A Week in Paradise... WITHOUT the Internet

Over February Break my family took a trip that we have been planning for an entire year. We rented a beautiful three bedroom, three bathroom home in the mountains of Breckenridge, Colorado. There was even a hot tub on the deck for us to enjoy while the snowflakes danced around us in the steam coming off the bubbling water. We could take a short shuttle ride to the chairlift each day, and ski right to our door each afternoon when our legs were finally too tired to carry us down the mountain any more. We had everything we needed... full kitchen, washer and dryer, even a crib for my little daughter.

And yet... there was no wireless Internet connection. I can't tell you how many times my father said they words, "We could look it up if we had wireless!" He actually called the property management company and complained contending that wireless Internet access should be considered a basic amenity in resort accomodations. Finally, on the last night my brother worked a little magic and we "borrowed" some bandwidth from a nearby unsecured wireless network so we could check into our airline.

I have to admit I had a few anxieties about my lack of Internet access. Here are a few:

  1. I was unable to blog for the past two weeks. (The week before February break was a flurry of correcting, professional observations by my supervisors, visiting administrators from abroad, and more. I had planned to write my blog after arriving at our destination, until I found out that I had no Internet access and would be unable to do so.)
  2. I was unable to register my daughter for the mountain's daycare online. I actually had to flip open a telephone book, dial hte number, and speak to a real person on the phone to make the arrangements!
  3. We decided to spend one day skiing in Vail, Colorado. It was a 45 minute drive. Normally, we would look up the address online so that we could plug it into our GPS. Instead, we had to (again) open the phone book and find the address in print.
  4. I knew I would arrive home to copious emails for work. And I have to admit that it was a little overwhelming when I returned.

Despite the lack of a wireless connection, we managed to use technology to our advantage. We have a tradition of taking lots of pictures and video clips of each other while skiing, and then compiling them online to share with the rest of our family. This meant choosing some of the best shots and posting them in an album on Facebook for our distant relatives to view. We posted some of our video clips on YouTube so friends and family who subscribe to our accounts can see them. I also like to put together photobooks (using online tools like Kodak Gallery or Snapfish) and give them as gifts.

Here is a sample of one of our videos. This is my sister and I skiing the last part of a bowl at Vail called Lovers' Leap. My brother is the videographer. It is so named because you literally have to leap off a VERY steep edge to enter the bowl. I'm the one in the black.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Three Social Media Starter Tips

Image
Note: This post was recently  published on the St. John's Prep GOOD to Go blog . Chad Konecky interviewed me and wrote the post based on our discussion. Demonstrating and reinforcing common-sense social media engagement is important, especially when it comes to adolescents and teens. Kerry Gallagher, St. John’s assistant principal for teaching and learning, is leading the Prep’s emphasis on developing best practices when using social media. “Mentoring healthy guidelines like ‘Think before you post,’ ‘be kind and respectful’ and ‘be mindful of who you friend’ are key, but we need to foster—and the boys need to hone—an even keener sense of their life online.” Interestingly, the challenges of building an online identity can become even more difficult if students and their parents choose not to use social media, explains Gallagher. Alternatively, when students do create an online presence, it can become an opportunity to learn how to act appropriately and with accountability.
Read more

Teaching 19th Century Ideologies with 21st Century Technologies

Image
Some concepts are just hard.  They're hard to teach and hard to learn.  Every year that I've taught the History 10 curriculum to sophomores, one of those concepts has been 19th century European political ideologies.  Conservatism, liberalism, and nationalism have never really been pulled together into a lesson that excited me or my students.  We would work through it and we'd both be OK, but never enthralled.  This year I wanted to change that. Part 1: What Do They Already Know? I asked students to define and give examples of each term: conservatism, liberalism, and nationalism.  They used their understandings from a modern American perspective.  We talked it out and they wrote their examples on the Smart Board. Part 2: How Was 19th Century Europe Different? It was REALLY different.  Before going there, though, I wanted them to know what an ideology is. The next step was to help them understand what these ideologies mean to 19th century Europeans.  I found a great
Read more

Guest Post: A Guide to Using Instagram in the Classroom

Image
By Jennifer Gray Everyone loves social media.  Middle school students, like adults, take out their smart phones and tablets every chance they get to check their Instagram feed.  I am a teacher who doesn’t want to fight for my students’ attention.  Instead, I want to become a part of what they are using anyway.  I created my own classroom Instagram account: @mrsgray108 As a teacher of French and Spanish, I don’t think kids can ever get enough practice.   When my students are home at night scrolling through Instagram on their phones, I love that they can be learning a new French or Spanish word or getting some practice with vocabulary they already know.  Making a connection through Instagram brings my class closer and makes my subject more relevant.  Below are just a few ways I’ve incorporated Instagram into my classroom. French and Spanish Word of the Week: I like to introduce a new word about once a week.  Sometimes I choose a word that students have asked me about in
Read more