AnnMaria De Mars

Fish Lake — I know that Shakespeare said a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but there is still a lot in a name. It is our identity, our first impression when someone “meets” us in print. There’s a reason that no one names their baby “Doofus”. Our big problem […]

What’s in a name?

February 22, 2015 in AnnMaria / Educational Games by AnnMaria De Mars

Going through our archives, we came across this great post from December 4, 2013,“The Secret to Productivity: Don’t Be Easily Bothered” that we wanted to share with you in case you missed it the first time around. One of the questions I get asked a lot is “How do you get so […]

Throwback Thursday- The Secret to Productivity: Don’t Be Easily Bothered

February 19, 2015 in AnnMaria / Throwback Thursday / Women in Tech tagged AnnMaria De Mars / multi-tasking / productivity / programming by AnnMaria De Mars

… our next game is for you. Sam and Angie are two regular people, so regular that when they decide to follow in the footsteps of their ancestors and walk half-way across the continent, almost everyone thinks they will fail, probably in a spectacularly tragic fashion. Who do they think […]

If you’ve ever wanted to prove everyone wrong …

February 18, 2015 in AnnMaria / Educational Games by AnnMaria De Mars

Fish Lake Demo – Get It Here First!

February 15, 2015 in 7GenGames / Educational Games by AnnMaria De Mars

snakes — I have taught judo since I was 13 years old when the coach arranged for me to pay my YMCA membership by helping to teach the beginning judo class. I thought about this recently when I was asked for the 7,823rd time “What age are your games appropriate for?” It’s […]

Push-ups for Your Brain

February 14, 2015 in AnnMaria / Educational Games by AnnMaria De Mars

Going through our archives, we came across this great post from April 30, 2010,“Mom! Dad! I need help!” that we wanted to share with you in case you missed it the first time around. This is why: A. I support affirmative action B. I think some kids succeed in math […]

Throwback Thursday: Mom! Dad! I need help!

February 12, 2015 in AnnMaria / Throwback Thursday by AnnMaria De Mars

Julia doing a science experiment — Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them … is the first of the Common Core standards for mathematical practice. It addresses two problems I see VERY often. Whether completing a worksheet or playing a math game, students just pick the first answer that comes to mind. If nothing comes […]

Why I Won’t Make Our Math Games Easier

February 8, 2015 in AnnMaria / Educational Games by AnnMaria De Mars

Going through our archives, we came across this great post from February 14, 2008 on “Teaching Technique: Sounds of Silence” that we wanted to share with you in case you missed it the first time around. Silence is one of the most under-used teaching techniques. As Julia learns mathematics, I […]

Throwback Thursday- Teaching Technique: Sounds of Silence

February 5, 2015 in AnnMaria / Math / Throwback Thursday tagged AnnMaria De Mars / Math / teaching by AnnMaria De Mars

snow — Documenting the excitement of our lives with evrybit.

The Glamour of Business Travel

January 27, 2015 in AnnMaria by AnnMaria De Mars

Featuring cake, singing by yours truly and video games Two days and a couple thousand miles later We installed Fish Lake and the newly-released super-improved Spirit Lake 2015 at Ojibwa Indian School. We’ll be installing both games in five schools in North Dakota this week. We’re scheduled to go into […]

Fish Lake Release Celebration

January 26, 2015 in AnnMaria by AnnMaria De Mars

old computer — My last post, I ranted about Windows security features. In the interest of fair play, today I am complaining about Mac. I understand the reasoning behind all of this. Malware is downloaded from the internet or carried as a virus on media like a flash drive and does bad things […]

Mac Tip on Opening from Unidentified Developer

January 25, 2015 in AnnMaria / FAQ tagged Mac OSX / unidentified developer by AnnMaria De Mars

Dennis is upstairs swearing right now, while I am being annoyed in my office downstairs. No, we have not had a lover’s quarrel (as if!). We are both irritated – with Windows. Windows seems to have been designed with the philosophy that, really, most people are too stupid to use […]

Smart Screen & Other Windows Annoyances

January 22, 2015 in AnnMaria / FAQ by AnnMaria De Mars

Games That Make You Smarter