Plea for Daisies

Out of all the mashups and third parties that use Flickr, I really enjoy the collage and speller. I'm still churning ideas over in my mind as to the application for some of these in my classroom. I will definitely use my mashup to help my favorite television show.




This is a plea for all those who may read this to watch Pushing Daisies on ABC this Wednesday 10/29/09 at 7/8 P.M. If you are afraid to get involved with a show in the middle of the second season, rent the first season, fall in love with the show, and jump in! The show uses unique and vibrant visuals to tell the most entertaining and odd stories. It would be a true loss to have such a show taken off the air. Please watch.

Thing # 11

I love Flickr as much as I am frustrated with wikis! A whole new treasure trove of images unfolds page after page after page. The documenting is relatively easy to do, especially if I only search within the Creative Common licensed photos. From now on, when I assign technology projects that would require images, I know how to instruct my students on properly borrow images from Flickr. Although, I have a feeling most of them already know about it and will be frustrated that I now know about it and will make them document their images.

The idea of using Flickr to illustrate vocabulary or to visualize a scene from a story really interested me. The vocabulary more because of the difficult nature to illustrate some words.

The photos I searched and chose were pink flowers and fairy tales. (Read the blog title: Hopeless Romantic...) Here is one of my favorites:





Photo by:
drops of spring Uploaded on June 1, 2007by Steve took it

Barack-ing the Vote Even if You're of the NObama Persuasion

Saturday found my husband and me early voting. It turns out we will actually be in Washington D.C. on Election Day, so we chose to vote now. As they scanned my driver's license (I seem to have misplaced my voter's registration) and lead me to the voting room, an intense feeling of pride for my country overwhelmed me.

Please understand, I do love living in America and am grateful for all that it represents. However, I've never really gone out of my way to be extremely patriotic. Yet, as I approached my voting booth it occurred to me that a century ago I would not be allowed to stand in this place and have my say in the government. It also occurred to me that were I in another country, I might be prohibited from choosing my country's leader. Just thinking about these things made me become irritated at those that refuse to vote because they feel it doesn't really count or will be canceled anyway. That's the loser's excuse for being too lazy to go and vote!

So what if another vote cancels mine? I still had my say and now reserve the right to complain if I don't see the change I am hoping for in a new president. Not to mention all the political positions that could affect me, my family, or my job that were on the ballot. If I had opted not to vote, I would have missed the opportunity to help a local hospital improve itself because my "for" in favor of money being spent for the improvements would have been left unsaid.

Regardless of the end result, NOTHING can erase the pride and excitement surging through my veins when I walked out of the early voting location. Everyone who is able, should get up and vote! Complain all you want later if your candidate doesn't "win." Just be grateful you have the opportunity to affect change.

Photo Provided by:
American Flag Uploaded on August 3, 2007 by Tanya Ryno

Thing #10

Somewhere in my subconscious I have heard of Creative Commons. Due to it being shoved so far back into my mind, I never really gave any thought to what it was or meant. Honestly, the little CC emblem on sites never caught my attention before. However, I have a feeling I will start to notice it more and more now that I'm aware.

As far as impacting my work and my students work goes, now that I know Creative Commons exists it will be harder for me to allow my students to pull material from wherever they please. Interestingly, as a Catholic I regularly go to Confession (that's not saying I go so often because I'm a rotten person...), and in this day and age part of examining my conscience with guidance from the Ten Commandments is asking myself if I have stolen any online material intentionally or not. Once I know something is wrong, I cannot keep doing it. I pay for all my iTunes (much to the chagrin of my husband), and I avoid using video, audio, images, or text from online sources because I do not want to accidentally steal what is not mine. Creative Commons will hopefully give me a safe and honest way to begin to integrate video, audio, images, and text!

My own teaching materials are so borrowed and modified from my predecessors, I would not know where to give credit. Actually, I don't even feel comfortable copyrighting my teaching materials because I feel curriculum should be shared among educators since we are all trying to educate future generations.

