WOW!

I actually feel like a plane, train and automobile has actually struck me! I just finished one of my busiest weekends at school. We just hosted 32 bands at our festival. I don't remember much but we had some fabulous performers from around the area as well as surrounding states! We flew in some pretty big names as judges and they were a delight. We also used our new press box which made it much easier for me. I did manage to clock many hours and without pay. I was at school until 9:30 p.m. Friday (no dinner) then back at school at 6 a.m. on Saturday. I made it home sunday morning at 1 a.m. My feet are killing me. I didn't have ANY time for homework so now I must begin. I just hope I can stay awake! I hope I understand it! Looking forward to seeing everybody in a couple of weeks. This online class is KILLING me. I am glad they are all not online courses. Take care and have a great week!

Back to the stress!

Just like the rest of you, I am feeling the pressure of our new class. After reading some of the information about the class I had to stop and take migraine medicine. It didn't help. I spent a lot of time just looking for the stuff. I feel better knowing that it was just not me. I actually tried to take the binary test without reading the information. I just thought we should know it. Glad you could save and not submit right away! I am stuck on the timeline but haven't spent much time with it yet...tonight.
Brittany came home for the weekend. We had a blast yesterday...shopping! Neither of us have had any time and it was great just hanging out together. I am getting depressed though because she is packing. I am not ready to send her back.
This week is crazy at school. We have 32 bands (larger than in the past) coming to our school this Saturday for our competition. Please pray for no rain!!! I have a lot of preparation before then. With this class too...I don't know what I am going to do. I am glad to have finished my webquest and plan to start that in a couple of weeks! (if I can get into a library!) Good luck to all and have a great week!

Webquest Success!

Just a quick hello to everybody! I am happy to report that I think I just finished my webquest. I keep adding and changing things so I am not sure it will ever be completely finished. I will probably submit this weekend...what a great feeling knowing that I am almost done. I am also VERY excited about using this in my class. The students seem excited as well about learning more about the Beatles. We have been singing many of their songs in class. I enjoy it!
I also just finished my survey and assessment for our next class. I am feeling a little overwhelmed. I bet you couldn't have guessed that one!
I also wanted to let you all know that our band survived our first competition in Edwardsville, IL. I enjoyed the bus ride...a little time to sleep and put my feet up! I tried grading papers but kept falling asleep. We had great weather until it was time to perform. It rained the entire time but we were very proud of them. The best part of the trip was taking all 200 kids at 11:30 p.m. inside a Schnuck's. The manager almost lost it when we started letting the kids in. We managed to have all the kids back on the bus in less than 30 minutes. It was interesting to see their purchases for the bus ride home! No...not very nutritional at all.
Have a great rest of the week!

Webquest Mishap!

I was too upset yesterday to add to my blog but I have had a day and I can face reality. I hit the stupid backspace button yesterday and lost the 7 hours of work I had done on my webquest. Yes...I was almost done and thought I had been saving it the entire day. I didn't even turn my computer off one time yesterday. I was so excited about it, the way it looked too except I could not add my rubrics. Realizing the program that I had chosen would not allow it, I had started plan B...that is when the mishap took place. I cried for awhile and then went back to work and chose a different program. I am able to save and in fact go back to it the next day. I wanted to add more colors and textures but I think I just figured out that I would have to join. I have to pay for school...mine and my daughters...so I will stick to the freebie. I did find another webquest which I plan to use for my music theory class! I am real excited about trying it out as well. Hopefully I can work some more before I fall asleep tonight. I stayed up late last night because I refused to go to bed without anything done on my webquest!

Well I have a busy week with band. We are traveling to Illinois this weekend after we march the Fall Fun Fest Parade in downtown Blue Springs for our first competition. There is so much left to do before the trip. I have to make sure all the uniforms are ready to go and I always take extras of EVERYTHING! I am actually looking forward to the bus ride so I can sleep! Have a great week and I wish you all the very best. I was also excited to read that soon we will have a new baby girl in the group! Congratulations Amy!

