Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Before and After (Before!)

Howdy, all. Happy Wednesday.

I interviewed for the computer teacher position on the 14th of July, and once the system had officially run its course and I had accepted the official offer from MNPS Human Resources yesterday, I got into the lab to clean it so that it sparkles the first day of school. My son Colin came in to help, and in just under 3 hours of work we had it done. I just want to share the before and after pics here. I often use the Panorama mode on my iPhone. Be sure to open these by clicking them so they open to full size. I want to thank the custodial staff for getting most of the extraneous furniture and books and such out of the room so we could get to the carpet with our Shark vacuum cleaner! Love that machine!

Before:

and there will be two "after" pics, because I want t share the whole room. We now have ample space for the kiddos to gather at the start of class on the floor in front of the projector for the day's greeting and directions!

After:


Thanks to my handsome, talented, and hardworking son Colin for all his help! Now, when I arrive for the first day of work next Monday, I can concentrate on some decorations to warm up the room, troubleshooting, defragmenting and configuring the lab computers, and working on my curriculum for Kindergartners, 1st graders, 2nd graders, 3rd graders, and 4th graders. It's going to be a good year.
See you soon!

Monday, July 25, 2016

Welcome to 2016-2017

Hello, Parent.

If you are reading this, you're here! Yay.
I am Scott Merrick, and I want to introduce myself briefly so that you know a bit about the computer teacher your child is scheduled to see once a week. Weekly as well, I will be posting here about what is going on in Mr. M's Tech Lab at Warner Enhanced Option School on Russell Street. So favorite/bookmark this site and visit often.Yes, I like to make communication easy by going by the nickname, "Mister M."

I have been a teacher since 1996, when I started my teaching career fresh out of Peabody College at Vanderbilt University. Before that, I had worked for years in the food service industry as restaurant manager for Williams Island in North Miami Beach and here in Nashville, at the Slice of Life Restaurant and Bakery, and at Ruby Tuesday. Before that I made my living mostly by playing music, starting in Alaska, then in Los Gatos, California, and on cruise ships in the Caribbean Sea.

I have taught at Dodson Elementary School, University School of Nashville; and most recently, since 2010, I helped create and implement and I taught online at MNPS Virtual School. I was also a primary support for students, teachers, and families at Virtual School. My work there being done, I am extremely excited to begin building a 21st century curriculum for your children.

I have a lovely wife, Lee Ann, of nearly 30 years, who created, co-owns and operates Tinwings, a fresh food catering and grab-and-go business in The Nations; and I'm blessed with two grown children, Miranda Buell--who works at Nashville's Room in the Inn--and Colin, who is a rising rock star and who works two jobs to help support his efforts in that realm. A tip of the hat, too, to son-in-law Timothy Buell, who is a professional drummer and has his own website related to his work at http://timbuell.net.

We have two dogs and a cat. This week, Ruby says hi:
I recently left MNPS Virtual School due to reorganization and was offered this chance of a lifetime, to teach your children weekly and to help support their teachers' efforts to integrate technology into their learning experiences. The program in Mr. M's Tech Lab will grow as our mutual students grow. I promise I will work like crazy to help them be both skillful and safe in the rapidly changing landscape of educational technology.

I also want to help you. Any questions at all that you may have about anything relating to technology, I will be glad to tackle. Email me at scott.merrick@mnps.org anytime, or call and leave voice mail at my Google Voice number, 615 576-0252. Really.

That's it in a nutshell, and enough for now. Stay tuned!