Tuesday, February 26, 2013

How Awesome is Your Life?

I feel as though my life is awesome, and I hope yours is too. Sometimes I wonder, so I'm asking, how awesome is your life?

sonder

n. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.


On the BC Ferry from Vancouver to Victoria
With the last Reading Week of my 2nd Undergraduate Degree coming to a close, I stumbled upon this word.  Sonder.  It was actually on a blog I was reading and it really made me realize that everyone's life is amazing.

I felt very fortunate to spend time in Vancouver and Victoria, BC with my roommate's friends from high school. It was amazing to explore these two fine cities and all the excitement they had to offer.  My recent travels made me realize that everyone's stories are unfolding all around us, and at any point in time our lives could cross without either of us even knowing. This concept makes me feel so small, yet has allowed me to appreciate what happens in my life and those I meet, if only for a brief second or a few minutes.

Tech Task #6 About Me

Tech Task #6 had me create an About Me page.
I thought it was a great idea to have all my webpages linked up in one place, but it was also challenging to pick what should and should not be included.

Using this website is very simple.  The layout is very user friendly and all you are required to do is sing in, click, click, click, type a bit, type a bit more, edit what you typed, and then click some more to link to your pages on social media networks.  I was even able to add my About Me webpage to my Blogger profile (click on my picture on the side of my blog and you can click the link).  While there is no widget for Blogger accounts, there is the embedding code provided to allow you to easily include your webpage in posts and pages. Easy!


Some problems I had:
1. I could not link my YouTube account to the page since I created a YouTube account way back in the day when you didn't need a Google account, and when sign in was with a username, rather than e-mail, so I can't link that, or at least I have yet to figure out how to link it (if you know please comment).
American Made Soda Pop-Make Your Own Root Beer Kit-USA Made Products|Norton's USA
Photo from Norton's

2. I had to change the privacy settings on my Pinterest account in order to keep the page professional.  I have recently developed a passion for brewing beverages in my house, resulting in exploding cola bottles, so that board had to become hidden and private in order to keep the page professional.


Question:  What should and shouldn't you include?
I use Facebook as a way of communicating and keeping up with friends, and I know I have very high privacy settings on my account in order to keep it private, but should I include my Instagram, which I use to post completley random pictures? I'm not sure.

This experience has had me questioning how much is too much to share online?

Tech Task #5 The Daily Create

After a great online session, I was introduced to the wonderful world of The Daily Create!
Who knew this wonderful website existed?
I immediately fell in love with it and all the different creations and activities it has the followers create.
The Daily Create, for some odd reason that I'm not sure why, reminded me of Etsy, except in my price range.  I can spend hours on Etsy looking at "artist's products"(of which some are not even "handmade" as they claim to be), yet I cannot afford any of the items.  The Daily Create had me spending hours looking at all the different projects and creations, and I was able to appreciate the art provided without having to pay for any of it.  Having an art gallery online that doesn't cost a dime to contribute to or view is what this frugal student needed.
My favourite page linked to the Daily Create website is the DS106 assignments. There are so many great assignments submitted by the students.  My most favourite page is the Mashup Assignments with different YouTube videos, and my favourite video was definitely the inappropriate laughter with Silence of the Lambs.


For this tech task we had to follow the Daily Create and submit 4 times.

I was very motivated intially to submit everyday, but for some reason life got in the way and I ended up submitting only 4 times, but I plan to continue to follow the Daily Create and submit every once in a while.

One of the exciting and scary parts of this assignment for me was to create my very own Flickr account (for free of course).  While this was a new adventure I now see the benefits of Flickr for sharing photos and unique digital pieces of art.  One problem I discovered after particpating in the Daily Create was that my uploads to Flickr were not appearing.  After some investigating and reading through Flickr and The Daily Create's FAQ's, I discovered photos tagged may not appear for a few days, and may not appear until you have more than 5 pictures on your Flickr account.  This was good to know after I worried all my submissions had been lost, but I have added some more photos to Flickr and hope my submissions will appear under the appropriate tags/ groups soon.

