The End or The Beginning

Well we have come to the end of our incredible technological journey, and I'm about to sign off. But before I go I was asked to answer a few questions.

Here we go, one last time *tears*

• What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
  I absolutely loved the Animoto and the Mashups! They were lots of fun and not even the slightest bit difficult.

• How has this program affected your lifelong learning goals?
  To be honest, it hasn't. But that is ONLY because you were already preaching to the choir. I absolutely love learning and always have! I will just keep on keeping on, but I thank you all for the encouragement to keep learning. I shant be discouraged by becoming complacent in my knowledge :)

• Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
  I was surprised to learn that I am not as technologically deficient as I had previously thought. Oh, don't get me wrong--I'm still pretty bad. But I have gained some confidence that I can learn to use technology with just a tad bit of practice.

• What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
  I found this program to be too general. It would be nice to have more specific grade level oriented classes.

• How will what you have learned influence your practice as a teacher?

   I will thankfully be more capable at utilizing technological resources. However, only when    apprrpiate. To be honest I beleive that when it comes to a literature class the novels come first. you must read them. It simply will not do to replace the novel in my classroom.

• How do you plan to keep up with new developments in web 2.0? Recommend a way that you have found to be useful.

       I will be keeping up with my RSS feeds! It's just so gosh darn simple how could I not?

That's all for this semsester! Keep up the good work everyone!

Happy Blogging,

Adriana Victoria <3

Thing #23

WOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!

Well folks, here we go Thing #23!

For this final Thing I was asked to find a Thing on the APSU 23Things blog that proved that information had been borrowed from another website. As I began to scroll down, it wasn't long before I came back across Thing #21. Right below the activity it says;

(originally posted on Explore...Discover...Play: Learning 2.1 and used here under a Creative Commons license)

Thing #22

Livebinders are a great tool and I love the idea behind them. I love having all of my information and resources stored in a way that is accessible from nearly anywhere.I would use a tool like this to allow my students to have unlimited access to the resources inside the binders. They could review material on their own time and even practice concepts. I really do think this is a great idea. However, I hate this site. No offense to the site makers, and I certainly do not wish to start up a large brouhaha. However, I have tried to create a nice binder but I am unable to view or navigate it in an efficient and effective manner.

I must say it is quite disappointing. But, it is likely that this is simply not my forte and not at all the fault of anyone else.

If I did possess the needed prowess to create functional binders I would Have them labeled efficiently. As an English major I find a lot of useful resources that I need to keep organized. Because of the wealth of information out there I would categorize my binders according to:

1. Grammar
2. Language and Devices
3. Literature and Genre

I think these would be a good start to collecting numerous resources but also keeping them separate and easy to locate. Also I would implement the use of tags.

If you would still like to see my failed attempt at making a binder the link is posted below.

Better Luck Next Time!

Language and Grammar

Thing #21

I absolutely love love love Animoto! Really this site is awesome! It took me all of 2 minutes to make a 30 second video. I decided to use a series of photos of my friends and put it to a Christmas theme and it came out great!
To create a 30 second video it is absolutely free, and I think everybody should go ahead and give it a try. It's a lot of fun, and if you don't like the first video you can just click "remix" and the site will do all the work for you. It's that easy!

Check out my video below and leave comments!

Make your own photo slideshow at Animoto.

Thing #20

"Ohhhh Yooo-Whooo!" Just kidding. What I meant to say was "Ohhhh Youtube!"

Well I'd be highly surprised if you didn't know what youtube is. I often refer to it as "thebomb.com" because where else can I watch senseless videos that waste my brain's space in such an amusing manner. But, as is always the subject for this blog, how can I apply this site to education?


Well......there a probably a million and a half tutorials on youtube and a lot of them are pretty gosh darn good. So, students could definitely search for videos to help them in nearly any subject area. The only thing I really can't stand about youtube is shoddy work. You know what I'm talking about, when the picture is all pixilated and it looks like video game graphics from the 70's. But I really do love youtube, and when I first saw the subject for this blog I immediately thought of the perfect video. So go ahead and take a looksy!