Of course the material on Creative Commons will always be limited because some people simply will not share. This is not a huge problem, and I really only see positive potential with this idea. The trick will be figuring out how to use it effectively.

As I watch Luke Skywalker battle the rancor...

This post will kill time for me in two ways:
1. My pizza hasn't arrived yet.
2. I have class in an hour.

I was informed that the reason more people have probably not responded to my "Burning Question" is because I messed up my sandbox page, and a person will have to join my page to participate in discussion. So this is an invitation to the other members or our 23 Things class, or anyone who loves me, to join my wiki page.

Well, the pizza's here, and they messed up my half! Adios.

The Platform Between 9 and 10

It's Sunday evening, and I'm avoiding grading papers. The fact that I now have both a blog and a wiki keeps me constantly checking to see if anyone has responded to my "Burning Question" or any of my blog posts. Yep, that's just the kind of nerd I am. Also, my husband heard about my incredibly basic knowledge of html code, thanks to that blasted wiki, so he had me format his website for him: LG Electronics Sucks! He was so proud of what I did, I didn't have the heart to explain that most of it was just copying and pasting from codes on the internet. Oh well...

Thing #9

In order to complete the assignment for the Sandbox, I printed the "cheat sheet" AND I kept the instructions open in one tab and the example open in another. There was a lot of clicking back forth between the two tabs. My compassionate husband noticed my struggling when I couldn't seem to get my page to look right, so he read through the directions and "translated" them for me. Once I received them in "Lydia Speak" they made a lot more sense. After I tackled that hurdle, my frustrations vanished and I desired to distinguish my wiki. I went back to The Cutest Blog on the Block and figured out how to copy the code to fit in the wiki.

It turned out that I liked the background to my wiki better than the background on my blog. It only made sense to change the background on my blog to match! This of course led to me reformatting the fonts and colors for my blog...But this isn't about my blog, it is about my wiki.

I'm still not sure that I will have a solid use for a wiki any time soon. However, I will do my best to become more familiar with it so it is ready when I need it. As I said before, I welcome any tips for maintaining a wiki or shortcuts that make managing it easier. Please take a look at The Rock Princess wiki and respond to the question on the Sand Between My Toes page.

Ah...the sandbox. Well, it is definitely going to be a love/hate relationship. Obviously I was distraught when I wrote Thing #8 3/4. It pushed me to the point of trying to understand enough of how to "write" a wiki to customize my background and everything. Of course, I realized today that I misunderstood the directions and created my sandbox page as an offshoot of my personal wiki instead of the sandbox wiki. Oh well, I'm so please with how it has turned out that I don't want to change it! Now, if someone could only tell me how to make sure my fonts don't change regardless of which fonts are installed on the computer...

Thing 8 3/4

I just started looking into this Sandbox thing and realized why I don't like wikis. I'm following all the directions and the code is confusing and when I preview my page it doesn't look anything like the example. It should not be this difficult!

Yes, I'm frustrated, but I will be okay. I am pleading for any tips or advice for fixing my current disaster known as wikispaces.

Crisis avoided! I would still love tips for wikis, but they are a lot more work then I anticipated.

Thing 8

This is the "thing" I have been dreading because I'm not comfortable with a wiki. I have yet to see why anyone would choose to use a wiki over a blog because I couldn't imagine what the students would need to make changes on. As I explore the wikis on the 23 Things blog, I will also write my post. This way I can share my immediate feelings and questions as I work through the different wikis. With that said...



Okay, I like the way the 1001 Flat World Tales is set up. The tabs at the top of the page make navigation pretty easy. I can clearly see that it is a protected site, and it blows my mind that there are students working with this wiki in Hawaii, Colorado, and Korea. Honestly, I'm still not familiar enough with wikis to tell if anything is missing or if I would do anything differently. However, I do have an idea for a creative writing class and wikis (if I end up teaching creative writing). I love the premise of having to write a story to impress the "king." I suppose any English class could use the wiki to revise and edit a paper.



