Go Ahead and Judge. . . I Deserve It.

Lots to do. Throwing a shower for my soon-to-be niece-in-law, planning a nine-hour car ride to the wedding which two of my three children are in, 3 classes with projects due this week, and the usual stuff. So, I'm trying to find independent activities to keep the kids (ages 5, 4, and 22 months) happy and entertained while Mom is working at the computer. Here's what I found for all of you who are trying to do the same. Prongo, a site with a list of safe and free kids sites with activities for kids 10 and under. Yes, I am using the computer to entertain my kids, I have nothing to say for myself.

I Wonder What Would Happen if I Just Ate the Coffee Beans

Well, I'm definitely not underwhelmed!

So, I just finished my Learner and Context Analysis for Dr. Ingram's ID course and I am about to write a journal for Dr. Kovalik's Tech. and Learning and I haven't yet touched my Website Design assignment for this course. Yikes! I'd better get working! I do have a lot of work to do, but I am surprised by how much I am enjoying the material in all three classes! What a great feeling! (Like my money is not being wasted.) In all three classes, at least one person has posted a comment about being overwhelmed. I remember this in-over-my-head feeling from my undergrad days at Ohio State, but thinking back I know I was just green. I had nothing to complain about then compared to now. It would be great to be able to go back to those days and kick my own whiny butt into gear.

So, I started thinking about stress and how to relieve it without taking up so much time that I get more stressed and I found this site and the name alone was bold enough to get my attention. Tranquility is Yours. Like it's been sitting on the shelf waiting for me to grab it and sprinkle it around the house. It's a site where those of us with enough time can read about how to relax your mind and body to improve your overall perspective on life. Great stuff. I like the videos of the ocean and the moon especially. So sad that I have to watch a video of the moon because I don't have the time to get away form my computer to see the real thing, but I digress.

And for those of us who don't have the time to relax ourselves. . . Time Management Tips from the Mayo Clinic The tip that stood out to me most was "Say no to nonessential tasks. Seems like common sense, but I have trouble saying "NO" to anyone who asks me for help and it gets me in trouble time and again.

So, good luck with your websites and don't forget to breathe!

Feeling Winded!

Well, this first month of classes has been very interesting for me. I can honestly say that I have learned a lot about technology and how is should be applied in the classroom. I have also battled pneumonia, dealt with a flooded basement, and taught my almost-two-year-old to walk in a cast. Maybe three classes during my first semester in the program was not a stellar idea after all. :)

Even though I am losing some sleep this semester, I am excited about what I am learning. Just a month ago I was grossly uninformed about blogs, wikis, podcasts and the like. These classes have opened my mind to new avenues of information that I previously thought were only used by "perps" on Law and Order. So, I started investigating some blogs that follow my personal interests and I found one that is very popular with other moms. http://www.dooce.com/ is a site written by Heather Armstrong, a witty and somewhat caustic mother of two children. What has struck me about her blog and many of the blogs of others is how imperfect they are. Heather does not claim to be an expert at anything motherly, but she writes in an honest and candid way that the masses must find refreshing. Until these blogs surfaced, the online sources that mothers had for advice were HGTV and Martha Stewart's website. Each of these seem to strive for perfection in all things motherhood. I think that moms like sites like Heather's because they want to see that it's okay to be imperfect. They want to see that there are others like them who are struggling to get a healthy meal on the table and check that everyone has what they need for school the next morning. Ironically, Heather was just hired by HGTV to be herself on their website, so maybe they have caught on to the way ordinary moms feel about her.

I really hope I can get everything done this week! I'm still striving for perfection. ;)

RSS, Where Have You Been?

I just finished reading the Richardson chapter on RSS and I am so excited about this new (to me) technology! Of all the tools we've discussed this semester this one seems like it will be the best at saving me time. That is worth investigating! So, I have already set up my RSS at Google Reader and I have all of the class blogs, the local weather, and a couple of other sites fed into my site. It was very simple to set up. In fact, when I opened the Reader page, all of the blogs I am following were already being fed to the page. Is anyone else a little disturbed by the power and scope of the Google Empire? I kind of feel like Big Brother is watching. Regardless, I love Reader so far.