The TWAIN blog

I am in the process of moving my blog over to my Me/Mac account. I learned that I can’t take it all with me. I am losing all the conversations. All the comments have to stay behind. There isn’t an easy process in pulling the XML from Wordpress and Importing to iWeb (in fact, there is no process). So I copied and pasted my favorites, exported a file for keeping of my blog archive, and will close this site soon.

My new address is: http://web.me.com/mrjadkins/TWAIN

I’ve had a great relationship with Edublogs for the years but I want to manage my content more easily, remove the distracting advertisements and merge all my resources into just one website. Right now, my new TWAIN site is a frame for holding my past works and my future conversations. I know it can become more as I invest my time into it.

So – change your bookmarks and/or feeds! http://web.me.com/mrjadkins/TWAIN

See you on the flip!

I found two interesting sites today in my regular Hollywood/Entertainment news sites: Ain’t It Cool and DListed. Both of these sites give a different perspective on the Hollywood/Entertainment scene by gathering information from its page visitors who supply info.

The first site is called MagCloud and it is a site for people who want to get into publishing magazines without having to purchase their own print areas. You can upload your magazine while they print and distribute it for you. Is this where printable magazines are headed? Regardless of the Web 2.0 interaction and the decline of print material, couldn’t cost be saved by using Mag Cloud for printing resources for a limited readership? And if you are a blogger who wanted to publish a yearly summary of the blog, what better way than with MagCloud?

The second site is called I’m from Driftwood and it is a blog/social network for gay teens to post their own “Coming Out” stories from the small towns they belong. It is more than just a perspective on gay teenagers; it is a perspective of small town life and acceptance. Very interesting and true stories with great perspectives from the group gathering and posting on this site. Posts include a Google pic taken from the satellite perspective of the small town in which they belong.

What is really interesting about the author of this site is that he helped push the nation’s number one dating site E-Harmony to include gay coupling as part of its site.

With so much “change” in our country, it is great to see more than just the propaganda from both sides of this issue. It is inspiring to read the stories of the citizens in the small towns. I really suggest you check out the site. As a teacher, it would be interesting to develop a similar discussion on a perspective on any issue and share what it is like to live in a smaller town and how that issue affects the citizens in that town. Go back to slavery, to voting rights, to women’s rights, to prohibition, etc. and write from the perspective of your own town on how these rights and the STRUGGLE itself affect you or someone in the town..

I am quite disappointed in the lack of comments to my blog. I get more response on my old Myspace page that I haven’t touched in years, than this place.

I thought blogging was two-way communication. I post something and then people respond.

But lately, I post something and no one responds. Lately?? Who am I kidding? This has been ongoing for about 4 months now! No response! No comments!

It is bruising my delicate ego, to say the least.

Another nail in the coffin: I tried Plurk again recently, only to find that I have no fans there. So whatever I post, no one is reading. I wondered why no one responds to my comments there. The news was broken to me when I had to read the help page to learn that I have no fans. I can post a response to others on the timeline but they choose not to follow me.

I use Plurk to post all my confessions now. It is quite liberating to throw them out to the world. I also post vulgar tirades there. I mean, why not?!?! A timeline of tirades that no one is watching meshed in with other ed. tech leaders sharing about what they eat, how they exercise, and what they think of Plurk vs. Twitter. It is like an explosion of vulgarity between their conversations that only I am enjoying.

I get good responses to Twitter, but that’s the only place where my Web 2.0 interactive conversations take place. The problem is that the response has to be less than 140 characters.

Maybe blogging is dead and I didn’t get that memo! I read blogs daily on all sorts of topics in and outside of education.  I have noticed that several educational blogs/podcasts I used to access haven’t updated in a while (see previous post). Maybe it isn’t just me! Maybe our entire blogosphere has shifted. Have people stopped blogging? I bet they have until February 10 when we all finish the state conference and blogging is cool again!

Ahh.. I dunno what I am saying here. I don’t understand this at all and am really starting to take it personally. I reach out and post on other blogs, Twitter posts, Plurks, message boards, etc. in hopes that the link will draw them to read my opinions here. But…..that isn’t working.

Am I giving up? Nope. This is a nice venting place. People can reply or not. I use it to track my own progress on things.
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Hmmmmm

I don’t think anyone is even reading this post,  so I will end by saying “ppppplllllllbbbbbbppppp!!!!” (phonetic raspberry sound)

A few weeks ago, I deleted over 86 of my Twitter groups I was following. I cleared out the blogs I was following and I completely archived this blog.

I lost my voice.

The voice I want to portray in this blog.

I am trying to figure out what I want that voice to be.

I am as Toffler says “learning, unlearning, and relearning” even in my own blog.

I have been continually writing but keeping the posts private. So that I can fine tune my voice. So that I can make sure that what I write is about what I believe and what I want to represent me.

So, I will keep working at it.

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Meanwhile I am happy to report that my previous employer has found a new technology coordinator who is going to take them to new heights! I had the pleasure of extending a hello to this guy and I am really excited for him and the possibilities at that place. They are really forward-thinking and moving into a really good direction. I remember where we were when I started there and I imagine his first few days and weeks just trying to find the cafeteria, a bathroom, and a quiet place to just absorb all the energy of that place.

I remember having a co-worker who showed me the ropes from his side and helped get me situated. I remember the two of us splitting the responsibilities and his help to get me going, meet all the new people, and helping me to be successful. That person is gone from the district. And now, this new guy has inherited all of the roles and responsibilities that were originally assigned to two, then to three, down to one, and now on his own shoulders.

I don’t believe in abandoning the place where I invested my heart and learned as much if not more than what I brought to the table. I don’t believe that I should leave a place to “figure it out” on their own. I also think it is absolutely disgusting to offer to help in exchange for something from them. Isn’t our field to support learning no matter where we are? Aren’t we by nature supposed to help and not hinder?

First do no harm?

I sincerely want ALL schools and education systems to be successful. And I want ALL teachers – and teachers include technology coordinators, librarians, principals, etc. – to be successful as well. Take whatever you need. Share.