Puce's Muses

Final Pause and Ponder-April 26th

2010-04-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

This video is my final reflection for the Writing in the Digital Classroom course that I took this semester. I had a time with the creation of this one! Nothing seemed to want to work right and I still have some learning to do in the fine tuning department of using Photo Story.

A special thanks to Bill and all of our class members who provided a collaborative learning experience. I look forward to delving more into what we have learned together. One of my colleagues told me today that there is about 29 days of school left-so that means that I will finally have more TIME!! :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKcu7cmZoqQ

Digital Writing Workshop- Horry County Class

2010-04-12T17:03:00.001-07:00

Adolescents and Digital Literacies: Learning Alongside Our Students

2010-04-12T16:44:00.001-07:00

Our Baby Turns 10 Today!!

2010-04-05T06:03:00.000-07:00

10 years ago today our one (and only) child arrived into the world. What a day it was thanks to my doctor accidentally breaking my water-but that's a whole other story!! So in honor of you, Preston, I shall list the TOP 10 things (of course there are more)that I love about you- in no particular order because one thing that I have learned in the past 10 years is-you are about as random as one comes!! I wonder who you get that from??? Yes, I know it is not your Daddy!!

1. Your continued love of nature and the beauty of the world!
2. Engaging sense of humor and laugh (as I now am listening to you howl at Will Farrell)
3. that you are a READER!!!
4. your gentle heart
5. that you are a pack rat like your Nanny (however, both of you need to part with some things!)
6. that you have epicurean tastes!!
7. your understanding of the importance of an education
8. how you cherish your relationships that are close to your heart
9. watching you with our family cats-Rambo, Chance, Noir, Gris Gris, and Girly Girl
10. your keen sense of insight and how you live with INTENTION!!

Happy 10th Birthday to you Preston!!!

P.S. I think I am ready for the tween years-but I would still take you back at 3 or 4-such a wondrous time of discovery with you!!!

Tutorial for Voice Thread

2010-03-29T07:28:00.000-07:00

Well, this has been another technological learning experience for me. There were plenty of tutorials on YouTube to assist me with the voice thread venture. I have linked the one that I have found the most helpful below. I also enjoyed listening to the man's accent as he was sharing the information. As you know, I am really into learning about other cultures so this was an added bonus!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BULUq4LS10w#watch-main-area

Generation Who?

2010-03-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

I always find some wonderful classroom discussion material in Time and Newsweek magazines. The latest issue of Time has an interesting essay by Nancy Gibbs entitled "Generation Next. Millienniels respect their elders, so why do they say the generation gap is wider than ever?"

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1971433,00.html

Gibbs brings forth some very interesting thoughts and information in this article where technology, community involvement, religion, etc. are concerned when looking at the different generations that exist within society. According to the Gibbs, the millennial generation encompasses those individuals who are 18 to 29-guess I don't make that one-if only by a couple years-I wish!! Nah, I really like the age that I am right now. However, I can't remember if the teens/young adults of the 80's were ever given a specific label or not.

At any rate, Gibbs got me thinking about my friends and colleagues who I get to work with in our English Dept. at school. Our ELA Dept. spans the spectrum of ages from 27-82. During each of our Dept. meetings, we are fortunate to hear such a wide variety of voices and tales of youth and experience. How blessed are we to share this opportunity with each other!!! The sages of our group cast forth their wisdom and enlighten us on how to put things into perspective and the youth continue to forge ahead and take the risks of new paradigm shifts while helping us move into 21st century learning.

I sit right in the middle and I feel that this is the best place to be-at least for me. Throughout the years, I have learned and continue to learn so much from ALL of these individuals. So I ask myself-Is there really any value in giving any generation a label? Not sure about this one. Perhaps, I will ask them at next month's meeting.

Our Adventures with Preston!!

2010-03-13T10:33:00.000-08:00

As I have mentioned previously, my husband and I LOVE to travel!! Fortunately, our son loves to as well. He has always been an adventurer-from scavenging in our back yard to exploring the mountains and the sea (with Nanny and Pappy along too)!! As long as there are creatures and bugs around, Preston is content and that makes us all smile. Does anyone know if there are creatures throughout Europe too? If not, don't tell him!!!

