exercise, schmexercise.....

Agh- haven't been to the gym in 2 weeks...and feel okay about it. My sister stopped going to the gym 3 months ago...she has since lost 10 pounds...she eats Mcdonald's [not all the time, but sometimes] and is not a "dieter." We sisters formed a theory...we think that people who exercise sometimes tend to overeat because they assume that they'll just burn off the extra calories...but maybe in reality, they are consuming way more than they are burning off.

So... I just haven't gone to the gym lately. I feel like I am at a plateau. I am always the same weight. I think I eat a healthy diet and refuse to count fat, calories, or do some tedious points system. I don't have unrealistic weight goals... I just want to get out of this too-big-for-size-10, too-small-for-size-12 pattern. It's annoying. I can never find pants for work. I was on a pants boycott for awhile but, come on, it's now winter. There's no way that I am wearing skirts to work.

The skinny women at my job annoy me. Not only are they skinny but they're so fashionable---hair, makeup, accessories, purses, shoes. I'm too lazy for that. Sometimes I feel like I am in some lame 1980s movie and the "popular girl clique" consists of my co-workers. I guess I just have to put my thoughts aside because in actuality, who really cares?

Might go to the gym tonight... I slightly miss it. It's fun to play my Ipod and jog. Sometimes I really get into a song and either "mouth" the lyrics or use minimal hand gestures that go in rhythm to the music. People who see me must think I am a bit loony.

Also- where is the snow? I'm not accustomed to these 5-day work weeks. I watch the weather channel so obsessively that one would think I am obsessed with meteorology.

pondering the mall

Went to the mall today to buy a dress for a wedding that I am attending tomorrow. Tried on three dresses but nothing "was right." I hate dress shopping. Everything has beads, baubles, and attempts at unique designs. I just want a non-clingy, empire waisted dress [preferably olive green, but I'll go for other colors too]... doesn't seem like a lot to ask for but is near-impossible to find.

I ended up leaving the mall with nothing but a cinnamon-sugar Wetzel pretzel in my hand. Soft, sugary pretzels always make me feel better about failed shopping expeditions.

While sitting in my car and eating the pretzel, a few mall-thoughts came to mind:

1] Why do people get out of their car and light a cigarette when they are on their way to entering the mall? I saw a guy do this in the parking lot. It doesn't make much sense... in about 500 steps or so, you'd be at the mall entrance and would have to put out the cigarette anyway.

2] Why do women bother to take their husbands/boyfriends shopping with them if it can be clearly seen that the guy hates shopping? I saw a girl walking around the dress department and overheard her say, "No, this dress is like the other one I wore to a different wedding, only this one is more pink" [or something like that]. The guy just seemed perplexed about why she would be buying a dress similar to another dress that she owns at home. In general, he didn't seem to be into the whole shopping experience. So why bring him along?

3] Why do people drive around and around the parking lot numerous times, just to get a "good spot"? The time that it takes to find a "good spot" and wait for a car to pull out is far longer than the amount of time it would take to park at a more desolate spot and walk a little farther.

4] Why do the perfume spritzers act like fragrance assassins? When I walk into a dept. store, I immediately veer away from the spritzer people. They're quite pushy. It's annoying. I do this same veer-away process in any store where the salespeople are a little pushy. Then again, if no one tried to greet me at the door and ask me if I needed help, I'd bitch that the store sucked. I guess there's no way to win for question #4.

Tomorrow will resemble a Mission Impossible movie. Wedding is at 4pm, travel time to wedding is 45 minutes, must find dress before wedding--can it be done?

hopes, dreams, and technological schemes

Today's generation of kids have more mass communication devices at their fingertips than any other previous generation. They can send a photo by cell phone to a friend, instant message another friend, talk on the "old fashioned" phone to someone else, and talk to "the world" by posting to their blogs or Livejournals...all at the same time. All of these technological tools frighten me. I'm not a Ted Kaczynski anti-technology type but I feel that over time a] technology makes people farther apart from one another [emotionally] and b] technology makes people feel that they can (and should) have things instantaneously. Of course, the teacher side of me thinks that technology will lead to a future generation of academics attempting to use words like 'cuz, 'wuz, and luv' in scholarly papers, having no qualms about it. Then the other side of me thinks, "So that's wrong with that?" We've gone from words like thee and thou to me and you... the more things change, the more they stay the same, and blah, blah, blah.

I guess that's where this course comes into play. It's easy to have a child sit in front of a computer screen and do some type of skill/drill program. However, that's not "integrating" technology---you're simply giving the child an interactive, flashier worksheet. I feel that a lot of teachers try to use computers to differentiate their teaching methods, but instead they just end up doing the same thing--but instead of using a chalkboard, they're using a computer screen and interactive pen. Instead of handing out xeroxed copies of a poem, you can project the poem onto a "Smartboard." And so on.

