The Pink Flamingo Porch Party

The 2nd Annual Pink Flamingo Porch Party was a huge success. The 105 degree weather did not stop some party goers from dancing in the street during the festival parade (Tigger and Nan). I am so thankful to have friends from Houston and family from Louisianna and central Texas, who are willing to drive to Schulenburg on a Sunday morning to sit on the shade-tree covered lawn and watch the small town parade.

The inspiration for the "Pink Flamingo Porch Party" is celebrating life with a breast cancer survivor and honoring the life of my father, who passed away last year, just before his 80th birthday. He would be 81 today, August 5th. Dad loved sitting on his front porch. I spent many a summer's eve playing streetlight hide-and-seek with my childhood friends under the watchful eyes of our porch-sitting parents. Dreams and aspirations were shared on the porch swing, plans for college, as well as drying the tears of broken hearts. Our front porch was the hub for gatherings in the summer.

When I purchased my vintage house in Schulenburg, Dad told me it would be a good home ONLY if it had a big front porch, and it does! The two front porch rockers are busy early in the morning with coffee and a good "read", as well as in the evening with visiting nieces enjoying their ice cream. We're teaching them the value of the porch.

Miss you Dad! Happy Birthday.

Be a Pink Flamingo on the lawn of life!

Thing #23

I feel like I have just completed a college course!
My favorite discoveries were within myself, being able to complete these 23 activities without a face-to-face class. Occassionally I had to "phone a friend" to be successful, but for the most part, I completed it myself! Yea me!

This has affected my lifelong learning because I am more confident to take on-line classes.

Like I said, I surprised myself with all the hoops I had to jump through and the challenges with getting on and staying on line with piggybacking! I worked on this all over the United States as I was travelling to visit my mother, at a conference in the Woodlands, at Schulenburg, at home, while on the road in hotels...what a way to take a class.

I think there needs to be a "hotline" you can call when you are most frustrated. Just doing blog posts and waiting for a response was not helpful when I wanted to smash my computer. Also, I spent MUCH MORE than 18 hours doing this!

My short phrase for describing this experience for me ...it was like "free falling" .

Thanks for the experience! Now it is time to party at the Schulenburg Festival this weekend! Pink Flamingo Porch Party Time!

Thing #21

I spent the majority of yesterday afternoon working on creating my podcast of Rusty Bojangles,the namesake of my blog/name. (which by the way is adorable) Needless to say, I was not successful with getting it on this posting. I registered and signed in to switchpod, after numerous attempts. I was, again, piggybacking off of an usecured line in my neighborhood, in hopes that it was faster than my dial-up...nope! So I went to my dial-up and waited, and waited, and waited for my podcast to upload. After 3.25 hours, I decided to call it a day as it was not going to be possible.

I am at the Schulenburg library today making this entry, and of course, I am not able to upload or down load here. I hope that all of my hard work will at least give me credit for attempting this activity.

My newest discovery was learning how to do a short video clip on my own digital camera. Rusty Bojangles was very animated with his toy. I wish the upload would have been successful.

On to Thing #23. I see the light.......

http://media.switchpod.com//users/vanhornj/NewStoriesHighwayBlues.wma

http://www.switchpod.com/users/vanhornj/feed.xml

Thing #22

Yes, I realize that I skipped thing #21, but I need some time to think about and work on that one. For Thing #22, Nings, I went to the Teacher Ning and read quite a few entries. I even recognized some names. This is how I feel about Nings....it could easily turn into a teacher workroom or lunchroom conversation. Some of the entries I read were a little whiney for me, while some I found thought provoking. People posting need to remember to stay professional when sharing specific information or opinions!

I think it is alot like blogging, specifically for educators and those interested in education or becoming an educator. I can see where this site could help a teacher, especially new teachers, with lots of questions. We just need to be sure to get experienced teachers who want to be helpful to participate on this site.

For those of you who are "AR", me skipping over #21 be a little uncomfortable. Have no fear, I will complete thing #21!

