week#8

Happy Holidays! Yesterday was crazy at school. How much more sugar can the students have? When I finally got through the day, I crawled into bed to ward off my headache and rest before preparing for the party at my home later that night. Happily,everything came together and the evening was a success. I just asked that my fellow cohorts would not mention the details from the newly posted syllabus for our next class. They honored my wishes! I'm thrilled that one of my daughters came home today. Now it truly feels like Christmas. I did look at the syllabus later on and felt the same dread that I did with this class. Lots of terms that I don't understand and a huge work load. However, if I take it in smaller steps, I'm sure I will learn a lot and be that much closer to landing my Technology Jump!

Week#7

This is the final week of school before the holidays. History is repeating itself as the children are sugared up and anticipating the parties, presents and upcoming vacation. On the other hand, I'm still trying to finish up projects and get their grades figured out for the next report card. At the same time,I'm also finishing up decorating, wrapping packages and maybe sending out a few more cards to faraway friends and family members."Sugared up" also applies to me as I have fresh baked cookies arriving daily from well intended students and parents. The staff room should be renamed the "stuff yourself room" with all the extra baked goods that land their. My belief is that if no one sees you eating it, then the calories don't count!I wish it truly worked that way. This year my wallet,exercise time,free time and pants are all too tight!

Week#6

Thanksgiving was a whirlwind weekend and went by much too fast.Having both of my daughter's home was the best! Lot's of eating, shopping and driving them places. I showed them my blog,website and the beginning of my WebQuest. They were impressed that their "non-techno Mom" could do all this! I wish that they were around to help with future projects.
They are back to work and school. So am I! I'm in the final weeks of my student's creating their artwork for the art show in February. I always try to have it completed before winter break. There are many displays to change out, staff and retirement parties to plan and grades to figure out. My goal for today is to post my WebQuest and get my Christmas cards sent!So off I go....

Fishbowl?

I have a concern about my fishbowl. Sometimes it appears full of water and other times it has a vertical white streak on the right side. The fish seem to be happy(no floaters yet!) Can anyone give me an explanation?

Week #5

Last weekends classes were full of information. The chapter presentations were interesting and very creative. I have already checked out Flicker and will use the "hover over" feature with my students when they are learning about artists and their techniques. They will love discovering the information that is hidden with in the image.The websites were also amazing. I have so much more to learn and only scratched the surface with my site. The most frustrating part of the weekend was deciding where to create my WebQuest. Google sites have to be redesigned and Microsoft Word has some technical issues. When I returned home last night and regained some mental strength, I checked out questgarden. Their templates are very easy to use and they assist you through the process. So, my quest in under construction!
Today is about getting ready for my daughters to come home for Thanksgiving!Yea! Let the vacation begin!!!

Week #4

It's so beautiful outside today. I love the fall and can't wait to work out in my yard and rake some leaves. Last night I had some of my cohort buddies over for pizza. It was a gorgeous evening and we all relaxed in front of the fire. Last Wednesday I ventured back to Dodgen to work on my website. The bad new was that I no longer had a first page. Yes, all of that work vanished and I had to start from scratch. The good news if that after a frustrating three hours, I now have a new one. Now, I just have to figure out how to make my table have four cells and how to make each one interlink to each page of my website. I also just "dropped off" my WebQuest worksheet. That was a great way to plan and organize the whole process. I wish I could find better links and hope that there are way to clean up the extra unnecessary information that are on the pages.
I had one of my classes view my blog on Friday. They thought it was real cool! They love the idea of my going back to school and having homework.
Enough for now...the sunshine is calling me!

week #3

The week went by so incredibly fast! I've been adding to my bookmarking collection. I feel very efficient knowing where everything is now and having it organized. I'm also checking out more WebQuests for final project ideas. The deadline for our planning sheet in next Sunday. I can feel the "stress factor" creeping back again! This afternoon I will be working with my partner to plan the "skit" and worksheet for our chapter. How entertaining can learning how to blog be? On a sad note, I had to say goodbye to my dog "Molly" on Monday after having her in my life for just under sixteen years. Was very difficult week and it also ended with a bang. My good friends daughter backed into my car. So yesterday I was off getting estimates for repairs.

Skype

I signed up for Skype yesterday! It took about a half hour to complete the process. I ended up was talking to my daughter in Texas for a hour. The last time I saw her was in February. She was able to show me her new home, dog and best of all her smiling face! My other daughter in New Hampshire will be next!

Week #2

This Saturday is very different form last week! I think that I feel less stressed when I'm not under my "self imposed" pressure in the classroom. I will need to find a way to keep my brain from shutting down from the overload. I guess it's like all of the rain we have had this month. My brain is saturated and I'm experiencing a great deal of run off!
Last Sunday, I enjoyed evaluating the WebQuests. The process helped clarify our final project assignment. I've been searching for examples of quests that deal with art education. Most of the ones that I have found were no longer viewable. I'm trying to find ones that are simple enough for my current grade levels(K-5). I've also been brainstorming quest ideas and trying to find sites that match up with my task ideas.
On the other hand, Dreamweaver may be a chalenge. My husband found some tutorials and I will be checking them out later today. Hopefully, I will have time this week to stop by Dodgen to work on it.
Personaly, I have to find the balance between my teaching job, this class and having some down time. I feel a bit disengaged in my classes. For staff development at our school, we are doing a book study on Teach with Your Strengths. One of the concepts that it is discussing is that we need to tap in to what our strengths are. Technology may not be one of mine. However, I can always accuire the knowledge to get better. This is valuable information for me to take in and also pass on to my students. We all have strengths, but do not have to excell in everything.

Day #1 in ECOMP 6008

I'm overwhelmed!!! Blogs, delicious bookmarking,Yahoo groups and Social Book marking. My head is swimming! My typing skills are rusty! Thanks to my friends that are more "techno" savy than I and for helping me stay calm! The best part of the day was relaxing with my friends after class and the wonderful dinner my sweet husband made for me when I got home!