Technologically challenged....

Ok guys....here's the thing. It's been a while since I have posted and this week in my Applying Technology in the Classroom class we have an unrequired optional blogging discussion assignment. I figured that I would just write a post about the class and everything going on in it here instead of creating another blog to neglect forget about :) As most of you already know, I am in no way the next Steve Jobs, Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg. Technology is something that quite frankly baffles me and I tend to stay away from anything too complicated. Yes, I have an iPhone and can somewhat navigate the world of blogging, but other than that I repel technology. Really. It runs the other way. This class was bound to be a challenge. I mean, it has the words "Applying Technology" in the title. Regardless, I decided to keep an open mind if only for the fact that it is a required class. Right off the bat I knew I was going to be in trouble. There was language that I had never seen before being used on a daily basis in our assignments! I can sign and I know French, but this was intense!! We learned about Web 2.0 (if you don't know what that is look it up, it's pretty awesome) and how to apply it in the classroom. Ok, here is where I ran into trouble....I have a degree in History so it's no surprise that I tend to like things from the past. I spent a summer working in a museum with artifacts and things from many years ago. It was a leap to go from looking at old letters and such to having to create an online Wiki. To me, the art of writing is dying. We can look at letters and accounts from hundreds of years ago but anymore all we do is send a text message or an email that we delete a few days later. There's no record that we were actually here, but that's a different story. Back to my point....Web 2.0 is basically different programs that you can incorporate into your classroom to enhance the learning experience of your students. Now, what would I use to enhance the experience of a history class you ask? Well, Skype is a Web 2.0 tool that can be used in any classroom but could REALLY help out a history teacher. How? I'm glad you asked. Let's pretend that all of you are students in my American History class in some high school somewhere...let's say Valley Park High School. Valley Park utilizes SmartBoard technology so that will work out great :) Instead of boring you with a story about an artifact and showing you a PowerPoint or a few pictures Skype would allow me to Video Chat in a curator from the Smithsonian Institute (time permitting on their part of course) to talk to you about the Hope Diamond or the Air and Space Museum. You see where I'm going with this. Or instead of having you read about the Holocause in your textbook I could video chat in a real survivor or show you a clip of a speech from someone that survived on SchoolTube. Another tool that I was really skeptical about at first was WebQuest. Seriously....has anyone ever heard of this? It was definitely a first for me. You create an online scavenger hunt for your students. It's actually kind of cool. So is Symbaloo....ok, so I don't despise ALL technology. I guess what I'm saying is that I actually learned quite a bit about how to bring things to life in my classroom and that's something important in history. Many students just think that history is something they don't have to worry about. It happened long before you were born so why should you care, right? I'll tell you why....history happens every single day. What happened hundreds of years ago still has an impact on our lives today. If women's suffrage had never happened and women's lib was just a fad I probably wouldn't be writing about any of this anyway because I wouldn't have the choice to teach or do whatever I wanted to do with my life. While technology may make it easier for some things, I still strongly believe in reading a book to find an answer....and I'm not talking about reading a book on your iPad or Nook or Kindle or whatever else. I'm talking about actually READING and searching through artifacts to find what you're looking for....you never know what you're gonna find. So in closing, I guess technology isn't all bad and I know I'll use some of it in my future classroom, but I also know that adventures can't be had behind a computer screen or on your phone/tablet or whatever else you're using. You have to get out and see the world because, believe me, you don't know what you're missing!

London Calling

I have to seriously get into the habit of writing more often! Sorry for the long hiatus, but I've been crazy busy. Let's play catch up, shall we? I'm still in STL, going to school and working. Plus....this summer I start a new adventure. Coaching! I got the graduate assistant job at MoBap and will be the JV coach for next season along with helping with varsity. The volleyball program at MBU is amazing. They have coaches that I can learn so much from and I'm seriously blessed to have this opportunity. Who knows? Maybe coaching volleyball is a new calling for me.

