iPods are great.
Chloe Bashian is about to embark on a trip that will most likely be a once in a lifetime experience.: the photo trip to Italy.
This type of trip is completely new to Bashian. “I have never left the country,” she said. She will be spending ten days exploring “the Boot” with friends and peers, as will as Ms. Ciluffo and Mr. Johnson.
Bashian is going on the trip because of photography; however, anybody who participates in any of the art classes is eligible to go. “I love photography” she said, “when Mr. Johnson told us about the trip I really wanted to go.”
The group leaves Thursday, February 13 which means, unfortunately, Bashian has to turn in her Junior Thesis a day early. She does not seem concerned, “it will be such a great opportunity” she said.
A trip to Italy is thrilling; however, Bashian is also excited for the photography aspect of it. “I am really passionate about photo,” she said “I think I’m equally excited for both the photography and the travel aspect of it.”
Bashian has been involved in photo since eighth grade but did not develop a real passion for it until her freshman year. Since then, she has worked her way through the intermediate course and now participates in advanced class. “You can create your own perspective on something,” Bashian said when describing her love for the art. “I’m not the best at drawing so photo lets me show my artistic ability.”
In terms of the trip, Bashian showed excitement. “We are traveling a lot” she said, almost hesitantly, for fear of worn out feet. Overall, Bashian, as well as many of her peers seemed thrilled for their trip to Italy. It combines art with a travel experience that will be one of the most memorable for many.
PS-interview coming soon….after technical difficulties are sorted out.
Apparently Russia doesn’t share our alphabet?
Ok so first I would like to apologize for not having a blog on the website until now, but I wasn’t invited, and then I just forgot to post it when I was invited. I’ll begin this post by talking about the play I just saw.
It was actually really funny, which should be expected of the drama people at our school. It’s called Infomercial and it chronicles the journey of a hopeful salesman through an infomercial convention. It had just enough of a storyline to be enjoyable without getting overly complicated. The only thing I can think of that I didn’t like about it was that there were people behind me that kept talking. Yeah, that’s all.
In school this week, we had a completely unfair quiz to follow up the ridiculously hard one that we before vacation. Maybe the next one could be even more fun by being ridiculously hard and completely unfair. I won’t say which class it was in for the teacher’s discretion, but I think you all know what I’m talking about. And most likely agree.
I really hope that the NEASC comes to our Spanish class next week to see how the windows are covered with garbage bags because the school wouldn’t give our teacher blinds. Maybe then they can send a message to all the people that don’t want to spend a little extra money for a new school that says “pay up, a**holes.”
Has this blog deteriorated into me just complaining about school? Yes.
Is that a bad thing? No.
Did you finish reading this? Apparently.
конец
FINALLY.
“I would like to acknowledge my bed, because despite the fact that I have neglected it recently, it still stayed by my side and will let me sleep in it from here on out.”
-Page 2 of my Junior Thesis
Yes, today I turned in my Junior Thesis and completely liberated myself from the clutches of those note cards, bibliographies, and countless drafts that have completely consumed my life for the past week and a half. There are no words to describe how relaxed I am. In fact my mom said she almost didn’t recognize me this morning without the huge bags (they’re now only semi-huge) under my eyes, and a constant expression of stress.
I realize that Junior Thesis is a graduation requirement and will help me in the future at college….but at the same time there is no way I will ever look back on this and call it a positive experience. I actually wanted to yell at all of the people in my history class this morning that claimed that their topic was “fun”. That’s just a blatant lie.
Honestly, I wish somebody had told me what was coming. It would have been nice if somebody had told me that sacrificing an entire weekend to just edit, write, and organize would be a brilliant idea. Everybody on the face of the planet failed to mention that one.
As much as I would love to keep complaining, I don’t doubt that I’m not the only one who is going to be blogging about this form of torture today. Also too, thinking about it only makes me nauseas.
P.S.
Fun Fact: The above blog is exactly 1/10 the number of words of the word limitation placed on that paper. Lovely.
Two for Tuesday 2-5-08
Envisioning Schools of the Future
I continue to think about how schools might/could/should/will change to meet the needs of a 21st century global economy. This week I have come upon two interesting resources that address this question.
1. Do Schools Kill Creativity?
The first is a video of a TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson. Sir Ken asks the question: “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” He is an excellent and entertaining speaker. I highly recommend listening to his entire talk. Some things that struck me: “Creativity is as important as literacy,” “If you are not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original.” Thanks to Jo McLeay for pointing me to this one (via Twitter of course;).
2. Tom Friedman on Education in the ‘Flat World’: A discussion with author Daniel Pink on curiosity, passion and the politics of school reform in the global marketplace.
In this article from the February 2008 issue of School Administrator Magazine, Tom Friedman, author of The World Is Flat, and Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind, discuss the future of schools.
