Technology...

It's interesting how things happen at the same time...
Today as Hubby posted a rant about technology I also was part of a conversation at school about the exact same thing.

A couple of students were meeting with a co-worker and friend of mine who teaches the Sociology, anthropology and psychology course. One student was unsure of a thesis for their ISU essay, and they were brainstorming ideas for it. The Topic: Dysfunctional families in the future. My co-worker asked if I had any ideas for things that would affect families in the future IE: Something that will cause dysfunctional families. The first thing that came to mind.... Technology and the net.

Yes, its a wide wonderful world of information and entertainment, but I can see it causing more dysfunction in society as time goes on. (and it does)
The big reason is this... As much as technology is helping make the world a smaller and more accessible place (for example, I can keep in touch with my friend in another province easily and for no cost (other than my normal internet cost) which is something I wouldnt be able to do as easily without the net).
However, it also changes the way people communicate. And with the younger generations (listen to me, I sound so old) I find they are losing the ability to communicate effectively. Back in the day (oh gosh, I sound like my mother) if I wanted to see / talk to a friend, I walked down the street, around the block, and knocked on their door and asked to see them or play with them... and we then socialized face to face and learned how to communicate and deal with people, with disagreements and with conflict, while also learning respect, sharing, manners etc.

Today, when a 13 year old wants to talk to a friend, theres no communication. Its a facebook message or a text message "o hai wtf u doin 2day? ttyl gtg" (ok that was painful to type)
I did a survey on my grade 10 students in sept and sure enough, many of them rely on facebook, text messages and msn to communicate with friends and family.

And so here is where the dysfunction starts. There is no face to face communiction. No ability to see a face, to get feedback, to see the reaction on peoples face, to read finer social cues that body language and facial expressions convey in a way that text messages never will. A whole generation is growing up without those abilties being reinforced every day. Some day, when those people are in real relationships, living day in and day out with someone in a family environment (traditional family, blended family, same sex family, etc, it matters not to me) they will be unable to deal with the daily interactions between spouses, children, co-workers, etc. Their ability to resolve conflicts and deal effectively with conflict and communication isn't developed the way it was when I was young, when the everyday interactions you had were always face to face. They won't have that knowledge and experience as a child/young person and will be totally disconnected from the world of relationships and communication. This will add to the breakdown of families in society that we already see every day, adding to the stress that accompanies any close intimate relationship (married or not, there are always conflicts to overcome).

Yes I realize the slight irony in my rant, being over the internet and in a medium where you cannot see my face, cannot tell if I'm serious or sarcastic. In some ways I am dead serious. I see students who are unable to deal with face to face communication, who dont read social cues. Still others dont understand the need for manners and respect. Its a vicious cycle that continues, as young people can bury themselves in technology and cyberspace.

On the otherhand, I also realize that I am perhaps going overboard with the analysis here. Still, it makes for a good thesis for sociology. I'm excited to actually see this essay come to fruition (if it does) and I will be bugging my co-worker to see the essay once it is handed in!

Giggle

One of my daily habits is to check my favorite sites for updates.
These sites include Melissa's Miscellany, I Can Has Cheezburger (and all affiliated sites) and my favorite Webcomic, Ctrl-Alt-Del, or CAD.

Usually I prefer the storyline arcs in CAD. The characters are great and the story has been really involving over the last few months, so I've been hooked to it like glue. After the happy resolution of a comedy of errors between the main couple, Tim has gone to drawing a bunch of cartoons for different video games that are out. Normally I look at them but Don't always get into them as they tend to be games I either havent played or have no interest in.

However, Today's entertains me enough to link it on my blog...
Brings back memories of old video games I played with friends growing up, and a couple of my favorite 80s cartoons...

(Note: I can't get this to properly show on the blog.. I'm working on figuring out that, but for now click on the image and it will link to CAD. Thanks!)

Weekends and Christmas approaching...

I enjoy this fun chart. As a student, and as a teacher, it is the truth. LOL.



It's been a nice weekend, staying warm inside with the hubby today and going on a shopping day with a wonderful best friend tomorrow (BluntDaisy). It will be great to start looking for Christmas presents! This year is going to be a small budget year as we are paying off debts and looking to save some money. Christmas is hard for me to not spend everything, so it will be a challenge to find that perfect gift at an affordable price. But it will be so much fun! At least I get to listen to Christmas carols at the stores all day.

Bring it on!

I'm also still psyched up for our trip south. It's going to be our present to each other. Transportation plans were finalized today and it looks like it will be a go ahead! We are driving down to Florida, which is a nice 23-24 hour drive. Yes it sounds crazy, but its actually a lot of fun to push through and drive it straight. I do the day shift, hubby drives the night shift. We keep each other awake and listen to music and audio books and last year had some movies on the DVD player going (for passenger to watch and driver to listen to). I love road trips with the Hubby!

Fire alarms... and all that jazz...

