looking back

this was a fantastic project.  It was easy to get behind, but I learned so much about what I want to do as an educator, and just about myself in general.

My favorite tool was thing 21.  I loved how easy this was and I can see so many ways to use this in my class (open house).  I also really like delicious- oh the solution to my ADD.  I have used mind meister to map out my last Brit Lit paper, it was a HUMONGOUS HELP!

The only thing I hated, HATED, about this project was constantly creating a new account here and there...I can't even remember my username or password for half of the tools.  But it was a small price to pay for all that I gained.

Now here is where it gets mushy and gushy, but it's my blog and I can do that:

Thing 21 put my entire semester in perspective.  Despite my best efforts, I got completely behind this semester (and the cruddy part is that everything that came up was out of my control- sick kid, hubby came home a week early, assignments getting pushed back or assigned out of left field, etc.) I was so overwhelmed and exhausted all of the past week, I was (still am) bummed that I knew I was going to be getting more Bs than usual and I was so ready to sleep.

So I get to the video creator and decide to kill 2 birds with one stone- make a video out of Zoe to send to all the grandparents so they will LEAVE ME ALONE for pictures.  I love taking pictures, I will take 18 shots of Zoe in one sitting just for "the perfect picture," I secretly wish I was a photography major...tee hee! Well, I've been so dang busy this semester I haven't taken many pictures, and I was pulling from our summer trip to the beach, Sea World, and the day her dad left for deployment.  Just rifling through the pictures I wanted to use was so emotionally draining- she had gotten bigger and smarter and her daycare teachers knew more about her than I did.  And I have been right here the whole time, I just stayed too busy.

This was upsetting; when I'm not busy she seems to grow up fast then, too.  But this is too fast.

So I have made a decision- I have already registered for next semester, so I am taking 15 hours next semester.  But I was thinking- oh 3 summer school classes, then 15 hours next fall, student teach in the spring, then graduate.

No, No, NO NO NO NO NO!

When I graduate I will be even busier.  I want to remember and take pictures of all I can right now, because the day when she is 11 and hates her mom is going to be here tomorrow.  So I am adding more time onto my degree, and other than the fact that I will be 25 when I finally graduate from college, I am feeling really good about this.

In fact, I think I am going to go watch Zoe sleep, smell her hair, and thank the Good Lord that I realized what I'm missing before it was too late to change it.

"i have been breaking silence these twenty-three years and have hardly made a rent in it"-Thoreau

I found this on the 23things webpage that indicates this project is adapted from a previous online source:

Creative Commons is amazing- it kind of restores my faith in humanity.  We can be nice, we can encourage creativity, we can build off of one another, we can all give back.

Okay, so maybe that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but I love that creative commons allows me to make something that (if I choose) other teachers, librarians, artists, and Joe the Plumbers can use, copy, or build off of.  

Consider Art or Literature or Philosphy.  Everything starts out with one small idea, and some one else comes along and refines, expands, explores, repurposes the idea.  And some one else will come by and do the same thing again.  It's evolution at its finest.

Using Creative Commons to create new resources, materials, and opportunities for my students makes me think of family trees.  If I make something for my students and I've seen how well it worked, I would definitely put it online with a creative commons license.  I would love to see how another educator may modify it and make it better, or hear about how an educator didn't change it at all and it worked in her class too!  The more educators that use my work, the larger the community grows.  The community is united by one thing- the original resource, and that uniting factor makes is where I get this idea of creation and family.  Maybe it's a little esoteric.

Creative Commons is also a testament to the individual.  Consider people in general- we are secretive and selfish.  You rarely hear about "the man" helping out the little guy, but you hear all the time about so and so suing the pants off of another so and so.  Creative Commons shows a side of people that indicates we can still be giving and not completely self-involved.  Maybe I am being very naive, but the simple act of sharing your work (even to a small degree) speaks wonders to me about humanity.

twenty-two podcasts that I still haven't listened to in my itunes subscriptions

Oh beautiful, wonderful podcasts...

Of all the resources- I like podcast alley the best.  I have a really heard time looking at webpages where the text is crammed together (education podcast directory), I don't really know where to focus my eyes and I get overwhelmed at all the text.  I know that sounds really weird- I'm even worse when I click on webpages with tons of amateurish clip art and neon colors.  The other two where just very difficult for me to follow.  I can't explain it other than I have to have something that is aesthetically pleasing to me if I'm going to spend more than a few seconds at the page.  I clicked podcast alley and it worked for me as far as navigation.  But- I didn't look at all 800,000 podcasts they had- they four or five I did see weren't anything I was uber psyched about.

BUT- I lurve, lurve, lurve podcasts.  I subscribe to NPR's Fresh Air and Talk of the Nation podcasts.  Oh how I love them- and I can not tell you how often I am working on an English paper or a lesson plan or a project and 2 days later there is a podcast about my topic.  Oh that always makes me SO SO happy.

Here is one of my favorite podcasts from npr.org: Chicken Butt

no I never wrote a paper or did a presentation about Chicken Butts, this is simply hilarious and I love it.

