My two latest obsessions, as shown to me last night, are dog breeds and shoes.
I spent about an hour looking at the former before spending an hour on the latter.
Yeah.
Possibly pathetic, but at least I'm just looking...
Okay, I did bid on some sexy Jeffrey Campbell heels via eBay last night; but I didn't adopt a dog.
There's a half Great Dane, half something else at the shelter in town right now. His name is Titan. He's HUGE.

Size is a weird issue for me. I like broad-shouldered men and massive dogs that look like bears.
The Leonberger is a dog that comes from German; they look like lions. So cool!

Anyhow... I came on "here" to figure out what I need to accomplish this week. It's quieter than last week, which is NICE.
I think next week will be tame, too. At least, I hope so. I can't handle total-utter-chaos back-to-back; it gives me pimples.

I've assessed the online students' stuff (Eng120) & I think I caught up on Monday with the on-campus grading.
All three classes have yet to get their votes tallied, however. So that's something to consider wrapping up this week.

In my Eng110s... I have P4 Presentations going on in one, and P6 stuff in the other. Tomorrow, I'd like to do some sort of WC activity with the P6 crowd...
I could do the human simulation, I suppose. Or basically some kind of game. Is there a Jeopardy about Citation?
Hell, we haven't watched a cool video for awhile; I could do that, too. I have a lot of cool ones.
(Or I just found a few Prezis about existentialism? http://prezi.com/ps-9mnvxb9a9/existentialism-and-the-meaning-of-life/
Or about "Who Am I?" = http://prezi.com/explore/search/?search=who+am+i ...
Or this on TED: http://www.ted.com/talks/chris_abani_muses_on_humanity.html)

Huh.

So, beyond adding in activities here and there this week, I don't have much to assess.
Woot woot.
With that said, here are other things I could tackle instead:
--- Creative Writing Alternative Style handout for next Tuesday!
--- Creative Writing 2013 Planning.
--- New Pearson TOC.
--- Other planning (booklets for G.C. for Fall, changes to online Eng120 for summer, etc.).

I've burnt myself out.
I organized my office BIG TIME today. I made so much progress, that I think I should reward myself with a nap.
I threw away stuff, I made piles of "Read Me Soon" items, I put things into a folder that the workstudy can scan when she starts up again.
Yeah.
I'm also like 95% done with my tenure portfolio. It's an awesome feeling.
All I have left is class rosters, but I may even wait to print those until tomorrow morning. Well, I could print 9am's and then do the others later... true story.
I haven't double-checked my Delicious Links or lists or watched TED or filtered through my Klondike Bar folder, but I do have Thursday and parts of tomorrow to do that. Heck, it's the first week; I have a few days to re-check what I want to do LATER in the semester. Yep.

I am up early today. Like, really early. It happens from time to time. I get up, putz around, eat a mini-Snickers bar (woke up to a growling stomach, of course), curl up on my loveseat w/my favorite super huge NDSCS blanket and hope Mick Kjar's voice (local meteorologist) will numb me into sleep. But I just felt my right calf twitch the whole time, so I got up and finished updating my new iPod.
I sometimes think my body gets me up early so I get crap done early and, therefore, can rest up before "something big" occurs. I don't get as nervous for the first day of classes as I used to, and I have a good idea of what I'll do tomorrow. It's all the SIDE stuff I'd like to wrap up today = those are the things I'm sure my body wants me to be done with. Mainly so that I can focus on class/students for the rest of the week, but also because my sister is due today and once she pops, I'll get even less done. Not that that's a bad thing. I'll take a niece/nephew (first official one at that) to start a semester off right - to ring in my birthday month, too. Yeppers.

So, today, I have that tenure portfolio on my agenda, along with the Incomplete grade thing, and... oh yeah, the class rosters. Beyond those things, I should double-check my Delicious Links (printed off somewhere) and look through my folders (on office computer) for anything more to add. I'd like to watch some TED videos today, too, and check out Google Reader teacher blogs as well. So, with that said or written or whatever, I should throw some clothes on and get coffee somewhere.

p.s. Jenny McCarthy's book is okay. She's not as funny as Chelsea Handler, and I kind of feel like the chapters were thrown together like one of my C students. I'm still happy with the purchase, and there have been a few parts that have made me giggle and/or think, but I wish it was ... better.

