I’ve just begun my little adventure into the world of social media. Although I have actually blogged for about 3 years on various sites and platforms, I’ve had a facebook page for a while, I’ve been creating videos for years, I feel like I’m starting all over again.
What do I do?
I think that the best way to learn more about social media is to experiment with it. With twitter, facebook, forsquare, gowalla, yelp, etc., your mind could just explode. But have fun with it!
But I need help Jay!
Don’t we all? There are a few sites that I regularly check and that I subscribe to their RSS. My favorite social media site is by a Columbus phenomena, Amy Schmittauer from Savvy Sexy Social.
Sure her site is pretty, and you might think her target audience is female, but you would be wrong. Don’t despair guys….she has TONS of information on all facets of social media. She is a true expert and you would be very smart to start following this superstar.
Make sure you check out her videos, she is amazing. And be very sure to get on her mailing list for her knowledge to land right in your inbox.
Friends of the Shelter is a non-profit group that I work with in the central Ohio area. I help coordinate the social media aspect of this group and work various fundraising events. Check out the newest video I made for our group and let me know what you think in the comments. Thanks!
As many of you know, or may not know, I live on an animal farm. No, it isn’t actually in the country with horses and pigs and all kinds of animals like that. It’s actually a condo in New Albany, Ohio that I like to call the farm because I share it with some very important “people” in my life: my dogs Sophie and Maggie, and my cats Lewie, Chico, and Chuy.
Is it weird to some of you that I count my animals at my five best friends? It sure isn’t to me. They share my joy, happiness, sadness, depression, and everyday life with me and are thrilled to do some. When I drive up to my condo, I see three cats sitting on cat benches watching out the window for me. Upon entering, I am greeted by two more dogs. I mean the world to them, and they do to me.
I wish more people in our world would learn to enjoy the unconditional love shown to you by a pet. To start out, just try one and see how you like it. That might be all that you need. Or you could get addicted to the love and attention like I have.
Please check your local animal shelters for animals that are generally there through no fault of their own. Working with an animal welfare group, I’ve come to learn the sad and all-too-familiar story of Johnny and Suzy getting a divorce so they take their beloved pet of years to the shelter. I never understand why.
Do you want a dog that is already house trained and crate trained? You can get that at your local shelter. So many animals are there for such asinine reasons.
To being your search, go to petfinder. There they list animals in shelters and rescue groups. Surely one will call your name too.
Believe it or not, I think about blogging everyday. You’d never know that from my lack of posts as of late. I think the problem f0r me is that I have way too many things going on in my brain. Rather than sitting down and actually writing, I’m constantly googling different topics and reading about new ideas. In short, I’m constantly looking for my muse.
the goddess or the powerregarded as inspiring a poet, artist, thinker, or the like.
So basically instead of sitting down writing, I scour the internet for inspiration and tell myself that I will get to that next great blog post “tomorrow.” I think it all relates back to the fact that I have lots of interests and have trouble narrowing myself down into one niche.
So what makes Jay run? Here is a short list of things that very much interest me:
Learning to become a better person, which includes professionally, as a friend, and as a son/brother/uncle/grandchild, etc.
My largest interest these days relates to animals. As you probably already know, I have two dogs and three cats. Do I live in an animal farm? Yes. Do I love vacuuming and cleaning up after them everyday? Of course not. Do I wish that I could take off and leave for Mexico for a month at a time in the summer? Everyday. But the love that my animals give me more than makes up for any headaches that they occasionally cause. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Becoming a better divorcee. I think I am slowly accomplishing this. I don’t at all miss being married. It was a mistake. I learned a lot and I have changed my outlook on many things. I’d never say that I regret being married. Life is all about learning experiences.
My job is a big motivator. After having gone through a divorce recently, emotionally I was not in a good place last year. Although my students did extremely well on their advanced testing exams, better that they have every done, I always felt like I should have been doing more. Apparently it worked out well and I shouldn’t have been so hard on myself. They truly kicked ass on those tests and many will be receiving lots of college credit for Spanish courses as they begin their freshman year. Not just testing out, but earning actual college credits that will save a nice chunk of change for mom and dad this fall. I don’t take the credit for this. It is definitely a two way street. I must teach and they must work hard to learn and progress through their language acquisition process.
My list of goals for the new academic school year are many but I want to list a few out here in public and develop a manner in which I am able to measure my progress.
Continue developing my craft so that more student not only do well in my Spanish courses, but also find that passion for the language and culture that made me fall in love with it all
Higher test scores…its inevitable. I want my students to kick ass on their exams and feel confident in their abilities.
Continue to to develop more interactive activities using various web 2.0 tools to reach students in ways and on platforms that they are familiar with and use on a regular basis.
Keep writing. I really do love to blog and to write. I get a great sense of satisfaction from finishing a post. I’ve let my blog readership die to an extent and my goal is to definetely increase this yet again.
So my question to you is a simple one. Have you discovered your muse? What is it that keeps you motivated? I’d love to hear all about it.
Crap. There. I said it and I mean it. There are many days where I wake up and I’d like to pull the cover over my face and go back to sleep and try again the next day.
As a youngster, I was pretty happy-go-lucky, but definitely had my issues. Who doesn’t, right?
Lately, I’ve been going through a major funk and haven’t been able to shake it. Let’s say since about April, I’ve had many more bad days than good ones.
