Cathy Nelson’s Professional Thoughts

The left eye looked really good today at the doctor’s office, and I was told the mild bluriness will clear in a day. I go back in one month and a final decision about my right eye will be made.  There is likely to be planned a lasik touch up to it as well, but they really want me to have time to heal.  There was a noticeable dryness in my right eye that could be contributing to that blurriness, and I am to use artificial tears three times a day. May as well b/c the left eye where I just had LASIK gets antibiotic drops for three weeks, starting a three times a day.  Clear headed today, I can say that Lasik was a breeze too. NO pain, only mild discomfort for about thirty seconds, and then no pain what so ever.  The most discomfort I had was that I was FREEZING where they did the outpatient procedure.  They gave me a Tarheel blanket to cover up with.  Now all I can do is think about all the work I am missing at school, and how I am getting further and further behind.

Dr. Chrystenberry had a battery of tests done, and I went back for the Lasik in my left eye. I was awake the whole time for this procedure. Can’t really tell yet–i’m to give it two days to notice improvements. Right now I want to rest, and he gave me a pill. If the pill will let me rest, and wearing the bubble over my eye will not let me rub the eye, it will heal faster. There was concern that my right I is not improved like he would like to see, and so there may be a Lasik treatment for it as well—maybe as early as tomorrow. The conversations he had with his staff, and not me, but in proximity (so I guess I am in th loop), indicates that it could be a need.  But because I am a rezoom/restore patient, all lasik touch-ups are free. My worry is the number of days I will miss.  If the team does decide to do LAkisik on my right eye, PLEASE let it happen tomorrow. I already have tht day of as a sick day.  Then I’ll have to come back in a month, and then 6 months for reachecks. Lift up some interessesiry praters for me friends.

Last, my instructions were to go home and go to sleep. So now that super is done, It’s time for a pill and bed. G’night all.

I read MANY blogs. I have a folder called classroom blogs, and most of the blogs in this folder are blogs whose target audience is not necessarily the world wide web, but instead the students that attend that class daily. Mr. K’s 21st Century Learning Center is one like this. I’m glad he lets us peak at the assignments he makes. And I have to admit I have gotten some great ideas for activities or spin off projects from content posted for his students to read. So it was with mild interest that I read about an assignment for his kids to build web pages. They are asked to find picture of their favorite band, and make it a link to a web site about this band.

Without knowing what instruction the class has received about the use of pictures from the web, or where for that matter his students will be directed to get these pictures, it begs the question: Will the pictures be from legal sources? Since we are only allowed a sliver of information (namely the assignment) judgment cannot be passed here.

But it does make me wonder. Should these kids be told to use pictures w/o a warning about copyright, obtaining permissions, citing sources, and all that ethical stuff we are supposed to teach? Is there someone on the staff who collaborates with Mr. K., say, like a library media specialist, who can co-teach about the ethical uses of pictures from the web?

Great opportunity here for co-teaching and collaboration. I certainly hope he’s getting both. Thanks Mr. K! This is another example of how we as information and research specialists can impress upon students (and teachers) why those silly and complicated citations (that are pretty much required for most middle school and high school research projects) are necessary and required. But in a modern, fun, and up-t0-date project! Kudos to Mr. K. for another great idea for a project where I can seamlessly integrate some of my standards from the library into classroom standards, that of ethical use of information.

“Cornerstone Monitor.” Nic’s Events’ Photostream. 16 July 2007. 4 September 2007 <http://www.flickr.com/photos/nics_events/833388930/>.

I know a lot of professionals get paid to create logos and such for just about everything, and that probably includes the Discus logo too. Have you seen the new logo? It’s really cool and pretty. It needed an update, and I like it too. Now I need to find my brochures and pages that contain that home access login and password and update their looks too–and include the new logo. My hope is that at first glance of the logo students will know and understand there is a place of solid information that can help them get their school work done.

Recently at EdTech Talk, the program Teachers Teaching Teachers had a one-hour show three weeks in a row about how to improve student research strategies using database subscriptions. A lot of what was discussed centered around the complexity of searching with the tools, and why students want to first use Google. I think when I make my brochure and handouts, I will include a Discus logo like I’ve never seen before. Of course I’ll use the one the state is using too, but I think in order for kids to make the connection that this can be their first choice for information, it needs to have that look if not feel of Google. So I google-ized a log0 (wonder if I’ll get in trouble?) and I’m thinking about using it on my material too. When I get my own webspace–I’m waiting on the district who is transitioning out of what they use now to something new–I may use the googlized logo too. What better way to help kids make that connection?

Just in case you weren’t aware, Discus now has a community log in too. There is a discussion board, and a place to network (so very web 2.0 of them) and I am not 100% sure, but it may be open to students too. Go check it out!

My family has been with me for this entire weekend here at the beach. It has been strange to think that we actually have a residence here. We have frequently been to the beach for family vacations and for conferences too (like SC’s EdTech and SCASA’s SLI). I can’t tell you how many times we were out this weekend and said “When we get back to the hotel…” and then laughed when we realized we have a “home” away from home here, even though it’s an apartment.

But it being a holiday weekend, and traditionally the last weekend a lot of people in our area make their weekly trek to the beach, we treated it very much like a holiday.