I am not crazy about the sound of my voice, BUT I do know I will use podcasts for my students and their parents about assignments.  I think this is definitely helpful for disorganized students- they won't have to repeatedly ask me for a new copy of project requirements- the paper will be on the class website AND a detailed description of what I expect in a podcast on the class webpage.

I also am very frustrated about what is and IS NOT available for teaching students about literature and philosophy online.  I think that I'd like to spend my spare time (maybe this summer...?) making podcasts that are resources meant for students. Not lesson plans, or definitions, or an essay written way over their head- just  simple series of podcasts about poetic devices (like litotes, metonymy, synecdoche, etc.) that makes it relatable to students.

twenty-one jumpstreet

This was AWESOME!  By far, this has been my favorite thing.  I am an addict and will undoubtedly pay for the larger videos.  It was SO easy, and it was exactly what I needed to give me some perspective at the end of a VERY stressful semester.

This was also very emotionally draining.  It feels like I haven't hardly seen Zoe this semester (so much homework!) and looking at the pics of Zoe before her dad left and during our summer vacation was SO hard, and made me feel kinda guilty about how little I take time out for her. Of course, I have now watched this video like 30 times since I made it...tee hee!

twenty points is a lot to lose...

...when your technology project is late.  Which it is, and it sucks, because for once I didn't procrastinate.  I just had absolutely nothing go right the last month.  And tonight the internet is making me angry.  "Why?" might you ask.  Because apparently activities and articles about figurative language are only available for kids that are k-8 and college.  No real middle ground. grrrr....  So I thought, hmmmm, maybe there will be something I can use on youtube (this is before I even started this blog) and I found lots of good things...but they all had at least one spot that seemed a teeny bit too suggestive for the classroom.  But this one was my favorite.  It teaches in, a very dry sense of humor, about alliteration.

I love you tube- although after doing the ethical use tutorial, I get frustrated at the amount of stuff copied straight from the TV that I can't use- but would be so good!  Darn ethics...why do I have to care so much?!  But in all seriousness- I think youtube is a great resource for teachers, but we always need to preview video clips and be aware of what we are showing our students.  If we use youtube as a resource in the classroom it is imperative we consider what students have the potential to be exposed to, and know how to make the video clearly relate to education concepts.

he was the one that you met when you were nineteen

that's actually the tail end of  a quote from Simone deBeauvoir.  She said "Why one man rather than another?  It was odd.  You find yourself involved with a fellow for life just because he was the one you met when you were nineteen."

Yes, I know I'm reaching with the blog titles- but I made a commitment, and (dang it) I will see it through!

I actually joined teacher pop weeks ago, I just haven't done anything with it.  So today I left lovely Ms. Tiffany Allemand (seriously, she is like the sweetest most-soft spoken person I've ever met!) a comment and posted a blog.  I am a huge fan of the blog- but it is hard to keep my myspace blog updated (of course it will probably move to wordpress or somewhere soon).  I have been thinking a lot about education b/c I'm entrenched in my home work assignments and field placements.  Of course I can through my thoughts onto my blog, but my friends aren't big into the education field, they are all SAHMs and it doesn't reach them-- gotta remember to consider your audience, right?  So I like that when I have blogs about my thoughts on education I have an education blog.  So that is FANTASTIC.  Plus, any one can read it where as my myspace blog is so private it practically has an iron chastity belt...

As far as other social networks are concerned... I love the Kidd Kradick morning show, his show has been playing in my hometown for about 3 years.  They are fantastic.  They have set up their own social network: www.kiddnation.com.  It's sort of the same concept as myspace.  But not as interesting as the show.  

Social networking is a great idea, but SO addictive.  However, I'm really loving TeacherPop, I guess right now it fits my interests the most.

almost eighteen with an angel face

that is a song by Roy Orbison, for those curious peeps.

myspace....oh, how wonderfully addictive!  I love myspace for the blogging.  You can find me at myspace.com/laurenmeals  Of course, for eighty billion reasons I have a private account.  I am hooked for the blogging, although I am becoming more and more tempted to move my personal blogs to blogspot or wordpress... Maybe over the summer.  Myspace went from a great blogging to the number one way to get a hold of me, seriously, I check it more than my voicemail (like 20x more).  

Teachers should be familiar with social networking sights for a very key reason- checking up on your kiddos.  This is not as a gotcha- you were skipping thing.  Rather, it's a very good way to develop that personal relationship (the fact that you care enough about them to find out and understand more about their personal life is a big gesture of interest) and also clue you in on something that maybe just isn't right with Jenny or Joey.  For whatever weird reason, students hate to tell their teacher what's going on, but have no problem putting it on the internet for every one and their mama to see.  

Additionally, using social networking to reach your students really increases the likelihood that students will do independent learning.  If I put up something on my blog that one student find interesting, he is going to message me and ask more about it (which allows me to find something that interests him to use in class- woot woot!) or he may google it for more info.  If he googles it, he is finding things out for himself and they may stick longer.  One tiny thing I put on my page has the ability to exponentially increase a student's knowledge, engagement, and skill levels.  Thus, Social Networking is also, "Brilliant!"