Summer's Inevitable End

I can't believe another summer is coming to an end.  This one was maybe just a little bit faster, so I am holding on to the last few days.  It's a beautiful night and is so peaceful outside.

I was sitting here in the same spot this afternoon with my friends from work.  We were having our annual Compass summer get together to prepare for school when the earth started to shake.  We all took a few seconds to realize that it was, in fact, an earthquake.  I had known that earthquakes occur here, but had never really felt one before.  But this seemed different, more powerful, more real than the others that people had described.  I watched as my pool shook and small waves formed.  The concrete pool deck below my feet felt as if it were moving, and in what direction I was not sure.  It was amazing, and I am not sure why, but I sat there relishing the moment, knowing that I was somehow experiencing a wonder of nature.  Some of us were scared, some of us thought it was funny, some of us were just purely struck with awe.  My dog, more aware of nature than we, stopped, walked over to his bed, and laid down.  He stayed there until it was over and then some. 

As I sit here tonight in the same place, I am overwhelmed; not with a sense of fear, but with a sense of amazement at the power of nature.  That I could actually feel the earth move from 228 miles away is inconceivable, beautiful, daunting, but possible; and proof that the Earth is a vessel full of wonderment and secrets that can hold us in the palm of its maternal hand.  

Recently, I have been reading about the creation of the Universe and have wrestled with the infusion of science and spirituality and this event leaves me with a sense of the complexity of the Earth and the Universe.  Oh well, enough with the philosophic talk.

I am looking forward to the new school year, new students, new challenges and new successes; and hope the same for all of my colleagues this September.

Reflections on Our Class

With everything finally reaching an end, now is the time for a more thoughtful reflection.  I can't believe everything I have learned since September.  When Darryl asked us if we knew what a web 2.0 tool was, I might as well have been floating around in a Google cloud.  I was a Google Doc waiting to happen, or a Prezi emerging from one project and zooming onto the next.  It is amazing how much there was to digest in two short classes.  Although I have often felt perpetually two steps behind the pace, I made it to the finish line.  I am glad that I will have the summer to sit back, experiment and try on all these tools we have been introduced to for the past six months.  I am grateful for the opportunity to have taken these courses, and feel that the knowledge I have gained will serve me well in my professional development.  And blogging....who would have guessed that I would love it!  I am not sure if others benefited from my blog (I realize that at times I whine!), but writing for me is a catharsis that frees me from stress and cleanses my spirit--a form of meditation.  I have decided to keep blogging, but I am not sure if I will blog for myself or with my students.  Maybe I will endeavor to keep up with both!  On the last day of school, a substitute teacher, Jen, came to tell us she accepted a position teaching English in Thailand.  What a great opportunity for her, but also for the Compass Program as well, because she will be blogging about it for the next year.  Without this class, perhaps I would not have been as excited about her blog.  Truthfully, I would not have really understood what a blog even was.  My blogging experience was limited to a minute exposure in the movie Julie and Julia watching her post her blogs.  But all that has changed,  and I hope I will continue to soak in all the information my brain will allow me to absorb.  Have a great summer, see you in the fall.

Last Day of Class

It is here, the last day of class.  How did it go so fast?  I had a great weekend with a party at my house for my supervisor at Compass, who is retiring this year.  I look back at the last 14 years and think, how did it go so fast?  Time is so intangible.  The same amount of time can appear fleeting to one and at a snail's pace to another.  Whatever the perspective, we did it; we reached the end of another journey together.  Life is full of journeys; some small and some much grander.  This journey we have taken together  falls somewhat on the grander side.  I just went online and there are eight people working today finishing their projects and getting ready for the end of the class.  Four more days and we will be finishing grades and getting ready for the end of school.  Then aahhhhhh!  A bit of repose for the weary.  Some of us have work this summer, but I hope that we will all be able to rest, relax and enjoy the summer.  Here is a Youtube video to start the relaxation.  I love to meditate; it helps me focus when I start to get out of control and feel pulled in a million directions.  I don't do it often enough, but it really does bring you to a better place.  I want to thank everyone for all they have shown me and helped me with this year.  It has been  a wonderful experience and I am glad to have shared it with all of you.  Until September!

Heading Toward the Finish Line!