Moving on to the FHS Wolves Den page because it combines English and U.S. History. This site actually seems more complete. The coolest thing is the class chat option. If I could guarantee a time for students to all be on at the same time, this could be very beneficial. Right now I just get the same two or three students that track me down on my Facebook or shoot me an e-mail. Not quite sure how I feel about all that information in one place. It seems overwhelming, but I think that is because I'm just exploring and do not have a specific piece of information that I'm looking for. Overall, I like how this is very much a class website with all the stuff students might need for class, discussions, papers, etc. There is even a place for the summer reading:).



Finally, I'm looking into Room 15 Wiki. Unlike the other two, this one is on pbwiki. It also is a younger group of students then I teach, so I'm interested to see how the wiki is being used. So far, I'm not as impressed as I was with the previous two. This seems to be on the more basic end of wikis. The sections at the bottom are nice. I really enjoyed the book reviews, but I am not sure there is anything on this particular wiki I could use.



I'm still in limbo with regards to wikis. Again, I cannot see the difference in wiki as a website and blog as a website. I can post classroom information and calendars on the blog. My students can write book reviews and create pages for projects in a blog. The one use that I might try to implement is the revising/editing of papers. Also, all the wikispaces I looked at are done in cute colors with pictures. I went ahead and created a wikispace, but it seems like I need to be able to write code before I can change anything. I don't know code! Here's where I could definitely use some solid comments:



1. Who out there uses wikis and prefers them over blogs?

2. What are "cooler" uses in the classroom then just revising/editing papers?

3. How can I jazz up my wikispace without having to know code?



A goal I set for myself in the beginning of this course was to expand beyond my blog. I would really like to use a wiki as well.

Thing #7

Why does commenting make me uncomfortable? There's a great scene in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back where Jay and Silent Bob are going door to door in order to beat up the people who have commented on a movie made about the not-so-dynamic duo. Perhaps I have an unreasonable fear that my comments will be misinterpretted and an angry blogger will be knocking at my door.
I just never really engaged myself in commenting on blog posts. This is evident when I expect my students to comment, and I don't go over proper ways to leave a comment. Fortunately, there are some great resources on our 23 Things blog. After reading a few of them, my confidence in commenting definitely went up. I'm more conscience of what I comment and how I comment. I figure as long as I think before I type and sincerely respond to the post, maybe no one will feel the need to pulverize me:).
It may also come down to criticism. Who likes being told that their writing stinks? Naturally, I think worst case scenario when it comes to the comments I may find on my blog. My fears of criticism, even if it is constructive, keeps me from being part of the "conversation" of a post. The good news is that I'm working on that!
Of course with all my RSS feeds, I will probably start commenting like a maniac. Here's to another late night!

Thing #6

Holy cow! I've spent so much time trying to connect to RSS feeds that it is now 11:10 P.M. on a Monday night. I believe I have collected everything from The Dallas Morning News to my current fave Pushing Daisies to Catholic Apologetics. Maybe I'm having too much fun with this RSS thing.

Google Reader is such a useful tool for simply collecting information. Plenty of my students would rejoice in such a discovery. My husband's curiosity spiked when he saw what I was doing. I then got to explain how the feeds work and why he should set up a Google Reader as well. Of course he wants to subscribe to all the boring stuff like politics and economics and business (yuck).

Right now my two favorite educational feeds are Students 2.0 (Think Different post) and The Fischbowl: Is It Okay to be Technologically Illiterate. Perhaps the biggest ideas that jumped out at me were the notion of having to educate life long learners (Think Different post) and how people who choose to remain ignorant of technology, "should be embarrassed, not proud, to say so in public" (Fischbowl).

Okay my fellow Thingers...some of you have not set up your blog to have RSS feeds. What is up with that? How am I supposed to subscribe to your blog if you will not give me the option? Also, thanks to a couple of you more savvy bloggers, I discovered TheCutestBlogontheBlock.com and my blog has a new look! Does anyone else think this is the coolest PFK s/he has taken?

