Waiting for the Bell

End, transfer, etc.

2010-01-04T22:06:00.003-06:00

I've stopped blogging here for now. I'm moving a lot of my comments and more to my new blog, Jake on the Journey.

My favorite podcast

2009-11-12T21:33:00.003-06:00

http://www.tbtl.net

Meet TBTL. Too Beautiful to Live. For around a year or so it was a radio show on KIRO in Seattle, and now it's off in the amazing podcast world, and it rocks.

The show is hosted by Luke Burbank, former host for NPR. He's joined by Jen Andrews and Sean DeTore. Since being off of KIRO radio, they're broadcasting at high noon (high 2 our time) every weekday from Luke's house.

Listen sometime, please, and follow the updates in my "Blogs I Follow" column on the sidebar.

Best,
-- Jake

P.S. - Be sure to check out the Audio What Not section and learn more: http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=303&cid=20

A funny movie

2009-10-29T09:34:00.000-05:00

I've been watching the 2003 comedy Duplex on Comedy Central this morning:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duplex_(film)

Little Dorrit

2009-10-26T22:33:00.001-05:00

I must say, now I know why the PBS Masterpiece Classic series Little Dorrit (by Charles Dickens, also a book) did so well at the Emmys... BBC, WGBH, and PBS have a winner here.

WNIN started a replay of the series last night from 10pm to midnight. They will continue over the next four weeks, airing parts two through five at the same time on the next Sundays.

Part 1 was amazing last night.

For more information: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/littledorrit/

Two Web 2.0 tools worth looking at...and some more stuff!

2009-10-24T20:54:00.002-05:00

1. Scribd

I've talked about this little gem before, but briefly here's my description: Put your documents (Word, etc.) and PDF files up in an account to share with friends, family, or followers. Awesome tool. For example, if I -- as a future teacher -- wanted to share a document with a class via a blog, I would post it to scribd and include a link in the blog post text.

http://www.scribd.com/

2. SlideShare

Description from the site: Upload and share your PowerPoint presentations, Word documents and Adobe PDF Portfolios on SlideShare. Share publicly or privately. Add audio to make a webinar.

http://www.slideshare.net/

For more about Web 2.0, and to see the source of the picture above, click here. (It's a great read!)

More great tools:

Music online

Social media/networking

UPDATE: Web 2.0 Tools and Applications: http://www.go2web20.net/

Netbooks as net jukeboxes?

2009-10-23T11:30:00.001-05:00

Whoa, cowboy. Put down the netbook and listen up. It appears Wired.com has some new ideas on uses for netbooks.

How about as portable go anywhere music jukeboxes that are always online? I guess you could say the iPod -- man's go everywhere music player -- would make a good portable jukebox, but check out this article. It's worth considering, right?

http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Turn_a_Netbook_Into_a_Net_Jukebox

Slow motion sneezing

2009-10-23T08:08:00.004-05:00

The video speaks for itself, for what YOU need to do.

Please, cover up -- like Elmo -- when you need to sneeze. Sneeze to the elbow!

PBS Kids being used by the United States Department of Health and Human Services to promote good health...or something else?

2009-10-23T08:00:00.002-05:00

I don't mind that they do this, but what does everyone else think? Instead of parents giving children information about their health, characters from "Sesame Street" and "Sid the Science Kid" are. I guess it's not too big, it's just something I noticed.

Take a look at these videos:

How to sneeze:

Getting a shot:

A Flu Plan:

Supplies

2009-10-21T00:30:00.000-05:00

I guess until now I never thought of how much of my own money I'll spend on supplies when I start teaching. Wow. The number in my head is huge.

Maybe I should sleep. It is 12:29 a.m.

I speak English, and now I'll teach it.

2009-10-19T16:16:00.003-05:00

For those of you who have been following my college experience...this is my junior year at USI. So far, since I've been in school, here's my list of programs of study I've been involved in:

(Note: I went into college wanting to major in English teaching and minor in History teaching. Well, in Indiana, that's not really possible (anymore)).

Freshman year: most of the first semester I was a double major in English Teaching and Social Science Secondary Education. Then the second semester: I switched to elementary education.
Sophomore year: Four or five weeks in I switched back to secondary education: a major in Social Science Secondary Education and a minor in English teaching.
Junior year: Today - I switched to a major in English teaching and I'm going to minor in just plain old History. This guarantees I'll teach English, and if I can or cannot teach History, ok, I've got a minor I like, but I don't know exactly the specifics of the minor and the rights to teach history and the licensing details.

I'm happy now. I feel like I'm doing what I want to do, not what a university advisor or department wants me to do. And, in English, I can teach English from a Historical perspective. It will be good. I will like it! :)

More to come on this soon.

About the picture: It's from the radio show A Prairie Home Companion on public radio across the country. POEM - Professional Organization of English Majors - is a fake sponsor on the show and is one of their own groups. It's great. Just thought I'd throw that in as my picture.

(Image source linked in image.)

67 Days 'til Christmas

2009-10-18T23:50:00.004-05:00

You've gotta love some quality Frosty and Santa time!

Guess what, it appears there are 67 days until Christmas.

And good for me, I'm already getting my Christmas Music fix. That's thanks to WOGL radio in Philadelphia and AOL Radio on the play.it radio player.

98.1 WOGL Link
play.it/AOL Radio Links

(Picture source link.)

In time, I've learned...

2009-10-18T22:30:00.005-05:00

In time, I've learned a lot of things.

One, be the perfect balance of Jim Halpert and Dwight Schrute, and have no Michael Scott characteristics. (By the way, if you didn't know, these are all characters from The Office on NBC. Pictured is John Krasinski who plays Jim Halpert.)

Image credit, Time Magazine (link - click here).

The first is that I like living and breathing. Doesn't everyone? God gave us this ability and wants us to live, so I thought I would include that first. But this really is just too simple, because this is a default thing we do. Moving on...