Symbaloo

2010-03-12T17:29:00.000-08:00

http://www.symbaloo.com/us/share/47821da5056d5da5494f96cb80a39849

Writing while I can-at least with a keyboard!

2010-03-06T04:29:00.000-08:00

Okay, well somehow how I was able to get to my blog this morning after an evening (once we both could find time this week to try to tackle the issue at hand) of my husband trying to figure out what is going on with our computer. I was going to try to write using my IPhone until I was prompted that I had to go through my PC to do so-at least that is how I understood the process. Then again, I could be wrong with that as well!!!

At any rate, it brought me to thoughts of my dear friend Paul who has refused in his retirement from teaching to purchase a computer(even at his young age of 62)to join the technological world. He is quite content with as he says the "reliable pen and paper." I would not expect anything more considering the beautiful script that comes forth from his hands. However, he is the most learned man (personally) that I know and I am constantly telling him about the more things that he could discover and learn by the click of a mouse. Ironically, he has even bought my son a custom mouse that has a tarantula that glows inside of it. I guess he knows that his words our not for our current generation of children. He remains content with doing his Christmas shopping (he doesn't drive either) over the phone via the catalogs that come in the mail and taking his leisure time to sift through the latest issue of National Geographic, Smithsonian, or a novel that is right by his side.

If I told Paul today of my stress last night over a computer, I know that he would just laugh at me and say-"really Amy-is that all you have to be stressed about?!" So I will not choose to have this conversation with him. However, I will take the time today to continue the novel (shared with me by a student's parent) same kind of different As Me. Paul would be proud of me for allowing a few moments in my day to pamper myself with a great read in hand. This makes me smile-even if the blog that I am currently writing may not get posted due to technological difficulties! Yes, there are worse things in one's life that can cause stress!! Thank You, my dear friend Paul for entering my thoughts this morning and reminding me of this!!

Traveling around the world with Anthony Bourdain

2010-02-28T07:43:00.000-08:00

My suitcase can always be ready in a matter of minutes given the right destination!!! To put it in the most simplistic terms-I LOVE to TRAVEL!! However, my chosen profession as a teacher does not provide the stipend to become what one would call a "World Traveler" right now. But, I have found that I can satisfy my travel bug instinct and epicurean tastes by stealing away to some exotic/intriguing locale by watching Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations which airs on The Travel Channel on Monday nights at 10:00-est.

Some (myself included) may think that we have to travel outside the United States to have the most fulfilling and ethnic experience. Anthony Bourdain thought that way for some time too-until he discovered what is within our own beautiful and unique country! I share his words below and plan to continue to seize every opportunity to pack that bag at a moments notice. Any ideas as where I should head next-Spring Break is coming soon?!!!

What keeps me awake after 9:00 pm -not much!! However, not so for today's teens!!

2010-02-20T11:48:00.000-08:00

I find that the older I get the harder it is for me to stay awake past 9:00 pm. My quiet, wind-down time needs to usually start by 7:00 pm and I pretty much have a hard time doing anything else but seeing the back of my eyelids by 9:00-especially through the week. Then again, what would one expect when my internal alarm clock wakes me even before the 5:15 am music starts wafting through the room.

I wonder if any of my students even see 5:15 am very often. I doubt it!! As a child and adolescent, I was always a "morning" person and pretty much had my tasks for the day finished by 7:00 pm-8 at the latest. However, this is obviously not the norm for today's teens. Students send me assignments over the email and I think what in the world are they still doing up at 1:00 in the morning. According to what I recently read in Family Circle magazine, they are doing the below-which is so foreign to what I was doing at that age.

FC STAT - Too much technology? Here's how kids responded when asked what keeps them awake after 9 P.M.

watching TV - 82 %
doing homework-57%
using the computer to go online-55 %
talking on the phone-44%
listening to an MP3 player - 42%
watching a DVD/video -36 %
text messaging - 34 %
computer games - 24 %

Source: Nielsen Media

Not too suprising!!!