On a more exciting note....I leave for LONDON in 2 weeks!!!! I have never been so excited for a trip in my life! I'll be there for a week with my lovely friend Heather and it's truly going to be the trip of a lifetime. Plus, it's my first English speaking country :) It'll be different trying to get around and actually knowing what people are saying to me; whether it be good or bad. There are just so many things that I want to see and do and so little time do see and do them. Not only on this trip, but also in life. Life is short....we need to enjoy every second we can with those we love. There's no point wasting your time on people who don't appreciate how amazing you are. God has blessed me beyond my imagination and I can't wait unti the time comes when I can praise Him for the rest of eternity. I think people forget how lucky they are sometimes. Just take the time to thank the Lord today for everything....after all, He didn't forget to wake you up this morning did He?

The best is yet to come.

Alright, I realize that it's been quite a while since I posted. Things have been super crazy lately. Let's play a short game of catch-up. I moved to St. Louis in August. Started graduate school at Missouri Baptist and am halfway done with my observation hours. The End.

It's been quite an adjustment up here. But so far so good. I'm feeling really good about teaching and am excited to get into it more. But...... oh c'mon. You knew there was a catch right? I'm getting a small case of wanderlust. I would love to teach overseas for a year or so once I'm certified. There are quite a few programs that use teachers from here in Europe. I would love to do that. Just pack up and go somewhere I don't know anyone and just try it out. I need some adventure in my life. I get antsy and stir-crazy occassionally and just need something new. You know that feeling that you are being pulled in a different direction than the one you're going in? I've got it in the pit of my stomach right now. Not on the teaching thing, just in general. I'm just kind of in a rut.

Fall is my favorite season. I love the changing colors, the crisp air and Halloween. Plus, after fall comes winter and with winter comes snow! Snow is magical to me. It makes everything look different, new. Anything can happen when it snows :) I guess it's the hopeless romantic in me that idolizes the changing of seasons. It feels as though they bring new opportunities with them. Who knows? This time next year my life might be going in a completely different direction. :)

Dreams.

I've always been a dreamer. There's no doubting it. While I have to make plans that are more realistic, I also tend to make some extraordinary ones as well. Broadway has been my biggest dream since I can remember. Not just going there, but being on Broadway. It's the main reason I kept taking dance when I was younger. The theater is magical. I did plays and musicals when I was younger, but once I got into high school and college I never had time because the musicals were always the same season as volleyball. Rehearsals would have been impossible for me to make due to practices and conditioning. If I could go back and change something, I would most definitely have never stopped taking dance when we moved. I went and checked out a few studios in Springfield when we moved here, but the classes were still behind me. I had an amazing studio and teacher in Memphis. The classes here were slower and I would have ended up taking private lessons with a teacher I didn't feel could compete with the one I had had for 10 years. It breaks my heart that I didn't keep on with something I loved, but I made a choice. I took a few classes in college at a local studio in Fulton and had the same problem. The tap class I took still used the heeled tap shoes. I stopped using heeled taps when I was 9 years old. It was hard to take instruction from someone who was teaching me steps that I hadn't done since I was really young and some of the girls in my class were having trouble with them. I need to be challeneged to reach my full potential.
Okay, I realize I have been rambling. This all came from SYTYCD starting up again. It is my favorite show on TV, possible ever, and it makes me realize that I should never have quit dancing. I'm not saying that I could be on the show, but I won't ever know because I stopped doing something that I loved. I made the promise to myself that when/if I move to STL this fall, I'm going to try and take a few classes somewhere. I'll probably be a little rusty but it'll be worth it. I won't give up on my dreams just because people tell me that I need to have a plan and be more realistic.