I don't stand here innocently. I'm guilty of showing the kids "picture prompts" on a Smartboard screen. I'm guilty of posting a poem on the laptop screen instead of making photocopies. But i don't know what else to do.

Part of the problem lies in teacher training. If teachers aren't trained to use the technology in new ways, then they're not going to. Ultimately, some will end up using it in new ways, but others will need the extra "push" to get used to the technology.

I hope that this course will show me how to use technology in more innovative ways. The idea of blogging interests me. I think it'd be great to teach a novel unit and set up a blog discussion board. Kids could start different threads, connecting the novel to contemporary movies, etc. For some reason, kids are fascinated by computer screens, fonts, colors, etc. That's okay with me---if it makes them more excited about writing and blogging, then that's fine.

Additionally, I also think it is extremely important that kids know HOW to find information online but also how to distinguish between valid websites and illegitimate websites. Also-- students need to understand that appropriate credit needs to be given to writers and artists whose information students use for papers, etc. Most of the time, Language Arts teachers concern themselves with the plagiarism issue and drill the word/its meaning into students' minds. In the tech age, I think all teachers need to make their students extremely aware of plagiarism. Just because it is the World Wide Web doesn't mean anyone can credit the information as his/her own.

Mainly, I am looking forward to seeing how we can use technology in productive ways with our students. That's a pretty simple statement for a fairly difficult task. Can't wait to see the results. I also like the idea of the unit plan project---it forces some of us non-tech-saavies to figure out how to immediately use technology and new literacies in the classroom.

Here comes the ballad of Hurricane...

Have been having my students read/study Robert Lipsyte's Contender. I love this book... it's about an African-American boy, Alfred in 1960s Harlem. He is trying to "be somebody" vias the means of professional boxing. If Lipsyte took a different route, the book could have been very artificial, without any lasting power. There's so much more to the book than simply sports though... There's the race relations in 1960s America, gangs, black nationalist movement, single parents, drug addiction, etc. I've been watching/reading a lot of material about 1960s America, in addition to information on professional boxers since covering Contender.

Last night I watched Hurricane, the 1999 movie with Denzel Washington. It was amazing. I never had heard of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter before and during the entire movie, the gears of my mind kept turning. I never even knew that the Bob Dylan song "Hurricane" was connected to Rubin Carter.I can actually say I don't think i ever paid much attention to the lyrics.... It's amazing how you could hear a song over and over and not realize the seriousness of the song's implications.

I tracked down a copy of Carter's autobiography THE 16TH ROUND. It's near impossible to find...out of print online...available at places like half.com for 65 dollars or more... and a scant few copies available. Found a copy of it at MSU's library. I realize that films can move us and sway our opinions and make us come to conclusions/realizations...but I don't think the learning should stop at a film. I've looked around online and have seen some websites claiming inaccuracies in the film. I am even more aware of the fact that online sites/sources can sway people's views/include false statements... Now, I want to read Carter's autobiography, his actual words, and learn more. I'm also now more interested in other overturned trials/convictions ... looking to read John Grisham's [nonfiction]: The Innocent Man- Murder and Injustice in a Small Town...

getting back into the swing of things, kind of.

I am like an ansty little kid. If I don't "go out" [we're not talking clubbing or anything requiring strategic planning and dress codes], then I just stay inside and sleep. Case in point: last night, we were watching episodes of The Office. I went into the bedroom to "rest my eyes." Didn't wake up until 8 this morning. A wasted night.

Sleep has recently been interrupted by the constant sunshine/mild weather affecting the tristate area. Winter is not supposed to be like this. If I want to be lazy, I should be able to roll the covers over me, slightly adjust the shades, and go to sleep. Instead, I find myself waking up and feeling the need to put the A/C unit on. And sunlight seems to be constant.

I want cold air that makes my throat hurt when I breathe. I want mini snowflakes forming on my window panes.

65 degrees in January is so annoying.

Am trying to get back into the pattern of work again. Waking up at 5:30 is not for me. I wish I had to wear a uniform to work everyday. It would make the whole morning process much quicker. I know people that have to wear uniforms to work tend to say the exact opposite: they want to wear their own stuff, express themselves, blah blah blah. I just want to be able to sleep in a little more.

Plus, if there was a dress code, I wouldn't [possibly] have to hear the "clackers" walking down the hallway every morning. Their heels are so high; there's this click-clack sound pattern you hear when they're walking around the halls. We're on our feet all day at work- why would you wear high heels? Masochists.