why can't I text pics???

oh dorm, how I will not miss you. thank you for the morning fire drill today. I like how you use my education as a means to prove a point. these kids don't see missing the first hour of class as punishment. I'm paying too much for this shit. no one over the age of 18 should live here.

i tried sending a video to the blog but I'm not sure if it's going to work.... hasn't published yet.

reading convention here in Chicago

http://www.reading.org/General/Default.aspx

my mom's school is funding her a trip to Chicago for this conference. i may do my video about it, but i wanted to inform you guys if anyone may be interested. it's huge. i'm excited about the children's literacy.... illustrators will be there too! yipeee!

http://www.youthlearn.org/

what is YouthLearn? check the FAQ and here's a snippet of what you get:
"YouthLearn is a growing nonprofit initiative to advance the education and well-being of young people through youth-driven, technology-infused learning. The YouthLearn Initiative offers youth development professionals and educators comprehensive services and resources for using technology to design exciting learning environments."

as i read the part that says "technology-infused learning" my mind quickly went to questioning "well, what about learning that can take place outside of the classroom... specifically OUTSIDE."
i think this is just a symptom of me being inside on the computer all day. i'm tired of it. my eyeballs hurt and i need some fresh air. stupid living arrangement. i'm ready for a home. ok, this is counter-productive.... i'm ranting. too many blogs do this. moving forward....

YouthLearn seems like a great organization.

check out the information here http://www.youthlearn.org/learning/teaching/techniques/modeling/modeling

VERY INTERESTING INFO. enjoyed reading about how students learn by modeling.
here's a tip from the page...

Do you encourage the use of journals as much as we do? Then you have to keep one yourself and use it even outside of class. Show the kids what you did in yours yesterday or last week on your own time. The kids will see that you really believe in journals and that they can be fun.

Or take a technique like mapping. The reason we like them so much is that they're a simple way to get kids planning, thinking and generating new ideas before they rush into a project—all of which are learning habits we want them to internalize. If you make mapping an early part of every project, you'll demonstrate a pattern of thinking that kids may very well adopt regularly themselves, especially if you show them that you do it outside of class in your personal journal.

done and done! who doesn't love journals and maps!?!? this won't be hard for me to do. i already do it. booyah. model that children. :)

http://www.prosarts.org/index.html

i was checking out all the links and noticed under the calendar that there is
BREAKDANCING THURS 6-8 for ages 8 and up....
so how up is up? i am up. can i go breakdance!??!?!?! i got some moves!

http://carrotrevolution.blogspot.com/

first off, the colors in this blog hurt my eyes. it makes me want to move along to the next website. something about the design just doesn't put the blog's best foot forward. it's not terrible, but for example, the tag cloud colors are not working for me. i can hardly see the darker words on my monitor.

i clicked iphone under the tag cloud (it's not easy to see, but it's there)

i just downloaded an app that turns my phone into a mouse. sweet.
miguel, if you're reading, this app allows you to use your phone as a remote for presentations.

and then i went on to check out the next suggested app, oblique strategies. for those times when you have a creative block, it helps to generate thought.... well i'm not sure i liked the example cards it showed, but then something else caught my attention... then something else from there. before i know it, here i am almost two hours later and not progressing on schoolwork. crap. i need some fresh air. i just downloaded an aquarium app for my phone. now i have a pet fish.

[[[how do you like the step-by-step commentary on my surfing...lol (is it still called that?)]]]

oh and there's also this type app that is perfect for the self portrait type assignment we had. i almost downloaded it, but decided to wait.

oh oh oh, more more more..... here's the link to the page i'm finding all this stuff.
http://carrotrevolution.blogspot.com/search/label/iPhone

there's an app that allows you to edit and create movies.... hmmm. i wonder if i can do this entire assignment from my iphone. crazy.

there is a lot of information here. seems to be the running theme. not a bad thing. i'm happy to be learning about all these resources.

click here and scroll down.
http://carrotrevolution.blogspot.com/search/label/Illustration
there's a post about using podcasts in the classroom. what a great idea!

okay, i could explore all day, but i gotta move on to the next website.

http://www.videomachete.org/

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http://www.evc.org/ and http://www.street-level.org/

what is it about media that kids love?

i loved making home videos/movies when i was a kid. i used to have this book that gave tricks for filming. for example, one time i put blue plastic wrap over the camera lens so that it looked like everything was under water. didn't so much work, but the idea seemed cool to me.

another time i remember my cousin and i made this movie called "someone's in my bedroom." we cut a window frame shape out of a piece of poster board and hung it up for a scene where my cousin dressed in a mask climbed through it like she was climbing into the bedroom of a house. lol. too funny.

this is only the beginning. another time two friends and i dressed in my mom's old dresses and pretended to host a home shopping network show. man, those were the days.

i think it's great that organizations such as the Educational Video Center in New York and Street-Level Youth Media in Chicago exist.

i also remember another video some friends and i made for our history class in seventh grade. how great that my teacher provided us the opportunity to do an assignment using media. i still remember how much fun we had making that video.

i wonder where all of my old videos are. hopefully they haven't been lost over the years. i'd hope that my parents would know those are more valuable than gold to me. if i could only get my hands on them. i'll have to do a search next time i make it home. wish me luck.

http://www.artletter.com/index.html

"art letters out" ... that's a lot of art letters.

i'm a letter writer. sometimes they're received. sometimes not.
once i got the idea that Undelivered Letters would be a cool band name. not so sure that's so cool, but i thought it was at the time. (back when i was more into music, playing guitar and drums)
i figured i could make a lot of songs out of my undelivered letters.
anywho, back to the art letters...

so this guy Paul Klein is credited for the development of the art scene in River West. impressive.

from the art letter info link on the website:
Klein has championed Chicago by writing and distributing ArtLetter , an online examination of art in Chicago. He previews exhibitions and encourages readers to broaden their horizons by embracing unexpected quality, new venues, dynamic artists and strong exhibitions.

sign up for the newsletter!

http://chicagoartmagazine.com/

first i always click the "about" button when visiting a new site. for this one, i quickly followed that with the "chicago art map" link. sweet. who doesn't love maps. what a great resource for galleries and up-to-date information on exhibits. i like how they give their weekend pick. looking for a gallery and not sure where to go... here are some suggestions. check out the website and you'll get your answer. a great websource for art in chicago. i'm starting to see so many connections, the community is becoming smaller and homey. :)

http://www.pbs.org/art21/

i really like how art21 groups the videos into themes. so far i've watched play, humor, identity, and stories. i've noticed a running theme that at some point each artist mentions something about their childhood.

watching these videos can be frustrating though. they are always having to rebuffer. annoying. i used to have some of these... the first two seasons i think. they were xmas gifts.

it does seem like art21 is everywhere right now, but i think it's only for those in the field. i mentioned it at work and no one had heard of it.

i have a feeling i'll definitely be referencing the lesson plans down the road at some point. if just to generate ideas, i'm sure they'll be useful. good to know they're there.