Here are a few quotes that stood out for me:
“…if we live in a flat world where whatever can be done will be done, guess who’s going to win? People who get the signals first, who do it before it’s done to them.” - Friedman
“In a world where information was scarce, schools operated as kind of a repository of that precious resource. But now information is abundant. A school doesn’t have to harvest and distribute this scarce resource. It has to serve some other kind of function.” -Pink
This last quote seems particularly appropriate for those of us voting today on Super Tuesday.
“The president has to be someone who inspires on the big issues, one who can lay out projects that really stimulate education all the way down the line. Today, the president’s got to be our chief education officer.” - Friedman
What do you think? Are schools killing creativity? Are we preparing students to thrive in a world where information is abundant? If not, what can we do to change that?
Of course I’m going to write about the Patriots.
Well, they lost.
It’s not like anybody needs me to remind them of it, of course, but I just thought I would set the reality in writing. The Patriots could have had a perfect season. But…they blew it. I’m not going to lie I don’t think I have ever been in such shock. How did the Patriots lose the most important game of the year, when they had won every single other game so far? It truly makes no sense.
After the game, I attempted to come up with every possible reason as to why the Patriots could have choked so badly. Probably because I wore two different socks yesterday, or that people switched their seats throughout the game. It was probably Gisele distracting her boyfriend (Brady) all game.
No matter how many different reasons I used as justification, I am now able to realize that the Patriots simply lost because they played a bad game. In the last three minutes Tom Brady was finally able to whip out a touchdown and we all thought it was in the bag. The defense just couldn’t pull themselves together though.
The whole thing is just upsetting because we all know how much history could have been made, not to mention the World Series win by the Red Sox in 07. Imagine how unbelievable Bostonians could have felt if they could have said “Yes, we did have two world champions in the same year.”
I really hate New York.
Why I love this stuff
I am often asked - “How do you find time for all of this technology stuff?” “How do you keep up with it all?” My answer is I love it, and here are some of the reasons that I do.
1. It’s inspiring - I read blogs, listen to podcasts and participate in discussions that inspire new ideas. They keep me thinking and questioning. They force me to synthesize and respond. They keep my mind awake.
2. It’s interactive - The beauty of the Read/Write Web is that it is interactive. I can always find a discussions to contribute to. And if I ask a question, I can always find an answer from someone, via Twitter, Ning or a comment right here on my blog.
3. It’s immediate - If I post a question on Twitter, I can usually get a response within minutes. It is wonderful to know that my network is out there ready to respond if I need them.
4. It’s endless - There is no end to the new technology tools that I can explore Online. Sometimes this is overwhelming, but it is also comforting. I know I will never come to the end of my journey. There will always be something new to find around another corner.
5. It’s real - After attending the Educon 2.0 conference and meeting so many of my Online “friends,” I know that what exists in this virtual world does translate to real life. The people I met there were as interesting, knowledgeable and nice as I had hoped they would be.
What do you think? Why do you love this stuff? How do you find the time? How do you keep up with it all? I would love to hear your thoughts.
-Liz
Join me on Tumbl’n Teachers
This week I discovered a Website called Tumblr which is like a mini-blog where you can share things of interest you find on the Web. This can take the form o
f text, a quote, a link, audio and/or video. I created my own page on Tumblr here: http://lizbdavis.tumblr.com/ It isn’t interactive, but you can subscribe to the feed and follow others who have Tumblr pages.
Tumblr also has a group feature, which allows you to create a group page that can be posted to by all members. @techieteacher put together a group called tumbl’n teachers and you can find it here: http://teachers.tumblr.com/
If you are interested in joining the group DM me on Twitter or send me an email at ebleich@yahoo.com.
Mission Accomplished.
On Wednesday January 30, 2008 TD Banknorth Garden was sold out. The Garden was filled to the brim with screaming girls from 7 years old to those in college. Many were dressed in wild outfits in attempt to replicate the wardrobes of their favorite Spice Girl. I am proud to say that I too, was one of those girls.
I believe it started in second grade for me. I bought the first Spice Girls CD and convinced myself that I was Ginger Spice. Please don’t judge. By now of course, I have realized that my blonde hair does not really fit Ginger’s whole image, so I have settled with dressing as Baby Spice. It’s safe to say that my whole life revolved around the spice girls for at least two years, which is pathetic at best.
Despite the fact that the Spice Girls have been broken up as a group for several years, and I have not listened to their CD for about that amount of time, the prospect of seeing them in concert again was thrilling. I bought tickets about a week before the concert, which was of course a really ridiculous idea considering the prices for our nosebleed seats were probably about four times their worth by then.
Somehow I ended up in a private box that one of my friends had gotten tickets for for her birthday. The seats were incredible, not to mention we had a stocked fridge of diet coke and sandwiches.
