Panic Mode

    Hello there everyone, it's already Thursday!  This week I've been super busy, which has been both nice and horrible at the same time.  Nice because I'm not just sitting around doing nothing and horrible because I've been running around trying to get everything done...  I'm doing my best not to get discouraged with my job search, but I'm taking a little break this week from looking so I can look more next week while I don't have classes.  I also have two papers due this week, (one was due yesterday and the bigger one due tomorrow...yikes!), so I haven't had a lot of free time to peruse the Internet.

    One thing I am feeling a bit uneasy about is the internship I'm lining up for myself for next year.  This whole process has been daunting, to say the least, as well as uncomfortable.  It's literally like we're on a dating show; the interns visit prospective teachers to see what it's like in their classrooms, then, at the end of the month, we put our top three choices on a form and send it in to wait for a response, (the teachers do the same thing, only with their top three interns).  During this period of observation hours, you have to go into their classes and watch them teach.  I've always been one to sit in the corner and watch, responding to anything the teacher might say to me during the time we have together.  It's all very nice and you get to see what it's like to be in there with them without the responsibility of actually teaching.  More of a fly-on-the-wall thing.

    My issue right now is that everyone in my group of interns kind of already has their top three, which I think is supposed to be "secret," (I don't think we're supposed to tell anyone who we like the best just in case it doesn't work out or they're seeing the same person).  It's awkward most of all because I know a few people who have been seeing my favorite teacher when I'm not there and I'm afraid that we're going to lose that connection we made the first time I saw her.  I also don't know what everyone else is doing when they're in there: Do they help her out?  Organize classroom supplies? etc.  I never know if I'm doing too little or more than enough to make myself known and show that I'm interested, but you just have to wait and see.  It's frustrating because I don't want to lose out on my top picks by putting all my eggs in three symbolical baskets and having none of them put me on their lists.  It's a very confusing, stressful process and I already can't wait for it to be April so I know where I'm going to be.

    I guess I'm just nervous about potentially not finding anyone...  I want to make a connection with someone in a way that is comfortable for both parties, but it seems so forced sometimes.  You have to think about being with this teacher for an entire year, not getting sick of them, supporting their teaching style and being there for them when they need you.  That's a huge deal, and if everyone else isn't freaking out about this like I am then they are completely desensitized.  I'm also the type of person who HATES not knowing ahead of time what's going to happen.  I'm a planner: I have to plan EVERYTHING.  If I don't know what's going to happen, I get anxious and I do research, (if possible).  For example, while watching a TV show on Hulu that has already aired, I will look up the recap of the episode online to see what happens.  I do the same thing with movies, books, etc.  I don't know why, but I just don't like surprises.  With my life already unbalanced, I feel like I have no idea where I'll be next month, let alone next year.  I have to figure out what's going to happen to me, preferably soon.

    On a slightly happier note, let's talk about TV this week!  The two shows that I watched were Agents of SHIELD and How I Met Your Mother, and both had an amazingly good storyline.  SPOILERS AHEAD!...  So the main event in Agents of SHIELD was most definitely the blue man torso in T.A.H.I.T.I. when they broke into the "Guest House."  There are apparently many speculations about who this guy was, what species he is and where he comes from.  My husband and I took a guess and figured he may be one of the frost giants from the Thor series, which seemed most probable to us considering the relationship Thor has with the Avengers, (SHIELD as part of the Avengers), and also the appearance of some familiar Asgardians for the next episode, so we'll see about that.  We are also still researching other alien possibilities from the Marvel universe, including the Kree and an alien tribe on Centauri IV, but without any real clear clues as to who this may be, we're stuck wondering, probably until the end of the season if the previous episodes are any consolation.  I would also like to point out the fact that whatever "drug" Coulson and Skye were injected with has obvious alien properties, so now they have that to bond over.  What's that all about?  If you'd like to voice your opinion on this development, voice your opinions in the comments below.