"Besides it's absolutely free!"

Thing #19

So, this time I around I will give you my take on online communities.

An online community is similar to social networking, but it has a very specific purpose or topic. For instance TeacherPop! is a community of teachers and future teachers on the web. I am now a member of this community, and I think it's pretty great. You can post questions and start discussions that other members can comment on. It's an excellent way for people with similar interests and concerns to communicate and learn from each other.

I also investigated the Bake Space community and now that my tummy is rumbling I know that I will be back to learn more and hopefully gain about 69 pounds from eating delicious goodness.

I highly recommend you guys check out these sites or go find some that interest you. They're a lot of fun, and with Christmas Break coming up you're bound to have more free time on your hands.

Leave a comment & let me know what you find!

Thing #18

I was probably one of the last of my friends to join Facebook my senior year of high school. This is because I hate change and am honestly kinda lazy and technology has long since been my nemesis. But I trudge on through these blogs and find that while I do not succeed every time, it's nice to be gaining a better technological foundation.

So as far a social networking goes, I am on facebook but am fortunate enough to not be addicted to it. However, my facebook is purely social and therefore private and I will not have it implicated in this educational blog. I do however have a twitter account because of this class and you may view my profile at the following link Adriana's Twitter. While I have never posted a single tweet, I do see the potential to use this social networking site in the classroom. It is important that teachers know how to relate to their students and incorporate the things that students are already using to help facilitate learning. Teachers can use twitter to search for educational feeds to help them gain insights on what other teachers are doing elsewhere. They can converse and follow each other and ultimately become more knowledgeable educators if they use the site properly.

I didn't really learn anything this time around because I already knew how the sites work. I prefer facebook for social reasons--socially twitter is just an easy way for stalkers to know your every move. As far as educational purposes go, I think twitter has the upper hand. It is much more legitimate when it comes to easily locating true sources that interest you. Facebook tends to have a lot of pages that are not what they pretend to be in this respect. But then again, what do I know? So you tell me! Because I admit that I am an extremely biased party in this debate :)

Thing #17

Now we enter the realm of social bookmarking. Don't know what I'm talking about? Don't fret, Dear Readers. It is oh so simple. Social bookmarking is this awesome tool that keeps users updated on the latest news articles or websites that they find interesting. We used to add cool websites to our "favorites" lists on our computers, and we soon saw how quickly that mess got out of hand. Now we can sign up for a website such as Delicious and begin bookmarking websites from any computer and accessing those bookmarks from anywhere! The bookmarks are brilliantly organized by tags. Next other site users can search for tags and come across your bookmarks. This results in a social networking aspect that allows users to follow each other and stay connected on what other users are finding interesting.

I enjoyed making my Delicious account and do plan to use it for fun, but I can definitely see the obvious uses for education. Teachers can share their insights and websites from virtually anywhere. You can see things from a different perspective from a different school system. Teachers can set up an account and bookmark websites that students can browse through as a review tutorial before major tests and exams--thus eliminating the use of class time to go over material that not all students need to reexamine. I think it's actually pretty awesome. And if I can use it, you can too!

Thing #16

This Thing is all about ways to stay organized--which is something I could honestly use both as a student, an employee, and even as a member of my own family. Really, my sister is ridiculously active in high school, and I never know when her events take place. She and I should both start using these super awesome tools on a regular basis.