I really like schools. Especially the schools I am accustomed to around Evansville. My favorites--high schools--would have to be North, Bosse, and Reitz. I don't really know why, I guess it might just be the personality and reflection of each of the schools, plus I'm a North High School alum. I wouldn't mind teaching at one of them someday.

I want to teach English or History when I grow up. "When I grow up" - yes, I said that. I mean that because I know in my mind and my heart and my soul that I'm not ready to be a full time teacher yet. I think I do okay as a sub teacher for now, but I could not have my own classroom yet. Going on to what I want to teach - I love high school and I love English and History (Social Studies). These subjects were always my favorite, and always engaging to me.

My dream right now for teaching--for the future--would have to be to teach English 11A or 12A at the high school level. 11A is American Literature and 12A focuses on British and World Literature. The thing with English courses is that you can incorporate English and History together, more so than in just a History class.

I really want to read more of Shakespeare and Walt Whitman. Both authors amaze and enlighten me in a way I can't really describe. Readings about faith and my devotion to God spark me, but these do in an educational "teacher" way, too. You should definitely check out this video that my English professor found for us. It's a Levi Strauss blue jeans commercial that features Whitman's poem "O Pioneers."

Click here to read the text of "O Pioneers." Watch the video here:

More about Jim and The Office and what Jim would do

2009-10-18T22:20:00.000-05:00

So apparently, we can follow a fake, but almost real Jim Halpert by blog:

http://whatwouldjimhalpertdo.blogspot.com/

Note: Image credit from WWJHD blog.

Google Docs to the rescue?

2009-10-07T22:29:00.000-05:00

Meet Google Docs. No, not doctors, but documents.

It's a new online version of an suite of Office programs - like Microsoft Office and Open Office.

They reccomend this for college, and the editing tools they feature look kind of cool too. Plus, you can make PDFs directly from your document.

Check this out, especially if you're in college.

Tech in a ever changing world (and how the church can connect more (and stuff about/like this))

2009-10-07T21:36:00.008-05:00

I was reading this article on a blog earlier tonight, and I think it's really worth taking a look at. It includes this video that will certainly make you think about the media we are consuming in our everyday lives. Please, take a look at both the article and the video. The article also talks about church and the future of technology. It also takes a look at how technology and the church will work together in the future - how they can collaborate, etc.

This video is entitled Did You Know 4.0. It's a response to previous Did You Know videos, all based about technology and our technology consumption, etc.

So far in my life, I've seen computers be introduced as just entertainment, to classroom tools for teachers, to being taught to students, to now having netbooks being used for student work in the classroom. Also, that's kind of how the cell phone thing has gone for everyone. Phones are ever expanding tools - not just for talking, but text messaging, mobile internet, etc. It's quite amazing, isn't it.

It makes me wonder... will TV still exist in 20 years?

Communication and tech education plans

2009-10-07T17:53:00.000-05:00

Right now in my Instructional Tech in Education class, we're starting our Communications unit. So far, I've written and created plans for

Teacher-Teacher Communication

Digital

Direct
Indirect

Face to Face

Teacher-Administrator Communication

Digital

Direct
Indirect

Face to Face

Parent-Teacher Communication

Digital

Direct
Indirect

Face to Face

Student-Teacher Communication

Digital

Direct
Indirect

Face to Face

Digital forms of communication based on the types of communication above:

Direct

Emails
Video Conferencing

Indirect

Emails
Blog Posts
Videos

Then, there's always the face to face, direct conversation. That works, too.

I don't plan to list all of my plans here, but I'll try and put up some summaries if time warrants. There are important points, like this one that are worth mentioning to remember: communication is a two way street that becomes jammed without more than one person doing the communicating. Got that? Ha. I'm being lighthearted, I'm just one of those teachers that wants parents to take a part and pledge to be involved and believe in their child to make the child's education count.

I'm also working on plans for effective use of technology in cohort group assignments that matter, as well as plans for acceptable use of technology in the classroom.

An overnight trip to the Emergency Room (and what forced me there)

2009-09-29T12:24:00.003-05:00

Events leading up to going to the ER

Saturday night, I helped with my old high school's marching band invitational. Because of some scattered planning but good effort, we had no indoor accommodations if for some reason rain would dampen our situation. Well, rain came, and it was a lot, for at least an hour and a half, and it was bad. I was out in the drizzle after the initial storms for most of the night. That wasn't good, especially since I'd been sick recently. And the fact that everyone had a short temper that night wasn't very helpful. But that's what bad weather does at band competitions. It cause things to be tough, but we made it through, and we had fun. (The stupid people ignoring traffic barricades and harassing those who were doing band warmups in the parking lot were not helpful, though.)

The next morning, I woke up, and I knew I had made a mistake the night before. I think I had a fever, I was coughing, wheezing, and I felt bad. I took medicine that had been prescribed by Urgent Care doctors a couple of weeks before for my, then what I thought was an upper-respiratory infection, but not now (see below in ER visit report). I went through the day, shopping at Aldi, Borders, and eating at Arbys. But I just felt awful.

Around 7:00 that night, Dad took me back to Urgent Care. We got there, and there were zero patients in the waiting room. This made me think we'd get in, get out, be done and happy. Think again. They said ten minutes later it would be a three hour wait, at least. They only had one doctor and six patients (20-30 min./patient), with every room in use. We bailed. I felt good bailing, too. There was a young couple with a sick baby who came in right after us, and I felt sorry for the little guy, and dealing with a sick baby was more important than me I thought. Dad and I thought we'd go home and come back the next morning before they opened at 7:00 again, likely being the first clients. I thought, then, I could wait.

Well, we got home, I had chicken soup and Mom had the vaporizer going for me. Two hours later, I tried to sleep. I could barely move. I couldn't breathe at all. I was sweating profusely. I hurt and couldn't talk well. I knew I couldn't wait 'til 7 the next morning for the Urgent Care to re-open.

After Mom and Dad argued it out, by 9:40 Dad and I were on our way to the Gateway Hospital ER. We got in, registered, and waited.