Hope

One of my favorite words. Hope. It is defined as "to believe, desire or trust". While hoping for things is wonderful, I've realized that I have no hope without Jesus Christ. He literally died for me. For us. To ensure that we would never have to be separated from God by sin. While we sin every single day of our lives, the hope that I have in Jesus is that by repenting and asking for forgiveness my sins are forgiven. I realize that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. And I also realize that I have quite a problem keeping mine to myself. What I don't understand is how one can give up on the hope of eternal life in Heaven with God by turning their back on Him. The Lord never promised that life wouldn't be hard or that we would not face trials. In fact, He does the exact opposite. He basically TELLS us that we WILL face troubles, but that we can make it through anything as long as we believe and trust in Him. As long as we put our hope in Him. I couldn't imagine where my life would be without Christ. I would have absolutely no hope. I was raised in church. I always knew that I would give my life to God, but it was a question of when. I didn't want to give my heart to God just because all of my friends were doing it. I wanted it to be the right time for me. I needed to FEEL him moving in my life. It happened when I was 11. We were learning about Revelation (scary stuff) and I felt it. It was like a lightbulb went on in my head and I could not wait to learn more about being a Christian. I was taught that being a Christian meant living a Christian life. Learning everything you could about God and growing in your faith. Having a personal relationship with Him and showing the world His love. Now, having a relationship with God is just like having any other relationship. You have to put in time and effort. It's not always easy, but nothing that is worth anything in life is easy. One thing I knew from the beginning is that God loves us. He wants the best for us. By obeying Him and turning toward God we give Him our all. He rewards us here and eternally in Heaven. I'm not saying that I haven't had my ups and downs in my faith. I have. But I always know that I have hope in Jesus. I have had my times when I have been very angry with situations that God has presented to me. Was I angry with God? I don't know. I think I was more angry with what I was going through. For example, when my grandparents died (all 3 of them) I was hurting. I was angry that they were taken away from me. What I realize now is that they were suffering. They were called home to be with their Savior and are in a better place. It gives me peace to imagine them dancing with Jesus :) Do I miss them? Of course, every single day. There is not a day that goes by that I don't feel some sort of pain from their absence. My senior volleyball season in college was the first that I had played that my Papaw wasn't there. He died a year ago and it still hurts. I tried to call him after a game one night and someone else answered the phone. It was then that I relived all of the pain and emotions that I had felt when I first found out that he had passed. It was heartbreaking. But I turned to God and got through it. Without my hope and faith in Jesus I wouldn't be the person that I am today. I believe that God punishes the wicked, but does not turn away from those who seek him. He is a merciful and loving God. But also to be feared. I think it makes Him sad when His children turn away from Him and turn toward sin. I was also always taught to "hate the sin not the sinner". I may not agree with the choices people make, but it is not my place to condemn. This is where people start to go into different tangents. For instance, the Westboro Baptist Church "congregation". I use quotations on that last word because they are not actually a church. It is a few family members and their friends. They do not belong to the actual church. Nor do they preach or testify about a loving God. The God they believe in is full of vengeance and hate. They vile things they say break my heart. I recently came across Margie Phelps' Twitter page. I was almost in tears reading the things she believes. We studied the multiple course cases brought against this group in my Communication Law and Ethics class and I knew a little about them but I didn't know the extent that they took things. They show up at funerals, weddings, concerts and other gatherings that they don't agree with and picket and protest with vile, hateful things. One sign read, "soldiers die God laughs" and she also made light of the recent tornado that wreaked havoc in St. Louis. Another posting that upset me was her post about the 18 month old baby that was recently killed in an Arkansas tornado. She basically said that it was a good thing the baby died and that God was punishing for our sins. I want everyone out there to know this....these people are not what Christians are like! They are radicals to the nth degree and give the rest of us a bad name. The God I serve is full of love and forgiveness if you as Him for it. While I have no doubt in my mind that God will punish those who deserve it, I also believe that He rewards those who deserve it. Please, don't lump all of us together.
I want to end this on a positive note. I have recently started working with the 2-5 year old Sunday School class at my church. They are rather rambunctious most of the time, but they are so eager to learn about Jesus and it warms my heart. If only everyone had that fire for God all the time.

