Okay, I missed posting an Odds & Ends list last week, so to make up for it, I’m a day early this week! It’s been a busy few weeks and will only be getting busier. The Mayan Movie projects were officially due this past Tuesday. Some are still finalizing their projects. I can’t wait to begin grading them with Ms. Andrews! Now begins English II research papers. Also, as one of the two drama sponsors, Mrs. Shaffer handles lunch rehearsals & character development/interaction and I handle after-school rehearsals & blocking and set design. We’re in full swing preparing for our one-act competition on May 3^rd. Too little time and still so much to do!

On a personal note, my mother had surgery this past Tuesday to repair a torn tendon in her foot. Thankfully, everything was a success, but it’s been hard for my stepfather and I to keep her confined to bed for the requisite couple of days. She’s someone who has to always be busy and its hard for her to be out of commission. I stayed home this morning until my stepfather (an independent truck driver) finished his run around 10:30. I picked up some books on tape for her yesterday, and even (gasp!) left her my Macbook today to keep her busy since I was only going to be at work for a few hours. She is also working on crocheting an afghan for me since she finished the baby blanket she was making yesterday. Hopefully, this is enough to keep her busy.

Anyway, here are some articles and web tools I’ve discovered recently and found interesting:

Adobe Photoshop Express Beta: “Crop, rotate, tweak, twirl, and show off your photos here on Photoshop Express…” The site also allows you to store 2GB of photos for FREE! I haven’t had a chance to really check this out yet, and I was unable to create an account using a school computer. Don’t know if that is because my school computer needs a plug-in, or it it’s a problem with the Adobe site. I will try to access from home computer and leave a comment on this blog post. However, I wanted to share with my teachers who’ve been asking for Photoshop, and getting turned down due to the cost.

GoGooligans.com: “Educational Search Engine for KIDS…Simple, fast loading, kid oriented, filtered results!!!” While maybe a bit too young for my high school students, I know many of you work with younger students and/or have young ones at home and you may find this one useful.

CNN.com: “Who gets rich off $3 gas – who doesn’t…”: Interesting article that illuminates where the money we spend at the pump goes and/or why we’re paying so much for gas these days? Or does it? I’d still like to know why oil companies are making HUGE profits and yet we seem to be the ones forking over more money — we’re losing and they are still turning a profit at our expense?

BBC News: “Brain game school trial”: Scottish primary schools use handheld video games to improve students’ math sklls.

And speaking of technology & learning, how about this one:

USA Today: “Cellphone college class opens in Japan”: How in the world could anyone “read” PowerPoint on their CELLPHONE!? I guess it’s no different than watching video on an iPod, but still. Would you want to take a class ON your cellphone? Is my age showing on this?

Well, that’s all for this week. I’ll have more next week and then I’ll be off for Spring Break! W00T! I make no guarantees that I’ll have a post that week!