Christmas Holidays

It's the night before Christmas Eve Day and the Christmas rush is upon me. My presents are bought, wrapped and under the tree, with a couple exceptions. The laundry is on (yes, at 1:00 am) as I am preparing for my voyage south. The next 2 days are packed with family activities and Christmas Turkey will be bountiful.

There are a couple family traditions that we have in our family - one is that we spend every Christmas Eve with my husbands family. They always made Christmas Eve the big night and had a big turkey dinner and opened presents late and played and slept in late on Christmas day - and we still do that! And Christmas morning (well, usually late in the morning) hubby and I do our gifts and stockings at home. Christmas Day is always with my parents and my moms side of the family. Again, there is more turkey, more presents, and more fun. By the end of Christmas day, I'm normally turkey-ed out and tired, but its well worth it. All in all, Christmas is all about being with family and friends, giving and receiving, being with those we love, and yes, we celebrate Christ's birth.

Past Boxing Days have brought various things - sleeping in, more Turkey, sometimes running out to stores early in the morning for the sales and spending all that precious Christmas money or gift cards.

This year Boxing Day brings a road trip!


We will pack our bags and leave sometime Friday afternoon, headed for the sunny south. Temperatures in Florida this week have been around 25 degrees Celsius (Don't even ask me what that is in Fahrenheit...) and that's a lot warmer than -10 degrees and snow. So I'm looking forward to a road trip with hubby. We have audio books, iPods, portable DVD player & DVDs, the radio, and each other to keep us awake and alert for 24 hours until we hit Tampa Airport and pick up our Florida Buddies Saturday night (who fly in instead of driving, lucky ducks). Then, they get to keep us somewhat sane for the last hour to the condo, where we will likely both collapse and sleep until Sunday morning, when the fun begins!

ideas...

Today was a refreshing day. I attending a conference on eLearning, and it challenged some of my ideas on how to use technology in all classes, both in an eLearning environment and in a traditional classroom.

The neatest thing... Cell Phone Film Fest ... yup, all those teenagers with cell phone video cameras have to create a video that is filmed entirely on their cell phone (editing allowed after the fact) and then submit for a film fest and judging. Never would have thought of it, and kids would eat it up. Something to consider if I can find a way to work it in. (Dont think I'm quite up to it yet though)

We talked about podcasting for presentations instead of getting in front of the class. Letting kids test, edit, and finalize what they say... rather than the pressure of getting in front of the class. And yes, I know the argument against that is that it isn't like the real world,... but on the other hand, I wouldnt want every presentation to be "virtual" just one or 2 to give them the experience of recording, revising, critiquing and analyzing their own work, which is a higher order thinking process in itself.

Also, taking pictures of completed assignments or notes on a board with a cell phone, submitting it to qipit.com and getting a PDF sent back to you to post on your website, email to absentee students, display and save exemplars, etc.

There were some really interesting things discussed. And I was also introduced to Twitter, and that looks like a lot of fun. More things to play with!

Good morning...

Ever feel like this as you go through the daily grind?
Luckily, there is but one more week before the Christmas Holidays.

Full moons

For 3 years I have been in the teaching profession and for 3 years I have begun to recognize and analyze a trend... the problem now is how to utilize this trend to my advantage. The trend is the moon phases and the affects it has on children and teenagers. (Yes, I realize I will start to sound like an old witch who should be standing over her cauldron chanting "Double Double Toil and Trouble").

For many years I have spent my days with students who are extremely "active" or "jubliant" or "wild and rangy", etc etc. That's not to say that the kids are "bad", rather some of them have been brilliant at times. But alas, hormones always seem to kick in. And for some reason I have yet to determine, the week around the full moon is always the worst for behavior and rudeness and kids sent to the office. For many, this is a time when they seem to lose control of themselves and forget that they are in fact human beings who can think, reason, act and behave. For the few days leading up to and after the full moon, said "children" become beings who forget what manners and respect are, and become totally self indulgent (yes, even MORE so than they normally are, if you can possibly believe that). All reason and logic flee said individuals, leaving teachers in a frustrating state of insanity and at a loss as to why seemingly normal students have lost all ability to think and reason.

And then this teacher went home and complained to her significant other about said students. Said Significant other then opened up google and said "Oh look, a full moon" ... And lo, the heavens opened and the light of knowledge shone down upon me and I said "That explains EVERYTHING".

So there it is. The Cycle begins again. When another full moon comes upon us and I am caught unawares again, I hope to have hubby to remind me of the madness that will ensue in the school for a few days before returning to normal.

Which leads me to my dilemma that brought this rant up in the first place... How do I deal with such knowledge? How do I harness the power that a full moon has and a) remind myself ahead of time to expect Dr. Jekyll instead of Mr Hyde, and b) prepare myself for the the inevitable outcome of insanity for a few days? Add to this the fact that the holidays are a week away and they are hyper with the prospect of the myriad of gifts that are forthcoming (spoiled brats that we raise in society today). This all equals a double trouble for teachers.

What is the answer? Is the answer in the all mighty movie day? Should I plan ahead and show movies on days of the full moon? Or just continue on as usual? Continuing doesn't seem to work without causing stress and frustration on my part. For now, I'll just rely on the fact that there 6 days left of school and then a 2 week break that is much needed.

Favorites

ICHC has added another new site (I love when they expand) called Once Upon a Win and it is full of goodness from my childhood, such as LiteBright, Fraggle Rock, Fisher Price, Nintendo and Atari! It really brings me back to days as a kid playing with these toys and watching these tv shows. Who knew I'd be looking at it years later over the net (which didnt exist at the time) and writing about it on a blog... ahh as the world turns.

In other news, my favorite author of all time Jacqueline Carey has posted a link on her site to the newest blurb about her next trilogy and I'm drooling already. Too bad I need to wait 6 or 7 months before I get it. However, it does add to my excitment for the summer. For the last few years, every June brings not only the end of school and the beginning of a summer vacation, sunshine and freedom, but it also has always brought a new Kushiel's book with it! And this year seems it will be no different. The last book, Kushiel's Mercy, I read... nay, devoured in about 4 days. Its a pretty hefty book too. Her prose is so alluring and sensual. I always buy the hardcover copy of her books. There's something satisfying about holding a hard bound book fresh off the press. Writing is a huge process, and to hold it firmly in a hand and feel the presence of the book and the writer is just as much a part of enjoying the book as actually reading it.

My apartment is getting more decorated for Christmas, which is a favorite time of year.

Work is getting closer to being done for a 2 week break, which is always a bonus.

My Roadtrip south with the Hubby is also getting closer... thats a favorite too, and add in my love of the ocean and a couple of favorite friends and I'm all set for a great vacation.

People are fools...

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!