc
Read the attachment to see the current job openings that are available in the high school. At this point, only people from within the district can apply.