The Fury Begins...

Well...I had looked forward to my long weekend and where did it go? After our first home game ... in the rain without our new uniforms ... I awoke early Saturday morning to head to Columbia. I arrived happily to find my daughter in her adorable dorm room. I am so jealous! She has a fantastic room mate, great meals, and a lot of new friends. She loves college life. By noon though I had a different view of my daughter...she was sick and only getting worse. After visiting 3 different clinic we managed to get a diagnosis... she did NOT have the dreaded "flu". We had a rough night and slept for a good 2 days. I didn't get much homework done but I managed to catch up on grading and all of our grades. We have about 150 band students, 50 campus choir students and 32 music appreciation students. I am almost caught up with them all!

Sunday I am going to dig into my webquest. I think I have all the information I need. I am still trying to decide which way to go though...would love suggestions!!!

I still enjoy reading all the blogs. Glad to know that we were all looking forward to our holiday. Hope you all enjoyed some family time along with rest and relaxation! Good luck with your Webquests!

Ready for the Weekend!

Dear Friends, it was great seeing you in class again. I am still in shock that I can actually say that I have a website. I can't believe I even finished it and was able to go to lunch. Thanks for all the help and support from everybody! After viewing it from home, I see a few things I would like to change or add. I guess I have been bitten by the thechnology bug again!

I am also VERY thrilled about the webquest. I think my kids will really enjoy the project better than their alternative boring assignment. I wish I was farther along with it but hope to use this weekend to get a good start. I plan on visiting my parents in Columbia...I am ready to get out of town and away from work. I also get to see my daughter and I am so ready!

I am VERY behind at work. I managed to fit all the marching band students on Monday after school until 9:00 in their new uniforms. I have a lot more work to do though before our first game on Friday. I am excited about them but stressed. In fact, I have a sub tomorrow but plan on going in to work...that really hurts!

Good luck to everybody with your webquest. Have a great and SAFE weekend!

A New Week!

Happy Monday! Today my daughter started her classes at MU. It was a little stressful and her diabetes was not cooperative. Hopefully she will be able to relax and her blood sugars will come back down to normal. She sounded better tonight so I can relax a little.

Our band received new uniforms this summer. I have uniform checkout next Monday evening. There is a new system for checkout and of course, I am in charge. I have a brand new barcode scanner and I really don't know yet how it works. I have a week to learn. I am really stressing out especially with class this weekend. I have a website which is supposed to show me all that I need to know...just an hour video for the 4 different steps...no problem. I just hope I can stay awake.

I am teaching my music appreciation class in the Women's Dressing Room. Many of our teachers are in alternative classrooms until their rooms are completed. Unfortunately mine is for the entire year. I have 32 students crammed in a little room. I have a tiny spot to stand and take a rolling cart with all my work. Using technology in that situation is getting very frustrating! The room is also very HOT! But I am making the best of the situation and doing what I can!

I am ready to see everybody this weekend. Our midnight madness rehearsal goes until 3 a.m. this Saturday morning. I just don't think I am going to make it until then. I hope to make it for the pancakes that our crazy parents serve at midnight! I will have to bring a large diet coke to help me stay awake on Saturday! I am still gathering pictures and information for my website. Since I am a little slow, I am very nervous about getting that project completed by Sunday. I might have to skip my lunch break for sure! Hope everybody had a great weekend and enjoy your week.

Even Tougher Day!

Well, I actually missed the first day of school because I just dropped my youngest at college. I have been dreading this day for a very long time. Yes...I know I need to let go and let her grow up but it is really hard! I kept thinking of that stupid Walmart commercial that makes me cry every time I see it. I managed to only use 1 box of kleenex (family size)! But now I am home and ready to start the new school year. I am going to use my powerpoint tomorrow for the first time. I am a little nervous but very excited!

I am also very excited about my webquest. This assignment is going to be used in my campus choir class in place of writing a paper which most of them didn't do or just plagiarized. I am really excited to use it and just hope that the computer labs will be ready in October. Our school is still a mess with all the construction.

