Today is Monday, so a new comic edition of Boolean Squared is online.
And just what was Mr. Teach doing in his underwear, anyway?
You’ll have to figure it out by heading to Boolean Squared at the Springfield Republican site.
Kevin
Monthly Archives: October 2008
Your Days in a Sentence
Greetings and here are this week’s collection of sentences.
I want to start out with a podcast that I did with a roomful of teachers at the Prairie Lands Writing Project in St. Joseph, Missouri, on Saturday as part of a talk about Web 2.0 and the ability to use the Net for connecting with a community of other teachers (and a keynote address about writing my webcomic). I asked them all to write out a Day in a Sentence, and volunteer to podcast their sentences.
Here we go:
Listen in to Prairie Lands teachers
And now, the rest of this week’s wonderful submissions:
- I am currently reclining lazily on my leather sofa, watching television, while in the back of my mind, I realize that, because of parent-teacher conferences next week, I have papers to grade, interims to fill out, conference forms to write, and children’s work to gather in an organized fashion to share with their parents. — Karen
- god, i love friday night football in pennsylvania – it’s a mania unparalleled by anything else i’ve experienced, and the vinegar french fries just take to the next level. — Sara
- I am convinced of the need for more than 24 hours in day–at least if I want to include enough sleep to avoid feeling constantly fatigued. — Art
- Today learned from my kindergarten teachers that everyone knows a David or if they don’t, at least their father does. — Eric
- lately i’ve begun having serious vocab shortages: i know the word i want exists, i’ve used the dang-blasted thing a million times, it’s a perfectly beautifully crafted word that’s hugely better than “hugely” or “normal” or “thing” or “get” or whatever…but it eludes me. it’s not even on the tip of my tongue or the precipice of my brain…it’s lurking in deep depths, far beyond my scanty influence or gravitational pull. and it’s annoying. worrisome. irritating. laughable. (Ok. I’ve abused the concept of a sentence or the idea of a period. But, well, that’s been my week!) — Alex
- As we head out for our daughter’s birthday celebration at a Malaysian restaurant, I wonder to myself, “how did I become the mother of a 30 year old?” — Delaine
- Looking back, it’s as if I have been visiting a delightful foreign country over the last few years with all my class digital work; what I must remind myself is that most people I work with haven’t been to that country, and I have to place more focus on being a graceful and inviting diplomat. — Connie
- Note to self: Lake George Friday, personal day, fun with darling husband, good weather forecast, Fort Ticonderoga! (Apologies for the fragmentation but those have been my thoughts all week long, like a countdown!) — Gail P.
- I’m ready to unveil my new digital story today at our SI08 retreat. Almost a full hour, it celebrates the work of the community and everyone will take home a DVD copy. I wonder how many will actually pop their disk into a dvd player to share it with others? I wonder if who from this community will move into our larger HVWP community? (It’s 6 AM, pitch black still and I’m up and filled with questions….and of course, Joe is up tonight as the world watches Sarah show her stuff.) — Bonnie
- Chronic feline illness has afflicted our household with a terrible melancholy, he’s old and not in pain, but barely touching his food and probably on the way out…but we don’t want to send him through the great catflap in the sky just yet. — David
Thanks to everyone !
We’re going to have a guest host this coming week so be on the lookout for that call for words.
Peace (in connections),
Kevin
Before the Digital Days
This video is interesting, as it reminds us that before the digital revolution, there was an underground community seeking out art, music, books and movies that fell outside the view of the common culture. The theory of the “long tail” sort of ruins that sense of backroom discovery, I guess.
The ease of digital downloads and digital uploads means we do this kind of discovery from our own home, and we don’t fall into serendipity when uncovering that band or movie or book that will completely shake your world. And it is the hunt for the art, and the process of discovery, that makes the effort even better. (Kind of like the experience of reading a physical newspaper and coming across an article that you would never otherwise have ever seen if you were narrowing your focus).
Or, at least, this is the premise of this video.
And yet, ironically, if not for the digital world, I would never have seen this video in my life, I suspect. There are some strange ironies that go on all around us.
Peace (in discovery),
Kevin
Simply Sentences
Please consider joining us for this week’s Day in a Sentence. No fancy themes this week. Just good ol’ fashioned sentences. How does it work? Boil down your week or a day in your week to a reflective sentence and share with the comment link on this post. I will collect all of the sentences and publish them (probably on Monday, at this point).
As for me, I am heading off to the Prairie Lands Writing Project in Missouri this weekend to give a keynote talk about writing in the online world, with a focus on my webcomic, Boolean Squared. I will show how I used the Web 2.0 and other technology as part of a writing process for the comic strip, and then, how you might move some of those ideas into the classroom. The conference looks very interesting and I am very excited about being asked to present as the keynote speaker (this is the second time this has happened – Bonnie hosted me last year at the Hudson Valley Writing Project).
My hope is to create an online version of my presentation in the next week or so.
Meanwhile, one of my activities for the crowd in the morning (where I focus on Web 2.0 and education) is to write out a Day in a Sentence and then podcast some of their words as part of our own Day in a Sentence collection. It will add some new voices into the mix and bring Day in a Sentence out a bit further.
I look forward to your words!
Peace (in connections),
Kevin
Moving Comics into Movies
My friend, Glenn, is an inspiration to me for his work and thinking around comics. As another member of the National Writing Project, Glenn has published a regular webcomic with his regional newspaper that looks at local politics. It was called Nota Bene. I say “was” because after 100 comics, he is now moving on to a new comic strip project.
But he continues to think about ways to push the medium, and this week, he shared an experiment that moves comics into video, with narration. He has taken an issue — Merit Pay for teachers, and the possibilities of competition over students — and crafted this video. The voices are sort of creepy, which is the point.
Peace (in mixing mediums),
Kevin