Technologies

The last few days have been fun. I learned how to participate in Second Life. I teleported into some strange places, was kicked off some islands (I didn't know they had security devices on their homes; if I got too close, I was flung away like unwanted trash), and danced for an hour to great Celtic music straight outta Dublin. As I learn about some interesting places, I'll post the slurls here.

Today, I also was cleaning out my email inbox and read an old newsletter from a listerv I subscribed to. It contained a link to Screencast-O-Matic, a software program to capture video of one's computer screen. I have been looking for this! I knew this was possible but hadn't found good free, easy-to-use software. Yes, I will admit, I even tried to video record it with a camcorder, even though I knew the refresh rate of the screen would allow for that to work. C'mon! I was desparate!

Not only is Screencast-O-Matic free, it is easy to use. Within ten minutes of creating an account, I had produced my first screen cast. Yes, it was a rough draft--no sound/voice-over and some awkward pauses--but it was just a test to see how easy it was. And it was. Easy, that is.

Since many of my online students struggle with written directions for how to save their Word files as .rtfs, creating a blogger account (yes, really), and accessing, as well, as participating in, the course wiki, this will be a life saver. Man, oh, man. Talk about appealing to the visual learners! The applications for this tool are overwhelming! Woot!

In related news, I've been pondering the increasing number of accounts I have to log into just to do my daily work. Blog, wiki, D2L, work and home email, my computer workstation, print servers, copier codes, and so on. In a few minutes I brainstormed quite a few! When I add the non-daily accounts (FaceBook, MySpace, Flickr, Wordpress, etc.), I was a bit overwhelmed.

Then I turned back to the papers on my desk, picked up my pen, and got busy grading again.

Wordless Wednesday

Project Simplify » The Simplifier #76 - Becoming an Email Shape-Shifter

Project Simplify » The Simplifier #76 - Becoming an Email Shape-Shifter has some tips on managing the inbox! I need to revisit this site when I have more time!

Perks of the Job

One of the biggest perks of my job: watching students progress! Mind you, many of my students make me smile and I like to see former students in the hall, at Target, and so on. However, recently, two particular students have given me cause to reflect on how thankful I am that I have this job at this campus:

Today, one of my former students came in to my office. He has transferred to a nearby four-year school, but he came by to say hello. We chatted for quite awhile about the differences between that school and ours (let's just say he thinks quite favorably of our campus). It was fun to get his perspective on what students can/cannot get away with at each place, the professors, and so on. We also explore common interests such as travel plans and geo-caching. Fun stuff! It was really nice to catch up with him, and the time passed very quickly. I'm particularly pleased with how he is applying his writing knowledge and skills to his current upper-level courses!

A few weeks ago, another student, who still attends our college via distance ed but is working in another state--doing quite well for himself, was in town and dropped by to say hi as well. Again, we chatted for quite a while about not only classes and work, but common interests. Again, time flies when a person gets to chattering away, but this is the best kind of office time!

I have to say, these are two young gentlemen for whom I have extremely high expectations. Their futures are so bright, and I'm privileged to be even a tiny part of it. I hope they both keep in touch. Please understand: I have many students and I'm thrilled when they pass and I hope they all do well whether they transfer, become employed within their field, or whatever they choose to do; however, some stay in my memory a bit longer. Perhaps it is because shared interests and/or common backgrounds; maybe they took more than one class with me, or I advised them in some way outside of class. Regardless, each year a few evoke a bit of a protective--like a mother hen, I suppose--attitude in me.

As the semester end nears, I cannot wait to see who else emerges as the one(s) I anxiously await to hear from!

The Week at a Glance

Sunday: Come home from weekend trip to Bemidji. Do some laundry. Grade some papers. Grocery shopping for Phi Theta Kappa spaghetti feed supplies.

Monday: drop off daughter at "playschool." Run to school with supplies for spaghetti feed. Taught a class--asked students to have prewrites ready for Wednesday. Worked rest of day (8am -5pm) on 2 online classes and accelerated class. Scramble to find students to cook 20 2-lb boxes of spaghetti! Picked up daughter. Supper. Play. Bed.