The ER visit and the findings

If you've been keeping up with me for the past month and a half, you'll know I've been sick at times. Since the first illness, I've had a cold, upper-respiratory infection, and what I thought was the flu. Well, it turns out I did have the flu, but the rest was asthmatic bronchitis. But better yet, I've probably had asthma for a long time and I've been getting asthmatic bronchitis for the past few years. It appears, according to the nurse practitioner that I've just never been properly diagnosed, or that no one has done enough to check to see if I had it in prior testing.

My Mom has it. She thinks some of her other relatives have it. My Dad doesn't. He was adopted, so that limits medical history on his side. But after reading countless, credible articles online from major health journals and WebMD, I believe I might just have asthma.

The ER nurse practitioner who so patiently dealt with sickly me between 10pm and 2am Sunday night into Monday morning is sending me to my family doctor today. I hope to know more after the appointment about what exactly the next course of treatment is. The NP did tell me that night that I was more congested and wheezy sounding than any patient she had seen in a long time. I just hope we can "nip this in the bud" as Barney would have said on The Andy Griffith Show. I don't want to wind up getting full blown pneumonia or something like that on top of this.

To make things a little lighter though, I did get to witness some amazing sights in the waiting room, for the hour or so we sat and sat and sat. There are lots of posts on my Twitter feed about what I saw, but here are some highlights:

A young boy with a mullet
A young girl who kept picking up and destroying the H1N1 face masks
Half chewed up tater tots spit all over the floor
Security guards hiding that they were watching Sunday Night Football (trying to hide it from their superiors)
And more...

Update about that baby

The young couple I mentioned, the ones with the sick baby, they bailed on Urgent Care, too. No three hour wait for them. They were a few ahead of me in line for the ER. I'm glad they were able to get in and get the little guy checked out. Sick babies--an overall bad and upsetting experience for the Mom and Dad. I pray everything went OK with them that night, too.

Thanks for reading...

(Image credit 1, Image credit 2)

Update soon

2009-09-28T16:43:00.002-05:00

Things to know:

1. I was in the ER from 10pm-2am this morning, 3:30 counting my run to the pharmacy. I did make it to my 10:00 class this morning. (More on this in an individual post later)

2. I will soon be launching a "Google Sites" page for my Education 214 class at USI. Watch for that coming soon in links.

3. Read about the day that caused me to go in to the ER. (More on this in an individual post later)

By later, I mean today or tomorrow.

Thanks for reading, gang! (Whoa... scary... starting to sound like Mike Blake there!)

(Image credit link.)

Revolting customers only make themselves look stupid

2009-09-26T12:00:00.003-05:00

As I said before, I'm not a fan of people who blatantly think they can just act stupid.

Last night was an interesting night at work. I only worked from 5:00-10:00, but it was amazing how many things happened as I did my job, being "outside security," for the first time since mid-Summer.

Anyway, the first hour and a half to two hours was fine. I did my regular greeting and smile each time someone entered and left. Plus I had been reading part of a great book--Matt Turner's Relearning Jesus (see more in the right hand column about it). I was really into my book, like really into it.

Then, the beginning of the chaos.

Note: We enforce this rule where I work. This is why I'm outside as the "outside security" person:

All visitors 16 years of age* and under will not be admitted without a parent/legal guardian. --Management

The * denotes that the visitor must possess a valid drivers license.

As another co-worker took her break out front where I was working, we were chatting and that's when

parents either tried to drop their kids off underage and then realized they couldn't and didn't like that
kids who weren't 17 (16 and some under 16's) tried to sneak in
kids ignored me and I would have to get on to them for not having ID's, etc.

You know, kids were just beyond being kids, they just acted like they were the little punks they wanted to be and ruled the world and I couldn't control them.

Well, I'm proud I work for a company that makes it know that we are not babysitters, and we want you to know we are not responsible for what happens to your children, because they are not our children. As parents, you should be looking after your own children.

Then there was a group of these so-called teenage rebels that got together in the parking lot cursing, complaining and trying to be cool. After lots of praying and trying to build my confidence up, I went down after five minutes of just staring at them and told them if they weren't buying anything, to get out -- they had no purpose to be here. They can't hang out in our parking lot unless they need to be here.

They all left, eventually, but in a stream, honking there horns, and telling me to "f**k off" as they drove away. I just smiled and waved as they left. And not only were they saying it to me, but other customers off. (I silently prayed for them. They needed it.)

One group of kids who really shouldn't have been there kept getting back in (part of the drive-off group just mentioned) -- we were so close to calling the cops on them (I was, at least) -- and finally they came back inside and one of them spat on the floor. Yes, really, he did. Not one, but two of us employees got in there faces about it. It didn't phase him though. I was mad, I didn't let them see it though.

They all finally left once and for all around 9:15 or 9:30. The last half-hour or forty-five minutes of my shift was calm and normal. I had no more hooligans to deal with.

I like how some of them really thought they were tough and smart by saying they would call and complain, when, as everyone knows, they'd forget ten minutes later as they had found a new place to go.

--

Please ignore my grammar and tense errors above. I tried, but I'm still really tired from having to deal with all of them last night.

It's kind of amazing to me that in the book I was reading, Relearning Jesus, I was just on the part from the Beatitudes about being "the light of the world," and how as Christians we can make ourselves know through that, and be like Jesus through that light. And I had also been reading about showing mercy and having compassion for others.

After reading that, I think God had me read that at that time; I think that prepared me for what I was going to face later last evening.

But anyway, that's how it happened. And, I still want to teach kids this age. I think through how I teach, I want to inspire them to not act in the way they did. I know if I were a partent, and I KNEW my child was acting the way those kids last night, I would be controlling them, not letting them be that way. I still pray for those kids today and that they can get their lives turned around their parents can get into their lives again.

--
Image credit: http://greenfieldhobby.home.att.net/free-fun-stuff.html.

Bing!