Thing #5

First, I want to apologize to my fellow 23 Thingers. I should not be as far behind as I am. With that said. Here's my Top 5 List of why I like RSS feeds:

1. RSS feeds allow all of the information I want to access to accumulate in one place.
2. RSS feeds stay current so I know that the information is up to date.
3. Sorting through the feeds gives me something to do while I procrastinate on 23 Things or house work or graduate papers.
4. After finding the feeds that pique my interest, I can e-mail them onto my peers who may also be interested.
5. There does not appear to be a limit on all the trivial knowledge I can collect in my reader.

Now, one of the pages I was able to visit describes What Makes a Good List. Feel free to check for yourself and see if I met the criteria.

Thing #4

Interestingly, blog writing seems to free people of any inhibitions that might arise from face to face discussion. For some reason, blog posts tend to be entertaining in a different way from regular literature. When I read a book, I play a movie out in my mind with fully casted characters and settings. However, the voice behind most blog posts has a "smart-aleck" or "mocking-conversational" feel. An excellent example of this type of voice is the blog about assigning homework. I wonder if that is because as a blogger, I need people to "see" me more as a person since they are communicating, essentially, with a screen? That may also be why the more popular contemporary novels are written similarly to a blog--very conversational, accessible vocabulary, comfortable reading level, easy to visualize.

Unlike a novel, the blog allows interaction on the part of the reader. Comments are a great way to revise our thoughts or opinions about a topic. Sometimes they may seem ignorant or agitating, but they definitely bring up a point-of-view a blogger would not receive if s/he were only speaking amongst a group of friends that felt the same way. So many skills may be acquired this way. Students can learn proper ways to comment and proper ways to receive criticism. It could expand viewpoints on an issue. It could offer encouragement. It could even validate the reason the blog was written in the first place by the simple fact someone is reading it.

With so many advantages, it's no wonder why teachers are grabbing up blogs and using them in the classroom. In the end, it was the post about the true integration of this technology that really caught my eye. Right now I believe I am the teacher that wants to have all these cool things, but has yet to learn how to properly create a learning environment where the technology is used to its full potential. This is another reason for my interest in the course 23 Things. (I do have a class blog, but I know I do not keep up with it like I should.)

For now I'm going to keep blogging and learning.

Thing #1

Maybe it's a characteristic of my generation, or maybe it's my right-brainedness, to refuse following any type of regulations/habits that might make me a better person. I don't like boxes and I especially don't like people assuming I can fit a generic mold. With that said, I understand why we would want 71/2 Habits in order to be a successful lifelong learner. Lifelong learning isn't something that comes naturally to everyone. However, I think lifelong learning is more ingrained in the younger generations. They grow up being a part of their lives instead of simple bystanders. Many of my students are involved in multiple activities, extracurriculars, co-curriculars, and organizations. Many of my students know how to manipulate the internet to create blogs, myspaces, facebooks, etc. Many of my students expect to be a part of the education process.
Obviously, I am of a slightly older generation and need to discover more ways to integrate techniques to continue to encourage lifelong learning in my students. Out of all the habits, the very first one will be the most difficult for me to follow. Again, I am very right brained and do not put too much stock in having an end in mind. I take in and send out pertinent information in the most efficient and effective way. Then I see how it all comes together afterwards. It works out because there is always something that can be learned. The problem is that I did not know what I wanted to learn or to teach, so how can I assess if a skill was mastered? Next to the first habit, viewing problems as challenges seems hard to do. A problem is a problem. Having a problem implies that a solution can be found. All the "fun" is in finding the solution. When I see it as a challenge, my lazy genes kick in and it seems too much like work. In the end, this is all semantics and will probably resolve itself.
Playing with and teaching others are way too easy for me. I am young enough to know how to work my way around a blog, upload video and pictures to a facebook, and easily transition from 35mm film to high-tech digital photography. I want everyone to be as excited as I am about what technology can do, so I have zero issues with teaching others how to use it.
Right now, my toolbox is small and it needs to grow. I become too comfortable with one or two types of tools. This is good because I will utilize them, but that also means I'm not using the others out there. Continuing to build a solid learning toolbox definitely holds importance for me in this course.
Everything I gain from this course will also help with my Intel Teach class. If I can make it easier for another educator to integrate technology into the classroom, I will!

