Good Grief!

Grieving....


The past year has been, what I would consider, a year of loss for our family, friends, and church family.  I have kissed the cheek of many tear stained loved ones.  As I hold them in their grief, tasting their tears on my lips, I pray for strength, peace, and healing from this hole in their heart from the loss of their loved one.  My heart aches for the loss and though I personally have never lost (to death) anyone, who I has left a sizeable hole in my heart.  I have felt loss and felt that sizeable hole in my heart from losses of either friends and family who have chosen to not choose me.  I desired to please them, to be part of their lives, to do whatever to be "in" with them.  What I found was my conviction to Jesus Christ in my life being a stronger life commitment that any person on earth.  My loss OR My gain?  I choose life with Him over life dependent on pleasing any other person on earth.  I know my Father is pleased with this decision (maybe not other decisions in my life), but putting Him first should be my #1 priority. 


Our pastor recently spoke on "Let the Chips Fall".  In the process of our living here on earth we have a choice to speak up for what God wants, to lead our world in His path and trust Him to take care of the "Chips".  The decision to follow Him or to follow the world.  When we put our faith in human's and their choices, it will fail every time.  When we put our faith in God and trust Him with the repercussions of our words to stand for Him, He will take care of us.  He took care of Daniel, Shadrach, Medshach, and Abednego, Paul, Peter, and many others throughout the Bible.  He will take care of us.  The decision I made to put God first in my life and to follow Him has been a process and will continue to be.  I have watched the "Chips Fall" many times and know I am held in His arms first and foremost.  As a human I miss and sometimes look back to what choices I made, I do not long to live in Babylon and my desire to live with Him.  Can there be a balance?  I have questioned the balance of living in the world and not being of the world.  There are so many choices in this decision including gossip, drinking, partying, homosexuality, drugs, lying, lust, pro-choice, etc.  So if I compromise in one area then my life will be a compromise in all areas?  The grey will suck me in and I will be like the rest of the world.  There will be no light in me, there will be no difference.  I would have conformed to the life of the others, but I will fit in?  I will have lots of friends and family....but not have God.  I will be just like them... and not be like Him. 

Through the losses and through our choices we still have a will and a choice to live for Him or not.  The holes in our heart can and will be healed through our faith and trust in Him.  He will be our Abba, our Father, our Healer, our Protector, our Strength, and our Peace ALWAYS.  We do not need to look to the world for this only look to Him, on our knees, in humility, and reverence.  He holds us in life and in death.


Whatever grief we experience....

Pinterest Educational Tool

Pinterest Educational Tool.....

Animoto is an amazing Educational tool, you can create a video, post it, and share it.

https://www.pinterest.com/brindley7/educational-technology-tools/

Future of Educational Technology

The rapid progression of technology in our world has made and will continue to make a huge impact on education.  The trend that are noticeable to me and will continue to rapidly move through the educational field are:  Virtual learning, mobile capabilities, open content, ease of information access, and global or cloud access. (NMC. 2013)  The school districts should pay close attention to these trends, they are impacting schools, families, and communities already and will only become more prevalent in the next few years. 

The use of computers is in every home, workplace, and personal use and will continue to be an accessory in all of the above areas.  The schools must embrace and engage the students in learning the different technology tools out there.  Classrooms will become more virtual than they already are and in most high schools will be completely virtual in the upcoming years.  If the student is old enough to stay home and care for themselves, the need for physical classrooms will diminish.  The world is a mobile society, with devices in our hand to access content and information from anywhere, at any time, as long as there is wireless or data capabilities. (OEBd. 2013)  I see the wireless and data capabilities becoming an anytime/anywhere soon.  The areas that will be most affected by this will be rural areas with agricultural base and little or no service connection. 

Virtual learning will enhance the classroom environment and bring the world to their fingertips.  The teacher will be able to lead the students anywhere and at any time through online searches.  The accessibility of content and information being just a search away will bring a more engaging learning environment for all learners.  The idea of a flipped classroom is not new to many school districts and the idea of being able to attend school anywhere is going to increase in need and in functionality.  The students will desire to learn at their own time and in their own environment, such as this class does, and have the flexibility and to have the mobility and freedom to take their class with them anywhere.  Any curriculum can be enhanced by the virtual, mobile, ease of information and content access, and the global aspect of incorporating any culture, topic, and interest into the classroom to engage and teach the lessons needed to be taught.

