Paul McCartney

I guess I would have to say Paul McCartney is my favorite Beatle. I know impressions of artists, musicians, singers, actors, etc are skewed because they generally let us see what they want us to see and their managers construct their images, but I find Sir Paul to be a classy man. Paul, comes from England is a singer songwriter, is an active member PETA, plays many different instruments, is a composer, entrepreneur, producer, painter and a poet. Plus, my mom says he was the "cute Beatle". One of my favorite Beatle songs featuring Paul is

The Jury 's Out

Whew! Lori and I just created our team...The Jury's Out. I am not sure if that refers to our game or our gaming skills! We have our topic....Juveniles in placement. Obviously, this a topic near and dear to our hearts. I will keep you updated with our progress.

Sirdeaner Walker

I am sure most of you have no idea who Sirdeaner Walker is or what how her life is forever changed. She is a single working parent whom within the last year lost her 11 year old son to suicide. Yes, I said suicide. Her son, Carl, was speaking with his mother one day as she cooked dinner when he said he was going to his room. Sirdeaner assumed he was completing homework or playing video games as he did frequently after school. Imagine her horror when she found him hanging by the neck from an extension cord.

Why would an 11 year old honor roll student, athlete, and active member in his church want to kill himself? I know the answer is only known by Carl, but the fact is Carl was being bullied at school. Children in his school were calling him gay, faggot, and harassing him. Carl was devastated and told his mother. Sirdeaner called the school. The school said it was a part of normal social interaction. Carl continued to endure the bullying.

After Carl's death, Sirdeaner chose not to lie down and let grief consume her. Sirdeaner focused on making schools safe for all children. She met with representatives of GLSEN (Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network) which helped her understand how widespread bullying is in this nation's schools. Sirdeaner is encouraging everyone to sign this petition to get the Safe Schools Improvement Act (H.R. 2262) passed. Please hear Carl's and Sirdeaner's story here. Children are still committing suicide due to harassment and bullying, recently Phoebe Prince committed suicide due to being bullied. This is a national crisis.

This Friday, GLSEN is having a National Day of Silence to raise awareness of Anit-LGBT bullying in schools. If you want to join in raising awareness you can sign up here. GLSEN's National Day of Silence in 2009 fell on what would have been Carl's 12th birthday. Click here to read their support of Carl and his family.

Please for the sake of all our nation's children take the time to read and consider signing this petition.

Spring has Sprung!!

I am not sure what it is about spring, but it seems to inspire and trigger all sorts of things for us humans. I can attest to the fact in my classroom alone I have seen hair color changes, attitude changes (for the better), an increased work ethic, a desire to clean, and smiling (yes, smiling). Is it the sun makes you feel sunny? Or that the warm weather warms your soul? Or is it we are biologically programmed to change in the spring? Whatever it is we are definitely feeling the effects of spring.

Here are our big plans based on our current attitude:

• Complete our team pages
• post our game demo
• complete two games
• demonstrate our games to staff, clients, and Globaloria staff
• blog on a regular basis related to our game and current civics issues
  

So, please do everything you can to keep the sun shining and our progress up!

The LittleEngine That Could...

Just like the engine in this story sometimes my students need to be motivated. It is not that they are incapable of great things, it is the fact no one told them enough or believed they were capable of great things. I strive to build my students' self esteem because I believe it is the key to motivation. Extrinsic rewards will initially work, but long term motivation has to come from within.

Initially I use extrinsic motivators to get my students to start working. I have baked cookies, made pepperoni bread, let them listen to music, let them color, etc as a reward for starting an assignment. Once students complete an assignment successfully their self esteem grows and in turn motivation grows. Other motivating factors for my students are having the opportunity to mentor each other in Globaloria , calls and comments from other schools, instructors, David, and Rachel are highly motivating to my students, and webex sessions. This semester they will be required to read other student blogs and wiki pages and comment on both.

I struggle every day to find good motivators for my girls. What motivates one student does not motivate another. I have to agree with Dionne the most important tool in motivation is knowing your students. Take time every day to get to know who they are, what they find important, what their concerns are, etc. You need to take a real interest in your students. If you really care and show you care about them it motivates them.

I look forward to more motivating ideas from my fellow Globaloria instructors. I will be reading your blogs and listening to your ideas. Thank you in advance.

My Resolutions

Mr. Dorsey has challenged the Globaloria instructors to post our resolutions for this semester and I have accepted!

My resolutions for my Globaloria classroom for this semester are:

• To encourage my students to find the answers on their own.
  
  
• To be aware that I will need to step in sometimes and help them find the answer.
  
  
• To challenge my students to do their best, not just what will get the assignment completed.
  
  
• To ask for help when I need it (which at times can be a lot).
  
  
• To update my learning log on a regular basis.
  
  
• To have my students update their learning logs on a regular basis.
  
  
• To challenge myself to learn more about flash, the wiki, and blogging.
  
  
• To challenge my students to learn more about flash, the wiki, and blogging.
  
  
• To blog on a regular basis.
  
  
  

FINALLY!!!

FINALLY!

I say finally because:

• I am BACK to work
• We HAVE school!
• My students are working!!!

It has been a long 4 weeks. It is amazing how time flies by when you are busy. During the past month these events have occured in my life:

• One of my daughter's had a birthday
• numerous doctor/dentist appointments for my children and myself
• two sick children
• I had surgery
• Christmas
• New Year's
• School break
• Return to school

On paper it does not seem like a lot, but in reality these four weeks have flown by me. Birthday was wonderful, appointments went well, children are better, surgery was a big success, Christmas was wonderful, New Year's was just as wonderful, school break was restful, and my return to school is exciting. I know my students have experienced just as many events as I have the past few weeks and are feeling the stress of returning to school after such a long break.

The consequence of all of this activity is our minds are foggy. We have trouble remembering our routine, the rules, and little things on the wiki and on Flash. We are all working on our wiki assignment, drawing in Flash today. Some of us are experiencing a great deal of frustration, but give us time we will finish with flying colors.

Are any of you having trouble getting back into the hang of things? How are you wiki assignments going? Are you having frustrations with Flash? If so, what are they? How did you solve them?