We shopped at Tanger Outlet and Broadway at the Beach, even eating dinner on an outside deck at Landry’s there in B@theB. My husband and I went each morning to the same restaurant on Ocean Blvd (The Sea Captain’s House) to eat their Eggs Benedict, and I was even brave once and had the Crabcake Benedict–DIVINE. We walked on the beach with the dog, and we even went to Nascar Cafe for my 17 yo. I went thinking I could suffer through one meal for him, since most everything else was what I had wanted to do. But it was wonderful too.

Since being here I haven’t really eaten out, but I have made one discovery during my “vacation” at home away from home. If don’t feel like cooking, I can order out and get an appetizer for b/w $6 and $10, and have PLENTY to eat, and maybe some to save for lunch the next day. So it was a good thing that we treated this like a vacation.

They are on their way home now, and now being considered a local, I told them a back way to get from here to the other side of Aynor, SC, helping them avoid a lot of the bottle-necked holiday traffic heading out today. They got that far in about 25 minutes, but called to tell me the traffic is still bad where they got back on the main road to go home to Rock Hill. They were about 35 milesr fom I-95, and they were estimating w/ traffic it would take them an hour to get there. Once on I-95, they will be a mere hour and 45 minutes from home in Rock Hill.

So now I can refocus on school and professional things. Outside of school, I have an SC Edtech presentation coming up that I need to work on too. My session is called “Feed the Mind with RSS.” Guess I better get busy since it’s right around the corner–Oct. 24-26.

I can enjoy my days off, just in case some think I never take time off! We took our yellow lab Sandy to the beach this evening. The water was 85 degrees, and she chased after the bubbles (clams) sinking in the sand. My husband and son #2 have been here at the beach with me since Friday. They go back home tomorrow. Working in different towns too far to commute kind of stinks. But I do enjoy the weekends when we are all together. Click on the “View Show” since Edublogs doesn’t seem to like the code…It showed up in the family blog (hosted on blogger), but not here.

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It’s funny how different times are now. My husband and I were reminiscing at supper tonight to our 17 year old about friends in high school and college, and how little contact we have with any of them if at all, even having very little knowledge of what has become of many of them. It is so different for both of my boys, one a 17yo junior in high school, and one a sophomore in college 950 miles away. While eating dinner, my oldest son called, and we told him we couldn’t talk b/c there was a lot of static in the line. I remember a time when a phone call like that would have been a treasured moment and everyone would have clamored around the phone no matter how bad the reception (like when my oldest sister moved from SC to Syracuse, NY in 1980.) Everyone would have wanted to talk, and every word would have been treasured and relived all throughout the evening with any friends or relatives who came over or called after the precious call ended. But not tonight. My husband just told son #1 that we’d have to call back later and try to catch up with him b/c of poor reception. And my son accepted that and ended the call.

My husband, who is currently a high school administrator, used to coach–just about every high school sport possible. Except when my Dad was in the navy and we lived in Waukegan, IL until I was six, I have lived in SC. When I married, I followed my coaching husband to many places in this state, including Orangeburg, Aiken, Chester, and Rock Hill. My two sons were born in Orangeburg, but most of their elementary experience took place in Aiken. Here is where this gets weird. Both of my sons still have close friends from Aiken. How, when I can barely remember the names of the folks I graduated with from high school, can they still have great buddies from elementary school? It’s easy. It’s a different world. My guys, b/c their parents are educators and early adopters of home computers, video games, cell phones, and web 2.0 tools, have been raised in a home where these tools have been used, some on a daily basis. With every move we ever made, they kept their network of freinds right in their pockets in their phones and in the buddy list on the computer(s) at home. So it has been easy for them to remain as close to their old friends as their new friends. After supper as we were driving home, we called son #1 back, and had a very positive discussion. He had news–he had acquired three roommates for his two bedroom apartment, and some money would be deposited in his bank account (their rent) Tuesday morning. Yeah! Oh, and for us not to be surprised at the $75 cab ride–he went to a concert w/ some friends, and the driver’s car broke down, they missed the last train back into the city, and so they took a cab back to school, and he paid (but everyone was paying him back.)

But as I sit here and reflect, I realize that my friends are making me fairly global too. I still have contact with my principal I had in Aiken, which was 7 years ago. I am close friends with an intern I had in Aiken too, and we room together every year for NECC. We commune via email, chat, and even Skype. I have developed friendships with people I had absolutely never met in person before from networking in web 2.0 portals, like blogs, wikis, Nings, Second Life, educational chat rooms and more.

Some of my network, like Kim I. in Georgia, Kitty F. in AL, Lisa D. in Md, Melinda M. in Missouri, and even Joyce V in PA, I feel would gladly help if I made inquiries for assistance. I’ll never forget Joyce V. walking up to me at NECC in Atlanta, calling me by name, and saying I looked just like my avatar picture on my blog. We had never met face to face in person before, even though we had been at many conferences together. But the tools have changed and made it possible to know people that you have never met! It’s exciting.

Even my 73 year old mother uses Skype, and gets really mad if I or any of my brothers and sisters call her on a landline phone.

So yes, it’s a very different world we live in today. It’s no wonder my children love to listen to us reminisce about times long gone and people we used to know. I have to wonder if they will ever experience memories of long gone friends like we did tonight. It was a fun evening, but I worry about what exchanges they will share with their children when they are grown…b/c it’s a really different world now. And exciting.

“Welcome to South Carolina.” Jimmywayne22’s Photostream. 2 July 1998. 1 September 2007 <http://www.flickr.com/photos/auvet/95826233/>.