Nuclear fallout/disaster?

I asked my students to blog this week about the happenings in Japan.  When I asked if they were concerned about the nuclear ramifications, many said that the media was blowing it out of proportion.  When we came in today, some said that they may have changed their minds.  I told them to do some research and see what information they could come up with. 
Am I concerned?  Yes, I am.  The possible side-effects of what is happening in Japan just plain scares me.
                                                                 

Qualities of a best friend

I asked my students to Blog this week about what they feel are the qualities of a best friend.  I thought that I would Blog about this topic also.  As a high school student, I had a best friend.  As a college student, I did not really have a best friend, I was too busy.  If I wanted to go do something, it was always with my boyfriend.  As an adult, again, I do not really have a best friend.  I have friends, but not what I consider a "best friend" lke I had in high school.

Going to Columbus

Tomorrow Lillianna and I are going to Columbus, Ohio for Adoption Day.  Our plans: see at least 3 movies, spend the evening in the game room, and sleep in the next day.

Game Demo

The kids are ready for presenting their game demos.  We had planned on doing them this week, but I got an e-mail last night from Denise saying that they wanted to be present for them - I think I knew that but forgot :(  Not sure how we are going to do this since we are presenting over a period of 3 days since we have the unique A, B, C day schedules...

Adding Buttons

My kids have been working on adding buttons this week - well, some of them.  I have a couple of students that I just cannot get working.  They think that their partner is going to do all the work and then they will also get credit.  I have told them that it won't work this way.  It is starting to get hard and some just don't want to put forth the effort.  They want me to hold their hand and walk them through every step.....I told them at the beginning of this year that a lot of this class will be self-directed - I am no longer the "sage on the stage"....I am the "guide by the side".
                  

Finally

                       Finally - I think that soon I may feel like my head is above water.

Mind you, I'm not there yet.  I got myself so confused about what account I was logging on to.  My admin account was not correct (I was trying to update my 'Ms. Kail's Wiki' account), nor was my account from this summer.  Thank goodness for Bill.  He is so wonderful.  I e-mail his with the most dumbest question and within the hour he e-mails me back with the solution.  I have been updating my Learning Log under my account from this summer, not my Ms. Kail's Wiki account.  I think I am OK now - just have more work to do.  I am wondering how everyone else (the newbies) are feeling and how everyone is doing.
  Class-wise, it is going great.  The kids are really getting into it.  We are working on our paper prototypes this week and they are finally realizing that they need to have a "game plan".  The main issue this last week has been that the lab that I use for Globaloria is not mine and we walked into the classroom last week to find that ALL the keyboards had skins on them.  So my kids cannot see the keys to type - most are OK, some are floundering.  Am behind in my weekly progress report, but will include this as an issue.  I need my own lab.

Procrastination

Procratination...I seem to procrastinate when the task seems daunting.  I have heard so many seasoned Globaloria educators say "Don't put off doing your Quarterly Report - especially the first one....".  Soooo, August 11, the day we finished our training in August, I drove to school and got a list of my globaloria students.  That night I added all their names, and required information (that I had) into the Progress Report.  I was so proud of myself, I was NOT procrastinating.  But then, did I follow through?  Nope, not until last week, when I realized that my rolls had changed dramatically and I had to redo a large percentage of my quarterly report.  Arg....

I think that the first report will be the hardest.  Now I have all the student information added....but I am sure that, like anything, the report can be improved.....

This quarter my goal is to keep better track of the time I spend working on Globaloria, keeping my Learning Log up-to-date, and blog more often!