Challenge #4

I've been on Facebook since last year. I had received invites from several students, but it took the invitations of two of my sisters-in-law to actually get me to join. (I should also admit that Farmtown was another of my motivations.)
One thing that I have particularly enjoyed about FB is that I am now "friends" with members of my high school graduating class that I haven't seen (or spoken to) in many, many years. These voices from the past have been a lot of fun.
I DO accept invites from students, and it has been a mixed bag. There is a lot of teen-age angst, but I am gaining insight with each day's posts. (I decided early on that what happens on FB does not enter the doors of LHS. My only exception would be if I learned that a student presented a threat to himself/herself or others. I have seen no posts that indicate abuse or neglect, at which time my role as mandated reporter would, of course, kick-in.)
As a result of my student "friends," I am very careful with my posts. The most controversial of my posts was the following link -- which drew very little response...


http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/08/20/annoying.facebook.updaters/

As senior class advisor, I have created a Facebook group for the senior officers/representatives, and it has simplified communication about meeting, duties, etc.

I joined Twitter last April when the competition between CNN and Ashton Kutcher was in full swing. I have concluded that Twitter is not enething that I am interested in at this time.

Challenge #3

Well, K&K have officially taken all of the fun out of RSS for me. Several years ago I was at a tech workshop where they told us the possible meanings (tongue in cheek) of the acronym, and the one that I liked best was REALLY SILLY STUFF.

In my personal bookmarks, I have a folder RSS which contains really silly stuff like My Coke Rewards, Powerball, Jeopardy -- and, of course, Kurt's blog. (LOL)

My RSS wins for silliness, but the actual RSS is a wonderful tool. I have set-up Google Reader and also added it to my Blackberry. I am adding subscriptions slowly and thoughtfully as I can see how much time I might spend on the reader -- when I should be doing enethings.

Very productive challenge, K&K!

(P.S. Do you foresee the day when RSS might replace hard copies for SSR?)

Challenge #2

OK, I can see that K & K have put the challenge in "challenging." This took a little more effort than Challenge #1.
I should tell you that I probably would not know anything about computers had I not been REQUIRED to work with them years ago as yearbook adviser. A phrase that comes to mind is "kicking and screaming." I am eternally grateful for that experience as it created what has become a love affair with computers that has enriched my life.
I did Challenge #2 in "fits and starts" with a few detours. I now have iGoogle as my homepage on both Safari and Firefox and know that I am going to refer to it often. So, there was no actual kicking and screaming associated with this challenge -- but if I were being totally honest, I would have to acknowledge a little bit of whimpering...

Challenge #1

Thanks to the clear on-screen instructions, this challenge was quite easy. Although the name of my blog is ENETHING, I'm not entirely sure that blogs ARE my thing.
Certain blogs on the spectrum seem pertinent and meaningful to me: others, not so much. While I might be very interested in following the Huffington Post, I'm not sure how I feel about the more intimate, personal posts.
It is important to realize that my instructional materials for Spanish include a Spanish server called a Supersite -- and it is very, very thorough and includes virtually all of the "things" that I might post on a blog for my students. The student management tools on the Supersite also allow for very easy communication between my students and me.
I'm looking forward to the challenges, and think that Kelly and Kurt are doing a wonderful job of presenting blogging. We're lucky to have people who are so willing to share their knowledge!