Here are my submissions:
1. February 8
Write a poem on twitter and tweet it at 11 am, February 8th.
Check out my Twitter (@KendraKerrigan)







2. February 9
Create some kind of pattern of things on your desk right now.
Pens in Pattern
From Kerrigakendra

This was a Saturday, and I was at school, so I had limited "desk" supplies, but I think it still worked.

3. February 12
Upload a drawing of a place you’ve been, but NEVER want to go back to.
One Place I've Been... Airport
Flickr Kerrigakendra
I don't know anyone who likes being stuck at an airport.  I love traveling but dislike being delayed.

4. February 13
Take a picture of something brand new. Like shiny.
Shiny and New
Flickr Kerrigakendra

These jewels and sequence were a brand new purchase from one of my favourite places to shop, the Dollar Store, and I used them for a school project. Shiny Shiny!

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Everyone Has a Story

#etmooc and #ecmp355 followers have been conversing a lot about stories on Twitter lately.  How we tell stories has definitely changed over the years.  We are now able to share stories online, whether it be through Skype or SocialCam applications, YouTube, Wikis and even blogging.

The stories we are sharing can be sent around the world for others to hear, to inspire them, and to make a connection with someone we may have never met, or we may never meet.

The way people can make connections through others' stories and by listening to other people's stories is empowering. This video, from soulpancake on Youtube, shows the power listening to a stranger can have and shows how sharing a story can make us feel connected to someone, even a complete stranger.



I personally follow soulpancake's Channel on YouTube due to videos posted.  It is a very "feel good" channel with inspirational videos that make you reconsider who you are and what you are doing.

  "Rainn Wilson invites you to open 
your heart without feeling like an idiot. 
Stuff THAT in your brain hole."

This channel definitely makes me contemplate what I am doing and it helps me focus on the things that are important in my life, even if only for a moment. Check out their other videos such as Kid President and What Does Love look like to YOU? and let me know what you think!
 

Fairness

In a recent course at the U of R we were discussing fairness in assessment and fairness in the classroom.  What is fairness and how is it different than equality?

Equality refers to everything being the same and equal, so everyone gets the same thing. Equality can be shown when teachers give out treats and every student gets one, to make sure it is "fair" for everyone.

Fairness is sometimes confused with equality, although fairness is different.  Fairness refers to people getting what they need.  So in the instance of a teacher handing out candy, the child with low blood sugar might get two, while the child who ate four pieces of candy at lunch may not get any.  Fairness refers to each person and child getting what they need, not what they want or what they think they need, but what they need at that point in time.

Here's a video from a TED talk about life and how "unfair" it can be at some points in time.


I appreciate the dialogue that can be created from this video.  When her friend says "It's not fair," that she has 12 different legs to choose from or that she can be "Any height she wants to". That statement about having multiple legs not being fair really struck me as odd.  For a moment I was jealous that I couldn't change my height or walk on wooden designer legs, yet at the same point in time I realized it is definitely fair for her to be able to choose her legs in the morning because she did not get to choose whether or not she would have her own legs permanently attached to her body to walk on.

Learning how to empathize with people as well as seeing the world from their point of view really puts everything into perspective.  It's videos like these that could be incorporated into a classroom to allow students to think of what it would be like to be Aimee Mullins and the different triumphs and struggles she has faced. It's empowering to see how people with disabilities no longer need to be viewed as disabled, but rather having great strengths and "glorious disabilities" that we can learn from.

CC image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarawestermark/4415600385/
The blog titled "Teach From the Heart" provides a great lesson idea for teaching elementary aged students about fairness.  The band-aid activity shows the difference between equality and fairness by providing a lived experience for students to learn from and comprehend. Check it out!

The theme song from Malcolm in the Middle (a TV show from the 1990's) states "Life is unfair", but is it really unfair?  Consider your life from someone else's point of view and see how unfair life has really been to you.