We are almost there.  I really enjoyed all the presentations, and not just the ones this week.  I have gotten so many ideas that I will be working on this summer.  I liked Podomatic, Mindomo, Blabberize, Cacoo, Tagxedo, Zunal and Devolver to name a few.  Soon I will have some time to think about how I can use them in class.  Summer is always rejuevenating and allows me the time to put together ideas at a pace that is more conducive to creativity.  I really enjoy being creative and when I am stressed, I cannot be as creative as I would like to be.  I also really enjoyed seeing everyone's projects.  It is always helpful to see how other people are using tools.  I just found another mapping tool I am trying out called diagram.ly.  Mapping tools are always hard, because they don't create exactly how you want them to create.  I think that maybe I will use them all and each one may be able to fit the project I have in mind.  I was trying them out for my PLN.    One more week to go and it sounds like a fun week.  I guess the last week of school has to be good, even if it is hectic!

A whirlwind at the end of the year!

Typically, the end of the year is always has a hustle bustle kind of feel.  This year is undescribable.  I have had my mother have open heart surgery, my son have a baby, my son get married and I have decided to take these graduate courses all at the same time.  I knew that it might be very difficult for me, but I decided that this was the first masters program that really interested me.  The program turned out to be something that has certainly interested me as well as being extremely useful to my work.  I love the classes and the people.  I love the projects and everything new I am being exposed to in class.  After the first class, I knew that I had to make a decision whether or not to continue with the program.  I was overwhelmed, and I know that it is my own choices that overwhelm me.  I have three jobs and a family that I am very involved with to occupy my time.  But nonetheless, I have to weigh out the benefits over the disadvantages.  The biggest advantage is that I really enjoy the classes and do find them useful.  The biggest disadvantage is that I feel like I am not putting full effort into anything I am doing.  I was very disappointed this weekend because I have not taken care of my garden and the lettuce has already gone to seed and is too bitter to eat.  It seems like there is some kind of metaphor in there somewhere.  I was thinking about our multi-tasking conversation and it really can apply here as well.  How much is too much and how much is detrimental to everything.  Oh well, I guess I use this blog as a sounding board for my inner thoughts--a kind of diary to help me unravel what I am really thinking.  Not sure if that was its actual purpose, but class is starting soon, and I will have to sign off.  I really enjoy the presentations, and am sure I will find some more useful tools tonight.  I really loved the Zunal webquest that Vicky presented.  It was easy and you end up with a nice product.  I created one on The Dust Bowl.  I just keep thinking, if I don't come back, what will I be missing?  And there is the probable answer to my dilemma.

Wonderful Weekend!

What a wonderful weekend!  My son's wedding was beautiful and we all had an amazing time.  We had the rehearsal dinner at Spano's in Point Pleasant and the food was fantastic and never stopped coming; it was a feast.

Actually, I have eaten more food is the last three days, than I think I have eaten in the last month. The wedding was at the White Sands in Point Pleasant.

The day of the wedding, it was raining on and off and we didn't really know until 5:00 that the wedding would have to be inside, rather than on the beach. It was disappointing to have to have the wedding inside, but weddings are beautiful where ever they are. Everyone was so happy and excited, you would never have known that plans were changed. Serendipitously, the rain stopped during the ceremony and after they were married, the entire wedding party raced outside to get pictures before another downpour. And as often happens when one is least expecting good fortune, a small sign of optimism and hope appeared. Out over the ocean was a rainbow, rising out of the water, symbolizing the belief that out of every adverse experience comes something better. Without the rain there would have been no rainbow, and somehow the gift gave perspective to what is truly importanty in life. The wedding was lovely and the rest of the evening was filled with fun. I love spending time with family and friends and look forward to my last son getting married. Hope everyone else enjoyed their weekends. See you Monday.

The link to the pictures is on Facebook.

