i n • p u r s u i t

Yesterday was a doozy. Someone on Facebook said that eLearning is like having a newborn again, in the sense that children need constant attention. And that's not an inaccurate statement.  I know that Jojo's teacher doesn't helicopter him at school; she has other children who also need her attentions. So, I'm trying to be better about letting him work independently. For independent reading, I've been sitting with him and listening to him read. Yesterday, however, I set him up with a stack of readers that were about his level, set the timer, and left the room. He did a great job! Today, instead of hovering over him while he did his work, I'm trying to give him some space. But, ugh, it's hard. For example, he tried to go to his Seesaw account but it signed him out! So I had to dig around in my email to find his code, blah blah blah. Anyway. Its our third day of eLearning and fourth day of school (he goes to school on Tuesdays). Trying to find the balance betwee...

Our official first day of school was an eLearning day. Not how I would choose, but again, I'm very grateful for our school district's chose path this year. (I may be alone in this.) The kiddos started the day with big bowls of cocoa pebbles (so healthy) and I started mine with my favorite tea. I've taken to calling it my happy tea (because it contains ashwagandha).  I want us to have some semblance of normalcy, so maintaining a rhythm, if not a strict schedule, is necessary. We started school around 8am. Everyone was fed, dressed, teeth and hair brushed. I even applied makeup. (What an overachiever!) We started with reading from Jesus Calling for kids and taking turns praying. Then, we said the pledge of allegiance--I found a little flag leftover from some past Fourth of July. After that, it was time for actual school. I set Ruthie up with her work book and helped Jojo with his Chromebook. He zoomed through his lessons! We did have a pretty serious hiccup when it came time ...

Today was Jojo's first day back at school since March 13th. When school was canceled back in March, I had no idea that it would be for the remainder of the year. Maybe two weeks, at most, and then this whole pandemic thing would blow over and things would go back to normal. Then, in May, when I tearfully watched Jojo's virtual award ceremony, I was sure that August would come and school would be back to normal. Well, normal, whatever that means, isn't back. But he was at school anyway. One thing for which I am incredibly grateful, is the method of reopening that our school is using. For in-person, students will attend 0, 1, 2, or 5 days depending on the rate of spread and the number of cases. The remaining days, they will eLearn. I like that it wasn't a choice between totally virtual or totally present. We're cautiously working our way back to five days a week. There is a 100% virtual option for parents who didn't want to go back.  Next week, is the official sta...

Quarantine log: day 26 Distance learning has been going well. Jojo actually says he likes being more than school because he likes being home with family. However, he added that it is harder that school. I think because all the worksheets. When he said that, that made me realize we need to diversify his learning. I can go off the worksheets (because I am NO lesson planner) and make learning a little more hands on. For example, he was supposed to fill out a worksheet with all the parts of a flower. There were, like, four worksheets that were the same thing. So, instead, we looked at plants and talked about them. We also planted out Venus fly trap and started a science journal. He has video chats with his class once or twice a week. His teacher does a good job making it fun! They've had show and tell, talking about their favorite books, or a rainbow scavenger hunt. I also had a video conference with his teachers to talk about what to expect for the rest of the year. Sch...

I had a week without Internet which was good because a gal can be pretty productive when there are no blogs to read and no Facebook to check. This means that, yes, I think I'm finally catching up on my school work. :) This week I have a few presentations to give, a few group project meetings to attend (I hate group work) and a few papers to finish. Next week I have a few exams to pass. After that, I have big plans: thank you notes, wedding scrapbook, and cleaning the apartment top to bottom. As for right now, I've got to get to bed. I've spent the whole day in the car and it's time to rest up for work tomorrow.

For my minorities in the media class, we have a final paper that is supposed to be about any subject pertaining to any minority in the media. I decided to pick women in the media, particularly the way that media lays pressure on women to have some sort of unattainable beauty. One thing that came across my path today will probably find its way into my paper. I read an article at the timesonline.co.uk that says that this particular model was not at all happy about her retouched photo. To add insult to injury, she has been fired, she says, for being too fat. That picture just makes her look odd and terribly disporpotionate. Today's blog on I Heart Daily featured an interview with a woman who retouches photos for fashion magazines and campaign ads. This woman herself says, when retouching, "you're just making them look like this unattainable, unrealistic image." It's one thing to remove zits or leg hair, but to make them look like the victim of a victor...

playing with photobooth between classes

black and white, black lit lighting, the lines of the bookcase symbolizing a cage, and the femme fatale of course...

If you ever have an opportunity to make out with Grace Kelly and are tempted to instead look out the rear window ...just don't. That's an huge mistake second only to a land war in Asia.

You know what really helped me finish my papers and study for exams? SelfControl . Not my own, though, because I get too distracted.  There's a downloadable application called SelfControl . You put a list of sites on the blacklist (twitter, facebook, youtube, etc) and then set the timer. I set the time for an hour so I would study and write my paper, then I would get a study break to check my email and for a few minutes. After my little break, I would set the timer again.  I promise this isn't a paid advertisement! Ha-ha. SelfControl was just really helpful for me and I wanted to recommend it to any of your procrastinators out there. It's FREE but, um, it's for OS X. Sorry, PC.