So today we had the fire alarm go off. Not a pre planned, the office lets me know a day ahead kind of fire alarm drill. No, this was the someone decided it would be fun to light something in order to set off the school sprinkler systems in a back stairwell kind of Fire alarm.
So when we evacuate the building near that stairwell, a wave of water comes flooding down the stairs and scares the crap out of a few students who have no idea whats going on. So I spent over half an hour outside in the cold, below freezing temps and now I have a very sore lower back from standing with my back to the cold wind for so long with no coat on. So I'm sitting with a heating pad on my back.

In other news, I went to dinner with some friends tonight and started planning a trip to the sunny south for the week after Christmas... MMM Sounds wonderful. I hope it all works out and I can spend a few days sitting on the beach! Theres something wonderful about the Ocean and me. It calls to me. Its the one thing in nature that really makes me feel at home and makes me long to be near it. Water in general has that effect on me, but the ocean is the strongest force. theres something primal in it.

Maybe its because I'm a Pisces? Its like going home for me.

I'm really excited to feel the wind in my hair and on my face, taste the salt, feel the water around my feet, and long to walk in and keep going forever and ever. Sometimes I really could, and not in a morbid death wish kind of way, but in a purely primal "returning to the ocean" kind of way.




"Absorb thyself in this Great Sea of the waters of life. Dive deep in it until thou has lost thyself. And having lost thyself, then thou shall find thyself again. Even as it is written, she had her dwelling in the Great Sea, and was a fish therein."

Engrish

This speaks for itself. I love Engrish.

Hubby found this on the weekend and I liked it because its true.

Then and Now: School in 1958 and School in 2008.

Scenario:
Jack goes quail hunting before school,
pulls into school parking lot with shotgun in gun rack.

• 1958- Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack’s shotgun,goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack.
• 2008 - School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers

Scenario:
Johnny and Mark get into a fistfight after school.

• 1958 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.
• 2008 - Police called, SWAT team arrives, arrests Johnny and Mark. Charge them with assault, both expelled even though Johnny started it.

Scenario:
Jeffrey won’t be still in class, disrupts other students.

• 1958 - Jeffrey sent to office and given a good paddling by the Principal. Returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.
• 2008 - Jeffrey given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. Tested for ADD. School gets extra money from state because Jeffrey has a disability.

Scenario:
Billy breaks a window in his neighbor’s car
and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.

• 1958 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.
• 2008 - Billy’s dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy removed to foster care and joins a gang. State psychologist tells Billy’s sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy’s mom has affair with psychologist.

Scenario:
Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school.

• 1958 - Mark shares aspirin with Principal out on the smoking dock.
• 2008 - Police called, Mark expelled from school for drug violations. Car searched for drugs and weapons.

Scenario:
Pedro fails high school English.

• 1958 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English and goes to college.
• 2008 - Pedro’s cause is taken up by state. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that knowing English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against state school system and Pedro’s English teacher. English banned from core curriculum. Pedro given diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.

Scenario:
Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from 4th of July,
puts them in a model airplane paint bottle, blows up a red ant bed.

• 1958 - Ants die.
• 2008- BATF, Homeland Security, FBI called. Johnny charged with domestic terrorism, FBI investigates parents, siblings removed from home, computers confiscated, Johnny’s Dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.

Scenario:
Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee.
He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary hugs him to comfort him.

• 1958 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
• 2008 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison. Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy.

It is amazing how much can change in the span of just 50 years. For better or for worse the world is drastically different.


(from http://www.bloggled.com/blog/2008/11/13/how-times-have-changedschool-1958-vs-2008/)

Tv shows & Mondays

I'm pretty picky at times with TV shows. I hate those stupid brainless series where you need no brain to watch and the valley girls always giggle .. ie: Friends.

Anyway, I've started to get into some darker TV shows lately and I am really enjoying them! Dexter season 3 is well underway and I'm enjoying this season as much as ever! I can't wait for it to get juicier, as it always does farther into the season.

My Mother In Law also introduced me to a series called True Blood. Its a vampire series, and although I was never one for vampire movies, I like this series. Its not just vampires, but shape shifters and werewolves and other faerie types. Its also very sexualized and tantalizing and sexy too. Which adds to the appeal. Hubby and I are currently in Episode # 3 and enjoying it.

Report card season is done at work. It's partly to blame the last week for my lack of posting... I had lots of marking and then lots of time entering marks and writing comments. I don't exactly do 100% personalized comments - thats too time consuming with close to 100 students. Sad but true. Maybe it makes me a worse teacher, but I need time to myself too. I spent 3 nights last week at school until 930, 1030 and 11.

On that note, going back to school today was difficult. It seemed like a long day.
In my senior class this afternoon, a student and I figured out that there is only 6 weeks left of teaching time until Exams. WOW... That was kind of scary... Then add 2 weeks for Exams and Review days, and add in the Christmas Holidays and the semester seems so short. The year goes so fast when you are a teacher! Then again, some weeks seem to drag on for Months...

So, here are my thoughts for the rest of Monday... You said it Kitteh...