Hi Guest,
Tunnel Vision. We tend to think of this as a bad thing, something far from ideal. “Don’t have tunnel vision”, we’ve heard before, “Broaden your horizons!” What if I told you that tunnel vision is actually exactly what you need to be successful? I was in Italy earlier this year and tend to have big realizations during my travels. This was one of them. We drove through countless tunnels on the outskirts of Florence and each one we drove through, this became more and more clear: Tunnel Vision is actually a GOOD THING!
You can’t stay so deep within the tunnel that you have no vision of what’s beyond. You can’t stay at the spot where you see just a little light but not enough to have a vision of what’s coming. But if you get too close to the end of the tunnel, you see too much and don’t know where to focus and what’s the most important place to look. The perfect spot is just a few seconds before emerging from the tunnel. Enough of the tunnel to help you focus your energy on what’s most important but enough of the outside view to know what you’re working towards.
Here’s wishing you a phenomenal Holiday Season and a New Year 2025 that is just the perfect amount of tunnel vision to help you focus on the beauty and magic that lay ahead, while protecting yourself from the noise and clutter.
– Alefiya Master
(Photos taken by me while my husband was driving. See how the last one is the best?)
Our 2nd Annual Student Showcase, held December 11, 2024, was a rousing hit! We were thrilled to see so many new and familiar faces and get the chance to hear directly from MAD-students as they shared their experiences with mobile app development in their classes. This year, we had quite the range of voices that covered the gamut.
We had high school seniors from Wilson Tech in New York share their app Snack Shack, a student-run school store where students can purchase snacks and beverages. Middle Schooler Zaira created the app BMMS Orientation to help new students navigate Bennett’s Mill Middle School in Georgia. And, we all experienced cuteness overload when first graders at Westminster shared their Alphabet Project app, aimed at helping students without access to resources learn to read.
We were beyond proud of our student presenters and also want to send huge kudos to their dedicated teachers who supported them throughout their app development process and preparation for this event. Stay tuned for a video of the entire event, coming soon. In the meantime, check out a snippet of the feedback students received during their presentations from a record number of attendees!
We’re thrilled to announce a curriculum revamp in January 2025! We’ve added new lessons and activities – and kept many favorites – in a brand new layout that will help all educators quickly and easily find exactly what they need. It will be even easier to navigate with customized scope and sequences catered to a variety of content areas including CTE, core content as well as a section that invites ANY teacher in any content area to add a mobile app development activity in their classrooms. We have plans that span one week to a full semester, and everything in between to meet the needs of your diverse learners. We can’t wait to share it with you!
We don’t sit still very well here at MAD-learn. This past month, we were in Hawaii for the Schools of the Future Conference, New York for NYSCATE, and San Antonio for ACTE’s CareerTech Vision. Check out the highlights below! We love nothing more than presenting with some of our fantastic partners: Heather Singmaster from Digital Promise, Eric Knapp and Andrea Wright from DeKalb County, Laurie Guyon from WSWHE BOCES, Jackie Johnson from Millennium Arts Academy, Vangie Casinas from Nanakuli-Waianae, Saundra Watts from Cobb County, Victor Hicks from Coding with Culture, and so many others! Thank you for letting us be a part of your journey!
In the spirit of giving and the upcoming holiday season, MAD-learn is offering some THANK YOUs for teachers who share their awesome MAD-stories and mobile app development projects on social media.
Choose any one (or more) of the following and enter for the chance to win one of five $100 Amazon gift cards:
- Post one of your favorite apps and tell us the story behind it and tag us
- Post a video sharing your MAD-learn experience and tag us
- Post a video of a student sharing their MAD-learn experience and tag us
- Post a picture or pictures of your classroom app-building session/ sessions and tag us
- Post a picture of you with, using or wearing any MAD-learn swag and tag us
- Post a quote about your MAD-learn experience and tag us
The more you post, the more chances you have to win! The contest begins now and ends January 10, 2025. Winners will be randomly selected on January 11, 2025.
TAGS: @handles below and #appsthatmatter #MADlearnThanks
Deena George, a prebusiness IT Academy instructor and FBLA advisor at Independence Middle School wears just about every hat in The School District of Palm Beach County. MAD-learn recently had the chance to visit Deena’s middle schoolers for a day of mobile app development. When she’s not busy teaching, she is working with FBLA students to help them develop entrepreneurial and future-ready skills. She is also overseeing the district’s FBLA competition, where students can use MAD-learn to create mobile apps for the competition. We love teachers who love students and Deena is definitely one of them!
… checking out our recent MAD-learn Cook Party! It’s been a minute since we’ve had a MAD-learn cook party and we were long overdue! It’s always a treat when our team has the chance to connect – over oceans -in culinary camaraderie! We made crispy rice pakodi, a savory Indian dish our Product Manager Ashutosh Shukla shared. We love the diversity of our team and the chance to learn about each other’s cultures and epicurean delights. It was the perfect start to our holiday season!
