Photo Credit: Paul VanDerWerf via Compfight

One of the things that I expect my PLN to do for me is to challenge me. Yesterday, one of my tweeps, Craig Badura did just that in the form of a blog challenge. It was a challenge all right (especially Question #3), but it was also fun. This challenge is designed to allow your PLN to get to know you better–so essentially, I just wrote about myself. Blah blah, blahhhhh.

I guess some folks call this the Eleven (Wo)Man Game or the Sunshine Award. I just call it, “let me tell you a little something about Jodie L. Morgenson.”

1. I prefer to buy my clothing and furniture second-hand, but I have a very specific, yet unpredictable and eclectic taste, which can be both tiresome and rewarding. I love love love old, used, weird stuff with stories behind them. I adhere to the Wabi Sabi point of view regarding possessions, though I am not above re-purposing stuff.

2. One of my life philosophies is–LIFE is TOO SHORT FOR BORING SOCKS!!!–in all caps and with three exclamation points!!! because you should shout this when you say it or think it. (The above-statement about second-hand clothing does NOT apply to socks, as I firmly believe in one-owner socks and undergarments, but the portion of the statement about a specific taste in socks DOES.) I believe in this statement both literally and metaphorically.

3. My best friend is building me a shed (out of materials he scavenged, found, or re-purposed) that I will eventually use as an art studio.

4. My best friend and I started a CSA over the winter break. We have one customer (share-holder) so far. We hope to have at least 10, but no more than 20 before the growing season begins.

4.2 My best friend is my husband, Caleb. (My kids are my best friends too, but they are not allowed to know this until they are older.)

5. Chickens–I have a (healthy …?) obsession with them. They remind me of dinosaurs. They have personalities. They are fascinating to observe. We have 20 of them, but soon we will only have 14. (We just can’t keep 7 roosters. Sorry guys. Chanticleer gets to live.) They are mean to each other and the hens, but they will also be delicious. I am mostly a vegetarian–mostly–but I do eat what I grow, and I grow chickens.

6. I don’t think I could survive without music–all kinds of music–rock and roll, jazz, punk, pop, bluegrass, old-school country, metal, R&B–but I don’t know how to play any musical instruments. (I wish I could. I have a banjo, on which I intend to one day master basics.)

7. Travel is something I just straight up dig. I like staying in hotels, someone’s guest room, bunkhouses, campers, cabins, and tents. I like eating meals prepared by other people in homes or restaurants in towns other than my own. I like meeting people that I might not ever meet again. I love love love learning about other ways of living. I have been to South America and Western Europe, but I still want to visit Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and maybe even Antarctica. I would also like to spend more time on the west coast of the U.S. I have never been to California, but I want to go there soon.

8. A long time ago, I thought I wanted to be an actor, but now that I’ve directed plays, I know that I very much prefer to be behind the scenes making things tick, unseen. It is quite rewarding to me.

9. One time I wrote a play and it was produced in a local theater. I want to do that again someday.

10. I have written two drafts of two novels and someday I’d sort of like to dust them off, polish them up, and get them published.

11. I believe that the whole world is poetry–every action, everything, every thought.

12. In challenges like this I cheat. I add on a .2 on a number I already used, include 12th fact or pack several facts in to one number. You have to watch me. I am a subversive system-bucker. SHAZAM!

11* Educator Tweeps who’ve changed me for the better because they are a part of my PLN:

Amanda Dickey
Beth Still
David Theriault
John Hardison
Kelly Falch
Katey Girard
Keegan Korf
Michele Corbat
Michelle Janda
Rachel Haider
Starr Sackstein
William Chamberlain

*Actually there’s 12. Hahaha! More cheating!

Craig’s 11 questions and my responses:

1.  What motivates you?  Feedback motivates me. If I am doing something well, I want to hear someone say I am doing it well. If I am doing something not-so-well, I want to know so that I can improve upon it. Results motivate me as well. If I see that something I am doing can help someone or make someone’s life better that spurs me into action and propels me to continue.

2.  Is the iPad a distraction in the classroom? Frankly, YES, at first it is. However, once you set expectations and hold students accountable for those expectations, the iPad is incredibly useful as a learning tool.

3.  In your opinion, who has been the most influential person in the history of the world?  Sheesh. The history? Of the world? not MY world, but THE world? This one is a head-tapper, Craig. Positive influence? Negative influence? I’m going to go with a positive influence and I’ll pick Jesus Christ.

4.  Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right thing?  I am terrified of doing things wrong, which is the most common fuel to my procrastination. I don’t do things I believe are (ethically) wrong, so I guess I’m not really worried about doing the right thing. I’m more worried about NOT doing the right thing out of fear of not getting it “right”.

Does that even make sense?

5.  What’s one thing you have not done that you really want to do? I would like to go on a honeymoon to Belize with my husband. We were going to shoot for our 1-year anniversary, but we had a baby instead, and then we were going to go on our 10-year anniversary and that didn’t work out either, but our 15th looks promising.

6.  What is your happiest childhood memory? My grandparents lived on an acreage and the times I went into the woods by myself are some of the happiest. Times on the tire swing behind their house was pretty rad too–especially when I didn’t have to share it with anyone. Obviously, I enjoy solitude.

7.  What is best part about about current job? The community in which I teach is the best part of my current job. I love them all–students and their families, and my colleagues and superiors. I had one kid graduate from here and another one in the system and I am so grateful that they could grow up in this system.

8.  Which is worse, failing or never trying? By all means–never trying is waaaaaaay worse than failing which is why my answer to #4 really bothers me. I am totally okay when students fail at a task, or when my own children fail at something, but I do not like to fail myself and that holds me back from trying sometimes. I need to work on being okay with not getting everything right. After 37 years, you would think I would have a grip on that.

9.  iOS or Android? I am an Apple girl tried and true. My family’s first computer was an Apple IIe.

10.  Do you have a bucket list actually written down somewhere? I sure don’t.

11.  Why did you become a teacher? I like reading. I like writing. I appreciate young people (especially those who can tie their own shoes and require no assistance in the restroom).

If you are going to do this, here are the rules:

• Acknowledge the nominating blogger. (Hi again, Craig!)
• Share 11 random facts about yourself.
• Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
• List 11 bloggers.  They should be bloggers you believe deserve a little recognition. (Not sure I can find 11 that haven’t already done this, but I’ll take a stab at it!)
• Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer and let all the bloggers know they’ve been nominated.  (You cannot nominate the blogger who nominated you.)