So often in the blogosphere and at conferences we hear about passion. Great teachers show passion in working with students and have ways of reaching them, we want our students to be passionate about learning and we want them to follow their passions in their future work place. Well, tonight I went to a concert in which both performers displayed absolute passion for their work and found ways to connect with their audience. Taylor Swift and Keith Urban just beamed and exuded a positive energy during a three and half hour concert. Not once did they look bored, tired, or at all uninterested in their audience. Taylor connected with the audience by having her very expressive face up on the jumbotron while she sang and told stories. At one point she just stood and looked out at the crowd in awe as everyone cheered. She took her earplugs out to have a better listen. Keith connected by getting off the stage and walking through the crowd to a small stage at the back of the arena. When he got up there he asked “Who’s got the good seats now?” (That was us.) He sang three songs and moved back to the front. Later he moved to a microphone in one of the ailes. Taylor and Keith entertained the audience  with an amazing amount of energy that never let up. They also made sure they thanked the audience for coming, multiple times. Keith Urban acknowledged that times are hard for many right now and he was honored that so many people make it to their shows. At the end of his performance the band members tossed out picks and drumsticks and Keith shook hands with those closest to the stage. Then they did something I had never seen at a concert before. The band lined up, put their arms around each other and bowed to the audience. That was followed by credits and pictures of the behind the scenes people on the jumbotron. Nice touch. We  left the concert with the feeling that these two people love what they do. They were an inspiration and I hope to outwardly show more passion in my teaching this year. 

NECC 09 has come and gone and after reading many blog posts about it today I realized I better get busy on my own post. I’m going to start out with a quick post of the things that are running through my head at the moment.

1. Goals-I didn’t do a very good job of meeting my goals that I listed in my last post.

2. Next Time…. I had some of these thoughts and Chad Lehman posted a question about this topic on Classroom 2.0. You can go there to see what I’ll do differently next time. And if you attended NECC add your thoughts as well.

3. What I Learned-Well, I’m still feeling a little overwhelmed. I need to sit down and sort through my notes and look through links. This will take a little time. I have notes on Plurk, Google Docs and somewhere on the Mac I was using. I will post information here and on the ning soon.

4. PLN-Meeting and hanging out with people in my PLN, especially the Plurkers, was what meant the most to me at this conference. It was amazing to see people I had never met face to face and to go up and give them a hug. I’m sure the times we spent together talking and having lunch, dinner, or drinks is going to make our online friendships even stronger.

I’m beginning to hate leaving home without my camera. I notice so many more great photo opporturnities since beginning the daily project. I really think it is helping me to be more aware of my surroundings. I have a particular interest in nature photography with a focus on macro. I’m putting my photo right into my Photo Journey blog as well. It is so easy to do from Flickr that it seemed silly not to do it. So the project is getting me to write at least a little bit and often a short story each day. For someone who has never been particularly fond of writing that is a good thing!

I take a look at photos as people post links on Plurk and then on the weekends I try to look through the flickr groups as well and leave comments. It’s really interesting to see the variety of photos and I’m so impressed with the quality. I try to make sure I’m leaving comments because I truly appreciate the comments I receive. The one group I haven’t spent much time on is the 366-1. I finally stopped by today and found out they are having a focus for many of the days such as Macro Monday or Black/White Friday. I’m going back to jot those down and try to start doing those as well. I figure it will be a way to help me grow as a photographer. I’ve started bookmarking some photo sites as well and hope to someday have some time to do some reading.

If you’re interested in photography and haven’t joined a group yet you should give it a try. I think of it as ‘me time’. I’ve made it through the first 24 days without missing a photo. Will I keeep it up for all 365 days? Time will tell but I hope so.

Here are seven very random things you don’t know about me.

1. I grew up in Elgin IL and when I was in 9th grade we moved to Moline IL. I went to college in Wayne NE. A week after I graduated from college and two days after getting married I moved to Bemidji, MN. Four years later we moved to Utica NY and have lived here for about 24 years.
2. Despite the fact that my parents sent me to piano lessons for many years I’m a terrible piano player! However, it’s something I enjoy doing and I find it relaxing. My children have taken various music lessons over the years. I’ve tried to tell them they too will enjoy it as an adult. Both have quit music for now and aren’t old enough to believe me.
3. When I was 15 my dad made me get a volunteer job during the summer. I worked at a nursing home. One of my jobs was cutting toenails on the old men. Ick!
4. When I was a senior in high school I did a work study program so I worked in a daycare in the afternoons. After graduation I continued to work there. The director and head teacher both pushed me to go to college to be a teacher. The daycare was in a church and had closed before I finished college. I never got a chance to let them know that I got my teaching degree or to thank them for their influence.
5. I hated high school!  I took the easiest classes possible because there was no way I was going to waste my time going to college. My plan was to graduate, get married and raise a family. A month after graduating I met my future husband. (The day before we met was my 18th birthday and when I blew out the candles I wished for a boyfriend!) He had finished his freshman year of college and planned on staying in school until he had his master’s degree. Since I needed something to do while he finished school I enrolled in a Jr. College that fall. I hated that as much as high school. Other than more freedom it was just like high school. So I quit after one semester and worked instead. The next fall I enrolled in the same school my future husband was attending and lo and behold I liked school there. I often regretted taking those easy classes in high school but I made it through and graduated with honors.
6. My wedding rings cost about $200. My mom made my dress and the bridesmaids dresses. My best friend did my flowers. My brother and brother in law took the pictures. My sister in law made our cake. My honeymoon was spent ice fishing in a borrowed ice hut on Lake Bemidi! My wedding was the most expensive one in my family, I am the youngest of four. I have a hard time understanding lavish weddings.
7. When I retire one of my goals it learn how to quilt. My MIL used to quilt and made beautiful quilts for our kids when they were little. I’ve already purchased lots of quilt patterns!