References:

NMC.  2013.  Horizon Report.  Retrieved from:  http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2013-horizon-report-k12.pdf

OEDb.  2013.  7 Ed Tech Trends to Watch in 2014.  Retrieved from:  http://oedb.org/ilibrarian/7-ed-tech- trends-watch-2014/

Technology Standards in Education

No this is not a picture of me... I do not look quite that enthusiastic at this moment in my life.  

Many of my friends and family know I am completing my coursework for my Library Science Degree.  

This is one of the reasons my Blog has sat empty for the last few months.  You will see some action in the near future with my current class of Foundations of Eductional Technology.

This week I am assigned to blog on the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and the standards teachers use as a guideline for their class.  

Unless you stay home and not go anywhere, you will need to utilize technology in some form or another. How soon is too soon to start promoting technology with our children?  I heard on the radio that no age is too young to teach how to use a digital device.  Then I was talking to a friend and she said her two year old granddaughter knows more about the iPad and how to navigate through it than she does.  Now she is 70 years old and kudos to her for trying her hand at the iPad, let alone keep up with the two year old.  I know many in that age bracket who would not touch an iPad, let alone desire to learn to use one everyday.  

Teachers today are taught and encouraged to incorporate the ISTE Standards for Students or Standards*S into their classroom.  

The standards are:

1.      Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity.

2.      Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments.

3.      Model digital age work and learning.

4.      Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility.

5.      Engage in professional growth and leadership.

With all of the newer standards being introduced with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), incorporating the Standards*S into the lessons should be a positive and enriching practice for the student and teacher.  When a teacher chooses a goal for the unit from the CCSS and then selects one or more forms of technology to teach with and use for practice and assessments the lessons can flow positively and improve learning in all students. 

When I was in school eons ago there were no computers, calculators were a new concept, and white boards weren't even a thought yet.  We had overhead projectors and teachers were still learning the uses for them.  We had chalkboards and much of our assignment tasking was listed on them.  We used the chalkboards for mathematics computation, vocabulary, and spelling words and not much else.  I do remember using a driving simulator for our practice driving exam.  It reminds me of the Atari driving game with the steering wheel between your lap and the controls to manuever.  I do not think it really helped me learn how to drive, though.  Nothing compares to the actual behind the wheel. 

For me I think the ISTE Standards for Teachers are great for today.  There are so many tools that a teacher can use to promote creativity, engage the students in the lesson, explore the world through digital tools and resources, increase in knowledge faster than ever before.  With the backward design of lesson planning the teacher can select the standard they wish to teach and for the students to master, then they can choose their tool to design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning and assessment for all learners in their class.  Students now are more educated and technologically advanced than I was in school for sure.  I think the standards now taught would have brought the digital age to the forefront, with faster thought processes, and deeper thought processing in my education and enhanced my education.  

References:  

EDU 352 Classroom Instructor Guidance.  2015.  Retrieved from:

      http://classroom.ashford.edu/re/DotNextLaunch.asp?courseid=11921658&userid=33531020&sessionid=89e436bac3&tabid=nNOqV0ANUpOFochjnA1lLsQ74rSEAKG5aHOLuO+tOBzEG2yjIIGp5uF9HTqw2skNpOTUKyJH52AogrJsXlU+1rIpLZEB/7jKgTaHSX096Gs=&sessionFirstAuthStore=true&macid=spbYa+d7DjF6dptJ2lZb/gGApI7GQPufyNtRV2PJ8D1/1Bv+NA6DcuGB/R52jHMYl2k8b7iQBSQGTKy4mMtszXDJARRE9tyj7GR6mocTUKHLFJR8Nt8mUKJOkcDpIZDEBy+0az4NJNFH++6CZM8V/jiTrE5MMnWiAunziQbFwD3QJ8Ps/W3AdFieAzfF2Z0mKOIOEP8ttE85uq/Y2INMfvuwCJQ2UHifZfRxfKX654rFu2yIV3JPclJRXHr+tTliRLmHElFuGRFeLY2+sWGZ+iziU35L/Zi7r1+bJ9Ubhg8= 

