I'm wondering if I should use podcasts (from Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips to Better Writing) in addition to OR instead of my Geeky Knowledge Lessons activity in English 110. Hmm... The pros: Every class will hear the same podcast, it takes just as long (average of 5min per podcast), and students may get more out of it... I could even create PPTs/worksheets that go along with her podcast topic. The cons: Students won't create their own lessons (although it's unknown how much learning was involved in this creation), there isn't a visual involved (some students create PPTs for their GKLs), and it would require prep on my part to find a whole bunch of ones that I like & organize them, etc. Now, it seems like a good idea to combine these two activities. THEY would pick the topic, copy the podcast (.mp3) to a USB, and insert it into a PPT. They'll do this with their PPT MusicVideos anyhow. Yet, I am inclined to make it as stress-free as possible on me and them. A simple grammar lesson at the start of every class period. Huh. I don't know. I may have to think about this over the weekend.

I'd also like to find videos on creativity/creative writing...

dry eyes again.
mini tv - nothing new to me.
white static. in the red eyes of life.
the iMac monitor glows.
punk girl peeks at me
around the applications
the blog
my words. some sort of truth.
pieced together in my brain.
can i be replaced?

So, I was SO PUMPED to have my grading caught up that my mind was whirling over what to work on this afternoon... so, I tried to dive into more of the Creative Writing prep for next semester, but I really didn't know where to start or even where I had left off a month or two ago when I got to work on it. Very confusing. I think that course will take a lot of my time once Finals are over with. I'd like to set up my eCompanion shells to cut down on the time I have to revise them every semester, too. There's gotta be an easier way since dividing it by weeks is too small; the semesters's lengths/dates/holidays change too much. Huh.

One nice thing I noticed about my CW prep I did earlier in the semester - I had many helpful handouts printed off and scanned. Lovely. I think I'll have everything that I'll want to discuss or have students read; it'll just be a matter of ORGANIZATION. Yup.

I just got a text from the parental unit. Right now, hopefully, they're in a plane to Mpls from Chicago. Then they are driving home in this MESS of a storm. Ew. I hope they take their time.

I have a pipe via Yahoo!... huh. May be helpful for the Creative Writing class when the students all have various blogs - supposedly, I should be able to RSS all their blogs to see who has updated, etc.

creative writing.
thinking about. thinking about.
creative writing.

I had yet another geeky talk with my sister last night. It was pretty hilarious for the most part, but I compared how she uses ellipses at the end of her sentences as really long pauses (similar to just using a period) to another person I know who uses many comma splices in emails to me. She also compared her "back to basics" look (from crazy hair colors to basic brown, lots of bracelets to none, etc) as connected to how she likes to capitalize correctly now (she used to not capitalize anything as a sort of creative-writing theme or a "ode to e.e.cummings" I suppose).

And now I need to slow down... take it easy... and enjoy my lunch instead of trying to eat and work at the same time. I brought fruit, carrots w/ Ranch, Peanut M&Ms, and string cheese... mm mm. An odd lunch for an oddball.