Thinking like a teacher

My always inspirational sister +Ashley Keene recently posted a Currently template on her blog. I,  as I customarily do, then stole her idea and tweaked it. I used the word 'stole' here flippantly, but then I started wondering - wait I minute, am I stealing - is this ethical? My sister paid for the template from a site called Teachers Pay Teachers. I liked the idea behind the template, but I wanted more mature looking graphics, if any at all, and I wanted to add additional fields. These wants/needs led me to mock up an alternative on Word. I gave credit to the original author in the footnote and linked to her site in the footnote, but is that enough?

As a former English teacher and current instructional designer I take copyright and attribution seriously, but still find myself questioning at times what constitutes an infraction?

I recently recommended the reading Lines on Plagiarism Blur for Students in Digital Age by Trip Gabriel for a First Year Experience course where I work. The article made me consider  how I would personally define plagiarism as I read the following comments from the publication which represent varying viewpoints on the topic:

“There’s no such thing as originality anyway, just authenticity.” Helene Heggman, best-selling teenage novelist

“You’re not coming up with new ideas if you’re grabbing and mixing and matching”  Sarah Wilensky,  Indiana University student 

I guess I'm just looking for answers. I am curious to know what you all think? And finally, do I now need to be including full-text citations to  blog entries every time I quote? Not gonna lie - that would kind of suck.

Now back to that template that I still can't classify as theft or not - here's my adaptation:

Even though the original template was geared toward fourth graders, why couldn't it also serve higher ed students.  I can see it used as an ice breaker and/or check-in activity given several times during a semester to keep a pulse on student interests in order to design curriculum that is student-centered.

I also love the idea of using this template as a monthly blog update. I only wish I had more readers/participants to comment and share their own monthly updates with me.

Please share your own responses in the comments section so I don't feel like I'm writing in a vacuum all the time.

Still tryin'

So I'm still trying to complete my bucket list from last summer....

Today I was able to cross off one of the six remaining items - to be fair, the item I planned on doing tonight with nieces and daughter was to create fairy jars.  I went to order the diamond dust a few days ago so I would be all prepared for their visit; however, upon visiting the Michael's website I saw this warning under my needed product:

Considering, I didn't want to be responsible for anyone's declining health I decided to go with a different activity. Instead of making fairly jars, we tried exploding paint bags and throwing egg shells filled with paint at canvas in an attempt to make Pollock like art. Here is some of Pollock's pieces:

And ours:

Here our some pics of the prep work, process, and finished process (we also managed to get nails and hair sessions in as you can see!)

Considering I was able to hold their attention for all of 20 minutes, I would count tonight a success.

Calling all teachers...or anyone who has ever been a student

Teacher Friends or Anyone Who Has Ever Been a Student- if you are willing to share your ideas and allow others to use them  I would love to take inventory. What have been some of your favorite classroom activities and most memorable flops?  I am hosting a workshop at Tri-C around this topic and want to gather some talking points :)

Ideas Into Actions: For Little Liv

The first email to my daughter:

Hi baby girl,

So I finally put into action this idea I found on FB: signing you up for an email account now and sending you reminders of my love throughout the years and then giving you the password on your 18th birthday (although by then who knows what form emails will take).

I will try to be somewhat judicial about what I include so that opening all of the emails/links/pictures remains exciting and not painstaking (although if you are anything like me and your Tia Ashley +Ashley Keene you never will tire of hearing about/looking at yourself :) In fact, I still try to make Daddy view old family videos of me when I was the age you are now.

Here is something I wrote when you were first born; I was an adjunct at Baldwin-Wallace College and used this poetry prompt in my English composition class (assignment inspired by George Ella Lyon's poem)- I was/am so excited to both share and recreate some of these memories with you:

I am from steel mills, church festivals, annual garage sales, bowling alley bars and a traditional neighborhood complete with bike parades and block parties. I am from wood forts and lightening bugs and summers spent at the swim club.  I am from the calls of neighborhood kids in the yard, disputes over softball scores, and the sound of feet on trampoline vinyl. I am from handmade haunted houses and staging stories.  I am from playing the organ at our fake Christmas mass and I am from a front yard that housed a big green spray painted dinosaur made all of snow. I am from Bernie’s hometown, miles and miles of beautiful smiles up and down the boardwalk, Carolina moons, and catching crabs after dark.  I am from cities, and states, cultures and continents.

I am from steak umms and dippy eggs and Sunday dinners with sauce. Sauce full of chicken, sausage, and meatballs. I am from buckeye cookies, fried fish, and macaroni on Christmas Eve night and jellybean trails on Easter.  I am from buttered fries, Kraft macaroni and cheese, and salads that are anything but healthy. I am from sour worm candies shared with Grandma. I am from a family who loves wine -  - with everything. 

I am from call me when you get there, Lalee, and I’m freezing. I am from are those eggs fresh and are those potatoes instant? I am from look at the hoopies, I worshed the clothes, grab a buggy, and you don’t even like cake. I am from “No more bread until you eat your salad”, “I’ll pay you a quarter to rub my back” and ‘I wish you two could get along.  Ya know, she’s all you have one day”.  I am from “never go to bed mad,” “we are proud of you” and “Darling, when we’re not together there’s one thing I want you to know ‘I’ll love you from here to forever and be there wherever you go.’”

I am from a family of military men.  I am from Euchre, Aggravation and most recently Pinochle. I am from a family where everyone tells the same stories over and over again and somehow they never feel old.  I am from relatives who mostly sing off key (all except the Yanno’s), but sing just the same.  I am from the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas'' and "Like a Virgin". I am from sibling rivalry and knock down drag outs with a sister who has always been my best friend. I just didn’t know it then. I am from a mom who has shown me what it means to work hard, sacrifice, and share and a dad who taught me to how to let loose and laugh. I am from a shared bed with my mom and the Snow Queen and trying to learn moves from a dad who danced. I am from a broken home, that isn’t broken at all. 

I am from a place I’d never thought I’d be which is why I want to share my past with you Olivia Beckett, mi futuro.

Redhawk Grille = Awesome

So I tried a new place this past Thursday and I'm happy to report I actually liked it (even though I was a tad sad I wasn't able to use a deck card). Loved the outside patio with the mulit-colored umbrellas, the sound of the waterfall in the background, and even the man-made fish pond.

 I started out with an American mule. While I loved the idea of a rock candy stirrer I'm learning that I am more obsessed with the copper cups these drinks are served in more so than the actual drink (no fault of the restaurant's - just my own personal preference).

However, my amazing Irish burger more than made up for selecting a slightly too sugary drink. The burger was topped with corn beef and melted swiss. Fries were fantastic. Prices were right!

An added bonus was how close the restaurant was to my friend Shanon's house - made calling for a ride after a few more drink orders super convenient.

Well done Redhawk! Well done!