    How I Met Your Mother was really sad this week, at least in my mind.  First with everyone realizing that this may be the last time in awhile that they will all be together in one place.  Then they hit us with a fast-forward to Ted crying over The Mother's comment about a mother being there for her daughter's wedding, which apparently made everyone believe that she's going to miss her own daughter's wedding, (meaning death).  I think, after this many years of not knowing, if they have the mother be dead at the end of all this, it might actually make sense.  I can see why a lot of people may be angry about waiting this long only to find out that she's already dead.  But I can see where the creators are coming from.  Why else would Ted spend this much time and effort telling his kids about how he met their mother?  I would have to go back to the very beginning to see how he started this conversation, but he may be paying homage to her in his own way.  She did tell him to not "live in his stories," but isn't that exactly what he's doing?  I don't know, I just know that I haven't wanted to cry like that about a television show in awhile, (not since "Same as it Never Was" from the TMNT animated series).
    I think that's it for now.  I have a paper to write!  Speaking of, my topic is actually quite interesting; it's about exploring the possibilities of technology as it pertains to understanding our students as people instead of just students.  I hope I do the subject justice.  If you want to learn more about what I'm researching or what I'm reading about digital literacy, let me know and I can put links to all my resources on my class page.  This weekend will be most welcome, considering I actually have plans and I can relax a little!  I have a birthday party tomorrow night and family dinner with the in-laws on Saturday, so that should be fun!  Spring Break starts next week too and, although I'm not going anywhere, I hope my husband and I can find some time for just the two of us.  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

Vacation Land

    It's Tuesday again, so you know what that means!  Another boring blog.  It's school vacation week around here, which means no visitation/observation hours at schools and no work substituting.  I haven't even had class since last Wednesday.  I've also been really sick, so that's been no fun at all...especially since I've been a snot zombie and can't feel my face from all the congestion.  The good news is that I have at least one fun thing planned for this week, which I am excited about: tubing!  Maybe I'll remember to take pictures this time when I leave the house so I have proof that it actually happened...

    Operation Employment has been stagnant of late since the botched interview last week.  I'm still hopeful and I have at least four or five other jobs lined up, so we'll see what happens.  I've caved and applied to some retail stores, seeing as that seems to be all I'm good for, so maybe I'll hear back from someone this week.  Maybe not...  Who knows?
    As I currently have no steady job with any way to make payments on anything consecutively, I've resigned myself to the fact that I will probably not be getting a new car this year:(  I was holding out for it and very excited, but since getting fired put a damper on my funds I really don't have the means to purchase even a newer used car right now.  This couldn't have come at a worse time, and the savings I had up until this point would've been great towards a down payment, but I've had to use it to live off of, so it's slowly dwindling down to nothing again.  Maybe someday I'll be able to get myself a new car so that the Red Baron can finally retire, but it is not this day.

    Let's have some good vibes now!  So far, my two big TV reviews are for The Bachelor and for The Amazing Race, which premiered this past Sunday, (unbeknownst to me, but my father called and let me know we missed it so I could watch it yesterday).  Unbelievable, (for both shows).  SPOILER ALERT!!...  I can't believe Renee got eliminated!  And yet I can, because she was really the only normal person left besides Andi and he obviously wasn't giving her enough attention.  That being said, he probably should've let her go a little earlier, considering he ended up meeting her son for no apparent reason.  I don't know how I feel about that, and the fact that Nikki has already met Camila.  Does that mean he likes her the most?  Meeting someone's child should be a big deal, in my mind, and Renee tore down a lot of walls to make that happen with JP and Ben, but to no avail.  It's really sad, but at least they won't be burdened later on with the fantasy suite fiasco set up to happen.  I'm still rooting for Andi, but at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if Nikki won.