I decided to go with Pageflakes and was not at all disappointed! I have never used an online tool like this before in my life, so let that be a testament to how easy it really is (If you've been reading a long you already know how hard this technology mayhem is for me). The first thing I did was set up the weather feature because I feel like knowing the weather is either gonna make or break your day. No question about it. You ever have a crappy day because you didn't know that it was going to be 30 degrees in the morning and 80 in the afternoon. Yea, sweating is not cool. And don't get me started on the "to bring an umbrella or not" debate. Weather is important, it is a must have feature. Along with current news relevant to your area. Next I decided to get to organizing myself and create the calendar. WONDERFUL experience! I put in little notes, events, and reminders. It was amazing, and then I linked up my email because I always forget to check my emails and miss out on cool stuff all the time. Overall, it's a really great tool that I absolutely love. My only problem is that I think I will eventually get too busy to keep up with it. I mean, I have all these features built into my smartphone, and I never seem to have the dedication to update my stuff even though my phone is always withing 5 feet of me.

Nonetheless, these online calendars are a wonderful tool that I will simply have to make myself use. As a student I know how easy it is to get off track and how teachers work themselves into a tizzy trying to figure out how to correct the now void calendar/syllabus. Having an online calendar is so much easier to edit! You don't have to scribble things out, you just edit them to suit your needs and go on about your life. It's a great time saver and is so useful.  If you do not already use a tool of this sort please go check some out and find what works best for you! Let me know how it goes!

Thing #15

Wiki wiki wiki! That is NOT only the sound a DJ makes when making the club "jump". It is also a very interesting tool used for education. The idea behind wikis, made famous or infamous by Wikipedia, is that users can review, edit, add, or retract information from the wiki. This results in a huge collaborative project which can be incredibly helpful to users wishing to gain insight and perspective. The problem is that incredibly rude people like to post incorrect information as a joke, and some people just plain don't know what they're talking about and unknowingly post crappy information. Thus the dilemma! My advice is to be careful and double check sources.

The wiki I used APSU 23Things Sandbox allows students in Education 3040 classes to showcase their previous blog posts. You have to sign up, but once you do you can just dive right in. I, along with many others, used my Thing #8 post because I think it's cool and has pretty pictures. It's okay to be a little vain when showcasing educational tools! Overall it was a lot of fun, and I can see future students using wikis as a sort of forum. It can be taken as an assignment grade, and every student would have to post an idea or opinion on the current novel being read in class. I would certainly give them all guidelines to help keep them on track, but it could easily be tweaked into a lively discussion board!

What do you think? List your ideas and whatnot below!

Thing #14

This time around I explored flowcharts and mindmaps. Both of these are really great tools that can be used in the classroom to increase learning and participation. For example, flowcharts can be used to clarify directs or as a checklist to complete a project (or even the writing process?). Mindmaps on the other hand is just glorified brainstorming. But, I kind of love it. It's a lot more fun than scribbling on a piece of paper trying to decide on a topic. I have to write a proposal for my English 1100 class this semester and I decided to kill two birds with one stone and begin brainstorming.

Students can do the same thing when hashing out their ideas before writing their papers. I created this one using bubbl.us. I found the site to be really enjoyable and easy to use. In just a few minutes I was using keystrokes to create new bubbles and saving myself loads of time. I chose this site because I was interested in the mindmap concept and getting to know it better. It was fabulous and I highly recommend you all check it out.

Leave your comments!

Thing #13

Ohhhhhh snap! Here we go again, back into the world of tools I have never heard of before this post. What's on today's menu? "Zoho" and "Google Documents". Am I excite? Well.....um here we go. 

So, I found the Zoho website to be a pretty interesting one and it has lots of really neat apps you can use to create a plethora of different documents. For example, if you just so happen to have a hankering for getting organized you can use Zoho to make a calendar or a planner. I gave them a quick look over and found them easy to navigate and simple to use. I, however explored the writing tool in depth and let me tell you--it was super easy. It is so much like Microsoft Word that I wonder if there may be a lawsuit going on due to some copyright infringement. In any case, anyone who can operate a word document can definitely use this site. It is so comparable, and it's free so go ahead and save yourself some money. I love Microsoft Office, but it is pretty expensive. 