Thing #2

All three videos and the article ooze the kind of learning environment I would love to be a part of right now. The statistics in the videos were jolting and sometimes disheartening because I know too many teachers that just do not "get it." If we are going to live in a Web 2.0 world, it will have to be when all the kids that grew up with their multiple hours of Internet, graduate from college and begin teaching. Some of the "seasoned" educators are afraid of Web 2.0. They believe they are too old to learn and apply the tools. Part of it might also be that they do not anticipate teaching long enough for it to matter (I'm sure retirement is the light at the end of a very long tunnel for a lot of them). The problem is they need to realize that it matters RIGHT NOW. Even if they picked up a couple of Web 2.0 tools, like blogging or podcasting, they would be benefiting their students in a more effective way. Not to mention, they would save themselves a lot of extra work and paper copies. Desperately I hope to instigate some of this change. David Warlick's article can be a reality if we are willing to go that distance and educate ourselves about all that is out there.

Not a Year Too Late

Tons going on in my world at the moment. It turns out that I'll need a blog for some staff development for my job. Excellent! I already have one. Now I have a reason to keep up with this better.

Stay tuned...

The Joys of Teaching

Summer is upon me, and my calendar is already full for the next three months. As I glance at the stack of books that have been waiting impatiently, it occurs to me that the stack may simply continue to grow because my house is a mess and there is plenty of planning to do for the upcoming school year. However, my adoration for the movies will not be hindered by the chaos of my life.
I have already seen Shrek the Third and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Both movies were the third installment, and Pirates far surpassed Shrek in the realm of thirds. I could easily go and see Orlando Bloom play the dashing/handsome/charming/brave/loving Will Turner over and over again. He is definitely one of the most beautiful human beings on this planet. I wonder if it ever bothers him that watching him on the big screen, as an incredibly sexy pirate, causes women to fan themselves while removing the jackets they wear to block the usually frigid temperatures of the movie theater. Mr. Bloom's flawless good looks are enough to keep my jealousy at bay when my husband drools equally as long over Kiera Knightly. Besides the fantastic eye candy in this movie, the plot is also worth the $9.50 I paid for my ticket.
So here's to a summer full of great books and movies. I'll see if my lists of things to do will be completed, or if I'm being idealistic in my goals for the next three months. Either way, I need to stop stalling and get back to cleaning.

April Showers

Life has an interesting way of taking care of me. My husband adores me, I live in a great two story house, and we own the sweetest dog. Nothing Earth shattering ever happens to me, and the more I think about it, the more I like it. There would be a tremendous amount of responsibility with fame, fortune, disaster, etc. More power to people who put their lives out there all of the time.

I absolutely love my job, and that is perhaps my greatest success to date. Seriously, how many people actually look forward to pulling into the work parking lot and working all day. Teaching is truly a calling and for any teachers out there that don't love their students and co-workers need to go to another school, or they need to find another job entirely.

My kids are teaching me things all the time. At this moment they are my greatest inspiration for my writing. So much life is being lived in the classroom. Teenagers are so passionate about the day to day things; they remind me to fully live every day.

Enough of work right now:). My current personal obsessions have shown me that I am a Science Fiction fan through and through. The graduate class I'm in is all about humanity in SF. It is really about time that "serious" literary critics appreciate what SF has to offer. I know there are plenty of essay about that very thing, but there is really something to some SF.

I haven't really seen any movies that merrit a review like usual. So instead I am going to talk about my new favorite artist:

Justin Timberlake is a true entertainer and artist. I had a good friend in college that tried to show me the bright starlight that is J.T., but it took a singin' cup of soup skit on SNL to start to change my mind. His newest CD is the guilty pleasure that I listen to in my car, and I totally plan on watching him host the Kid's Choice Awards on Nickelodeon...Okay, that last thing I'm not going to do, but I do love Justin!