ISTE. 2015.  ISTE Standards Teachers.  Retrieved from:  http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/20-14_ISTE_Standards-T_PDF.pdf 

Kayaking Adventure

Today was an amazing day!  Started off with practicing for the Amazing Grace Easter Program 2015 at First Baptist Church.  We have an amazing program on Saturday, April 4 at 6pm and Sunday, April 5 at 9am and 11am services.  The program will consist of Bells of Praise, the accurate rendition of Jesus' death and resurrection in song and drama.  Including the Lord's Supper.   We have been practicing for weeks and are almost ready. 

After our practice my husband and I took some kayaks out to Scott's Flat Lake and kayaked from the Deer Creek river to the dam.  We had just gotten set and ready to row to the creek, when I dropped the sunscreen in the lake, I leaned over to retrieve it and dumped my kayak.  We had already had the conversation about whether to wear our bathing suits or not.  I had said, "I will not be getting in the water today."  Well, that came back to bite me...  Within 5 minutes of being on the lake, I was in it. I did dry in the few hours we were out there.  and All in all....Beautiful day!  I did not want to leave the lake in the late afternoon.

We came home to barbeque and clean up the rose garden and house. 

Kauai 2015 family vacation

We always knew this day would come.  Invite the kids and families on a family vacation and have some fun making memories.  We started planning this family trip in September of 2014, after an amazing family time with our kids at our sons wedding.  We invited all the kids and once we found out how many were going to be able to make it, took advantage of the VRBO at Puamana in north shore, Princeville, Kauai.  My husband and I flew in on Wednesday, March 11, 2015 in the afternoon.  We hit some head winds and went around a really turbulent patch.  The flight took 6 hrs  and 19 min.to Honolulu.  The a 30 min to Lihue, Kauai.  We picked up our car and headed to Barking Sands to shop, pick up beach supplies(chairs, snorkels, mask and fins, umbrella (for us really white people), and boogie boards.   We shopped for food at the NEX and walmart then headed to the condo.   Love seeing the chickens everywhere, smells so tropical, so lush and green.  Very tired tonight!  Rainy at condo.
Thursday, March 12, 2015 we start our sunrise walks each morning at 6:40am.  We are on the North East side of the island, so sunrises are a must.  We see whales breaching each morning and enjoy a different sunrise each morning.  We walk to Wyllie Beach down the trail by the condo, breakfast and then drove to Anahola Beach for a couple hours to boogie board, sun, walked on path.  Drove to Ke'e Beach.  Grilled at the condo and hung out.  Rainy and condo.
Friday, March 13, 2015 during our sunrise walk we saw dolphins.  We walked the princeville shops, found lapperts ice cream.  Drove to pick up leis for our son and his wife, then to a beach near the airport.  We picked up the kids at the airport, went to the fish market to eat
 In Lihue, stopped at Safeway then the kids chilled at the condo.  My husband and I drove to Anini beach, then laid out on Westin pool deck. Chilled at condo.
Saturday, March 14, 2015 Sunrise walk, farmers market in Hanalei at 9:30am, sunning at beach then picked up kids to go get leis and go to the airport to pick up the rest of the kids(my youngest daughter, her boyfriend and best friend).  We all went to local coffee and shaved ice in kapaa.  We stopped a t Anahola beach....first time for a few on a boogie board, on Hawaiian island and in warm water.  We grilled at the condo...fish tacos' watched Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca.  My son and daughter went out to get Lapperts with me.....Kauai Pie mmmmmmm....
Sunday, March 15, 2015 Sunrise walk, coffee and beach in Hanalei, church at Amazing Grace Baptist Church in Hanalei, lighthouse, a private beach, where we saw Bethany Hamilton, boogie boarded, falls, Hanalei for lunch, Ke'e beach, Na Pali coast, wet and dry caves' Haena beach, Tunnels beach' Dolphins for dinner, Lapperts for dessert.
Monday, March 16, 2015 Sunrise walk, so many whales, beach snorkeling with turtles, fish and Anini Beach.  Kids went to Smith's fern grotto and luau.  My husband and I walked to Queen Emma's Bath then sunset near St. Regis.
Tuesday, March 17, 2015. Sunrise walk, hiked 8 miles or 6 hours to Hanakai'kai Falls!  So beautiful...
Grilled at the condo.
Wednesday, March 18, 2015 sunrise walk, drove to Poipu Beach' spent 3 1/2 hrs on the beach, boogie boarding, snorkeling, drove up the Waimea Canyon, drove to Barking Sands for beach, returned the beach equipment, dinner at Shenanigan's for dinner, drove home.
Thursday, March 19, 2015 no sunrise walk, rainy, our son and wife go home today, my husband and I go to beach, the kids shop and go zip lining.
Friday, March 20, 2015 travel day home.  The rest of the kids get one day to chill.....next family vacation???
What an amazing trip that was! Great family memories and....Fun!   Heads up, beached bodies and laughs.  Lots of love showing to each other!!!!