Tuesday: no school. Drop daughter at playschool after much struggle so I can work all day anyway. Spent time getting last files together for campus anthology so I could forward it all to the designer. Morning visit to chiropractor visit goes awry as I'm late--see daughter note above--and electric stim feels like I am getting 4th tattoo! Not usual relaxation routine! Papers graded for Wednesday class.

Wednesday: late for playschool again. Late to school. Scramble to get spaghetti feed set up/coordinate students who show up. LOTS of spaghetti and sauce to heat, little details like money and gloves for serving. teach class--students did not bring prewrites as asked (see above). Return their essays. go to office. Email, write formal letter to, and call students for scholarship prize I'm coordinating. Hubby says stay late and finish, so I do. Home at 6:30. Eat. Play. Sleep.

Thursday: talk to students about scholarship again. Spend day in cubicle (I can't exactly recall what I was working on, but it was a lot and it took from 8-5 to do it. Lots of emails to follow up on, drafting documents, etc.). Pick up daughter, play, eat, and watch Survivor. Play. Sleep.

Friday: waiting for drafts to come in. catch up on email. wrote this quick and now I'll go back to work.

Better World Books

Our campus chapter of Phi Theta Kappa has collected 500 books for Better World Books, a social enterprise with the mission of increasing literacy and promoting environmental responsibility. Their sales raise funds for over 80 literacy programs such as Books for Africa and the National Center for Family Literacy.

The chapter also shipped over 200 books late last spring.

Women Motorcyclists

My sister started a women's motorcycle riders group in Bemidji. They have meetings, they plan short road trips, and they have a lot of fun.

It makes me wish I lived in Bemidji.

And that I rode a motorcycle.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

It is 9 am. It is dark, cold, and wet outside. Blah....

To Do:
Finalize Travel Lit Exam (the last day is technically Saturday, but papers can be submitted next week yet).
Grade 0050 exemplification paragraphs and prep for mid-term conferences
Update scores for 1102 discussions and blogposts


Oh...and in case I don't log in before then, Oct. 14th marks 13 years of marriage! It seems like only yesterday....sure....

PBwiki frustrations today!

Previously anyone could edit our course wiki (1.0) with an invite key. It worked great all last spring and this past summer. This fall, though, numerous students could not get in even though they followed the directions. I watched one gal log in, spell everything correctly, and when she clicked "log in" it simply returned her to the log-in page. Today I created a new 2.0 pbwiki, had to create student accounts (36 of them) and then email the new username and password to each student. Much time has been wasted today. I then had to transfer over all the pages and current material from the old wiki to the new one. Numerous projects have been put on hold. :(

Allan Ball

I'm really impressed by the work of Allan Ball. His works include the movie American Beauty, the HBO series Six Feet Under, the new series True Blood, and a new movie, Towelhead which is already stirring some controversy. I was a big fan of Six Feet, and the preview of Towelhead has me intrigued!

Ren Fest

Huzzah! It is Ren Fest time in MN again. Saw the new Puke and Snot show. Ate bread bowl soup. Enjoyed the festivities. Marvelled at people dressed in robot outfits. WHY? How is that Renaissance related?

Time is NOT on my side

I've become a single parent. No, my husband I did not divorce and yes, he is alive and well. However, his new job now takes him out of town for a week at a time. For the first month, we were lucky because he was training in town. On short notice, however, last week, he was told he'd be going to Grand Forks for a week. Granted, that is not far away. Yes, he will be home soon. In the meantime, I am flying solo. Today, I put my daughter in the tub just so I could do dishes and throw in a load of laundry. :) I've always empathized with students with kids, but more than ever I wonder how they do it! Tired, tired, tired, and I have much more to do before I collapse for the night.

Back to School

As you may have noticed, I took a complete hiatus from this blog. I didn't really mean to just quit posting over the summer, but that's exactly what happened! I'm a bad, bad blogger.

Fall semester begins Monday so I will begin posting more regularly again. In the meantime, I am excited to report an update on ENGL 2320: Travel Literature. I was nervous it would not be run this term, but it currently has 16 students! The readings will include works from early explorers, the era of The Grand Tour, and then move quickly towards modern works starting with Kerouac. I've also included contemporary works like Bill Bryson, Mike Horn, and Jon Krakauer.