The Google Documents quite honestly gave me headache. I used the drawing tool and failed at every turn. Now it could have been the computer, but more than likely it was user error. With that in mind, I have heard from others that they absolutely loved this tool. So, don't let my failures sway you--in fact feel free to laugh at my atrocious drawing. It is pretty bad. I tried to create a neat poster that made school look inviting, and it looks like this school ran out of funding--further evidenced by the very shady-looking sidewalk. Nonetheless, I'm sure that students could use this tool to create fliers and other such documents for both in and out of class activities. I, on the other hand, will stick to Microsoft's Desktop Publisher.

Thing #12

Today I explored even more tools! I’m going to start dreaming in binary code soon enough. (*Haha that was funny for all you nerds out there). Moving on… Google is one of the most fantabulous tools on the Internet, and when you use it, it’s like having tools within tools. For example there is the ever-famous Google Translator. Now, as a Spanish minor I feel inclined to forewarn you that translating entire texts is generally a very bad idea. Meaning is often lost when you do this because the translator cannot always understand the message because its main job is to translate words. Think about it, if professional translators only translated word for word would they get paid so much? No, they have to decipher words and meaning something that really humans are much better at than computers. So, especially if it is for a class, just translate the words that you do not understand and attempt to discern the meaning using context clues. Furthermore, you will actually learn more using brainpower than just translating whole texts.  Even so, this is a great tool that I use often, and if you have never tried it go ahead and give it a shot. No reason to post the link today—just google “google translator”!

The other tool I decided to use is Google Alerts. All you need to do is type in what you want to hear about, and it will automatically email you every time your topic appears in articles, discussions, etc. I decided to use it to track my favorite football team because I often end up doing homework instead of watching my husband Troy play for the Steelers. However, Teachers are of course more than welcome to use this tool to keep up with popular topics circulating their world such as budget cuts, salaries, and educational studies etc. Once again, if you’re interest just google for the alerts and get yourself all set up.

Happy googling! 

Thing #11

 *Sorry I had to change the font color. Today blogger hates me, so this is a perfect example of adapting when technology wants to be asinine*

In this activity I explored Google Reader further and searched for more blogs using different searching tools. Before, I had just searched using Google Reader’s search bar, but I now know that you can use your Reader to subscribe to blogs and news feeds outside the website.

For me, the easiest one to use was http://www.topix.net. This website follows news discussions and is not really for blogging. I used it to search for discussions about “school 2.0” and found many discussion boards. It was slightly unusual at first, but once I took the time to understand my search results I really liked it. The search results look more like an “Ask Jeeves” results page, but it is fairly simple to use. This tool would be useful for educators who wish to stay informed on the latest topics regarding their careers.

On the other hand, there was this not so great website. In any case, I did not like using it simply because of the layout. It was just really bright and hard to focus. There is really too much happening on the webpage for it to be effective by my standards. Now, you all may very well like this website so I will post the link anyways: http://technorati.com.

Finally, if you do not like any of the two listed above or cannot find any website designed for searching blogs, I highly recommend doing it the old-fashioned way. Google. Really, all you must do is google what type of blog you are looking for and something almost always comes up in your favor.

Good Luck out there & Happy Blogging

Thing #10

*Yay!!! Finally made it to double digits!*

Continuing on my journey through technological resources, I discovered RSS (really simple syndication).  This tool allows you to use your gmail account to subscribe to various blogs and news feeds automatically. it ultimately saves time because it will automatically notify you of any updates from your subscriptions. i no longer have to waste my life away checking blogs and news cites simply to find out that nothing new has occurred!

This tool is brilliant! I love it because there are so many options to subscribe to and follow. The feeds I subscribe to I believe will actually be relevant to my teaching career. For instance, I am following a blog that posts suggested readings for AP Lit classes. For my own personal gain, I am following a blog that reviews new books that I might be interested in! Finally, I think teachers everywhere can benefit from this easy to use tool because you can search for virtually anything pertaining to your class. Anyone who follows more than one blogging site should definitely sign up. Its free! As always the link is posted below :)

http://www.google.com/reader

Thing #9

Today I explored the wonderful world of Wordle. This neat little website is a text generator. All you have to do is insert the text you want to use into the box and hit “GO”. The generator automatically arranges the words in an abstract-like design. You can actually go back and change color schemes, layout, and even font.