    The Amazing Race started off with a huge disappointment!  Of course Mark and Bopper were one of my favorite teams to come back and race for the all-stars, but they couldn't let me have that.  Poor Bopper, all ready to go, then BOOM, inflamed pancreas, (or whatever).  Poor Mark too, since he's stuck to that Mallory from now on.  Despite this obvious set back, (and set up), I will be supporting Joey and Meaghan for this race, seeing as they're the only people I really know.  That's a little sad to say, isn't it?  Claiming you "really know" someone from YouTube.  But it is possible I think.  We'll see what this race holds for everyone, but there are already people in this one I don't like so I'm not sure.  That's all I have for TV right now.  I don't think all of my shows are back just yet, but they should be by next week.  Also, Vikings is back on Thursday and I couldn't be more excited!  I should have a review of that by next Tuesday, so if you're into that, be on the lookout!

    For Thursday I think I'm going to be talking about the book I'm currently reading called Born Digital, which focuses on understanding our generation of young people as they master new technologies.  Even for someone like me, born in the beginning of the growing digital age, there are still some things I don't understand about today's technological advances and how kids know how to use them.  It should be interesting and I'm reading the first six chapters, so I will do an overview of that with a book review to follow after I finish in a few weeks.  I want to start getting back into doing educational or English-related blog posts on one of my blogging days, so let me know what you think about that and any topics you'd like for me to discuss.  I will be updating and monitoring my Good Reads account a little better to let everyone know what I'm reading right now and what I plan to read in the near future.  Now that I have a lot of downtime, I'm hoping to at least start a new book, but I have to decide which one first.  Until then, homework awaits!  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

Happiness is the Truth

    Welcome to Thursday's post!  While my husband and I are meticulously cleaning our apartment, I thought I'd take a break, (we've been at it for about 10 minutes...)

    First off, I'd like to point out that I'm down to one potential job as of today...a little disheartening, but I'm not going to let that bring down my spirit.  I refuse to let depression take hold of me like so many others who are unemployed.  Besides, it's only been about two weeks, so what is there to worry about?  A lot of people spend more time than that looking for a job, so I should consider myself lucky that I might have a job by the end of next week.  I'm trying to stay happy.  I re-read the job description for the one I have the interview for a week from today and I feel like I would love that job!  I hope your fingers are still crossed for me, (although you might want to think about taking a break because if you leave your fingers in that position they may get stuck like that...)

    While I try my best to control the outcome of my future, I've been roped into an interesting concept for a project for one of my classes.  We are looking at affinity spaces, that is spaces where people congregate, (in person or online), and collaborate, share and interact with each other based on a mutual interest.  They are a relatively new, complex and extremely modern idea surrounding today's students and classrooms.  One theory is that students learn just as much outside of school as they do in school.  I found a fun article on The Huffington Post about parents with teens using digital media here.  

    By using digital media, (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and games like Minecraft, Pokemon and World of Warcraft they can enhance their communication, social interaction and organizational skills while simultaneously creating a tactfully-designed alternative universe in which to engage with others who share the same passions.  I find the whole concept absolutely fascinating!

    So, in dealing with this idea of "affinity space" and gaming, I'm working on some research that involves Minecraft and Pokemon as they relate to students outside of the traditional classroom environment.  Who plays these games?  Is there a common pattern?  How do players get their inside information?  How do you play?  How do you learn how to play if you aren't already familiar?  What kinds of sites are at students' disposal when confronted with an issue?  These and many more questions will hopefully get answered as I dive into this complex and relatively new terrain.  I might post more about findings as soon as we start researching, but check back for more info later on.

    

**SPOILERS AHEAD MATEYS**

    For my television reviews this week, I'll start with The Bachelor.  CLAIRE IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!  I know she loves him and everything, but we have a Stage Five Clinger in the house and she is all sorts of wrong.  She's not nearly as bad as some of the other wackadoos they've had on this show, but if she makes it to the final four, I may shoot myself.  My Top 3 as of this week are Renee, Andi and Nikki.  I know a lot of people don't like Nikki, but I can see things from her perspective and I think she just had a rough week last week, (not to mention I feel like they're highlighting a different girl each week to be the "problem child," so keep an eye out for next week's fire starter).  I think Renee could win because like Juan said, she's just like him.  I feel like they look good together and I'm hoping to see her in at least the final four.  Let me know who you think should go home next in the comments!

