Human Voices Wake Us

I don’t Twitter or do RSS feeds or anything else that updates me every minute.  I figure I don’t need to be a slave to that kind of immediate “look at me now!”  I know I would drop whatever I was doing and check out the latest.  And, yes, I’ve read the blogs about how great Twitter is and how the man Twittered he was arrested and had tons of people automatically working to get him free.  Seeing how I don’t plan on going to Egypt anytime soon, I figure I’m okay with a regular cell phone.  The thing is, I don’t want to be in touch 24/7.  I want to choose when I want to read my blogs or check my email.  (My husband gets email alerts on his cell phone, as I’m sure many do, and he is constantly looking at it when it buzzes.)   I use Bloglines. Whenever I feel like it or have a few extra minutes, I can check and see which of my favorite blogs have new posts.  I like the fact that I control that, not some electronic notification.  I love technology and all that it can do.  I’m in total support of all those tools.   Everyone should keep using them if they make people happy.  Frankly, I have enough stuff going on in my own life to need to know each minute what’s going on in yours.

I sent my husband an e-card today, and he sent me one back, asking if this was Romance 2.0.   Most of our communication throughout the day is over e-mail or texting.  Luckily, we still actually have face to face conversation at night.  But, to be real, a lot of it involves one of us holding the remote, holding a laptop, or holding the Wii controller.  So is this romance in a 2.0 world?  Sure I love it when he sends me a text telling me he loves me.  I keep those texts.  He’s thought about me during the day.  And, let’s face it, sending a text is a lot cheaper than sending flowers.  But how does this type of 2.0 communication affect our relationship?   Does it make us closer to be able to contact each other at any time throughout the day or does it allow us to say things that we don’t have to say face to face?  What do we have to talk about at night if we’ve spent all day emailing or texting about the latest news in our day?  I think the old adage is true- absence makes the heart grow fonder.  Sometimes I worry if I haven’t heard from him all day.  Did something happen?  Where is he?  Maybe I need to trust that he has a life beyond one that doesn’t involve keeping me informed 24/7.  And, truth be told, I’m okay with that.  I like going home anticipating his stories.  I like being a little out of the loop of what it going on in his day.  Besides, I really don’t need to know everything that is going on, do I?  Today I sent an e-card because I thought of my husband and wanted him to know.  I think next time I’ll stop by the card store on the way home and buy him a card.  Or, better, yet, I’ll just tell him when he gets home, sometime between checking Shelfari and helping Mario save the princess. 

It’s been a while.  I’ve been busy.  At least I tell myself that.  I attended my first doctoral residency (and technically my last, but I could attend more if I wanted).  I discovered that: 1. writing a doctoral study will be the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in life 2. APA style is a god (idolaters!) and 3. not all people with master’s degrees look like they have an IQ over 90. 

At least I narrowed my topic/research question.  Ta-Da!  Problem:  Many students use Web 2.0 social networking tools in personal life but don’t use them in the classroom.  Question: How can a classroom teacher integrate social networking tools?  That’s as far as I’ve gotten, people.

A Walden faculty member suggested I also study collaboration.  I’m pretty excited about it.  I need to buy some books for my “professional library.”  Right now I’m just plodding along, doing assignments every few days, and feeling as if I should being reading every scholarly article ever written about collaboration and technology.  But the feeling passes when I sit down to watch the latest episode of Project Runway (I like Christian).

Do you ever feel burdened by your responsibilities?  Not the ones like feed the kids (we can just assume those type of responsibilities always feel like a burden) but the ones you inflict on yourself?  The ones like:  I’m going to read these blogs everyday, I’m going to get my doctorate, I’m going to eat vegetables. 

Oh well.  I think I’m just in a funk.   I promise I’ll keep reading.  And working on my Ed.D. And eating veggies. 

Maybe what I need is a new pair of shoes…..

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