Friday, January 2, 2009

Swapping This for That



I woke up this morning thinking I should change the title of my blog, Thoughts of a Dedicated Teacher because it isn't always about teaching, but then I thought...it's more than just about teaching in a classroom sense. I am teaching myself this year to do different things. I am teaching others when I save a recipe or a way of doing something, and yes, some of it is about the classroom.So, instead of swapping this nae for something else, I decided to keep it and think of myself of more than just a four walled room teacher, but of one of the universe. After all, isn't that what I'm trying to teach my students?

I listened to a segment on the Today Show about foods to swap other foods for.
Instead of regular pasta...change to Nature's Way pasta
Instead of packaged lunch meals...by Oscar Meyer...swap for Frajita flatbread by Oscar Meyer
Instead of Jimmy Dean breakfast bowl..710 calories, fat, sugar of 2 Hershey chocolate bars choose Jimmy Dean D'Lights 230 calories
Instead of chicken potpie which is equal to 23 strips of bacon a better choice...Marie Callendar's oven baked chicken save 800 calories

So it got me thinking....instead of____ what would or could I switch?

Instead of being sick, I will be healthy.
Instead of sitting at the computer for ten minutes, I will walk.
Instead of frowning, I will smile.
Instead of not eating breakfast, I will try the Special K breakfasts for the week.
Instead of trying to do it all myself, I will ask for help.
Instead of saying YES to things I don't want to do, I will say "I'm sorry I can't help at this time, but check back with me."

What things will you swap this week?

I have joined the 50millionpound challenge with a group of people from my Plurk group. I am impressed with the information on the web site. Right now I am printing the menu for thirty days, which will start on Monday. There is also a place to put activity, journal and more. And it's all free.

Another tool I'm using is the 31 Days to Unbreakable Resolutions. Today's is:
Post your written goals in places where you'll see them often-on your computer or fridge, in a picture frame on your desk, as a bookmark, and in your wallet. These reminders will help you stay focused and on track.

Today I also attended a 2.0 educon seminar with the fabulous Peggy George. This was a great reflection of 2.0 tools used in 2008. People from all over the world attended and contributed. Here are a few lists that were shared:
Plurk - www.plurk.com
Twitter and Tweetdeck client for Twitter - www.twitter.com and www.tweetdeck.com
Flock browser - a variation of Firefox and Chrome www.flock.com
Skype and Yahoo Messenger www.skype.com and www.yahoo.com
Diigo bookmarks www.diigo.com
Facebook - use for connecting to other professionals and socially with friends www.facebook.com
Wikis - a variety of wikis from Wetpaint, PBwiki and Wikispaces www.wetpaint.com www.pbwiki.com www.wikispaces.com
MS Outlook - for email, RSS feeds, calendar features and access Google calendar events
MS Digital Image and Photoshop online to edit photos with Flickr and Photobucket to store images online - www.photoshoponline.com www.flickr.com and http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons www.photobucket.com
Wordpress.com and Edublogs.com for blogging - www.wordpress.com
These were from Kim Caise
http://kcaise.wordpress.com www.edublogs.org http://kcaise.edublogs.org

This list is from Peggy:
Jing http://jingproject.com/ (haven't created my own my have learned a lot from Jing tutorials created by others)
Wikispaces.com http://wikispaces.com , http://aztea.wikispaces.com/Westside+Chapter+WIki
Dreamhost/wordpress http://www.dreamhost.com/hosting.HTML , created own domain name and WordPress blog http://pgeorge.net
Google apps (docs, forms, presentations, spreadsheets, notebook, reader) http://www.Google.com/intl/en/options/
Diigo http://www.diigo.com Fantastic social bookmarking/social networking tool-Diigo is a powerful research tool and a knowledge-sharing community My site re Diigo information, videos, tutorials, featured blog posts: http://sites.Google.com/site/myweb20adventures/Home/social-bookmarking-tools
Photo/video apps: Picasa http://picasaweb.Google.com , OneTrueMedia http://www.onetruemedia.com/ , BubbleShare http://www.bubbleshare.com/ , Skitch http://plasq.com/skitch , Voicethread http://Ed.voicethread.com , ustream.TV http://www.ustream.TV/ (created a channel for streaming PD workshops and monthly meetings for AzTEA)
IPhone apps (gratitude journal, iQuote, Comic Touch, Ocarina, Twitterific, Facebook, Remember the Milk, Pocket Guitar/Pocket Piano, Google Apps and Voice Search) http://www.apple.com/iphone/appstore/
Tweetdeck/Twitter http://www.tweetdeck.com/ my primary way to stay current via my awesome PLN (Personal/Professional Learning Network)
Webcast Academy http://www.webcastacademy.com and EdTechTalk webcasts http://edtechtalk.com
RSS Feedreaders: Google Reader on both computer and iPhone, NetNewsWire/Newsgator http://www.newsgator.com, PageFlakes for important sites/topics http://www.pageflakes.com, Snackr http://www.snackr.net/ FriendFeed http://friendfeed.com

It's a bit overwhelming, but if I try a few each week, I'm sure to get hooked on even more.

So, swapping this for that may not be a bad thing...as long as what you're swapping FOR will make your life better.

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