This past weekend (starting at 9pm EST on Friday) and ending today (Tuesday at 8am PST) I took a break.

I did not tweet
I did not post to Facebook
I did not generate email
I did not open my laptop

Let me tell you what I did do –

I occasionally read Facebook posts
I occasionally skimmed Twitter
I responded to two emails.
Here’s why I responded – and this is something I struggle with when it comes to the email/screetime breaks.  As the coordinator and advisor to all of the students in our program I take pride in making sure our program is responsive to our population.  The majority (about 60%) of our students are online students.  Online students are generally working full time, have families, coach sports, etc and enjoy the flexibility of our program because they can make it fit into their schedule.

Thus, when as student emails with a time-sensitive question, one that s/he could have spent the whole weekend worrying about – I justified breaking the “spell” to craft a quick response.  The 30 seconds that is took to write back saved a whole weekend of someone worrying that they wouldn’t graduate on time.  As an online teacher, this is something I wrestle with — I have a 24-hour email turn around policy – that puts a lot of stress on a professor, but, to me it’s justified.

Back to the social media break.  I thought about when and what I wanted to tweet.  “Ooh, that was a great meal” or “Wow, i just did x,y,z” — really, nothing of paramount importance to the balance of the twitterverse.  I did not have twinges of pain or remorse that I was not participating in the conversation.  The great thing about Twitter and Facebook is that it’s always there – I can hop back in and join in the stream.

It was nice – I’m glad I gave myself a break and I’m ready to hop back on the horse and ride out the rest of Spring 2011 :)

I would like to alert you to an excellent opportunity (below, or a pdf with more information here.) The MI Learns portal is actively seeking submissions of teacher-created materials for their portal.  It is an excellent way to share the work you did (or are doing) in CEP 820 (and get a small stipend for doing so!)

If you have any questions about the project, please let me know or feel free to contact Mike Souden directly!

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Mike Souden <mksouden@gmail.com>
Leigh,

I am Mike Souden, Project Manager for the REMC Michigan Learns Online
Portal project (www.milearnsonline.org).  The purpose of the portal is
to address the need to expand online instruction throughout the State
of Michigan specifically online courses and professional development
for teachers and administrators that focus on online learning.  The
portal currently contains a broad set of resources except that it does
not have sufficient numbers of teacher generated and used online
learning lessons, units or courses.

Andy Mann suggested that I contact you to see if you have any teachers
in your Masters Level online learning classes that may have something
that they can contribute.  There is also the possibility that they
could receive a modest stipend for their contribution.  Teachers can
currently contribute to the MI Learns Online Portal by zipping the
lesson, unit or course that they are currently using and sending with
a completed form to milearnsonline@remc.org.  If the teacher would
like to get reimbursed, they need be certain that the material is
aligned to the Michigan Common Core, GLCS or HSCS and follows a rubric
to assess the quality of the online learning experience.

With this note is a brochure explaining the project in more detail.  I
would appreciate it if you would share the brochure with teachers in
your classes and have them contact me for more information.

Thanks,

Mike S

—
Mike Souden
MKSouden@Gmail.com

This afternoon we decided to clean up and clear out the garden for the fall.  Our tomatoes did very well this year and we still had quite a few green tomatoes sitting on the vine.  I thought about making green tomato pie, but then started googling to see if I could find anything else to do with the tomatoes.  I found this recipe on the Cooking with Michele blog and made a few adaptations:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
6 ounces plain nonfat greek yogurt + 2 oz creme fresh
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 cups green tomatoes, pureed, juice drained and discarded
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream sugar and butter.  Add eggs, then yogurt and tomatoes.  Add dry ingredients and walnuts.  Mix until just combined. Pour into prepared pans – mini loaves take about 40 minutes, regular loaf takes about 50 minutes.

Makes one loaf + 8 mini loaves.

They turned out pretty well, and very moist! It tastes quite a bit like zucchini bread.
I still have a lot of green tomato puree left over, so I may be making some chili or salsa or dal with the leftovers! Paula Deen’s Green Tomato Cake looks tasty too!

The challenge> http://www.msuedtechsandbox.com/maety1_2010/quickfires/abstraction

Mama always told me not to look into the eye’s of the sun
But mama, that’s where the fun is

Object: LCD projector

Idea: Though we may initially be blinded by a technology (physically, in the case of this projector, or metaphorically by learning a new technology) if you work through the glare and the pain, that’s where the fun is.

I was inspired by Alec Couros‘s tweet this afternoon to share my Remix, Reuse, Recycle project we have been doing for the past few years in the MAET overseas program.

(click the image to see the commercial)

This video reminded me of an assignment called “Remix, Reuse, Recycle” that we have been tweaking for the past few years in our overseas summer graduate program. (And I’m super excited to have this Nokia video to include in the future iterations of the project!) Below, you will find:

• an example of student work
• the assignment (in its original form from 2007)
• rubric

Please feel free to Remix, Reuse and Recycle the assignment for yourself! (And let me know if you do!)

—-

EXAMPLE OF STUDENT WORK

(Kerry Clark, MAET Overseas graduating class of 2007)

ASSIGNMENT

Remix culture is a term employed by Lawrence Lessig to describe a society which allows and encourages derivative works. Such a culture would be, by default, permissive of efforts to improve upon, change, integrate, or otherwise remix the work of copyright holders. Lessig presents this as a desirable ideal and argues, among other things, that the health, progress, and wealth creation of a culture is fundamentally tied to this participatory remix process. (via wikipedia)

A remix may also refer to a non-linear re-interpretation of a given work or media other than audio. Such as a hybridizing process combining fragments of various works. The process of combining and re-contextualizing will often produce unique results independent of the intentions and vision of the original designer/artist. Thus the concept of a remix can be applied to visual or video arts, and even things farther afield. (via wikipedia)

In this activity, you will each be given a common set of Creative Commons video clips and music and will be asked to remix these clips. You will be randomly assigned a theme. Do your best to keep your theme secret!!

Constraints:
• Video must not exceed 2 minutes
• You may include your own text into the mix, but you may not use any additional video or audio clips.

Clips must be edited using
Adobe Premiere Elements
Windows Movie Maker
iMovie

Video Clips –
http://www.archive.org/details/prelinger

– the Librarian – http://www.archive.org/details/Libraria1947
– film research and learning – http://www.archive.org/details/FilmRese1956
– choosing and educational film – http://www.archive.org/details/Choosing1963
– basic typing – http://www.archive.org/details/basic_typing_1
– facts about projection – http://www.archive.org/details/FactsAbo1975
– education for excellence – http://www.archive.org/details/education_for_excellence_2
– sharp calculator – http://www.archive.org/details/sharp_calculator_2
– it happens every noon – http://www.archive.org/details/it_happens_every_noon

Audio Clips –
http://www.electrobel.be/
http://opsound.org/index.php

associated readings –
free culture – lessig – http://free-culture.cc
Exploring the Right to Share, Mix and Burn – new york times – http://tinyurl.com/2hpff2
remix planet – wired – http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.07/gorillaz.html

Example Topics–
Cooperation
Situated learning
Experiential learning
Authentic learning
Constructivism
Behaviorism
Active learning
Passive learning
Affordances of technology
Constraints of technology

RUBRIC

Assignment Rubric (pdf)

Slide deck for the Michigan Association of Bilingual Educators (MABE) conference on Thursday, May 13, 2010