Oh Noes!!!

So I have been vegging out on Skyrim for a while and even though I could probably keep playing it in blissful ignorance until the next big game comes out, I have been inspired to make my video game system more productive and in turn make me more productive. It looks like I will be trading in my PS3 for a Kinect. Granted the games are not quite as arresting on the kinect yet but that is why I downloaded Rosetta Stone software for Italian. Each addiction I cut out of my life lets another come to the forefront and I am just now realizing how I have buried myself in video games, TV shows, and acts of kindness and although the latter is usually a good thing I do them because I am insecure about whether or not people will enjoy my company without them. Introspection is depressing but I have always found it easier to communicate through the written word (that's why I avoid your calls and text you after peoples) so hopefully keeping a blog will keep me honest. If anyone is reading this then ignore the posts before this. Except for the lolcat video I made. :-)

Scavenger Hunt Answer #4

If you need three chicken breasts and the packages each contain two you will HAVE to buy at least two packages to have enough for everyone.

Almost Over!!!

This class has been great. The first thing I learned from it is I cannot take classes that are one day a week. The instructor did a great job of imparting as much knowledge as possible, but I got a couple weeks of strep throat and all of a sudden I can't miss any more classes without losing points. I have too much randomness in my life (i.e. getting hit by a semi, running facefirst into a helicopter, being kidnapped and taken to Florida by an ex, just some examples) to have no leeway with absences. That being said I learned a lot about all the technology available to teachers and I enjoyed learning all the ways different sites could be synced together. Not to mention a lot of the creative sites we used like Animoto and image generators gave me projects I could share on my Facebook profile with my friends and family to show what I was working on that semester. Keeping up with new developments shouldn't be difficult now that I know how to follow RSS feeds of teaching-devoted blogs and sites. Plus TeacherTube has plenty of videos on technological resources. Now that this class is over I plan on using my blog for both my writing and a workout journal as I want to get back into shape and I think blogging will keep me honest. I won't be adding my blog to my e-mail signature line until I establish what exactly I want on there and who I want to share it with but I will definitely be using the creative websites for future fun and learning opportunities.

Thing # 23

The disclaimer on the 23 Things page tells you that it was redesigned from a program originally designed by Helene Blowers and that it was duplicated with permission under Creative Commons. Creative Commons is a great way to help people understand things they take for granted in every day life. I have watched countless MLB games and now I finally know why there is a disclaimer about re-broadcasting being prohibited. We can use this tool to show students what they are allowed to use for their projects and when citing the original author or creator is required. Creative Commons taught me a lot and ever since I examined the website I have started noticing the little symbols all over the place.

Thing #22

I created three binders: one for personal pictures, one for previous work I did at APSU, and the last one to keep some of my stories I've written in my spare time. I decided to use the binder I embedded to attempt storing old papers and projects I have done at APSU in case I lose the ones on LiveText. We can teach students about binders by having them try hard assignments at the beginning of the year and saving them in a binder so that when the year is over students will be able to look back at their previous work and see how much they learned that year.

Papers binder

Thing #21

Creating this video was a lot of fun because I love the "lolcat" pictures. I chose the background music because the Meow Mix commercial always amused me.Using Animoto was very easy and allows people to be creative without too much effort at video editing.



Try our slideshow creator at Animoto.

Thing #20

YouTube is great as a instructional video site and as a way to kill time before work. it has unlimited potential simply because you can find every kind of video imaginable. i chose this video because it is one that warns us about technological advances. It is a lecture by Eli Pariser on how search engines are customizing searches based of our browsing history and cookies and by doing so they severely limit our ability to branch out and see new things. He talks about university students who all searched for the same word and found completely different results based solely on the browsing history on each computer.