Join the Air Force...Travel... See the World!

We were really excited to get orders to Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany in 1997, then the airman in my husband's job position over there extended his tour.  I guess he really liked it!  I would have loved it!  Did he not know he was depriving a homemaker and her young ones of the greatest adventure of their lives?  
Then we waited and my husband guaranteed that we would go somewhere.  So in 1998 he gets a one year assignment to Osan AB, S. Korea ALONE.  Unaccompanied!!  Meaning we cannot go with him.
So I start praying for God to give us the opportunity to go as a family.  The closer it got, the more that dream was going to come through.  Now, it is not as perfect as it seems.  We are going unaccompanied, which means we will live on the economy, no support from the military.  We may not be able to shop at the commissary, the children will not get into schools, we may have no healthcare on base.  This was going to be living off the grid for sure. 
Around the middle of July we packed up our base housing and moved up to my parents house.  We were only allowed to "hop" or take with us on space available flights two pieces of luggage, we chose a box and a suitcase each and a carry on.   My husband was allowed to bring 500 pounds of household belongings and a vehicle, that was shipped prior to him leaving.  We had sold our newer van and bought a 1984 Ford Econoline van.  It was red and sparkly (glitter paint), with shag carpet on the walls and floor and no windows.  WOW!  This means there are 7 people with 21 pieces of luggage total to live on for one year, oh, and the 500 pounds of mostly uniforms and duty necessities for my husband.   We checked on the space available flights leaving Travis AFB, CA and on August 11, 1998 my mom and dad drove us down in their motor home.  They dropped us off at the terminal at Travis AFB, CA at 6am, my husband signs us up to "hop" to S. Korea.  After waiting for hours to see if we were on a flight, excited with 22 pieces of luggage and 5 children,  we do not get on a flight this day and my husband checks all flights for the following day.  We are essentially stranded on Travis AFB.  My husband rents a truck with a king cab and of course a bed that can fit all of our luggage.  There is no room at the inn!  (on base)  So we drive around looking for a hotel, remember this is before cell phones and the speed of Priceline.com (which I now love when we travel).  We take naps, because it has been a long start of the day and take a swim and enjoy the budget hotel.  After a tight night in a small hotel room, we wake up early and arrive at 5:30am at the terminal, we sign up for a space available flight to Yokota AB, Japan on a KC10. We got on the plane and actual had airline seats.  The flight was supposed to cost $12 per person and this included a box lunch.  We felt God's presence with us.  The children were super travelers, the $12 fee was never charged and the boxed lunches were decent.  The flight was about 10 1/2 hours.  We departed on August 12, 1998 and crossed the dateline, so our youngest son's birthday, August 13th only lasted a couple hours.   As a treat for the kids, they were allowed to, one at a time, go visit the cockpit, we sang Happy Birthday and a special cupcake was presented to the birthday boy, who turned 7.   We arrived in Yokota in the afternoon and we were soooo tired, still had 22 pieces of luggage and 5 children.  Yay for us.  While we were waiting in the terminal for our next move...a room, next flight, and food, an airman had seen my son wearing a football jersey with our last name on it.  He followed him until he met my husband.  Then introduced himself as Sgt Brindley and wondered if we were related somehow.  After coming to the conclusion that he was not related to us, he asked about our plans.  My husband mentioned he was stuck in the terminal with the luggage and no way to get around with it.  This man was one of our angels.  He offered his office, there at the terminal, to store our luggage.  We packed in the backpacks all we would need for the evening and stored the rest of the luggage in his office.  