Now I tag:

Heidi Pence

Ginger Lewman

Lori Burch

I know I should tag more but it seems like everyone else has either done this or I don’t have a blog address. So, if you haven’t been tagged and would like to do this please consider yourself tagged.

(My First Blog Bost)

I just passed my one year anniversary of blogging. Hard to believe just over a year ago I barely knew what a blog was let alone a wiki, ning, Twitter or the words web2.0 and PLN.

I had a crash course in learning all these terms at NYSCATE during a day long session with David Jakes. I had actually signed up to take a class on video conferencing. When it was canceled I had to sign up for a second choice. I’ve been thankful ever since for having to do that. I walked into that session with no idea who David Jakes was or what I was about to get myself into! By the end of the day I had signed onto Twitter, Google and Delicious. I had made my first blog post, Google reader was up and running and I had been introduced to wikis, nings, Google maps and Google Earth. As you can imagine my head was spinning by the end of the day. I had taken a bag of papers to grade and a book and magazines to read in the evening while at the conference. Those went untouched as I began my journey into this strange new world.

How has that one workshop had an impact on my life?

• Well, I’m pretty much addicted to my computer. I don’t have internet on my phone because I’m afraid I’ll become addicted to that too and I think my family would draw the line at that!
• I learned to do what we tell our young students to do all the time-SHARE. I no longer find myself in the mode of this is mine and I don’t want anyone else getting credit for it.
• I started on Twitter. Like many others I didn’t get it at first but it didn’t take long to see its value. When Twitter was having some technical difficulties during NECC I tried Plurk. For the summer I was on both but once school started I couldn’t keep up with both so now I spend my time on Plurk.
• I joined Delicious but before I became hooked on that Diigo came along and I joined that as well. I like Diigo but I’m not using it as the social network that it is.
• I belong to way too many nings. Many of them have ended up not having much activity. But three of my favorites are Artsnacks by Kevin Honeycutt, Projects by Jen by Jen Wagner and Setting the Standard by Melanie Holtsman. I just signed up to be a mentor on Artsnacks so I actually put it on my Google calendar to go there every Sat. to comment on at least 3 pieces of work.
• In April I started a ning for elementary tech teachers. Three people told me they thought it was a good idea. Now, 8 months later it has grown to include middle school teachers and has over 200 members. I’m so pleased with the great group of dedicated teachers that have made it successful.
• I have flickr pro account and have joined a few groups but am most active in Photo Fridays.
• I applied for the Inspired Teacher award from Inspiration and won.
• I applied for a NYSCATE grant and won. I was very happy with my beginner’s luck on those two.
• I am a very quiet/shy person. I attended NECC in San Antonio and worked on being a little more outgoing by speaking to the people near me in presentations and hanging out on the fringes of the Blogger Café.
• I have also joined facebook. That I use mainly for keeping track of my family including nieces and nephews.
• I have started over 10 wikis. I’m getting ready to start using my first one with the students actually adding and editing work.
• I completed my first truly collaborative project, Scary Spuds with Amber Coggin’s class in Alabama.
• I’m working on another wiki project, Winter Wonderland, with Amber Coggin in Alabama and Vicky Sedgwick in California.
• I learn new things on a daily basis because of my PLN.

What I’m hoping the next year brings:

• I just bought a microphone. I haven’t tried Skype yet but that is one of my goals. I’m hoping to try it out with my sister tomorrow.
• I put in a proposal for a Best Buy grant. I’m guessing my beginner’s luck is wearing off. But I’m hoping to find other grants to apply for. Grants for new equipment will be important as NY faces tough economic times.
• I hope to do more collaborative projects.
• I hope to slowly get more classroom teachers using some of the new tools with their students and for themselves.
• I’m looking forward to attending my second NECC and rooming with 3 of my online PLN friends!
• I want to get back to reading blogs for 15 minutes a day again. I should set that as my goal before clicking on Plurk!

My blog continues to be a place for my rambling thoughts. I’ve never considered myself a writer but I have learned to enjoy putting my thoughts down in this blog. I’ve come a long way in a year and I know with the help of my PLN I’ll continue to grow. Thank you!

Please share your accomplishments from the last year and what you’re hoping the next year will bring. I’d love to hear from you.

I was tagged by Jen Wagner for the Wordle Meme started by Lee Kolbert. It’s an easy meme to participate in. One look at mine and it’s obvious to see that I’ve been talking about projects lately! I also see evidence of a recent trip to Springfield.

For this meme, I tag the following bloggers: Ann Orro, Amber Coggin, Vicky Sedgwick, Lori Feldman and you if you’re interested.

Here are the directions:

1. Create a Wordle from your blog’s RSS feed.
2. Blog it and describe your reaction. Any surprises?
3. Tag others to do the same.
4. Be sure to link back here and to where you were first tagged.