Thing #15 - Not so Delicious as say Ben and Jerry's or a Fresh Pizza

I have avoided working on my 23 things this week because I just have so much real work to do. Normally, I would do anything rather than grade essays, but the very thought of investigating social networking makes me whoozy. I'm beginning to feel A) like a circus lion jumping through flaming hoops, B) that this is all busy work, and C) that no one is actually reading our responses (except for all of you who are fellow web 2.0 learners). I like the knowledge I've learned thus far, but I have to wonder if it's really all that important if I know how to use, let alone know of, Delicious. SIGH. I'm not trying to be a spoil sport, but I'm frustrated and I feel more like one of my students than a highly educated adult with 14 years experience in education. I'm not having fun anymore. Alas, I've come to far to give up; I'm more than halfway finished. Unfortunately, I have to include a link in this post to prove I've completed my task, and I'm a horrid liar, so here it goes:

I have absolutely no idea how I would use this professionally. Personally, yes. I am, as my friends know, a fanatic "virtual" on (and off) line shopper (this means I don't actually have to buy anything . . . I just love to look). I have pages and pages of bookmarked sites I visit on a regular basis in search of cool things I might want to buy or give as gifts if and when I ever have the money. I think Delicious (or devilicious as I think I will call it) would work smashingly for this. Of course, I'm not acctually going to do that, because it would be a total pain in the butt; I've got a system I like and prefer to remain in the 20rd century (that's for you Salinger).

On a side note, I found this while searching for sites to bookmark. Everyone should have one of these (see, now you're going to have to follow my link to know what I'm talking about. C'mon. All the cool kids are doing it. You know you want to. Give in to the peer pressure and enjoy). Also, The Truth is Out There.

Thing #14 which used to be Thing #13

***UPDATE.2***
I have changed the name of this post yet again because I'm afraid I won't be given credit for Thing #14 if this post isn't OBVIOUSLY labeled Thing #14. That's all.

**UPDATE**

Some how I managed to "mashup" thing 13 with thing 14 which really sucks because I have the same comment for both: great ideas IF one has the time and no restrictions (if only such a world existed without having to be Paris Hilton). I did find this groovy skeleton thingy (and holiday appropriate). Originally, it was going to spell out Ninja Mickey, but it became too much work to save each individual letter, paste them into the post, link them, yada, yada, yada. Sorry, but all you're getting today is a link to the spelletons - get it?! Skeletons + spell = spelletons! Ha! I kill me. I feel sorry for the dude on the right side of the N - man, that's gotta hurt (weird train of thought . . . why does the spell-checker have issues with "thingy" but not "gotta"?! Stupid thingy!).

ORIGINAL POST:
This post will have to be short and sweet seeing as I've already lost too much time to a 24 hour tumor and must get back to the job for which I am paid.

If I were a stay-at-home mom with a ton of time on my hands and the holidays coming up, I could have a field day with these tools. A social extravaganza, if you will: twelve months o' babies, teething newsletters, jigsaw babies, pithy talking toddlers, and the ever popular Annual Christmas Card (capitalized because, in my family, it's a real event). And let's not EVEN discuss the scrapbooking potential here! Oy Vey!

Unfortunately, however, with the inane emphasis the state and districts put on TAKS, there is not only no time for fun, but, if it's not covered in the TEKS (which these types of tools are not for secondary English), we aren't allowed to do it. For all their bluster about technology in the classroom, they really don't want us utilizing it. Honestly, the only application I see for these tools in an educational setting is if a student of their own accord, on their own time, and of their own choosing (after all, we can't force them to . . . not when the majority of kids live at or below the poverty line), utilizes said tool to complete a portion of a project. And a very small portion of that project because they must also complete a TAKS-style multiple choice test, a series of OER questions, essays from two unknown genres, deconstruct it all, and redo it, correcting the mistakes.

And, with that, I am done because discussing the the topic further will only raise my blood pressure and drive me to the stroke I will inevitably have thanks to the educational systems and all it's infinite jackassedness! I need a new job.

Thing #7.2 (or 7a)

My newest web find is an instant favorite. I have spent literally hours perusing it's past blogs. When I'm sad, I swing by for a quick pick-me-up. I have shared its contents with my colleagues and they are now addicted too. What is this amazing find?! Why, it's none other than CakeWreck, of course! It has absolutely no educational value whatsoever other than it makes me happy and that keeps me from killing those around me. I have honestly laughed so hard and for so long at this site that I have given myself a headache. Not a good side effect, but well worth the pain. The picture shown here is just a sample of the hours of entertainment found within (thank you Michael H. via CakeWrecks.com). Obviously, much of the humor is a subtle humor that only an English teacher could appreciate. Not only are the photos a visual gag, but, often, it's the written voice of the author (Jen) that adds just the right (and oh, so familiar sounding) touch that results in food item spraying forth from my nose. As soon as I was able, I used my new web 2.0 skills to subscribe and now find a jewel in my reader every morning.