Sara Kajdar points out in Chap. 2 of Adolescents and Digital Literacies that "digital youth are a generation marked by unprecedented access to information." This is so true-and I suppose it doesn't matter what time of the day either! Just yesterday, I had a few students who wanted to watch (whether it be on television or on the Internet) Tiger Wood's press conference that was scheduled for 11:00 am. Much as one might expect in today's age it was readily available for viewing!! They did not have to wait to see the info broad casted after leaving the school building for the day-considering how many of them have the Internet available on their phones. Immediate Access!!! Yes, that is what is the norm (in numerous outlets) for them-day or night!!

Is this good, bad, irrelevant, etc.? Who knows?!! All I know is this is what is real in today's media and technological world-and me staying up past 9:00 pm on any given night is not going to change it!! So if my students are technologically engrossed to the wee hours of the morning, that's fine with me-just don't expect me to be up and ready to read any essays/assignments at 1:00 am!! I certainly need my "beauty rest" in more ways than one!!!

A tribute to Ezra!!

2010-02-13T14:49:00.000-08:00

How exciting to see the snow that blanketed the ground today in Murrells Inlet!!! I must admit that I was a little skeptical at the amount that the local weather forecasters were predicting. After experiencing many winters of snow growing up in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania, I suppose that I thought I knew a thing or two about snowy events!! At any rate, my meddling doubts were put in their place. It was such a pristine site to behold at 7:00 am this morning in Murrells Inlet, SC.

One of my favorite books during my preschool years was the Caldecott Medal Winner- The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. I can still remember sitting in our little rented house on the curve-(as my mother and father call it now) and sharing in Peter's adventure's during his walk through the snow of his city. The Snowy Day was such a delightful little book for me! One can imagine how excited I was to see that Dolly Parton felt the same as I pulled it out of the mailbox one winter morning for my son. I had enrolled him in Parton's Imagination Library Program. Even though it didn't snow that winter for Preston, he still was able to enjoy this little story about a little boy just like him.

Flash forward six years and Preston was able to have his Snowy Day today-if only but for a brief time. I relished in watching my son get all bundled up like Peter, flop on the snow and make his snow angels, drag his feet upon the ground to make a track, pummel his father with snowballs, help construct our Bob Marley Inspired "Snow Mon", litter his wet socks across the living room floor, and finally savor the hot cocoa that I just had to make for him!!

I shall continue to cherish The Snowy Day of my youth and treasure today and Preston's journey through the snow that visited us on February 13, 2010. Thank you Mr. Keats and thank you Mother Nature-and most of all thank you Preston and Danny. You all continue to bring forth smiles that warm my heart!!!

Blogs that I really like to follow!

2010-02-09T18:12:00.000-08:00

I am finding that I enjoy reading Jim Burke's Blog and the Langwiches posts. In addition, I am discovering that there are so many resources out there that I had no idea even existed. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I think one of the most interesting resources that I stumbled upon in my blogging is infloox. I certainly will use this resource in my lesson planning as the site continues to develop.

Some of my favorite blogs thus far inlcude:

Hip Librarians Book Blog: Reviews of books for Youth
http://hiplibrariansbookblog.blog-city.com/index.rss
How to Teach a Novel
http://howtoteachanovel.wordpress.com/feed/
Young Adult (& Kids) Books Central Blog
http://yabookscentral.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
Picture Book a Day Blog - Using the Six traits to Teach Writing
http://6traits.wordpress.com/feed/
Young Adult (& Kids) Central Blog
http://yabookscentral.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

I have been commenting at different professional blogs even though I know that I may not get a response back. However, that is okay because I find that I am growing just through reading, commenting, and using the authors different insights, ideas and recommendations.

Yes, believe it-I am excited to read your essays!

2010-02-05T13:20:00.000-08:00

Today, I just had to take a moment and chuckle at my students when they told me that I was not going to have too much fun this weekend since I had to do some reading/blogging for my Digital Class and would also have to read their second drafts of their Frankenstein essays!

