Socrative is AWESOME!

I've done Professional Development across the district singing the praises of SOCRATIVE. A few of the reasons I like it so much is that it makes student engagement soar, and it's easy to use.  If you aren't familiar with SOCRATIVE, it's a student response system, that mimics "clickers", but that is web based.  It can be used on smartphones, PCs, MACS and iPads.  Teachers can design their own quizzes and activities in minutes. Another great thing about SOCRATIVE is the customer service they offer.  Any time I have contacted them, I get a prompt, helpful response.  In addition, they listen to their customer feedback and make changes accordingly.  Recently, they updated their website with two new options - the ability to embed pictures in quizzes and gradable short answers.  

Those sneaky folks at the SOCRATIVE team have made us sing for our supper, so to speak. Those awesome new features are out there,  BUT....you have to give them some feedback in order to turn it on!!! (This is why their customer service ROCKS.)

Please navigate to this address:
http://www.socrative.com/garden/

Enter your info and log in to your account and you will be good to go. Yes, it's FREE. All it will cost you is five minutes of your time.  Below is a video that shows you  how to use these new features.  Enjoy!

I am Woman, Hear me ROAR! or Building Shelves That are Cheap and Easy

Ok, I know it's a little silly to get worked up about completing a project.  Although as I mentioned before, I am more than a tad "follow-though allergic", I typically get a general amount of satisfaction for a completed task and move on.  This latest one, however, is a huge exception! A fact about being a single lady is that all the home repair, lawn trimming, car fixing and decision making falls on my shoulders.  There is no conversation after the kids go to bed about how to budget for a much needed repair, let alone how to do it.  So honestly, sometimes the upkeep of a home can be more than daunting when doing it solo.  I do have a wonderful support system in my Dad and a close friend who hires himself out at ridiculously cheap prices to help me, but I am stubborn enough and independent enough that I hate having to ask and or rely on them before moving forward with things.  Enter my latest project!  Since we moved, my garage has been the armpit of the house.  Really, I hated it.  It has some weird brown stuff that the walls are made of (note that here, both my Dad and friend could tell you the exact material...I don't care what it's called, just that it gets all over me when I lean against it...yuck).  I want Sheetrock.  No, I am not brave enough to attempt that.  Yet.  Anyway, the walls are gross, the previous owners painted the floor and it is always peeling and cracking.  It needs to be swept out all the time and the collection of crap over the last 15 years that has accumulated in there had me freaking out every time I pulled the car in. So I decided one Saturday morning that the garage needed shelves.  I did not want to wait for my dad to come visit - he has a house of his own he has almost totally redone over the last few months and is busy working outside now.  I didnt want to ask my friend, as I am cheap and impatient and wanted things done on my time frame.  Now understand that I didnt just head to Lowes with a wish and a prayer.  I had been researching shelves I wanted built some time in the future.  I had a plan and Pinterest, of course.  That's where I found the video above.  I watched it a million times, wrote things down, measured, wrote things down and THEN I headed to Lowes (on a wish and a prayer).

The little Lowes man was fabulous.  At first he looked at me like I was a nutcase but the more I talked the more he nodded so I felt like I was communicating ok.  I gave him my measurements:

I wanted 8ft long shelves and I wanted them 8 ft tall.  Problem is I have a Honda Civic.  (sigh)  So I had him cut a 4X8 piece of plywood into 6 sections that were 4 ft long and 16 inces wide.

I bought 9 8ft 2x3 board for my cleats and my legs.  I cut three of the boards in half - and left the legs alone.  These I left normal size and simply folded down the backseat and slipped them in.

Finally, I bought some self-drilling screws and was ready for my adventure.

After clearing away all the debris and clutter, I used my level to mark where my boards should go.  This is where I made my first mistake.  I measured the top cleat to go at the 8 foot mark, not taking into consideration I would need to drop it 3 inches to meet up with the top of the leg.  I was too high and had to take it down and begin again.  No worries, as I was using screws and it was super simple.  I was really irritated with myself, tough and had to hit McDonalds for happy hour to cheer myself up.  Maybe I should make more mistakes!

  Here is a picture of the cleats up and ready for the next step.

What IS that brown stuff called?  Ick!

The next step was to take each 4 ft board and attach a cleat to it.  That wasn't too difficult.  The thing to remember here is to make sure you have the same size board under both sides of the plywood - even though you are only attaching one.  It give support and helps you keep things even.  I did this x 6 shelves.  Please note, I am not wimpy, nor am I small...those shelves were HEAVY!  Be prepared.

The next step involved attaching the shelves to the wall cleats and the legs.  This is where I was glad I wasnt on hidden camera or anything.  I know I probably did it totally wrong but I don't care.  At first I was trying to be Super Woman and held the shelf at the same time as the leg and tried to drill in a screw.  Um, I was unsuccessful.  That's when favorite daughter B was called to help me.  Then I was on the right track.  I continued with the rest of the shelves and legs and low and  behold I had made shelves!!!  I know there are probably errors.  I realize even though I used my level that things may be a tad off.  I honestly didnt care.  My garage smelled like wood.  I had new, lovely, sturdy shelves and I felt like a rock star!!!  Here they are when I finished.  It may sound dumb to you, but this gets me very excited!  Now I am working on
bench for the front of my garage.  I'm on a roll!!!

We'll see how long I can keep this momentum going.  Thank you Pinterest.  Thank you Handy Guy in Youtube video.  Thanks mom and dad for gifting me tools now and then!  :-)

First Post...well, not really

There is something in this world that I am FANTASTIC at.  I mean really, I deserve some sort of award for my ability to start projects, blogs, a plethora of endeavors with as much gusto as humanly possible. I attack each project with starry-eyed dreams of what will be.  I purchase paint, fabric, lumber - all of it.  Then I get distracted.  Think ADD on a whole different level.  Another project comes up that MUST have my immediate attention. Life and work become so busy that I "back burner" my plans.  Low and behold, I never come back to them.   I think I lack the follow-through gene.    My house is littered with the remnants of projects gone by.  Half finished cross-stitch pieces, scrapbooks, home improvement projects-- I have them all and they silently mock me for my well-intentioned yet hopeless allusions of grandeur.  

Even though I know all of this about myself, I have decided to be brave enough to give it another shot.  A dear friend of mine who is a tad bit older than I, told me that once you hit a certain age, things just sort of start to click.  The minutia that you allowed to clutter your life falls away and you finally give yourself a break.  With that break comes a whole new feeling of power.  I must admit, I listened to her with half an ear, never really believing it could be true for me, but happy that she'd found her "happy place".  Then I turned 45.

I really can't explain what happened, but it was like a switch was thrown.  In the last few weeks, I have completed a number of projects.  So many, in fact, that I have sort of shocked myself.  I like this new feeling of accomplishment.  I am not naive enough to think that my world will totally change, but I hope I can keep it up.