2009-09-24T23:05:00.000-05:00

In their commercials, Microsoft calls it "the first ever decision engine." This is Bing. A new search engine from Microsoft.

I have used it a few times since it came out a month or two ago. I have to say, this is the first search engine I have rather liked besides my reliable Google and friend Yahoo!. Even as a Mac user, I'm trying to use this so called "decision engine" more and more.

Screenshot (Firefox/MacBook):

As you can see above, the Bing homepage shows a picture in its background. The picture is always nice, and changes daily.

For more information, or to use Bing, click here. I'm also providing a link to the Wikipedia article.http://www.bing.com/

Farm much?

2009-09-24T22:48:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm starting to... virtually!

Yes, I've gotten into Farmville on Facebook. It's kind of addicting. Take a look at what I've accomplished recently. I'm on level 8. My Mom and Dad, even one of my professors -- they are leaps and bounds ahead of me. Does that picture seem wrong to you?

I quite like this picture though:

Click on the image to view bigger. It's crazy! Really.

Awesome new tool for uploading documents online!

2009-09-24T22:08:00.000-05:00

My inner teacher is speaking.

Alright. I just found one of the neatest websites out there. It's called Scribd. The purpose is to allow you to be able to upload documents (.doc, .pdf, .ppt, etc.) and make links to them for blogs, wikis, and all sorts of places. This service, which you have an account with, keeps all your docs together and you simply just place links to them in your blog. I just did that when referencing the EVSC's H1N1 note in my last posting.

I think this service will take off, and I can definitely see this as being beneficial for me as a future teacher. I could facilitate student learning through a class blog -- on Blogger, WordPress, or Typepad. Then, I could have student discussions through blog posts and comments. But the hard part before now was being able to, say, upload a Word Document or PowerPoint Show to a blog post. But now, I can use Scribd.com, and have it right in my posting!

How awesome is that?

The Flu in the Local Schools

2009-09-24T21:28:00.001-05:00

Well, the EVSC is addressing the flu and H1N1 in our schools. This letter was released today. I hope it can provide everyone with some information and what they need to know:

Click here to read!

Just a list of favorite TV shows

2009-09-24T20:44:00.002-05:00

While I should be reading something for American Lit. class (which I just need to finish and I'm done), here's my list of shows:

30 Rock
Glee
The Office
Community
King of the Hill
The Simpsons
Family Guy
The Oblongs
Craig Ferguson (Late Late Show)
Jimmy Fallon (Late Night)
David Letterman (Late Show)
Conan O'Brien (Tonight Show)
Newsradio
Everybody Loves Raymond
Two and a Half Men
Frasier
How I Met Your Mother
House
Bones
Numb3rs
Gavin & Stacey
Not Going Out
Modern Family -- yet to watch it, but I will
Just Shoot Me
Will & Grace
Dick Van Dyke
The Cosby Show
Boston Legal
Law & Order -- any of 'em
CSI -- any of 'em
Anything mystery/investigation/search -- you know the type

They're all good, and there are more...

UPDATE, 10:49 p.m.: No, I do not watch all of these shows every day, every week. No. The only shows I really tune in for are NBC's Thursday shows, probably Modern Family (online), and Glee (every Wednesday or on Hulu).

I have little time to watch TV.

My theory is this: If I can find the time to watch more than an hour of TV a day, I'm forgetting to do something or I haven't done something I need to do! I feel that busy...

I love TV... and other things too!

2009-09-24T20:37:00.000-05:00

First, I have to say, I really like my Thursday nights for TV this fall. It's all NBC:

7:00- SNL Thursday Night Weekend Update
7:30- Parks & Recreation
8:00- The Office
8:30- Community

And I have to say I'm pretty darn excited because my all time favorite show, 30 Rock, is back in two weeks time.

Wednesdays rock because I also love Glee. FOX, 8:00.

The rest of the week, I flip channels and explore what's on. I like to watch Two and a Half Men, Everybody Loves Raymond, the news--national, local, Glenn Beck, Keith Olbermann, and lots of other things.

And I like to read. A book review is coming up soon! Stay around.

Week Four of Essential Questions and Class Discussion

2009-09-24T10:21:00.000-05:00

This is the post in response to questions for my Instructional Technology in Education class. I posted it to our Bb (Blackboard) online discussion board:

What types of learning activities engage and motivate students? Why and how?

There are so many different types of learning activities I could pick that engage students. To some students, a simple worksheet and book reading can be enough to keep the student involved, motivated, and engaged. For other students, it takes more effort—possibly a video, group project, presentations, or even doing projects where students get to pick the topic and be free in all forms of research and creation.

I have had classes in the past that where all we did was come in, take notes, do worksheets for homework, watch a video or two and take a test at the end of the unit. Granted, I learned and I liked that method/style, but that wasn’t the only way I liked to learn, either. Some students did not take a thing away from that class (I know many people who repeated the class not once, but twice). I also really enjoyed classes that operated through much group work over time with different groups. Many of my high school History and Literature classes used technology (PowerPoint presentations and UnitedStreaming/Discovery videos) to get points across and show real world references via internet (and today with MediaCast, especially with EVSC high-schoolers having netbooks). That kept me hooked and engaged.

To really get students motivated on something can be tough, too. We’ll sometimes have students that have personal home/family/emotional problems that can impact their efforts and motivation in the classroom. It is really important for the teacher not to bring much if any of their own outside emotional thoughts and issues in—that can really make for trouble in keeping students excited and motivated.

But I have to say that a lot of students might be more engaged in participation in in-class assignments and projects when they have access hands-on to technology in the classroom. I’ve witnessed this in substitute teaching when classes use their netbooks to take notes, watch videos independently to write in class, etc. Another thing that arises here is that teachers need to make sure the students don’t get too “engaged” in the wrong things—instant messaging/chatting, social networking, games and non-educational things on their netbooks. But there can be other distractions we’ll deal with as teachers as technology expands and evolves over time.

How do teachers design tech integrated instructional content that engages and motivates students?