Thing #20

Thing #20

http://www.teachertube.com/search_result.php?search_id=Storytime+Boogie&x=50&y=10

I could not figure out how to upload the video clip, so I posted this for my "find".

I always encourage parents to read to their children every night. I thought this was cute and appropriate. I hope Mama Libearian appreciates it! Maybe someone will respond and tell me how to get the video clip on my post.

Thing #19

I could stay here and play all day. Some of the sites I visited include: Backpack, for organization; Threadless, to checkout some fashions; Galaxiki, to see if this would be helpful to 5th graders learning about the solar system; Imbee, a social networking site for kids; and Minti, a website dedicated to addressing parent concerns.

Whenever I have fall parent conferences, parents are always filled with parenting questions. For those who have access to the web, this might be a good place for them to network with other parents. I'll check into this a little more before I recommend the site.

I browsed through a few others, but for the sake of time and wanting to complete my 23 things, I will make it a point to go back and re-visit when I feel less pressure.

Sammy Jo and Rusty Bojangles are napping....I have 4 more "things" to do!

Thing #18

Another new discovery for me. I did not know that there were project/office tools available on line. Where have I been? I think these tools are great. I can see how secondary students can use these tools to complete assignments, since many cannot save their work on school/district computers and may not have access to a computer at home. They would be able to work on line in a public library, like I am right now, and then access their work at school! Cool tool!

Thing #17

Sammy Jo, Rusty Bojangles and I love running all over the hills of the Schulenburg area. Two of my favorite stops are in La Grange, Tx. I always have to check and see what's new at Hunny Bunny's and what's a visit to La Grange without a snack from Weikel's Bakery. Love those kolaches and cinnamon rolls!

I created my Rollyo Search. Hope you enjoy! You should come and play!

http://rollyo.com/vanhornj/play_in_the_tx_hills/

Thing #16

What an awesome tool! I could have used this so many times in my personal and professional life! As team leader, when I was attempting to organize things, I would have preferred to use WIKI, as opposed to e-mail, which made things so complicated!

I am the lead mentor on my campus and I plan to use WIKI this year to get some conversations about experiences being a mentor and mentoring new teachers. I am so excited about this!

Thing #15

I can't stop thinking about the video that was part of this exercise. I have always known that this generation was very "techie", but until I read their thoughts and opinions about how they are being educated and how they are educating themselves, put into simple statements, I've just let my thoughts about technology related to education be "fleeting". This video is great food for thought...especially for me.

I am sitting in the Schulenburgh Public Library working on my assignments and my feelings about libraries of the future are swirling in my head. Have you ever experienced a small town library? Schulenburg's is in transition, as they are building a new one and the present library, that is across the street from my house, is just being maintained at this point. All the financial resources are being "saved" for the new library. As I look around, there are of course, shelves and shelves of books, CD's, DVD's, and Xerox machine, and 8 computers. They are still using the manual check-out system with date-stamped cards. NO ONE is at the shelves! Everyone visiting the library is on the computer. Literally, everyone! I am more convinced than ever that my collection of teacher resources is going to be unappreciated by whom ever I "WILL" them to in the future. Will future generations of my family ever value my collection of children's literature the way I do? Does anyone other than me and Mama Libearian covet my antique card catalogs made of pure maple? You need to know, I have an addiction to anything made out of paper...cards, stationery, books, photographs, and all of these have become something that can be sent/shared via the computer! Will I get any cards or letters in the mail 5 years from now? What will I need shelves for in the future? Libraries are changing, and I can't even imagine what they will be like in 5...10 years.

Thing #14

I took a few days off to spend time with Rusty Bojangles and Sammy Jo. They've been feeling a little left out with me spending so much time at the computer. They both sit and stare at me as I work away on my 23 things. When I reviewed some sites about pets, I came across some video clips on how to groom dogs and some dog lovers sharing their experiences. When Rusty and Sammy heard the dogs on the videos, they practically attacked my computer keyboard! There was yelping and howling like you couldn't imagine...so it was time to go out and play.