All right, that is it for now. Family Guyis on and that Stewie Griffin is hilarious.

October's House of Blues

Okay, okay, so I don't keep up like a should. I am angry at myself for this because writing is such a catharsis for me.

Anywho, these are some of the non-stop notions plaguing my brain:

I love Blue October! Their new CD, Foiled, receives continuous play in my ole Honda Accord. (Man I have such a geeky car.) My favorite track being "Into the Ocean." Something about the chords gives it an Asian sound and I just love it. My husband, not so much a fan, says I like it because it has a very 80's feel. I replied, "So do you. Does that mean I get a new husband?"

Then to my glee, Blue October was interviewed in studio by Kidd Kraddick in the morning last week. I unfortunately did the "grown-up thing" and went to work instead of heading out there to see them. Regret still rests on my heart, especially since they won't be performing in Dallas any time soon. The interview was perfect and they even played my fave live on air:)!

On to another adoration of mine: House on Fox. Is it just me or does playing a cynical ass make Hugh Laurie super hot?! The show may be formulaic, but the dialogue never gets old. Not to mention the fabulous characters and their emotional interactions. I even wanted to write a research paper with this thesis:

The literary elements of characterization and dialogue are the key to the success of television drama; for example they are the driving force behind Fox's hit show House.

Naturally my prof did not find this a suitable topic for a graduate research paper. C'mon it would at least be more entertaining that dissecting the symbolism of a short story. I would know, I'm an English teacher!

With those two passions set aside, I have to comment on my station in life. This year I have realized why teaching means so much to me. The students make each day of my life mean something. This year they stop by to see me or "give me a shout out" when there are school functions. Their smiles and desire to succeed motivate me every morning and it truly touches my heart that I'm making some kind of impact in their lives. Even my challenging pupils that want me to care, but don't want me to know that they want me to care are worth getting out of bed for every school day. I find myself willing to stay later or help more because these kids want it and appreciate my effort.

As if this post couldn't get any more obnoxiously positive, my husband and I bought a house! Now all I need to do is pay someone to move for me. I loathe packing! The unpacking doesn't bother me and I'm not even irked by the transporting of the boxes and furniture. For some bizarre reason packing makes my skin crawl, kind of like doing the dishes.

For now I will say "adieu" and prepare for tonight's high school football game. Gotta love that Texan football pride!

4 Days to Rome

Well, I've almost made the entire month without seeing my husband. Frankly, it is killing me and I can only hope he is feeling the same pains of loneliness. I cannot wait until Sunday when I get to see him again.

Unfortunately for now I am in a small slump. The Dallas Mavericks just lost to the Miami Heat for the NBA title. Now, I am proud that Dallas made it all the way, but deep down my whole world is not going to come to a crashing halt because they lost. Basketball is not really my thing. I prefer Dallas Stars hockey and I am used to being disappointed with them. (Not that I love them any less.) So my sister left the house in tears and my poor father didn't even get a win on his 51st birthday. Hopefully there are better times around the corner. Either way, I think Mark Cuban kicks total ass!

Last night I viewed In Her Shoes. LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this movie. The best character development was the dynamic between the two sisters. I am so close to my own sister that it was easy for me to understand why Toni Collette just couldn't let Cameron Diaz down. The storyline flowed nicely and there were fantastic poems used throughout the movie. As an English teacher this really pushed me towards adoring this film. It gets a full 5 out of 5 hearts.

Right now I am avoiding taking a shower and going to bed. It isn't that I'm not tired, but I have to wash my hair and I'm really not looking forward to it because then I will have to blow dry it. And that takes forever. Perhaps I will just go ahead and go to sleep and get up super early in the morning to wash and dry it...nah I better be going. Until next time...perhaps in Rome.