I believe that this generator could potentially be used in the classroom to help students who learn visually remember key words and phrases. Also, I believe you could make posters to put up in the classroom as a visual aid. Either way, this site has potential so check it out along with some of the examples below.

www.wordle.com

Thing #8

This time I’ve gone a little deeper into the world of Flickr and created something wholly new. Mashups are neat little tools that combine various aspects of Flickr and any other app of your choosing. I chose to use the Mosaic Maker and created these neat little photo mosaics by entering tags. While the asthetic quality is loads of fun, and even habit-forming, I think this would be a great way to visualize themes in a novel.

My A.P. Literature teacher gave us “Major Works Data Sheets”. They were specially designed to organize key parts of a novel (theme, character, plot, climax, symbols, etc) so that the students could review all the novels before the big test at the end of the year. So, I had the idea that students could take the assignment one step further and incorporate the Mosaic Maker.

The idea is to let the students pick one of the categories listed on their MWDS and create a mosaic that illustrates the category. It’s an excellent way to get more visuals to students who learn with pictures, and it only takes a few seconds to make. Really, the only extra work involved is LOOKING at the mosaic.

Below are a few examples a student might create using The Lovely Bones. Overall, it seems like it could end up being a really awesome tool to use in the classroom.

Oh, and the link is posted below :)

Setting of the novel:

Symbols from the novel:

Theme from the novel:

http://bighugelabs.com/mosaic.php

Thing #7

Following up on Thing #6, Thing #7 covers the wonderful world of sharing photos across the Internet. These photos can be seen according to the individual’s privacy settings, and surprisingly even the Library of Congress has found neat little ways to make photo sharing educational. With the use of tags, groups, and categories it is possible to find almost any picture posted on the Flickr website.

On my personal quest for pictures I chose to search by date, and I decided to look specifically at my birthday February 6^th. I happened across a breath-taking photo of the Milwaukee harbor at sunrise. As an added bonus I would like to point out that I just so happen to be from Milwaukee, WI. This mere coincidence got me thinking about how Flickr could be used in the classroom to view random locations.

Sure, Google Earth can be used to look at places around the globe, but to me these photos always held a sort of still-life quality. By using Flickr students could search tags and see real life from various parts of the world. They could compare and contrast what they see with textbook descriptions and personal bias. The students could even communicate with other users and learn more about a place from a firsthand representative. While this may not exactly pertain to an English class the potential for greatness is still present.

The Picture and the link, and information are posted below :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jweral/5421730813/

*This photo was taken by JWEral

*This photo was taken on February 5, 2011 in Downtown, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, using a Nikon D90. (Posted on February 6, 2011).

Thing #6

I gotta say that I absolutely love my laptop. There is so much stuff on there that I absolutely need, stuff that I enjoy, and I’m sure there’s even some important stuff on there that I’ve completely forgotten about. And if my laptop ever decides to go on the fritz, I am totally 100% screwed.

Today we have so much stuff! Music, photos, recipes, school assignments, work projects, and tax information all of them saved onto a computer somewhere. Oh and then you think you’re all clever because you back up your hard drive.

And may I ask you, when was the last time you actually backed up your hard drive?

And may I ask you still, where exactly is that backup stored?

Oh, it’s stored at home…where you can only access it at home…which is pretty much useless unless you happen to be at home when you need one of your files.

Well, maybe the above situation works for you, but personally I am terrible at backing up my files because I just kinda don’t have the time. And frankly, when I do have the time I would much rather spend it doing nothing. That, dear readers, is where Mozy comes in.

Mozy is an online storage system that AUTOMATICALLY backs up all the files you want it. Simply download the tiny sliver of software needed select the files you want backed up and how often you want Mozy to keep track of them and bada-bing-bada-boom you are ready to go. Really it’s that easy.

