Monday...ho hum

Rarely do I subscribe to the "Today is a Monday" idea but today I am subscribing to it! Not that it has been a ba day or even a wild day...the opposite is true. My students seemed like they had all been drugged but not in the "wired up" way. Not sure if it was something in the air or water or perhaps the breakfast sausage in the cafeteria (yuck) but it has been a weird day to say the least. All my students did an exceptional job in their work and were eager to do whatever I laid before them. Which makes me a little leery of tomorrow...kind of like the calm before the storm.
I want to share a website with you (maybe just dragon's dolphin that reads this but I don't mind just sharing with one person)...
www.thewomenofmyhope.org
The founders of this amazing ministry visited our church yesterday and it was an awesome day! They brought many of the goods that these ladies from Mi Esperanza make and they were available for purchase. I took care of a whole lot of Christmas and my sweet husband bought a couple of things for me because he knows how much I adore the pottery. This ministry was established to help train women living in extreme poverty to learn how to support themselves and their families by working with their hands, etc. What an amazing ministry and to know that women are being empowered and taught the love of Christ at the same time is overwhelming to think about. Check it out of you have the time and are interested.
Need to get to doing something for the family for supper...my sweet mom sent some soup home with me yesterday so preparation for tonight will be VERY easy. :)
Have a great week and I'll be back soon...

Keeping promises

I said I would be back today, so here I am. Not much to say since I am trying to teach my oldest how to determine if verbs are past, present or future tense...AGH! Now that we have done hundreds of verbs MAYBE she finally gets it! The thing is, she will most likely not remember how to do it tomorrow. One of the many blessings in having a special needs child is that every day is a new adventure even if we have done the same activity a hundred times before. :) Can't help but have a sense of humor in this household...we'd go completely insane if we didn't laugh.
This online class has been a very interesting one and I have learned a lot about the internet...still have a lot to learn, but at least I am a little more confident in my skills and know more about what is out there and how to use it. I hope to remember to keep this blog going...may just be me and the blog but it will be a good sounding board for myself I guess. LOL I could use it as a venting blog...ooohhh...now that's a thought.
Tomorrow promises to be a WILD day...my kindergartener has a "Fall Fun Festival" at school that I got roped into, and I am supposed to be in charge of our church Trunk or Treat/Family Fun Night. Thank goodness we have so many creative and wonderful people in our church because they have just taken it and "gone with it"! Easiest thing I have ever had to organize!! So I can't really say that I am in charge...just making sure it all runs smooth and a fun time is had by all. My own children are over-the-moon excited about it and cannot wait to get all that candy! The first sentence of this paragraph I mention that tomorrow will be wild...I am thinking that maybe THURSDAY will be the wild day after all that sugar is absorbed into their little bodies.
For any classmates that are reading this, it has been a pleasure getting to know you through the internet. What an amazing thing! Hopefully some of you will check back periodically and we can chat some more. :)

Whew

I sent out my lesson template and feel as though I know no more than I knew going in to this...no really, in all seriousness...I learned A LOT and am just now hoping to remember where to find it all and that I CAN use various tools with my students to enhance their learning without being afraid to "explore". I do plan to be a helicopter teacher while using these new tools (you know, like the helicopter parent that I am...HOVER, HOVER, HOVER) and I hope that my students will gain knowledge of the computer from this as well. Although that isn't my #1 goal, it would be an added bonus.
Must go now...will check back again tomorrow.
Nitey nite

Podcasting

The more I browse around out there, the more I like what I see as far as podcasting goes. I am still leery of the dangers (just my nature) but can see the benefits if monitored closely and done correctly. I don't think there is a single thing in this world that you cannot view using this technology. Unbelievable! There are countless ways to use podcasting but my mind keeps going to geography and history...other parts of the world coming to like for our kids and historical events coming to life...it is exciting to think of that! I mentioned in my posting to the discussion board that I might have actually learned a thing or two if I could have SEEN what my teachers were trying to get across to me. A definite plus for the visual learner as well as the auditory one.
I plan to visit LearnOutLoud again and allow my children to view things with me on that site. They liked the kids Bible and the fact that kids were doing the talking. Can't help but think if every district would look into this and be dedicated enough to doing it correctly what kind of education we would all be providing for the kids!!! Amazing.

blogs & wikis & podcasts, oh my!!

I only THOUGHT my brain hurt after the sessions on blogging and wikis! I am still wading through the articles on podcasting so I will have more to say on that subject when I have read all of them thoroughly. I ALWAYS have something to say about every little thing. :)
I read the article about YouTube...I have received several forwards from friends that have videos to watch from YouTube and I guess I never really thought about checking out the actual website. Unbelievable! Scary too, but WOW. You can see just about anything and everything. I do see the potential for video podcasting to be an asset in the classroom but only if monitored VERY closely. Kids today are so much smarter than we are and it is frightening what they might stumble upon or even intentionally do while online. Off to read more about the technology that I can't seem to comprehend...

absolutely no time tonight

My kids are still up and running WILD (my eldest just pulled her own tooth and you would think the kid won the lottery! if you all only knew my daughter you would be stroking as much as I am at this moment) so I absolutely have no time to blog like I really want to. I am headed to check out Dragon's Dolphin's blog...she has found something and wants me to see so my interest is up...
Promise to blog again soon...if I don't get too caught up in all this wiki stuff.

Limited Time

I have left my children in the tub so long tonight that I am sure when I walk into their bathrooms that they will be little raisins sitting in cold water. I have been trying to wade through all the information for the class and I am more confused than when I began. Where do I go to get back to the feeds I subscribed to?
No time to tell about the adventures at the Memphis Zoo...I still have not recovered! lol We did have a great time but *WHEW* it wore me out! The bus ride in itself was an adventure. Especially since some wisecracking parent (or a parent ON crack) sent a horn with their child to play with on the bus ride. This child was sitting 2 seats behind me. Oh joy. The teacher came out in me and I politely told her to stuff that thing back in her knapsack. :)
Gotta run take care of my little golden raisins...