    Bones and Castle were pretty standard.  Not a whole lot going on, and Bones just totally ignored the whole Wendell-cancer fiasco by bringing in another, (horrible), intern.  I miss Wendell's gorgeous face already...  Meanwhile we can see Beckett is getting her first case of wedding jitters as she dons that beautiful wedding gown.  I'm still no the fence about it, so let me know in the comments if you loved it or hated it, but I feel like she would look so much better in something a little more form-fitting.  Thoughts?

    How I Met Your Mother tore at my heartstrings yet again as we see Ted FINALLY, (and literally), letting go of Robin once and for all.  It's sad because of all the years they spent with each other but relieving at the same time.  Now, hopefully, they can get on with the whole wedding business that they are taking forever to get to.  I was anticipating that they would have the wedding happen next week, but seeing as they like to draw things out for as long as possible, I doubt that'll happen.  We haven't seen the mother back yet, and we know they meet at the reception, so we'll have to wait a little longer.

    New Girl after the Super Bowl was hilarious!  Prince was a nice added touch, but I loved the ending.  Also, this week's Tuesday episode didn't disappoint either.  I know I don't talk about it much, but it's one of my favorite shows to watch.  So is Agents of Shield, and this week made me question what they were doing completely.  I'm liking the dangerous situations they've gotten themselves into, but I've totally forgotten the reason behind it.  Also, I knew that whole romance between May and Ward wasn't going to last, but I never saw Skye getting shot, let alone almost dying.  We'll see if she turns into some sort of superhero to save her own life, but the official introduction of Deathlok was refreshing.  My husband and I had looked into it and figured he was the only logical explanation for Mike being kept alive, although the original Deathlok's story line is completely different.  Obviously he has motivation to do the Clairvoyant's bidding.  Let's see where this goes.

    Lastly, I've been spending a lot of time inside, re-watching old shows I haven't seen in years, one of them being Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  I've been more into them lately, probably because of all the hype over the Michael Bay production coming along, but also because they've been a long-time favorite of mine and I refuse to give them up for the sake of being an adult.  Luckily, I found at least the first and second season of my favorite cartoon reincarnation from 2003 on YouTube and have been getting reacquainted with it.  I absolutely love this particular season because of the graphic artwork, more reminiscent of the comic book style drawing, the humor in the dialogue, and the relationship between the brothers.  I think all of these aspects give the show a more authentic TMNT and they stay relatively true to the original story arc of the comic books.  I have always been infatuated with the Raphael in this series.  It's been nice to go back in time for a bit and relive my glory days as a thirteen-year-old nerd.

    Well that's about it for this week.  I think that covers most of what I've been thinking as of late.  I'm excited for this weekend because I am actually leaving my house, (gasp), to go visit and have lunch with my best friend Katie up in Portland, ME, so that should be fun!  I'm also starting my orientations at different middle schools next week, so hopefully I find where I belong for next year.  I'm subbing on Tuesday, so for all my kids who read this I'll see you then!  Also, I'll be posting again tomorrow until my class page about the "Walk My World" project, so stay tuned for that.  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

Walk My World

    Here we are, on a Friday.  I apologize for the lateness of my post, but I was busy all day with reading, then a much-needed family night.  Trust me, it was entirely worth it.
    Speaking of family, I have some great news!  My sister-in-law is being induced tomorrow and will have my highly anticipated nephew this weekend!  I am so happy for her and I'm very excited to become an aunt.  My only hope is that when I have my first child I am as lucky as she is to have all the love and support that her family has given her.  They've had a pretty rough time the last few months and her family dropped everything and made room for them and the baby, gave them a place to stay and a new job to help support them.  My in-laws are the most selfless, honorable people I've ever met in my entire life.  They surprise me every day with their unwavering kindness.  I suppose that's sad for me to think that that kind of love is unnatural or special when it should always be that way.  Regardless, I have no doubt that that child will be brought up in the best of circumstances.

