Friday, January 28, 2005

Update on That STUPID Homework Lawsuit

"Summer homework dispute heats up"

Lets all hope this family heeds the AG's advice and ends the stupidity.

More Recognition

Another reaction has popped up to a blog review I did. This time I was doing an assignment for Ayleen and Aspen's TWWT workshop on blogs as a writing medium.

My review on the wiki (near the bottom of the page...taadaa)

The blogger's reaction

This is the second time one of my reviews has been commented on...Remember this?

It is fun to have critiques recognized, and in general, people seem to react positively knowing they are being read and take comments well. It's fun.

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Our Schools' Sales Pitch

Is competition the future of our public schools? Since when do they have to be like privates and recruit kids? Apparently, more school districts, including the one I came from, are focusing more on marketing in the age of school choice.


District uses video to sell itself to students

An infomercial? I hope it's better than typical infomercials, because I'm getting a vision of a principal hawking our schools like used cars.

Is this the future of our public schools in Minnesota? Low on funds, schools being closed, enrollment declining and fighting for more students? Is it destined to become a struggle for survival of the fittest? I expect a University to have to market itself, but not a K-12 district. I guess it indicates major change in the way this state views education.

The "Season" is Upon Us

Move over Fall, Winter and Spring...educators and students across Minnesota are bracing for the next "season," and it's got nothing to do with our climate.

Test season brings stress to students

An article of interest to teachers, current and aspiring.

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Gold Star for Blogging

In his comment to my last post, Torin says he wants an award for updating his blog so consistently...hahaha.

Well, can't give him an award, but how about a CHAIR CHRISTIANSEN **GOLD STAR** for the day...LOL....Stars can apply to anyone, not just Senators.

Monday, January 24, 2005

Another Sign of a Blogging Addiction

I've come to realize that the time I spend checking blogs for updates, commenting, reading, and writing on my blogs now can be measured in hours per day...not minutes.

Maybe it's time to start using a daily digest. I saw another blogger using Kinja...might be worth looking into. At least then I'd know who'd updated without checking all the blogs I read every day.

Charter Buses...

are REALLY freaking expensive.

Oh, the joys of planning for Lobby Day.

Saturday, January 22, 2005

I'm 1985 by Bowling For Soup

1985 by Bowling for Soup
"Where's the mini-skirt made of snakeskin?And who's the other guy that's singing in Van Halen?When did reality become T.V.?What ever happened to sitcoms, game shows?"
You took the bitter with the sweet in 2004 - and kept laughing.

What 2004 Hit Song Are You?
From http://www.blogthings.com

How Old do I Act?

You Are 26 Years Old
26

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe.
13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world.
20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.
30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!
40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?
From http://www.blogthings.com

Barry White?

My neighbor with the loud urban rap is now listening to Barry White. It's not as bad as some of the rap crap, but seems like the complete opposite end of the spectrum from Eminem, Jay Z and the rest of the gang. Interesting.

Friday, January 21, 2005

Suing Over Homework?

Read this-

"Student sues to end summer homework"

Extra summer work in AP courses is a fact of life...which the kid should have known when he signed up.

On the bright side, maybe his silly suit will give him an education in legal process.

It's a Cartoon People!

He lives in a pineapple under the sea...
Absorbent and yellow and porous is he...

And now, apparently, he's gone gay

"Christians issue gay warning on SpongeBob video."

This has to be one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. It's a cartoon...let the kids enjoy it.

Wait, I take that back...

I guess the weather must be pretty nasty further south of Bemidji because they called off the conference. Apparently, the city of Mankato is pretty much shut down, including the university. Thank goodness we were not far from town when we got the call to turn back.

I guess there is a first time for everything.

Mankato, Here We Come

Another conference weekend. Getting ready for this one has been less than simple. And now there's supposed to be snowstorms today. Nice driving weather...ugh.

Thursday, January 20, 2005

More Sidebar Changes...

Now Here:

Name Change:

Torin's iBlog is now known as Gusto's Galavanting.


Wednesday, January 19, 2005

RIP--Amy's Blog

I am sad to report that Aimless Amy has apparently "killed" her blog.

