Thing #4

What an interesting night.  I think I am in a lack of sleep hangover from watching the storm move closer and closer.  Then it conveniently jumped right over us with little more than a bit of rain and a few distant thunder claps.  I remember when a tornado watch meant conditions were favorable for a tornado and a tornado warning meant you needed to gather your loved ones and valuables and head for cover because there was a tornado on the ground cutting a devastating path in your direction ready to lift the roof off your house and suck out all its contents.  I'm guessing with all the new technology it's easier to see when things potentially might form, and I am thankful for the warnings, but I am also thankful I didn't jump the gun and yank my three peacefully sleeping children from their  beds to rush to safety from some rain.  I guess that really is a catch 22.   

Anyway, another rabbit trail.... (I do that in real life too!  My husband hates it!)  On with the show....

What is a community?  The obvious definition would be people who live in the same area.  But does that really make a community?  Is it the location or the people that are more important?  I choose to believe that a community is more about people and the relationships they have with each other.  The way they interact with one another and the conversations they have.  Can there be a community in which no one communicates?  I don't think so.  Our lives are inundated with communication, from the time we are born and the doctor hands us to our parents until the day we take our last breath.  In between, there is a magical dance we have with every person we come in contact with.  It can be as small as saying excuse me when we step aside to let someone pass to giving a lecture in front of a room full of people.  Communication can also be nonverbal, (who hasn't flirted without saying a word?) but what I am to discuss in this post is communicating in the blogosphere.  After I read the required blog posts about commenting, I realized I really didn't understand what I was actually doing by commenting on peoples blogs.  I found it interesting that even high speed bloggers like the idea that someone is reading their posts.  Funny, most of the time I am thankful that only very few people will be reading mine. I also never thought of the fact that communities do form around blogs.  People with the same interests or even opposite interests coming together to teach and hopefully help people by the words they choose to share.  It does kind of give you a sense of purpose and meaning when you look at it that way.  It also means more responsibility for what you are posting and the content you put out in the open for everyone to read.  Hope I can live up to the challenge!

 I am by nature a conversationalist and love to talk but love even more to listen.  I am excited to get started with this thing and I can't wait to formulate some insightful comments to what my classmates have said!  I will be editing this post later and listing some of the places I have commented.  Until then, the sun is out and it's warm but hang on to your hats because that wind is unreal today!


Well, I commented!  Hooray!  So exciting!  
I found a blog that really sparked something in me to want to make a change.  Here is the link: http://swatson23things.blogspot.com/
This is a very well written blog that I enjoyed reading and the author Sabrina Watson taught me something!  Which is the most important thing anyone could ever do for me!  She taught me that even if it is a scary thing for me, if I don't set goals, I'm not moving forward (she used other words but same idea).  So I have decided that even though my goals may change or have to be adjusted that it's okay, I can do that!  So starting now, I have decided I will begin to set goals.  Not sure what the first will be, but at least it's a step in the right direction!


Another blog I chose to follow is Cherie Manske.  Here is the link to her blog,  http://23thingsjanell.blogspot.com/. I chose to follow her because she had the same issue with Flickr that I did and being able to commiserate and learn from one another will be very important in my journey becoming a teacher!  Thanks Cherie for letting me know I wasn't alone!


Well, I commented again this time on Jared Sexton's blog.  I decided to attempt humor.  He had posted how pointless it was to comment with one word which I agree with so of course I had to leave a one word comment.  I did also leave a bigger comment as well!  Anyway, Jared does a great job blogging so I am following him now too!    http://jmarshallsexton.blogspot.com/

Finally getting back to commenting, guess I have to now before I don't get the opportunity.  I commented on sweet Chelsea Ninness' blog.  She had done an Animoto video that was fantastic!  I thought I would tell her how great it was and that I will miss her next semester. http://chelseaninness.blogspot.com/

Anita always has some great things the say.  I commented on her post about twitter.  I was telling her I thought the idea of using twitter with parents was great as long as they didn't tweet everything they did.  I also was wondering if there was a social site dedicated to parents and teachers communicating.  http://ataylor29.blogspot.com/

My outside blog posts were a little intimidating.  I commented on a Cool Cat Teacher blog that she called When it is OK to get complaints.  (A pep talk for the visionary)   In the blog she made the comment "When everyone likes you, you're doing nothing"  this really struck a chord with me.  From the time I was little, all I wanted was for people to like me, now that I am older, (much, much older) I honestly could not care less if someone likes me or not.  I have always said if someone doesn't like me then that's their problem.  As long as I examine myself daily to make sure I am where I need to be personally then what others say should not affect anything.  I really appreciated this blog. http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2012/04/when-it-is-ok-to-get-complaints-pep.html#disqus_thread

Something you probably didn't know about me, I love to eat!  I hate cooking, but I love to eat!  I decided to look at the Pioneer Woman blog today and found the yummiest soup recipe!  I made sure to comment that I would be making the soup asap!  Can't wait to taste it!  Here is the link, http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/04/cauliflower-soup-2/comment-page-2/#comments.