My husband stayed at the terminal to sign up for the next flight and get us a room somewhere.  So hungry and tired, I checked out the base map, what could we do to kill time and for dinner, so the kids and I took off on the Yokota bus around base.  The first thing we notice is how muggy it is.  We are sweating just driving around on the bus.  We had Burger King for dinner and went to the base pool.  Which was an indoor Olympic size pool with basketball, volleyball, and games for the kids.  We rested and played and the boys all got their energy out.  Where do they get all the energy from?  We met back up with my husband later and he had gotten us two rooms on base.  We crashed early and were up early the next morning for our flight to S. Korea.  We retrieved our luggage and waited for the flight.  While we were waiting we met a family who were stationed at Osan AB, S. Korea they tried to discourage us and told us there was no way we were going to make it unaccompanied.  There would be no resources available to us and I should turn back now with the children and go home.  They became some of our good friends while at Osan.  We worshipped with them at the chapel and enjoyed many church and base functions with them.  While this news was very discouraging, we ran into an airman that used to be our neighbor on Beale AFB.  His sons and daughter were our youngest children's age and very good friends.  He negated all of what they said and reaffirmed our goals and our plans.  He became our angel and later comes to our rescue.  He had already spent 6 months at Osan AB and knew how to get around and where to go.  Our flight was a short flight on a C130 to Kunsan AB, S. Korea.  We had to get our Passports stamped to enter S. Korea and the nationals wouldn't let us through.  My husband was escorted to a back room for interrogation and we were in a very small holding area.  My husband had been warned by another Korean National that they may try to get bribe money from you.  Little did they know, we did not have a dime to rub between us.  After hours of waiting for the planes and process to in-process the country we were allowed to board the plane to Osan AB, S. Korea.  We flew on a C130 to Osan.  Our neighbor angel still with us and encouraging us all the way.  We arrived at Osan AB late at night, our neighbor angel helped us get two taxis and a room to stay.  The room we ended up getting ended up being a suite with a kitchen.  The weather was so humid and the children kept saying it was hard to breathe.  The rooms we stayed in were NQR (not quite right) , which became a regular sighting while in Korea.  The ceiling was uneven, the shower was not square, the toilet was crooked.  Hmmmm.... not in Kansas anymore!  The next day my husband went out to look for a place to stay and check into the base.  The kids and I hung out, walked everywhere.  Within a few weeks my husband was able to get the commander to sign off on his family using the commissary, clinic, for medical care, and to register the kids on space available at the DOD school on base.  So off we go to register the 4 older children, 14, 10, 10, and 7 at the school on base.  We loved the chapel on base and within a few days my husband had found a furnished 700 sq ft apartment in Pyongtaek, right outside the base.  Another blessing from God!  We were able to walk to base from the apartment.  The only thing we needed were beds.  So I went shopping for futons for the kids.  I went into a shop with the kids, while my husband was at work and actually got kicked out.  Most of the businesses will not do business with women alone.  They must have a man with them.  So 50's!  By August 28, the 7 year old had been accepted into the base school and the rest were going to be homeschooled.  We were settled into our apartment and ready for some structure.  I loved homeschooling the kids.  They called me Mrs. Love during school hours and the youngest was even doing preschool curriculum.  My class consisted of 4 very bright students, an eighth grader, two fifth graders and a preschooler.  Bring it on!