Merry Christmas to all!

I am sure everyone out there is as busy as me right now, but I just wanted to say that I wish all of you a Merry Christmas. Please enjoy the light show as you think about what you are grateful for this season.

Moving on with Mona Vie

Well, graduate school is all done now. I am happy and loving the free time this has created. In addition to some much needed chores around the house (painting, yard work, etc.) we are now drinking Mona Vie. Check out this website to see all the health benefits. www.the-team.biz/MV899410 Here you can read about how good it is for you. Contact me if you want to taste how good it really is! I love drinking it and it has done wonderful things for me and those I know. I can tell you for sure that I certainly have a lot less cravings for food since I have been drinking this. I love it. The website also tells you how to get started drinking and/or promoting for only $39. Check it out and let me know if you are interested. You won't be sorry you tried it.

Computer Ethics

My graduate presentation that I will be presenting this morning is all about computer ethics. I know that you are thinking that can't be much fun. I have included some interesting links and resources for you. Take a look. Maybe you can have fun at Copyright Bay!
Presentation
Acceptable Use Policy

Free stuff for teachers

Today I got my latest issue of my union newsletter. At the bottom of page three I found a little blurb to check out called teachers love free stuff! Well, it is from NEA and has links to a variety of different free material that may be of use to you in your classrooms. Not everything applies to everyone, but there should be something that you find of use. Good luck and happy getting free stuff.
http://www.nea.org/resources/free-stuff.html

NCTE Inbox newletter article

This article, though somewhat lengthy, does have some good points about technology and the way that this school district is using it. There are some great points and I bet that you are on page two before you know it. People such as David Warlick are mentioned in it as well.

Web Tools: The Second Generation
A Pennsylvania school district has joined other schools that support their curricula with Web 2.0 tools to help students use 21st century skills such as critical thinking and collaboration. District Administration, May 2008

Research about blogs and writing

Interesting that there are studies backing what we have learned in class. More writing does in fact strenghten it. Encouraging kids to use a blog or even assigning one can be helpful. Check out the following article I just recieved in my NCTE Inbox newsletter.

Blogging Helps Encourage Teen Writing"Blogging and other forms of virtual debate actually foster the very types of intellectual exchange, analysis, and argumentative writing that universities value," said Bradley A. Hammer, an instructor in Duke University's writing program. eSchool News, April 30, 2008

More misheard lyrics

Here is a Sonny & Cher song for all you classic lovers. I don't find it quite as funny as CCR, but no one is perfect. It should at least give you a little laugh for the day. Enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmJZiMUwYJ8

Résumé Update

One of the classes I teach is a senior English course called Business Communications. In this class we do things that will be frequently done in the business world. Some of the things covered are slogans, résumés, cover and follow up letters, references, phones messages, etc. Many students really struggle to compose a fluent cover letter, resume, and references. Resume Update 2008 is a podcast that will allow you to get some ideas to update your resume with a standard that will allow you to keep up with the current trends. This particular cast is an update of one that they gave on October 31, 2005. There they went over all of the basics to building a complete résumé. This podcast gives the latest trends and even advertises a resume review service. This is just another tool to reinforce how important it is for people to review how vital it is that résumés are proofread. If you are writing a résumé, or teaching someone else how to do it, you should listen to this cast. I will recommend it to my students.

Jpodder

I wasn’t sure which podcatching software to use. I used the Podcatcher Matrix to take a look and see what was free and what would work with Windows XP. I really liked how they narrow down what is available instead of me randomly searching for things that may or may not work on my machine. I decided to go with jpodder even though I had about 6 choices left when I was done.
I searched all through the lists of things they have available. I was almost overwhelmed at the amount of podcasts out there to subscribe to. I decided that because I teach high school English, I would do something in that direction. I decided on podictionary. This is a daily word with the etymology of the word. I know. It makes sound a little like a nerd, doesn’t it? That’s okay by me. I like words and I like to learn new words. I secretly enjoyed my college class that dealt not only with word origins, but also accents. Anyway, check out jpodder. You will like how easy it is to use.

Video Blogs

This video (after a few more edits) will be placed on the school website on the library section. I will also be completing one for the elementary and middle school libraries as well. This way students and parents have an idea of what to expect and what areas to look in before they even get to the library.

