Ever write a book report as a child and use this term… “the book was interesting.”
I know I did and even as I did it, I wondered what other words I could use instead. I didn’t have a computer and if I did, I didn’t know that if you clicked Ctrl + F7 (on a pc) that would take me to a thesaurus. I didn’t know or understand the value of a thesaurus back then. Now, I use Ctrl + F7 all the time. It helps me keep my words varied, fresh and yes … interesting.
When I was a kid, in the 4th grade, in a school full of nuns … I had a lay teacher. Her name was Mrs. Notcher.
One afternoon, Mrs. Notcher taught us about the rotation of the earth and the revolution of the moon. She held a paper weight in her hands and called it the moon. She was the earth and her massive desk was the sun. As she walked around the sun, she was turning the moon around her.
Something so obscure back then became real to me and I finally understood… and now over 40 years later her lesson is crystal clear in my mind again as the seasons change.
That’s how information gets absorbed – by examples and with concrete images. As you can imagine, this was my all time favorite teacher for many reasons.
Ever had a lesson come back to you years after the fact? Ever had a teacher that made you want to learn?
You know – we’ve all been blogging for the past year and we’ve become a community of writers, bloggers, friends and fans.
I’m wondering if we can take this to a new level? By this time, blogging probably isn’t scary any longer like it once was and I propose we try something different and intimidating. Like putting our voice out there (podcasting) or connecting with each other using Skype or creating and posting videos (called video logs or vlogs) or creating an online conference where we can connect, collaborate and grow something unique.
What else? Maybe we can begin a blog where we all add a paragraph or post a photo and all create a story around it?
My blogging friends are an amazing group of writers and we each bring something new and wonderfully unique to our posts. We write about fashion, home, family, travel, hopes, dreams, illness, education, humor and even cemeteries. We support, unite and encourage each other.
Maybe we can go out and find new bloggers and follow them, add comments and share insights. Remember how cool it was when we first started and someone subscribed to our blog. ‘Way Cool!’
Would you care to be a guest on my blog? I’d love to have you write for me sometime. Care to visit me online and we can create a podcast. Even with these ideas I’m not thinking big enough … this is where groupthink comes in handy!
I suppose it’s because I’m on the edge of this lovely cliff and I want to stretch my arms and soar like an eagle but I want to do it with others and compare our flights, thoughts and observations. And I want to see what photos you took and you can see mine. I want to show you the video of me leaping with my mouth wide open to catch the air. And I want to see your face too.
Guess I’m just crazy but sometimes that’s a good thing, isn’t it?
Have you ever blogged? Ever read a blog? I believe that bloggers are part of the cutting edge learners and teachers. We use a new medium to share thoughts, art, learning, content, photos, videos and so much more.
The content we share is ‘in the moment’ unlike newspapers and textbooks which are already outdated before they are read or sold.
Online collaboration can be the best method of learning possible. The collaboration platforms (Skype, Collobrate, Illuminate, Oovoo and many more) allow us to connect using audio and/or video instead of using the written word.
Podcasts are a great way to learn new information, whether it’s how to paint a house, fix the sink, write an essay, understand your child, get a laugh, learn a new language, improve your finances, enhance a marriage, raise your teens, find a soul mate, lift weights, eat right – you’ll find that and more when you listen to audio and video podcasts. All free, all amazing!
I’ve been sporadic in my writing lately. It’s hard sometimes coming up with something that matters and personally, I want to write about things that matter and add value to the reader and leave me with a feeling of accomplishment.
Perhaps I’ve had a difficult time writing these past days because the words don’t connect to my mission. I think we all have a mission and mine is to educate. When I learn something, I love to share it. When I find a website or resource that teaches, instructs, educates, illuminates and makes me think. I want others to know about these as well.
What I love more than teaching is learning and I am usually thrilled to find a resource that offers me something new. What sites do you visit to find that golden nugget? Any places you bookmark and visit on a regular basis?
I’ll be writing what I learn – I hope you stick around and teach me as well.
I know I am bemoaning the end of summer, however, I adore autumn. I love the smells, the colors and the way the air feels.
I love the bounty as in the Colorado peaches that drip with juice by just looking at them.
I love NY State apples (I may be getting my favorite kind delivered to me – Cortland apples!)
They taste crunchy, juicy, & sweet. They’re white as cloud on the inside and like a rosy flower on the outside.
I love the crunch under my feet when I hike and the smell of the warm pine needles.
I love the cooler nights and the even cooler mornings.
I don’t like saying goodbye to summer because it’s one more summer gone… but I really do love autumn.
I love the gold aspen silhouetted against the evergreens.
I love listening to the elk bugling and strutting their stuff.
I love autumn, don’t you?
When I’m in town and I have time on my hands, I usually go to the library or Borders (when they were still open).
When I find myself with time on my hands and I’m in front of the computer, I visit some certain sites on a regular basis. I check email and my blog (of course) and the blogs of my friends.
I check local events via the town’s website and local newspaper. I like to learn things so I go to refdesk.com and just lose myself in all the different areas. Weather, writing, facts, news, and so much more wonderful stuff. Who needs chocolate when you have this amazing webpage?
I enjoying downloading podcasts on iTunes. There are some amazing lectures, stories, articles, reviews, comedy shows and so much more that are all free! Some are the kind you listen to once and others like the lectures at TED.com are high quality and wonderful to watch.
Lots of people lose their time on Facebook or Youtube. Sports freaks get caught up in Fantasy Football and others love to play games with strangers.
Where do you like to spend your online ‘free’ time?
There is this one poem
That I memorized so many years ago…
It goes like this—
What made us friends in the long ago
When we first met?
Well, I think I know.
The best in you and the best in me
Hailed each other because we could see
That always and ever
Since time began,
Our being friends was part of the plan.
–
Beautiful isn’t it?
It’s great to have friends to talk with, laugh and cry with, walk and share with…Know what I mean?
—————-
We don’t stop playing because we get old …
We get old because we stop playing.
An adventure at the library let the inner princess in me come out full force. Saving my Prince from crocodiles and letting him save me from bears and monsters was a blissful reminder of days gone by when I did these things with my sons. I don’t think my mom had time to play with me but that’s what an imagination is for, right?
The Johnstown, Colorado library has a castle motif that is ripe for children (of all ages!) to enter and enjoy. There’s a bridge, moat and castle walls. It’s truly a fairy tale haven!
d even as I did it, I wondered what other words I could use instead. I didn’t have a computer and if I did, I didn’t know that if you clicked Ctrl + F7 (on a pc) that would take me to a thesaurus. I didn’t know or understand the value of a thesaurus back then. Now, I use Ctrl + F7 all the time. It helps me keep my words varied, fresh and yes … interesting.