Mockingbird

Odd title choice, I know. But I promise it fits. Have you ever read "To Kill a Mockingbird"? Chances are you have. While a lot of people feel it is overrated and boring, it is one of my favorite books. It depresses me a bit that TKAM was the only book that Harper Lee ever really published. She had such a way with words and tackled issues that were plaguing society at the time. One of the lessons that Scout learns throughout the novel is acceptance. Not judging someone before getting to know them. Boo Radley is the perfect example of someone who is desperately misunderstood. What does this have to do with my life right now? Well, I'm glad you asked. One of my guilty pleasures is watchin Biggest Loser. I love seeing the physical and mental transformations that the contestants go through each week. I consider myself to be pretty fit, but sometimes I wonder if I would be able to make it through the workouts they go through not only physically but mentally. I'm almost dead certain that Jillian Michaels would give me a wrong look and I would instantly burst into tears. She terrifies me. But that is off topic. I realized last night while watching that I kept saying that I don't like this person or that person. It hit me that I was doing exactly what drives me crazy about other people. I was determining how I feel about someone when I don't know them. While I may not like their attitudes or actions, I don't know them personally. This set off a chain reaction in my mind of how many "public figures" I have said I dislike and how many times I've read the trash people talk about celebrities as if they actually know them. Take Taylor Swift for example. Yes, her songs drive me absolutely crazy and I would rather listen to anything else than her singing, but I have no right saying that I don't like HER. I don't know her. While we are all entitiled to our opinions, it would benefit our lives so much more if we focused on positive things and stopped judging others that we have no contact with. Much like Scout in TKAM, we should just give others who are different a chance.

You must cross your heart and kiss your elbow...

What an amazing quote. If you can name the movie it's from, you and I are destined to be best friends. If you can't, it's alright, we can still be friends :)
It makes me think about promises. Pinky promises, cross your heart and other silly sayings that we hear as children. I still use pinky promises quite regularly. To me, breaking a pinky promise is one of the worst things someone can do. It's an unspoken rule that you just do not break a pinky promise. So many things going on in the world today. It can overwhelm a person if you think too hard about it, so I try to focus on the positive things in life. I'm blessed beyond belief. I have amazing friends, family and an all around great life. But, I can't imagine my life without a relationship with Christ. He has gotten me through the toughest times of my life. I realize that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and opinions, but not trusting Him and believing that it gets better after we leave this life is something I simply do not understand. How can someone be satisfied that this life is all there is? With all the pain and suffering in the world, it helps to believe in something. Someone. We are promised an eternity with God in heaven if we turn from the ways of the world and accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. It's better than a pinky promise. Or crossing your heart and kissing your elbow. It's a promise that will not be broken.
I realize that I haven't been punctual with writing this blog, but I tend to forget about it at times. When I do remember to write, I have all kinds of different thoughts rushing around in my head and it's difficult to sort them out. I apologize if they are all quite confusing.
I used to have a serious problem with keeping my mouth shut. I tend to speak before I think. It's an issue that has gotten me into lots of trouble with my parents and probably cost me a few friendships. I tend to say what everyone else in the room is probably thinking but just doesn't want to say. Honesty may be the best policy, but in my case it's not. You can be honest and state an opinion without being so abrasive. I didn't realize how difficult it is to be around someone who is like that until recently. I was raised to believe that there are some things you just don't talk about in polite conversation. Politics and your health. The reason behind this being that everyone has a different opinion about politics and no one is really interested in hearing about your collicking baby or your nasty sinus infection. Politics tend to make my skin crawl and I usually refuse to discuss them. I'm not saying that others shouldn't, but politics center so much on personal experience and opinion that it's almost impossible to talk about them without someone being offended in some way before the end of the conversation. That being said, I should probably point out that while I'm not liberal I'm also not highly conservative. I'm kind of in the middle. I realize that people will say that's a cop out. That's fine. As I said before, you are welcome to your opinion. The problem I have is when people try and force their politics down your throat. The backhanded comments and cynical views expressed by so many over facebook and other social networking sites are simply ways to get attention. Liberals are not all crazy and conservatives are not all....well, never mind. I come from quite a conservative background. One thing I truly appreciated growing up was that my parents never shared their political opinions with me. They let me form them for myself. While I may not be the most conservative being, I still find it rather offensive when Republicans are called "uneducated".
Politics and religion (or lack thereof) tend to go hand in hand these days. Promises seem to be broken way too easily. The days of crossing your heart and kissing your elbow seemed so much easier.
By the way, the quote is by Holly Golightly in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" in case you didn't know :)