Google Docs

The ability to work with a group when you can’t get together, or just don’t want to spend the gas money, is becoming more and more important. People are trying to work from home more and more. I still haven’t figured out how to teach school from home though. Various times throughout the year I assign a project that requires students to work either in partners or small groups. Freshmen can’t drive. Seniors are busy with work. It seems almost impossible to require it if little in class time is given. With Google Docs, all of the worries go away. First, all participants can sign up to use Google Docs for free. Then, one person can make the document and give the others access to it. Each person can add their own parts and have the ability to edit the work of their classmate’s. All work is secure because no one can access it that wasn’t given permission. Google Docs can be found at http://googledocs.com

Interesting thoughts from a marketing executive

I got this today in my http://www.waxcoach.com/ newsletter. It has some interesting thoughts from a non-educational perspective.

To Blog or Not to Blog?
Written by Bonnie Harris

“To blog or not to blog” seems to be the modern day version of Hamlet’s famous soliloquy. We’re all told that “you need a blog” and it seems like a simple task. But once started it turns into a hopelessly futile commitment with no short-term gain. So this month we look at the reasons for blogging, how to make the blog easy to do and why blogging may or may not be for you.
First of all, and this is something I learned the hard way, don’t expect ANY results from your blog in the first six months if not year. Although search engines do pick up blogs much faster than normal copy on a website you have to understand that like any other branding mechanism it takes a while for blogs to work. And because internet promotion is organic you can’t manage it as easily as you might an ad campaign or even a traditional public relations campaign. Blogs work by the laws of ATTRACTION rather than promotion. But once they get going it’s amazing what can happen. I was on a shoot the other day and the broadcaster casually mentioned how much she liked my blog. Huh? I had never met her before. Talk about credibility. My blog’s been up for about nine months now.

Read More

Ta Da Lists

I am a lists person. I think I probably always have been. It keeps me on track. I have a books to read list, a summer projects list, a grocery list, a things to plant in the garden list, etc. The lists help me to keep focused on the task at hand and helps me to get right back to where I left off if I get interrupted. Yesterday my husband had a list of things at home that he needed to get at the store after work to take with turkey hunting (he was in charge of the snacks). When I was getting ready to leave I noticed his list still sitting on the arm of the couch. If he has used a service like Ta Da Lists, he would have been able to still access his list from work or any other place (like his cell phone). Instead I had to email it to him when I got to work.
In the fall of the year we pass out assignment notebooks to the students. Many of them use them, but just as many do not. Students are more technology efficient than we as adults tend to be. Students could use a service like www.tadalist.com for keeping track of up to 10 lists for free. What could be better than free? Lists can be accessed from any device that has Internet access. This would be good for students who don't like to keep track of the paper version.

You Tube Uses

Many people have seen you tube videos before. I have decided that as long as I have students doing silly things on you tube like drinking a jar of pickle juice and then throwing up, my class could make use of and add more useful things to you tube. My freshmen are currently reading When the Legends Die by Hal Borland. This book is a fictional account of a Ute Indian. In the past I have had students research different aspects of the book. This year I will be having them find a Native American legend on www.youtube.com and watch it. Then, they can create their own story that mimics it or create their own legend for something and make a video to upload. This way they can search and watch some videos as well as practice making useful contributions. I will add a link to some when we are done so you can check them out.

The importance of being understood - clearly

Clarity is so important in the world today. We need to use tools available to us like spell check. Yesterday I read through 30 resumes for the job we will be interviewing for next week. If you are going to apply for a job, ANY JOB, you should not only use spell check, but proofread. How does it look to a potential employer if you cannot spell correctly on a cover letter and resume. Now image how it looks if you are applying for an English teaching position. Anyway, enough of my tirade. I have a little video that shows just how important it is to speak clearly as well as my seniors will be doing some interviewing next week. I will be showing this to them and 'quizzing' them on the actual lyrics. Just one way to add a little fun to the classroom while still learning.

Social Bookmarking

Also for class I have been learning a lot about social bookmarking. One year ago, I would have had no idea what the heck that meant! Currently, I actually have my own account and have first hand knowledge of using one. The class I am in now is the third technology class in a row that had discussed this topic. The one I became a member with was delicious. Check out http://del.icio.us/ for all the details about how to set one up. The short definition is that through using this service, you can be on any computer anywhere in the world with Internet access and reach the sites you have saved for yourself for later access. You can also add to your list from anywhere. This becomes handy for those that don't like to lug your computer everywhere you go so you have all your own files. If you have not yet used it, I recommend at least finding out more about it. You would be surprised how handy it can be. We even did a mock up of a staff development plan for getting our whole distrcit on board using this technology. Email me if you are interested in seeing what we did and I would be happy to share it!