A new project I am working on is teaching ENGL 1102 as a hybrid course. So in seven weeks, with only 4 face-to-face meetings, our students will complete a semester's worth of learning. The course blog and wiki will still remain as key components of that course as places for journaling and collaborative projects.

Another projects on the radar include publishing the next edition of Prairie Fire, our student anthology.

Overall, it looks like it will be a very busy semester!

The Road to Hell....

Talk about good intentions. After my last post, I was ready to buckle down and get some serious grading done. And then life throws a curveball (I'm mixing my cliches now). Alas, I tried to grade a batch of essays this morning and it took 2 hours to grade 9 of them! Needless to say, but I'm going to say it anyway, I did not get them done before class as I had planned.

Today was a mix of catching up on smaller grading projects (blogs, discussion boards, etc), emails (200 to read, respond to, delete), and administrative tasks (order summer books, fill out requests for travel funds, submit other required paperwork). I did a lot today and yet I feel as if I accomplished little. I did enjoy reading the posts from the accelerated class again though. I feel there are some good efforts at offering some specific details in these posts, which are only required to be around 200-250 words.

Today I bought The Kite Runner DVD. I also picked up three books that caught my eye:

Best Friends
Veil of Roses
Three Cups of Tea

Then, of course, the books that I had hoped would arrive over spring break finally arrived (stupid super saver shipping--never again!):

The Road to Oxiana
Methods for Teaching Travel Literature and Writing
Falling off the Map: Some Lonely Places of the World
Salon.com's Wanderlust

Now when will I have time to read these?! Book orders for fall are due SOON!

Sluggish and lazy

Yep. Spring break is nice. I've played a couple video games (Oblivion mostly), slept in, stayed up late, and eating at normal times. I have pretty much reveled in running pants and t-shirts; no teacher costumes!

I've read and read and read. Trashy novels, academic texts, lots of stuff online.

I did some productive stuff:

• read and annotated sources for my wiki research
• Attended an event where one of my former BSU instructors, Will Weaver, spoke about the adaptation of his short story "A Gravestone Made of Wheat" into a film (Sweet Land).
• stayed at my folks' place with daughter
• worked on the wiki
• read blogs
• thought about lesson plans for next week
• and other random bits

This weekend I'll go back to the folks' so I'm doing my part to stimulate the economy. I'm thinkin' that if gas prices do not drop this summer, that will put the kabosh on the road trips unless I get a rent a hybrid car, which would still be cheaper than driving my Jeep.

Sweet!

http://peoplereading.blogspot.com/

Midterms

This week is midterms. Next week is Spring Break. They couldn't have planned that better!

Last year for Spring Break, I took a ten day trip to London, which, of course, I blogged (shameless self-promotion, I know). This spring break I will be grading a major essay from each class. I will also be working on the ENGL 1102 wiki. I need a lesson plan to encourage continued content development and to introduce linking and refactoring the pages; however, I also need the students to fix current errors in grammar, documentation of sources, etc).

Other plans:
I need to plan advertising for the Travel Lit course for fall. If enough students do not register, it will not fly. It's tough to invest all the time and energy constructing a course and spending hours on creating flyers and such only to have it canceled over the summer.

What I really want to do is hit the road.

Flu

By now, most of you know I've cancelled classes for most of this week due to the flu. Next week, each of my classes will be getting some sort of revised calendar to address the assignments for this week. I'm also playing catch up with my email, slowly.

Other than that, I hope you are all taking your vitamins and Airborne and such. :)

Note: scrap the Airborne plans.

Blog Update

I've been browsing through the class blogs recently. Some posts are really short. The 1101 students are opening up more in the blog than they do in class :)

The 1102 students have some interesting ideas about their short story readings. Soon we'll be entering the Poetry Zone.

I'm also starting to think more seriously about the Travel Literature course I'll offer this fall. I need to start advertising it soon, and putting together a reading list. The first thing students ask when they inquire about the course is "What are you going to read?" It is quite a difficult task to narrow the list.

I also need to start thinking about getting ready to solicit manuscripts for Prairie Fire anthology again.

CCs in the news

Obama on the importance of community colleges.