    On a less emotional note, I have started classes this week, as you all know, and have been engrossed in reading and other preparations for future projects and case studies.  I will be posting on a new page later today directly connected to my Special Topics course about our readings pertaining to participatory culture.  I have also been making preparations to start an observation case study on a student at the school I substitute at.  I already have consent from three different parties, so as soon as I get her class schedule we can start!  I'm super excited to start looking at her writing and see what connections and inferences I can make.

http://wiobyrne.com/walkmyworld/

    In addition to the blog posts and readings for my Special Topics course, we are trying to participate in the "Walk My World" challenge, which is a research study created by William Ian O'Byrne, (you can follow him on Twitter here).  The purpose of this project is to explore the use of digital texts to see how people connect and communicate with each other.  For ten weeks, I will be posting a picture or video snippet of my life accompanied with the hash-tag #walkmyworld in order to provide a glimpse into what my "world" is like.  There are no guidelines or requirements to the posts, but it has to be about your life.  I take that to mean I can continue to post random pictures from various moments of my life, but more diligently.  That is to say I haven't been keeping up with my Instagram as of late, so I will be posting at least once a week for the next ten weeks or so, starting next week.  Should be fun, and I'm excited to be participating in someone else's research!  If you'd like to participate or learn more about Will or the "Walk My World" challenge, you can visit his website here.

**SPOILER ALERTS GALORE**

    On a completely different note, I did get to watch the latest Bachelor, Bones, Castle and How I Met Your Mother episodes from this past Monday.  So far my current Top 3 ladies for The Bachelor are Renee, Andi and Nikki, but we'll see how long that lasts.  I'm just glad that Lucy Lewd went home, finally.  I really like these girls because they seem really down to earth, they're not too young or immature and they seem to really have his best interests at heart.  Again, not sure how it'll turn out, (my father insists that he never picked anyone at the end), but I feel god about this Top 3.

    Bones made me cry AGAIN this week.  I'm not sure what it is with all these TV shows tearing at my heart strings, but apparently they're in a phase.  Wendell was diagnosed with a rare form of terminal bone cancer, so he now has a 10% chance of living through chemo and other treatments.  I died a little, not only because he's been on the show for so long and has been an undeniable asset to the team, but because Brennan SHOWED EMOTION.  If you've watched the show for as long as I have, you'll understand that when Brennan shows emotion, it's a big deal.  Her being sad at his diagnosis, which SHE discovered, shows that it's definitely a hard pill to swallow.  I wish him all the best in this season, but I'm definitely expecting him to die in the finale...fingers crossed I'm wrong.

    Castle was your typical Castle plot again.  After the tumultuous burning building episode we kind of needed a break from the drama.  I was happy to see Alexis (hopefully) break it off with Pi, seeing as he brought nothing more to the story and was basically dead weight in her life.  We'll see if she caved next week, but I'm guessing they're officially over.  It's sad that that was the highlight of that episode for me.

    How I Met Your Mother is getting more and more daring with their story line as we saw Lily and Marshall finally had the fight they needed to have, but it ended in disaster.  Lily ended up leaving in a random vehicle after calling an unknown person for a ride out of the inn.  She didn't say where she was going either, so we could be following her anywhere next week, but I'm most curious to see who it was that she called.  Marshall will most likely be heartbroken so close to the wedding, but we all know from previous episodes that Lily makes it back in time for the ceremony with everyone else, so we'll see what happens.  We haven't seen the mother in a few episodes either, not since she helped Marshall, so I'm eager to see her during the wedding reception.
    That's all for this week.  I'm expecting to post pictures of Tanner when he arrives, so look out for those on Tuesday, but for now I'm going to try and enjoy my weekend.  Here's to more reading and two blog posts today instead of one!  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