Okay, for my on-campus English 120, I'm going to use Lady Gaga + The How of Happiness = show argument? That'll start off class before we dive into WHO they are + the SYLLABUS.
My 2 English 110s will see something like this Wednesday: some kind of commentary about how much they write&read everyday (texting, TV, Facebook, etc.) where I have 'em do math (how many texts have you gotten today blahblahblah) "Rhetorical Math" + intro to SYLLABUS (and maybe George? or save for Friday?) + dive into WHO they are + The Scribble Project (which they can finish at home with the English 110 Pre-Test).
I'll need to remind both classes that my sister could POP this week; they should update their emails to get notification on that. Yeah.

Today, before I leave my cozy office:
+Check Gradebook in English 120 Online.
+Put in a "Welcome" announcement in English 120 Online.
+Add in Paper Checklist PPT wherever that is... [Ask why I can't put a PPT Slideshow in eCollege. Errrg.]

Other things that can be done later this week, etc.:
+Those Clipnabbed videos... make them into another "feedback" video?
+I have a list of things from this blog that I still want to implement; I also printed off my Delicious links that I could use for 110/120 as well as general Web2.0 ones to consider.
+Watch videos about online teaching (I think this item is on my list already).

Here are a few prompts I’ve been spooning with, of an evening [click on it for the source, yo.]...

What if…

…you did exactly what you said you would? Every. Single. Time?

What if…

…you under-promised, over-performed, and acted like it was normal?

What if…

…you got your best friend to write your bio? Your first crush? Your mortal enemy?

What if…

…you could transform jealousy into renewed motivation?

What if…

…you used the “good china,” wore your “nice clothes” and bought the “fancy beverage”…every day?

What if…

…you let someone lavish you with care and attention, without protest?

 
+I'm switched my eCollege content to Tahoma on Friday.
+I got two videos created and placed on eCollege.
+English 120 Online syllabus has been uploaded (and, yes, revised once already).

Today, in between laundry and cleaning (already did dishes!), I should get these things completed;
the Distance Ed people are going to split my online course into two shells tomorrow, so I'd like to update the heck out of the one I have before they copy it:
+Double-check the links in the online class.
+Create new images - I have some Creative Commons ones saved on a USB; now I have to add text with Pixlr or Picnik. (I'm making a bunch of assignment fairies... )
+Put deadlines on all the quizzes.
+Check Gradebook.
+Put in a "Welcome" announcement?
+Add in Paper Checklist PPT wherever that is...
Other things that can be done later this week, etc.:
+Those Clipnabbed videos... make them into another "feedback" video?
+I have a list of things from this blog that I still want to implement; I also printed off my Delicious links that I could use for 110/120 as well as general Web2.0 ones to consider.
+Watch videos about online teaching (I think this item is on my list already).

+I'm switching my eCollege content to a different font. It's such tedious work, but I got to the end of Unit 4 tonight. I have Units 5-7 and the Final Unit left for tomorrow.
+I got two videos created and placed on eCollege today; I may shoot to have another one completed tomorrow before the Boot Camp lunch. I don't know though... I'm pooped out. I jumped right into SCHOOL stuff and I should've done it a wee bit more slowly. Oh well. I'll try to rest this weekend in between doing laundry and straightening up the place. Yeah.
+Oh, and I started on the syllabus for the online English 120. It's uploaded to eCollege where it's supposed to go (with a printable version in Doc Sharing), but I feel like I may revise it. Who knows.
+I have a list of things from this blog that I still want to implement; I also printed off my Delicious links that I could use for 110/120 as well as general Web2.0 ones to consider.

http://teacher47.xanga.com/718727176/play-time-web-20-tools/

Watching the Packers crush the Giants while sprawled on boyfriend's couch... he's hoping the Packers win because he detests Eli Manning; I am a "True Vikings Fan" in that I'm loyal to the Vikings AND I root for anyone who plays the Packers. Amen. Anyhow, he's prepping for a ice-fishing trip, and I'm being super lazy. It's wonderful; however, I did find a link to start with this week or next week as far as next semester goes. Yeah. True story. Or something like that.

More later?

 
---Go through my delicious links to see if there is anything there to add to any of my classes, like the "Something Cool" feature I plan to implement into English110, etc.
---Go through my teaching blogs (I'm sure more will be posted by next week).
---Create reminder images for projects; these will make emailing students easier.
---Syllabus updates, etc. about .rtf usage and all that jazz. Yeah.
---Export Delicious links again because the site may be canceled soon?
---Watch the 22 videos about online teaching mentioned on the Free Technology For Teachers blog. I think I linked it somewhere.