Kari's Weblog

DJ _______?

kkrug — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 04:08:51 +0000

So, I have officially decided what to do for my personal arts project. Music has been a passion of mine for.. forever… so I will learn how to be a DJ! As fun and exciting as it sounds, I know that it is going to be hard work. Naturally, the first place that my mind wonders is “what will my DJ name be!?”. So the hunt has begun for the perfect DJ name for myself. Here are some already suggested (some better than others of course):

-DJ KAYKAY
-DJ KAREBEAR
-DJ ROCKY
-DJ KARST
-DJ BERRY

Got any suggestions? From the looks of the list above, I think I need some help!!

EAL Resources

kkrug — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 20:08:48 +0000

If any of you out there are looking for some online EAL resources, here is an amazing website!!

100 Best Resources and Guides for ESL teachers

Las Vacaciones

kkrug — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:56:26 +0000

Five years ago when I was 19 years old, I moved to the Dominican Republic with my two best friends. We lived there for only four months, but it changed all of our lives forever. The people in the Dominican that we encountered are truly amazing people and the culture is so vibrant. We lived in a small apartment in Puerto Plata with no hot water and sometimes no electricity..yet we absolutely loved life. It taught me how important and beautiful life is, and also made me realize what I take for granted here in Canada. I have missed the music, the dancing, the food and the people very much, but have not had a chance to go back! This year, my two best friends and I are hoping to finally return. We are planning on going and staying at the Iberostar resort in Costa Dorada which we thought was the nicest resort we saw while we lived there. The trip has not been finalized yet but we are hoping to go for spring break in February. If any of you ever get the chance.. go go go! It is magnificently beautiful. Nobody should ever pass up the chance to dance the merengue and drink banana mamas

You know you’ve lived in China too long when…

kkrug — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 05:13:53 +0000

I stumbled upon this list on facebook and rather enjoyed it. To view the entire list you can just click here but I will also share some of my favorites:

*Note…these all became true after my two years in China!

All white people look the same to you
You have no reservations about spitting sun flower seeds on the restaurant floor
You feel cheated if you don’t receive a full head and shoulder massage when getting a haircut
You no longer wait in line, but go immediately to the head of the queue
You are not surprised when three men with a ladder show up to change a light bulb
You start calling other foreigners Lao Wai
Firecrackers don’t wake you up
Forks feel funny
You cannot say a number without making the appropriate hand sign
You like the taste of Green Tea and Chivas
You draw characters on your hand to make yourself understood
Your building’s security guard is 4 times older than the building itself
You use the word “Ayyiieeaaahh” every few sentences to convey surprise, pleasure, pain or anger
You see three people on a motorcycle and figure there’s room for two more
You think that Yao Ming is the best basketball player in the NBA
You find it strange when everyone’s food at a restaurant is brought out at the same time

I strongly believe that anybody who has lived in China will agree with the above

Cute overload

kkrug — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:52:50 +0000

Have any of you stumbled upon the cutest page on the internet? I have recently been wanting to adopt a puppy and as I was searching different things on google, I found a website called Cute Overload. It basically has pictures of cute animals doing silly things. Besides the amazingly cute pictures, there are the small paragraphs to go along with the pictures that are sometimes poems, jokes, or captions to explain what’s going on in the pictures. I LOVE IT!!!!! It is my favorite website right now and it seriously makes me smile everytime I go to it. So have I convinced you to click the link yet?

Where does the time go?

kkrug — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 23:15:47 +0000

So, it’s been a long time since I have written a blog post. But instead of feeling guilty for it, I am going to pretend like I have been doing it all along and continue where I left off. This summer has been pretty crazy. I moved home to Saskatoon for the summer as my accomodations in Regina are only during the school year. I got a job bartending and serving at the Rugby club, which has been a typical summer job; it’s fun, but I’m ready to be done. As the summer winds down, and I start to get my head back in the game, I am finding myself more and more excited for school. I am nervous, because many people have told me how difficult the third year is for us Education students, but I am ready for a challenge. I am going to stop here because I could probably tell my whole life story the way my fingers are movin right now. Take care, and it will not be another year until my next post, I promise!