Our marching band has been working very hard. We have a very young but motivated group of students. They seem to love the show theme and the music. I just found out that are midnight madness rehearsal (6p.m. until 2 a.m.) happens the Friday night before our last class on the 29th. I might have to skip out a little early or I won't be able to stay awake in class.
I am VERY nervous about the website. I have not been able to get to SVMS and I am afraid to go alone. I am not sure I will even remember where to start. If someone plans on going this weekend please let me know. I would feel better with a friend! Have a great week!

Tough Day!

Wow...my summer is officially over...what summer? Today we packed the truck and tomorrow at 4 a.m. my son leaves for Chicago. Next week I drive my youngest to MU. (gentle reminder - enjoy your kids!) Tomorrow I start all the fun teacher's meetings. We are also learning a new attendance and grading program but I have a new attitude this year! I am no longer afraid of new technology.

I am a little stressed now about my homework. I really like my idea for my webquest. For my campus choir class I always assigned a paper about the Beatles. In the past, many of them plagiarized so thanks to class I think I have another solution to the problem. In fact, the assignment will hopefully be more interesting and they actually might be excited about the project. Again...I am hoping we can use a computer lab with all the construction at the school. It may have to wait at least one semester.

It is very different being a student this year. I have read several blogs from those of you that have already started back to school. With marching band I just hope I can stay on top of things!
I have learned so much from my classes that I feel more confident starting school this year. I have learned many time saving tips and plan on using them! Also wanted to thank my classmates for all their help and support. I do look forward to reading your blogs and keeping in touch. I love the fish by the way. Thank you for sharing! It is very therapeutic for me and a lot cheaper than feeding my ducks!!! See you all soon. I am going to work a little more on my webquest. Have a great first week of school and enjoy your meetings!

Blogging

Tonight I sat down at the computer to start my homework, Janine I am trying to work on our chapter I promise, but every time I sit down I get caught up on reading all the blogs, the surveys, the email, etc. I think I have to agree with Leah that it is time consuming. I know I don't have to check it every day but now I am curious. I think I have that new blogger fever. I always gave my daughter a hard time for running to her facebook every day but I enjoy keeping up with my classmates and their new discoveries. I have been trying to work a little every night on my projects after camp. Well back to the book...I am going to finish taking notes over RSS which is the new killer App for Educators. This will be a time saver for us all!

2nd attempt at blogging

I started working on my page tonight and after taking several deep breaths I started to relax and really enjoyed playing with the possibilities. It was so easy to add things, change things, edit, copy and paste that I started thinking of ways to use this more. I realized that both of my children are moving within a week of each other. Both of them will be so busy as well as myself so I am going to ask them to start a blog of their new adventures. This will be an easy way for all of us to stay in touch with our busy schedules. I may also ask my music theory students to start a blog about their experience in the class. Through their blogs I can assess their progress or stress level. This could also be a great way for our marching band students to keep track of their adventure for the season. As you can tell...I am a little excited about the possibilities of my new adventure as well. Thanks for listening!

My first blog!

This is an amazing tool which I wish I had learned to use much earlier! I can't believe I waited this long to start my technology degree. This will open up many doors...I hope! There are so many endless possibilities with using blogs and I am excited to be part of it!

My goal for this class is to learn as much as possible about the World Wide Web. I would like to incorporate more technology in my classroom with confidence. Not only would the students benefit but so would communication with parents. I hope to identify new teaching strategies and methods as well that will assist my students in a successful learning environment. I want to become an effective and productive member of the ever changing technology world.


Yesterday we created a delicious account for bookmarking favorite websites. Not only are we able to mark our favorite sites but we are able to share with the World Wide Web. This site will make it easier to find our favorite sites. This is a definitely a time saving feature.

I am excited about taking all the new information that I have learned to use in my classes. Not only will my students benefit but I have many new time saving tools in hand!