Auntie Em, there's no place like home!

So two weekends ago I went back to visit my parents in Michigan.  This was the first time I've been back there in 3 years!  They come to visit me here and we travel to Arizona once a year to visit them in their snowbird home.

But going back to Michigan was awesome.  My parents are getting ready to sell their house and downsize since they are retiring.  The last time they moved was 15 years ago when I was a senior in high school.  The task for the weekend was to go through dozens of boxes that we packed up 15 years ago and moved into the basement in their current home.  Most of these have not been opened since then!

My brother (Brian), who lives in Oregon also made the trip.  We all had a blast going through all the memories, and then throwing most of it away.  I used my iPod to take tons of photos of things I want to remember, but don't need cluttering up my (or my parents') house.

The weekend was especially awesome because Brian and I had a lot of time to hang out without kids and spouses.  We are very close friends and it has been a while since we've had time like that together.

I also went to see my mom teach!  She is a law professor in her last term of teaching before retirement.  Between her years as a high school English teacher and later a law professor, she has been teaching for nearly 45 years.  I have never sat in on a class with her before, and it was awesome to see her in that role.  She is such a natural and engaging instructor.  In many ways, I can see where I get my style, even though I've never actually watched her before.  I was mostly struck by the way she engaged students in a rich Socratic dialogue about some seemingly mundane material (wills and estate law).  The students were talkative, reflective, and making connections.  I attribute a lot of this to the way my mom framed the experience.

Then, over Thanksgiving weekend, we went to Angie's parents' house (my in-laws).  LOTS of turkey, warm beverages, and mindless television.  Oh yeah, and other people to watch our kids!  I had planned to blog over the weekend and get caught up with some coursework, but the in-laws' internet was out, so I took an extended forced vacation from the tech world.  Although I did play quite a bit of Angry Birds Rio.

Well, that's all for now.  Looking forward to seeing our cohort family next week!

Head Above Water

I am struggling a bit to stay on top of work, school, family, life, etc.  There are lots of awesome and amazing opportunities and responsibilities at play, but only so many hours in a week.  So, amidst this I'm trying to keep a rhythm with my tech posts, and it is coming a bit more naturally, but I still need to remind myself.  I am really looking forward to some face to face time with y'all this weekend!

Breakthrough!

So I had a great breakthrough with Moodle this week. I spent about 12 hours playing around with it during the past 4 days. I crossed that threshold from feeling like I'm searching every time I want to do something, to really understanding the basic functions and how/where/when/why to use them.

On top of this, I created a Moodle site for my UMD Seminar section. Prior to that, we were using the generic student resources site created for all sections, but that was cumbersome and confusing for students to navigate. They were excited about our class site and are now much more enthusiastic about using it.

Triumph of technology as totally useful tools!

Winter is in the air....

So it has reached that time of year again, when each morning I awake and start a fire in the wood stove. We only burn for the morning, then let the coals die down as the sun hits the south-facing windows, say 10:30 or so.

The cold weather makes it slightly more enticing to sit inside and fiddle with my computer, although I'd pretty much always rather be outdoors. But as the sun and the new moon are setting almost simultaneously and my kids are in bed, I thought I'd write a bit.....

My tech journey has been pretty uneventful. I installed the new Mac OS X, the Lion (Rawr!). It has some cool new features I am just learning how to use. Mostly, I like the faster everything. Downloading, web surfing, file saving, etc. are so much quicker! And the iCloud is cool. I'm still not sure how it all works, but somehow everything syncs when I am not looking. It's like Star Trek but without the goofy outfits.

So take care out there in techie land and enjoy the waning autumn. I look forward to seeing y'all in a couple of weeks!

Good Times at the Grand Casino

So Thursday was fulfilling. Got to ride down to Hinckley with some great colleagues (including our cohort's very own Muskadee!). Inspiring conversations, good coffee and donuts and some laughs.

Martin Brokenleg's talk was engaging and informative. Also very affirming that a good portion of what I think about multiculturalism in the classroom is on par with the research and his philosophies. In fact, I have used the Circle of Courage for years in a variety of settings as the foundation for curricula in outdoor and residential settings. Most recently, I have adapted it to use in trainings with student leaders in my current position. I had the opportunity to ask his opinion on the appropriateness of my adaptation and he said he supports how I am using the model. Very affirming!