Bad influences all around

kkrug — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:55:20 +0000

So, I don’t know if this is as crazy as I think it was…but yesterday as I was making the “fun and exciting” journey from Regina to Saskatoon, I was listening to XM radio. I was listening to some teeny bop channel and usually it’s just song after song and then all of a sudden a commercial came on. I can’t remember exactly what the product was called, but it was a pill to increase your sex drive. They went on and on about how it’ll be the best sex you’ve ever had, and you’ll last longer than ever and be ready to go again. I sat there thinking oh my gosh, my 13 year old step sister listens to this music channel….is it really necessary for them to have that kind of commercial? I mean, I am aware that kids see sex and violence everywhere they turn these days, so I really shouldn’t be that shocked, but I felt a little violated lol. Sigh.

Reflection

kkrug — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:42:10 +0000

Over the years, I have heard people talking about their blogs, and it always seemed like a waste of time to me. I thought that it was a bunch of bored people rambling on about their day and that it wouldn’t be that interesting. When I heard that we had to blog for this class I thought it was going to be difficult. To my great surprise, blogging is the complete opposite of what I expected! When you get into it, it’s quite easy, and can be lots of fun. It’s fun to find new things to write about, but it’s also exciting to read others’ blogs. It might sound silly, but blogging really helped me to connect with a lot of the people in this class and I got to learn more about them then in a normal classroom setting.

When I first started reading other students’ blogs I happened to stumble upon Jayla’s first blog post and I found that her and I had something in common. We both lived in China! It’s great to hear about another person’s experience there, and nice to know that I am not the only one who realized my love for teaching over there

Unlike other students, I did not have a favorite blog to read-because we all have different opinions and things to say, and I think they are all equally important. After getting a bit more comfortable with reading my classmates’ blogs, I began to broaden my horizons, and began reading other blogs. I like wordpress because it has a little arrow on the top right hand side that takes you to a random blog. I found some of my favorites by pressing it. Although, I must admit that it became quite addictive lol. I would stay up until 2 am not realizing how much time had passed.

I have only just begun the journey of blogging, and even though it is not required of me to continue writing, I will really try to keep it up. The most amazing thing happened the other day; a grade 9 girl that I work with, *A*, that I had mentioned about in my Racism in all shapes and forms post, was looking over my shoulder as I blogged. She ended up copying down the address of my blog, and told me the other day that she’s been reading it. She said she even used it as a resource for a project she is doing about people who are making a difference in the world. I couldn’t even believe it, because to me, I’m just Kari. This made me feel so special, so *A* if you are reading this, I promise to keep on blogging!

I feel as though writing and reading of blogs really keeps myself, as a teacher, in touch and up to date with what’s going on in the world. Not only surrounding education, but technology, the media, everything!

As my connections keep growing, I also hope that my fellow ECMP355 students continue their blogs as well, as they have opened up my eyes to new thoughts daily. I’ll leave you for now with a picture that started my love for teaching… but this is not the last you’ll hear of me!!

Tech Task #6

kkrug — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 07:05:06 +0000

Here is a “Habitat for Humanity”-type commercial that Corinne and I did with a flip borrowed from Alec and iMovie.

School lunch

kkrug — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:09:18 +0000

While reading a blog by an education reporter from Illinois, I read something that sparked a bit of interest. The state of Illinois has set in place a program for students during the summer months, where they can go to school and receive a cold lunch for free. This program is only for schools offering summer school, but here is the interesting thing… it is not only for the students attending the school, but for all children up to the age of 18. Hmmm…it sounds like a great idea… but can the government really continue to support this project financially? Let’s pray for the best! I found a bit more information from this website, if you’d like to read more about this program.

As a teacher and a sister to a pre-k boy one of my true opinions is that bringing in a nutritionist to schools, and setting up some sort of lunch program is a great idea. It helps those who don’t have lunch, and those who have the wrong kind of lunch. The cost of a chocolate bar is no cheaper than the cost of an apple, we need healthy food in our schools and our children need to be fed. A child cannot be expected to concentrate on an empty stomach.

Anybody agree or disagree? Any good ideas out there? I would love to hear them