Teachers can design tech integrated instructional content that engages and motivates students by getting student feedback and incorporating student interests to make the learning process more fun and exciting. They could also provide instructional content that is available on various platforms that students can pick from:

· Whether or not they want to use a computer for the assignment

· Maybe they would feel more comfortable doing the work in a group

· Get creative in some form

· Make assignments co-curricular – the assignments could be created in collaboration with other teachers if student classes are taught together (English 9 Honors and Honors United States History, for example)

There are so many options, but I think for the students to be engaged in anything, the teachers need to work hard to be engaged and focused on providing quality to the students and being there for the students.

Twitter trending topics scare me... And Glee!

2009-09-24T09:55:00.000-05:00

First, check out this list of trending topics from Twitter around 9:50 a.m. this morning. Gmail and Glee make sense to be there. Gmail is failing off and on today. And Glee was the top show on TV last night.

(Side note: Glee was awesome last night. Catch up on episodes at Hulu.com.)

But look at the other topics... oh my goodness...

Long time, no talk, and redesign

2009-09-23T23:22:00.000-05:00

I decided it was time to get back to blogging after, what, almost a month!?!

Well, I'm here. Let's go through the list of things that happened since last time:

BBC Radio 1 had its big lineup shuffle on weekdays. Greg James moved from Early Breakfast (4-6:30am) to The Afternoon Show (1-4pm), replacing Edith Bowman. Fearne Cotton departed her weekend shows to host the mid-morning/Live Lounge show (10am-12:45pm), replacing Jo Whiley. Bowman moved to Weekend Breakfast (Sat/Sun 7-10am) and Whiley moved to Weekend Afternoons (1-4pm). Dev has assumed hosting the Early Breakfast Show. With Fearne having moved to weekdays, both she and Whiley's shows will feature bits from the Live Lounge. Also, Nihal move to a new show called the Radio 1 Review Show, Reggie Yates will host the Request and Chart shows solo at the weekends, and countless other small schedule moves and changes happened. The full schedule is at Radio 1 Online.
I substitute taught some more. And it was great. Covered for my former Soc/Psych teacher from high school. It was only a half day because...
I got the FLU...and an upper respiratory infection.
I ended up spending the weekend alone at home because of it. No parents. No friends. No work. Just me, chicken soup, TV, radio, internet, and the dogs and cat.

Elaborating on 3 and 4:

Went to doctor twice. Missed most of a week of school. Two or three trips to the pharmacy. Lots of medicine and sleeping.

Doctors report that it wasn't swine flu (probably), but it could have been; no one was sure. But I don't have it now, and that's the good thing!

More to come in the next few days!

God bless! :)

Substitute teaching... then getting sick! Great!

2009-09-01T08:33:00.000-05:00

First, let me summarize my second week of substitute teaching (from last week). I worked three days.

The first day was at a high school that had a bad reputation around town for the most part. It's in town, and all the schools that feed it our in town (or inner city as many would put it). I was somewhat nervous to go in the first day, but I went in, and my whole perspective changed. I discovered that it was great. The school was immaculate inside--clean, large rooms, large halls, small population, courteous students and staff--and not one thing disappointed me (except the bells - which I'll mention in a minute). I taught upper level Spanish classes all day (yes, the 6 year [2 high school, 2 college] German student made it through the day that way). It wasn't bad at all, except my lesson plans came late and the students were allowed to listen to music on their netbooks. And if that didn't get my point across--the music wasn't that great. But I had a great bunch of students who really wanted to work, to learn. I dream I'll have students like that one day.

And the school has no traveling teachers. Zero. None, from what I could tell. Everyone had their own room. How amazing is that? That almost never happens these days!

The good thing about that day was that I had an old friend there to help me out. My high school English teacher now works as an e-Learning coach at the school; he transferred from my high school to this school at the beginning of this year. He deals with netbooks and tech issues and helps the school out with that. Seems like a pretty cool, but busy, busy job.

On Tuesday, I returned to my alma matter (my high school). I substitute taught for an English teacher who in the building, but helping supervise the school pictures. Everything worked pretty well. It was my first experience with block scheduling. I taught--YES, Taught!!--an English 10A class The Reading Process and guided them through a worksheet. My general impression of the class was that some of them understood and really liked what I was doing--I mean they were really into this stuff--but others wanted to be doing anything else, anywhere else, and not in my class. I could see around that though. I acted, and eventually connected with them all to get them all writing. That was 90 minutes of excitement, torture, and relief (that I was enjoying doing what I was doing). After that I had 90 minutes of plan, then 90 minutes of helping team teach the same thing I did earlier with the Reading Process, not to forget running across the school to get copies made one time, but returning in time for a class, having an extremely long lunch, and having a totally awesome Yearbook/Newspaper/Journalism class at the end of the day. The Y/N/J class were the biggest free-thinkers I have ever seen, quite devoted, but easily distracted. We got by though.

That day I had been talking to my former German teacher, now the chair of the Social Studies/World Language department. She was extremely pregnant at the time (she had her baby today!). She wondered if I could sub for her tomorrow, I said yes, but she said she wasn't sure if she'd need me yet. She took my cell phone number and promised to get in touch if she needed me. I told her I would be up at 5 a.m. if she needed to contact me. I went home that day and rested, waiting to see what would happen tomorrow.

The next morning, 5 a.m. rolled around. No calls or messages. I got out of bed, stumbled to the bathroom, then stumbled back to bed. Not more than a couple of minutes later, I heard the clicking of coconuts--or whatever clicking sound it is my phone makes when I have a message. I looked. There was a text message on the screen that read, "can you still sub for me?"

Needless to say, I accepted. I got my sub plans. I fought the technology of the netbooks during the day, her computer, the projector, etc. I was tackling two Geography & History of the World (GHW) Honors classes. They were great classes. But, I had to film their presentations, too.

In the first class, we had a fire drill. No biggie, but a biggie. We got past it, got all of the presentations done, and it was a good 90 minutes.

