One Last Thing

Despite all my whining, I have enjoyed this experience immensely. I would argue the statement that it doesn't take much time because it does (unless, of course, you do have 3-4 hours a week to spare). Unfortunately, if I could find a way to buy extra time to complete everything I'm expected to do (at work and home), I would (my fault not that of the class). My favorite part has been the blogging, which I hope to continue doing. I've veered off the educational path pretty far in most of my posts as it is, but I hope to continue the thread on a more personal vein. And, while I don't know how or when I will use many of these skills in my classroom, I treasure the knowledge of knowing how to do them and want to pursue more experimenting. Somewhere in my bones is a love of graphic design/marketing/visual art and I'd like to spend a little more time with Flickr and some of the "manipulation" sites.

The best discovery of this course (neigh, this lifetime) has been Cake Wrecks. This site is brilliant and having it on my reader has made my day much more complete. I've shared it with countless friends and family (I even spent several hours with my mom on her birthday visiting and laughing until it hurt). So, in honor of this glorious website, Veteran's Day, and the completion of this course, I give you this:


caption: "Because nothing says "America" quite like a dead, blank-eyed dog with a flag stuck in his head. [patting heart] Ah, it gets you right here, doesn't it?"

On another note:

Last week, I was at Target gathering stuff together for a baby shower gift. Inadvertently, I grabbed (and held tightly to my torso) a bottle of baby shampoo that had been slit open by a sloppy stock clerk. Not surprisingly, I my belly was covered in goo (did I mention I was dressed to go to my mother's birthday party and had no intentions of returning home?). Frustrated and sticky, I asked an employee for help only to realize she was more concerned about teaching a new stocker how to clean up than actually helping me (I had to ASK her if I could have some of her paper towel to clean myself off). I then stomped off to the women's department to find myself a shirt and change in the changing room. Before I could get the entire request out of my mouth, the employee, who - like her co-worker - was more concerned with the phone convesation she was having about a cat, cut me off saying, "You have to pay first" and pointing in the direction of the registers. I gave up. On the verge of tears, I trudged off to the register and asked to see a manager.

At this point, you're probably wondering why I'm sharing this story. Well, my point is this: I go out of my way to make sure my "customers" (students, co-workers, parents, etc.) get the very best I can give them. I don't brush them off or ignore their needs. I respond at the earliest moment possible to their requests and my personal life takes a back seat to their needs during school hours. I readily admit that I am a recovering perfectionist, and I set my standards pretty high, but I expect as good as I give. That's why I got so mad about my experience at Target. I shouldn't have been kissing their butts, they should have been kissing mine. I spent quite a bit of time (particularly in the middle of the course) feeling very frustrated. Once the high of learning began to dwindle, the extensive requirements (in addition to the demands of job and family) made the experience much less enjoyable. Granted, I'm an English teacher, but I often felt the instructions were needlessly obtuse and confusing and in some cases, could have used some updating because the programs/sites had changed. I make mistakes, but I feel it is my job as a leader to prepare the path everyday for my students so they can clearly follow it toward their destination. With this said, I felt, especially in the beginning, there could have been better communication between the facilitators and students. There were times when multiple emails were not acknowledged and it became necessary to contact other members of the MISD23Things instructional team in order to have administrative tasks completed so I could continue with my Things. Overall, however, I am very pleased with the experience I have had. I'm even more pleased that this has all been completed on-line at my own pace.