Leveling Up in the World

    Hey all!  Welcome back:)  It was a nice weekend for me, despite working, (and then realizing I have almost the entire week off...lame).  Still no baby boy from my sister-in-law, but we will definitely see him by the end of next week if it doesn't happen soon.  Can't wait to be an auntie!!  Other than that, nothing really exciting has happened yet, so unfortunately it's another Tuesday rendition of Boring Blog, which, apparently, a lot of you actually like, so maybe I'll keep this going.
    Also, this is currently happening in the classroom I'm in today...not sure why someone would keep something so obviously creepy in a Social Studies classroom, but who am I to judge?...

    First things first: I start my final semester of courses today!  First class on deck is "Special Topics in English Teaching" with the wonderful Alecia Magnifico.  I am most looking forward to my classes this semester, especially this one.  The class I have tomorrow is "Teaching Writing in the 21st Century," which sounded very interesting to me.  I'm looking forward to broadening my horizons as an educator and learning more new and captivating ideas this year to prepare me for my internship this fall.

    Second thing: Pokemon update.  I have now obtained all eight gym badges and have made it to the chambers of the Elite Four, (FINALLY).  It literally took me about four hours to get through just that section, battling all of the trainers on the long and winding road up to the Pokemon League.  After reviving at least three of my top Pokemon about six times, I made it to the Pokemon Center before the main building, (thank God for that, because I don't think I'd make it very far without one.  I thought it was a little ridiculous to have THAT many trainers on the road just to enter the area where the Elite Four are.  Then each of them have four Pokemon each level 63 and higher, plus the Champion who has a whopping SIX Pokemon level 65 and higher, so I'm in for a rough night if I try to take them on.  The gym leaders were too easy and Victory Road seemed a bit too difficult for the amount of preparation I was given, so we'll see how that goes.  I might try to level up a bit more before attempting to take them all out, (I'm currently at about 75 with my top two Pokemon and around the mid-sixties with the rest of my party).  I am most proud of the legendary Pokemon, Yveltal, who I was able to catch on my first try, which almost never happens.  Props to me!

    In general, I'm a huge fan of water and fire types, however I can see now where it would benefit from having a grass or psychic type in combination with these types.  This is the type of strategy and planning I was looking for when researching this game as a type of literacy.  There are different kinds of people who play: people who play to get through the game, people who play to catch all the Pokemon they can get their hands on, people who want to get higher level Pokemon as fast as they can, people who want to find all the hidden items, artifacts and other gems around the game, etc.  Game play ultimately depends on what type of person you are, and it's interesting to see me categorized among them.  I haven't played like this in a very long time, so I'm still getting used to immersing myself completely in the game, (much to my husband's dismay).  Since I've played older versions before, I went into this thinking differently than someone who would just be starting out fresh without ever having played the older versions.  There are also people who have played every single version up until this point, and they are used to playing a different game than I am, having experienced some of the newer versions that I have not.  I'm interested in continuing to log my progress and even write in a journal to gather data so I can maybe turn this into something beneficial.  We shall see, but I'm enjoying myself nonetheless.
    So that's basically it.  Nothing exciting or substantial happening with me this week.  Starting my courses, baby maybe and possibly taking on the Elite Four before I get dragged into the homework routine again.  I will be catching up with all my shows today and tomorrow, so there might possibly be another TV review on Thursday if I have nothing else to talk about.  Also I've added two more tabs to the top of the blog: "Open Letters" and "ENGL 889."  The first tab will be dedicated to various individuals/situations I find particularly interesting/amusing/annoying/etc. while the second will be dedicated to responses for my new Special Topics course in English Teaching, which will be linked to my class' blog page.  Feel free to check both tabs out and I will keep you updated on posts via Twitter, etc.  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.