Anyways, the concert itself was pretty incredible, and I think we all got some entertainment out of seeing each other, as well as ourselves belting out the words to “Wannabe” and “Spice up your life”. Talk about nostalgia. Some of the songs we didn’t know, either because they were written after the group had fallen off the earth, or because they were so recent that Posh Spice’s kids could’ve been in the music videos.
Ironically, I was most impressed with Scary. I’ll admit to the fact that I’m semi-obsessed with her at this point. The irony lies in the fact that when we were younger nobody would ever dress up as Scary, or pretend to be her, because nobody liked her crazy hair or spacesuits. Now she’s viewed as the most insane and most admirable of the five. Her leopard suits were spicy as hell, and at one point she had a microphone with a whip attached to it.
The outfits were fabulous, ranging from sparkly suits, to pure silver, and then to different colored boxer wardrobes. They sang their hearts out (or lipsynced in some cases–as rumor has it) and were the same old spice girls that everyone there remembered. At the last song, about halfway through the speakers; however, they kept on dancing. Finally, after they all had exited the stage the words “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED” were all that the audience saw.
I still have shivers.
Driving: A Short-Lived Enchantment
When I was younger my one goal in life was to become a driver. Graduations, jobs, family…none of that mattered as long as I could cruise down the road with the music blaring.
Oh, how times have changed. I’m not going to lie, it was only within the past few months that I abandoned my fascination with the “skill”. The first day I got my license I drove a total of 30 miles, all within the Wellesley borders. That day I think I offered to do more errands and chores for my parents than in my entire life.
Within the first two weeks of having my license came the first accident. I had driven myself to the high school on a sunny Saturday afternoon to attend soccer practice. I pulled into the parking, my music excessively loud, as it was a freedom accompanied with driving. After slowly approaching a parking spot I pulled up to attempt the placement of my car between the two white lines. After about four tries I finally made it within centimeters of the two white lines and went to break and park. However, apparently the gas pedal was temporarily exchanged with my break pedal and as I came to what I perceived as a stop, I ended up accelerating into a cement block with protruding shriveled bushes.
To my amazement, my mother was not mad and was even able to make a small joke of the situation, though I did not find it funny. The first diagnosis on the car was that it was totalled and could not be resurrected. So while we figured out that car situation, I was forced (though at the time thrilled) to drive my father’s colossal Land Rover.
I suffered through the terrible next two weeks getting rides or occasionally driving my parents’ cars.
About three weeks after the first accident came the next. Once again it was a deliteful fall Satruday. After spending five hours on a biology lab (which would be graded within ten minutes, but that is another topic of discussion) I was on my way home, an approximately three minute drive from my lab partner’s house. I was driving my father’s tank of a car and once again, had a new CD overpowering the speakers. The joy ride ended when I collided head-on with another SUV.
After sitting in the car shaking for a couple of minutes I finally registered what had just happened and attempted to get out. The door refused to open completely and I was constrained to slowly wriggle through the damaged escape. Traffic around the scene had completely stopped and people were getting out of their cars to access the damage.
It wasn’t until I got out of the car and tried to proccess the occurrences of the past six minutes that I realized I had collided with a senior boy from the high school. Great. Not only had I gotten in an accident, but it was with a big, intimidating, hockey-playing senior boy, whose car I had just totalled.
After dealing with the police and my parents and the senior boy and his parents, the details were settled and the two cars were towed away. The autoshop was able to salvage my father’s car after a large amount of work, but as I mentioned, the big, senior boy’s car was not as lucky.
Seeing as each time I got in an accident it seemed to get progressively worse, I was very hesitant to drive and in fact, despised it. My childhood enchantment was exhausted. To me, driving became a burden which was only necessary to get from point A to point B. As a kid I was correct in my classification of driving as a privilege, however, of course I could not have realized the responsibility it represents.
Through all of this I finally understood that driving is a short lived allurement, of which I had never truly realized the significance.
Also…I am not a very good driver.
Back With a Boom
Despite the ongoing Writer’s Guild strike, House was able to make a comeback, airing on Fox 25 immediately following American Idol on Tuesday.
The show did not lose a thing since its last airing on November 27th of last year. Doctor House remains juvenile yet devious while his three remaining employees are left in the dark to his inner thoughts of their importance to the team.
Doctor House schemes to receive gifts from every member of his team, as he only puts his name in the “secret Santa” raffle. Another brilliant idea by House that obviously is meant for more than receiving gifts. He wants to analyze their response to this. Once they realize House has pulled a fast one on them, what will they do?
House’s distrust of the human race, although sabotaging desperately needed relationships, serves prudent as his knack for delineating lies from truths has saved countless lives.
Leaving us on our toes, turning corners never wandered; secrets are coming to light in ways unimaginable. Take your prediction, turn upside down, mangle it, flip it inside out, you may be on to something.