A quote for Colleen and her need for quiet and spirituality:

Calm the winds of your thoughts, and there will be no waves on the ocean of your mind.     Remez Sasson

Taken from an inspirational quote site

Another busy week! The project was consumming. Once I started researching, it just kept leading me somewhere else.  I agree with Shanna, when I saw what other people had included in their projects, I felt like I should go back and put more things in my project.  I really enjoyed all the presentations.  What a great group of people to work with.  I really do not like to do oral presentations.  I can teach up in front of a class all day long.  When I work at the movies, I can make announcements in front of 250 people and not even care.  But there is something about making a college presentation.  I was thinking about what Vicky said about it being hard for her speaking English.  The crazy thing is, I really did not think about it until she said it.  It would never have crossed my mind.  I think one of the best things about this cohort is being with the same group of people.  All the getting to know the class things are out of the way.  Eventually we all just work together to learn something together.  I enjoyed working with Colleen, Andy and Sally.  I  usually prefer to work by myself, but I see that changing for me.  I also think that giving this presentation was much easier that I had expected.  All the presentations were great and I learned a lot.  Thanks to you all!  I have another busy week ahead with my son getting married on Friday.  But after that, I think I can take a breath.  I like to meditate, but have not made the time to do so lately.  Colleen got me thinking that it is about time to start again.  I hope everyone has a relaxing week, or at least weekend.  I am saying this now, but know that there are more projects ahead.  Oh well, I am going to calm my thoughts to calm the waves of my mind at least for one day.

Crazy Week!

Wow!  What a crazy week!  NJ ASK, a birthday party, Mother's Day and IT History Project and my Tool Time Presentation.  What was I thinking!  Oh well no time to think about it, I just keep moving.  The tool project took longer than I thought when I created the recording for referral back.  It took longer than I had expected.  I will be demonstrating ProProfs Flashcards tomorrow.  I am going to post the recording referral portion of the project on My Projects List on my blog and in the Water Cooler Section of BB. The actual file is located in Windows Live, however, no login is necessary to view it.  The link should just take you to the referral sheet.  With the birthday party and Mother's Day, I did not get to much IT History work which upsets me.  It's 11:43 pm Sunday night and I think I am almost done.  I typed in overwhelmed woman into google images and came up with this image.  Not sure if the younger people will even know what this is.  I was a kid when I first saw it and didn't have a clue what it meant.  Now I'm living it! Wow! CALGON TAKE ME AWAY!

Wimba Issues

It is already Monday and I have not posted another post until today.  I could not join in the first Wimba class beacause I was in Arizona.  I attempted to join in the second Wimba class, but for some reason was not able to actually join the room.  I was able to get in, but was not able to do anything once I was in the room.  I had completed the wizard and even called helpdesk because I did not think that it was working properly.  All the tests in the Wizard came back that it was working properly.  Later I discovered that it was a Java conflict and I had to remove an earlier version of Java.  Hopefully it will work now.  I just read Karl's blog and was feeling a little the same.  It has been a whirlwind since the vacation.  I went on vacation, which was wonderful, but when you return, you are always tired and feel behind.  My son is getting married on May 20th and there is still much to do for that.  Then on Monday, just after I tried to join the Wimba class, I received a call about a death in my family.  I am just feeling like my head is spinning and I am a little out of the loop!.  When my life gets crazy, sometimes I need to read something a little inspirational.  Here is a link to an inspirational story I found.  See you in class soon.

Arizona

I am just sitting here alone; I am the first one up.  Every window I look out I can see mountains.  The backyard is at the bottom of a mountain and the sun is making shadows that are just beautiful.  It is very different than home, and I know I love the ocean the most, but this is certainly a great part of nature's amazing beauty.  I will not be able to take part in the Wimba class on Monday, because we are going to the Grand Canyon tomorrow.  It will take about five hours to get there and we are not staying over.  I can't wait to see that, too.  I have only seen the Grand Canyon from the air and thought it was amazing then!  I am posting pictures on my Wikispaces page that I am working on:  Jane's Wikispaces Page.  I am leaving soon to ride quads in the trails, and will post the pictures this afternoon.  Hope everyone is enjoying the break!  See you soon.

First Class Summer 2011 INTC 5001

So this is the first class of Introduction to Instructional Technology.  I was overwhelmed after the first five minutes!  I was less overwhelmed by the end of the class.  It was reminicent of our first MAIT course.  There were terms being thrown out that were absolutely foreign to my ears.  This time around, however, I got the idea.  I'd already been through this before; some were web 2.0 tools, some were theories, some were people involved in the history of instructional technology.  In the last course I was overwhelmed well into the second class.  This time the feeling subsided somewhere near the end of the first class.  Make no mistake, I knew I had my work cut out for me.  However, this time I knew that I needed to dive right in, explore and produce.