Gluten free Girl blogged about an apple festival she attended on "the island." I'm going to assume she means Long Island and not Alcatraz. Apparently, they had 70 (who new) varieties of apples for the tasting and, of course, all the cider one could drink. This reminded me so much of my childhood spent in Michigan and Wisconsin. Every fall, my family and I went to the orchards to pick apples, drink cider, and dunk the all-important plain cake donut in said cider. My mouth watered into a slippery pool down my chin and on to the floor. I MUST HAVE CIDER! NEED DO-NUT! In my hall at school, we do a monthly breakfast; Salinger, Caw and I are in charge in November. I'm thinking apples shall be the theme. MMMMMMM . . . apples. Apple strudel, apple donuts, apple compote, apple salad, apple butter, apple muffins, apple bread, apple cider, apple juice, apple, apple, apple! On a side note, she also included a recipe for GF English muffins I want to try.

Not Martha has also been talking about apples lately. She provided pictures of some exceptionally yummy looking apples she picked on a recent trip to a Seattle area orchard, as well as a link to the most orgasmic looking candied apples I've ever seen. Truly the Ben and Jerry's of candy apples. FYI, candied apples only exist in the south (and frankly, I find the red "goo" not so appetizing because) we only have caramel apples in the mid-west. In all the states I've lived in (that's six, by the way), I had never heard of a "candied" apple until I moved to Georgia (state number 5). Which brings me to another one of NM's posts/links: Recipes you've never heard of outside of your family*. In my family, like most good mid-westerns, we have a plethora of casseroles. My personal favorite, although not specific to my family only, is the chicken noodle or chicken a la king casserole. One I remember from middle school cafeteria is chili mac (that's right . . . chili with macaroni noodles). Not my favorite, however, if you have never attended public school in a farm community, you just don't know what you're missing . . . the food is - mmwah (frenchesque finger kissing sound) - fantastic!

*I'd love to connect you to this post, but, as I write, there seems to be a technical difficulty on Chowhound's end. I do apologize.

Thing #13

The night vision picture (below right) was created with a night vision capable camera (at least that's what Mickey told me). If YOU wanted to reproduce this effect, you'll need to first upload a picture into comic strip generator, add an accessory such as Mickey's groovy shades using the add props option and then save it as a jpg to a personal folder. You will then upload the new picture (the one with the prop added), and choose the funny template option. The last step is to add the green tint: to the right of the picture, there will be an "add effects" tag; click "more"; you'll be given several options, but the one you need is under colorization.

The wanted picture to the upper left (which, again, Mickey swears is the real deal from his gun-slinger days) can be created in a similar fashion to the night vision picture. Just upload the picture onto comic strip generator, chose a funny template, and then gave the whole image a sepia tone.

The final masterpiece to the left I did actually create using the trading card program. It is Ninja Mickey approved however.

To be honest, I stuck to a basic pattern because the flckr spell thing was p!$$!*g me off. I could never figure out how to add it to my post and, after two days of trying, I gave up. These pics were easy once I figured out how to do it. You can probably guess the order in which I completed them based just on the complexity of each picture. I had more trouble getting all three pics in and making the text work than I did actually making the pics themselves. I'm glad I'm done, though. I see myself using these programs again real soon . . . if I can find the freakin' time. OY!

Thing #12

I used Pikistrips to create this gorgeous presentation. I liked it, but I was rather frustrated with the limited options. I would like to have seen a "cropping" option for the pictures and the ability to place text vertically rather than just horizontally. Overall, though, it's pretty cool. I like the idea of being able to print the strip; with a good printer, this would be an awesome way to do Christmas cards or vacation photo souveniers. The uses really are endless although a little more challenging for education than something fun (oops! Did I say that out loud?! Eek!). To me, this strip seems pretty self explanatory. The only connection I can think to make would be to mention it would go along with my discussion of the Puritins and The Scarlet Letter. Like Salinger whose theme is the seven deadly sins, finding school appropriate pictures for tag words such as "temptation", "sin", "satan", "sinners" and "the devil" wasn't very easy. Obviously, I'm rather fond of old Lucifer, though (the picture not the actual demon). This is a rather stylin' rendition of him which I think deserves posting on my blog twice.