Flickr

So, I am learning all about Flickr for class. I like the user friendliness of the site. Because I am already a yahoo user, I feel like things went fast and smoothly. I would recommend the service to others after my experience. Although I may be more technologically inclined than some of my friends, family, and co-workers, I by no means consider myself an expert. If you are looking for an easy way to add some photos to your blog or other web based product, you may want to check out http://www.flickr.com/ They walk you through every step of the process. Good luck, and have fun sharing some of the photos you take.

Thoughts about Blogging

I am still not sure how comfortable I am with blogging in general. It seems like a great way to get your thoughts out in public quickly and efficiently. Also, it would make you a better writer if you are doing it on a continual basis. Some of my students love it and do it on their own on sites other than myspace or facebook or etc. Currently because our school blocks blogs, I can only see them for research or pleasure reading outside of school. I feel like it is a pain to try to fit in my schedule. As long as we as teachers can teach about safety on the internet and students can abide by the rules, I do think it is an inevitable result of the way society as a whole is heading. Right now, it still is a bit tedious of a process for me because I am a digital immigrant and not a digital native. Someday I will be more comfortable and do more entries in a shorter time span.
For those of you wondering, Arizona was wonderful. It was sunny and warm everyday and we saw a lot. We put 1400 miles on our rental car in 10 days. We took over 1000 photos so I should have a couple of good ones for the Christmas letter. The luggage apparently liked vacation so much it took an extra two days to get home. But, it all ended in the right place. Can't wait for the next trip. Thanks to all of those who helped us in our journeys.
Posted on: Sun, Apr 6 2008 8:20 PM

Loving the sunshine

So I am sitting in sunny AZ right now. It was about 86 and sunny all day. Good thing we flew in last night because at home they had to shut down the airport because they got way more than the predicted amount of snow. Makes me glad to be in the sun and not have to shovel.
The second book I read on the plane yesterday was Leepike Ridge by Wilson. I was ready for another book about a single parent trying to raise their child right. What I got was Indiana Jones meets an 11 year old boy. The book did start off slow, but in chapter 2 (I think) Tom set off on an angry float down the river and fell asleep. He got sucked under the mountain and found a man who had been there three years. Some treasure hunters are really the only ones who want to help look for the boy (or at least say they are looking for him). Turns out that Tom had his father's determination. I can say that this book really did delight me at at every turn, and there sure were a lot of them. The 224 pages seemed to fly as fast as the US Airways plane I was on. While it seems that more boys than girls would appreciate this book it seems to be for anyone with an adventurous spirit.
Posted on: Fri, Mar 21 2008 8:58 PM

Two plane rides

Last night we took one plane from Milwaukee to Texas and another fromt here to Phoenix. I finished one book and then read another. The great thing about not sitting next to people you know is that strangers aren't offended when you read the whole trip. The book I finished was called Greetings From Planet Earth by Kerley. I wasn't sure I was going to like this book at the beginning. I pulled it out of a bag to preview for the middle school as I have the other seven I will write about soon. From the title I was expecting a sci-fi book of some type, but was pleasantly surprised to find that this was not the case. This book follows the story of a family split apart by the Vietnam War, or should I say conflict. The father left to do his duty. The mom resented it. They exchanged letters. Grandma helps out with the two kids while mom finished her degree and got a teaching job. Theo, the younger brother, and Janet, the older sister, interact much as any family would. When dad returns from the war, he is unable to return to his everyday life, and never comes home to them. Mom and grandma tell the two kids that dad is MIA. Five years later it all comes to a head when the truth comes out. This book did have some interesting points throughout the course of the book as Grandma tries to tell the story of dad to Theo and whern Theo's science teacher gave them an assignment that involved the students making a picture and sound recording to be sent into space as part of the Voyager project. Overall, not a bad read for a middle school book. It would appeal to both boys and girls.
Posted on: Fri, Mar 21 2008 11:17 AM

March 11, 2008

Well, this is my first blog entry and I am not sure exactly what I have to say that anyone else will even ever want to read. I will come up with more exciting entries later. Now I am feeling overwhelmed with the sheer volume of work to be done. I am taking a children's literature class, this digital media class, trying to finish my 90 hours of library practicum and do my teaching all the while keeping up with duties of a wife at home like grocery shopping and cleaning and laundry.
One fun thing that happened is that I got a job with the DNR for the summer. I will be working cusotmer service at the Ice Age Center. I am excited to not have to correct a stack of papers daily! It will be a wonderful change of pace.
For now I am done. Come back again and read something more exciting and I have good thoughts to share with you!
Remember that it has not come to stay, it has come to pass.
Posted on: Tue, Mar 11 2008 9:58 PM