I checked out technorati and was amazed at all of the blogs I found about pets and gardening. I've been spending too many sunny days inside and decided to read about others experiences on some interests I have...the result, I'm motivated to work on some landscaping. Rusty and Sammy will enjoy the time outside too. Thanks for introducing me to this blog search engine.

Thing #13

Using tags is like shopping at the Container Store or Office Depot and purchasing organization! I LOVE filing and organizing and it is available on any computer I use. All I have to do is access it. This was the activity for me! What a great tool, to be able to organize our work and research.

I had quite a challenge watching the video clips...you know why...dial-up. I am going to need to upgrade. As soon as the district goes wireless, I'm going to take the leap.

Thing #12

I read all of the articles on posting on blogs. The two rules that stick in my mind are to ask questions and invite comments. I can see where blogging takes on a life of its own. I have enjoyed leaving comments on participants blogs all through this experience, as well as previous players. I am well over the required quota at this point. I just need to go outside the players now and share my experience. Thanks NMW-Live for asking the question on responding to comments. I think I can do it!

Thing #11

WOW! I had no idea this existed. I set up my account and posted my five titles. Now I'm in the mood to read...no time now. Gotta get my assignments done. Reading will be a good reward.

Thing #10

This could be very addicting!

I loved browsing through all of the sites, seeing all of the "things" that could be done. I think making trading cards for Pre-K could be fun! I have to stay focused, though!

Thing #9

My first introduction to blogs was when my church hired a new minister. I wanted to know more about him, so I "Googled" his name and got got his blog. Doing this exercise gave me clarity about blogs and the VAST number that is "out there". I did check out SBISD's Ed. Tech blog.
The easiest for me was Google Reader. I still like sticking with my Google searches. I'm struggling with technology, mainly because I am using a wireless computer in a dial-up house, so I have to find an unsecured site in the area to piggyback off of, so my connection fades in and out. When I'm doing the activities or "things", I find myself spending way too much time being entertained rather than focusing on my tasks. My new rule is get the "thing" done, then play. I checked out Technorati and Topix as well.

Thing #8

I chose Google Reader at your suggestion. I don't want life to be any harder than it is. LOL. I like that bundles can be set up for my specific interests and I don't have to deal with advertising. My students won't be able to use this at age 4, but I can use it for my own research and researching for my classroom. What a time saver. Little ones always have questions when you're teaching them about people, places, animals, etc. Just ask Mama Libearian, our favorite resource person! She's the "queen of info".

Thing #7

I never knew that Google had so much to offer! I explored the calendar and Picasa. I belong to a professional organization that I am going to encourage to use the Google calendar to post things on. Many of our members are retired...so the district calendar is not available to them. I like that they offer an invitation with an RSVP for those events that you need to know how many people will be attending. I am learning so much!

Thing #6

I recently wrote a grant to purchase "toddler friendly" digital cameras for my PK classroom. I can see where the flickr website will come in handy for sharing photos. I would love to teach my students how to create a mosaic, creating a memory of their year, or use it as a photo portfolio. Wish me luck with obtaining the grant!

Thing #5

This photo that I found on flicker looks just like the yorkie mix that I rescued from the Houston SPCA in February. His name is Rusty Bojangles, hence my blog name! I enjoyed browsing and learning about Flickr. What a great way to photo share!

Thing #3

I have a greater understanding now how our youth become addicted to the "screens" in their world. It took me quite a long time to create my Avatar, as there were so many choices. I have read others blogs before when I was researching information. Now I know how to set one up!

Thing #2

I was a district Covey trainer many years ago, and the habit that I find most challenging as a learner is finding the time to do all of the things that I want/need to do. I remember the exercise with big and little rocks and I struggle with putting the "big rocks" in first. Goal setting is easy for me to do. I put my mind to something and I see it through. I have been diligently working on learning this new technology.