Frank's Page

Hi Frank,
Like all cell phones in north MI, reception is better in some places than others, for example, reception in our living room is one bar, but in my office, 150 ft north of the house I consistently pull four or five bars. That said, I almost never find myself in an area where I can't communicate. The reception is much better than it was with the other 2 services and phones I've used previously. $30 a month gives you an unlimited data plan, and I'm constantly using it to check my email, check the weather forcast, or to use the built in GPS along with google maps as a navigation unit to find my way to , say, O'Hare airport (which we did Saturday - I'm writing this from N. Carolina). And yes, it automatically picks up wireless networks - it's kind of funny when you're driving along and it chimes up to ask you if you want to join the network from the house you just passed. Once you've been on a network it remembers it, so when i walk into my house or either of my kid's houses it automatically connects to the network without asking me.

Hopefully this helps. Talk later. Tom

Frank,
Tom Here. In my current position as Coordinator for the Michigan Mathematics Rural Initiative I support math learning communities throughout Northern Michigan as well as conducting workshops for middle school teachers. Essentially what all the federal math projects, NCTM, the Mi State Dept of Ed, etc. are saying is that instead of focusing on just computational skills, we need to work on having students understand, or develop correct ways of thinking mathematically. And to do this, you have to conduct your classes in a very different manner. To this end, the M2RI project is working to next year bring our program online to make it available to all schools and communities. I anticipate we'll be working with administrators to help plan and facilitate learning communities of teachers working to make these changes. The CMP materials, currently in ILMS were designed with this in mind. That said, the Inland Lakes staff, administration, and parents, are not yet ready to have this thrust upon them. So as a candidate you don't want to suggest it. I would think you could focus on two ideas. First, the need for the elementary school and the middle school to work together to make sure sure both school's math programs are working toward the same goals, and to make sure all the teachers and administrators agree on what those are. Second, since the MEAP is a narrow, once each year test, That both schools develop goals and evaluations that emphasize more than just what's on the MEAP to truly prepare our students for their future. If you'd like to discuss any of this further, let me know, and we can do it over a beer some evening. Good Luck.

Hi Frank,
Let me address the iphone questions first. I LOVE my iphone. I have better service than I've had with any other carrier. And in other areas of the state the service only gets better. I even have service at our cottage in the UP. for me, the data plan (which you can get without) allows me to not carry a laptop most of the time, I can check my email, get driving directions, go on the internet from anywhere. When I'm in a store looking to purchase something I can go on the Internet and check reviews right from the store. As you can tell, I think the data plan is what makes the device valuable, but in my experience, it's a solid phone without it. I'll give some thought to hte math question and try to respond tomorrow. Good to hear from you. Tom

7:45 2/18
I'll be hanging out here this evening if you want to make contact.....

Tom H