Free snacks, candy and drinks for students? Epic Computer lab closed during exam week? Epic FAIL

We watched this in Mass Communication Theories along with a Cha Cha Slide video. We were discussing the knowledge gap hypothesis (which you can read about by clicking on that link) and the exception that areas of specific interest take. Take the specific area of dancing, for example. Dances such as the Macarena , the Electric Slide , the Cha Cha Slide , and, of course, the Cupid Shuffle , are known by people of all different socioeconomic statuses. Because of this class, the cupid shuffle song was stuck in my head for the rest of the day. ♥, TiffanyAnne p.s. the " shim-sham " from the title is a jazz line dance that we do at swing dances

...it's the freakin' highest midterm grade in the hardest class I've ever been in. I clearly remember walking out of that test thinking that I had NO idea how it went. Did I make and A or did I fail? I was just happy to be out of there and on to spring break. I didn't want to think about it. Imagine my surprise when I was handed back my midterm today and my teacher announced that I had made the highest grade. "I know," he said, clapping his hands a few times, "how much work goes into getting a 58 [out of 60] on this test and I want to recognize that." I did a little dance. ♥, TiffanyAnne

I love being a student. I love it even more now that I'm not at the local two-year/tech college. Yes, it's a good school, but it's a temporary place. It's a half-way point for many students and in most cases, people don't bother to get to know one another. I enjoyed my classes and my teacher and the education I was getting. My last semester there, I even made friends with a few classmates. But mostly it was a come-and-go place. Nobody really hung around for long. Now that I am at what I like to call a "real" college, I really love being a student! It helps that I'm in my major classes. I have something in common with the people in my class. We have several classes together. I have the same teachers that I had last semester. It's nice. I also really enjoy the limbo of being a college student. For the past three years, I have been a part-time nanny and a full-time college student. It's a very comfortable place for me. While I'm eager to move ...

Ever heard that phrase "not one iota..." followed by various things...happiness, difference, etcettera. I Googled "not one iota of" and saw that people ended this phrase with thanks , land , taint , connection , change...p retty much anything, right? "Iota" (Ι, ι) to us pretty much means "one tiny bit." But where did it come from? How about a history lesson! I was in my Birth of Europe history class and we were discussing Contantine and Christianity. On the subject of the Trinity, there was a quite the " homoousios " versus " homoiousios " debate. " Homoousios " pretty much means that the Father and the Son are of the same substance while " homoiousios " means that the Father and the Son are of similar substances . My teacher pointed out that the words are almost exactly the same. The only difference is that one little iota in between the two o's in the latter word. My professor didn't say any...

I get asked a lot about what I want to do once I graduate. What am I going to do with this journalism degree and these super-fab writing skills? I say that I want to write for a newspaper or for a magazine. How broad is that? Sheesh. Well, right now, I'm looking for my niche. I may be taking an investigative journalism class, but I don't think I ever want to be an investigative journalist. I'm taking writing for television news, but I don't think I ever want to be on TV. Then again, what do I want? I don't have something that I'm passionate about obsessed with enough to fill pages. "Well, you write your blog," Mike pointed out. True. But anything of any substance? No, not generally. Here are some pretty pictures and this is what I had for lunch yesterday--oh! and the kiddos said something really funny this afternoon! I'm going dancing this weekend and I'm trying to figure out my life. I would say that is my blog in a nutshell. I guess that...

Scanning across the globe is a tight-knit community lying just below the surface of everyday society. Many individuals in this group are quick to call themselves "addicted" or "obsessed" and may spend every spare moment and every spare dime on their hobby. What brings these people together? An 80-year-old form of dancing that is commonly known as swing. Anne Marie Martin, a novice swing dancer who has been at it for less than a month, has already made new friends. She went to the swing dance at Greenville's Handlebar, where she joined a dozen others to learn the basic steps of swing. Martin, like many, joined the dance scene "because I knew people who have a lot of fun doing it and I thought it would be a great way to meet new people." Paul Hoke of UpstateSwing.com is the instructor and DJ at the Handlebar swing dances. In fact, if there is something swing going on in the upstate, chances are he is behind it. A little over 10 years ago, Hoke decided to...

Advising for the spring semester starts next week, but I decided to check out the course schedules today just to see what my options were. By the looks of it, I may be in for a confusing spring semester. I'm looking at taking classes at two different campuses and online. I hate online classes, but that's what it may come to. I've been looking forward to taking another class from our resident Pulitzer Prize winning proff . Mitch Weiss, who won the prize in '04 for investigative journalism, will be teaching a class on investigavtive journalism. Oh wait--one minor draw back. It's being taught ON A TUESDAY NIGHT . Now I have to decide between swing dancing and journalism. Granted if it's anything like this semester, I'll get to go to half the dances anyway... ♥, TiffanyAnne

"So, I talked to that reporter today." I had said while we were chatting before class. (I was interviewed for an article about my professor. Sopping wet with conditioner still in my hair. It was a phone interview.) My professor got this weird look on his face and said how he preferred to be on the other side of the story. He'd rather write the story than be the subject of the story. "Like this one time, when I was on Larry King Live --" "Wait. You were on Larry King Live ???" He's so casual about it all. The first day of class, he mentioned his Pulitzer almost in passing like it was no big deal. I bet the deal is that he'd rather stay outta the limelight. That's why he's the guy who isn't in the stories--his byline is on top of them. ♥, TiffanyAnne

He made a red check mark on the door frame just to remind us to check our emotions at the door. Got it. In a classroom setting, that's easy to do. Also, we are to write the facts without putting our opinion out there. It's a script for broadcast, not an opinion editorial. Keep it to yourself. Easy, no problem. Well, I've unknowingly written opinions on pieces without realizing.  I was writing a story about Sarah Palin's hair (Yes, her hair.) based on this article from the Boston Herald. I enjoyed that piece. Yes it was silly and a bit ridiculous, but it was a light assignment in the world of current events. Unfortunately, I --going from the article-- wrote that Palin sported an "out-of-date" hairstyle. It would have been fine for me to quote someone saying that or to say "what some have said is an out-of-date hairstyle" but for me to say that is showing my own opinion. I just got a package script back today that was about Bush promising to bring ...