A Fathers Daughter

Relaxing in a tree, one early spring morning, she decided to write a childhood story of days spent playing with her father in the field of Oaks behind her family’s home.

She wanted to use connotations which are feelings that words invoke in addition to their literal meaning.  A connote (of a word) implies or suggests (an idea or feeling) in addition to the literal or primary meaning.

She added interest to her story by including figurative language; words or expressions with meanings different from their literal meaning.  Figure means to be a significant and noticeable part of something.

She remembered fun conversations they had about philosophy using analogies.  Analogies compare two things, typically on the basis of their structure, for the purpose of explanation.  She could still hear his voice saying the sweetest analogy she had ever heard, “eyes are the windows to the soul and you my dear have beautiful eyes.”

She wrote about her father being a tall lanky man with a child-like soul who always encouraged her charismatic zest for life and freedom from vanity.  He admired her fearless courage and described it with a simile of it being “as fearless as a lion’s.”  Similes, compare one thing with another thing of a different kind using “like” or “as”, to make the description more vivid.  It compares things that are similar.

His heart filled with joy and laughter when she began negotiating for one of her favorite things on the planet; a big sweet lollipop!  He admired her developing wit, so he began using a metaphor to describe how he loved her sweet nature as much as she loved a big sweet lollipop.  Metaphors omit the words “like” and “as” instead applying a word to an object or action that is not literally applicable.  Meta means “of a creative work” referring to the conventions of its genre.

Her father was a gentle man with a poetic heart and he will forever be remembered saying, “You’re my Lollipop, Lollipop.”

A Fathers Daughter

Spring Break at Sky Valley in Shenandoah Mountains, Georgia

Tech View

1. My tech life is best described as a habitual visitor.  I’ve spent a lot of time working within artistic digital software like the Adobe Suite but I lack the ability to figure out technological aspects of the internet and computers.  I can draw on the computer but I can’t keep the computer running.  I enjoy a shallow existence online.  I enjoy sharing myself through writing and digital art but I don’t really care about searching or peering through pages of others work.  I’d also rather read a printed book over a digital on.  I find all of the “in-your-face” advertising extremely rude and invading.

2. I like www.Socrative.com for formative assessments. It allows you to engage with students while collecting detailed summative assessment reports.  I like how you can ask a quick question and have students answer it in real time.  This is a useful tool to gage what your students know and where they can learn more.  Having a place for students to ask questions anonymously creates a safe place for them to do so.  It’s also enables you to save assessments you’ve created and share them between colleagues.  Live results allows you to see which questions you need to go over with the students.  

3. Virtual writing is important for students to do because it widens their audience.  When students know their audience includes more people, they will write their best.  Also, other people online will critique everything they see online.

http://www.shelfari.com/ Is a good site to find books of varying interests through a search engine.  It allows readers to rate and comment on books. 

http://piktochart.com/ Looks great for easy block charts and other graphic illustrations. 

http://storybird.com/ Looks like a fun way to engage students in writing games.  It allows you to create a book which is always exciting.

4. The online tools that educators are using makes illustrating visual aids very easy.  The online tools educators are using make access to material easier than ever before.  It creates a big team where educators can continue to grow, share their challenges, and keep creativity in teaching.

5. As teachers integrate technology they need to keep students safety in mind.  The virtual world makes access to information so available that crossing the line to an unsafe realm becomes extremely easy to do.  Students need to be made aware of the dangers of online communications, protocols, and “stranger danger” aspects of having the world at their fingertips.  Student’s need to be educated about every aspect of online safety.

6.  Based on my exploration, I will try out the following online tools:

http://www.shelfari.com/ 

http://piktochart.com/

http://storybird.com/

Socrative www.Socrative.com

Kahoot http://www.getkahoot.com

Cheese

I love cheese. I also enjoy going out to eat with my best friend.  There are many restaurants in our area to choose from, so we often decide where to go based on our agenda.  Sometimes our agenda is based on the atmosphere according to our mood, food quality for taste, bar menu for drinks, or simply a fire place on a chilly evening.  The last time my friend asked me what I wanted to eat, my answer was, "cheese."  I wanted melted cheese and rolls.  I have this craving often when so when asked where I'd like to eat, it sometimes come down to who has the best cheese option.  One time Olive Garden's Fontina cheese appetizer was the deciding factor regarding where we ate that evening.  We laughed, shared, and "filled our cups" over wine, cheese, and rolls.  It was a memorable evening for two best friends.
This past weekend, I was once again asked, "where would you like to eat?"  It was a community question asked by the driver of the car.  No one had a request so I said, "I want cheese" because I did.  We were heading home from an Orlando Magic basketball game and our options were only among fast food restaurants.  It came down to Wendy's...ew!  While making a U-turn, I saw a WaWa convenient store and brought up a conversation about it.  I had never been in one but remember reading recent news about one being built near my home.  The driver mentioned that he heard WaWa had good food.  So we decided to check it out.  They had cheese!  Of course they had more than just cheese but they had cheese! And rolls!  I was very excited about my order of macaroni and cheese with a roll. As we ordered our food, a man was leaving the store with three food orders stacked in his arms.  I heard a sliding noise behind me and turned around just in time to see him drop a large order of macaroni and cheese on the floor! I felt so awful for him.  He simply shook his head and left the store.  I hope it wasn't for someone as happy as I was to be getting cheese.

Fears of Teaching

I am concerned that when I go into the classroom tomorrow to assist Mrs. Rice I will forget all of the teaching strategies I've learned.  Last week, she asked me what I would like to do this week.  She then mentioned small groups which I haven not done before so I picked that route.  I want to experience all that I can before showing up on my first day all alone.
Last week I worked independently with a student who obviously had a small special attribute to his personality, although I am not aware of the specific label.  I found that instead of showing him how to begin a project, I simply started it for him and then told him what to write.  I was focused on catching him up to the rest of the class.  I got him caught up but then felt as though I did not allow him to fully grasp what was going on with the project.
I am sure I will ease into the role as time passes but the fear of the initial starting point gives me slight apprehension.  I cannot wait to see how I do.
When I first begin with new students, all of the strategies, questions, and psychology of their developmental stages seem to overwhelm me.  I hope I can effectively teach these kids tomorrow.

It's my job

I'm mostly testing to make sure I create and post writings in the correct place.  While I'm at it, I'll say what's on my mind.  I have an online class where the professor has a tight control over our schedule.  I work two days a week (all day Thursday and Friday) and attend a course in Orlando (1.5 hr one way drive time) on Wednesday nights.  The problem arises when he keeps our weekly quiz locked until Wednesday of each week and make it due on Friday.  I do not understand his reasoning for this madness.  I thought one objective of an online course was to be flexible with time management.  We have all week for each module therefor the tight control on exactly when we perform each assignment within the module should be our job, not his.  I understand if he wants us to perform tasks in a certain order but only making the quiz available for two days is putting a wrench in my clock.