Photo Credits:
This is Not an Apple by kT LindSAy
Apple Temptation by Lawrence OP
The Devil that You Know by Thomas Hawk

Thing # 11.5 - We K.A. all the Way

This actually has absolutely nothing to do with this class other than it is on the internet and it's about education. I found the article rather poignant not because it bashed on parents or because it allowed teachers to blame everyone but themselves for the problems of education, but because it does what few administrations (local, district, campus, state, federal) and communities fail to do: recognizing/rewarding good teachers. And I don't mean the Ron Clarks or the Freedom Writers of the world, but those teachers in the trenches everyday.

So often, our societies (maybe this is part of our Puritan culture), especially in education, recognize only the BAD teachers . . . or the obnoxiously perfect ones that we average teachers could never come close to replicating. I'm willing to bet, we could each open our home town newspapers today and find at least one story about an evil teacher, principal, coach, school board member, superintendent, etc., but we'd be lucky to find a single mention of a good educator.

I've also been thinking a lot about our state professional evaluation process (PDAS). In Texas we offer the labels "below expectations", "proficient", and "exceeds". As Rhonda, Salinger, and Blakester can tell you, there's been much heated discussion about these labels lately, but it wasn't until this morning that I realized something. "Proficient" isn't an insult; it means we do our jobs. No matter where a person works, upon hiring, there is a set of expectations that employee is to live up to whether he's flipping burgers at McDonald's or teaching kids. "Proficient" merely means we are completing all our assigned tasks. Unfortunately, teachers have an ever growing, infinitely complex list. It's no longer special to be wiki-ing, moodle-ing, Flickr-ing, blogging, etc. Web 2.0 IS the expectation. Granted, I'm sure there are a lot of crappy teachers who also receive "proficient" because it's easier to give than a "below expectations", but this also allows for those teachers who may not be paperwork mavens but are still good in the classroom to remain "proficient". Personally, I know I do my job and I don't care what I'm labeled. Admittedly, in the past, I was concerned with how my superiors and colleagues saw me, but, as the list of "things to do" has grown to unending lengths, I've found that I don't HAVE to be perfect on anyone's scale but my own.

Thing #11

I'm with Rhonda on this one . . . I feel like I've been in family-vacation-picture-hell. I realize "we" (we being the general public) are responsible for updating sites such as Flickr by "tagging" and modifying, but there has got to be a better way of finding what one needs. My god! I must have looked a million pictures and only found three (THREE!) that were suitable for my theme (which is Original Sin, FYI). I almost hate to complain, though. If I don't like the setup of a living site, isn't it my responsibility to re-tag or whatever to make it more user friendly? Of course, my Puritan heritage reminds me that no matter what I do or how hard I try, God hates me and I am, therefore, worthy of his wraith . . . damn the fruit and his serpent friend (i.e. Original Sin). Anyway, I SO don't want or have the time to overhall flickr. To be honest, it's almost easier to take my own pictures (I carry my camera in my purse everywhere just in case). As a matter of fact, Blakester and I have both taken advantage of this little habit to add pics to our blogs, sandboxes, etc. Why can't anything ever be easy?!

By the way, the above picture is courtesy of Flickr and Thomas Hawk. It is titled "The Devil You Know." Hmmm . . . doesn't look anything like the devil I know, but I guess that's kind of the point: the devil doesn't LOOK evil; he just IS evil. Better for tempting, my dear (said the wolf dressed as Grandma).

To be honest, I just don't know how often I will actually go to Flickr to find pics. It's way too much work for a slide show/presentation/power point/lesson/whatever that will really only be looked at for a quick second before we move on. I do like knowing how to embed links, though. That's going to be really handy. I have a feeling my family and friends are going to be sick of me and my embedded links before too long. Mwaaa-ha-ha-ha! Just call me Old Scratch!

Thing #10

I have noticed the CC at different times, but I couldn't for the life of me tell you where. Maybe I'm flashing back to typing class and cc: carbon copy. I don't know. Sadly, I don't think cc will affect students' work at all. Not because they don't know about it, but because they don't cite their sources any way. Thus the cut and paste essay (my personal favorite). This is not for lack of trying on teachers' parts; we spend inordinate amounts of time showing them format & examples and practicing. When all is said and done, though, if it's not important to a kid, they ain't going to remember and God forbid they should look it up. The result is a mish mash of styles based on what little they can remember from years of education. I can't completely blame them; I'm the same way. Do you know how many times I've had a car's engine explained to me or the ins and outs of computer basics (bytes, ram, firewalls, etc)? I've made three different attempts to learn Spanish (my boyfriend is even hispanic who speaks fluent Spanish) and I still can't say much more than chanclas. The truth is, I just don't care enough to keep the info in my brain (except the Spanish . . . that's just lack of practice and insecurity). And, I was just as lazy when I was in high school. I guesstimated every time. Probably not something I should confess, but it's true.

