VoiceThread Project

I figured since this assignment included my voice that I would include actual pictures of me.  If there is anything I hate more than pictures of me it is the sound of my voice so...  I included the pictures from this trip because it is probably one of the most memorable trips that I have taken. We spend two weeks in Orlando with adjoining rooms (1 for the boys and 1 for my husband and I) in the actual Disney World Park so we got early entry everyday and a shuttle to any of the multiple parks there are.  Discovery Cove was rather new at the time and it is an exclusive park built by Sea World where you spend the entire day in the park swimming with manta rays, sharks, barracuda (sharks and barracuda behind a thick wall of glass for safety) and dolphins.  All of the equipment you need to snorkel the giant aquarium or float the rapids were part of the entry fee which also included a gourmet lunch, all beverages, wet suit, etc.  That day was so special because I had arranged with the park to have a surprise for my son's first "teenage" birthday and we had cake and ice cream after our lunch.  They even sang to him, 

Dolly too! Now it is four years later and it amazes me every time I look at him how much older he looks.  He looked young for even a thirteen year old but he didn't stay that way!  Once we returned from this trip both he and I started school, him in high school and me in college.  Now he jokes that we will go on Spring Break together.  I bless my lucky stars that my 17 year old would actually want to go on Spring Break with his old mom.

Sense of Place Poster Project

I really enjoyed putting together the sense of place poster.  Even though my "sense of place" was global.  (I really appreciate how flexible Skip is as a teacher.  It is a great example to me of how I should be in the classroom.) I didn't want to do the same old thing about me.  I'm boring!  And I haven't really any pictures of me that are current unless you count my drivers license.  (Which is actually a pretty good picture, go figure!) 

What I enjoyed the most was how well it turned out.  This would be great to use in the classroom as the product is perfect for the kids to show and to take home.  Honestly, the outcome was much better than the actual amount of work I feel it was.  It would be especially useful for students if they were doing Geography or Social Studies.  And I just thought about the lesson plan I am doing for a Weather unit, a poster of the different types of clouds would be easy to create to have as a reference in the classroom for the kids.  For the kids in my class now I could use the slide show I made of the visits their pen pal has made around the world into a poster they could hang in their classroom.  There are so many uses that I could just go on and on.  So I won't.   

panraven slide show

These are only some of the places that I would like to visit.  Given the choice, I would go EVERYWHERE!  So here goes....The only reason I can come up with for wanting to go to Istanbul is that it is a city so rich with history.  I like the name too.  I want to go to Greece because it is the birthplace of democracy and it is warm! (I miss that now that  it snowed a foot over night!  In April too.  So much for Global warming.) In a world where democracy is still such a hot topic, it is difficult to think that it actually started so very long ago.    Antarctica would just be too cool, literally!  The Galapagos would be fascinating because it is this small microcosm of a place that has it's very own species that can't be found anywhere else.  This is one of the things that I enjoyed about Hawaii.  It just solidifies the thought that life continues.  Life is a very powerful thing and will always find a way to continue.  Life is the ultimate example of the statement "Bloom where you're planted."  Micronesia.  I have wanted to go there for years.  It is supposed to have the best diving anywhere and I am an aficionado.  Of course, living in the interior of Alaska, I don't get to do that very often.  Egypt because of the history of the place.  The pyramids are thousands of years old.  When I compare that to things in the United States it just blows my mind.  We are proud of ourselves when we rehab a building that is a hundred years old!  The last place is Jerusalem.  I want to go to Jerusalem because it is the birthplace of the worlds three most prominent religions.  Islam, Judaism and Christianity all formed in this place.  Such hallowed ground for any believer and yet it has a history of immense conflict and constant bloodshed.  Will it ever be safe enough for me to visit?  So the most common reason I want to go somewhere is it's history.  Perhaps I should have been a history major.  If I could have any job I chose it would be world traveler.  But since Samantha Brown seems to have that one tied up for now I will simply share with my students the awesome world we live in and hopefully inspire them to become students of the world.

Me, Again?

I have decided that I must be anti-social at heart. I just don't understand the whole my space.com, friends.com, etc., etc. Why would anyone be interested in anything that I have to say? I lead a very normal life that is centered around my family and school. What's so interesting about that? I am probably anti-picture too. I see people with nothing but photos on their computers of friends and family. I don't have any pictures. I have never liked having my picture taken and I am always so busy doing whatever it is that I am doing that I never get around to actually taking any pictures. The most recent picture of me is almost always my drivers license photo! This time it is actually a pretty good one. Although I will share a secret, when I was 5 and growing up in Texas, I did the whole pageant thing and I actually almost always got Miss Photogenic! Go figure. That was just until I won Little Miss Copperas Cove, the big prize. I still remember the dress. It was a frothy pink, truly hideous creation. I looked like a walking cupcake. Maybe that's why I don't like having my picture taken.
Okay, my gripe for today is the punishments used in Secondary School. A student skips several classes so for punishment he has to spend the day in either ISS (In School Suspension) or OSS (Out of School Suspension). What is this consequence teaching them? ISS only allows them to fall further behind than they already are by missing even more class time and OSS is telling a kid that if he doesn't want to go to school the school is going to tell him that at least for one day he doesn't have to?!? So he can stay home, sleep in and play video games all day. What kind of a deterrent is that? I have come up with a plan. I say that whenever a kid skips a class he has to help the janitorial staff for however many days he was out. If he skipped only one class, too bad so sad, they still have to help for one day. This would serve as a real deterrent, hopefully help get rid of any misplaced sense of entitlement they may have, and it could help to defray the costs of upkeep by reducing the amount of janitorial staff that is needed. I can guarantee that the first time a kid has to clean up behind his peers and sees just how disgusting just the trash cans can be he will stay in class!