The best part is that you can access these files anywhere you might happen to be whenever you might happen to need them. Okay, you need internet, but finding internet is almost like finding air. It’s usually pretty accesable.

So all you future teachers out there, you can use this site to back up those precious lesson plans, or upload those fine examples of past students’ writing and projects. Everything will be in one safe and easy to access place. You won’t have to have files of worn out papers to show your students year after year.

Unfortunately, it costs $5 a month, but I’m sure you’ve spent more on your Netflix.

Here’s the site if you’d like to check it out. Be sure to watch their neat little information/tutorial video!

http://mozy.com/

Thing #5

Time changes the world around us. We learn to adapt to the new culture. We learn to embrace the necessary technologies to survive in a technologically competitive universe. What we have yet to fully change is the way we educate our youth. Sure, we have begun to use computers in the classroom and boy do those students love using the SmartBoards. Still, for the most part schools have yet to recognize the power of social networking sites, cell phones, and other technologies students almost certainly use outside of the classroom.

Student 1: “Did you see the picture of Jane posted on facebook last night?”

Student 2: “Yes! I couldn’t believe my eyes!”

Now imagine if the conversation went more like this:

Student 1: “Did you see the combustion experiment Mr. Jones posted last night on the chemistry homepage?”

Student 2: “Yes! I couldn’t believe my eyes! It helped me understand the homework better too when I can see what actually happens. It’s a lot better than just reading the book.”

So the above example demonstrates where I’m coming from. The internet today, Web 2.0 is interactive. You can search, you can post, you can learn. It is no secret that interaction is hugely important to overall success in school and life. We cannot keep pretending that the traditional school will be able to prepare students for their future. I will admit they are adequately prepared for their past. I mean really…encyclopedias in the library? I promise you that by the end of their first semester in college students will be wondering why the spent so much time learning to use an encyclopedia when not a single college professor allows it as a resource. Why? Because the information is old. Printed information is old—its years old before it even goes to the publisher. Then the students will use those textbooks to learn old information that may actually be rivaled by current information.

School 2.0 is coming (I hope) because these students need to be prepared for the future. These students need to become active in their learning, and these teachers need to strike while the iron is hot. We need to think outside the box and begin to redefine how the internet can be used. We need to bring structured learning outside the classroom and not just hope that the students will learn how to incorporate technology on their own. We need to do what it takes and find the funding to make School 2.0 happen.

After all, if you build it, they will come.

Thing #4

Commenting is a good- no great way to increase a sense of community and value in your blog (Like frosted flakes. Get it? “They’re more than good…”). Why post something publically if no one even cares or is ever going to read it? Sure, you can creep on your own statistics and see how many people view you blog, but this does not necessarily translate into how many people actually read your blog.  Thus we have comments. Use them people!

Why use them? Truthfully, I only used them to kill time, or if I thought the author had absolutely no clue what they were talking about. Which is more or less wrong. In any case I have seen the light, and believe that commenting in a positive way is incredibly productive to both the author and the blogging community.  The author feels important and the readers feel as though they are welcomed and contributing. All in all, everybody wins if you open your blog to comments.

I chose to follow 7 blogs (5 from my class and 2 from other classes). I chose these blogs because the authors actually put thought into their work. Frankly, I have a pretty low attention span and if I’m not interested in what you’re saying I’m not going to continue to read. If I’m reading your blog I actually care what you think for a moment in time…might as well take advantage of the situation.  I chose to leave positive comments on the following blogs to encourage them to keep up the good work and give my own positive responses. The blogs are listed below! Check them out and leave ‘em some comments.