Next, we had 90 minutes of homeroom, silent sustained reading (SSR), and enrichment (collectively known as Flex).

I had my next GHW honors class. I knew half of the class from the marching band. Good and bad, but it worked. We fought the technology then, too. I got a free brownie from a group who had food with their presentation. We watched some Travel Channel "Bizarre Foods," too. (Let me just say that watching a guy go to Vietnam to eat Bull penis and testicles is definitely beyond bizarre.)

I had lunch and more planning from 12:19-2:45. So I ate, learned more of Ted Kennedy's death, and chit-chatted with one of my former teachers, hist student teacher, and a new teacher for a good while in the Social Studies office. It was awesome. Really. Amazing the facts I learned that period.

I had typed my sub plans and prepared to leave for the day. I made it outside and realized I had forgotten to return the camera to the media center. But, nevertheless, I drove around the building to the front, ran back inside, borrowed some keys, got the camera, got it where it needed to be, and we were good.

I could tell by the end of this day I was getting sick though. I went home and crashed. The next five days would essentially consist of me having the new teacher illness from hell. Between all the vitamins, Orange Juice, Vicks, etc. I had to take--let me just say I don't want to do it again. I do not like being sick.

That was that though. I was home sick the rest of the week. But, I had fun those three days, lots and lots of fun.

I'm saddened...

2009-08-29T01:03:00.000-05:00

...that I haven't blogged in like six days. Ooooops! My goof.

But I promise I will post an update on my past week later Saturday or Sunday.

Then my third year of college starts Monday!

Busy week ahead

2009-08-23T12:20:00.000-05:00

As of now, I know I have a busy week ahead of me--substitute-teaching-wise:

Monday: high school Spanish (6 years of German will do me good there)
Tuesday: high school English/Journalism (at my old high school, the teacher will be in the building that day, and there will be a student teacher, and a period of team teaching!)
Wednesday: ?
Thursday: ?
Friday: elementary school (5th grade) Math (for a friend from church)

"An" Apple TV?

2009-08-22T23:58:00.000-05:00

Well, possibly.

Not Apple TV, but an Apple TV--hardware and software--all in one, may be on the way in the next year or so. What would you do if you could replace your monthly cable bill with a $30 or $40 iTunes fee that has cable and OTA programming, and can be hooked up with your digital HD antenna for local channels?

Read more here. I'm not promising those things exactly, and neither is the article. But they tend to be pretty reliable. Click here or visit this link:

http://theappleblog.com/2009/08/21/more-from-munster-this-time-its-an-apple-tv-set/ (copy and paste it into your address bar).

So happy together!

2009-08-22T23:06:00.000-05:00

I was in Nashville, TN today. It was a good day. First of all, we went to the flea market -- the giant one at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds. (Didn't see any stars though.)

But I also traveled across town to The Mall at Green Hills. It has an Apple Store. And I'm now proud to say I'm the owner of a wireless (bluetooth) Mighty Mouse. The best mouse for my MacBook. (It cost me $69 +tax, but it was worth it.)

I still have my USB mini mouse from Microsoft, which works on my Mac, but now I have something designed for it!

Tired from a long night of driving. Happy to be home.

-- j

The Mac in Education

2009-08-21T22:28:00.000-05:00

As I said in my post about substitute teaching for the first time yesterday, I was very happy to see that the teacher had an iMac on his desk.

I had a teacher in high school who used one, and that's what got me hooked on wanting a Mac. I got to see how it worked and learned the operating system and everything.

Since high school, I've had two Macs -- a MacBook (white) and a recent MacBook (aluminum, now marketed as MacBook Pro).

Having it on the desk yesterday--even though I didn't really use it--made me feel cool, even though the students didn't seem to care for me too much.

I hope when I get to teach someday I'll get to have a Mac.

(Did you notice all the old eMacs along the wall of windows? Amazing that they're still good and just sitting there!)

Later.
-- j

Let sleeping dogs lie?

2009-08-21T17:15:00.000-05:00

Say "Hi" to Socks Kohlmeyer.

Dinner time!

2009-08-21T17:11:00.000-05:00

Well, tonight we decided we'd go for some homemade pizza. Here's what I did.

I went to the NEW Walmart in Newburgh (very nice and non-Walmart feeling inside). Got two medium pizza crusts, sun-dried tomato pesto sauce, Mozzarella cheese, spinach leaves, mushrooms, and onion. And don't forget the fresh tomatoes from my Grandpa's garden.

That's a before picture. An after picture will come later.

Advantage or Disadvantage?

2009-08-21T14:20:00.000-05:00

I guess there are advantages to living in a town near Santa Claus, Indiana. For one, they have Holiday World.

But what about when the local news "tweets" a story (on Twitter) about a meth lab bust near the town of Santa Claus?

Yes, that's right. What if some kid just happened to walk by a parent's computer, or see this on the screen. Would they think Santa Claus is on meth?

Just some thoughts. Anyway...

-- j

Book Alert!

2009-08-21T14:10:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to let everyone know... I started a new book. It's called Relearning Jesus: How Reading the Beatitudes One More Time Changed My Faith.

So far... it's an awesome book!

I'll post more as I go, but if you want a preview, pick up the nearest Bible and read Matthew 5!

-- j

First day of substitute teaching

2009-08-20T21:44:00.000-05:00

Note: The teacher I was substitute teaching for was "principal designee" today. He was handling all of the discipline--all of that good stuff!

WARNING: Language may not be appropriate for all audiences. (Edits* have been made.)

Woke up at 5:45 a.m. today. Took a shower. Ate breakfast. Got in the car. Got on the road. Made it to the middle school. I'm not going to say which one it is though.

I walked in, and before I could even get signed in, parents were calling the school and only one secretary was there. She was so busy. The teacher I was subbing for (principal designee) was really busy, too. Turns out the calls were because "there might have been a bus wreck." (I don't think that was true though.)