Thus far I haven't used any images, films or sound I found on the internet in class because I haven't known how (well, I do, but I'm lazy, remember?) and my TAKS scores have been too high to have technology given to me (Blakester, Rhonda, and Salinger are in the same boat). Recently, the English department did receive ceiling mounted projectors, but we were not given the remotes because we haven't had training. When will this occur? Your guess is as good as mine. Ironically, I did receive an Elmo projector (You know. The thing you can use to project books & papers onto the wall). I haven't been able to use it, though, because I haven't had the required projector (or the remote for the projector). This very expensive piece of technology is still sitting in its box, in the original packaging, unopened, and being used as a printer stand.

I suppose, technically, my teaching materials are owned by the school district. After all, our contracts do state that MISD has the rights to all intellectual and physical property created while under contract with the district. The oodles of ancilleraries given to us by text book companies may be owned by the state (since the text books are). Frankly, they can have it all because I don't use it anyway. Every year, I reinvent the wheel and create my own documents. Probably dumb, but that's the way it goes. If I chose to place any of these incredible docs on the internet, to the district's chagrin, CC would allow other educators to use my stuff for FREE. For that reason, I'm surprised we're even allowed to get on the internet.

Thing #9 - In Limbo

While I wait for my confimation of membership to the sandbox (who knew sandbox membership would be so much like joining a country club), I thought I would begin posting my feelings regarding and the steps I took with said sandbox. I haven't found it nearly as frustrating as others (maybe their warnings prepared me for the inevitable), but I do find it frustrating to have to wait for confirmation of membership before proceeding. What can I say? I'm an impatient person. ? One person I spoke to waited multiple days to receive her sandbox confirmation. Argh! I don't have days. I rush to complete my Things as is.

Good news! As of 8:34 PM, Wednesday, Oct 7, I was an official member of THE SANDBOX! Again, I didn't seem to have near the problems that my predecessors have discussed in their posts. Again, maybe, because I was prepared for an experience rivaling Armageddon, the reality didn't seem so bad. Also, my predecessors are significantly ahead of me, so it is possible they paved the way, trampling down the snow, pushing back the dense undergrowth, etc, etc. Bottom line: not so bad. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to choose the four categories for my portion of the sandbox, but I found ways to have fun anyway (trust me, the picture I've included is FAR better than another, live-action, bear picture I have . . . maybe I'll save it for Blakester. I do know how much she loves that one). Anyway, all is good with the world and I am going to bed.

Thing #8

First, I am very excited about the ideas I gained from Viki Davis's blog on Wiki projects. I had actually been planning a research project over themes from The Scarlet Letter; my idea was to present results in a PowerPoint presentation, but how cool would it be if students created a wiki (even a blog) instead?! Obviously, I've still got some kinks I need to work out, but I had planned on making my directions rather nebulous in nature anyway, allowing students to explore and be creative. The conversation aspect of a wiki is perfect for such an assignment.

My only complaint about Davis's post is totally catty in a way only an English teacher can be. It's written in a style I like to call The Reading Rainbow Essay. "Have you ever been to the zoo? Well, I have and today I'm going to tell you about it!" In all fairness, it did pick up considerably after the intro paragraph, but it was still awfully simplistic; I'm guessing she teaches middle school (if I missed the part where she tells us what grade she teaches, I apologize, but I was practicing my skimming). Other than that bit of snobbery, I actually liked how easy it was to follow (after reading The Scarlet Letter all day, my brain is rather mushy).

With the inclusion of creative writing in the Junior TEKS, the 1001 Flat World Tales was also intriguing. I like the fact that students edited and proof read, forcing the student to improve both grammar/mechanics and content. I get SOOOO tired of the usual teen angst gar-bage. Having a judge or group of judges that requires the author to improve or "have his head cut off" is just plain delightful.

I also checked out Room 15 Wiki and one about some class's question of the month. Before I continue, let me say, I'm tired, cranky, and have had a REALLY bad day. The complexities of this class in addition to all the rest of my work (and being observed by the new assistant principal sometime in the next nine days) is not helping my mood. With that said, I just don't see how the students are actually doing any work and, if they are, how it ties into the curriculum. Mr. Lyndsey's page is cute and informative, but, again, it was created and maintained by an adult. I also have a hard time believing that a group of grade-schoolers (albeit grade-schoolers smarter than I) could, as a class, put together such a vast reaching product as the one seen in the class question of the month wiki. Between benchmarking, milestoneing, TAKS practicing and the actual TAKS (not to mention all the paper work, parent conferences, assemblies, class meetings, emergency drills, announcements, picture days, etc) I just don't see there being time for it all. Considering we've been told be have to give up some of our "pet projects" in order to fit in all the aforementioned crappola, I resent the very existence of these wikis. And, with that, I am done.