After the chuckle, it didn't take me long however to offer my own commentary back and let them know that I WAS looking forward to my continued growth in my technological pursuits and to reading their essay drafts. I always find that I feel this way with a new crew of students who are turning in their first major writing assignment for the semester. I really get a nice idea of where they are with their analytical writing skills and such! Yes, it will take some major time out of my weekend and I am sure I will use up another pen's ink, but I do believe the time is worth the investment to assist my students in their growth as writers.

So in answer to their inquiry-"Shouldn't you be watching the Super Bowl this weekend Mrs. Wilson?" I think I can find time to do all. Besides I really only want to see The Who play at the Super Bowl half-time show!!! Who (no pun intended) wouldn't!!

Back from SCCTE Conference at Kiawah...

2010-01-31T09:29:00.000-08:00

It really is nice to spend some time with other English teachers who are ready to learn more about engaging our reluctant teen readers. I was fortunate to go to a session-"What's New in Young Adult Lit." I am so glad I opted for this one other than attending another course on Grammar. What can I say-Reading is where it is at for me!!

The presenters were both older, retired ladies and still reading YA Lit!!! I was quite impressed with this! One could tell that they KNEW what makes our young readers tick! My top 5 from their presentation that I must purchase include:

* Audrey, Wait!, by Robin Benway
* Dope Sick, by Walter Dean Myers
* The Spectacular Now, by Tim Tharpe
* Sunrise over Fallujah, by Walter Dean Myers
* Animal Migration: Remarkable Journeys in the Wild, by Ben Hoare

I really feel that it is important to have a variety of books on my classroom shelf for student selection. This has worked out so well for me-especially since SSR time is a given in my curriculum. I have not had a student pull out a book that they are reading on a technological device, but I am waiting for it to happen-especially now with the unveiling of the new iPad!!

So here I go navigating towards the Barnes and Noble website! Hopefully, I can be like Angela and Beverly and continue making YA lit recommendations in my golden, retirement years. Then again, I might still be working to support all of these clicks and trips to Barnes and Noble!!

What really does influence people/authors to write what they write?

2010-01-24T10:55:00.000-08:00

As I have been reading and researching blogs for my Writing in the Digital Classroom class, I have found that there is so much about technological resources that I have been missing. It seems the possibilities are endless when considering the different subjects one may blog about in our global society.

Through my plundering, I came across the resource infloox which allows one to search who or what influences people or authors to write what they write and so forth. I found this to be a very interesting site and hope to be able to use it with my classroom lessons at some point. The site is in its developmental stages so I am excited about the possibilities it may present.

Another Semester Starts...

2010-01-23T14:01:00.000-08:00

I have finally had a moment to reflect upon the new beginning that took place in my classroom these last few days. I am excited about the energy that walked through the doorway of Room 212 at SHS. This group of students looked eager to learn and willing to assist in building our classroom communities together.

I can tell that I do have a number of students who are self-selecting readers by the different genres present during our SSR time. It was hard for me to keep quiet during this time just because I wanted to ask them about their varied interests. It was even a more pleasing moment for me to see my just arrived in the USA (two days before our new classes started) exchange student from Switzerland pick up the latest issue of Sports Illustrated off my magazine rack rather than delving into Frankenstein which was the class summer read. However, I know he will get caught-up with this too.

Sara Kajder has shared some wonderful ideas and insight about reading and writing in Bringing the Outside In and I am anxious to get started using what I have read with this new crew! I just hope their excitement and energy will continue to carry through in my new endeavors with learning as well. We shall see!!!

The move from cuddling up with books to gaming-a mother's lament!

2010-01-18T18:49:00.000-08:00

Well, I just found out that Jerry Pinkney won the 2010 Caldecott Medal for The Lion and the Mouse. How exciting!! Pinkney was one of my son's favorites when he was smaller. I just went in his room to tell him about this news and the response that I received back was "remind me what books he has written"- a little disheartening for me as one might imagine. However, if I said there was a new addition for RuneScape (on-line game)-I think the response would be way more enthusiastic!