Hopefully it comes back from the dead sometime in the future...I never like to see blogs die.

Monday, January 17, 2005

Maple's Latest Program

On my way to dinner earlier this evening, I caught a glimpse of a flier for the next program in the building. It reads:

"Let's Talk About SEX Baby!"

Ok....two things.

-They had better be advertising a health education talk

-That damn song has been in my head all night! Make it stop!

Printers and Ink

I swear, my little inkjet printer is great, except for one thing...I have to run the head cleaning feature ALL THE TIME. And every time I do that, it uses more ink. And I already print a lot so I use a ton of ink as it is. What a pain.

Sunday, January 16, 2005

Another Wiki

Teaching Writing With Technology, brings my total number of wikis to three.

What a Shock....

U.S. Lowers Expectations for Once-Heralded Iraq Vote

Why am I not surprised?

Friday, January 14, 2005

Fridays Off?

Yes, I am lucky enough to have no Friday classes. But that does not necessarily equate to having Fridays "off". I spent most of today in the office: Talking with people, working on conference logistics for Mankato next weekend, including a long time spent working out vehicles. I also sent out over 80 emails inviting students to participate in Student Centeredness focus groups.

Sounds like quite the day off, huh?

First Impressions

I have now had every one of my Spring Semester classes once. For the most part, they seem OK.

My Ed classes (Pedagogy, Human Relations and Developmental Reading) seem alright, although they seem like a lot of work. And I question how helpful some of the assignments are going to be. I could care less about doing artsy fartsy stuff like designing bulletin boards or montages. At face value, I don't know that these types of assignments are really relavent to teaching quality but I guess time will tell.

American Lit II seems ok. I will survive. We have a lot to get through, and I always seem to fall behind in my reading in lit courses, which I can't really afford to do this time because of the grade structure. It's a little scary, but I am sure I will survive.

Teaching Writing With Technology seems like it will be interesting. I'll be curious to see how the workshop structure works out, with pairs of us teaching each week works out. Yes, the students are teaching the class. Most are Grads, and many are GAs...only four of us are undergrads. It's a little different, but should be fun. Lindsay and I are going to team up to do a blogging workshop, which will be fun since we just had Blogs and Wikis.

And the fun begins...

Dumb Songs...

"I've got hos in different area codes..."

Can my neighbor's music get any stupider?

Thursday, January 13, 2005

Too Cold!

-45 windchill is NOT GOOD!

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Donut Blog

When I signed in earlier tonight, I noticed a blog listed on the Dashboard page called All Things Dunkin' Donuts. Must say this is the first "food blog" I've ever happened upon.

mmmm....donuts.

Monday, January 10, 2005

Psychological Profile

Hmm....does it fit?

--------

Disorder Rating

Paranoid: High

Schizoid: Moderate

Schizotypal: Moderate

Antisocial: Low

Borderline: Low

Histrionic: Low

Narcissistic: Moderate

Avoidant: HighDependent: Low

Obsessive-Compulsive: Low

URL of the test: http://www.4degreez.com/misc/personality_disorder_test.mv

URL for more info: http://www.4degreez.com/misc/disorder_information2.html

A Neighbor...

I returned to find that the room next door has been occupied, after being empty for the entire first semester. I don't really care about this, except that a locked door adjoins the two rooms, which were originally designed as a suite. Because doors are not as resistant to sound as walls, I hear most of what goes on. This includes loud music...urban rap...all afternoon. Let's just say I'm not a rap fan. Thank goodness I'm not in my room very much.

Back...

In Bemidji...the weekend at Grandma's was good. Almost time for classes again...Ugh!

Friday, January 07, 2005

Off to Grandma's

Going to Wisconsin for the weekend with Mom, sister, and her boyfriend...that should be an interesting trip. After that, it's back to BSU. I now realize how quickly this break went and am not really mentally prepared to be back to school yet.

Monday, January 03, 2005

I'm Lisa...

According to this personality quiz, I'm most like Lisa Simpson.

Happy New Year!

A couple days late. It was pretty low key for me. We saw Spanglish at the movie theatre...it was a decent show. We also rented Napoleon Dynamite, which was rather dumb, but laughably so. No major partying around here.