My Flickr Photos

I decided to take some photos of the Teen Center for the Flickr exercise. With minors, you have to be careful because you can't post identifiable pictures without express written parental permission. So I couldn't really take pictures of all the great teens who come through Knowasis, but I still had fun.

I tagged all of these photos SPLS. If you want to see the rest of the photos taken by SPLS staff, you can check them out by clicking here. (I just learned how to use html coding to make this link load in a new window; pretty cool, huh?)

The pics of Guitar Hero are my favorites. Go Skye (that is her son, Jess, on her left)!!

One thing I did notice during my experience is that it took over a day for my tagged photos to show up on the SPLS tags page in Flickr. So don't worry if your photos don't show up instantly.

Finally, my personal favorite site for sharing pics is Picasa. I like Picasa because of all the editing tools they offer, the fact that they allow you to organize pictures by albums, the ability they give you to scroll quickly through the photos, and, of course, the fact that it's free. If you want to see my Picasa albums, just click here. When you see an album that looks interesting to you, just click on it and you will be taken to all the pictures within that album. Remember, they are my personal pictures, mostly of my husband and me on various vacations (i.e. not work related!!). If you do check them out, let me know what you think!

Me, techie?

Honestly, I am not all that technologically savvy. Being a TACkie (that is, a member of the Technology Advisory Committee) has been both an honor and an impetus to improve my knowlege and skills in regards to current and upcoming technologies.

A year ago, I never would have guessed that I would be a primary contributor to the SPL Learning 2.0 blog. So how did I make it this far?

Certainly, it has been a challenge for me. I have felt uncertain, intimidated and yes, even humbled. I have had to say, "I don't know" and, "Can you please help me?" more times than I could count.

But I believe that I have come this far because I have been WILLING to learn. Instead of saying, "I can't," I have sought to learn new things. I see so many people quit before they even get to try a cool new tech tool, simply because of the intimidation they feel. But, believe me, if I can do it, so can YOU!!

The habits that are easiest and most difficult for me

Funny, but the hardest habit for me is "Play." Funny, but I am too dang serious so much of the time! I actually feel guilty playing. I'm glad that play is now getting a lot of positive attention. It's true, playing is key to learning. I just have to remember this whenever I fall into my old pattern of feeling guilty about play.

The easiest habit for me is "Begin w/ the End in Mind (Goals)." I am a very goal-oriented person. Perhaps it's my birth order placement (I'm that responsible oldest child). But I have always been good at studying, good at deadlines, and an achiever of sorts. It's playing that I need to work on!

Why I enjoy working with Teens

I never would have thought that my path in life would lead me to working with teens in both my personal and professional life. But I'm so glad I do!

Teens wear their hearts on their sleeves. They just want someone to listen and care. They are quick to laugh and to try new things. They have so much energy.

I like to see them grow up, to go new places in the world. But most of all I enjoy knowing that I am actually making a difference in the world by being a positive adult role model. We really do make a difference in the work we do. And that is the reason my job is so much more than a paycheck!!