I keep telling myself that tomorrow will be better, that I’ll clean that mess up in the morning, all the normal things that people that are depressed probably also do.
The bad thing about depression is that often times, we know exactly what it is that will make us feel better. I think that is perhaps the worst part of depression. I know the steps to take that will make me feel better yet feel powerless to take them.
I hate procrastination. I can’t stand a mess in the house. And order in my life makes me extremely happy.
Of course, I haven’t done any of that lately. Cleaning up that mess tomorrow or doing the laundry tomorrow turns into next week and then month. Its not like I’m living in filth, its just not my orderly mecca that I desire.
So tonight I took the first steps to try to get my life back on some kind of happy medium. I began a lot of the cleaning and organizing. The massive amounts of laundry that I must do will take a while to finish. Let’s just say I have enough clothes to not do laundry for six months…easy. I’d never wear dirty things and smell.
I’m going to work to get into a better sleep schedule and start blogging regularly again. These are the things that make me happier and tonight I vow to anyone that actually still reads this blog, that things are going to change.
My favorite topic makes a return…the ugly d-word. Yes, divorce! As I lay in bed feeling pretty miserable, I am briefly reminded that, yes, I am alone. And yes, I will survive!
I thought cold and flu season were finally behind us, but they gave me one parting shot. As I lay in bed unable to sleep, unable to breathe, with a sore throat, and a cough, I am reminded that there is no one to bring me chicken soup or run to Walgreens and pick up some cough drops for me since my throat is raw.
I could lay here and feel sorry for myself, but screw that. I’ve got my animals. And this little one, Sophie, is my constant companion when I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. She cuddles up next to me and as I lay there and try to close my eyes and hope that sleep is on its way, she takes her paw and gently hits my face to make sure that I realize that just because I feel like crap, that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t want to be pet. As I roll my eyes I also smile, and thank God for those that care.
With all of the craziness going on in Ohio right now related to the salaries of public employees, including teachers, and the fight that has ensued over Senate Bill 5, I have often thought whether or not I would advise my own students to purse a career in education at this point in their lives.
As an educator, we are becoming numb to the constant onslaught of attacks from the public that attempt to belittle what we do, or discount it as a job for lazy people that only want to work for 9 months a year.
Many of us turn a blind eye (or ear as the case may be) at being attacked on a consistent basis for our “large” salaries and Cadillac benefits packages. Sometimes it truly isn’t worth the breath to combat the misconceptions and the lies about our profession. Will we ever change the minds of those that hate us? Probably not.
Returning to my original question…would I advise someone to enter the field of education? I’m torn. I think that it is a great job for someone that loves to learn, and in turn shares that information with others. Let’s face it. Everyday we learn something new. None of us are complete experts.
For someone that can stomach the constant state of uneasiness (the constant fights for levies to fund schools, the not knowing when your classes will be on the chopping block and you no longer have a job, or the negative opinions of teachers by the public), it is still a noble profession.
I enjoy teaching and learning from my students. Each day brings fresh and new challenges. Interacting with so many people everyday is something that I enjoy. You do have to learn to compartmentalize and realize that there is a time and a place to deal with all of the madness, but that is outside of the school day.
If you are looking to be an educator because you love to learn, go for it! For me, it is a job that when I wake up in the morning, I look forward to arriving.
As a part-time blogger at best, I like to visit others to see how they write, and what inspires them. It has been a really long day, I am not feeling well, and still have work to do but want to leave you with three writers that I really admire: Being Cheryl The Naked Redhead Redhead Writing
You should definetely check them out…FANTASTIC!
Something popped into my head…these three are all women and all redheads. I never realized I had a thing for redheads.
Ok, maybe idiots is a bit harsh. After all, I do have some colleagues that always put an inspirational quote at the end of each their communications. It just DRIVES ME CRAZY!
There are websites galore where you can search for your perfect piece of inspiration to force the rest of us to read every time that you send out an email.
My question is this…why do you think that we are interested? Sometimes it is bad enough to have to read a boring and pointless email, but then a quote by someone that you don’t even know?
I was wondering around websites looking for something funny to use for an example of an inspirational quote. This is what I would probably use if I participated in this:
I’ve been contemplating whether or not to do the traditional post of my resolutions for the new year. Those can be so boring. But, I thought, what the hell?
2010 brought a lot of changes to my life, and many of them I am ready to leave in the past.
1. Probably the biggest change was the start to the long process of divorce. I haven’t mentioned it much on the blog. Needless to say, I’ll be glad when the process has terminated. I’m much happier now and I guess that is the most important thing.
2. I moved in with my dad and step-mom for several months and then into a condo. I never could have gotten through this year without the support and love of my family and I will be eternally grateful for their love and support.
3. When I moved into my new place, my three cats came to live with me. That was fantastic and soon we added two dogs to our family.
4. I bit the bullet and became vegetarian. It is something that I had wanted to do for a while, but never had the willpower to do so. Its been over one month and I have not eaten any meat. :-)
A few of my goals for the new year:
1. Be a better son/grandson/brother/uncle, etc.
2. Learn more about photography by shooting pictures at least once a week.
it. With twitter, facebook, forsquare, gowalla, yelp, etc., your mind could just explode. But have fun with it!