Amy's 3040 Blog  by: Amy Mills
Candice Casaday  by: Candice Casaday
Lauren Grizzard - 23 Things  by: Lauren Grizzard
My 23 Things EDU 3040  by: Bola Oydade
Sarah's 23 Things  by: Sarah Coker
Stephanie Voris' 3040 Blog  by: Stephanie Voris
Technology  by: Beverly Oliphant

• 
  

Thing #3

Why do we blog? Well, for me I blog because I need to receive credit for my Education 3040 class. (So let me revise the question) Why should we blog? I suppose one could come up with a number of reasons: to give feedback, to inform, or to voice opinions. But, what could we get out of a blog? Feedback.  Nothing is more valuable than feedback—positive or negative.

            As a future teacher I know that I do not know everything. I know that it is not possible for me to know everything. I will often search for ways to know what my students are thinking, how they are thinking, and how they feel.

Students need an outlet that they can use to praise or criticize their teacher in a way that is colloquial and inherently honest. Buttering your teacher’s biscuits with “oh my goodness that was a wonderful lesson today!” will only hurt future students forced to suffer through the same lesson because no one ever said “this is not working”.

            For education to work we must exchange information between the teachers and students. Too often teachers find out that they students didn’t understand the material after the scores are in books. I believe that anonymous blogs would be a great way to alleviate part of the problem.

            In a blog students would not feel pressure to say all the right things. Furthermore, by doing the blog at home or on their own time, they would not feel like the teacher is watching what they write and making prejudices against them. I would try to have my students write a report about once a week on how they felt the class went. They could then tell me what worked and what didn’t, and if they felt the class time was productive and beneficial to them.

            This type of feedback would be a valuable asset in the classroom. I could monitor myself not only by the standards set by the state but also by the comprehension and learning of my students. 

Thing #2

Professor: “You will need to set up a blog for this class.”

My first thought: “Ohhhhhhhh crappppppp”

And thus my blog was born.

            The name for this blog came to me in a puffy white cloud of thought. I wanted a title with more flavor than “My 23 things” (no offense). I’m an English major and a writer, and I often have trouble keeping my voice out of my writing. I’ve been called “over opinionated” by people I find to be under opinionated, so I chose my title to demonstrate the fact that I am opinionated and am capable of recognizing my opinions as personal. After naming the blog I was slightly more excited about having a new outlet. Then, I was informed that I would need to create and avatar.

            At this point I began to wonder why God hated me so much. I’m not very good at technology, as you may have guessed. Still, I reluctantly ventured into a neat little website to make a miniature Adriana. I had hoped for a pleasant experience. I was sorely disappointed. At this point, you may feel free to call me vain. Why is my avatar so fat? Who decided that black people are more of an ashen-grey color than a nice brown? I don’t think it looks a thing like me….I do own several bottles of lotion ya know. The whole thing was so unrealistic, and I could not even find hair that resembled mine without looking nappy. Did I mention that I was sorely disappointed?

            So, I am still figuring out how the blog works, but overall it’s pretty cool. Technology is hard for me, but I think I will get the hang of it soon enough. As for that avatar…well I have nothing else to say about that avatar.

           

THING #1

They say you learn something everyday, and I guess this is more or less true. I’ve taken a psychology class or two and understand the concept of “latent learning”. To me, latent learning is passive learning—which is an awful learning style to primarily rely on.

            So, what do we learn and how do we learn it? How do we become Life Long Learners?

            There are 7 ½ habits for Life Long Learners (Google them if you don’t know what I’m talking about). One of the habits I may find difficult is habit # 7 ½: Play. I forget to play ALL the time. It’s quite sad really. I think it’s because I work too much and too hard. Its an interesting balance I need to find because, quite frankly, being burned out my sophomore year of college is a tragedy all its own. For me, I think the easiest habit is #3: View problems as challenges. I read this and I thought, “Hecks yeah! I shall conquer all!” I may have overreacted. Nonetheless, I think this is one of the best things a person can do to prevent getting sucked into a supermassive black hole of negative thinking. Instead of feeling like the world is out to get you, feel as though the world sees you as a triple threat. It wants to test your skills. I plan to give them all a run for their money, and after I win all the bets I will take that money and go buy myself a scoop of ice cream. How’s that for play?