I got signed in, talked to the teacher, and went down to his room. It was time to get ready for homeroom. I walked in, and I got really happy. He had a new iMac on his desk. (And it was on. I was able to check the weather and sub system throughout the day. It was good.)

I went to the sub folder and started going through everything. Everything seemed to be in order. Nothing strange. There were a couple of students that needed special attention, but they had no problems during the day.

All classes had a ten point worksheet to do for the day. I had four seventh-grade science classes and two sixth-grade science classes. Amazingly the sixth graders seemed to attempt more of their in class work than the seventh-graders. (They need some more practice with "critical thinking" skills and learning what "define" means. They would have all done better with more understanding of those two things.)

The classes were upbeat and challenging for me. There was never a silent moment, and I need to work harder at finding ways to keep kids quiet in the classroom.

First there was homeroom.

1st period was plan.

2nd period was awful, but I survived. The students were rowdy, but three of them were the main problem. Two girls and a guy. One girl and one guy wound up getting referrals. (I shouldn't have let the one girl move seats.)
Here's why they got their referrals:

GIRL: Right before I was getting ready to separate the two girls and boy from each other, she yells out to the class "(Boy's name) called me a c*nt."
BOY: He said right after "I did not call her a c*nt."

3rd period: I finished the referrals. I saw another teacher. She said I did the right thing and since she knew the two kids, she would take the referrals down to the office for me.

What's great here... there was a fight in the hall between 2nd and 3rd periods. Luckily another teacher, he saved the day. He jumped in for me. I had no clue how to approach it. (Note to self: I should stand in the hallway more.)

4th period: Kids worked hard. First class the went great. They were awesome. During the trade and grade, they all shouted out the answers and we had a productive discussion.

5th period: More of the same as 4th period, but -- dare I say it -- AWESOMER! (I know awesomer is not a word.)

6th period: Switched to sixth grade from seventh grade for the first time in the day. Went okay, but the kids were reluctant to work. A lot of them needed a LOT of encouragement to even open the book. The page numbers for each question (mainly definitions) were right in front of them. They tried though. It was good.

7th and 8th periods: Had my school lunch. Only $2.25. Some darn good iced tea. The corn was good, too. The pizza was less than desirable though. Worked on writing my sub report.

9th period: About like 6th, but the kids were more like 4th and 5th period kids. AWESOME... especially this kid who just transferred from Kansas. He was on top of it all!

Stayed an extra 15 minutes to write my sub report and grade, but that was about it.

Just call me Mr. K. now.

To make your day go by faster, enjoy this.

2009-08-17T16:55:00.000-05:00

Song of the Day

2009-08-17T11:41:00.000-05:00

Sanctus Real
"We Need Each Other"
via YouTube

Stop... Freeze!

2009-08-16T13:39:00.000-05:00

I think today will be my break day from blogging for a while. Maybe tomorrow, too. I have a lot of studying to catch up on for my Psychology class I'm taking online this summer.

Tonight, I've got an activity to work on with out senior youth group at my church. That will consume some time as well.

Plus, I have a psychology test tomorrow (online), so you won't get much out of me then, either.

-- j

Image credit: click here

P.S. -- And now that we've established I won't be getting any rest today, this song seems in order!

Technology in the hands of students - friend or foe?

2009-08-16T00:50:00.000-05:00

In my opinion, our local schools are not necessarily handling things the right way with how every high schooler is now renting and using a netbook, in addition to their textbooks, in class.

First, the school district could have saved a lot of money if they would have made the netbooks for "in school" use only. Perhaps each classroom could have had a classroom set of netbooks. That could have been a temporary "start up" idea. They could have used them in the classrooms, gotten used to them, loaned them out overnight as needed (with strict rules of course), and evaluate the student use from that angle.

With the students having almost free reign over their netbooks, they can explore and try things, a lot of things. Now don't get me wrong, the school district's chosen software blocks, internet blocks, and all of those help prevent the students from installing and putting on software they don't need and keeping them away from social networks when using their netbooks. But, I see problems. Students will find new ways online -- outside of the internet filtering/blocking tools -- to chat and instant message each other in class. Gone will be the days of cell phone text messaging in class (which is already against the rules), and in will be a new way of instant messaging each other. (That's just my observation. Now, the school district has that blocked for now, but what happens when the techie students and others find their way around the blocks and spread the word of how to do this/that/etc.?)

A good thing with all of these netbooks is that

Teachers are not required to have the students using the netbooks 24/7 in class. Everyone has options! They can do other things with other materials/methods, too. Taking notes on a netbook might be faster and more efficient, but nothing beats the power of simply writing out what you need to know -- taking notes the old-fashioned way. In this "future teacher's" opinion, it is a good way to help memorize things, as well as keeps the ideas in your head longer.
Each high school (high schools are the only ones with netbooks, for now) has an eLearning coach. This is a teacher who has switched to a non-teach position that now teaches teachers and helps students with using the new technology we have -- the netbooks -- and helps facilitate and work with the software and services available for the netbooks and other technologies. One of the coaches is a former teacher of mine. From what I have heard from him, a lot of skills and ideas will come as netbook usage in the school grows. Teachers and students need to help each other out -- work hard, try hard, and share their knowledge -- to make this program a success. The netbook rollout and use, as a program, will work if we closely monitor what is happening when students are using the netbooks in school, and use the netbooks wisely (as teachers) for creating assignments that will keep the students on task and keep them entertained.

I'm not too upset about how things are happening with the netbooks right now. I think over time, if we all take the time -- teachers and students -- to collaborate and share ideas, we will find ourselves liking the netbooks in school and use will become better crafted into a structure that everyone can enjoy and use.

A To-Do List of Sorts

2009-08-14T23:38:00.000-05:00

I kind of have a to-do list of sorts for transferring my blog. You (as readers) can ignore this. It's mainly just for me to work on getting some things posted.

Links - church/school/home/info
Old posts archived and moved
Close out WordPress account
Tweet the location of the new blog
Update Facebook status of new blog
Image transfer or not? Maybe just mentions only.
Twitter updates feeding side of blog?

