Left Lane Ends

It is a scary world out there. Corners are sharp, potholes are dangerous and pencils can kill. With all of the dangers that are lurking in and under every object imaginable, it is important to remember how inept the teacher teaching next to you just might be. In fact, some school districts north of ours may have just hit the nail on the head when they implemented forced, structured curriculum. A message needs to be sent, and they ‘get it’. They had an ‘ah-ha’ moment and the light bulb clicked on.

Let me be clear - trusting any given teacher to be a professional and make their own decisions in the classroom is a danger that should cause us all to shake in our boots as if George W. Bush were about to be re-elected president. They might open a door for a child that we do not want opened. They may get ‘all creative’ and fall behind the scope and sequence for all we know! They might, just maybe, even forget that there is a high-stakes test looming out there for a day or two… and THAT, my friends, would NOT be good.

How can anyone believe that we should do anything BUT make teachers follow central command more than ever, remove choice from their lives and/or make decisions for themselves???? Preposterous.

Beware. If treated like professionals, the world around you WILL fall apart. Ain’t no ‘lane ends’ about it.

This has nothing to do with anything. Just so you know.

I literally brought my truck to a screeching halt on Sunday when I saw this sign on a corner not too far from my house. After wiping the tears from my eyes, I snapped a photo to share with you:

I have been using Netvibes as my aggregator since it came available, and have loved it since day one. However, when Google rolled out iGoogle, I figured it required a look. So, I looked. Briefly.

First, you may or may not recall this post of mine about Google. Despite my continued wariness about their data mining, I still use them. But, I’m also still wary. Just be sure that you are aware of all the data they are collecting about you as you surf, read and aggregate.

Second, Netvibes’ preview interface beats iGoogle hands down. I love being able to read as little or as much as I want in a variety of different ways (mouse over, pop up, etc). Additionally, they just released an iPhone geared site. Very nice.

So, explore, compare, do as you please… I’ll be sticking with Netvibes for now. Until they get bought by Google, that is.

I love WordPress. It is a great blogging tool, fun to play around with, easy to implement, etc, etc. I’ll paruse the myriad of plugins from time to time and ran across this one:

This WordPress plugin allows your readers to donate money to you via PayPal. The plugin is widget enabled.

The plugin adds a “Buy Me a Beer” button to

1. The sidebar

2. At the bottom of all posts

When your readers click on that button, they are taken to the secure PayPal page from where they can donate money to you.

Why add a “Buy Me a Beer” button instead of a simple “Donate Money” button?

Past experience shows me that asking people to donate money by giving them a specific reason increases donations by 200%! (Read more in the “power of specific phrasing…“)

Tempting, I must admit… Some of you know that I could certainly use a cold frosty after work these days! So, keep your eyes peeled - I’ll never advertise on my blog, but you just may see a little link pop up at the bottom of my posts down the road.

Whether you’re out there where the left lane ends, or cruising down the highway… maybe you’ll at least get a little chuckle out of this one like I did.

What gives?!? I guess I’d better stop taking pictures while I drive… or else the next one will be planted in the grill of my truck.

Spent some time in Kansas this past weekend. This picture I took pretty much encapsulates my life growing up. Country. Small Town. Dirt Roads. Being home felt good… this is way out past where the left lane ends.

So, Darren Wilson threatened to post this image (or one like it) last spring… I figured I’d go ahead and fullfill that threat for him.

Life happens, but who knows… Writing IS good for the soul. My queue grows, so the thoughts are still there.

Oh - and the site is plain because I updated my version of WordPress. I have one more to do before bringing it back to its more appealing, non-bland look. (You know, JUST in case you wondered.)

I listened to a story on (oh, here it comes) NPR this morning about drug resistant tuberculosis.

This particular story struck my interest after reading Mountains Beyond Mountains : The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder. This book blew me away and opened my eyes to the story behind the story about the multiple drug resistant tuberculosis problem around the world. It turns out that, according to Farmer (who has dedicated his entire life to not only changing policy, but working one-on-one with those in need), the problem is caused by sloppy treatment and overpriced drugs that are very cheap to produce. Farmer goes so far as to reverse the impact of MDR TB in a community in Haiti, demonstrating to the World Health Organization how it really can be done right.

You may be wondering where I am going with this (or you may already know ). If you listen to the NPR story and then compare what you hear to what Paul Farmer tells you, it is a very different perspective. NPR’s report tells us that it looks bleak, that there is not much known about why this is happening or how to fix the larger problem. Farmer says otherwise. This was a good reminder for me that, while I love NPR, it too has many limitations. It is always important to listen/read/think with an open mind and open ears.

I guess this is a theme in my life. I firmly believe that this is a higher level thinking skill that we should focus on when teaching our students. Youth of today will be faced with problems and challenges that we can not even imagine. This is nothing new - the world is in a constant state of change, and while we do not know where that change will specifically take us, I do believe that approaching global change with an understanding of different perspectives is imperative to a better quality of life on this planet.

That is where the left lane ends for me - where the path gets exciting and we all start to think.

So, I had my first occurrence of online interactions meshing with the real world…hmmm…

I became passionate about ,wakeboarding a few years back (I really don’t like sports, but absolutely LOVE wakeboarding - this video will give you a general idea of what it is) and have been posting on the DallasWakeboarding site recently. Someone asked if anyone had a video, and I popped up with ‘yes’. Me met halfway a couple of days later and exchanged DVD’s.

I know. NOT a big deal. But it was still weird for me as it was a new experience. Kids are different, though. The funny thing is that when I asked who all had IM accounts in our church youth group the other night - they ALL raised their hands! I’ve mentioned this before, and David Warlik talks about being digital natives, but I was simply reminded of my immigrant status.

Online communities provide an avenue not possible before - connections with people we never would have met. It baffles me how these communities can be local or international, but still connect people in a way that we hadn’t even thought possible ten years ago. So, I’m not sure if this is where the left lane ends, but I’ll at least chalk up another experience and hopefully have a new buddy to throw down some tricks with…

This is an incredible essay that I thought was very moving. It gave me some hope…

NPR is doing a series called ‘This I Believe’. It is well worth listening to. You might even get hooked and sign up for the ‘This I Believe’ Podcast!