I'm having fun with my website and continuing to work on Moodle stuff as a UMD Seminar instructor.

On a personal note, my son Lev turned 2 on Friday! Above is a photo I took with my iPod of his cupcake train. We had a fun party with some other families on Saturday. We all sang Happy Birthday while he hid under the table.

Video du Jour....

Check out my new website for a collection of YouTube gems.  I will post a new video every morning and then archive them on the site.  Please note the category tabs on the left-hand side of the page.  Enjoy!

http://dfrank.weebly.com/

Multi-tasking?

I'm sitting here in class blogging while we are talking. I'm really testing whether or not I can pay attention to what people are saying while I'm typing about something else...................Nope, don't think so!

Statesman Opinion Piece

It has been a crazy week.  I don't know what to say, other than to post a brief opinion article I submitted to the UMD Statesman today.  It started as an 1100 word piece but I was asked to whittle it down to 300 words, so here we go.....

Last week, a hateful campaign was leveled against individuals on campus. As is common in times of crisis, there has been a widespread outpouring of support for those involved.

Sadly, following traumatic events, communities quickly fade back to business as usual, and those not directly involved remain unaffected. When racism is involved, individuals with dominant identities move on most easily, able to ignore daily inequities around us.

For people with subordinate identities, “business as usual” has a different connotation.  It means constantly explaining your “differences,” being expected to speak on behalf of entire groups of people, and often experiencing bigotry first hand.

This semester we are asking, “How did you come to be here?” Not surprisingly, many people of color readily respond with cultural stories, and understandings of how their lives have been shaped by these identities. 

In contrast, white people often lack cultural self-knowledge, and don’t recognize how identity has influenced their life’s paths. This is largely because we as whites are not made aware of our whiteness on a daily basis, while people of color are faced with their “otherness” everyday.

As a university, we have a responsibility to examine how systemic inequities frame our experiences. This means not only exploring how “the other” is ill served, but also how privileged individuals benefit from the system.

In the classroom, this means exploring how cultural biases influence our disciplines and impact our learning.  On an individual level, this means learning how our own stories influence, and are influenced by the stories of others.

Equipped with a deeper sense of self, we allow others’ perspectives to exist on their own merit, rather than only in the context of being “different” from our own.  The result is a stronger community, which becomes inclusive of all people, experiences and perspectives.

-Danny Frank

FYE/SIT Coordinator

QASU Adviser

CEHSP Doctoral Student

 

Unplugging for a few days.....

Hello all-

I have really enjoyed the past week with my technology. 

I have been LOVING Jing and using it to teach my UMD Seminar students about Moodle and ePortfolio.  I have also been using ePortfolio as a way to post assignments and for students to submit their work.  I'm going to solicit feedback next week and see how they like the tools, are they helpful, etc.

I am also working on developing a UMD Seminar pilot course for next fall in Moodle 2.0.  I am hoping to make this my primary development project for this class. 

It has been fun to keep up with y'all via Moodle and blogs.  I enjoy the conversations, discovery and growth.  I really feel that our relationships are continuing to develop through these media. 

As for now, the family and I are heading to Winona for a 4-day bluegrass and canoeing festival.  We'll be camping and enjoying the change of scenery.  I don't plan to do much, if anything online, so take care and have a great weekend!

-DF

Two-thumb post...

So I've been spending a lot of time playing with my new iPod! I really like the games. Facebook is great too. Super easy to leave quick notes for people on the go.

Last night I lay in bed and read the Orr article for Fongs class on the iPod. I had trouble viewing the PDF version so I googled it and found the text on a website.

Well, I'm almost done with my walk to work so I'm goin to pocket this hint now and enjoy the last few moments of this crisp autumn air.....


Sent from my iPod

Try again...

I just attempted to post a lengthy reflection about my first experience with blogging from my iPod. Lesson learned: I need to occasionally copy my work or save a draft so when A photo upload fails I don't lose it all. Now If I can only figure out how to do that!........Okay, done! Now to try and upload a pic of Helen helping Matt and Xong after class. Enjoy! Okay, so apparently I can't upload an image? Instead, go to our Facebook group and see it there.....

Just starting out...

Here we go....This is my first blog entry on my new tech journey....part of my Ed.D. program coursework.  This may be my last entry from my laptop, as I need much more practice with my mobile device.  Have a great day and enjoy my nonsensical rambling!  More to come.....