Purpose

2009-08-14T23:23:00.000-05:00

This blog exists to facilitate my love of literature, history, stories, journalism, and music. I want to be able to incorporate it into my class one day.

Welcome

2009-08-14T17:38:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note. I am in the process of transferring from another blogging site (under a different blog name) to this site. Please have patience as the move happens.

Thank you so much!

[archive] Good journalism lives on

2009-08-11T00:43:00.000-05:00

Originally posted on my fist blog, "everything else." Moved here now (8/23/09). The post comes with its original posting date though.

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When I learned that the Rocky Mountain News was shutting down, I was devastated, even heartbroken. That was February 27, 2009.

First, I should explain myself. Know these things before going forward:

I'm a fan of Colorado. (I'm talking about the entire state, no one individual place, but the whole thing. I guess even the areas which freak me out. Those would be places like Kit Carson County, or anywhere along the open, eastern plains, generally. That's where I hear about a lot of severe storms happening, and it's my least favorite part of the drive between the Kansas state line and the metro area of Denver.)
I like mountains.
I liked the rivalry, really the knowing feeling of the two papers of Denver, the Mountains, and the Front Range and their competition. Of course I'm talking about The Denver Post and my beloved Rocky. I always liked the Rocky better, but the Post did have one thing I liked, one of Diane Carman's columns titled something like "No devil to pay on 6/6/06 eve" or something like that. She referenced my favorite Death Cab for Cutie song ("Crooked Teeth"), and that's what hooked me on reading newspaper columns--the Rocky and Post in general.
Looking at the newspaper typefaces, examining style and layout, all of that--that's damn exciting!
Where the newspapers get their local weather from, those sources. That's a grand slam. The Denver Post had 9News/Kathy Sabine (KUSA-TV, NBC) and the Rocky had CBS4/Ed Greene (KCNC-TV). Both are good, and I liked seeing that mix of TV and print newspaper. It was cool, still is, really.
I liked the fold design of the Rocky best. (I don't remember what the fold types are called. I could look it up on Wikipedia, but I'm tired, it's late, and that's another report. If this was a deadline article, I'd do it in a heartbeat.)
The feeling when you touch the paper--that ink that gets left on your hand--awesome.
Sourced, factual, and opinionated media--all in one printed daily guide--the newspaper.

I could go on and on, really. The whole thing about papers is awesome to me. Since mid-high school, whenever I go anywhere, I have to buy the paper(s) of the town I'm in everyday. Here at home we take the Courier & Press here in Evansville. When I was in Colorado, I would always buy one of each paper every day. This last trip, I was out in Colorado about two weeks after the close of the Rocky. I was thankful some relatives got me a last copy. So very thankful. But I still bought the Post every day this time. I had to have something.

It pains me to see the closing of so many newspapers recently. But I have some good news to report on the newspaper front.

Former Rocky Washington bureau reporter ME Sprengelmeyer went back home to New Mexico and now owns and runs the Guadalupe County Communicator, a weekly newspaper out there. He's even had help from former Rocky staff and friends. He's even got some old Rocky paper boxes he's using for GCC distribution. Awesome.

And recently, I found the blog of former Rocky editor/president/publisher/Scripps News VP(?) (what (a) title/titles) John Temple. I found him at http://www.johntemple.net, blogging about everything news and otherwise "west" or "Denver" or Rocky related. It's sad, in the beginning, happy now. Read and you'll see what I mean--reading from the time at the close of the Rocky to now. He's even had a piece run in the Wall Street Journal that you need to read.

I'll write more about this sometime. I know I will. I love journalism. I feel I have to--but I also want to. I love to tell the story, to get all the details, but I also like to teach. I'm going to be an English and History teacher in middle and high school, and if I wasn't already crazy and getting my computer endorsement, I would get my journalism minor on my English minor (it's a History Education major program). I'll think about it. Maybe I will one day. Or maybe I'll just blog. But whatever happens, I'll always keep thinking, reading, questioning, observing, watching, loving, and maybe even hating (I shouldn't say that!) all forms of media and journalism.

--Jake.

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Original comments:

Thanks for the shout-out, Jake. The Rocky was a very special newspaper, and we’re keeping its spirit alive in every way possible down here on Route 66.

If you ever want to brainstorm on journalism, writing or your place in the 4th Estate, you know where to find me.

Rock on!

– M.E.

guadalupecommunicator.com
ersthap@hotmail.com

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Addendum made to the post shortly after publishing:

In relation to my last post, I have to say this.

In my last post, I went on and on about loving Colorado. I also need to make it known that I like Indiana (my home), Kentucky, and Tennessee. Someday, I'd like to say I've lived in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Colorado! Awesome, right?

For now,

-- j

[archive] Life goes by fast, but lives on always...in our hearts, minds, memories, with God...

2009-08-10T23:35:00.000-05:00

Originally posted on my fist blog, "everything else." Moved here now (8/23/09). The post comes with its original posting date though.

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My dog, officially named by my parents Jacob's Chocolate Hershey Kiss Kohlmeyer, orHershey for short, passed away sometime early this morning after what we believe was a battle with cancer.

July 4, 1994 ~ August 10, 2009

15 years, 1 month, 6 days on this earth

We struggled with issues with Hershey's health for probably the past six months, once or twice before fearing we would have to put her to sleep to avoid the pain. We prayed last night for God to come for her and take her from the pain she was experiencing yesterday, all of it, and once we went to sleep, she did too. We woke up here, she woke up in Heaven. She's up there playing with her distant brothers and sisters, friends like Ebony (our friends' dog who passed away a few years ago), her son Angelo who passed away shortly after birth, and also our previous pets and so on. Her puppies (well 7-year old Socks and Midnight) will miss her, too, in addition to us, but she will always live on in our hearts.

That's all for now, Hershey. I'll see you again someday.

Much love,

--Jake.