Fortunately, Sara B. Kajder's work-Bringing the Outside In is helping me come to terms with my son's literary interest switches-especially since he is bringing home library books about Knights and Castles while still enjoying his gaming quests. I CAN reconcile that there IS a place for both!!

Through Kajder's sharing, I am now recognizing there are so many ways in which my son and my students engage in the reading process while still moving forward as leaders in the use of their technological resources that are continually at their fingertips. Yes, I knew this before-but was I really using it to build strengths in my teaching (as well as parenting) and respond to the literary interests of my students? I'm not quite sure.

I do feel more empowered now with a reflective voice when I hear-"I'm not a reader"! I shall continue to use some of my school supply check to purchase Teen Vogue, South Carolina Sportsman, Ebony, etc. I guess I need to also add a gaming mag to the rack as well. Any suggestions??

Curriculum Planning

2010-01-17T07:58:00.000-08:00

I am really enjoying/and learning from the readings that I have been doing for my Writing in the Digital Classroom course and other interesting information that I have found through other educational bloggers. Along with my family, my colleagues at Socastee High know that I have a GREAT (and as some would say "addicting") affection for purchasing/using children's books to accompany my lessons. With this in mind, you know I just had to subscribe to a Picture Book a Day blogging site.

I am really looking at creating some text sets (i.e. different types of genres used for teaching one theme or curriculum unit) to use for this semester. I know that I have done this a little haphazardly in the past, but this time I want to make the use of text sets more focused. I am actually thinking about making a text-set research-based project for my students this semester.

There are tons of children's books and video clips (as well as numerous other genre-types) out there that can be used as read-alouds or used for mini-lesson formatting. I have built a pretty good Holocaust children's book library that I have used numerous times and I know that I can branch out into many other themes as well.

Again, I am enjoying this time of exploration and learning!!

So excited about this new technological venture!

2010-01-11T15:59:00.000-08:00

Well, I should be looking at some class assessments that I must finish-but here I am learning more about blogging and everything that goes along with it. There is so much to learn and digest!! I will be glad to have a little break this weekend to focus more of my attention on this. The end of the semester can be so crazy! I shared my technological excitement with my students today and they seemed to be as excited for me as I am-or perhaps maybe they were just humoring me! :-0 At any rate, I shall continue on with this journey!!!

Here I am...

2010-01-09T11:35:00.000-08:00

I was born in the vibrant and harvesting month of October. I spent the first 25 years of my life living in Saltsburg, PA-which is located in a rural area approximately 40 miles east of Pittsburgh. As one might guess, I am a small-town STEELER loving fan!! However, I also support my husband's love of the UNC TAR HEELS and have been known to wear Carolina-Blue as well.

I graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in English Education and began my teaching career in the Indiana, PA area. I moved to Myrtle Beach in 1995 and I have been teaching English at Socastee High School for the past 15 years. I currently teach 11^th and 12^th grade Honors English and English II CP. For the Spring 2010 semester, I will teach Honors III, English II Pre-IB and Journalism I. During my first work week at Socastee High, I was given the surprising opportunity to lead the school newspaper staff as its adviser. Even though this was not what I anticipated when I accepted the job at SHS, I grew to love working with the student writers of the school newspaper. After taking a hiatus from school publications for the last 11 years, I am looking forward to entering the world of journalistic studies again.

In addition to teaching English, I am the CAS Coordinator for the SHS International Baccalaureate (IB) program. I have been involved with the IB program since its inception at Socastee High. I work closely with the IB students and their commitments to the community service components of this program. I have always been one to serve others and I am glad that I can work with students who desire to do the same.

My hometown library card was one of my most prized possessions while growing up and one of my greatest passions is reading. I love to share this passion with my students, colleagues, and friends. I am a member of our SHS faculty Pageturner Book Blub and co-advise our SHS Student Book Club

I have the pleasure of working with my husband Danny-who has been teaching French at Socastee High for over 30 years. We have a wonderful 9 year-old son and each day he continues to bring much joy and laughter to us and his grandparents. I cherish spending time with my family and friends and enjoy cooking/eating, READING, traveling, studying medieval history, and watching Top Chef, Diners, Drive-Ins and Drives, and Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations.