I have been absent from my own blog for awhile now. Summer has begun and I start with summer school next week. I am still working on a revision of our school website. It is quite a handful.

I have been doing some Spring cleaning around the apartment and around my computer. I always seem to end up with folders named “Stuff” inside of folders named “Stuff” or “More Stuff” and those are usually inside folders called “Stuff.” Anyway, you get the idea. I have trashed a bunch on stuff, moved files to my external hard drive, and I think my computer is now a much happier camper. I even cleaned up my account in Entourage, backing up and then deleting a ton of old emails.

I joined a gym yesterday and go for a training session today. I need to lose about 30 pounds and need to get in better shape overall. Now is the time!

I have had a chance over the last couple of months to really do a lot of organizing at school. I set up checklists for each Credit Recovery course we offer. That will make keeping track of student progress this summer so much easier. I used GoogleSpreadsheets so I can even share viewing access with the student / parent for those who have chosen to give me their email address. I also reorganized our Course Recovery lab, re-imaged all the eMacs, and hung a bunch of new posters. The room is much more homey now. I am glad I get to stay there at least one more year and hope I will get to stay for many more years past that.

Off the personal stuff now. Here are a few new sites I have stumbled upon:

Beat spam with the best disposable e-mail service.

I just love his stuff!

I love looking at historical stuff.

Finally, here is a YouTube video I came across. I can’t get MY cats to do any of these tricks but I am trying.

I came across this website while Stumbling - toxel.com. It is just amazing how creative people can be. Here are a few of my favorites.

3M Security Glass Bus Stop Advertisement

3M was so sure their Security Glass was unbreakable, they put a large stack of cash behind it and shoved it in a bus stop.

Headhunting Agency Shopping Bag

Slow motion video of lightning

I have been through stages of craftiness in my life. I have gotten into cross-stitching, making beaded items (necklaces, lanyards, bracelets, key chains), painting fabrics (pillows, t-shirts), and many other endeavors. I like being able to make items for other people - either for birthday / Christmas presents or just everyday gifts. I think when someone spends time making a gift it makes it so much more special. I heard a story on the news recently that crafting is on the rise due to the troubled economy. While I hate our economy is in the situation it is, I think it is a good thing that it is motivating people to find less-expensive and more heartfelt ways of giving. On this website you can see what other people are saying about handmade gifts.

I have been spending most of my time on a new web design project but I think I will start looking at crafting again. I can start now making items to give as Christmas presents without feeling rushed as the end of the year approaches.

As I come across neat crafting projects, I will share them here. Maybe they will be of use to others.

I came across this neat project for etching glass. I think I will give it a try after I come up with some thoughtful words to etch. I think this would be cool to do with pictures of pets. I have many friends who share their lives with animals, as do I. Maybe a picture of a pet with a pet-friendly quote would be a good gift.

I really like the Zazzle website. No, I get no kickback for giving them a thumbs up. They offer a bunch of pre-designed merchandise (t-shirts, cups, mouse pads, stamps, shoes, business cards, buttons, stickers, magnets, greeting cards, post cards, keychains, bags, hats, aprons, ties, calendars, and bumper stickers) but what I like best is that you can create your own custom designs and order as many (or as few) as you need. Yes, you can design and order a single copy of a bumper sticker if you want. Of course, it is cheaper to order in bulk but their costs for small orders are very reasonable. You can even place your designs on their website so other people can order them and YOU earn a royalty of the sale of those items. So, if you have always wished you could find a bumper sticker that presents your favorite saying, just go here and make it.

Maybe I will order this embroidered shirt.

Today was warm enough that I decided to go ahead switch the direction of my ceiling fan rotation. FYI - Ceiling fans should rotate counter clock-wise in the summer (to generate a breeze downward to cool you off) and clock-wise in the winter (to cycle the warm air that rises to your ceiling.) I have a vaulted ceiling in my living room and the ceiling fan in there works really well especially when I have my balcony door open. I am glad to see the arrival of Spring, although Fall is my favorite season.

I have made my first widget for Mac OS X! It was much easier than I thought it would be. It is a simple countdown clock. The goal - MCHS Class of 2009 graduation.

This widget won’t be of much use to anyone not at MCHS but I just felt like sharing. It is available for downloading in a zipped file for anyone who wants it.

I came across this while Stumbling the Internet today:

When you thought I wasn’t looking:

I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately wanted to paint another one.

I saw you feed a stray cat and I learned that it was good to be kind to animals.

I saw you make my favorite cake for me and I learned that the little things can be the special things in life.

I heard you say a prayer, and I knew there is a God I could always talk to, and I learned to trust God.

I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I learned that we all have to take care of each other.

I saw you give your time and money to help people who had nothing, and I learned that those who had something should give to those who don’t.

I felt you kiss me good night and I felt loved and safe.

I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it, and I learned we have to take care of what we were given.

I saw how you handled your responsibilities, even when you didn’t feel good, and I learned that I would have to be responsible when I grow up.

I saw tears come from your eyes and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it’s alright to cry.

I saw that you cared and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

I learned most of life’s lessons that I need to know to be a good and productive person when I grow up.

I looked at you and wanted to say, “Thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn’t looking.”

Each of us, parent, grandparent, relative or friend, influence the life of a child.

How will you touch the life of someone today?

- Author Unknown

Wordle is another cool online tool for all grade levels. It creates a graphical display to show the frequency of word usage in a text, web page or document. This is called a Word Cloud. The bigger the word is, indicates its dominance of usage. I like some if the ideas for usage presented on Technology Education Know-How Blog.

1. Students can use it to monitor the frequency of word usage in their own writings. a. How often do they use the same adjectives or nouns? b. Are they overusing words?

7. Self Reflection; If you where to write a story about yourself, what would your Wordle say?

Here is an example from the site - George Washington’s Inaugural Address:

Here is an example I did - Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address:

I just added this cool online tool to my Resources - Links+ list but wanted to share it in a post also. This is such a cool site - and it is FREE. I can see SO many EdTech uses for it!! Have students create animations easily and then save them as Flash files or animated GIFs. Students can tell short stories, give demonstrations, create simulations, and much more. Math students could show how to solve particular types of equations step by step and then share their demonstration.

Even though I have a big background in music, I don’t listen to music in the car too often. I really prefer to listen to talk radio when I am in the car. Even though today is Saturday and is the start of my Spring Break, I was up at my usual 4:30 am because I accepted the request of a friend to take her to the airport to catch an early flight. On the way home from the airport, I caught a great story on the NPR show, “On The Media.”

This story is the first in a three part series:

The Net’s Mid-Life Crisis (March 13, 2009)

The basic architecture of the Internet hasn’t changed since it was conceived 40 years ago. But what was once the playground of wonks is now the main staging area for the global economy and open to an array of security vulnerabilities. Brooke talks with Internet experts who ponder a vexing conundrum: adjustments that increase security simultaneously hamper innovation.

I won’t try to give you the exact words but the one section that really stuck out to me was when they were talking about security and the Internet. A comparison was made to the Interstate system. A person said does it make sense to say we are going to modify the Interstate system to stop criminals from committing crimes? It makes just as much sense to say we are going to modify the Internet (the global superhighway) to stop cyber-criminals. I am looking forward to the next two shows in the series and will post links to them when they come online.