Thing #7

I've got so much new information flowing into my brain these days that I'm having trouble actually commenting/blogging on it all. I read the articles, mentally noting ideas I want to comment on later, but when I get to the posting part, I've forgotten all those little nuggets of wisdom I had while reading. The lazy part of me hates to admit this, but I'm going to have to start taking notes.

Here goes:

For some reason, the link to the first article ("How to Comment Like a King (or Queen)") didn't work for me. The page would pop up, I would get two or three lines in, and the page would disappear. I was rather disappointed because those first few lines actually whetted (wetted?) my appetite.

As for the second article ("Ten Techniques"), I felt both relieved and dismayed by the end of it. Being new at this, I've been a little worried about how my "voice" is coming across and whether I'm doing "it" right. The other blogs I have been reading seem so much more . . . complete. Salinger has done a great job at asking questions and leaving topics open ended, just begging for comment. Rhonda also writes in a way that asks for comments and she comes across as very humble as does Blakester. And all three of these bloggers have been complimentary in their posts as well as their comments. I, on the other hand, feel like I've taken the one approach the author did NOT recommend: controversial. I don't mean to be. It wasn't my plan. I read something, get fired up, and the words just start flowing. I am actually feeling guilty for not being more humble. The truth is, though, I am oppinionated. I'm not right, but I am opinionated (I guess that means I think I'm right which makes me an even bigger horse's rear end . . . guilt, guilt, and more guilt). I think Rhonda was right. Because we can say things via blogs that we wouldn't normally discuss in person for fear of hurting a friend's feelings, we are living two separate lives. Considering the comment I made on her blog regarding this (why don't we sit down over a cup of coffee and discuss some of these topics?), I find it interesting that I have come to this conclusion. At first I was sad to think that a group of friends couldn't discuss objectively (argue in the rhetorical sense). But we do. And regularly. The venue, however, makes the conversations feel different. Salinger reminds me regularly (I can get a little defensive at times) that the problem with email is the reader has no way of interpreting the writer's emotions based on just the words used. The same is true with blogging. What complicates the "feel" of a conversation further is the delay between responses and posts. I would still like for us to get together and discuss some of our ideas sometime, but I seem to have worked through whatever angst I was feeling. I have confessed, done my Hail Maries, forgiven myself and am now free to "Go forth and sin no more!" Yeah, right!

Thing #6

I chose both an old and a new favorite for my blogs of interest. The first and oldest love is Not Martha. It plays on the fact that, while crafty, she is no Martha Stewart. The newest love is Gluten-Free Girl. I finally gave in over the summer and admitted the fact that I need to be gluten-free. With said admission, I began looking for recipes, substitutions, and cheats that I could make for dinner that I could eat and my boyfriend actually likes (he's very particular). Ironically, both sites offer a recent post on pies! Fortunately, I happen to love pie. Not Martha provided scrumptious pictures of a recent pie off (her word choice not mine ) she judged and G-F Girl teased me with mouth-watering pictures of glistening, sugar-sprinkled, blackberry peach pie for her up coming cook book . . . in book stores NEXT YEAR! A year?! This woman is just too cruel. I forgave her, though, since she also included a smile-inducing tale about writing letters to David Letterman (I know. I know. A brief missive recalling the entertainment of a hot, boring summer in college hardly makes up for the cruel tease of a possible pie, but, what can I say. It spoke to me). Not Martha also provided a link (and pictures) for Pie Lollipops. My vote is still out on this idea, but I'm leaning toward stupid.

Sadly, my life is overflowing with educational thought each day for me to voluntarily read educational blogs. That may make me a bad teacher, but that's just the way it is. I would much rather read for pleasure, pulling from these ideas and examples to use in my classroom. I can't count the number of ideas I've "stolen" from NPR. Fortunately, they are also one of my feeds. Let the theiving begin! (This is a joke, by the way. My English nerd soul would never allow me to NOT give credit. My collegues and friends will attest to my ravenous hatred of plagiarism).

I don't really know how to end this other than, as I sit here, listening to the thunder, I know my rambling may be interrupted at any moment a la power outage. Knowing my luc